Party Of 1 (A Niall Horan Fanfic)

Chapter 12: Taps

James Robert Harper, 49, of Fort Wayne, IN, died Monday morning at 10:49 a.m. after being in a two-car pileup. Harper crashed into Mary Ellroy of Muncie, IN, after Ellroy crossed lanes on the freeway without turning her turn signal on. Harper crashed into the median, resulting in immediate death. Ellroy remains in ICU with minor injuries. Harper is survived by wife, Alice Harper, and kids Rory and Adam Harper. The Harper family will be hosting a funeral on Sunday, October 21 at 11 a.m. For information call Smith and Sons Funeral Homes at (260)661-8173.

"Rory?"

No answer.

"Rory, honey? It's time to go to the funeral," Alice Harper, Rory's mother, said.

Inside her room, Rory sighed, wiping away a stray tear. Downstairs, Rory's brother Adam and her best friend Sydney waited for her to come.

Dressed in a medium-length black dress with black flats and black hat, Rory made her way to the funeral home. She wasn't sure why it was called a funeral 'home' since it didn't feel like one to her. Originally, she didn't want to go to the funeral, but her mother insisted and that it was important to remember their father.

Rory didn't try to hide her tears, it was no use. The only people she could really talk to was Sydney and Niall; but Niall was in New York on the Take Me Home tour.

Sydney had messaged Niall late Monday night explaining everything that happened. He wanted to be there for her, but he had his career and thousands of girls, and guys, to please. He had tried getting in contact with Rory but he had heard she wasn't talking to anyone, so he didn't feel hurt because Sydney told him to not take it personally.

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On Saturday, October 20, One Direction played one of their last gigs in Detroit, Michigan. In three day they would be leaving for California to finish the final leg of the world tour. On Saturday night, Niall decided to enjoy his few free days. He thought about going home to his mother in Ireland once the tour was over. He missed his family very much.

Niall was with his bodyguard, Seth, in a local diner he found homely. There were old oak tables scattered around the diner; the light were dimmed and little Christmas lights hung around the distance of the small building. The food was homemade and tasted wonderful to Niall. Usually on tour he ate minute-ready food and nothing was made from scratch like this diner's was.

A newspaper sat on the table, dated Wednesday, October 17, 2013.

Bored, Niall flipped through the pages. After reading the sports stories he came across the obituaries page. He never usually stopped on that particular page, simply because he didn't like being reminded of death. However, the page had a subtitle, 'Successful architect James Harper dies.' He quickly found the little section devoted to the said architect. He read through the small paragraph. The funeral was tomorrow- 11 am. Niall guessed if he started driving now, he would be able to make it to the funeral early.

"Seth?" He asked.

"Yes?" The buff bodyguard replied, setting down his now empty coffee cup.

Niall pushed the newspaper towards Seth, pointing to the obituary on James.

"Can we make that?" He put his finger atop the funeral time.

"I'll have to ask my boss, but I'm sure he'll say yes. Just give me a second," Seth replied, tapping on his phone. He stood up, exiting the small diner to make a call. He returned a few minutes later, giving Niall a thumbs-up.

Niall beamed, heading towards the car.

Sunday morning at 10:43 Niall and Seth arrived at 3815 Melburry Street and headed into the funeral home. Niall was wearing dark blue jeans and a semi-dress formal shirt with a pair of Supras. His jacket, also black, covered his shivering body. It was 49 degrees outside. Niall's sunglasses obscured his eyes as he walked inside, immediately finding the showing room and taking a seat in the back. He peered over the tops of heads. Up at the front of the room, there were a few rows facing left, instead of straight forward. Sitting in one of the seats was Rory Harper. In the spot next to her was Sydney, and to the left of her what he assumed to be Rory's mother and her little brother, Adam.

A casket sat against the wall at the front, a priest reading off verses from the bible. Niall didn't pay much attention, but instead kept sneaking glances at the crying blonde. Rory appeared to be shaking but Niall couldn't tell from so far away. He texted Sydney.

Niall: how is she?

Instantly he felt his phone buzz a little.

Sydney: we're at the funeral, she's doing ok

Niall: doesn't look like it

Sydney put down her phone, discreetly looking around the room until she found the familiar face.

Sydney: you came?? how did you find out??

Niall: i've got my sources and i got a few days off. don't tell R.

Sydney: okay

Halfway through the funeral Rory stepped up to the podium.