This Town |Ziall|

Chapter 1 : Friends Forever

As we go on
We remember

All the times we
Had together

And as our lives change
Come whatever

We will still be
Friends Forever

~ ~ * ~ ~

"... 15 minutes to landing at JFK," announced the Captain. Eleanor Calder, Niall's Personal Assistance/Best Friend, turned with a grin on her lips at him, and squeezed his hand. Niall sighed to the back of his plane seat, looking out the window at the skyscrapers of New York City.

Niall was heading to New York for the promotion of his debut single, This Town. The single, released just two months ago, had hit the top charts across the globe, been number one in more than 37 countries, had already been nominated for countless awards, not to mention it was the soundtrack to several movies being released this year such as Sing, How To Be Single, Bad Moms, and countless others Niall cannot remember as of now.

Steve Barnett, the Chairman and CEO of Capitol Music Group, thought Niall had potential. Steve, as he insisted to be called when Niall first met him, believed he had something spicy, something along Of Monsters and Men, Imogen Heap and Passenger, or even a little daring such as Imagine Dragons and Hozier. Therefore, Steve took him under his wing and soon Niall discovered he had much more leeway, and wriggle room with Capitol Records than Sony, and all the other sub labels, and he has been having a blast.

His career was going great, so great in fact that when he got a phone call from Billboard to perform at their upcoming event in two weeks, he agreed without hesitation. However, it was only recently when he had finally stopped to breathe in and reflect on his life that he realized his personal life was a mess.

Or rather, his personal life with the boys.

There was no story with the boys without thinking about March, 2016, the month that Zayn Malik, their former bandmate, called it quits. He remembered that night clearly. Very clearly.

They were touring somewhere in Southeast Asia, on their OTRA tour, performing at sold out concerts, and still topping charts, and whatnot. Slaying, like they always do. The following day had been an off day and therefore they had gone to do whatever they each did on their free time. For Niall, that meant exploring the city along with Harry Styles, buying souvenirs, trying out local cuisines, Harry taking far too many photos on his phone, and generally, learning about the magical cities they were touring.

He had come back, calling it a day instead of going out clubbing with Harry and Liam, and on his way to the back to his hotel room Paul gave him a ring on his phone. Zayn has left, he had said on the phone. He did not believe him. He's gone Niall, he had repeated.

And as far as Niall can remember, that was the start of the end. The rest of 2015 was a blur to him. He went from laughing at interviews to avoiding answering questions regarding Zayn's departure. He went from strumming his electric guitar hard as Zayn played with his nipples to still strumming his guitar but with the band now. He went from being the happy-go-lucky Irish lad to the barely-smiling Irish cooking chicken with no seasoning.

And Niall thought that was the end. But, really, it was only the start.

He did not know how they got to the point where all of them agreed that they should take a hiatus but. It happened. They were talking out of their asses in the wee hours of the morning in Louis' backyard, swimming in their glasses and, most definitely, conversations in the A.M. were not his favourite. In fact, he hated drinking in the wee hours of the morning ever since that night, the night, as he now knew it, when One Direction died.