seasons of love | Narry Storan AU

chapter 13.

2015

"I can't believe you said my night wasn't over because we had McDonald's down the street", Niall says, rolling his eyes and sighing right after. 

But, of course, with a Big Mac on his hands. He wasn't going to complain about that.

"Everybody loves McDonald's. I guess I just took a shot in the dark by driving us here." Harry winks at Niall, drinking another sip of his Coca-Cola cup. "Does this make up for all the shit I said to you before?"

"Don't worry about that. I couldn't be a hundred percent mad at you, actually."

"Why?"

"Because you would have to kill someone close to me so I could properly hate you, Styles." He shrugs, like it wasn't hurtful to say that. "I mean, there were moments when I wanted to cut your head off your body and throw it at lions? Yeah, of course, I won't deny it."

"I feel threatened."

"As you should, for all the asshole attitudes you've had so far", Niall's eyes open widely. "I mean, you're like, eighteen, nineteen years old? Only 15-year-old assholes have the right to be assholes, and not even them should be like that because it sucks."

"So you're telling me to basically grow up."

"As if your mom never told you that, right?" He smiles.

That's when Harry's heart flutters a bit. Of course he saw Niall smirking before, but it wasn't like that. It wasn't... joyful. Niall's smiles used to be either polite or ashamed, and it had never lit a spark inside him.

What's going on?, Harry asks to himself.

"I think we should go. It's almost ten at night." The blond boy suddenly cuts the silence between the two of them, standing up from his chair. "How much do I owe you for this food?"

"Absolutely nothing, Horan. Stop that."

"But I want to pay you for..."

"I swear I'll kick your ass right here and right now if you keep saying it."

That's more than enough for Niall to stay shut until they reach Harry's vehicle, a black Audi Q5. Go Your Own Way, by Fleetwood Mac, starts playing through the car's speakers and Niall's right foot keeps on hitting the rhythm of the song during the entire way back to NYU, and Harry can't stop himself from staring at his roommate's excitement over the music played in the car.

"Horan." He says, once the song is finished.

"Yeah?"

The two boys exchange glances at the same time.

"Do you like Fleetwood Mac?"

"One of my favorite bands, mate", he answers. "Why the question?"

"Maybe, just maybe, there's a tiny little chance of them being my favorite band ever, too."

2032

"And they lived happily ever after." Chloe says, once it seems that Niall has finished his story for the night.

"You know that's not true, darling."

"I wish it was."

"Don't do that", Taylor rolls his eyes at his sister, "you know it's a hard topic here. Dad doesn't like to talk about it."

"But he should. You know, Harold is..."

"Don't finish that sentence." Niall's voice gets a little angry, and Taylor sees the veins on his father's neck almost jumping out of his skin. "Don't do that."

"You never told us about the part when everything went wrong, dad", Chloe blurts out, her eyes getting watery in a matter of seconds. "I just wished I could know!"

"That was just the fall season, Chloe." The older Horan in the room speaks again, with a softer tone on his voice this time. "Everything is beautiful at the fall season. The words are sweet, the the contact is safe, the wind is refreshing."

"Then..."

"And then the winter came on. I mean, not right after that night when we ate Big Macs and talked about life in general. It took a little longer than that. But I don't want you to think everything was about flowers and all in this story. It started with opinions of hate, do you remember?"

"I do, dad."

"Then think about it again. The hate didn't disappear from his heart, or from mine. It was there. But we just thought it was useless to keep beefing with each other. We had to stick together, at least for a while."

"And that's what you did." Taylor completes his dad's words. "You did what you had to do."

"And he did his part, too."