Ana
The Christmas Truce, as I so nicknamed it, lasted much longer than just Christmas. Michael was trying to be good for Lizzie's sake, and I think he was able to see that all the guys were actually not who he thought they were. It was a nice change from what had happened at the beginning of this relaxing vacation.
For the most part after that, it was pretty boring. We all just hung out in the cabin waiting for the snow to melt a bit so we could walk out the door. We had an epic Mario Kart Championship (in which I made it to the final four) and had incredibly long movie marathons that lasted until four a.m. All in all, it was a pretty relaxing time.
New Years was also pretty fun. We sat on the couch watching New Year's Rockin' Eve and the various music acts that were on the show that night, as well as eating various snacks and reminiscing about the past year's events. We had a good reason to, for our year had been filled with excitement.
The next day, we were to bring the boys back to the airport. Their break was still going a bit longer, but they wanted to see their family a bit before they were whisked back into the world of the music industry. Kyle and Michael still had a bit more time here to spend with their respective families.
We shared stories from the summer and other various periods in our lives, laughing about the silliness and misguidedness of our younger selves. We sat back and relaxed, and it was definitely one of the better times I had had throughout the year that was ending.
When the countdown for the New Year began, we all sat up straighter and started counting down all together. "Ten..." This was it.
"Nine...eight...seven..." This was the beginning of our future.
"Six...five...four..." Now, we were going to move on into the rest of our lives, and for the first time, we would be completely in control.
"Three...two...one! Happy New Year!" And now, it was starting.
Everyone shared hugs and kisses, cheering as we were sent into a completely new year. A rousing rendition of Auld Lang Syne was started by one of the boys, and we all joined in so quickly I can't even tell you who started it. We sang it all with rounds of laughter and bright smiles, jokingly swaying back and forth with our arms around each other. It was definitely a highlight of the break.
At about one in the morning, we all said goodnight to each other and went to bed. Later that day, we were going to have to say goodbye, and that was something we were not looking forward to. But it had to be done, and we knew this wasn't the end.
At about ten in the morning, though, we had woken up, packed up, and gotten in the van. The snow had melted a bit, and we could actually exit the cabin, which was a welcome change. However, this meant that we had to say goodbye to Tanner. We exchanged goodbyes with the young man, and Simone gave him a lingering hug. He was one of her best friends, after all. Even the 1D boys gave him a nice farewell, adding that they had enjoyed hanging out with him over the snow-filled break. So, as we piled in the van, Tanner waved goodbye to all of us.
Michael drove again, and as he pulled away from the cabin, Tanner didn't stop waving. He had a smile on his face, and we returned it. We kept waving until he was out of sight. I guessed that afterwards, he made his way down the snow-covered road back towards his own home.
As Michael drove, there wasn't much talking. What were we supposed to say anyway? If we said anything, we knew we'd start to cry a bit, and it wasn't going to be good. So, instead, we stayed silent for the most part. If we spoke, we spoke in whispers.
When we got there though, that's when we decided to chat and say goodbye. We walked with everyone to the check in desk and the boys got their bags checked and sent to the plane. That was where we all had to say goodbye.
A few girls noticed who the guys were and started freaking out, so we had to move quickly with our goodbyes. I exchanged hugs with each of the guys, giving them quick goodbyes. I promised each of them that we could have a better goodbye with a quick Skype chat before they got on the plane, and they agreed to it. After giving each of the guys some quick hugs and sneaking a kiss to Harry, we let them go. I heard screams and gasps of surprise from the fans after kissing Harry, and when each of the other girls snuck kisses to their respective boyfriends.
We stood there in the airport, watching them go through baggage claim while girls in line asked for selfies and autographs. The girls and I shared hugs, and Kyle and Michael gave us reassuring pats on our shoulders. When they were completely gone, we went back to the van in silence. The strange thing was that a few of the girls who had been watching our goodbyes were reaching out to us, freaking out more than a little bit. It was weird. That was our first taste of what it really was like when you were dating a member of one of the biggest bands in the world at that moment in time.
When we got in the van, I was quick to Skype Harry on his phone, and we all struggled to fit in the frame for at least one portion of the time to say our real goodbyes. We thanked them for coming to hang out with us at the cabin, and I thanked them again for making our lives so much more interesting than any of us had dreamed it could be. Liam made us a promise, and said that it was only the beginning, and that we'd see them again soon.
He was right about both of those things.
The rest of the school year passed quickly. Classes, at least for me, were easy and fun. The only drama I had to deal with was the shock of the girls that realized that I was in a relationship with Harry. I can't speak for the other girls, but I'm 99.9% positive they dealt with the same things on a regular basis, even Simone with just being friends with them. At the lunch table, we definitely had to deal with it. Groups of girls came over and pretended to be our friends, even though we all could see they were just trying to get to us. It just showed us that sometimes people use others to get what they want. No matter what, throughout the whole thing I reminded myself that I shouldn't let others use me or push me around. And I didn't let them.
By the end of the year, everything was perfect. Each of us had gotten our responses back from colleges and knew exactly where they were going to go, and Simone had found her real place in the school. Some of us were sticking around close to home in Minnesota, while others were going farther out and exploring new horizons. I was one of the ones who left. But, we all shared our special bond and kept talking and hanging out when we were in the area.
The guys all came for the graduation ceremony. Although fans noticed them and asked for various things, their presence did not distract others. We got to celebrate at our joint cul de sac party later that night, and we loved having them there.
There ended up being nothing between Simone and Tanner after that winter. The sparks she thought she felt weren't there when he and his family came to the graduation party. They remained very good friends after that though.
After graduation, our lives became different. It wasn't a bad different; it was the changes we were waiting for. Nothing lasts forever, and we learned that. Each of us went off on our own path, but in the future we all remained tied together like we should be.
Michael served two tours in the Air Force after completing his basic training. He served as a pilot, and thankfully came home safely. We were all glad when we heard about his return home, and when it ended, we each took time off to go see him and throw him the welcome home party he deserved. The Christmas Truce lasted even longer, and Michael told Lizzie that night that he absolutely approved of her relationship with Louis. That night, he also gave Louis permission to marry Lizzie, as well as proposing to his secret girlfriend, Katie. That one threw us for a loop that night, since we had all thought he had been just good friends with this girl. However, we were all happy for him, since he deserved this happiness.
Kyle got rid of Olivia for good when he went back to college, which was something I think we all could be proud of him for. He went back to college and finished up the rest of the year. He finished off the rest of his college career and graduated near the top of his class. We were all there for his graduation and graduation party. Along the way, he met a girl in the same dorm as he was in, named Julia. She was in a few of his classes, and they got to know each other before starting a nice, sweet relationship. The girls and I admittedly placed bets on when the two would marry. Later on, they got married, like we guessed, and now live happily ever after, plain and simply.
Simone survived her last few years of high school without us. She graduated and went to college like she had planned. On her first day, when she got the tour of campus, she met a sophomore boy who was helping to give the tour. His name was Evan, and he was majoring in business, just like she was. She was minoring in Fine Arts though. They had study sessions together, and sooner or later, they developed a relationship. When she graduated, he had waited around, and they decided to open a nice little craft shop together, where she does the little demonstrations. They simply fell in love and got married. At their wedding, they had little ceramic plates that had been made in their store as favors.
Courtney went off to college once graduation happened. Since she was a dancer, it was obvious what she would want to do. So, she went to a dance academy and perfected her already almost perfect dancing skills. She said that she talked to Liam every chance she got. Later on in their life, they decided to get married. Even though Liam was busy with One Direction and she was busy with starting up her own dance academy, they made it work. Like we had always joked, Courtney became Mrs. Payne. Not surprisingly, she and Liam had the best first dance out of all of us when it came to her reception. She still runs the dance academy, and her dancers, who all started as amateurs, have won various titles since the opening.
Kelly and Zayn didn't have much drama after all of this occurred. It was nice and calm for them as Kelly went through her school career, majoring in Fine Arts. Even though she was in a different area when Zayn decided to leave One Direction at one point, she was there to support him and helped him through it from long distance. She became an artist, like she had wanted to be, and now sells her projects for a decent profit at monthly auctions. During downtimes, she teaches art classes at the nearby community center. In the end, she's happy in her life, just like we wanted her to be after all the drama that had happened over time. They are happily married, and the two artists have the nicest, most interestingly decorated home out of all of us.
Lizzie made her journey fun. She had fun all the way through the rest of the school year and her entire college career. When Louis was around, the two of them would cause so much trouble, but don't let that fool you. People enjoyed having this couple around to make their day more interesting and fun. It definitely made our lives more interesting. While at college during her senior year, the volleyball coach quit. So, when an assistant coach moved up into head and there was a position open, she applied and got it. Now, she is the actual head volleyball coach at the college, and lives happily with her husband, Louis. She continues to light up a room with her jokes and personality, and probably always will.
Now that Lucy and Niall have admitted their feelings for each other, they had a real relationship that continued throughout her college years. She majored in Fine Arts like Kelly did, just with a focus on the music aspect as opposed to art. After graduating, she became a singer. She is the nightly entertainer at local coffee shops and events, adding ambiance to romantic dinners. Sometimes she accompanies herself with her guitar or a piano. Who knows, maybe she'll be discovered someday and become a famous singer just like her famous husband? She and Niall got married a couple years after she graduated, and now are living happily. Needless to say, the Horan household is always filled with music.
My life has been going pretty well too. After graduation, I went to college with a double major in high school education and creative writing. Throughout college, I kept my relationship with Harry going, and kept in contact with all the girls. When I graduated and finished up my extra years for becoming a teacher and fulfilled all the requirements, I got a job at a high school as an English teacher, teaching the advanced freshmen and sophomore classes. At night, I work on various novels that I've worked towards publishing, and at the moment I've been able to publish a few. Harry and I got married after I finished all my school years, and we are happy to say that we're living a happy life now that we're all settled down.
Yes, we all had to grow up. We're not like Peter Pan; we don't stay kids forever. We can't just continue to go to high school and parties and act like we don't have a care in the world, because that isn't the case anymore. We went to college, got jobs, and got married. Everyone else in the world is going to have to do that someday.
However, that didn't mean any of us stopped being friends. We scattered a bit throughout the country, but whenever any of us were in the vicinity of the others, we made sure to meet and hang out. We're all still best friends, and the link we started out with keeps us together even now.
But, after all these events happened, I came up with an idea. It had been years since the summer and winter that brought us together had occurred. The events were just memories and photos in various celebrity gossip magazines. Nobody knew the truth about what had happened in our lives.
That was when I got the idea.
I emailed all of the girls and asked them to send me their memories of the summer and winter. They were happy to send what they remembered. The guys even chipped in their thoughts about things we had done. So, in between my grading and writing, I compiled all their thoughts, plus my own, into two books, one for each season we spent together. I even had the plans to print enough copies for each of the families to keep at their houses. After about three months of curating the stories we had created, I had the first book in my hands.
It was given the title of Six Girls, Five Guys, One Summer.
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A/N:
Hey Dreamers. Well, this is it. This is the end. I hope you enjoyed the story. I know over the course of both of the books I had trouble updating regularly because of writer's block and other life events, but all in all I really enjoyed writing this story for all of you.
On Wattpad, 6G5G1S was my first story. The support from all of you gave me the courage to continue to put my writing out there, and you made me choose to write a sequel. I owe this all to you.
This may be the end of this story and this world, but this isn't the end completely. I plan on writing more for you. It may not be One Direction fanfictions (I make no promises on whether or not I'll write more of those), but hopefully it will be stories that you enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing them. If you have time, check out Zipped, It's a Long Story, or any other future books I post on here or on my joint account.
Please give me your feedback in the comments. Also, if you feel like it, tell me what were some of your favorite parts in total, from either book. I'd love to know what you enjoyed. Maybe you and I enjoyed the same thing. Please also feel free to vote and follow.
Thank you for coming on this journey with me. It's been a long journey, but a great one. Don't forget, keep dreaming.
Love, Noel