Harry - you slipped your body from the bed and fumbled into clothes down the hallway, “Harry?” You called out again but he didn’t answer. You searched the house, stomach dropping when you realised he was gone. You shuffled back to your bedroom, scanning around. He’d taken his soaking clothes with him, and hung the towel back up in the bathroom. You stifled down from sobbing, bending to your knees and holding your stomach in your hands, “what the hell?”
You trained your gaze up, standing again. You thought enough to reach for your phone, a missed call from Harry flashing the screen. You wiped your eyes to call him back, like he’d know you were crying.
"(Y/N)?" He sounded rushed when he answered.
"Harry, where the hell did you go?"
"(Y/N), I’m so sorry, I… I’m so sorry I left you, but I… just give me a second, I…" his voice was cracking up over the phone, static fiddling it’s way through.
"Harry, I… I can’t hear you," you tried, "you’re breaking up…"
"(Y/N)," his voice came through again, "I love you, okay? I… sh… last night, I should’ve but I didn’t, and… sorry…"
"Harry…" you paced the floor, "where the hell did you go? What’s going on?"
"Need… Emily…" his voice came through as some warped crackle for a minute, but you heard her name, palming your forehead to streak back fingers through your hair.
"What? Harry?" You tried again.
"I’ll… hang on…" he managed the murmur, before the line went dead. Phone a little limp in your hand, you weren’t too sure which second it fell in, hitting the floor with a loud enough crack to make you snap back. You looked down, bending to retrieve it.
"He’s marrying her…" you shook your head, trying to figure it out, "he’s marrying her… he’s marrying her… he’s gone back to her. He realised it was a mistake and he’s gone back to her…" you sank down on the bed, burying your face, "God, I’m such an idiot…" you groaned. You felt the dewy drop of tears in your palms, and you had to wipe them again, silly little steps to standing again, walking to your dresser and yanking out clothes to pack a bag. You stuffed them in, two at a time, changing into something else, not the same clothes Harry had stripped off you last night. Something there felt wrong. You flipped your hair inside the hood of a jacket and tugged along all of your things. You traced a line down the hallway as you tugged the heavy bag outside. Slung into the boot, you fixed it all down and turned back to lock your front door. When you moved again, you caught Harry as he pulled up, stumbling out of his car to jog towards you, "(Y/N)," he stopped in front of you, "wait, where are you going?"
You scowled and pushed past him, knocking his chest with your shoulder, “to my parents…” you snarled, “I don’t when I’ll be back, but I won’t be back in time for your wedding…” you spat the last word.
"(Y/N), wait!" Harry called out after you.
"Save it," you snapped back, tugging open the drivers side door. Harry followed you around and slammed it back shut. A peddling smirk made it’s way across his face.
"You’re not going anywhere," he stepped closer, making it a smile. You furrowed breath in an exhale under him, "what the hell does that mean?"
"I left Emily," he told you, "this morning, when I left. I hated what I’d done because I’m not that guy, but I knew I had to end it, (Y/N), I… it’s always been you, it was always going to be you… you were," he took your cheek in one warm palm, "you were the one that got away…" he leant down, enough to kiss you softly and you let him, "but you came back…" he murmured over your lips.
Liam - you found your seat, shuffling a little to the sounds of quiet music helping usher everyone in. You closed your eyes dully for a second, to take it all in. Louis, Harry, Niall and Zayn stood, chatting, in the line down from the altar as groomsmen. You held your purse in your hands to keep them from shaking, something heavy to keep them still. The doors sounded out, and you watched Liam make his way down the aisle, head bowed before he made it to the altar, standing oddly.
"Gosh, he does look handsome up there, doesn’t he?" A relative turned to whisper to you, her grey hair a little wispy when you turned to look.
"Um, yeah, yeah he does…" you mumbled, trailing off.
"How do you know the groom?" She enquired, wiry eyes searching you in anticipation of an answer.
"Um," you stumbled over a sentence, looking to the front. His eyes were scanning, for something, and you didn’t know it was you. He stopped when he saw you, peering to where you were sitting, "um, I don’t…" you finalled finished, "I don’t know the groom… not anymore, anyway…"
"Oh, oh, okay…" the woman slipped back to her side, turning away from you with an interesting smile playing across thin lips. You bit your own to forget her, looking back up as Liam looked away, sighing to himself about something you didn’t want to know anymore. Louis patted his back and murmured something to him, before Liam replied, pacing back down from the altar to cross the aisle and quickly leave again.
"Sorry… do you… do you know where he just went?" You turned back to the woman, anxiously asking.
"I… I don’t know," she brushed off the reply, and you could only settle back in your seat again, waiting for him to return. When the music started, slow piano tune, you turned with everyone else to the bride coming through. You glanced nervously back up to the altar, wondering where Liam was. Swerving back, Bec made her way, walking with an arm linked around her fathers. You saw her eyes, registering it all, seeing the absence of Liam.
"Shit," you murmured under your breath, fumbling in your purse to pull out your phone. You slid the screen to send a text to Liam, but the back door swung. You looked up, wondering, Bec passing you. Liam waved politely to a few people in apology, quickly hurrying to the front. He took his place, the boys breathing a little sigh of relief. You watched as Bec made it to the altar, and Liam murmured some kind of apology for being late. His eyes swept the scene again, before he stood in place with Bec, and he caught yours when you looked up. They were after some kind of longing you couldn’t understand, some smile you couldn’t reciprocate. But you gave it anyway, a little nod to say it’s okay, to say that you’ve forgiven him. And he slid one back, before he had to turn away, giving his vows and his heart to a girl that wasn’t you. You sat and watched, listening to it all.
"Cheers," you murmured to the bartender at the reception, taking a dutiful sip to dull everything till a tap on your back made you turn.
"Sorry," a smiling man stumbled back, easy grin before he made your eyes again, "I was… I was just wondering if you wanted to dance, I’ve been looking at you for practically the whole wedding and you’re kind of the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen…" you took a breath, his eyes kind. And when you could, you gave yourself a second to smile, and think of how it all works out in the end, before you answered, honestly, "I would love that, thank you… that sounds perfect…"
Louis - you moved a little in your seat, arriving at the church with Harry and Zayn in the car. “Ready?” Harry turned to you, before peering over at Zayn in the backseat.
"Yep," you nodded stiffly, pulling yourself out of the car. You stepped up with them, walking through, shaking hands with every relative of Louis that you’d met.
"Oh, (Y/N)," one of his uncles tugged you over, hugging you, "you know…" he winked by you when he let you go, "I always thought you and Louis would be the ones getting married… you’ve been friends long enough…" he laughed with a pat on your shoulder. You cringed away from him, slipping into another room to calm yourself. You hadn’t seen Louis since he’d left for the rehearsal, avoided him and all the words unspoken, feeling like it made it okay.
"Guys, better take our seats," Zayn peered over to you, then nodding to Harry and Niall, standing by. They walked through, Harry turning to take your hand and help you through.
"You know," he whispered in your ear as you walked, "if you talk to him now, you can save yourself having to yell out object halfway through…"
"What? Harry…" you spun around, almost colliding with him. He winked knowingly, stepping into the church and leaving you standing. You had to shuffle your dress for a moment, turning on the spot. A deep breath made you across the entryway, and along the corridor to where you knew Louis was getting ready. You found the door, leaning against it for a moment. You couldn’t hear much inside besides the sound of feet pacing, scuffing on marble flooring. You bit your lip, some part of you still able to taste Louis there, so you wiped and paced the floor, steeling yourself to just go in and say it.
"Louis, I love you…" you murmured under your breath, practising, "I… I love you…" you paced backwards and forwards. The minutes ticked and you stood, shaking on your feet. So much of you wanted to walk through the door, to the one person you knew you could never have, but you bowed back, ran quickly in the opposite direction back to your church, too scared to say anything, or do anything. You drew back tears as you walked inside and took your seat amongst everyone else. The music started, and you shuffled yourself into sitting, as Louis stepped through, shaking hands and making his way up to the altar. You glanced, looking up, when you could. Harry swallowed oddly, and looked from you to Louis, but you shook your head at him, glancing back down, fixing your hair with one hand, tugging a few loose strands back.
"Just breathe…" you whispered, as quietly as you could manage, hearing the music swell and Faye make her way down the aisle. You stood with everyone, seated yourself again when she was where you wanted to be, standing with Louis before the priest.
You looked up when Harry made another face at you, but you shook your head again, convincing yourself of something. He’d made the conscious decision to marry her, ask her to, watch her say yes, kiss her, hold her, keep her this long. And even in the light of a nudge to your back, you couldn’t fight that, or you didn’t want to.
"Do you, Louis William Tomlinson, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife…" you dulled the sound of the priest’s voice, a little draining, until Louis spoke, crack in his voice, and he turned out to the crowd, eyes locking with yours before he spoke, breaking on the last note, "I do…"
Zayn - ”(Y/N), get your beautiful ass down here or we’re gonna be late…” Niall called up the stairs, fixing his tie in waiting for you. You blushed your cheeks in the mirror, a giggle of a smile down to your feet before you turned, yanking your things, walking to make it down the stairs to him.
"You look beautiful," he pressed his lips to your cheek, "you really do…"
"Thanks," you leant into the kiss, nudging it to your lips, "you don’t look so bad yourself…" you smoothed your dress for a second before peering around the house, "we ready then?"
"Yep," Niall grinned, and you took a step to the front door, "just… just one second…"
You turned, stopping, “what’s up, Niall?”
"(Y/N)," he stood where he was in front of you, before he took a step to take your hands and hold them, "I know it’s been a crazy six months, and… I never thought I’d be here with you… I never thought I’d be so lucky or so happy… I never thought a stupid hook up would lead to something so amazing…"
"Niall," you blushed down, feeling his thumbs wrap your knuckles.
"It’s been six months since that night," he smiled, keeping his words going, "and it’s been the best six months of my life, (Y/N), I mean it… I love you so much…" you had to shuffle at what he was saying, shifting feet and your stance, till he spoke again, "and I know it’s a weird day for you today, Zayn’s wedding, and I know my timing is probably awful with this and I know I’m so out of my league when it comes to you, but…" you gasped when he leant down to stand on one knee. He slid a tiny velvet box from his suit pocket and tipped it open in front of you, glancing up nervously, "(Y/N), I don’t need another three years with you to know that I will never love another girl as much as I love you. You are everything I could ever want and so much more…" he pressed his lips together in the end, "will you marry me?"
Your stomach fell to your feet, and you couldn’t think of much, only one word, “yes…” you had to bite down on the word from spilling out over and over, “yes, Niall, yes…” you helped him up and he kissed you, for as long as he could hold you, brushing hands across your cheeks, “I love you, Niall…”
"I’m so happy…" he tilted his forehead by yours, and held you, pressing lips to you again. He threaded your hand with his, and walked you out to the car. You slipped in to the passenger side and he jogged around to the drivers side, taking his seat and starting the car. You leant over to brush lips across his cheek as he drove, "this is turning out to be a pretty awesome day so far…"
"Yeah," Niall could only grin, as you pulled up to the hotel, parking and sliding out of either side.
"Now," Niall tugged on your hand, "again, are you gonna be okay today? I… I know it’s stupid, but I know it’s gotta feel weird for you… I’m here, okay? I love you…" he dulled his lips by your forehead.
You fiddled with the ring on your finger, “I’ve got you,” you murmured up, smiling. You both stepped inside, finding Zayn with arms trying to extract himself from his parents.
"Hey, guys," he grinned as he walked over to you, "both looking wonderful, well, Niall not so much…"
Niall punched his shoulder playfully, “how you feeling, man? All ready?”
"Yep," he braced himself, "can’t believe it’s here, but yep…" he glanced around, standing as he could in front of you and Niall. His eyes made it to you, then down, catching the ring on your finger, "hang on…" and his smile broke out as yours did, "seriously? Are you guys? Wait… seriously?"
"Yep" you smiled as you could.
"Congratulations," he pulled you both in, hugging you, and you almost stumbled from how tight it was before he let you go.
"We won’t tell anyone till later, promise…" Niall smiled. Zayn hugged him once, beaming when he broke it, and he leant down to kiss your cheeks, lips murmuring at your ear, "I’m really happy for you, (Y/N), you deserve it…" and he broke away to stand again. Your eyes caught his smile and it was okay to linger, knowing you’d found home again.
Niall - you tried to close your eyes, under warm water cascading in the shower. You tugged your hair into a thick, wet rope and slung it over your shoulder, leaning your body against the tiled wall. You took a breath, thinking about last night. “Pregnant?” Was all you’d been able to manage, shaky voice trembling out, “what? How the hell does that even happen?”
"Well, we didn’t use a condom," Niall had flustered himself back from you, "I… we didn’t mean for it to happen, but it did, and we’re… we’re getting married, so it’s okay…"
"Would you have kissed me if she wasn’t pregnant?" You had to whisper, and your limbs quivered under the water in the shower as you closed your eyes tighter, remember the way he’d nodded, some hollow, "yes," coming out of dry lips, before you pushed away from him and left the house, driving home.
You turned off the taps and stepped out, wrapping a towel around yourself. You stopped by the mirror, trying to figure yourself out. A knock on the door startled you, “crap,” you almost tripped over yourself, falling into clothes to make it down the hallway. You bundled your hair up in the towel as you answered the door, “oh, Niall, um, hey…”
"Hey," he stood on the spot, hands in his pockets a little nervous, "can I… can I come in?"
"Um, sure," your cheeks blushed a faint pink as you stepped aside, "what’s up?"
"I’m marrying Megan," he turned when he made it into the living room, turning to look at you, "she’s carrying my child, and I love her. I’m marrying her, (Y/N)."
"I…" you didn’t know what to say, "I know, Niall, I… already know all this. Why are you telling me?"
"Because…" he stopped, to hitch a breath, "I don’t know, I just… I wanted to… to apologise, and I don’t know…"
"Cheers," you grimaced, snapping gaze away to a place in the room he couldn’t find your eyes.
"I just…" Niall tried again, "I feel like I screwed something up with you, like… like I hurt you even though we were never together, I can’t… I can’t figure out what it is…"
"That’s because it’s nothing," you said quickly, "it’s… it’s nothing, Niall, there never was and never will be anything…"
"That’s not true," Niall murmured slowly, and you decided eyes on him, enough to wonder what he meant. He took a breath, "there… there was something between us… that night, and… another nights too, I think…" he turned, scowling to himself as he ran hands through his hair, "God, this is crazy, I…"
"Niall…"
"No, (Y/N), I…"
"It’s okay," you had to almost yell for him to hear, stop worrying his own words out, "it’s okay…"
"No, no, it’s not…" he shook his head to you, walked up and took your hands.
"Yes, it is," you blew a breath slowly, "Niall, I… I don’t even know how long I’ve had feelings for you, a long time, okay? And I always hoped that maybe something might happen, but realistically, I knew it never would… okay? I knew that I was just clinging to some crush I never grew out of…"
"(Y/N)," Niall’s eyes saddened.
"No, don’t," you smiled up at him, "don’t give me that pity look. I’m fine, okay? I just… I don’t know… but what I do know is that you love Megan, and you’re gonna have a baby together, I can’t… I couldn’t ever get in the way of that…"
"You’re a good person, (Y/N)," Niall breathed, close to you.
"Yeah," you smiled, before you shook your head down, "anyway, you should, um, you should probably go. I’m sure Megan doesn’t know you’re here and she’s too awesome to get hurt by any of this, and…" you found his eyes again, "she’s pregnant. You should be with her, I’ll be okay…"
"No, you won’t…" Niall smiled at you, shaking his head down to find your eyes.
"In the end," you smiled back, "I will be…"
"Well, I’m here for you in the meantime," Niall pulled you into a hug, and you fell into his chest, the warmth there, trying to figure it all out in your head, "thanks, Niall," you smiled into him, before you managed to crack laughter, "you’re a really good friend…"