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"Been a lot of places, I've been all around the world. Seen a lot of faces, never knowing where I was. On the horizon, mmh, well, I know, I know, I know, I know the sun will be rising back home," Liam Payne sings to a studio audience of unsuspecting guests who never in their wildest dreams expected to witness the highly anticipated but largely unexpected One Direction reunion.
The room is dark, pitch black almost, expect for the one warm toned spotlight that is hitting Liam from where he stands in the center of the stage. Just moments ago, James Corden opened his show, however tonight's introduction was anything but ordinary.
Cameras flickered to life, but the studio immediately darkened except for a single light on James' desk that illuminated his round face and perfectly gelled back blonde mop, suit perfectly ironed and red silk tie gleaming.
"Welcome to a very special edition of the Late Late Show," he stated confidently with one of his iconic overly enthusiastic smiles, hands folded on his desk in front of him. "This is the part of the show where I would usually welcome you all and thank you for choosing to spend your night with us before making some politically fueled jokes that you would all laugh at, because you either feel obligated to, or because there are signs blinking all over the studio that cue when you're all supposed to laugh, but we don't have time for that tonight, because unfortunately I can't keep you up all night, and tonight's show is most definitely going to be the best one ever.
"Now, it is my pleasure to hand tonight over to some very important guests," James said as he rolled away from his desk and motioned over to the stage that was empty of anything at the time except for a stand with one lone guitar held within the prongs. "Please welcome the real hosts of tonight's show."
At the moment, the one light in the room that splayed across James Corden's being completely went out in favor of illuminating one sole area in the back center of the stage. A melodic tune that only One Direction's true fans would recognize began to play before the curtain opened a sliver to reveal none other than Liam Payne, microphone gripped in his tattooed hand and pressed to his lips that bled with a song.
Liam's shaggy hair has only grown longer, a few strands curling around his face reminiscent of the very early days of the band. He wears a loose white blouse with only the bottom few buttons looped though the holes on the opposite side to expose a large portion of his chest, thin gold chain gleaming beneath the bright light that illuminates him, pendant hidden beneath the fabric.
Sleeves are rolled up just below his elbows to show off the intricate ink that melds together on his arms to tell a story- to tell Liam's incredible story. One wrist is adorned with a hefty gold watch while the other has a simple bracelet of a similar finish.
Gray slacks hang low on his hips that possess a simple plaid pattern within the fabric.
He sings the words as if he is the only person ever allowed to do so, each one forming perfectly and rolling off his tongue in a way that suggests the notes were created just for him. As he walks over to the far right side of the stage, what would be stage left for him, someone else pushes through the curtain at the very back.
"Living out of cases, packing up and taking off. Made a lot of changes but not forgetting who I was. On the horizon, oh, well, I know, I know, I know, I know the moon will be rising back home," A very brunette Niall takes the stage, vibrant red shirt with a bandana pattern stealing the eyesight of every human in the room. He wears it tucked in to a tight pair of blue jeans that roll up at the ankle to allow for a high-top white Converse to grace each foot, a brown belt looped through his jeans and buckled securely at the top.
Niall Horan's smile is electric, his confidence that he only truly found when the band broke up radiating through the room and infecting everyone that watches, especially me. I can't help but bounce on the balls of my feet giddily while biting down on my freshly painted baby pink thumbnail that my teeth are bound to chip, but I couldn't care less.
I stand off to the side in the midst of the darkness, watching through bright eyes and listening with attentive ears that pick up on Niall's laugh fumbling the lyrics thanks to a funny face Liam is pulling.
The Irish lad's infectious giggle is something that remains impossible to forget. I could spend hours, days, weeks, months, or even years apart from him, but his jolly chuckles that always shake his entire body and render him immobile, always gripping his tummy for dear life as he folds in on himself, are something that I can never seem to banish from my mind. Anytime I happen upon something that I think Nialler would find hilarity in, my brain plays his laugh on repeat in my mind on such a high volume that the sound trumps out my own giggles.
His laugh has played joyously like Christmas bells in my ears since midnight last night when everyone stayed up on the beach to impatiently await the beginning of July 23rd with a bonfire smoking by our side, black fumes rising into the nighttime air and tainting the stars.
At exactly midnight, the long awaited music video for Infinity was the first thing to drop, and Niall Horan's laughter managed to light up the entire night, his mind finding too much humor in the reaction of the band's most diehard fans.
"They're losing their bloody minds! This is great!" He guffawed as Maya, Ashe, and I sat in the sand with my phone held out for all of us to watch the video that the boys refused to let us see until that very moment, because they thought it would be funny to treat us like the fans we all once were and still are.
I think the five of them forgot that I technically had no clue who they were until meeting them, but I let that slide.
Gigi was the only exception to the rule, because she has Zayn wound so tightly around her little finger that he is constantly falling at her feet and praising the ground she walks on, especially now that she is pregnant, and her symptoms are way worse than mine. Inez Hadid-Malik isn't treating her mother as well as our unnamed Little Granger.
The happy couple has no plans of announcing the name of their baby girl, instead opting to put it out there in a way that no one will actually be able to figure out, and that is through miss Taylor Alison Swift herself.
You heard the rumors from Inez, you can't believe a word she says...
I believe those are the lyrics.
Visions of the Infinity music video still dance through my mind like wondrous pixies in the most mystical of gardens, each scene tainted with sparkling gold dust in my memory. Gigi placing her hand on my shoulder next to me brings a warmth to my chest and with it the images of a younger Louis, Liam, Niall and Harry running on screen in a similar way that they ran out of everybody's lives to go separate ways in the History video.
In the long awaited music video, all four of them stand around singing and dancing in front of a wall that slowly began crawling with drawings and videos that their fans made for them; basically it started out as what everyone believed it would be, but then the beat dropped after the bridge, and everything changed.
The boys reappeared on screen as their current selves, however they acted as they always have when they are together.
Like brothers.
It's safe to say that the world erupted in a fiery explosion of joy with all different colors, blasting against the midnight sky as each and every pair of curiously wide eyes watched the four boys turn into men with images flashing wildly behind them of their solo accomplishments that have led them to where they are now- that have led them ten years down a long line of dream after dream coming true, and it doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon.
At the end of the video, all that could be seen was four distinct silhouettes from behind, a fifth shadow joining them before the screen faded to black.
Standing here with Gigi, Maya, and Ashe by my side, all of us gripping onto each other excitedly, we patiently await for the end of the Infinity music video to come to life.
Liam and Niall join together to sing the chorus of Don't Forget Where You Belong, and as beautiful as it sounds with the rasp of the cute one melding perfectly with the velvet voice of the responsible one, the song still manages to sound empty without three other key voices.
"I've been away for ages," a new member sings out as the curtain opens again to reveal him, back facing the audience, and a third spotlight forming on him as he dramatically spins on his heels to turn around. "But I've got everything I need."
The immaculate green gaze of Harry Styles falls upon me instantly, the invisible string that binds us always serving as a light in the dark that brings us to one another. He sends my favorite little smirk my way that never ceases to bring butterflies of the worst and best kind to my stomach, fingers flying up to his forehead to salute me before he saunters down the center of the stage like he owns the place.
From my position watching, with Niall on his left and Liam on his right, Harry stands in the middle, multicolored sparkles dance across his sequined black blouse thanks to the lights that shine down on him like a patch of Heaven revealing itself through a gap in the sky to reclaim one of its angels.
A loose bow is tied at Harry's throat that bobs as he hits every note more perfectly than he ever has before, the ribbons hanging down his torso to fall just above the waistband of his creme slacks.
"I'm flicking through the pages, I've written in my memory."
The three young men with the most dashing smiles I've ever seen fall in line, closing the wide gaps between them so that they stand in a perfectly formed pyramid, Harry a few inches in front of Niall and Liam. With Niall in a bright red collared shirt, Harry with a makeshift bowtie, and Liam in his plaid pants, I feel like I'm looking at the bizarro version of the boys back in the old days.
"I feel like I'm dreaming. Oh, well, I know, I know, I know, I know that I'm never leaving. No, I won't go!"
Another chorus, this time much more full of luster thanks to the addition of a new voice to tie everything together bounces off the walls before settling in my chest right around my rapidly beating heart that I swear has just grown two sizes from standing here and basking in the old feelings of watching One Direction perform.
Admiring how each of them have grown into men from the boys they used to be manages to bring a few tears to the gold irises, memories flooding my brain faster than I can even comprehend them.
From a hopeful naivety that was brought about by the world's greatest music producer promising five young boys the world at the only cost of leaving home for a little while, to tired minds and broken hearts at the realization that a little while truly meant forever, my best friends have overcome it all.
They have overcome the loss and the heartbreak. They have overcome the sleep deprivation and anxieties that would starve them of any solace. They have overcome the shackles binding them to a dream that brought them the truest happiness they had ever known while also shielding a nightmarish reality with those very same joys.
Harry, Louis, Liam, Niall, and Zayn have won out against the odds that no one but their closest friends and family knew were drowning them, all five of them coming out stronger for it.
They have overcome the personas that a cruel, money hungry man wanted them to be, finally gaining freedom and showing the world who they really are, their loved ones serving as a reminder that even if that isn't enough to warp a somewhat false image, the friendship between the five boys playing as the rare hint of truth, the people within their real lives will love them no matter what.
Liam is no longer a sixteen year old kid with a dream that was crushed right before not only his very own eyes, but that of the entire country he calls home, resurfacing again to push back against the odds even harder. He has triumphed over all the responsibility placed upon his shoulders, wrongfully forced into a position where he was never allowed to partake in any of the mischievous fun that only ever got the boys in trouble, instead made to dispel it all as if his four brothers would listen. Liam James Payne is fun-loving and finds joy in the smallest of things, constantly high on life to the point where his truest happiness comes from opening his eyes in the morning with his health, son, and love of his life by his side.
Niall is so much more than the small boy with frosty blonde hair all the way to his roots, smile always close-lipped to hide the clear braces stuck to his teeth. However, despite that, his laugh was always big and his merriment always clear in the daylight of his baby blue eyes, never a cloud in sight. With every odd pushing back on him from barely scraping through the first rounds of the X-Factor and staying on the sidelines, always made to believe his voice was subpar compared to his bandmates, Niall's confidence never faltered- not once. Niall James Horan is one of the lucky ones, because even though so many people continuously tried to shut him down, he never gave in, only pushing twice as hard back to become one of the most happy-go-lucky and confident human beings to illuminate this dull planet.
Harry... my Harry. My green eyed boy never was and never will be any ounce of the poisonous image thrust upon him by the very people that were supposed to be his fairy godparents, whisking him away to Neverland where he would never have to grow up and could bask in the safety of the fluffy white clouds of his dreams becoming reality with money falling all around him in the form of pixie dust. But instead, the breathtaking boy with the impeccably sharp bone structure, green eyes forged of freshly cut summer grass, dimples so deep that moon beams shine from them when he smiles, and chestnut curls that veiled him with an innocence that only his filthy mouth could prove against, the Harry Styles that was forced upon the world was the type of boy that parents would warn their children about and close off their homes to.
To the world he was an overly sexualized womanizer who would most likely never have the heart to settle down, instead living a life too similarly to the many rockstars who paved the way for men just like him, but to me he was and still is anything but what the Captain Hook of his story wanted the world to think of Peter Pan and his Lost Boys.
As their Wendy, I should know.
Especially considering I have the second star to the right sitting on my finger in the form of an engagement ring from none other than Peter himself- my green eyed boy who never fails to save me from walking the plank, guiding me straight on till morning.
Harry Edward Styles is everything that I have always aspired to be in many ways that I am the same for him. He is kind beyond compare, undoubtedly himself, and has always dreamed of finding a kind of love that can typically only be found in story books or Disney movies. But luckily for us, all we have left to do is ride off into the sunset on the back of a glorious white stallion before our end credits will roll, The End written across the screen while an orchestra soars in the background.
The final member that everyone expects to see pushes his way through the curtain, brown hair flopping messily in his eyes as it once did when he was so much younger on the X-Factor stage. He wears black pants with a black bomber jacket over a white shirt that is coated in different widths of red and blue stripes.
"Lights off when they should be on. Even stars in the skies look wrong."
Louis can't contain his giddiness, always the one that has never tried to hide how badly he misses everything he unwillingly gave up all those years ago. Where the others all casually walked, easily containing their nerves that are only apparent by the little ticks they each have that only someone as bonded to them as me would notice, Louis doesn't seem to be able to do so.
"Even stars in the skies look wrong."
He runs up to stand at the end of the group, the four of them now in a line with their free hand that isn't holding a microphone to their lips resting on the back of the guy next to them.
"Short days when the nights are long, when I think of the things I've done."
Now swaying side by side, Louis sings what would usually be lyrics written for Zayn Malik, the funny one's blue eyes looking to Niall who then looks to Harry who looks to Liam who has his umber eyes trained down the line at the other three.
"Don't matter how far I've gone-"
As the four boys begin to sing together for the first time in five years, the lights begin to flicker, illuminating the entire room in harsh yellow hues for barely a millisecond before washing us with pitch black, this process repeating to the point where I start to see spots against the fabric of my white dress.
Each time the lights are on, I can see how Louis, Niall, Harry, and Liam are departing to put more space between the four of them, however the largest space lies between Niall and Harry, almost suggesting they are making room for a final member to take their position in the middle.
"I'm always free to run home!"
My world goes completely black, however a fifth and final voice shines brightly and serves as my solace through it all.
"Don't forget where you belong, home."
Through pounding drums that ravage through my chest and cause the crowd to clap on beat, lights flickering up with each new sound, every single person within this room and every single one watching from somewhere around the world hold their breath as the back curtain slowly opens one last time.
"Don't forget where you belong, home."
The velvet curtain flies open, a massive screen hidden behind it that now illuminates the studio with its blinding white light, blinking on perfect beat with that of the drums, the spotlights, and the white-gold hues beaming along either side of the stage. A silhouette stands in front, masked by the darkness, but only an idiot wouldn't know who this is.
"If you ever feel alone, don't..."
Cerulean, sky blue, emerald green, and dark chocolate are all more identifiable as the lights stay up for a a few more seconds before going down at each beat drop. All four pairs of eyes that crinkle at the sides thanks to the smiles on the different shaped lips that reside below them are trained on the fifth member much like everyone else in the room.
"...you were never on your own."
Four voices go silent in favor of letting one shine, every light going out in the room and putting an end to the incessant light show.
"Never," the new one belts, "never."
With the single flip of a switch, every light on the stage flickers back to life, the screen at the back flooding with images and videos from the five years that One Direction remained together, but all of that serves as background noise to Zayn Malik who walks casually towards his four brothers, mic held to his lips as he hits the most captivating high note anyone has ever heard.
Zayn's jet black hair is long and slicked back at the sides, one infamous strand hanging in the thick lashes that shield his hazel eyes. He wears ripped black jeans with a t-shirt of the same color. A red, white, and blue windbreaker hangs from his broad shoulders that is reminiscent of the varsity jackets he used to wear that go hand-in-hand with Louis' stripes, Harry's bowties, Niall's polos, and Liam's plaid flannels.
"Don't forget where you belong, home."
The screams and shouts coming from the crowd is insane, one group in the bottom corner particularly losing their shit seeing as they most likely bought tickets to James' show tonight out of suspicion. Then of course there is the group of girls gripping onto each other and jumping up and down in a dark corner, James Corden himself joining them.
That group would be Maya, Ashe, Gigi, and me.
"Don't forget where you belong, home."
One Direction are back together now, the five men standing in a line and hugging each other as if this is the last time they will ever be allowed to see each other again when in reality this is just the beginning of something new.
"If you ever feel alone, don't. You were never on your own."
Harry saunters over to the guitar stand that has been residing patiently on the side of the stage while the other four members slowly move to sit on four stools that have been brought out to the very front, the lights beginning to flicker out again.
As my green eyed boy picks it up and slings it over his shoulder, he sings, "And the proof is in this song."
"Never forget it, this song," Niall intones with his eyes closed as he plops himself on the stool next to Louis' that resides at the very end and the empty one belongs to Harry that rests in the middle.
Zayn adds through a smile, "Don't forget it."
"No, I'll never forget it, this song," a beautiful melody slips from Liam.
"You were never," Zayn finishes before a final strum of a guitar reaches the ears of everyone watching, the last sound actually played at the hands of Harry who finally takes his seat on the stool that was laid out for him.
The first song of One Direction's first performance together as a fivesome in too many years finally comes to an end and with that, a roar of applause begins.
Each member beams into the crowd, their smiles contagious and the exact opposite of the realizations that dawned on them the last time they ever performed together.
Granted, the last time they performed as a band of five key members, none of them actually knew that would be the last time, perhaps not even the young anxious boy that would stray. However, when the final four who remained, stronger for everything they suffered through together, all the preparation and deep breaths in the world couldn't have prepared them for the final strum of a guitar, the echo of the last pound to the drums, and the final harmony they would hit as a boyband.
The looks on their faces just before they hugged as if they were the only people in the room were stained with a painful mixture of disbelief and denial, not an ounce of relief or acceptance in sight, because perhaps they weren't ready to say goodbye yet, but too many cruel instances brought them to that place where they felt like they had to.
Right now, it is the beautiful twists of fate that sneak up on us without warning, yet we're thankful all the same, that bring them back together.
The sheer sound of the audience clapping somehow manages to mix with the unbelievable screams and shouts of the thousands of fans who are at home in their rooms trying to keep quiet to avoid waking their households but simply can't manage to keep their joyous squeals contained. Everything in the room shakes from the thunderous sounds of applause and earsplitting shouts.
Niall parts his lips and raises his shoulders in preparation to speak but barely gets a word out, because as soon as his Irish accent echos through the microphone, the claps and whistling applause only grow louder, the small entourage I stand with adding a lot to that noise, especially James.
I notice how Louis looks around with a smug smirk, twisting his lips to the side as he rubs his hands together in his lap, blue eyes swimming with overjoyed waves that completely capsize any darkness in favor of warm sunny skies. Liam looks around the room in awe with his mouth slightly agape, almost suggesting that he still struggles to fathom that any of this could be for him, and Zayn eyes Gigi as if she is all he will ever need.
Meanwhile, a distinct pair of green eyes stay crinkled at the sides as the owners hot pink lips curl into a smile that elicits two dimples, Harry's gaze traveling around the room before it lands in his lap with a small unbelieving laugh.
"Thank you, thank you," Niall is finally able to get out, gaze determined as he runs a hand through his wavy locks before motioning around the studio. "I know none of you knew we would be here, so I can't really thank you all for coming to see us, but this reaction..."
"...this is incredible. I honestly don't know what we did to deserve this," Niall finishes, looking to his brothers in a state of bewilderment that looks as if he is silently asking for help to find the words to express his thanks.
"This is- this is... I mean, wow," Liam breathes. "We weren't sure if we could still garner a reaction like this, so from the bottom of our hearts, thank you. Thank you for all of the support since the very beginning. Ten years. That's actually quite insane to think about. I'm starting to feel kind of old, what about you, lads?"
"Speak for yourself, Payno," Louis jests, eyebrows furrowing to form a crease between them as his lips curl into a small sneer. "I don't look a day over eighteen."
Louis' words gain some hoots among several laughs from the audience, a few fans screaming their praise for him.
"I say we should all address the elephant in the room, and that is the wonderful, Mr. Z-" Harry starts, motioning his arms toward Zayn Malik while the blinding lights that hit the stage shatter into little bursts of rainbow sparkles thanks to the black sequins of his blouse. However, my green eyed boy doesn't get to finish seeing as Niall interrupts with a sarcastic bob of his head, baby blue's wide.
"Yeah, how I'm the only one without a kid," he guffaws, extending his thumb to point over to Louis, Liam, Harry, and Zayn. Niall's gaze remains trained on the audience as he jokingly adds, "They've all been busy in the past five years."
The audience bursts into giggles again, Harry opening his mouth to speak while even Zayn himself reveals his beautiful smile that scrunches his nose and makes his hazel eyes squint. Before Harry can even get a word out, Louis is interjecting his sarcastic opinion once again.
"Careful, Niall. You're jealousy's showing."
Niall cuts his eyes at Louis who simply makes a crude gesture with his tongue playfully poking between his moist lips, teetering on his heels and pulling the microphone stand with him.
From next to me, James Corden suddenly motions to Harry and Zayn who are acting as the only responsible ones, letting them know that they need to get this show on the road before anything else can get too out of hand, although I was rather enjoying watching the banter take place. It reminds me so much of old times.
Harry finally interrupts the other three who can't seem to stop insulting each other in order to discuss the fact that Zayn is back. Meanwhile, a timid Ashe leans towards James, her airy voice with a hint of sultry rasp sounding from behind me.
"Wouldn't there be a commercial break about now?" The bleach blonde asks.
"Not tonight," James' accent speaks even more quietly than the young inquiring musician. "The network wants them limited, because well... it's One Direction."
Ashe nods slowly in understanding, Gigi, Maya, and I all doing the same seeing as we were all nonchalantly listening.
"This isn't hello again," Zayn speaks confidently, addressing the entire world who is wide awake and watching with bated breath.
"It's more like a little check in to let you all know how we're doing, and that we're all okay," Louis grins with a continuous nod of his head, scruffy face coated in shadows thanks to all of the different lights hitting him from different directions.
"And a thank you for sticking with us for so long," Niall adds, gaze solely focusing on the smiling face of each member of his boyband.
"A thank you for watching us grow up, supporting us through all of our awkward phases,-"
Louis nods adamantly with wide eyes.
"- and for accepting us through all of the change," Harry finishes.
Zayn sits up straighter now, gripping onto his mic with white knuckles as he effortlessly delivers the final line of their speech, "So this isn't us coming back, it's us giving you all the real goodbye you deserved but never got. Now this isn't goodbye forever, it's just goodbye for now. To celebrate ten years of One Direction, we have a lot in store for tonight's show, but to kick it all off, we thought you would enjoy our new song. This is Changes."
Changes.
The song they've been working on for weeks but perhaps has truly been brewing in each of their minds for years. In a way, this is very much a One Direction song, however it is the song they have always wanted to make with no inhibitions or barriers aimlessly built up by a label or a management company.
Each member got their own say in how they chose to record their lines, no boxes holding their voices hostage. All five of them were able to have a necessary input that makes this goodbye so much more genuine than anything else they could have concocted, and every ounce of that is obvious in the looks of pure enthrallment on five distinct faces.
Harry strums his guitar, his sheer confidence striding toward me like a light beam amongst the darkened stage, five spotlights trained on the five men and one trained on me in the form of my green eyed boy's mischievous gaze. I know that he his well aware that I am the candidate most likely to win 'most excited fan' considering how I've been badgering him about this since there was even talk of the boys doing a reunion, Harry taking too much pleasure in knowing how his fiancé who once didn't recognize his very recognizable face, is now his biggest fan, constantly fluffing his ego more than I mean to.
To continue doing just that, and maybe piss him off a little, I grip at my chest dramatically and feign hysteria, bending at the knees and pretending like I'm swooning. I even bring the back of my hand to my forehead as overzealously as I can before mouthing out through expressive features, "Oh my god, I love you."
My actions warrant a cocky smile from Harry, because even though he knows I'm bleeding with sarcasm, he is also completely knowledgable to the fact that I am very much his biggest fan.
No matter how badly I want to keep all capacities of my focus trained on Harry, the sound of Niall singing jolts me out of the staring contest gold was having with emerald, the two rare stones breaking away from the fantasy world they were slowly forging within each other.
"There is a town somewhere down an old dirt road. I see it now, I take it everywhere I go," Nialler sings so softly, yet the rasp in his tone is present as ever, pale blue eyes clamped shut as his stomach rises and falls to aid him in hitting each note perfectly beneath the silky fabric of his shirt.
"The river sways," Zayn begins to intone, his body swaying and long strand of hair in his eyes following suit as be looks around almost anxiously as if he is wondering whether anyone is truly accepting of him coming back.
I so badly wish I could assure him that his poor thoughts are anything but the truth, however it seems that I don't have to, because everyone in the room erupts with positive shouts for him which only causes a small smile to curl up his lips and a twinkle to form in the corner of his eye.
He continues to sing, the slight shakiness in the sultry tone of his voice no longer present, words rolling from his mouth like honey from a comb. "I can almost hear it now as if to say, you're not the only one who wants a way out."
Truth be told, I think each of the boys secretly wanted a way out... not from each other, the band, or the beautiful fans they welcomed along the way, but from the never ending exhaustion.
From the fake relationships.
From bending over backwards to please a man who would never deem anything they did enough.
From falling asleep with dreams of spending time with the families they never knew when or if they would see again.
From the tabloids.
From the emptiness.
"So, I go, 'cause I don't wanna feel like I don't know you anymore. I memorize those roads," Louis belts, and in this moment, I swear I see a few tears in his eyes.
"Somewhere under the summer night skies someone's falling in love in a backseat, givin' it away like their hearts won't ever break," Liam belts out the chorus on his own, veins popping in his neck as he strains.
"God bless the young hearts sippin' cheap wine. Gettin' drunk with their friends for the first time, thinkin' nothin's gonna change, till everything changes."
Niall takes the reigns once again, singing about how the boys have never left him despite the families they are starting: Louis and Freddie, Liam on the verge of popping the question to Maya, Zayn and Gigi, and Harry and I with our Little Granger.
Louis sings next before Zayn swings the mic stand around, getting in the groove of the rhythm, "So, I go, 'cause I don't wanna feel like you don't know me anymore. Don't recognize my face."
The lights swell up suddenly as all five sing a chorus so full of life and luster that everyone in the audience jumps to their feet, a few members trying to sing along despite never hearing the song before. I watch hopefully as each pair of eyes on the Late Late Show stage illuminate with joy at the sight of a crowd still enjoying their music even after false promises were inevitably broken.
18 months my ass.
"There ain't nothing here for me anymore," Zayn bellows.
"They say they don't hear from me anymore," a teary eyed Liam Payne explodes.
But the hardest to get through is the light gravel of Louis Tomlinson when he erupts with the most passionate melody from so deep within him that I fear we are all seeing a part of him that he has never allowed the chance to see the light of day. "And I don't wanna hear it anymore!"
Suddenly the beat falls, climax halting before it can even reach full capacity as a light whistling comes from none other than Harry Styles himself, the very same whistling tune that he hasn't stopped pouring out for months.
In a way, it represents the calm that they all welcomed after five long years of constant moving and singing until their throats were sore. The entirety of the song represents their story- the five of them along with me.
Harry begins to sing, "Somewhere under the summer night skies, I was fallon' in love in a backseat, givin' it away like my heart won't ever break."
This is our story. The story of Belle Granger wouldn't be anything without Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, and Liam Payne.
If I'm being completely honest, this is more their story than mine. Sure, I've always liked to think of myself as the main character even when I had no qualities to warrant such a title, but now I'm realizing that I'm simply the support to them.
This has always been their story.
"Had such a young heart sippin' cheap wine, gettin' drunk with my brothers for the first time," all five of them sing, voices soaring along with my heart. "Thinkin' nothin's gonna change, till everything changes."
And just like that, the lights go out physically, but figuratively come up on a brighter future for the men of One Direction.
This is not the end.
This is not the end.
We can make it, you know it, you know.