It was an
early morning in July as Liam Payne walked down a cobble stone
rode. There were beautiful tulips blooming and birds chirping
from the trees in the distance. He inhaled deeply and a smile
spread across his lips as he came closer to his four best
friends, Louis, Niall, Harry and Zayn. Liam sat down in the grass
next to them and whispered a quiet “Hello
Boys.”
The wind
started to pick up and blew softly against Liam’s skin. He
chuckled to himself.
“Oh
Niall! Before I forget, I brought this for you,” Liam said,
placing a small four leaf clover down next to Niall.
“Though you might like it.”
The boys
all sat together for what seemed like hours beneath the rising
sun. It grew in the sky and blazed down over them, making Liam
sweat. It hadn’t been this hot in England in a while. He
didn’t mind the heat though. It felt good against his
face.
“So I
was thinking the other day,” Liam laughed as he spoke to
all four of the boys, “remember the time you slipped on the
cake Harry? That really gave me such a
laugh.”
All day
they sat there, reminiscing on the old times that they had during
the first few shows. The first interviews, and the first photo
shoots had long since faded from their memories though. It was
hard for Liam to even remember exactly what cities they had
visited. He couldn’t find the names of all the TV shows
they had appeared on in his mind anymore either. But there was
one memory that Liam had that he would never
forget.
“Remember the nerves we felt during
X-factor boys? We were sure we weren’t going to make it,
and when we were eliminated it was so hard. Who would of know
what we would have become.”
His friends
were silent after he said this, but he understood. Liam knew that
no words could ever describe what they had gone through together.
They met as five strangers, became one band, and one family. They
were truly brothers.
“By
the way Louis, I saw Eleanor the other day. She is doing alright.
She says she misses you, and she hopes to see you soon,”
Liam said. He sighed and reached his hand out to Louis. “I
bet you miss her too huh? It’s really sad that you
haven’t seen her lately.”
The sun was
now starting to make its descent from the heavy, blue sky above.
Liam heard his stomach growl but brushed it off. Having this
reunion with his friends was so much more important to
him.
“I
want you boys to know that I’m okay. After we broke up, and
stopped performing, I realized that there was more in life
waiting for me then just being famous. I really do enjoy writing,
even though my grammar is so poor,” he laughed. He could
hear all the other boys laughing too around him. This made him
smile.
“And
I was even well enough to visit Josh a few months ago.
Unfortunately, he is not doing as well. Josh said he stopped
walking about a year ago, but he has a wheel chair. I told him
not to worry. He’d get the feeling in his legs back
eventually.”
Now
darkness was starting to loom over the five boys sitting together
in the grass. The chirping birds were replaced by the peeping of
frogs and buzzing of mosquito’s. Liam realized that it must
have been getting later than any of them had
expected.
“Maybe I should get going then boys?
We could all use some rest I think.” He bite his lip as he
glanced at his brothers one more time. Four perfect, shiny tomb
stones stood in front of him. Each one had a single tulip laying
across it, flowers in which Liam had put
there.
“I
really do miss it though,” he whispered. “It’s
sad that we all grew up so fast.” Liam reached over and
picked up his cane which was leaning against a nearby tree. He
struggled to pull himself off the ground. A groan escaped his
lips as his knees buckled from his weight. Finally standing up,
he readjusted his glasses and took one finally look at One
Direction. Liam was the last one alive, but still sickly stricken
with old age.
“If
only we could turn back time…” he said to himself
beneath his breath before shuffling back down the cobble stone
road. But one week later Liam was able to join his friends. One
more tomb stone was added to that grave yard. They were reunited
once again, and got to play one last show together. And the whole
world would never forget about the boys on the
stairs.