Reunion

Zayn took a few more moments to gather himself before opening the car door and forcing his legs to swing out and on to the ground. The gravel met a slight crunch under his feet as he made his way out of the car and to the back of it, grabbing his bag and slinging it over his shoulder. He slowly walked towards the front door and slowly turned the door knob and entered inside.

As he made his way into the expansive space, he saw Louis and Niall sitting in the overstuffed furniture, their voices soft as the shadows that drifted across the room. Zayn was immediately reminded of the funeral where he had purposely felt so excluded from a once tight bond as he had watched them from across the room. They didn't register his arrival but continued to quietly talk. Zayn cleared his throat to let them know that he had come in and their conversation stopped and they turned to see him.

The situation was immediately awkward between them. None of them quite knew what to say. It was Niall who spoke first, his role seeming to shift to Liam's former one of peacemaker for the moment.

"Hey Zayn," he said as he stood up and made his way across the room. "Good to see you made it." While the tone was friendly, the hesitation was there as if Niall had doubted he would arrive unless he actually saw him walk through the door.

When he reached his former mate, both seemed unsure about how to greet each other. Their former ties warranted a tight embrace while their recent history called for only a quick handshake. Niall seemed to decide that he would go with the past and wrapped his arms around Zayn. At first, Zayn didn't respond but it only took a moment for him to decide to keep in the spirit of the coming week and squeeze back with his free hand. The contact felt good for both of them.

After a moment, they broke apart and Zayn saw that Louis had stood up and walked over as well. He seemed to have decided to go with recent history and held out his hand in acknowledgement but didn't speak. Zayn took it, the contact feeling awkward after so long.

"It's good to see both of you." He decided to continue to keep it quiet that he had seen them at the funeral. He felt Louis' hand drop and watched as he took time to separate himself from Zayn. "Is Harry here yet?"

Niall shook his head, a sign of frustration as he ran his hands through his blonde hair. "Not yet. He had a radio interview and a press stop this morning to do so he was going to drive up after that. He should have been here three hours ago but he hasn't been answering his phone so we're not sure where he is."

Louis took quick look at his phone and gave his own sign of annoyance. "He tends to lose track of time so I'm not exactly surprised that he showed up late. But he usually answers his phone because he never lets it go so what's happening with him, I am not sure."

Niall took a step back and swept his arm across the large open space and towards the windows that framed the sunset. "I'm sure that he will be here soon but until then I suggest we all grab a drink and enjoy the view I was able to find for us while we catch up on the last little while."

"Sounds good." Louis moved towards the kitchen and the fridge. He opened it up and began to pull out three shiny cold beer bottles and set them on the counter in front of him. He grabbed a can opener from he drawer and cracked the tops off before picking them up by the necks and walking towards the chairs he and Niall had been sitting in when Zayn had arrived. "Come and sit down and let's chat while we wait for Harry."

Louis set the bottles down and sank back into his chair, his lips eagerly latching themselves to the beer bottle he had kept for himself. Niall and Zayn made their way over and took their own seats. Niall grabbed a bottle from the table before taking his own sip. Zayn could feel both of them waiting for him to take the remaining beer but he had now intention of doing so. He simply pushed it farther away and settled himself deeper into the chair. Louis eyed him and Zayn felt his chest tighten enough that he had too look away and towards the darkening sky outside the windows.

Silence clung in the air as each of them tried to figure out just how to break the awkward gap that had grown over five years. Niall's natural reaction was to break out a guitar and start a sing-a-long but he had no guitar and his fingers would be shaking too much to pick a single note. Louis' natural instinct was to crack a cheesy joke at the expense of himself or someone else but that seemed inappropriate at that moment. It was Zayn, the quiet one, that finally brought noise to the silence. "So, how is Lisa doing? She must be due pretty soon."

At the mention of his girlfriend and impending fatherhood, Niall's face lit up and all tension disappeared. The comment was the perfect one to get the happy irishman smiling. "Amazing. I had to promise her to have my phone surgically attached to me in ordered to do this because she's due in another three weeks but . . ." Niall hesitated and all of them heard the words not spoken. But she knew this was important, knew that the timing sucked but that this had to happen. "I have to keep reminding myself that I'm going to be a dad in a couple of weeks. I'm going to be responsible for an actual human being for the next eighteen years."

Louis guffawed and took another sip of his beer. After wiping a dribble off of his chin, he pointed an unsteady finger at Niall. "Believe me, the only one who had a parental bone in their body was Liam and certainly not you."

At the mention of Liam, the three men went quiet again. But it was quiet in remembrance and not in solemnity. And it felt for the first time since the idea had been suggested to them that the next two weeks was going to be okay and good and healing at least some of the things that Liam had hoped for. When it dragged into discomfort, Louis loudly set his bottle down and turned towards Zayn. "So, I got all of the low down on Blondie's life and now it is time for yours. I heard that you had started a marketing company."

"Yeah, after the solo album. I was tired of the music thing but still liked the creative vibe so I took a chunk of change and started DirectWire. It's been good to still have something to dig my hands into everyday without having a producer telling me how to tweak it. Now I get to do that and they pay me for it." That was the reason that Zayn felt so much freedom with where he was. He could create what he wanted and date who he wanted, sort of, and didn't have a twitter or instagram account to have to answer to or have to update. Those or a producer to tell him to sing it with a little bit more of an edge to make the girls swoon. "How about you? You're doing the modelling thing now?"

Louis smiled, the one that Zayn remembered. "They were still willing to pay me for the face so I figured why should I be the one to stop them. I bet you could get in on some of that action if you wanted to. My agent could get you some good money."

Zayn shook his head. "Absolutely not. I like not being recognized anymore and one photo will just start the whole thing again."

"Your loss. I can guarantee you it's a lot easier than all that cerebral stuff that you're doing now."

Niall waved his bottle at Louis. "Leave the guy alone. He's happy with what he's doing. He doesn't want his life out there, it doesn't have to be anymore." Niall took another look at his clock and sighed but didn't comment on Harry's continuing absence. Instead, he moved on to another topic. "Either of you guys seeing anybody?"

Louis and Zayn both remained quiet for a moment. Louis knew that his current lifestyle could put him in the slut category while Zayn wasn't ready for questions about just what his relationship with Adam could be classified as. This time, Louis was the one that spoke up. "No one seriously since me and Eleanor broke up. Just enjoying sampling the variety that is life before I even attempt the monogamy thing." He looked towards Zayn. "We all know Niall's situation since he is on baby watch but I haven't heard whether you are seeing anyone or not."

Zayn paused, wondering whether or not he should mention Adam. Deciding it would bring up more questions than he was ready to answer in current company, he lifted his hand and shook his head. "Nope. As Louis said, enjoying the variety of life." He tried to sneak a look at Louis' face as he answered but the shadows that were coming over them hid his expression. "Besides, work is my most demanding companion at the moment and I don't see that able to change any time soon with the new account we just got."

The three of them continued to talk like that, scratching at each other's lives since they had broken up. They asked the surface questions about work and relationships but they were the things they could have dug up if they had wanted to by watching a Where Are They Now episode. The deeper stuff would have to wait until the gap had closed a little. Wait until the brotherhood that had been built in the moment of their creation and shattered when they had split had started to knit itself together again. The light was almost gone and the water was smooth as dark glass when they finally heard a car pull up and crunch on the gravel before stopping somewhere to the side of the house. All of them remained sitting and waited to see if it was time for Harry to make his appearance. A few minutes later, they heard the door of a car slam closed before footsteps came around the corner and the door burst itself open.

"Hey bitches!" Harry stood in the door way, his bag thrown at his feet and his phone tucked to his ear. "No babe, not you. I was just talking to the guys." He shrugged his shoulders and put his hand to the mouthpiece of his phone. "Sorry, wife on the phone. Just let me wrap it up." He removed his hand and tucked the phone back against his chin. "Look, I know we were supposed to meet up in Greece to work on this stuff but I promised Niall I would do this. The minute I'm done here, I'll get on a plane and meet you there."

Harry paused for another moment, his face starting to show signs of frustration but he kept it out of his voice. "I do love you babe and you are my priority. Just give me this two weeks." A bit more loud words and a wince in Harry's face happened before the call ended, presumably by Carrie hanging up on him. He merely shrugged his shoulders again before shoving the phone in his back pocket and stepping into the room. "Well, she took it better than I thought. Now, doesn't the occasion deserve a hug?" He held out his arms and all three of them got up and made their way over to them. Louis greeted him eagerly with a tight hug but Niall and Zayn were more hesitant. They did hug him though before separating and all of them standing around awkwardly with their hands in their pockets as they avoided each other's gaze.

Finally, Harry ran a hand through his still curly and shaggy hair before taking a glance at the half empty bottle in Niall's hand. "Hey, can you get me one of those?"

Louis immediately latched on to the break in the silence. "Yeah, I'll grab one while you can take a seat. That drive must have been a bitch."

The group broke up and three of them returned to the living room while Louis grabbed Harry and himself a beer. After he removed the caps and handed Harry his, he plopped himself on the couch beside him and took a long sip.

"So, things sound great between you and Carrie."

Harry gave him a long glance before taking a sip of his own. "Things are fine. She's just missing her hugbear since I've been so busy touring. She wanted to rent a yacht off the coast of Greece this week but I told her that I had to be here. I'll head there when we head back to London and we'll cruise the blue waters for a couple of weeks before I head back out again."

They all knew that he was lying, that he was on the path to the same outcome he had ended up with twice before but they let him have the moment. Tonight was a victory in the fact that they were all there and it would be best to dig into the other stuff as the week went on, if they wanted to.

The conversation returned to the same rhythm it had had before Harry had arrived. Louis talked about the fact that he was loving the single life, Niall talked about how he and Lisa were preparing for the baby, Harry talked about the tour he had just ended and the one coming up and Zayn talked about the new account they had just landed. It was calm and superficial. But it still felt like a bit of a breeze had just blown through a part of their souls that had been put in a closet and hidden away. Enough to clear a little of the musty air and let them know that this might not be the end of it.

After a couple of hours, the men started yawning and the beers were spread across the table. Zayn had finally gotten himself a glass of water but even he felt his throat beginning to get parched. And eventually the safe subjects began to run out. Silence again seeped in to the room. A couple times they would think about the letters and why they were there but no one felt comfortable bringing it up. But the men were tired so it was okay for them to start stretching and making signs that it was time to head to bed.

"This was good," Louis said as he stood up and raised his arms over his head, revealing a strip of his toned stomach. "But I am in desperate need of sleep. I am going to head off to bed. I'll see you guys in the morning."

"Me too," Harry said as he stood up and grabbed the bags that he had set beside him. "I've been running all day and it's about time for this body to get itself horizontal. I'll head up with you."

Harry and Louis headed up the stairs with a wave to Niall and Zayn. Once they were gone, Zayn looked at Niall and tipped his glass at him. "This took guts," he said quietly. "It took guts to call all of us and convince all four of us to come here. But it was good to have everybody together."

A shadow crossed Niall's face and he took one last sip of his beer before setting it down and standing up. "It should have been five and not four," he said as he made his way towards the stairs. "It should have been five."