Reunion

Louis threw his house keys on the table beside the door as he entered his one bedroom apartment at seven o'clock in the morning after a night out with some people who liked to call him their friend. He didn't really care what they called him to be honest. They were a diversion, a reason not to be in this cramped and unpersonal space that he was occupying. Eleanor had gotten the house they had shared in the divorce because he hadn't felt like fighting her on it even though he really did love the bright spaces and hand-picked pieces he had carefully snapped up on his many travels around the world. He had given her those too. The only things he had walked out of the house he treasured with was the photos that now lay in a box in the small closet of his room and a small suitcase of clothes. Not that she would have kept the photos anyway. They were too painful for her, reminders of a group of people that she blamed for many of their problems even though their lives hadn't intersected meaningfully in years. He hadn't looked at them since the day they had been tucked up into the dark space but he knew they were there for when he would need them and that was enough for now.

After tossing his keys aside, he kicked his shoes off and walked through the living room towards the bedroom. It only took about ten steps and he was at his door. The room he had walked through made no impression on him, just as it had the day he had moved in. The cheery real estate agent had told him it was a perfect transitionary space. His agent had used her many times and had recommended her because she was used to dealing with male stars in the middle of divorce. It was furnished, small and quiet and a great bargain on the rent, so he had been told. Louis had signed with little consideration, his mind not able to focus on one thought for too long at that particular time. He had simply nodded, scrawled his lazy signature on the paper put in front of him and taken his one suitcase and one box from his car and moved in five minutes later. He had done so thinking he would only be here for one month, maximum two. Instead, it was eight months later and he had made no plans to improve his living space or lack of it. Because to do that would mean that he was truly moving on. Not just from his marriage, which had been dead for quite awhile now but from the life he had built and created and perfectly showed off to the world. A life he had always felt a little constricted in. As he turned the knob, he just as absently opened the thin door, walked across the wooden floor and let his body fall on to the unmade bed to get some sleep in preparation for the night.

Twelve hours later and Louis was up and getting ready for the activities of the night. He was meeting a group of fellow models for dinner and drinks before heading out to the new hottest club in London. It was hardly any different than many of his other nights lately. He would meet up with the models at a posh restaurant, eat a small dinner, have a few drinks and head back to someone's house for a pre-party before heading out to a club selected by someone else where he would dance, hang out and do things in darkened corners that the rags would love to get a hold of. Combining his former boyband status and his current model status made his ability to pick up a willing partner almost legendary among his carefully selected group. An ability that brought him no fulfillment when the deed was done.
He was in the process of styling his hair into the perfect short faux-hawk that was his current style when his cellphone rang beside him. He grabbed the phone and quickly hit speaker, setting it back on the counter.

"I am on my way Damian," he said. His friends like to remind him that he was never on time for things. While true, he was not in the mood for it today. He had been snapping at them since he had returned back to their circle one week earlier. After he had signed his divorce papers from a woman that he had to admit he no longer, or ever really, loved the way you should love your partner. After he had seen Liam die. After he had buried him with Niall at his side. After he had cursed the world that had taken his friend before he had the guts, and then a chance, to tell him that he was sorry they had grown apart and that he missed him. All of those things combined made him not the happiest thing to be around these days even when combined with alcohol.

The phone remained silent and Louis looked down at it and with a confused glance. He was surprised to see Niall's name flashed across the screen. The two had spent so much time together during the last few months but after the funeral he had needed a break from the world of responsibility and deep feelings. And his current friends were more than happy to provide it. During the time that he, Niall and Liam had spent together, the friendship they had shared had started to find itself again and Louis had seen the hope in Liam's tired eyes, haunting him when he closed his eyes. The time with them brought back old memories and current feelings that he didn't understand and didn't want to delve into.

"It's Niall," he finally heard from the soft Irish voice. "I just wanted to talk to you for a minute. Do you have the time?"

"I was just about to meet up with some people for dinner," Louis said as he picked up the phone and turned off the speaker, moving to the beige couch that sat in the middle of the living room. He heard the sigh through the line and it dug at him, knowing that Niall thought that he was avoiding him. He didn't want to admit that he was so he decided to talk just long enough to erase that opinion. "I have a few minutes though. What's up?"

Another pause. A deep breath and what Louis thought was Niall wiping away a tear. "I don't know how to ask you this so I'm just going to bloody well do it." He seemed to be wiping away another tear before continuing to speak. "Danielle called me a couple of days ago and had me meet her and the twins at the park. She had something for me. For us."

Louis lit a cigarette from the pack on the table in front of him and took a deep drag. He had started the habit when he had started modelling and had never quite been able to quit despite Eleanor's many requests to. He remembered for a moment how he used to do the same thing to Zayn and how it hadn't worked on him either. But back to the conversation at hand. "No offence Niall but if it's some schmarmy souvenirs from Liam, I don't want them." And he didn't. He wanted to take his memories, pack them deeply in his core and move on. Physical reminders were not necessary or wanted. Except for the box in the closet.

"It's not that. It was a request. From Liam."

The silence hung in the air between them. What could Louis possibly give Liam now that he was gone. He had done everything he could, settled his conscience during his care of him. He couldn't give anymore. Niall soldiered on through it though. Louis knew that Danielle and the twins would be taken care of just like Niall had promised Liam during the last week. Louis could never understood where the strength came from but he wished he had it.

"He gave me letters. One for each of us."

Louis took a deep breath of relief. Letters he could deal with. Probably by not reading but he could deal with them all the same. "For you and I? Just pop it in the mail and I'll read it when it gets here." He took another drag and was about to say goodbye and hang up but Niall wasn't done yet.

"It's more than that. There were letters for Harry and Zayn too. And he asked me to do something."

The names made Louis cough as he took a drag of the cigarette. He and Harry were still friends, seeing each other when they found themselves in the same city. He had been frustrated as well that that Harry had been unable to force himself to come and see Liam but he had defended him to Niall, understanding the concept of not being able to face up to the past that you wish to desperately leave behind.

But Zayn was another story. He knew that Liam had kept in touch with him but that the moody man had stayed away from the rest of them and it had hurt Louis in an uncomfortable way. And when he had stayed away from the funeral, Louis had quietly fumed at him just as much as Harry. The only time he had heard Zayn's voice was when he had picked up Liam's phone because he was too tired to do it himself and Louis had answered it. Zayn's voice seemed to hesitate when he had said hello but he had finally asked for Liam. Louis had wanted to make him stay on the line, make him talk to him but he had passed the phone over instead. Niall finally snapped him back when he started talking again.

"He wants me to get everyone back together," he said quietly. "He wants us all to hang out for two weeks and for me to give everyone the letters then."

Louis immediately felt his chest start to tighten. Being in a room all together was the exact thing they had all seemed to have tried to avoid. His mind went back to the last time it had happened and the anger that had flashed out between them. No one person had been able to walk out unscathed. And now Liam wanted them to do it again? Without him? Without the only one they would all listen to reason from? He truly had gone bonkers in the end.

"I don't think so man," Louis said as she stood up and took a look at his watch. He was half an hour late and had to get going. "You have to know this is just going to end up very badly."

"We have to try." Niall's voice sounded desperate and Louis knew that he had been his first call. He should have been the easy one. He could only imagine how this phone call would go with Zayn. "We used to be like brothers taking on the world. I know a bunch of crap happened and it won't be the same but we must be able to be friends again. All of us. And if I can get you to say yes, the other two might just go along with it. We have to try for Liam."

Louis knew that Niall was right. If Niall couldn't convince Harry, he probably could. He took one more drag of the cigarette before answering, letting the smoke burn his throat as he did. It made him think that if he said yes, he would be doing the same thing the part of him that had been tucked neatly inside, just like the pictures in the corner of the closet.

"Sod it, alright," he said as he harshly stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray in front of him. "I'll do it, but you have to convince everybody else and you have to make all the arrangements. I only want place and date."

"Agreed." Niall's voice sounded relieved. He seemed to think that he had just gotten the most important piece of the four piece puzzle. "I'll let you know just when and where to show up. Thanks Louis."

The two said goodbye and hung up. The quiet almost overwhelmed Louis and for the first time in four years, he felt the desire to dig through the box again. He was about to push himself off when he saw his phone light up and a text message from Rob asking just when he was going to show up stopped him. He decided that tonight was not the night to be lost in memories of old friends but to make new ones with quasi-friends.