The following day, Louis comes to your room early in the morning. 

"Love?" he says, peering in.  "Can I come in?"

"Yeah, of course," you whisper back.

Louis sits down on the bed next to you and sighs.  "I'm sorry," he says.

"What?"

"I'm sorry I threw a little tantrum last night...I have no idea what got into me.  I'm sorry you had to see that."

"Louis," you say.  "It's alright.  I know how much you cared about Harry."

Louis coughs a bit at the sound of his name.  "I try so hard to be the person who is never upset and always in a good, cheery mood no matter what happens, you know?"

You only nod slowly. 

"But now I know I'm just not that person," Louis continues.  "Liam is the one who has holds us all together.  I wish...I wish I could be more like him."

"But Louis," you say.  "You're amazing by just being yourself!  You always make everyone laugh and you do keep things light and cheery."

"But when something bad happens, I just lose it!" Louis complains.

"There's nothing wrong with being sad and upset," you say.  "Louis...no matter what you do, I will never judge you.  I love you, Louis."

Louis gives you a smile and hugs you tight.  "I love you too," he says.  "So much.  When this is all over, we'll go and live in my house with the new baby.  I promise I will be the best father ever."

You gasp only a little, remembering that you are pregnant with one of the boys' baby, but you don't know whose.  You would love to go live with Louis, but what if the baby isn't his?  What if it's Zayn's?  Or Harry's...or Niall's?  You sigh, having no idea what you will do.

Later that morning, Harry's death is on the news.  Everyone is able to keep their tears back except Louis, who cries softly.  Liam turns off the TV when the phone rings.

"Hello?" Zayn says, answering it.

"Hello, this is Modest Management.  Is this our client One Direction?"

"Yeah, this is Zayn Malik."

"Hello Mr. Malik," management continues.  "You and your band mates are invited to a meeting at Modest HQ.  We heard about the deaths of Mr. Styles and Mr. Horan."

"Oh," Zayn says.  "Yeah, we'll be right over...in about a half an hour, I guess."

Louis and Liam then look at Zayn, wondering who could be on the phone.  As soon as management says goodbye, Zayn hangs up the phone and turns toward them.

"They want us for a meeting," Zayn says.

"F***ing management!" Louis yells.  "Can't they just leave us alone?  Don't they know what we're going through?"

"It's not personal," Zayn says.  "I think it's about the band."

Louis and Liam look at each other.  Then they slowly stand up and walk toward the door with you and Zayn following.

___

"Hello boys," the head of Modest says, welcoming them into the meeting room.

"Hey," Zayn says. 

They find a seat at the table and you are given a chair to sit on in the corner.  Looking around, you see the walls and floor are white and the long table is black.  Several chairs surround it, but only six of them are being used.  Three of them by the boys and the other three by the members of Modest, the head at the end of the table. 

"First off, we heard about the deaths of Niall and Harry," the head of management says.  "So sorry about that, boys."

"Its alright," Liam says.  "It's been hard, but we're alright."

"That's good," the man says abruptly, nearly interrupting.  "But you know we have business to think about, too.  We heard you cancelled the show a few nights ago."

"Yeah, we did," Zayn says.

"We had to," Louis says.  "We weren't prepared to do it without Niall."

"That was going to be my next question for you boys," the man says.  "I think we would be able to pull in enough money if it was just you three doing the shows.  Would you boys be willing to do that?"

"You mean...just us three as One Direction?" Liam asks.

"Exactly," management answers.

"No way!" Louis shouts.  "We would never do that!  One Direction is all five of us!

"Mr. Tomlinson," the head of management says just as a stack of papers are set on the table.  "I understand, but all five boys are not with us anymore.  If you don't want to continue with the band, then we have no choice but to relieve you of your contract."

The stack of papers are slid toward the boys.  They over it and find it is an agreement to abolish any other contract made with Modest Management.  They look back up at the three members of management who are wearing straight faces.  Then the boys notice pens beside them and then look at each other.  Zayn shrugs a bit.  Liam is the first one to pick up a pen.  He brings the papers toward him and quickly signs his name.  Then he slowly passes it to Zayn, who does the same.  It is passed to Louis who glares at  management before signing it fast to get it over with.

"Thank you boys," the head of management says.  "It was a pleasure doing business with you."

"Not for me, f***ing peasants..." Louis mumbles. 

"Again, we're so sorry about your friends," the man says. 

"Are you quite finished?" Louis asks.  "Can we go now?  If I'm not mistaken, we don't have a contract with you anymore."

"You're right," the man says.  "But if you take a closer look at what you just signed, you will see that you have to one more thing for us."

"And what is that?" Zayn asks. 

"We arranged an interview for you.  You could call it a goodbye interview from One Direction since you don't plan on continuing.  I'm sure you will be asked to do more interviews, but it'll be the last one arrange for you."

"Thank God," Louis says.

___

Only two hours later, you and the boys are sitting in the dressing room at the place management sent them for an interview.

"What exactly will they be talking to us about?" Louis asks.

"Our experience with Niall and Harry dying, and we have to break the news that we're splitting up," Liam answers.

Louis sighs.  "Let's just...get this over with."

When the boys step out onto the set, they're happy to find there is no studio audience other than the crew behind the cameras.  You find a chair off-set while the boys make themselves comfortable on the two couches.  A man in a suit comes on set and waves to them.

"Hello boys!" he says.  "My name is Mr. Thompson.  I am so happy you were able to make it!  When I heard about your friends' death, I utterly shocked and thought to myself 'I really need to get those boys on my show!'"

The boys manage to smile except for Louis. 

"We're happy to do it," Liam says.

"So...when does the show start?" Zayn asks.

"Oh, this show isn't live," Mr. Thompson says.  "We could start whenever we want, but the show will air tonight and my schedule is so busy, we have to start now."

The man sits down in a large single chair.  The crew walks to their positions and someone yells action.  Mr. Thompson introduces himself, the show, and then the boys, and what the topic is before asking the first question. 

"When did Niall die, exactly?"

"Only two days ago," Liam says.

"Oh wow, really?" Mr. Thompson says.  "And how did he die?"

"He um..." Zayn begins, "he was in a car crash."

"Was he doing anything in particular when it happened?"

"Yeah, Harry asked him to go pick something up from the store," Liam says. 

"You say Harry asked him to get something?" Mr. Thompson asks.  "And he died not too long after Niall, right?  Tell us a bit what exactly happened."

"Well," Liam says, taking a deep breath.  "Harry took Niall's death the hardest because he thought it was his fault."

"Well, wouldn't you say it was?" Mr. Thompson asks.  "I mean...he is the one who told Niall to go out in the car."

"No!" Louis suddenly yells.  "It wasn't his fault!  It was the idiot who hit him!  It was his fault, not Harry's!"

"Right, right," Mr. Thompson says.  "Terribly sorry about that.  Please continue, Liam."

"Alright, so he just got worse and worse, and then when we left him alone for a while we came back to the place all torn up.  I personally don't think his mind was right.  I don't think he could um...handle the guilt anymore, so he just...killed himself."

"I see," Mr. Thompson says.  "And he just overdosed?"

"No," Zayn says.  "It was just an ordinary...kitchen knife."

"Oh wow," Mr. Thompson says, faking a shocked look on his face.  "It's crazy what can make people do that to themselves.  It's just sad."

You glance at Louis.  He is looking calmly at the floor, but there are tears streaming steadily down his cheeks.

"So what are you boys planning on doing now that those two are gone?" Mr. Thompson asks.

"I'll probably get my modeling job back," Zayn says.

"Yeah, and I have a wife now, so I'll go back to her and live in peacefulness for a while, and try to forget about everything."

"What?" Mr. Thompson says.  "You aren't going to be making music anymore?"

"No," Liam says.  "We just can't do it without the other boys."

"I guess that's understandable," Mr. Thompson says.  "And Louis, what are you planning on doing next?"

Everyone's attention is drawn to Louis, but he doesn't look up.  His cheeks are still wet, but the tears have stopped falling.  He doesn't say anything.

"Go back to your directing job?" Zayn whispers to him.

"I think I'll settle down for a while with my beautiful girl," he finally answers.  "Start a family, you know?  But other than that I don't think I'll do anything career-wise.  I have enough money to support my soon-to-be family for years."

There is a slight silence because everyone is a bit shocked at his answer and because of his tear-filled face.  Liam clears his throat uncomfortably and Zayn looks off in the distance. 

"So do you mean to say this is the end of One Direction?" Mr. Thompson asks.

"I'm afraid so," Liam says.

"But we had a great time while it lasted," Louis says.  "Everything good must come to an end."

"Yes..." Mr. Thompson says.  "I suppose you're right.  Well, it was very nice talking to you boys, thank you for coming!"  Then he turns to the camera to end the show.  "Tune in next week when we'll be talking to the members of The Wanted!"

Louis makes a disgusted face right before the the cameras stop rolling and someone yells cut.  Five minutes later, everyone is back in the dressing room.  They sit on the couch and let out a long sigh.

"You alright, Louis?" Zayn asks.

"Fine," Louis says.

"That actually went better than I expected," Liam says.

"Yeah, I guess," Zayn says.  "I just can't believe that was our final goodbye."

"Yeah..." Louis says.  "One Direction...is over."

A few minutes of silence pass.

"Boys, do you know where I can get a drink?" Liam asks.

"Over there," Zayn says, pointing to a table.

Liam walks it and takes a sip out of a cup.  It was the only cup sitting there, which you find strange.  When he comes back to the ,couch, the boys begin talking about all of the crazy, fun times that happened just recently in an attempt to cheer themselves up. 

"I remember when Niall slipped on Harry's banana peel on stage!" Zayn says.

Louis chuckles.  "Good thing he didn't hurt himself.  Oh, and that time Harry actually caught that girl's bra accidentally?"

Zayn giggles.  "His face was like priceless!"

Louis bursts out laughing, imagining it.  "Oh gosh, that was hilarious."

"Boys..." Liam says.  "I don't feel so well..."

Before anyone can react, Liam falls off of the couch and face-down on the floor.

_____________________________________

Author's Note:

All characters in this chapter except for the boys are completely fictitious, including the members of management and Mr. Thompson.

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