Annie’s P.O.V.

“I can’t believe it. It feels like just yesterday she was born.” I shook my head in disbelief, re-setting my cup of coffee on the flush white surface of Eleanor and Louis kitchen, admiring their beautiful blonde-haired angel taking off in a sprint across the house. I could see the adoration for baby Ava in Eleanor’s eyes and there was no recognition between her in front of me and the somewhat selfish-dreamworld girl that I had first became best friends with.

“I know. Almost two years old.” She shook her head, and smiled when she watched Louis pick her up, indicating that he would take her into the other room for us to catch up properly.

“How’s the teething coming along?” She nodded down at the newest addition to our family, I couldn’t help the grin on my lips.

“He’s better behaved than Noah, and a complete angel compared to Ivy.” Eleanor laughed, knowing exactly what I meant.

I bit down on my thumb and admired how happy everybody was. Not just my little young family, but Louis and Eleanor, Niall and his girlfriend, Liam and Sophia, Zayn and his wife and little baby boy. We were all grown up. We had all left behind the wonderful memories of waking up at four in the morning on a tour bus in a city we had never dreamed of visiting. All those late nights with Harry creeping into my hotel room when I was a teenager with wide eyes and not a clue about the world. He still swears he loved me then. Here I sit, completely content with a brood of happy children and a husband who never lets me forget how much he loves me.

Ivy is not the little pink-blanketed bundle of joy she once was on that freezing cold December day seven years ago. She’s tall, so tall for her age, and thin with long, silky soft brown hair and her smile mirrors her fathers. She still has to cuddle him a hundred times a day. She paints and draws all of the time and Harry is up at the crack of dawn every Saturday morning to take her to some new art gallery somewhere. She’s beautiful, the most beautiful little girl I’ve ever seen, inside and out, no matter if I am biased.

Noah aches with resemblance to his father. His cheeky grin is there all the time, his giggles are contagious and he takes the biggest sulk when he doesn’t get his own way. But he’s my saviour. Born at the hardest time of my life, he saw me through it. Just as Ivy is Harry’s crux, Noah is mine.

Then, there’s Louie. Louie Styles is so quiet. The quietest baby you have ever come across. Ivy signifies the start of my life. Noah signifies the most trialling part of my life. Louie is the baby that signifies the start of the rest of my life. The happy one, the one that’s filled with my family falling asleep in the same house every night in total harmony with a father who works during the day like a normal person and kisses me on the nose every single morning before he leaves the house. Louie has fixed us, he has repaired the damage that Will, Kendall, whoever else threw in their two cents, has done. He repaired my physical and emotional damage after nearly dying at the hands of a cruel attack.

Even Louie’s name is significant. Harry could never repay Louis for the part he played in saving me, but started by paying tribute to him in the form of naming his second son. Every time Harry has one too many glasses of wine at dinner with Louis and Eleanor his eyes still go glassy and fill with unchartered gratitude. I struggle to remember a time when I haven’t seen Harry bid goodbye to Louis and whisper a thank you in his ear. Louis doesn’t want any thanks, he did for Harry and I what anyone would have done. But Eleanor and Louis are still so special to us.

“I should probably get back to the house.” I yawned, gathering my things and grazing a fingertip against Louie’s rosy red cheek. His eyes flicker and I can see a hint of the chocolate brown, before he falls back into the deep sleep he came from.

“You’re going to have another one, aren’t you?” Eleanor was grinning and nudging her elbow against me. I felt my eyes widen at the thought of another birth. Louie’s had been so trouble-free that I had to admit, the idea was tempting.
“You’re insane,” I said. “Utterly insane. I have a seven year-old asking me if she can start wearing pink eye-shadow, a three year old going through the toddler tantrums, an eight month year old with teething problems, and you’re asking me if I’m having another one?”
“Your house is turning into a children’s hotel.” She mused, patting her fingers against me to reassure me she was only joking. I nodded, and laughed.

---

Harry’s P.O.V.

“She’s going to kill you if you don’t keep quiet.” I whispered into Noah’s ear, combing through his hair with my fingers. He was sat on my lap in a quiet corner of Ivy’s dance studio, only around fifteen minutes from the house. I couldn’t believe how talented she was as I watched her, swimming across the hall in elegance, outweighing that of any other child there. I’m obviously her dad and I’m obviously exaggerating, but I couldn’t dream for a more special little girl.

I also couldn’t have dreamed for a more mischievous little man, running around and catching the attention of all of the girls, mothers, and teachers. He thrived off of the attention, just like I did at that age. Ivy shoots him grown-up, big-sister glances every now and again, but I can see the amusement on her face as Noah tries to join in her routine at the end, kicking his little denim short-clad legs out and flailing his arms about in his white and blue striped sailor tee.

Finally, we were all ready to go home. Noah seemed to have tired himself out somewhat and fell asleep in the comforts of his car-chair. I looked across at Ivy, her thin, pink legs dangling over the seat of the huge Range Rover interior.

“Ice cream?” I whispered to her. She looked up and grinned, nodding enthusiastically.

The drive into the village was short and I parked up easily. I couldn’t wait to get home and see Louie. Even with Noah and Ivy for company I couldn’t get the idea of seeing Annie holding his tiny frame and the smile she’d have for me on her face.

As I pulled out my phone, a notification had my attention. Bizarrely, it was Simon, and after everything with the band, we had hardly kept in contact.. well, close contact.

Ivy was quick to walk off, her sharp long legs carrying her faster than I would have liked. I sighed irritably and held the phone to my ear and Noah’s hand in the other.

“You alright mate, did you call?” I frowned slightly.
“Harry, hi. Have you heard?”
“Heard what?"

Simon cleared his throat and I felt the unease build in the pit of me.

“Well, it’s Will.” He gave me a pause long enough for me to start worrying immensely, automatically holding Ivy close to me and checking Noah. I hadn’t even realised I had stopped square in the middle of the street at the mere mention of his name.

“What about him?” Vivid, horrid memories filled my mind. Those awful stitches that I had to help Annie clean every night after she finally left the hospital. The way she would just cry herself to sleep and the way she couldn’t even pick up Noah for at least half a year because of the pain.
“He’s dead, Harry.” I felt guilty because I felt nothing but relief that that was it. “He hung himself in his cell this morning. I wanted to be the one to tell you from an industry point of view. You’re probably going to be in the spotlight until this blows over."

I didn’t even tune in to what he was saying after he had said those two words. He’s dead. He’d been locked up for months anyway but it had always troubled me that in twenty-five years time he’d be on the streets again and I was convinced he’d come for her, for Annie.

All I remember is picking Noah up and grabbing Ivy’s hand to get back to the car. Obviously I highly doubted that anybody around me knew what was going on, but suddenly it felt like everybody was looking at me. Fuck, how would I tell Annie? I knew her too well and I could already see her getting upset and empathetic and blaming herself for his sadistic tendencies. She was too compassionate, and so was I, but there was no denying I didn’t feel bad for being thankful for his death.

“Fancy seeing you here.” Annie grinned wide, having just parked up beside me in the courtyard. My face was stony and I couldn’t seem to get my words out when I looked at her. I ushered the kids into the house and told them to go and play, to do anything but to just please leave the kitchen and let me break it to her.

Louie was sound asleep in his carseat while Annie tended to him, nipping her fingers adoringly at his chubby cheeks. I took a deep breath and exploded.

“Will’s dead.” I blurted. Her eyes snapped up and she froze.
“What?” She breathed, flinching at the mere mention of his name.
“He’s dead. He died.” I cursed myself for my inability to speak. She was dropping her hands to the side and her expression was only getting worse. “He killed himself. He hung himself in his cell. That’s all I know, Simon called."

I hadn’t checked my phone on the table but I could see messages flooding in. Annie covered her mouth with her hand and stared at the floor.

“Don’t do that. Don’t feel bad.” I sighed, wishing she was less sensitive. Her eyes whipped up to mine and she bit her lip.
“I don’t.. I don’t feel bad. I just.. Someone lost their life, that’s never good.. but, no, I don’t feel bad.. I feel..” She shook her head and looked at me. “I feel relieved, is that terrible? It’s just over, it’s all over. God, I sound terrible.”
“Hey, hey,” I saw her lip wobble and brought her to my chest as quickly as I could. I sighed and pet her hair, the scent of her just comforting me. “You’re not terrible, he tried to kill you, he repeatedly, repeatedly did things to hurt you, to hurt all of us. It’s not terrible that you feel relief.”
“I just wish-“
“There’s nothing you could have done, nothing anyone could have done to stop him turning out that way. It’s just unlucky that you were caught up in all of it, that you were the girl that triggered that kind of behaviour but it could have been anyone, An.” I interrupted her before she could spew words of sorrow and compassion for him.
“It’s just.. a shame, it’s weird and it’s a shame.” She pulled away but still hung her arms loosely around my waist, looking up at me. “But it’s over.”
“It’s the end of a very tough chapter.” I agreed.
“I guess everyone is at peace now. Us, the kids,” she looked at Louie thoughtfully. “Even Will.”
“I don’t know about peace.. more like the fiery depths of hell.” I pushed a laugh through my lips and Annie smiled briefly, swatting me with her hand and wiping under her eyes.
“Don’t get upset, alright?” I said, moving to pick up Louie from the carseat. I suppose our encounter had woken him up and when I kissed his little nose his face lit up and he let out a giggle. I live for when they’re like this. I could cry thinking of Ivy being so grown up and Noah heading the same way.
“I’ll try my best.” She smiled, wrapping her arms around me and our latest addition to the family.

Notes

Hiiii! I can’t seem to let Harry and Annie go so I wrote another shot just to clear up all the loose ends like what happened to Will, Louis and Eleanor etc.

I miss writing about these guys! I can’t wait to start something new!

I went to the Where We Are Tour on Friday and it was amazing. I can’t wait for them to come back to London already even though I’ve probably got a long wait haha.

Comment below and let me know what ya think! x