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Everyone has had bad days before. Some days are just bad days, no matter how hard we try to make them a good one.
The boys in One Direction are no exception.
Try though they may, they were not immune to feeling homesick or simply having a bad day.
Although being on tour was undoubtedly massively fun for the boys, and they enjoyed being on tour and performing in front of their thousands of fans, some days it was just really hard for them to keep going. Despite being surrounded by a great working team and crew, along with each other and their thousands of fans, it could easily get pretty lonely…
The boys were prone to be homesick; they missed their family and friends.
And when they all had a bad day… well, even in the midst of the worst of things, there just happened to be a certain cheerful, carefree, blue-eyed, bright, blond-haired boy who managed to remind them who they were, that they were loved, and managed to help them remember where they belonged.
It was during these times that Niall who reminded them who they were, and where they belonged- even on the best and worst of days. He loved them so much, and wanted to remind them where exactly they were grounded, so he put the proof into a song.
Literally.
This is the story of how he did so.
~*~
The breaking point came at the end of their Take Me Home Tour, when the boys were finishing their last few concerts live together before they each headed their own ways back home for a most-deserved, desperately needed vacation of sorts before they started up again on their next tour.
If they thought about it, they’d just finished traveling all around the world… they’d been to countless places, in multiple foreign countries like Italy, Spain, France, Australia, the United States, Brazil… the list went on and on. During that time, they’d seen more new faces belonging to different people than they ever could have imagined… and they’d shared countless memories that they would cherish forever.
But still, by the time that they had finished their last song on tour and had boarded the tour bus taking them to their hotel, they were done. They were totally done with everything, their minds only focused on seeing their family back home again.
They weren’t living normal lives anymore.
“Well I don’t know about you lads, but I’m ready to go back home,” Liam sighed as he collapsed onto one of the tour bus’ sofas, his head falling back and resting on a particularly downy pillow.
Zayn nodded in agreement from where he was seated across from Liam, chilling comfortably.
Harry was about to speak, but Louis beat him to it, entering the room with his hot cup of tea in hand.
“Oi, cheers to that, mate!”
“It’ll be good to be back home, to see me mam and pop, and Greg, Denise, and Theo again,” Niall chipped in, smiling, looking forwards to seeing his family in Ireland again soon.
“I agree…” Harry started off slowly, (at the pace of a snail, which we all know is normal Harry speaking speed!), “I can’t wait to see mum and Gemma again,”
“You mean you can’t wait to see ‘the better Styles’ again?” Louis threw out, eliciting chuckles from all of the boys and maniacal laughter from Niall, as they all recalled that one time when they’d been performing, live, and Niall had managed to point out to Harry a fan-made sign that read “Gemma is the better Styles.”
Needless to say, Harry was left gob smacked after reading the sign, and the boys had never let him live the memory down since.
“Ha ha, yeah, that’s definitely what I meant,” Harry replied, trying to look as serious as he could, though a smile was making its way up his chin.
“No, I feel ya, mate,” Zayn chimed in, coming to Harry’s defense before Niall and Louis could tease him anymore. “I know exactly what you mean.”
Seeming to recognize the sudden change in the tone of conversation, Liam said,
“I think we all know the feeling, Harry. We’re all a little anxious to go back home now, I suppose. Or at least, I am.”
There was a beat of silence on the bus as Liam’s words sunk in, only lasting for less than a moment before Louis spoke up,
“Payno’s right. I can see that we’re all a little bit homesick, ready to go back home. I suppose that that’s what touring for several weeks straight will do to you,”
“Yeah, go figure,” Zayn muttered silently, beneath his breath. Whether the boys heard it or not, they chose not to acknowledge it.
There was another moment of awkward silence before Harry spoke out,
“Sometimes I wonder if it’s all worth it,” he paused. “Do you guys ever feel the same way? Or is it just me here?”
Zayn was quick to speak,
“It’s not just you, lad,” which was followed by nods of confirmation from Liam and Louis.
“Sometimes I feel like I’ve been caught up in the whole One Direction thing so much, that I’m afraid I’m going to forget what my real home is like.”
“Yeah, I feel the same way before,” Louis chirped in.
“It’s almost like you’re going to forget where you belong,” Liam added.
Niall wrinkled up his face in confusion as he listened to his bandmates’ confessions to feeling homesick at times, especially at the current moment.
He could understand where they were coming from, but he just couldn’t really find a time where he felt the same way that they were feeling presently. He most certainly hadn’t felt himself feeling the exact same way his bandmates were feeling at the moment! And surely Harry didn’t really think that what they were doing wasn’t worth all of it in the long run? And that the rest of the boys didn’t think the same thing as well?
Upon noticing that Niall hadn’t responded, Liam asked Niall,
“Niall? What about you? Haven’t you ever felt homesick before?”
Niall started; Liam’s sudden question had jolted him out of his thoughts. Turning to face Liam from his relaxed, sitting position on yet another reclining chair, he asked,
“Sorry, say that again Liam? My head was on Cloud Nine for a moment there,”
Liam chuckled slightly before repeating his question.
“It’s alright, Niall. I was asking if you’ve ever felt homesick before?”
Niall scrunched his eyebrows in thought; he struggled to remember a time where he had been feeling really down, longing to go back home and see his friends and family in Ireland once more.
He could remember a few, rare-case times when he had indeed felt homesick, but the feeling had been quick to leave, when he thought about it.
“Aye, yes, yes I have felt homesick before Liam, the thing is, though, I jus’ can’t remember a time where it bothered me that much.”
Louis tilted his head to the side in puzzlement at Niall’s response, while the rest of the boys looked genuinely confused at the blond-haired lad’s response.
“How?” Harry suddenly blurted out, before he could stop himself.
Harry was confused, how could Niall not feel homesick when he was thousands and thousands of miles away from his immediate family and friends back in Ireland? Surely he had to have felt massively homesick before? He wasn’t an unfeeling metallic robot of sorts?
He repeated his question.
“How, Niall? How does being homesick not bother you?”
“Oi, Nialler, please do explain? I’m just as confused as Hazza now,” Louis spoke, head still tilted to the side and eyebrows furrowed in a look of mild frustration and puzzlement.
All eyes had turned to look at him expectantly, and Niall felt himself grow more self-conscious and struggling to come up with an answer under the close observation of his friends.
He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts before he spoke.
“It’s… I just…I… I don’t know,” he finally said, shrugging his shoulders in defeat.
If he had to be honest with himself, he honestly had no clue how it didn’t bother him that much.
“What do you mean ‘you don’t know’?” Louis questioned, but Niall shrugged his shoulders once more, averting his gaze from Louis’ eyes and settling on looking at the floor.
“I-I just don’t know,” he spoke once more, his voice more serious than it had been before.
“It’s not like I’ve given it any thought before, ‘cuz I haven’t. It’s just that…. Agh! I really don’t know why it doesn’t bother me; all I know is that it’s just never been that big of an issue to me.”
Louis frowned, still clearly not convinced with Niall’s response, while Liam simply raised his eyebrows, Zayn remained indifferent, and Harry continued to look taken aback by Niall’s response.
Louis made to speak again, but Zayn cut him off, saying,
“It’s alright, Niall. If you don’t know the answer to Liam’s question, then that’s alright. We all have our different coping mechanisms, I guess. And that’s alright,” he spoke firmly, his eyes darting over to meet Louis’ in a silent warning and reprimand, which Louis eventually took notice of.
Niall nodded, still somewhat dumbfound, as Louis backed off his case and left Harry still struggling to deal with his own thoughts.
There was a moment of tense silence before Liam broke it by saying,
“I don’t know about you lads, but I’m going to head up to my bunk now to get some rest for tomorrow. I can already tell that my body needs it.”
Zayn nodded his head once in agreement, and followed Liam out of the room, heading towards his bunk before Harry and Louis eventually did the same, Harry’s eyebrows continuing to portray his confusion and desire to go home, whilst Louis seemed to be the slightest bit indifferent in attitude towards Niall.
Eventually, the room had been cleared, and Niall found himself left all alone to himself and to his thoughts.
~*~
Throughout the course of the rest of the night, Harry’s words continued to linger in Niall’s mind, ringing loud and clear. He couldn’t help but feel dismayed by his bandmate’s feelings of constant homesickness and uncertainty. And he was determined to do something about it.
It seemed like he was the only one who was never really truly bothered by homesickness, though he knew what it felt like exactly, and how it must have been bothering the other boys.
Were they actually worried about forgetting where they belonged? Where their true homes were?
How could he show the boys that it was all worth it in the end? That they were never alone? And that they’d never have to worry about forgetting about their homes, their old lives, where they belonged?
Those were the questions that Niall pondered for the rest of the evening, until he fell asleep. Even when he woke up the next morning, with his energy renewed, the questions still remained embedded deeply in his head, and he couldn’t let it go.
~*~
When the time came for the boys to go their separate ways for their break, until they would meet up again in the new year for their next tour rehearsals, they heartily said their goodbyes and gave each other one final group hug before leaving to embark on their flights back home.
Niall had been unable to find an answer to Harry’s rhetorical question, so he didn’t say anything about it when he was exchanging his farewell with the boys.
He couldn’t think of anything on the long flight back to his home in Mullingar, Ireland either, so he opted to close his eyes and listen to some tunes on his iPod instead.
Glancing out the window before he fully fell asleep, his eyes rested on the moon rising in the distance. He smiled softly to himself; it would be morning and he would be in Mullingar before he even knew it.
He couldn’t wait to see his family again.
~*~
The next few weeks that he spent in Mullingar with his family were nice, to say the least. It was a much-needed break from work and touring that he was able to spend with those whom he loved the most, not counting his four band-related brothers.
The conversation that they’d all had prior to departing had never fully left him, though. It niggled at the back of his brain for the entirety of his break, until one day, in the middle of his third week off, inspiration struck.
He’d been watching over his nephew Theo, playing cars with the adorable mini-version of himself when sudden inspiration struck.
Excusing himself, to the shared looks of confusion between his older brother Greg and Bobby, his dad, Niall raced to his room, grabbing his guitar, notepad and a pen, before he sat down on his bed and quickly began jotting things down, memories, snippets of conversations past, lyrics- whatever came to mind.
Then he began strumming chords and melodies on his guitar, pausing to write the notes down when he played something that he really liked.
Four hours later, with raw and ink-stained hands, he held a finished rough copy of a new song and the solution to Harry’s question in hand.
He couldn’t wait to see the lads again, to show it to them.
But now, for the moment being, he would continue to enjoy spending his remaining time with his family and friends, until he had to go back to London to begin practice for tour rehearsals.
He still had plenty of time to play with his most favorite nephew in the whole wide world.
~*~
The time for their scheduled rehearsals seemed to have come much sooner than any one of them expected.
~*~
At the rehearsal studio, Harry was the first to arrive from the long break. Seeing that none of the other boys had arrived yet, he occupied himself chatting with the team and crew members, seeing how their break went, then went to playing with baby Lux until Liam arrived.
“Payno!” Harry shouted as he ran across the room to embrace Liam in a hug, his foot catching on one of the carpet’s edges and managing to nearly trip himself in the process.
“Hey there, Haz! How’re ya doing?” Liam chuckled as he caught the younger lad in his arms, returning the curly-haired lad’s hug and preventing him from face-planting onto the ground.
Harry eagerly returned Liam’s hug whilst blushing slightly, and it would have been a wonderful, picturesque moment had not Louis chosen that precise moment to make his grand entrance.
“Hazza! Daddy Direction! Fancy seeing you two here again! How’re the two of you doing? Gotten into any good mischief lately?” the Doncaster lad’s voice boomed across the room, as Louis himself stood smirking at Liam and Harry when he had finished alerting them to his presence.
Both boys laughed and advanced towards Louis, to welcome him back to the group with a hug as well.
When all hugs and pleasantries had been exchanged, Louis asked,
“So, have any of you heard any news from el Maliko? Our Bradford bad boy himself?”
“No, actually, I haven’t heard from him recently, but I know that he should be showing up here soon,” Liam spoke, before Harry added,
“But you know how Zayn is; he’s always late to everything.”
Before Louis could reply, a rich, heavily accented fourth voice joined the conversation, saying,
“Yeah, I s’pose you’ve got a point there, lads.”
Three heads turned around to see Zayn standing in the entryway, smirking and smiling, with his arms crossed and leaning against the side of the entrance.
“Zayn!” Harry yelled, moving towards the Bradford bad boy excitedly, whilst Louis spoke up.
“Speak of the devil himself!”
Zayn laughed, giving Harry a hug, before turning his attention to Liam and Louis, saying,
“I guess we’re all waiting on Nialler now, eh?”
Louis made to speak again, before he was rudely interrupted again, by the fifth and final member of their band entering the rehearsal studio, who was coming seemingly right behind Zayn.
“Yeah, buddy!” Niall’s voice rang out, his Irish accent resonating through the room loud and clear.
A chorus of shouts of “Niall,” “Nialler,” and a very pronounced cry of “NEIL!” were shouted as warning before Niall found himself the object of an unorganized group hug, surrounded on all sides by his four best mates.
They stayed like that for moment, basking in each other’s presence and the enjoying the feel of the moment, before Niall began squirming, and Zayn somehow may or may not have accidentally managed to brush his fingers gently against Niall’s very, very ticklish belly, setting off a chain reaction of movements that ended up with them all piled atop one another on the floor.
Niall, fortunately, had somehow managed to land on top of the four boys, for which he was grateful, because otherwise his recently operated-on knee in question might have been injured even further from the boys’ roughhousing.
“So is this what it’s like to be the King of the world?” Niall asked cheekily, while the boys below him groaned in response.
After Niall had carefully maneuvered himself from off of the top of the dog pile, the other boys managed to raise themselves to their hands and knees and they eventually found themselves standing up again, with a helping hand or two from Niall.
“Well, that was definitely not expected,” Liam panted.
“Not to mention totally uncalled for!” Louis quipped in good nature, looking around his circle of friends with amusement in his eyes and on his face.
“How’s your knee, Niall?” Zayn asked, concerned that Niall might have hurt it again in the fall.
Niall easily brushed off his concern, however, by flexing his knee around a couple of times and replying,
“It’s doing fine, honestly, mate. Thanks for asking, though.”
Zayn nodded, and with that, the boys all shared a knowing glance with each other, glad to be in each other’s presence once more, happy to be seeing each other once again.
Reunited once more, the boys were happy to see each other in person again.
Seeing as they still had an approximate half hour before they had to begin practicing for their tour schedule, the boys gathered around and settled down onto the couches that had been set aside in the studio room especially for them.
They started talking with each other in a forma banter and regular chatter. After about 15 minutes or so, Niall took advantage of a lull in the conversation to discuss the solution that he’d been wanting to share with them ever since he’d created it when he was back at home in Mullingar.
“So, lads, I have something that I’ve been meaning to share with you.” Niall trailed off, and immediately all attention was on him.
“Yeah? Go ahead Niall, we’re listening,” Louis spoke, and with Louis’ approval, Niall carried on with what he had wanted to share with them for the last several weeks.
“Well, I’ve been thinking, and, well, do you all remember our last conversation we had on the tour bus before we headed out for break?”
Louis frowned, as did Liam, while Harry shifted around a bit uncomfortably in his seat next to Louis while Zayn’s expression turned more serious.
“Yah, of course we do, but what about it, mate?” Zayn asked, his chocolate brown eyes piercing into Niall’s vibrant blue ones.
Niall was undeterred by the boys’ obvious uncomfortableness and Zayn’s piercing stare, however. He continued to speak, making eye contact with each and every one of the boys as he did so.
“I’m getting to that now. Harry, I got to doing some serious thinking about your question, and I think I’ve finally found an answer to it.”
“I was wondering,” Louis commented quietly, but stayed quiet long enough after his comment for Niall to continue his conversation. He had to admit that he, and the other boys in turn, were rather curious to hear what Niall had to say.
Niall continued speaking without a single hitch.
“Well, here’s my answer- y’all are familiar with the expression ‘Home is where the heart is,’ right?” he asked, and the boys nodded.
“Well, it’s like that for me. I take that expression to heart, no pun intended.”
Liam smirked at Niall’s last sentence, and the rest of the boys probably did too, but he was too focused on Niall to pay any attention to his bandmates’ expressions.
“It’s jus’ that, whenever I think about it, I realize that I’m never alone. I’m always at home, right here with you lot,”
“What do you mean?” Harry asked.
Niall continued to speak, looking at no one in particular as he spoke,
“It’s simple, really. I gave it a lot of thought, and it goes like this. Home is where the heart is, and my heart is with you- all of you- so my home is with you. All the time. Whenever I’m feeling down, or having a bad day, I remember that expression, and often times remind myself that I am at home, with you four. And that I don’t have to worry about being homesick. You guys are my home; you guys make me strong. I know that I belong with you.”
“I know that sounds kinda cheesy, but it’s the truth,” Niall explained, “And I wanted to make sure that you guys know that- so, over the break, I wrote a song about it.”
Liam, Louis, Harry, and Zayn’s breaths all hitched at once, not only because they were taken back by Niall’s response, but also because of the fact that Niall had written a song. Niall had actually written a song expressly for them…
They all knew how talented at song-writing he was. Out of all the boys, Niall composed the most songs, writing them whenever he could, or whenever they came to mind. Despite that, however, only a fraction of his songs made it past management’s final cut and onto their album.
It had gotten so bad, at one point, to the point of where he’d almost given up song-writing altogether… and as it turned out, Niall wasn’t as carefree as everyone made him out to be after all. The disappointment of being rejected time after time again had really gotten to him, but fortunately, the boys had been able to help him bounce back, past their stupid management’s decisions, and they were able to convince him to take song-writing back up again simply for the fun of it, and not for the pressure of being forced to come up with an inflow of new songs good enough to make it onto their newest albums.
Nowadays, Niall only wrote songs for fun, whenever he fancied, and for the sold benefit of himself, not management or anyone else.
Needless to say, it was rare for the boys to hear Niall compose a song and present it to them afterwards, for fear of rejection once more.
So whenever Niall wrote a song and decided to share it, the boys knew it was a treat, and this case was no exception.
They couldn’t wait to hear what he had composed this time. For them, specifically.
“Go on, Niall. We’re listening,” Harry spoke softly, his beautiful green eyes fixated on Niall expectantly as the blond-haired boy blushed slightly as he took his guitar from out of his case, along with the music for the song that he had composed.
“I call this song ‘Don’t Forget Where You Belong,’ and it’s dedicated to you four,” he spoke softly, glancing down at his guitar as he prepared to play.
Once he was absolutely certain that he was all set and ready to perform his song, Niall took a deep breath before he sat up and began to play the first chords on his guitar, singing the first
verse.
(At this point, you should really search the song "Don't Forget Where You Belong" by One Direction on the internet and listen to it. It's a great song, seriously. It's the basis of this fanfiction. Have fun listening!)
When Niall had finished singing his song and strumming the last chord, he looked up to see expressions of absolute amazement and sincerity on all four of the boys’ faces.
They were all extremely touched by his song.
And now, they could finally understand why Niall never had many issues with being homesick- and that was when they realized, after hearing Niall’s song, that they wouldn’t suffer from it as much anymore.
Niall glanced back at his hands, worried about what the boys would think of his song. What if they hated it?
Louis was the first to speak.
“Niall, mate, that was just… wow. Absolutely incredible, that’s what that was.”
“Niall, that was bloody brilliant,” Liam chimed in, immediately after Louis had finished speaking. “I can’t believe that you actually wrote that for us.”
“Yeah, Niall, that was… Niall, that was phenomenal. Absolutely extraordinary. I couldn’t believe my ears at first,” Zayn praised Niall, adding, “That was one of the most beautiful, meaningful songs I’ve ever heard.”
Harry spoke last, saying,
“God, Niall, that was… extraordinary. Amazing. Beyond belief, absolutely flippin’ fantastic. I don’t know what to say, except that you totally blew me away just now… and I don’t know what to say. How on earth did you write that?”
If Niall had been slightly pink before performing his song for the boys, then he was absolutely beet red as a tomato after he’d been showered with compliments from the boys.
“It just came naturally to me, I guess,” he said timidly, looking at Harry, and blushing like a loon.
The boys all shook their heads in wonder, then made eye contact with each other, sharing the same mental message, before moving to give Niall a massive huge group hug as one. Now,
Niall was blushing even harder than ever before.
“Whenever we were on tour, performing for our fans, I couldn’t help but think that that was where I, where we, belonged. I mean, think about it- how many places have we been to? I’ve lost track. And there’s no way that we’re ever goin’ ta forget the thousands of different faces of the fans that we’ve seen whilst we’ve been on tour.”
“It’s funny actually, if you think about it, how easily you can become homesick when performing for a crowd of thousands of cheering fans, surrounded by people on all sides, yet feel completely isolated.”
The boys nodded their heads in agreement with Niall, with their es fixed solely on him, listening raptly to what he had to say.
“It’s like, crazy, ya know? When I think of all the things that I've done, it doesn't really matter how far I've gone- I'm always feeling at home with you four. And I wanted to thank you four for always being there for me; I just want to say thank you for everything, because without you guys in my life, I don’t know where I’d be, or what I’d be doing…but it most certainly wouldn’t be anything like this. I’d probably be stuck at some university back at home, drinking away pints in me spare time, but yeah... That’s not where I am now. Look at where we are! No matter what, every time it comes to mind, I’ll always be at home with you four… I just want to say thank you for it. And I wanted to let you know that I, I love you all so much…” Niall trailed off.
“Awwww, Nialler. We love you too,” Louis spoke for the four of them, as they instantaneously engulfed Niall in another group hug, squeezing the living daylights out of him whilst returning their affection for Niall as best they could.
They truly did love each other so much, and Niall had just reminded them of how much he loved them dearly.
They stayed huddled in that position for another good minute or so, before breaking away from each other ever so slightly yet sitting impossibly close next to each other, all five of them merged together on the same couch with Niall in the middle.
Niall let out a content sigh.
“You’re amazing, Niall, did you know that?” Liam spoke softly, looking down warmly upon Niall with a wide smile on his face, mirroring those belonging to Harry, Louis, and Zayn. He was
running his hand through Niall’s bleached hair gently, taking pleasure in seeing the look of bliss upon Niall’s face as he did so.
“Yah, you are, mate. You’re simply the best,” Zayn practically whispered softly, stroking Niall’s stomach gently as he did so.
“Well-put, Zayn. He’s right, you know, Niall. You’re simply the best human being in the world,” spoke Louis, as he fondled with Niall’s cheek gently.
“And I couldn’t agree more with that,” Harry added softly, his hand resting upon Niall’s shoulder and squeezing gently in affirmation as he spoke. “We love you too, Niall.”
Niall closed his eyes in bliss, enjoying the moment, and hummed softly. He didn’t want this moment to end.
Trying to postpone the moment for as long as he could, he spoke up slowly,
“Thank you, lads… You know, when I first started playing the song, I-I thought that it sounded pretty good, but then I realized that it was missing the one thing that would make it perfect,”
“Oh? And what’s that, Nialler? Because if you ask me, it’s perfect enough already, just as it is.” Louis commented, his response added to by several “Mhm’s” in agreement by the other boys.
“It’s missing your voices,” Niall replied meekly, voice barely above a whisper. “I think that this is a song we should sing together.”
If the song hadn’t been enough to get the boys worked up earlier, then Niall’s last sentence was, and they could feel themselves struggling not to choke up.
Four hearts twanged together in unison as the four lads strengthened their hug around Niall once more. Their love for each other was unsurpassable.
“Oi, definitely, lad. We’ll do that. This is your song, and I know for a fact that it’s going onto our next album, whether management likes it or not. And if they don’t, then they can stick it up their…”
“Don’t finish that sentence, Tommo,” Liam warned sternly yet half-heartedly, both eyebrows raised in warning, moving his gaze away from Niall for half a moment to look at Louis expectantly.
Louis caught the drift, just before Harry said,
“Let’s just enjoy the moment we have here while it lasts, alright lads?”
Silent responses of agreement were elicited from the four boys, before they turned all of their attention back to Niall, snuggling closer to the adorable blond-haired lad who was curled up on the couch.
Niall snuggled in closer to them, and together they formed one beautiful mess of tangled arms and limbs, sprawled all over the place, every one of them happy and content beyond all measure.
In that moment, they knew that they would never forget where they belonged. Although they might have been away from their homes in Ireland and the UK, they would always be at home with one another.
And the proof was in the song that Niall wrote.