New Years 2018
The young man stood alone in the corner as the clock struck midnight. He watched on as close friends kissed their fellow lovers in the crowd with fireworks and loud music filling the background. He never would have thought that he would spend another New Year alone. If he could, he would go back and fix everything, but his mistakes cannot be changed. There is no way to reverse time and undo all the wrong that has happened to him.

He felt alone all the time, though he had supportive friends and family. His walls began construction too far back for him to remember. He pushed away everyone close to him. Not one of his best mates had seen his smile in a quite a while. It has been a long time since this curly haired, green-eyed cutie had enjoyed his life instead of moping in his sorrows.

His presence began to feel unwanted, so he made his way up to his room to close out everyone once again. Locking his door, he made sure he was alone in his living space. He sat at the edge of his bed staring intently at the lone frame on his bedside table. A tear managed to slip from his eye as he once again cherished the memory that is portrayed in this one portrait.

Although, he seemed so alone, he didn’t realize how worried his friends were for him. It wasn’t just for the sake of the band anymore; their worry was for their boxed in friend whom they could proudly call a brother though they were related in no such way.

Downstairs, everyone else was having fun rejoicing in the first hour of this New Year, and not one of them noticed the missing person from the corner. Dancing to the earsplitting music seemed to be much more important than one man’s happiness.

It wasn’t until later that same morning, when everyone was long gone trying to get their drunken selves home, that his closest mates woke up shit faced and still managed noticed his absence.

“Where’s Haz?” his used-to-be closest friend asked the other three boys.

“What do you think?” sarcasm seeped from Zayn’s lips. At the same time, there was a hint of melancholy for his sad friend.

The blonde one sighed. “I miss Harry. The old Harry who always had those cheeky smiles on his face.”

“That Harry is long gone Nialler. It’s been two years. He should’ve been better by now,” Liam reasoned.

The band was, of course, very frustrated in their band mate’s actions. He didn’t do anything wrong –in fact, he never did anything– but he never moved on from his past. It pains the guys to not have access to any part of his thoughts and feelings.

The boys just wanted their friend to be his sill old self. As the youngest of the group, they felt more protective over him, Louis, being the oldest, started to show his maturity towards the situation.

“We need to do something about this,” Lou began. “It’s been a long and rough two years, but things need to change. I can’t stand to see Harry like this, none of us can!”

“Well what do you want us to do Louis?! We can’t bring back the dead!” Zayn shouted at his friend. He was getting very annoyed by the fact that Lou thinks they can actually do something to help their friend. He wants to help, but he just can’t seem to believe there is a way.

“I know we can’t, but don’t you at least want to help him? Two years, Zayn! It’s been two years! He needs to move on!”

“I’m with Louis on this. Harry needs to get his act together. Not just for the fans, but for himself too,” Liam inquired.

“Yeah Zayn. It’s for the best,” Niall sided.

Zayn ran his fingers through his hair in disbelief. “Do you really think he’s just going to move on like that?” He too was still dreaming about the awful event that had brought his friend to be the way he is today.

“What have we got to lose?”

Louis was right. They hadn’t got anything to lose, and the boys knew that too. There was just something holding them back; the rest of them had this feeling that something would go wrong. This something would be so disastrous that the boys would only be going two steps forward and two steps back. Something was going to prevent them from accomplishing their goals, but they didn’t know what it was. They just knew something would go wrong.

Liam sighed, “How are we going to help him?”

Liam of all people hates to see his friends down. It’s true that the band has some unsettled disagreements, but nothing ever stopped him from fixing them. Harry was the one situation where Liam had given up, but he was willing to go back and fix it.

“Easy. We have to help him keep his promise,” Louis said like it was no big deal. However, the rest of the boys stood in disbelief of the words that have just made their way out of his mouth.

“Lou, that was a big promise. I’m pretty sure he’s not going to want to keep it. I mean-”

He cut Niall off, “It’s never too late for love my friend. It never is.”

The group knew what they had to do now; they just needed to give Harry a little push is all. Whether it took a couple of days, or some months, they would help. They were willing to do anything to fix this broken boy.

Meanwhile, as the boys were thinking up a storm in their living room, Harry slept peacefully in his room. His peaceful slumber was soon interrupted by a nightmare of past events that he seemed to be constantly reliving.

He couldn’t seem to get these scenes out of his head. Nothing he did was helping him either. Instead of moving on, he seemed to make everything into an excuse about the memories.

A simple white rose was enough for him to shut out everyone for a week. Truth is, they were her favorite, but she’s gone. He is just too soaked up in everything that happened to accept the truth.

He jolted awake. Although it was midday, he still felt a need to sleep some more. His plan to allow himself to do so was put on hold as four boys cruised their way into his room of the shared bachelor pad.

“Can I help you?” he asked unsure of their sudden presence. The boys hadn’t really spoken to him in a friendly manner for quite some time. The only time he even spoke to them was at meetings with Simon or when they were at the recording booth. Even then, however, it was only for business. There were no smiles exchanged or jokes to be laughed about; Harry was only there to carry on his career.

They all carried the same expression on their faces, and Harry soon became suspicious as to what there whereabouts are.

“Harry, we need to talk… About Leanna,” Louis spoke up. He was nervous about even saying her name out loud for the fear of Harry being even more upset than before.

He was taken aback by his friend’s words. No one had mentioned her name for as long as he could remember. He knew it was out of politeness, but hearing it come from another mouth that isn’t his own was different. It was a nice feeling.

“What’s to talk about?” he mumbled.

Liam sighed and cut to the chase. “Haz, it’s time to move-”

“No! I won’t! You can’t make me!” he cut him off not wanting him to finish his phrase.

“It’s been two years, Harry!” Niall shouted. At first, Harry was stunned. Niall was never one to speak out, yet he proved that he didn’t know his friends too well just a few moments ago when he did.

“I don’t care if it has been two years! Nothing you can say or do will make me change my mind. I can’t move on.”

“Can’t or won’t? Did you forget about your promise?” Zayn implied.

He sighed, “Except for that.”

“Please, Harry. We’re begging you. We’re tired of seeing you so sad and alone all the time. You need to move on. For the fans, for us, for her…” Liam pleaded.

“She would want this. You can’t let her be the cause of your loneliness. She would want you to find someone new,” Niall noted.

“Guys, as much as I want to move on, I just… I can’t get her out of my head. She meant so much to me. I’m not sure I will be able to find a girl to compare to her.”

“We know Haz, but it doesn’t hurt to try,” Liam smiled.

“Yeah. Who knows? Maybe there is another girl out there for you. We just need you to try.”

Harry contemplated his next motive. If he chose to move on, he would forget about her, but if he didn’t, he would never forgive himself for breaking their promise and hurting himself. So maybe forgetting is good. Maybe this is the change he needs to fulfill his promise. Maybe there is hope for him.

He lifted his head up high. He took the picture frame from his bedside table and stood up. He walked past the boys to the desk near the door and shoved it into one of the drawers.

He didn’t have the heart to throw it away, so he merely hid it. Then, he turned to face his friends with a newfound courage.

“Where can I start?”

The boys smiled wide Cheshire cat smiles at him. They can already see the change in him just by his will of his current actions. It seems as though things are looking up for their friend now.

“We have a few ideas, but you have to be willing to try.”

Harry knew that this would be hard, but he figured that as long as he tried, and his friends tried for him too, that he could fulfill the long lost promise.

“So what do you say?” Louis interrupted Harry’s thought process.

This is it; this answer spoken today will forever change his life. These few words are enough to create a new impact, not just on him, but also on the boys and his family and the fans.

“Let’s do this.”