Home Is Where The Heart Is

Allison Taylor had never been one to open up about her life to strangers. So she found it immeasurably odd when people asked about her on the road, sometimes the questions came from those she'd never even spoken to before. But she suspected that it was the small town way of life. Everyone seemed to know about everyone else and didn't think it was intrusive to ask for or offer help. The little town of Springdale sat in one corner of Texas. It was mainly a farming town with quaint little businesses and a population of only 2753. Ally had been doubtful at first but Springdale had kind of grown on her. It wasn't as if she'd got total annonymity but the people weren't really bothered about some popstar living amongst them. As she sipped her coffee in her favourite nook in Dolly's Beans, her pen pressed to her lips, mulling over the lyrics of the song she was trying to finish, she thought about London. She missed home, especially the people. But she'd had enough of the craziness when she had left and had no intention of going back any time soon. Being in a band had been exhausting, but the boys and their families had been her salvation. Louis, Liam, Zayn, Niall and Harry had been the only family she'd known in the last seven years. She still couldn't believe how her life had changed from singing in a pub at 17 years of age to singing in front of thousands in packed arenas and stadiums. When Vincent Jones had approached her one winter night after her performance in the pub where she'd worked and told her to meet Simon Cowell the next morning at Syco Entertainment, she'd been more apprehensive than excited. Things had escalated quickly from there. She'd met the boys and within a year One Direction had been a sensation not only in the UK, but all over the world. She'd grown up at an orphanage after her parents had died in a car accident when she'd just been 9. She'd always thought of herself as self sufficient. But all of that had changed when she'd met Louis' mum. Louis Tomlinson had been her best friend from the moment they'd laid eyes on each other. He was loud, boisterous and incredibly naughty. He never listened and always did what he was told not to. But he was also fiercely protective and devoted to his family. His mum, Johanna had taken one look at Ally and invited her over for Christmas. She'd protested at first, mumbling excuses, but Jay would have none of it. From then onwards Ally had spent every holiday with Louis' family. She missed Louis and Jay everyday, especially now that Christmas was coming. "What has you looking like someone ran over your dog, Ally?" She jumped a little at the voice and looked up smiling at 18 year old Lily Brown. Lily had been the only one in Springdale to ask for a photo from Ally and she had obliged happily. The two of them had struck up a friendship of sorts.  The younger girl never asked about her time in One Direction or about the boys, but Ally suspected that she had a huge crush on Zayn if her phone cover was anything to go by. "Hey Lils," Ally greeted her and pointed towards the chair next to her. "Join me." "Sure thing, but let me grab a coffee first." With that Lily dropped her wallet and phone on the table and bounced off towards the counter. Ally looked down at Lily's phone, her eye caught by Zayn's smiling face. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen Zayn Malik smiling so freely. He'd always been the quiet one in the band. He'd also had to go through a lot because of his religion. Zayn had left the band six months before they'd taken the hiatus. Having such a big heart in an industry like theirs had taken a toll on him. Liam Payne and Zayn had been in a relationship since the beginning of 2012 and that had freaked out their management. They'd insisted on hiding the fact and Zayn had been devastated. Liam, who was more of a rule follower, had wanted to do what was right for the band and Zayn had agreed for a while until the fans had started writing and speculating about it. Their media people had started separating Zayn and Liam during public appearances to the point where they had been forced to date girls. Zayn had snapped one day when Liam had been sick and the PR people would not even allow Zayn in the same car. Harry hadn't taken Zayn leaving well. He had been the perfect popstar right from the day they'd started and Zayn had been the only one able to keep him grounded. They'd been totally inseparable and did almost everything together, from getting random tattoos done at whim to running away from their security team. When Zayn left it seemed like the ground had been pulled from underneath Harry's feet. He'd started coming home late, ignoring Ally and all in all being exactly the opposite of what he had been in his relationship with her for three years previously. She'd left and he'd never tried getting her back. Lost in thought, she was startled when her phone rang. Ally didn't get many phone calls except from her lawyer so she was surprised to see the blinking unknown number. "Hello?" "Ally is that really you?" Ally's phone almost slipped out of her hand at the familiar voice. The last person she'd expected to be calling her out of the blue was Niall Horan. "Nialler?" "Ally damn!" The laugh that came through was a trademark of Niall's and came out sounding like a proper hahahaha. "Ally where are you? You need to come to London asap. Its Louis." She froze. "What about him?" "Jay passed away last night." The words slammed into Ally like a freight train. "What are you saying Niall?" "She was diagnosed with leukaemia in July. We all thought she'd pull through and she was doing good until she wot worse last week. Lottie said she asked to see you. I'm so sorry Ally, we couldn't track you down in time. I know how important she was to you." "I'll..... I'll just.... God Niall!" She couldn't talk, could hardly even breathe. "I'll take the next flight out okay? I'm coming home."

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