~Walking in the wind,

Walking in the wind~

A BRIEF SUMMARY

Things had been rough, but everyone had ended up okay.

Louis was taken to the hospital, where he faced a long recovery ahead of him. Simon, in his guilt, paid for everything that was needed, and was more attentive to him than Harry. He never got over that guilt, really, of having someone else be hurt on your watch.

Harry and Louis only dated for another year before getting engaged. Fin was old enough by then to be the flower girl at the wedding. And then there was a ceremony in which everyone cried their eyes out. Despite his insistence that he was fine, after the honeymoon, Harry's health took a turn for the worse. With his lupus, he was in and out of the hospital and at least three times a week and in crippling pain. But since he had been there for Louis, Louis was there for him. And they were married, after all. It took time, but he learned to manage his disease and be healthy. Meanwhile, his husband still hadn't quit smoking, and threw a temper tantrum every time they went to the gym together.

Eleanor and Louis had worked out a generous custody agreement, with Louis getting most of the time with her. For a while, everyone was worried he wouldn't have much time with her, and that led to it, but Eleanor was still finding her own path in life, while Louis ended up being the settled-down one. But Infinity's mother was still there, in her life.

With all of their money, the couple bought a large house in the suburbs that was still sustaining them nicely. Harry had opened multiple branches of his bakery, and was incredibly happy with the line of work he had chosen himself to be in. Louis still traveled from job to job on a whim, never quite settling down. He was a professional model for a while, tried his hand at artist management, and was starting back into the business of theater again, and trying to write plays. But no matter what he did, at the end of the day, he knew that his mum and Ed were proud of him. He was uniquely and authentically himself.

Liam and Zayn got married three years after their friends. They had decidedly early on to adopt, and once the process started, there was Grant. He had already been named when he was given to them, and it felt like fate. Where Harry and Louis relished any opportunity to escape from their ten-year-old, the other two could barely leave their toddler for a couple of hours without whining about how much they missed him.

Zayn went back to school, after things calmed down. Now, he's a professor for computer and IT work. Liam continue his semi-famous Youtube career for a little while before finally becoming a cop. The two settled down on the East Coast, but were in England for every holiday at their second house, spending it with their dearly beloved friends - who were more life family.

After everything was done and Louis was stable, Niall returned to the U.S. to stay with Liam for a while. Then he fell in love with Liam's best friend, Olviia. The two seem to just "know" that they were meant for each other, and were married within a couple of months. Everyone was concerned about them being a possible Zayn and Luke situation, but it was years from then, and the two were still as happy as the day they had met.

It was only a couple of years before Carmen was in the mix, and Niall finally got to be a dad. He had been an uncle to Theo (for a couple of days before he was arrested) and to Infinity, but now he was raising his daughter. But the two of them never wanted another kid, and Carmen seemed fine with her only child status, as long as she got to see her cousins frequently.

The two lived just down the road from Zayn and Liam, but didn't get out to England as quite often as they wanted to. The couple was dedicated to their work. Under an assumed identity, Niall worked as a social worker, getting back into the work he had originally wanted to do. Olivia took over the coffee shop from Natalia when she retired, and had kept the legacy of The Dream Bean alive.

Niall was still a wanted criminal, but him and his wife took great care to never let that fact be known to their daughter. Maybe they'd tell her when she was older, but hopefully she'd never have to find out.

The only person who didn't make it to the present day was Gemma. While she was the best aunt to Infinity for a couple of years, her kidneys eventually failed and the doctors weren't able to save her. It was everyone knew was going to happen, and what no one was ready for. Harry had been there with her, and so had Anne, right until the end. Her influence was there at every holiday where everyone was together.

While everyone had gone full domestic, there was no taking the crime out of the criminals. Harry had a habit of avoiding speeding tickets by running away from the cops. Louis looks longingly at banks they pass, wishing he was a younger man once more. He'd never do anything now, but simply seeing the building reminds him of his golden days. Liam still has to work on his recurrent drug addiction, but his boyfriend-who-later-became-his-husband proved adept at dealing with the situation when he was clued in. Despite not touching a pill or needle in years, there were still days when he thought about it. Zayn did some hacking on the side, but there was no way that he'd tell anyone that - they'd be a cross-country facetime call intervention to stop him from doing illegal activity. And Niall was still wanted of course. In the past couple of years, there had been a growing insomnia trend with him. He was now relying on picking locks to sleep - Niall knew it was bad, but didn't know how to steer himself away from it.

They'd always be One Direction, really.