#sondirection

i’m crying listen to this song while we talk about this

niall moves into liam’s neighbourhood when he’s FIVE and liam is ALSO FIVE and it’s the middle of summer, sun brightbrightbright and the inside WAY TOO HOT for a little kid! the first thing niall does on his very first day in his brand new house is drag a chair all the way outside and down the stairs and climb up on it to see over the fence into the garden next door. liam is lying on his back in a pair of shorts licking an ice lolly. “hi!” says niall, and liam nearly drops his ice lolly in shock. he catches it, though. looks at niall, uncertain, until niall starts laughing and liam laughs too, somewhat relieved.

when they’re seven ALL THEY WANT is walkie-talkies but their parents are way too poor to buy them any that’ll bridge the distance between their houses so they yell across it instead. “I’M GOING TO COME OVER!!!!” niall hollers, leaning far enough out the window that poor bobby horan might’ve fainted had he seen it. “OKAY!!!” liam shouts back, and they both run away from their windows to their front doors.

the first time someone is mean to liam at school, liam doesn’t cry, but niall does. he’s so ANGRY he’s got so much anger in his little body that he doesn’t even know what to do, and he’s still crying by the time the bell goes and they have to go to their next class, and liam ends up comforting HIM. it’s all a bit back to front but that’s how feelings are sometimes

age 10 niall and liam do literally everything together. they’re best friends for life. “one of the guys from grade ten told me that you spit on your hands and shake to make a promise,” says liam. “we should do that about being friends.” niall makes a ‘yuck’ face and says, “we’re gonna be friends forever anyway, liam, and that’s gross.” so they don’t do that but it’s a promise all its own

when they’re teenagers someone is describing how their crush feels to niall. all the warm tummies and wanting to hold hands and how he thinks about them all the time when they’re not there, and niall’s like “idk if that’s a crush, bro, like that’s just how i feel around liam!” and there’s a long silence and niall’s like... oh. oh no.

he tells liam almost right away, is the thing. they’ve known each other for so LONG, it’s - it’s not like he just COULDN’T TELL LIAM. they’re hanging at liam’s house that afternoon and niall says, “so - i think. um. i was talking to harry, and i think - maybe. is it okay if i-” and liam’s like “yeah yeah what is it!” and niall says, “i think maybe i have a crush on you?” and liam’s quiet for a long moment before he says, “huh, i never thought of that.”

they work it out slowly, step by step, careful with each other, but still - easy, and soft, like they’ve always been.

#1: YOU, the light of my life

#2: the girl i just met in my english class

#3: another international student i met in morocco who wore enough plaid that i was relatively sure she liked girls

👀

um. i just watched this video and im screaming. i dont even watch this show. what the fuck

u look comfy and cute and handsome i love u