#tnfif

Just like they have lived their lives together, so do they pass on. It’s been a long life, a happy life, filled with love and, eventually, a new family. Their daughter is named Johanna Anne, in honor of both their mums. Their adopted son, of course, is named after Niall (and Nick, and Louis really only grumbled about it for old time’s sake), and Louis often calls him their lucky charm when he’s young. Their kids grow up to have kids, and by the time they’re both in their eighties they’ve left a lasting imprint on earth. Their lives, having been cut short decades ago, have finally been allowed to play out the way they were always meant to.

Now, eighty two (like he would have been when he’d gone back to earth in 2017, had he not originally died), Louis is old and content, ready for the next adventure. He knows the end is coming soon, and he’s made his peace with it, has had ample time to say goodbye to his children, promising his grandchildren that he’ll always watch over them. They’ve grown up with the fairytales he’s told them, of Fates and Cupids and while Louis isn’t sure it’ll comfort them in their time of grief he knows that they’ll never truly be alone.

As sad as he is at the prospect of leaving his family, he knows what he has to look forward to. And, as he’d told Harry once (or a million times), there’s nowhere he can go that Louis won’t follow. He knows the same goes for Harry. Even if there might be a bit of time between when the two of them pass, he knows they’ll have eternity together to look forward to.

Eternity. In Heaven. With the rest of their family.

It’s been so long since Louis has seen them, and even the memories have faded somewhat with old age. There’s siblings he’s only remembered as little children, and then siblings he hasn’t even met, but that he knows he’ll see once he passes over. There’s his mum, his stepdad, and the man she married after, the one that she grew old with. Their extended family, because although Louis had never contacted his siblings he did find out that most of them had gotten married and had children of their own.

Just as importantly, there’s Niall.

When he finally passes, it’s not much of a shock to find Harry right next to him, the moment he appears at the entrance to Heaven. Old, gnarled hands tangle the way that they used to so often, wrinkled thumbs brushing over rough knuckles.

“Alright?” Louis asks softly. Harry, lovely eighty-year-old green-eyed Harry, whose hair is now thin as whisps and grey, but who still looks like the most beautiful man Louis has ever laid eyes on, nods. Smiles, with thin cracked lips, that Louis still can’t resist pressing a kiss to.

He had thought of Heaven often, had wondered what it would look like, and oddly enough, it’s both exactly how he expected it and nothing like it. There are no pearly gates, no clouds and, most importantly, there is no Saint Peter or God to judge whether or not they’ll be allowed entrance. There’s just a door, translucent and shimmery, one that opens just as soon as they’ve turned towards it.

Louis’ throat closes up the moment he spots them. Names come easily, the recognition there even though his family looks nothing like the one in his memories. They’re all old, his age or similar, but he only has to look at them to know who they are. There’s Lottie, silver haired and short, and Phoebe and Daisy, a little taller and unmistakably twins. There’s what must be Ernie and Doris, standing a few steps behind two women who look so similar that it takes Louis a moment to realize who is who. Having both passed at old age, Fizzy and his mum could pass as twins, but that’s before she takes a step forward, her eyes shimmery with tears.

“Lou.”

She barely has time to open her arms before Louis has caught up to her, wrapping his own arms around her. And although technically he is older than her now, in her arms he feels just as much a little boy as he did when he was alive. He feels safe, sheltered, in a way he’s only ever felt with Harry.

“Mum.” It’s soft, pained, but the arms around him are holding him together. He can faintly hear Harry, notices his trembling voice as he greets his own family. But this moment, this is just for him.

There’s a soft kiss dropped to his head, worn hands that cup his cheeks as she pulls away just enough to look at him. “My boy. I’ve thought about you so often. I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’m sorry it took me so long.”

His mother shakes her head, brings him in closer, soothingly rocking him from side to side. “Nevermind that now, love. You’re here. You’re home.”

**

They stand there for what feels like eternity, hugging each other, until Louis can no longer tell whose arms he is in. He’s hugged Lottie and Fizzy, the first of which has punched him in the arm, telling him about time, before dissolving into tears and shaking apart in his arms. There’s been hugs from both sets of twins, and kind eyes that Louis remembers belonging to his stepfather before he is wrapped up in a hug by him too.

Time no longer has any meaning, much like it did when he was a Cupid, but all that comes to a halt at a soft cough, followed by a voice Louis hasn’t heard in sixty odd years.

“Welcome back, Lou.”

There’s tears in his eyes before he’s even turned around. And there he is. Not a day older than when Louis last saw him. Looking young, and ageless at the same time. Same cheeky grin, though there’s tears in his eyes too, Louis can tell.

“Niall.”

Arms go around each other, one pair old and weathered, the other pair young and strong, so much so that Louis nearly wheezes with the force of the hug. But he sinks into it, into the arms of his best friend, of one of the best huggers in the world. “Niall.” He repeats it, having no other word to express his emotion other than just that. Just Niall.

He’d be embarrassed about crying but Niall’s right there with him, shaking quietly in his arms. Louis can faintly hear his family shuffle back, giving them some space, and he is grateful for it. The only person that he wouldn’t mind seeing this moment is Harry, because Harry’s the only one that would understand. The only person that has gone through the things that Louis has.

“You named your kid after me.” Niall hiccups into his hair, and Louis feels fresh tears welling up in his eyes. “Can’t believe it. Never knew you were such a sap.”

Louis snorts. “Lies. You knew. You fucking knew.”

(The fact that he can hear his mum somewhere behind him, faintly murmuring language absolutely does not make him cry)

“Of course I did. Watched you every chance I could, didn’t I? Promised I’d always keep an eye on you.” He had promised that, once upon a time, but it’s still hard to believe that it’s been sixty years and Niall has never broken that promise. Time moves differently, up here, and a few decades is nothing, but at the same time, it says so much about their friendship, about the loss Niall must have felt.

“I’m sorry,” Louis whispers softly. “I’m sorry for leaving you.”

“I’m not. And you’re not. I’ve seen you. You were happy.”

Louis smiles at that. “I was. I am. Life’s been - well, you’ve seen it.”

Niall nods. “It’s been everything I wished for, for you. Me and Nick both. He made me promise not to tell you, but he bawled like a baby the day you brought your son home from the hospital.”

Little Niall Nicholas. His baby boy, who was now well in his fifties. With children of his own, Louis’ grandkids who he had doted on, watched Harry be enamoured with, the way he’d so often seen him in Heaven. He finally had gotten to count all their fingers and toes in person. Louis smiles. “I’m taking you did the same thing.”

Niall just shrugs, completely unembarrassed. “I mean. It’s your kid. Of course I cried. And that was even before I heard the name. Good name though. Good lad.” He’s quiet for a moment. “I was honored to find him on my board, once he grew up. They’re soulmates, did you know? Him and his wife? They fought over who got to set them up. Perrie and Cara eventually compromised, worked together. We’ve all been looking out for you. Rooting for you.”

Louis swallows. He’d wondered, as his children grew up, if anything had changed in Heaven. If anyone else had gone down, if they’d even known what had happened to him and Harry or if it had been made out to be a cautionary tale. Hearing that they still remembered them, still took an interest in their lives - it felt nice, to have been watched over. To know that even if he hadn’t seen them for so long, he was still never alone.

“I missed you guys.” He says softly. “I missed - I was happy, you know I was. But I still missed you. Just, hanging out, having a beer. Playing games.”

“Playing football.” Niall chuckles. “You know, you still owe me a rematch.”