Today marks the second anniversary of my fic ‘there’s no fair in farewell’. At around this time 2 years ago, I wrote down the last words on this fic, that has brought me so much life and love and friendship since. In 395 days, give or take a few where I didn’t write, I managed to write a whole ass novel, coming up to 218664 words. Ever since then, I’ve written for so many fests, met so many lovely people, and developed myself as a writer. None of it would have been possible without this fic, and I would love if you could give it a bit of love today! If you’ve read it, send it to a friend who you think might enjoy it. If you haven’t read it, and you think it might be your thing, give it a go! If you don’t think it’s your thing but you want to celebrate with me, reblog the Tumblr post here.
To the people that I’ve met through TNFIF, I hold you all in my heart. You have made these past two years so special for me, and I love that I have made true friends through what was once just a random thought in my brain. Here’s to the future and to many more fics and celebrations!
Summary: When Harry and Louis, two Cupids who have been bringing people together for decades, are tasked with making Soulmates Liam and Zayn fall in love, it proves to be much harder than expected. But maybe, just maybe, that isn’t such a bad thing after all.
I’ve decided to write some timestamps for There’s No Fair In Farewell. Once I’ve written a few more I might post them on AO3, but for now, have a timestamp of what happens after the fic ends. Obviously, spoilers for the entire fic!
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.”
Louis arches a white eyebrow, looking at him. Looking at himself, then up at Niall’s face, that is unreadable for a moment, before it cracks, a cheeky grin rapidly appearing. “Can’t blame me for trying,” Niall tells him, giving Louis’ shoulder a light squeeze. “I figured, maybe this way, I can finally win for a change.”
Summary: When Harry and Louis, two Cupids who have been bringing people together for decades, are tasked with making Soulmates Liam and Zayn fall in love, it proves to be much harder than expected. But maybe, just maybe, that isn’t such a bad thing after all.
STOP WITH ALL THE TNFIF AESTHETIC I WANT TO READ IT SOOO BAD NOW, ITS ALL YOUR FAULT BUT I CAN'T BECAUSE SO MANY EXAMS AMD SHIT I HAVE TO STUDY FOR 6 MONTHS AND I HAVE THIS THING WHERE I WON'T PUT DOWN A FIC UNTIL I'VE FINISHED IT AND- GOD GIVE ME EXTRA TIME!!!
I am gonna tag this as tnfif aesthetic lbr 🙈 also I am sorry not sorry, but STUDY FIRST this fic will stay!!!! But I am glad you want to read it though!!!
Sometimes, when he looks down, Louis envies them. Humans. He’s not sure what about their lives attracts him, though. Whether it’s the not knowing, or the way they persevere despite that. The hope they have, the faith they put in other human beings or in God, in something they can’t touch and have never experienced. He wonders if he believed in God, back then. When he was alive.
It’s weird, thinking about that. Because Louis isn’t dead, is he, despite the fact that he’s very much died. Years ago. He thinks. He’s not sure how long it’s been, the memories have been taken from him upon his arrival. Maybe that’s what he envies. Remembering.
Not that Louis doesn’t remember anything. Just not from before. Not from when he walked the earth and had friends and family. He knows it’s a gift, in some ways. He’s not sure he’d want to remember dying. But it’s hard not to look down and wonder, sometimes. Would he have known some of these people? Does he have siblings? Are they still alive? And if they died, where are they?
Not everyone that dies comes here, after all. He knows that much. It’s only the young, like him. The ones that haven’t experienced love and get a second chance, in a way.
Thank you so so much @pocketsunshineharry for tagging me! I am going to cheat a bit and do one Ziam one as well, because without that Ziam fic this fic never would have happened.
As for why I love this story, it’s just been such a journey. It took me 13 months to write, and before this I’ve never written anything that surpassed 47k. I never thought I’d be able to either. But the idea had been with me for four years and after I finished Let’s Be Alone Together, I finally felt brave enough to take the plunge. What was meant to be an 80k summer holiday thing turned into 218k and a year of writing, but God, am I proud of the end product! I know that a lot of people might be hesitant to read such a huge fic, and I’ll be honest, sometimes it’s hard not to get a little disappointed at its lack of success because I spent so much time on writing it. But I am still so proud of this fic and it’s so dear to my heart because I gained so much from writing this. I learned so much about writing and myself in this process and even if it’s not the biggest success and it’ll never end up being a fan favorite, I hope that it can still do what I set out to do, and that’s make people feel.
I’ve no idea who has already been tagged in this but I am tagging @londonfoginacup because she is my cheerleader and I am indefinitely in awe of her works, @always-aqua because I know she writes, @dimpled-halo for much the same reason and because she’s interacted with my fic posts before and I want to return the love, @lululawrence because I’ve read a lot of her fic and I’d love to know which one she is the most proud of!
Day 122: I wrote just over 1200 words, finished up chapter 21 (with 7,1k) and got to over 170k.
Also, have a tiny snippet (keep in mind I don’t really write smut because I am asexual af and it feels both very awkward to write --what are words-- and I tend to get sex repulsed at times sooo)
“Louis,” Harry mumbles, and Louis has a stray thought that his name had never sounded so sweet, but it doesn’t register beyond that, not with the way Harry is pressing soft kisses just underneath his ear. “Louis,” he breathes it out, arms tightening around him as though he’d disappear if he held on just a little less tightly. Louis can’t really fault him for that thought, because he thinks he just might melt into a puddle onto the floor if Harry keeps up this sweet assault. “Come to bed with me.”
I hope you enjoy these little snippets! If you’d rather not see them, let me know! Or if you want to see more, please feel free to ask me questions, tag me in fic memes etc.
Day 117: With 100 days exactly to go until I’ve been writing this fic for a year, I finished chapter 20 and reached 164k. I’m starting to work out some kinks (not sexual kinks, just things that went wrong lol) in the plot and I’m feeling like I’m actually getting somewhere near the ending. YAY!
As always please feel free to ask me questions about this fic! Tag me in fic memes, send me words that you want me to share sentences of, or just interact with me about the fic!
