A Letter to Five Boys

A Story by devon

A personal letter addressed to Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Zayn Malik, and Louis Tomlinson.

Dear Niall, Harry, Liam, Zayn, and Louis,

There's so much I have to say to all of you. I'd like to start with saying a huge thank you. Thank you for doing so much for your fans, appreciating us, and just being yourselves. Thank you.

You boys mean so much to your fans and you have no idea. We're not just in love with your music, but you as people. You boys never fail to put a smile on your fans' faces, and nothing is better than that. Behind every single fan that you see as you look out into the massive crowd while performing on stage is a story. That girl, just there in the front row, might have been about to kill herself when she got a text from a friend to check out your song. See that girl smiling way over to the left? She's happy to just see you boys in person, because she loves you more than anything. And that boy that's over there, singing along with you? He's here, supporting you, because you all taught him to chase his dreams no matter what and he's going to just that because you showed him anything is possible. You didn't save my life, but you did something for me just as great, and for that I will love you five boys forever. You gave me a reason to smile again.

My personal story is nothing incredibly outstanding, but it's outstanding what you've done for me. I remember that last school year, I was having one of the worst days. All of my days had been bad lately. I had been struggling with depression, and all I wanted to do was die. I smiled and even laughed at school or home, but it was fake. It was there to hide all the pain I was feeling, because I knew if they asked what was wrong, I wouldn't be able to explain. I hopped in my mom's car after school, and turned on the radio so I wouldn't have to hear my mom ask how my day went - so I wouldn't have to hold back tears as I lied and said, "Fine."

I heard the radio announcer say, "Up next we've got What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction!" The song came on and I smiled as I listened to it. It was a little smile, but my first real smile in a long, long time. When I went home, I looked you up on YouTube. I sat down all night and watched your X Factor auditions, your X Factor video diaries, tour video diaries, interviews, and anything else about you guys that I could find on YouTube. You boys never failed to make me laugh in every single video. So, I followed you on Twitter. That led to me following other fans.

Now, I smile everyday. I even laugh. I’m still struggling with depression, but you give me a reason to be happy, even for a little while. And when I see how small you all started out, as five boys with big dreams and little chance of making it, and see how hard you’ve chased those dreams and you made it, it inspires me to chase my own dreams no matter what. You’re all basically a huge part of the reason I'm the girl I am today.

You boys will always mean the world to me, no matter what. I don’t think you will ever understand just how important you are to your fans. Maybe this will make things a little clearer; I don’t know. All I know is that we all love you and will continue to support you five through out your lifetime.

We’ve watched you grow from the five boys on the stairs to the five young men standing on stage, bowing in front of thousands upon thousand of fans on the last night of your Up All Night Tour. I can easily speak for every single last one of your fans when I say that we’ll be standing by you five every step of the way in the future. We can’t wait to see where this life takes you, and we will forever support you five for being the idiots we know and love. Please, don’t ever be anyone else but our idiots.

Thank you all so much. I truly adore you.

Love,

Devon

(@TheDevonOlding)