Don't Look Back - A Niam Horayne Love Story

Chapter 18 - You're The Disgusting One

“Niall!” I yelled, darting across the kitchen as fast as possible. “Stop eating the chicken. I haven’t finished the sauce yet!”

He pouted at me and I had to force down the feelings of defeat. “But Liam, I’m hungry and you’re taking a really long time to finish cooking, and we’ve got that meeting in an hour so the van will be here in around twenty minutes.”

“Oh, alright. Here you go; I think the sauce is done enough at his point anyway.” I handed him the bowl I’d been working with so he could pour what he deemed an appropriate amount over his meal before passing it along to me.

“What do you think they’re going to tell us?”

“Chew with your mouth closed,” I scolded him, “that was disgusting. But I think Simon was right. If they let Louis and Harry date, why should they stop us? All we have to do before telling everyone is make sure our mums know. They wouldn’t want to find out from a broadcasted interview.”

Niall considered my opinion. “I guess you’re right. Can you imagine your mum sitting herself down in front of the screen for our interview only to hear that we’re together? She’d have a heart attack.”

We chuckled and finished our quick lunch. Niall went to grab our things as I rinsed the dishes, since everyone knows Niall doesn’t mind messes and wouldn’t have cleaned them himself. I called him to the door as I saw the van pull around the corner and we hopped in.

“Have you hear anything since yesterday, Paul?” He was driving us today, apparently.

“No, sorry boys,” he glanced over his shoulder at us.

“Any idea if they might say no to us?”

Again, he shook his head. “Not the slightest, but I don’t see why they’d reject you. If the mess the band became over the last short while was because you were apart, I’d say splitting you up would cause more harm than good,” he reasoned.

Niall sighed as he leaned over to rest his head on my chest. I let my chin drop to his head, kissing his hair and stroking his cheek. We stayed slightly curled up for the remainder of the ride to management’s office.

Simon greeted us in the front lobby and escorted us past the desk and doors until we reached the largest meeting room the building held. Steeling ourselves for what could be to come, Niall and I softly pushed on the door and found seats.

“Good afternoon, boys. As you can see, we’ve gathered every head of every department of our management to attend this meeting. We were told that this could resolve the problems involving the two of you and how they’ve affected One Direction as a band. Would either of you care to explain?”

Simon raised his hand before standing, winking at us. He began to tell the rest of his company the same story we’d told him the day before, every detail accurate. It was a wonder that he was able to remember everything, but leave it to Simon to understand how he was able to do that. “And so,” he concluded, “It would be more harmful than helpful to tear them apart.”

The room was silent, representatives from Modest glancing around and exchanging conversations through their eyes. Simon cleared his throat awkwardly.

“So…” I trailed off, “does anyone have something to say?”

It was still quiet enough to hear a pin drop, almost as if they’d forgotten that not all of us were included in their mental conversations. Niall snorted, getting to his feet.

“If none of you want to talk, fine. Liam and I will be leaving and announcing our relationship during the next interview, whenever that may turn out to be. Thanks for your time,” he mocked.