Don't Look Back - A Niam Horayne Love Story

Chapter 20 - Loved Up

We met Zayn, Louis, Harry, and Simon in the back corridor of the broadcasting studios. Zayn was, as usual, looking like he rolled out of bed. It was a good thing we had Lou to help us fix up before interviews or he would’ve shown up to many a morning interview with bed hair and pajamas.

“Nervous?” Harry asked as we walked together to the styling room.

I considered for a second. I hadn’t really thought about how I was feeling since my entire being seemed to focus on Niall and he’d been quite the attention hog that morning. “Nah,” I decided.

“Good! No need to be nervous now, boys! We’ve already come out, after all, and everyone took it well. What’s there to worry about?” Nobody bothered to remind Louis that the world might not take more of us being unavailable to them very well, though I could tell he was trying to be as upbeat as possible.

Just before we were ushered into the taping room I felt a tug at my sleeve and was yanked into what appeared to be somebody’s currently unused office.

“What the-“

Niall was standing behind me, having just shut the door and now smirking at my obviously confused face. I stood there awkwardly, my head tilted slightly as I wondered what he was doing.

He crept closer, throwing an arm around my waist to pull me in and cupping my jaw in the other hand. “Somebody’s looking fit today,” he breathed.

“I would hope you’re talking about me,” I murmured, crossing my arms between our chests and pretending to be upset.

“Who else would I be talking about?” The boy looked honestly confused, so I simply laughed.

“On a different note, what are we doing in here?”

He grinned. “I found this little side room and figured it’d be a good place to gather ourselves before we had the interview.” I stared at him, not satisfied with his obvious lie. “And… well, is it so wrong that you were looking absolutely perfect and I wanted to kiss my boyfriend?”

Of course, I had no response for that other than to wrap my arms behind his neck and plant a kiss right on his lips. I felt his smile as he returned the gesture gently, using his grip on my waist to tug me closer until our chests were flush against each other. One of my hands slid into the hair at the base of his neck, and Niall let out a small moan as I twisted my fingers.

“What happened to being quiet so we don’t get caught?” I chuckled as he glared, an expression that melted as he met my gaze.

“Shut up,” he looked away.

“Niall, is that you? What are you doing in a random office, and where’s Liam? The interview is supposed to be starting in two minutes!” Simon called from the hallway.

Sighing, I neatened up our clothes and attempted to smooth Niall’s hair before swinging the door open. “We’re in here, sorry.”

“Oh, boys; what am I going to do with you?” He grumbled. “I don’t care that you’re together, but you’re really going to have to tone down the affection right before an interview. Your hair is all mussed up, Niall. Lou! We need your help again!” He waved over the white-haired friendly woman once more to touch up and shoved us in a room with the other boys and a friendly looking girl.

“And we’re live in 10, 9, 8, 7…” I tuned her out as I glanced at the other boys, none of whom seemed to be nervous. The sight calmed me as I gripped Niall’s hand under the table, brushing our knees.

“Welcome to Breaking News! It’s a lovely Friday morning outside, and we’ve got the boys of One Direction here with us in the studio to celebrate! Boys, say hello to our viewers!” She waved enthusiastically at the camera as we said our greeting in unison. “Mind introducing yourselves, for those who live under a rock and don’t know your names already?”