Untamed [Niall Horan]

Chapter Thirty One

"School's fine," Annabelle answers vaguely, and I raise my eyebrows.

Niall speaks into the speaker phone before I get the chance to. "Just fine, Anna?"

"The kids all know Ariana's my sister, and that she's dating you. Everyone only wants to be my friend because I'm friends with One Direction," She explains, sounding exasperated. "I just found out that my first friend, Cassie, only hung out with me because she thought she could meet Harry."

I frowned upon hearing this, staring at the phone that was resting on the table in between Niall and I. I set down the bottle of nail polish I was currently using my paint my nails and opened my mouth to give Annabelle advice. However, Niall caught my eye first and put a hand up, signaling to let him speak. Instead of being stubborn and refusing, I closed my mouth and gestured for him to speak.

"I know how you feel," Niall says truthfully. "People use me for my fame. It's hard. But you have to try to pick the genuine people out from the rest; it's tough, but it's worth it."

I knew his words meant more coming from Niall rather than me, and I understood why he wanted to speak instead.

"I guess you're right; it is worth it," Annabelle agreed shortly after and let out a breath. "I just can't wait to go back home. I miss my friends so much."

Tensing when she mentions home, I send Niall a fleeting glance, and he mouths 'not now'. I figure he's talking about when I should spill the beans to my sister about my father, so I nod and agree easily. Annabelle's words repeat in my head, and I smirk when I remember a certain boy that I happened to know she missed a lot.

"How's Rob?" I ask, unable to keep the smile off my face. They were just so cute.

"He's good," Annabelle reveals little, per usual. "He still wants to throw me a 'welcome home' party, but I won't let him."

I smile and Niall chuckles. We stay talking on the phone for five or ten more minutes until it's time to go, and Niall has to report backstage. We both stand up from our seats and walk to the door, but I stop before he opens it. Niall turns to me and grabs my waist, pulling me closer to him with a small smirk on his lips.

"Give me a kiss for good luck?" He murmurs, his lips already hovering inches from mine.

I close the distance between us and press my lips against his soft ones, not daring to move my hands to be around his neck or else I'd never let him leave. After a moment he pulled away with a grin, and one easily slips on my lips as well. Niall leans forward and pecks me one last time before he says goodbye and slips out the door. There were ten minutes until show time, and I knew Niall was cutting it close by staying with me in his changing room.

A few moments after he left, I followed suit and exited the changing room as well, slipping into the hallway. I only took a few steps before there was a hand on my arm, pulling me backwards into a room. Panicked, I began to shriek, but I turned around and saw it was Zayn who had kidnapped me, not some stranger. His eyes widen at my scream before I stop and smile sheepishly, apologizing and explaining I had assumed he was a stranger who wanted to kill me.

"Wait, what are you even doing here? The show starts in like, eight minutes!" I cry, trying to talk sense into him.

He looks at me seriously, but I notice from the clenching and unclenching of his fingers that he's nervous. "We don't really get alone time to talk, and I know that's my fault, because I made things weird." I suddenly feel bad that I get awkward around Zayn sometimes, but he shifts and averts his gaze when he notices my shift in mood. "It's okay, I know it's my fault. I just wanted to get you alone so I could tell you that I'm sorry. For everything. When I saw you so upset the other day, I realized I couldn't console you like Niall could; I also realized that I could never mess around with a love like the kind you two have."