Niall's Girl

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

 And there he was.

Niall was wearing a white short-sleeved t-shirt with a reddish, sleeveless zip-up over the top. He had on baggy blue jeans and his grey hightops and his blonde hair was styled into the signature quiff. He had his head peeking out of the doorway of the café, as if searching the street for me. When his head turned my way and he spotted me, his gaze met mine and everything stopped. For just a second, I froze to take it in, that Niall was here in front of me, actual Niall, in the flesh, finally, after all this time, here he was.

And then the most beautiful grin took over his face and I didn't hesitate. I took off at a run, reaching him in about two seconds and I flew into his outstretched arms. I clung to him, my arms around his neck and his strong biceps holding me close. I buried my head in his neck and took in his wonderful scent and he hugged me so tight that my feet were lifted a little off the floor.

We stayed like that for I don't know how long; could have been seconds, could have been hours. But way too soon Niall placed me back on the ground and leaned back a little, although his arms were still wound around my waist.

"Hey Ems." He was grinning like a Cheshire Cat and I was sure my expression matched his.

"Hey Ni." I said before pulling out of his embrace a bit more so I could free my arms. Naturally, the first thing I did was weird. I poked his bicep and raised my eyebrows. "What happened to 'I don't work out' huh?" I mimicked his lovely accent terribly.

He laughed and threw his head back and by god, why hadn't we met up sooner? Text messages and Phone calls and Skype did him no justice, they were nothing compared to him in the flesh.

He took my hand an pulled me into the empty café and I tried to ignore the sparks that shot up my arm as my hand fit perfectly in his.

You'd think that it would have been awkward - Niall and I meeting for the first time, him a famous popstar and me... well, a clumsy, normal teenage girl. But it actually wasn't awkward at all. Speaking to him felt like the most natural thing in the world, sitting across the small round table from him felt like it was something we did everyday.

I can't even tell you what we talked about, I don't even remember. All I remember is the laughter and his smell and the pure happiness I felt from just being with him. We drank hot chocolate and not one other person entered the café. When he teased me I pouted and he rested his hand over mine on the table. When I teased him he pouted and I got up from the table to sit in the chair next to him and pulled his frowning face up into a smile with my fingers.

When he got a phonecall from management that he needed to take he went and stood a few metres away by the window and I admired the way his lips looked when he talked and he winked when he caught me staring. Butterflies erupted in my stomach every time we held eye contact and I felt like I was falling into an endless blue ocean when I looked into those perfect eyes.

Two hours felt like two fucking minutes.

"I'm gunna have to get you back Ems," Niall said, resting his head on top of where mine was resting on his shoulder.

"Noooo," I whined and he laughed.

"C'mon." He left a tenner on the table for our drinks and took my hand in his again as he pulled me from my seat and out of the café. We turned the corner and suddenly I was stood in front of his massive, sleek, beautiful black range rover.

"Jesus Christ Ni, nice car much?" I said in awe as I climbed into the passenger seat. I stroked the leather seats admiringly as he started the car and began to drive expertly around the confusing London roads.

I turned my nose up at the music on the radio and flipped through his CDs before selecting the recent Kodaline album and putting it into the player.

I began to sing along abstractly as I drew circles with my index finger on his pale hand that was resting on the gear stick. He smiled subtly (but of course I noticed) at my touch.

"Em, you sing terribly." Niall said, glancing over at me when we stopped at some traffic lights.

"I do not!" I said defensively, before starting to sing louder and whinier and more like a dying cat. He laughed and it was worth embarrassing myself just to see those crinkles in the corners of his eyes when he smiled.

We pulled up outside the theatre and he stopped the car, hopping out gracefully and coming round to open my door.

"Why thankyou good sir," I said as he helped me down. He chuckled before stepping back and taking a photo of me on his phone before I had time to realise what he was doing.

"Hey!" I frowned as I tried to grab the phone. He lifted it easily out of my reach and surveyed the photo, laughing.

"Needed a photo for your contact in my phone," he explained as he looked at my joking glare. "Your mouth's open like a fish!" He chuckled as he looked at the photo again.

I huffed but when he slid his phone into his pocket and looked up at me I realised it was time for our goodbyes and my expression turned sad.

He reached out and pulled me into his arms, which he wound around my shoulders. I put my own arms around his slim waist and rested my head on his chest, breathing in and hoping he didn't think I was a freak for sniffing him.

"Don't leave," I said to him, my voice muffled by his shirt.

"You're the one leaving, silly, not me," he chuckled and the vibrations echoed through my own body.

"And Sophie's ill so I'm spending tonight alone," I moaned, refusing to unravel from his arms.

"What?" He said sharply and then I did pull back so I could look at his face. "You mean you're not sharing the room with anyone else?"

My eyebrows shot up as I realised what he was insinuating. "No, Ni I can't sneak out again!" I exclaimed even though my mind was screaming at me to do it.

"Fine, if you won't sneak out will you let me sneak in?" His sparkling eyes held a mischievous grin which caused a grin to spread over my face, too.

"Are you being serious?" I tried to contain my excitement but my voice betrayed me.

"Yeah!" He said and pulled me in for another quick hug. He pecked the top of my hair before pushing me from his arms when I refused to move.

"Text me later and I'll be there!" He called as he got back into his car. I stood on the pavement as he drove past me. He blew me a kiss and I pretended to catch it, getting another chance to see his handsome smile as he drove away.

Now for the tense part. I walked back into the theatre just in time as people started spilling out the doors. My school group were the last ones out, so I had time to run into the bathroom and splash my face with water, letting my mascara run a little. I messed up my hair a bit, hoping I looked sick and not just homeless.

Mr Peeves had his head sticking above the crowd, looking relieved when he spotted me.

"How are you feeling?" Mr Griffin, the other teacher on the trip asked.

"Not too great," I responded, trying to look sorry for myself. The plan had been that I declared I'd been sick and was now feeling much better, although I was upset to have missed the show. However, I spotted the opportunity - if they thought I was still feeling ill they would leave me alone for the night and Niall could come over.

"Oh dear." I tried not to notice the smug tone of Mr Peeves' voice. Dick.

We piled onto the bus and I took my place back next to Benjamin.

"Hey, you okay?" He said concernedly and I smiled.

"Yep!"

I only realised my mistake when it was too late. "I thought you were feeling ill?" Ben said, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"Yeah, I meant I feel okay at the moment. I vomited like five times." I was a shit liar. Ben shook his head slightly as if implying he didn't buy it but much to my relief, he didn't mention again on the bus ride back to the hotel, opting to call his latest girlfriend Matilda, instead. I actually liked Matilda alot, despite her odd name she was a really nice, normal girl.

The forty English students stood in a group in the hotel lobby as Mr Griffin shouted over us.

"Okay, we're going for tea at Frankie and Bennys." He said. Some people cheered and my stomach grumbled; the pizza there was divine. "Everyone grab your things and get back on the coach!"

As the group piled away to the lifts and the stairs, Mr Peeves called my name.

"You should stay here, Emma. It wouldn't be right for you to come out again if you're sick. We'll be back around nine if you need anything. Now off you go and get some rest." He shooed me away and turned to talk to Mr Griffin.

I scowled as I stomped up the stairs. Stupid Porno Peeves. Now I couldn't even get Frankie and Bennys. And preventing me from getting pizza was like telling the baby Jesus he wasn't special - just plain wrong.

When I reached my room on the third floor I collapsed on the double bed and dialled in the familiar number.

"Niall Horan this is all your fault!" I fumed when he picked up with a cheery 'yellow?'

"Shit, did ya get caught?" He asked worriedly.

"No, much worse. I've been banished to my room all night whilst everyone's gone to get pizza." I scowled and Niall laughed. The bastard.

"Hey, does that mean I can come over right now?" He said happily.

"Didn't you just get home?" I was flabbergasted to why he wanted to spend so much time with me when I'm sure he had a million other things to do on this sacred day off.

"'M bored." He replied nonchalantly. "So, ten minutes? I'll bring food!"

"Okay! As long as you bring pizza! It's room one-oh-four." I shouted excitedly.

He chuckled. "Okay, make that fifteen minutes. In a bit Ems!"


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Yay the friends meet at last! 'Fooootballll fweeeeeeends'. Sorry, been watching too much Inbetweeners.

I'm never going to be one of those authors who wants a specific number of comments or votes before they upload the next chapter, but if you did vote, I definitely would not mind ;)

I wasn't going to post this chapter so soon, but I had the perfect photo to go with it, that inspired the beginning! So if I have finally worked out how to do it... it should be on the side!

Thankyou for reading, you beautiful people!

-Laura xo