One-Shot Book (One Direction/ 5 Seconds of Summer)

Close as Strangers (Niall Horan)

"Bye, Niall," she said. "Bye, I love..." he tried to say, but before he even managed to finish his sentence, the phone call had ended. Niall sighed. It was his first tour away from Phoebe, and to say that it hasn't been easy was an understatement. It was bloody difficult, that's what it was. It was only 6 weeks in, but it had felt like forever. Phone calls have gotten more distant, texts shorter, and everything seemed like it didn't fit into place anymore. It was as if what was once there... wasn't.

"Nialler?" a familiar voice asked, "You alright there, bud?" "Yeah! Perfectly fine, Louis," he replied, "What makes you think that I'm anything but?" Louis huffed and crossed his arms. "I don't know. Maybe the fact that your face is currently wet and that the way you're gripping your phone is as if it were a bad omen? Come on, Niall, I'm not that dense," Louis replied sarcastically. Niall sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Yeah, Phoebe ended the call again. What has changed so much between us? I mean, like, we were in love, now we're strangers," he replied before chuckling, "We were in love, now we're strangers. Hehe, sounds like a song lyric."

Louis frowned. "Okay, first off, I think you've definitely gone off your rocker and two, point taken," he said. "Look, about Phoebe, don't worry too much about it, eh? It's only been 6 weeks, and you guys are trying for long distance for the first time, so it's bound to be a bit difficult.But, hey, you'll make it, okay? You always do," Louis continued.

Niall sniffed. "Yeah, I guess so. It's just... I thought I knew every side of her, you know? But now, it's like I barely do," he said. Louis clasped him on the back and said, "Look, you'll make it, okay? Now, come on, Lou will have your head if you don't show up for styling, especially looking like this."

Niall rolled his eyes but allowed Louis to lead him back to the dressing room, where the other lads were dressing up for the concert. "Oi! Where you've been?! Concert starts in half an hour and you're not even dressed yet!" Harry yelled as soon as he entered. "Girlfriend issues," Niall muttered, before plopping down in a chair and allowing Lou to start fussing over his hair. Harry looked over to Louis for an explanation but instead he just gave a look that basically said, 'Don't ask.'

Soon enough, there were onstage, singing their hearts out. Liam and Louis had another water fight, Harry nearly tripped, Zayn serenading the crowd, the usual. However, even in his guitar playing, Niall's heart just wasn't that into it. His mind couldn't stop flashing back to his girlfriend.

She was probably alone at home right now.

The first lines of 'Little Things' started, and he nearly burst into tears during his solo. The lyrics reminded him too much of how Phoebe was when he first met her. Just a shy, small, insecure girl whom had so much potential in her. He had helped her through that phase, and there she was, a successful young woman with a career in law and a pop sensation as a boyfriend. A good, happy life.

But that seemed to have faded over time.

"If I let you know I'm here, for you," Niall sang. But that's the thing. He wasn't there. At least not for the past 6 weeks where he has been travelling around the globe.

Niall went off stage with tears streaming down his face that night. He had ended up giving his solos to the rest of the lads, unable to sing due to his voice cracking or due to the hoarse sobs emitting from him. Management had given him a lot of trouble due to that fact, but he didn't really care.

"Mate, you alright?" Harry asked as they climbed onto the tour bus, "Look, sorry about the dressing room. I was just joking. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything." Niall chuckled darkly, a sound that was rarely heard from the Irish blond. "It's not about that, Haz. I'm not that trivial to be hung up about something like that," he said.