Small Talk (Niall Horan)

Chapter 43

*Niall's P.O.V.*

Today is Halloween, Harry has another concert today and we're all going to see him before heading out for the night. Today we're going to see him from backstage, so that we can all leave together as soon as the concert ends and get to the party as soon as possible. I just hope there aren't a lot of paparazzis this time, I couldn't stand how fragile and frightened Soph looked the other night. It was really a lot to handle, I haven't even gotten used to it myself and it has been happening for the last 10 years. I don't even  know how difficult it must have been for her. And it doesn't help the fact that the news is talking trash about her and Cami, since we haven't officially confirmed that we're dating them. They keep calling them names and basically saying that they're sluts and using us for fame. Which of course they aren't, but it still gets to Soph, even if she says it doesn't. I see her scrolling through twitter and the comments on her Tiktoks and she flinches whenever she finds one that's being rude towards her. Even if they don't call her by her name since they don't know who she is and I can see that it's affecting her.

"Everything okay babe?" I asked as I got out of the shower and found her yet again scrolling through twitter.

"Yeah, everything's perfect." She responded without looking me in the eyes, and I knew she's lying. I turned her chin up before asking again

"Are you sure Soph? Nothing's bothering you? Cause I can see it in your eyes." I admitted.

"It's just that they're saying really mean things about me and Cami." She finally crumbled and tears started falling down her cheeks. I hate to see her crying and I hate it even more that it's my own fans that are making her cry.

"I'm so sorry petal. I didn't want any of this to happen to you. I'm so sorry for getting drunk and letting people record us in the club." I replied as I stroked her hair and hugged her really hard, trying to comfort her.

"It's not your fault Nialler." She stated as she looked into my eyes, with a sincere look. "I just don't know why this affected me so bad this time. The last times we've been photographed together I found some rude comments but they didn't get to me."

"It happens sometimes. There are days in which the comments hurt more than usual. Trust me I've been there."

"Yeah, but don't worry honestly. I still wouldn't change a thing about the other night at the Club, I had a lot of fun with you." The tears stopped rolling down her face and she finally calmed down.

"Me too and I promise I won't drink a lot tonight. And I'll do my best to protect you from the cameras."

"Thanks baby." She placed a tender kiss on my cheek. "And it does help that it's a costume party, it'll make it harder for people to recognize us."

"You're right. And it's going to be filled with celebrities, I don't think they're going to pay a lot attention to us."

"Perfect. Do you know any of the celebrities that are going to be there?" She inquired as her eyes lit up, finally.

"I just know about my mates, Lewis and Shawn." I responded. They had texted me earlier and asked if I was going. We hadn't seen each other in months.

"Lewis as in Lewis Capaldi and Shawn as in Shawn Mendes?" She asked incredulous.

"Yeah." I responded as I laughed when I saw her eyes pop out.

"Holy shit. I love their music." She beamed at me, with no signs of her previous tear up evident.

"It's good, I'll admit. But mine's better." I spoke in a cocky voice.

"Obviously babe, you're the best." Sofia responded before I leaned in to kiss her. I couldn't believe that she'd be leaving back home tomorrow and I would be headed to Europe. Good thing I'll see her again in 3 and a half weeks, not that I'm counting or anything.

A few hours later we all headed to the arena to watch Harry perform again. 10 minutes before the show ended I headed back to the dressing rooms to get changed. The girls had gone to get ready 30 minutes prior, since they always take longer. Soph and I were going as deer and hunter, I was the hunter obviously. We had come up with the costumes today and my assistant helped us get them in time, since we had no idea we would be going to a Halloween party.

"You look so cute babe." I whispered in Soph's ear as soon as she emerged from the dressing room she was in. She was wearing a fake fur dress with some antlers and she had painted her face to resemble a deer. She looked adorable.

"And you look amazing honey." She responded as she eyed me. I didn't look too bad in my camouflage outfit. I had also painted some black striped across my face to look more badass.

"Let's roll." Harry hollered 5 minutes later as we all piled into the vans that would take us to the party. The party was in a rooftop at one of the buildings downtown. I didn't even know who was throwing it, just that a bunch of my acquaintances from the music industry were going to be there. We had no problem getting in since there was tight security and they were keeping the paps in check, thankfully. As soon as we got through the doors I heard someone call my name

"Niall, mate. How are you?" A figure started to approach me and then I recognized Lewis, dressed as a fireman. We hugged each other since we hadn't seen each other in a long time.

"I'm pretty good, how you've been?" I asked him.

"Me too."

"This is my girlfriend, Sofia." I introduced her as she hugged him and said hi in a slightly higher pitch voice. She was clearly nervous and excited to be meeting him. We talked for a couple of minutes before he wandered off to the bar to find some beer. We found Zayn and Gigi and went over to them to talk for a while before Shawn bumped into us.

"Shawn!" I exclaimed as he turned around to hug me.

"Niall!" He exclaimed back with a wide smile. "Glad you made it."

"Yeah." I spoke as we broke from our embrace and said hi to Camila (Cabello) his girlfriend, not Harry's. "This is my girlfriend, Sofia." I introduced Soph and yet again her voice was a pitch higher when she spoke.

"I didn't know you had a girlfriend." Shawn told us.

"Yes, we've been trying to keep it on the down low for now." I explained.

We had a lot of fun at the party and Soph got to meet a lot of my friends and acquaintances, she was thrilled. I drank a little but was careful to not get pissed, I wanted to be able to protect Soph in case anything went down with the paparazzis. Thankfully as we left the party, we were able to do so without a lot of paparazzis taking our pictures. Even though Soph had her head down as we made our way to the car, I could sense that she was calmer than she had been the other day at the club, and that relaxed me.

"It wasn't so bad this time." She admitted once we were in the car.

"Yeah, it wasn't as bad as I expected it. So did you have fun?"

"Yes!! It was amazing Niall, thank you so much for inviting me."

"Thank you for coming with me." I told her as I touched her nose with my finger before she snuggled into my shoulder and stayed like that the whole ride. I was going to miss her a lot when I went back to Europe, and the time difference wouldn't help at all. We'll barely have time to talk and I hate that. The silver lining is that I'll see her in no time and I'll get to spend a couple of weeks with her before going back home for Christmas.

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Author's Note:

Hey there guys! Thank you so much for all the love you're giving my story! It means a lot to me. How are you enjoying the story so far? If you have any suggestion about something you'd like me to include be sure to leave it in the comments! I'm really hoping you enjoy it and any suggestions and/or grammar corrections are more than welcome. Don't forget to follow me, vote and comment, it really helps me out and I'd love to hear your thoughts! If you're obsessed with 1D make sure to check my TikTok account, I upload daily vids of the boys, it's @cristylealr