Niall Horan Imagines

Number 13

"There he is," You said, pointing to the blond in jersey number '13' as he jogged in place with the rest of his team. 

"I can't see his face from here," Your friend mumbled, squinting in an attempt to see him better, "But I bet he's got a nice body. He's a football player!" She laughed before playfully shoving your arm and saying, "Get it, girl!"

You rolled your eyes but chuckled a little, too, before turning your attention back to the boys on the field. "We just started talking last week," You explained, while keeping your eye on number 13, "He's in my math class. I don't know, he knows people - of course, because he's the running back. But I wouldn't really say he's popular." You glanced at your friend before adding, "He's also an international student from Ireland."

"What?!" She gasped, turning to you with excited eyes, "Oh my god, (Y/N), you have to hook up with him! I bet he's got one of those really hot accents, too, doesn't he? You're so lucky!" She nudged your arm with her elbow, and you could feel yourself blushing a little. "How does he know how to play our football , then?" 

"He was on the freshman team and that's where he learned everything he knows. It's actually really impressive that he went from knowing very little about the sport to being our starting running back on the varsity team. He must be a fast-learner," You told her, smiling to yourself.

She giggled before saying, "Well then he should be able to fast-learn his way into your heart, shouldn't he?"

A heat rose to your face and you could feel a blush creeping across your skin. She laughed when you ignored her last comment, because she knew it meant you were silently blushing. The team had switched to lunge-walking across the field now, and your eyes locked on number 13 from behind. Not that you were staring, but his backside looked pretty good in those tight spandex pants. Especially when he bent down with every lunge step. 

You and your friend watched, almost in a daze, as the team finished their warm-ups. Time seemed to fly by, the crowd multiplied, and now it was time for kickoff. The coin was tossed and the opposing team, which happened to be from a local school, won the ball.

It was 14-0 by halftime, with your team on the losing end. You were crushed, thus far, for two reasons. One being that you didn't want to lose to a local school, and the other being that you knew Niall - number 13 - was a very competitive boy. You watched him saunter his way off the field at halftime, walking alongside the quarterback. You figured they were talking, but all Niall did was nod his head in response to whatever the other was saying. Niall lifted his helmet from his head and shook his hair out. Even from where you sat, you could tell his hair was wet with sweat as he ran his fingers through it, attempting to mold it back into shape.

"I'm gonna go buy a hot chocolate," Your friend said, sounding a bit defeated, too. She stood to leave, but stopped just as quickly - when she saw a few boys from your team running back onto the field as if they had forgotten something. "Wait, what's going on?" She asked, to no one in particular. The whole crowd seemed to be just as confused as she was.

You watched as the cheerleaders formed a line and jogged across the field, stopping when they had formed a straight  line before the crowd. They all knelt down and sat on their knees, shaking their poms as the football players unrolled a large banner, and you watched as Niall ran out behind them, standing behind the open banner. Noise started to build, and your friend squealed just as you realized what the banner said. Painted in red lettering, the banner read:

'Tackle homecoming with me, (Y/N)?

-N.H.'

"That's you!" Your friend squealed, grabbing your arm, "He's asking you to homecoming, (Y/N)! Oh my god, that is so cute!" The cheerleaders continued to shake their poms, cheering for the scene that was unfolding before them. You were in such a delighted shock. You weren't a cheerleader, and you weren't a very popular girl, either. You were just an average student, yet the varsity running back was asking you to homecoming. How the hell did that even happen?! 

Niall waved to from his spot on the field, and you didn't waste any more time to shoot him a big thumbs-up, hoping he'd be able to understand that you were accepting his proposal. Niall nodded with a smile, and you returned his nod, confirming what he hoped was true. You laughed as he threw his fists up in the air and his teammates cheered with him, shaking his hand or roughly patting his back. The cheerleaders stood and made an orderly exit from the field, while Niall jogged as close to the bleachers as he could get. You ran down to the bottom of the stands, sliding past people and even pushing your way through, at times. You were too excited to care what people thought.

You leaned over the railing and Niall called up to you, trying to speak over the noisy crowd, "Wait for me after the game!"

You nodded, beaming from ear to ear. "Of course!" You shouted back down to him, giggling when he grinned at you. He was awfully sweaty, but you'd be lying if you said it wasn't at least a little attractive.

He walked backward, nibbling on his lip and winking at you before he spun around to jog out after his team. But you called out to him, before he could get too far, "Niall!" He froze at the sound of your voice and stopped, turning to face you again. You cupped your hands around your mouth, to amplify your voice as you shouted, "Win this game for me! Show 'em who's boss!"

Niall smirked and held his arms out, flexing his muscles, before pointing both of his forefingers at you. You were blushing again, and only chuckled in response. Niall laughed and winked one last time, before jogging off the field.

**I know it's probably a little late for this. Homecoming already happened at my school. But I still hope everyone enjoyed this! I actually like this one a lot haha and I really enjoyed writing it. Plus, I was looking through some of the imagine ideas you guys have given me, and I saw one comment asking for a 'high school Niall' imagine, and I figured this would fit in that category. Oh and for the picture above, just pretend Niall's jersey says '13' with your school colors haha.**