Niall Horan Imagines

Imagine for Ash!

Niall slammed the door shut behind him and leaned against the door, still gripping the doorknob in his hand as a somewhat frustrated sigh left his lips. You aggressively threw your keys down on the counter and tugged the shoes off of your feet, throwing those down somewhere, too. The house was still and excruciatingly silent, but you knew it wouldn’t be that way for long. Specifically in the past half hour, you and Niall were two separate time bombs, just waiting to go off. You promised yourself that you’d do all you could to keep yourself together as long as you were in the public eye, and you figured Niall must have been thinking the same thing because he also went along pretending to be his normal chirpy self. Now that you and Niall were in the privacy of your own home, you were both just counting down the seconds until all hell broke loose.

Niall peeled himself from the door, watching you as you paced in circles around the room. “You need to learn how to mind your own business,” Niall growled at you. You wanted to be the first to break the silence, but Niall beat you to it.

“That is absurd,” You shot back at him, spinning on your heels so that you were facing him. “You have absolutely no right to be mad at me right now, Niall. In fact, you should be thankful! If it weren’t for me, you’d still be out there listening to those idiots!” You hissed, glaring at him.

He rolled his eyes and chuckled, which only aggravated you more. “I’ve told you this so many times. Just keep your mouth shut and mind your business when we’re in public! Is it really that hard?! People will say what they want, it’s not like I’ve never heard it before. You don’t have to put your two cents in, because that’s when the problem starts. Every time you open your mouth to say something back, you’re putting my career on the line. So don’t tell me that I don’t have the right to be mad at you. Now because you can’t control yourself like a normal human being, I’ve got to pay the price! I’m gonna get an earful from management about something that isn’t even my fault!” Niall shouted, breathing heavily in an attempt to catch the breath he had lost in all that.

“Are you kidding me?” You snarled. Angry energy was rushing through you and you seriously had to control your urge to break something. “So you’re saying that I’m supposed to just listen to these girls while they shout incredibly disgusting things at you? I’m supposed to let them criticize my boyfriend right in front of his face?! I’m sorry, Niall, but if you’re not going to stand up for yourself, then I’ll do it for you.”

“Good Lord, Ash, I’ve dealt with hate before! I’ve heard far worse things about myself, believe me. I don’t need you to stand up for me. I don’t need anyone to stand up for me. I can handle situations like these on my own, okay? You just-” Niall interrupted himself to sniffle, and that’s when you looked up to see that he was crying. His eyes were filled with tears, and you were surprised, because you were usually the emotional one. “You just gotta ignore them,” He finished in a mumble.

The silence returned and you bit at your lip as your eyes fell to the floor. You thought you’d feel a sense of power because Niall seemed to crack first, but what you felt was just the opposite. You felt horrible. Putting aside everything that you were angry about, you realized that Niall was struggling just as much as you were. He was trying so hard to act as if nothing could hurt him, but you could see now that he was bothered just like anyone else would be. Niall wasn’t crying because he was angry; Niall was crying because he was hurt.

“Listen, I’m sorry that you had to hear those things,” You said, and all of the anger you had just moments ago seemed to have vanished. “I guess I was just pissed off that anyone could ever be that cruel to you and I decided to take matters into my own hands. Really, though, I’m sorry for the way those people acted around you. You shouldn’t have to deal with rude people like that, so I’m sorry for that much.”

“You’re a sweetheart,” Niall said, catching you by surprise. “I know you only had good intentions.”

“Niall?” You squeaked, and Niall raised his head. His eyes met with yours for the first time since you got home. “If your management does call you about this, you can give the phone to me and I’ll take the lecture. I’m the one who needs to hear it, anyway.”

He smiled and opened his arms, inviting you into them. You gladly accepted, hiding your face in Niall’s chest while he enveloped you in his arms. He swayed on his feet and pressed a kiss to your forehead while you inhaled his scent and reminded yourself of how grateful you were to have Niall.

**There you go! I hope you enjoyed it!**