The Cover Girls (A One Direction Fan Fiction)

Chapter 12 - Bonding With Nialler

:~:~:

I swatted at my face, too groggy to open my eyes and see who was poking me.

"Ugh, what?!" I finally hissed, keeping my voice low to not wake the others up.

Opening my eyes, I saw the dark silhouette of a figure leaning over me. I blinked a few times until I was able to identify who had woken me up.

"Get up," Niall said in a whisper.

"Why?"

"Because, I'll explain in a minute," He urged, then straightened up and walked out of the room.

Huffing out a sigh thick with sleep, I made a motion to push myself up, but immediately felt a light weight on my waist holding me down.

With eyes that were newly adjusted to the absence of light in the room filled with snores, I picked up the blanket covering me, and arched my neck to find Louis' arm slung loosely over me.

My eyes widening, I reached down slowly, my heart rate growing every second. With ginger hands, I carefully lifted his arm and laid it gently next to him.

As I stood up and brushed myself off, my mind raced with thoughts of if he purposefully put his arm around me, or if it happened when he rolled over in his sleep.

Attempting to put my thoughts at rest, I climbed the stairs that Niall had previously scaled, and wandered drowsily into the kitchen, sleep still loosely holding onto my brain.

"Sorry to wake you," Niall said as soon as he saw me, his Irish accent thick, handing me a warm cup of tea, "But I sort of figured you might not want the others to see you and Louis all cuddled up."

I froze in the middle of sitting down, but continued when he added with a smirk, "Don't worry, I'm not gonna tease you about it."

"Thanks, I would never hear the end of it if the girls had seen us," I replied, suddenly understanding why he had gotten me up.

"Anytime," I gave Niall a small smile before sipping a gulp of my tea, but was interrupted by the blonde boy saying my name hesitantly, "April?"

"Mhm?" I replied, putting on a convincing grin.

"Are you okay?" He asked, his face concerned, "You don't seem... well... right, I guess."

Looks like it's not as convincing as I thought.

My muscles stiffening at the question, I set the tea down carefully, "Yeah, of course I'm fine."

"You're lying," Niall said, looking into my eyes questioningly.

"Look, Niall, it's not important-"

"Yes it is." He argued, "I can tell that you and Louis have talked about it before. Please, just tell me. You can trust me."

"Niall," I said, feeling a mix of happiness that someone else has noticed, and displeasure because I didn't feel comfortable talking about it with anyone but Louis, "It's hard to explain. It's a lot of things, and I don't want to get into it right now. I do trust you," I tried convince him, "But I just can't talk about it right now."

"Okay," Niall replied, his expression somber, "I understand."

Unable to handle the desperate look on his face, I spoke up again, barely able to keep my voice from breaking, "I will tell you one thing, though..."

His blue eyes grew wide, and in them I could see a lot more than people usually see in the posters or interviews. I could see why Heather always saw something special in him; I'm glad she has him to rely on.

"I'm having trouble with..." I trailed off, trying to keep it as vague as possible but still show him that I trust him, "With being myself."

Niall's face showed recognition that I'm sure would have broken Heather's heart, and dented mine a bit.

"I get it," He whispered, "That happens to me sometimes, too."

"What do you mean?" I asked, trying to dig deeper with sounding pushy. If I couldn't make myself feel better, than I at least wanted to make others feel happy. And Niall sounded like he needed someone.

"You know I'm a bit of an outcast in the band," He said, "The only Irish member, the only blonde one."

"Looks and heritage aren't something that you should feel bad about," I insisted.

"I know, I'm proud of my heritage, but sometimes it makes me feel like people don't see it as a difference; not good or bad, but instead as a flaw."

I could see then, right in front of my eyes, the concept of thinking about people complexly that John Green wrote about in his book, Paper Towns. Everyone has layers, and Niall was showing me one of his that I'll bet not many people got to see.

"I hope you realize that it doesn't matter what people you don't know think about you," As I said it, I thought well isn't the pot calling the kettle black, "The boys love you. The girls and I love you. Heather especially."

"I get that," He said, "But it still hurts, just a tiny bit, when people say bad things about you."

"Amen," I sighed, "But you should be happy. Not everyone has millions of people ready to take a bullet for you," I joked. As a fangirl, I know that's a fact.

"True," He smiled a crooked-toothed grin, "I'm very lucky."

"Luck of the Irish," I winked, nudging him with my elbow, earning a laugh.

"But anyway," Niall continued, "I just learned that the only way to enjoy my life is to be myself; even if not everyone likes who I am."

I learned an important lesson from Niall that day. I also grew closer to the maybe-not-as-carefree-as-I-originally-thought-boy.

Abruptly, he pulled me into a hug, one where he put his head into the crook of my neck.

OH MY GOD IT'S A HORAN HUG I AM ON THE RECEIVING END OF A HORAN HUG-

"I'm here for you April," He said, "And so are the girls and the boys. Especially Louis."

He pulled away and I gave him one last smile before heading downstairs to wake the others.

"Wait!" He called just as I was about to turn down the stairs, making me spin around, "Did you say 'Heather especially'?"

I winked at his glowing face before holding a finger to my lips in a 'shush' motion, and walked downstairs after one last glance at his ecstatic expression.

I swear, Hiall cuteness with be THE DEATH OF ME.

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A/N: FIRST OFF, NO, NIALL AND APRIL WILL NOT BE TOGETHER. AS YOU CAN TELL, APRIL SHIPS HIALL. THEY ARE SIMPLY GREAT FRIENDS.

So, what do you guys think of April showing a bit more if herself? Thoughts on this different side of our lil' Irish buddy?

~Grace xx