Again // Niall Horan

ten

The car ride mostly consisted of my fretting nervously. I couldn't stand being late to things, especially work things. When the cab stopped, I didn't even bother with the overused routine of insisting on splitting it after Niall had said he'd pay.

I briskly walked to the entrance door I used yesterday, barely refraining from sprinting. I heard Niall chuckle behind me as he struggled to keep up with my long strides.

"Calm down, Aubrey," he said, nervousness absent from his tone.

"Calm down?!" My voice rang out, nearly up an octave. "I could lose my job for this! I have been told a billion times never to be late, and here we are 15 minutes late!"

"It's only this one time," he spoke again, rolling his eyes and opening the door for me.

I keep from scoffing after his nice gesture, but didn't say anything.

I was familiar with this part of the venue, and was happy not to have to stay with Niall's slow pace if he was the only one who knew where to go.

We had barely rounded the last corner to the dressing room when a voice shrieked out, "Aubrey Coles! Where have you been?"

I cringed and turned around to face Miranda, who was staring at me with a scowl on her face.

I opened my mouth to speak but was quickly cut off. "You have been specifically told not to be late. It's only our second day on tour and you think you can just disregard the rules?!"

"No," I finally cut in. "It's just that..." I trailed off, unable to come up with a valid excuse. "You see..."

"I held her up, Miranda," Niall supplied. He had just walked into the hallway I assume, and was looking slightly winded. Apparently, I had been moving a lot faster than I originally thought. I felt bad for him taking the blame, but he looked at me and nodded, and I realized that nothing could happen to him. He couldn't get fired. Without him, there wasn't One Direction.

More at peace with this, I started to agree to his explanation, but I realized Miranda was absolutely livid.

"You two were together?" She screeched. Her face was turning pink as she eyed the two of us then glared at me. I blushed slightly at what she was applying what was going on, but I couldn't understand why she cared.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten the agreement, Aubrey," Miranda practically sneered.

My mouth fell open. Why was she obsessed with whether I was dating Niall?

"I remember," I said through gritted teeth. I wasn't allowed to date the boys. Which was fine, I wasn't going to, but this was an over-preoccupation of hers.

"Good," she said with a sickly sweet smile. Then, she turned to Niall (who, might I add, had gotten no form being told off, even though he was late too) and said, flipping her blonde shiny hair, "Niall, head down to sound check why don't you?" Her awful, fake grin stayed on her face.

Niall looked at me, question lurking in his eyes, but I nodded for him to go. He sighed but turned and walked down the hall, his hands deep in his pockets.

"Get to work, Aubrey," Miranda snapped at me. I copied Niall's sigh, and headed to the dressing rooms.

-

The concert ran smoother this time, and I got to see a lot more of it. They're so energized on stage; it's fun to watch.

I was folding clothes with Julia when Niall and Louis walked in, both gripping water bottles in their hands, still sweaty from being on stage.