Backfire (Niall Horan)

Chapter 26 ~ Goodbye, Belle

“The ones that will make the car mine? Of course!” Niall laughed as Louis fell to his knees overreacting as usual.

We all erupted in fits of laughter and after a while we finished our game. My brother won bragging about his incredible and almost infallible aim. I hit him for being such a pompous prat. Later, we took Belle to the train station trying to make the guys go undercover so we wouldn’t have any incident with paparazzi. Louis really enjoyed himself with that, making all the lads change their hairstyles and wear different clothes. They used Ethan’s. But it worked, they looked different and only if you stopped to look closely, you would recognise them.

“We’re really gonna miss you!” Harry said giving Belle a bear hug.

“Group hug!” Liam shouted and all the boys joined in. Phebs, Ethan and I waited a few steps away.

“I’m gonna miss you, too. I really got used to your faces,” she replied once they let her go. “Thanks for inviting me.”

“Surely, it’s been the best idea Niall’s had!” Harry commented and I reacted. What?

“It was Niall’s idea?” Phebs asked stunned. The blond boy was blushing tomato red and was avoiding my eyes.

“Aye!” Louis replied imitating Niall’s accent. “He insisted and insisted till he got us in. Liam told him that we barely knew you and that it probably wasn’t a good idea, but Niall didn’t hear reason. He had to convince everyone to accept and it wasn’t easy. I always knew why he did it.”

I was stunned, blinking over and over again trying to understand and process Louis’ words.

“And why so?” Ethan asked what made Niall go even redder. Louis laughed evilly.

“Because he fancied your sister from the very beginning and he wanted to have her close all summer,” the blue-eyed boy replied and I saw Niall balling his fits. I was still shocked. Niall did all that for me?

A smile started to form on my face as I realised that Niall had done something in order to change my mind: he made us spend more time together.

“You really did all that for me?” I asked walking towards him. His cheeks were a cute red and he looked so awkward right there with all eyes laying on him. I took his hand and made him focus on me, just me. “Did you?” I repeated my question looking into those deep blue eyes.

“Aye,” he said in a whisper and my smile grew bigger.

“I agree with Harry,” I stated taking his other hand. “Your best idea. Thanks,” I added standing on my tiptoes and kissing his cheek lightly.

“Oh, the cuteness is killing me!” Belle joked and we chuckled as Niall wrapped his arms around my waist pressing my back to his chest and resting his head on top of mine. “I’m really gonna miss you all. See you soon, right? You should be back home in a week.” We all nodded and I felt the knot in my stomach tightening. I still had to talk to Niall about what the end of summer was going to mean for us.

“Dan and I will be waiting for you. I tell him you send kisses.”

Niall let go off me and I went to hug my friend and so did Phebs. “We’re gonna miss you! It won’t be the same without you,” I told her.

“I know, I know, I’m pretty irreplaceable,” she joked and we all laughed. “Please, take care of Phebs,” she whispered in my ear so only I could hear her. I nodded.

In a couple of days Danielle and Eleanor would be joining us till the end of the tour and that meant Liam and Danielle all lovey-dovey and Phoebe with her broken heart looking from a distance. I was going to be all what she had during those days and she was going to need me more than ever.

“Have fun but not too much, okay?” Belle said to everyone. “I’ll see you all in a week.”

She gave hugs to each one of us again and headed to the platform to board the train that would take her back home. Niall came and hugged me from behind and I rested my weight against his solid body.

“Thanks for this,” I told Niall in a whisper as he kissed my temple.

“I don’t think that inviting you all to the tour with us was my best idea,” he mused and I tensed a tad bit ashamed. I started to overthink his reasons to say that immediately. He didn’t feel the same way that I did; he was tired of us; he had bigger expectations that our presence didn’t fulfil; he regretted his idea... “My second best idea, maybe,” he continued and I let out the breath I was holding without even noticing I was doing it.

“What would your best decision be?” I asked still a tad nervous and anxious for his answer. He hugged me tighter and kissed my cheek.

“When I decided to enter to that eating contest,” he confessed and I felt myself melt at his words.

We met at that contest, we started talking because of that contest and if my friends hadn’t seen the flyer I wouldn’t have met Niall. Seeing from that perspective, when I made that bloke let me sign in, it had been my best decision because it changed so many things in my life and for good.

“It was a good decision,” I told him smiling. “Why were you in that fair, though?” I asked him. “You could have been mobbed in there. What made you all go there?”

“Sometimes we want to be just regular lads, you know? Just going out without worrying about getting mobbed or the paparazzi. Just enjoying it.”

I nodded. I couldn’t really understand what it was to be famous, to almost lose your private life, but I could try to put myself in his position. It should be tiresome and probably I wouldn’t be able to handle so much attention. Being a role model for some, or having so many people with high expectations on you. It was bloody demanding to be famous and even more to be as famous as One Direction.

I didn’t know how they could manage to handle all that fame and still remain true to themselves. Yes, they were weird, they were crazy sometimes, but they were normal and what they were doing was incredible.

“You’re brilliant, you know?” I told him turning in his arms to face him. I cupped his face and stroked his cheek with my thumbs. “All you do is incredible,” I told him and he was looking at me with a sweet smile.

“I thought you weren’t a fan,” he commented in a playful tone.

“I don’t have to be a fan to recognise that what you do is bloody incredible.” I pecked his lips. “I’m really proud of you, Niall, and I admire you all.”

He hugged me very tightly and I buried my face in his shoulder enjoying of his warm body and so unique scent. I closed my eyes and just enjoyed the embrace until I opened my eyes and saw that all our friends had left, leaving us there without even letting us know.

“Those bastards left without us!” I cried out and Niall just chuckled. “I’m gonna bloody murder them!” I promised and that only made Niall laugh harder.

“Let’s go, then!” He rushed me taking my hand and entwining our fingers. I laughed as we ran together out of the station.