Once in a Lifetime (A Niall Horan Fanfiction)

Chapter 4

~*Niall's POV*~  

"Well, we've gotta leave some time!" Louis shouted, and girls' screams shattered my eardrums. "Bye, San Francisco!" we yelled, somewhat in unison and left the stage. I was exhausted, but more than anything, I was confused. Abby and I hadn't talked much since the whole kissing incident yesterday, she mostly kept to herself and Azaria. I don't know why she kissed me, she's obviously into Liam, but why would she just kiss me and run away like that?

"Hey!" Azaria snapped. "Hurry and get out of your stage clothes, we're all going out tonight to celebrate your award nominations!" she said enthusiastically and clapped her hands. Award nomination? The confused look on my face must've told her that I had no clue what she was talking about, because she stopped jumping and looked concerned. "Oh... You guys didn't know?" she asked, sounding guilty. "Oh well! Don't tell the boys!" she said and winked playfully at me.

I undressed myself, got into my daytime clothes, and filed into the hall, where Harry, Louis, and Abby were waiting. They seemed to be having a fun time, they were talking, laughing, and playing around. Until I came in... As soon as Abby saw me she stared down at her feet, which drew attention from Harry and Louis as well. "Hey, Niall." Louis said politely, obviously sensing tension between Abby and I. "Hi, Lou." I replied and smiled. We just stood there for a bit with our hands in our pockets and Abby's face toward the ground.

"Let's just start over, okay?" she said and snapped her head up. It made me flinch slightly, but I agreed, we just needed to start fresh. "Okay." I said cooperatively and nodded. Suddenly, Zayn and Liam walked out and followed Azaria down the hall, the rest of us took the hint and made our way back to the bus. Abby was walking right next to me and I felt extremely awkward. I guess she could sense that I was a bit anxious and slipped her hand into my own.

"Niall, let's not stop being best friends, I love you and I don't want what happened to ruin our friendship." she said softly. She just told me she loved me and I got friend-zoned in the exact same sentence, if this isn't the definition of 'confusing' I don't know what is. I smiled down at her and kept her hand tight. I wanted to say 'I love you too, Abby.' but I knew I couldn't. "It won't." I said, still plastering my fake smile. She smiled that smile at me that made my heart race and looked down, words couldn't explain how bad I wanted to kiss her again.

I led her to the bus, let her in, and got on. The ride was pretty silent, and Abby kept staring at Liam with sad eyes and I couldn't take it. Finally, we arrived at a very fancy looking restaurant, Acquerello, and I realized that we were all terribly underdressed. "Okay boys, we're here because all of you have been nominated for four Grammys!" Paul, who was sort of like a babysitter to us, said and smiled. Wow! I was genuinely excited, I thought we were up for one Grammy, which is exciting enough, but FOUR?! Amazing!

"Well, what are we going to wear?" Liam asked. "We can't go in like this!" he said, and everyone agreed. "Calm down boys, we've got your suitcases, just change in here, and Abby and I will wait outside!" Azaria chimed in and walked off of the bus with Abby.

~*Abby's POV*~ 

I stepped off of the bus and looked at Azaria, she was just as underdressed as I was. "What are we gonna wear?" I asked, the boys had things to wear, but we didn't! "Don't worry, I've got a few dresses on the other bus, you can borrow one and we'll change there!" she said confidently and took me to the bus behind the boys'. As soon as she opened the door my mouth hung open, it was like the best mall you could imagine times twenty. "Just pick anything you want, they're in multiple sizes." Azaria said, which led me to wonder how she got them.

"How did you.." she cut me off. "I don't only work for the boys ya know, so I've gotta be prepared for any wardrobe incident!" she said, going through a rack and pulling out multiple dresses. She threw one at me and smiled. "Try that one on!" she said and began changing into the one she had picked for herself. I slipped into the semi-formal white and black dress, found a cute pair of heels, and added a few accessories. "What do you think?" I asked and turned around.