Niall Horan Imagines

Imagine for Anjali!

Niall groaned and leaned his forehead against the closed door in front of him. You were leaning against the wall beside him with your arms crossed over your chest. He knocked on the door again and with a sigh, he said, “Come out here and talk to me.”

You heard rustling behind the door and for a minute you thought your daughter, Bella, would actually do as Niall said, but instead, she stubbornly shouted, “No! I don’t want to talk to you. You never want to talk to me, so why should I want to talk to you? Just leave me alone, Dad.”

“Hey, you know that’s not true,” Niall defensively growled, looking at you with a slightly concerned expression on his face. Niall was blind to it, but he really did favor one of your daughters over the other. You had tried so many times to tell him, but he always denied it. Now, as he stood at his daughter’s locked bedroom door, he was beginning to realize that maybe it was true. Though he never meant for it to be that way, Niall still felt horrible that his daughter thought he didn’t love her as much as her sister. “Look, why don’t you come out here and we’ll do something together? What do you want to do? Whatever you want, I’ll do it. Please just open the door.”

You heard a whimper from behind the door, and you knew Bella was crying when she squeaked, “Why don’t you go ask Claire instead? Since she’s so much better than me.” Your shoulders fell and Niall’s hand slid down the door before dropping to his side. He looked defeated. He looked heartbroken. He looked lost, as if he didn’t know what to say anymore. Your other daughter, Claire, stood next to you while staring at the floor. She knew she was daddy’s favorite, too, and also felt just as guilty about it. The three of you switched between staring at the floor and staring at each other, but nobody said anything more. You could hear Bella crying from behind the door, and it bothered you that you couldn’t go in there and comfort her.

“This is up to you, Niall,” You flatly said to him, and he nervously looked at you with his hands stuffed in his pockets. “You need to fix this,” You told him. You narrowed your eyes at him before turning your back to him, headed for the spare key that you kept in the kitchen; the one that would open your daughter’s door. Claire and Niall stood in silence while you were gone, and both curiously watched you when you returned, holding the key in your hand.

You unlocked the door with ease, and peeked into the room to see Bella lying on her bed with her face in her pillow. Sobs shook through her as she cried into her pillow. She didn’t hear you come in, so she jumped when she felt you sink into the mattress beside her. You sat on the edge of her bed while she moved so that she was sitting up, with her back resting against the headboard. You patted her leg and said, “I remember the night that you were born, and everyone was so amazed with how precious you were. You were probably the sweetest baby in that whole hospital. You hardly even cried! The nurses kept telling me that they wished all of the babies were as good as you. And I remember when Daddy held you for the first time. He had tears in his eyes and he had the biggest smile on his face that I had ever seen in my life. He held your little hand, and you held onto his finger and he still, to this day, swears that you were smiling back at him.”

You paused to lean in, so that only she could hear you. “Between me and you, Daddy held you longer than he held Claire. You were born first, and even after Claire was born, Daddy continued to hold you so they had to give Claire to me! He was just so enthralled with you, and honestly, I couldn’t blame him. Everyone loved you, and everyone still does. I know you feel second best to your sister, and I’m sorry that you feel that way, but I know that Daddy will right his wrongs after today, okay? Your sister isn’t any better than you and you aren’t any better than her. In my eyes, you’re both my little girls, and I know it’s the same for Dad, even if he doesn’t always show it.”

You looked to Niall, as if to encourage him to do something. This whole time, he was just standing in the doorway with Claire at his side, staring blankly. This was his issue and you were still expecting him to deal with it. Even after saying all of that to your daughter, you knew all she really wanted, and needed, was to hear Niall say it.

But, Niall didn’t say anything at first. He walked over and pulled Bella into his arms. She rested her head on Niall’s shoulder and soaked his shirt with her tears. He sat on her bed while you stood from it, and held her close. He rubbed circles into her back and whispered into her ear, “No matter how old you get, you’ll never stop being my baby girl. I love you just as much as I love your sister and I never meant for you to think otherwise. I’m so sorry that you’ve been feeling this way, and that I’ve been oblivious to it until now. I promise you’ll never feel that way again, alright?”

You had a smile plastered to your face as you patted Claire’s back and watched from the doorway with her. Niall squeezed Bella once more and was even able to sneak in a little kiss on her cheek. He chuckled when she made a face, and he helped her to her feet after standing, himself. While you stood with one arm around Claire, Niall stood with one arm around Bella. “I think we should go somewhere fancy for dinner tonight. I owe it to all three of my girls,” Niall said, looking between you, Claire, and Bella.

“I call the front seat!” Claire shouted. She turned to run for the car, but not before Bella could chase after her. “Not if I can beat you to it!” Bella shouted back, and soon the girls were racing each other to the car.

“Come on, sweetheart,” Niall said to you as he intertwined his fingers with yours and led the way.

**Okay, I wasn’t sure if you wanted a happy ending or not, so I just went with what I’m comfortable with and made it a happy ending. I hope you don’t mind! Also, you didn’t clarify what you wanted the daughters’ names to be, so I randomly chose Claire and Bella. I hope you don’t mind that either, and as usual, I hope you like your imagine!**