Just a Photographer (Niall Horan)

Chapter 3

I was suddenly jolted awake by the loud beeping of my alarm, we had arrived in Killarney, Ireland late last night. The Flicker world tour was officially starting today! I groaned but got out of bed straight away as I didn't want to be late and get fired before the tour even started. I took a quick shower, though it was tempting to stay in there forever, I had never been in a hotel this luxurious before.

A knock on the door pulled me out of my thoughts,
"Ava? We're going down for breakfast now, are you coming?" I heard Niall call through the door. I blushed as I was only wearing a towel even though he was on the other side of the door and couldn't see me.
"Umm, I just got out the shower, but I'll be down in a minute,"
"I'll wait for you, don't worry petal, take your time,"
"Oh, thanks Niall" I replied, surprised that he would really wait for me. I quickly pulled on my black mom jeans, a plain white tshirt and got my hairdryer out to quickly dry my hair.
"Niall you can come in now, I just need to quickly dry my hair" I called out, waiting for him to open the door and come in, I didn't want him to stay in the corridor. Immediately I heard the door creak open and Niall peered round the door, as if to check I really was dressed. He took a seat on my bed and gave me a soft smile.
"Good morning love, you look really nice,"
"Oh thanks" I smiled back with a slight blush, meeting his tired blue eyes with my tired hazel eyes in the mirror. We made small talk as I quickly finished my hair off and didn't bother putting any makeup on as I didn't want to keep Niall waiting for me any longer. As he saw that I was ready he stood up from the bed and walked towards the door, holding it open for me like a true gentleman.

It was only an hour and a half before the show, everything was set up and now all the crew, the band, Niall and his friends and family were waiting in the large room next to the stage. I was so nervous I was nearly trembling while sitting on the sofa on my own in the corner, repeating the tips Christian had given me during rehearsals back in London to try to calm me down.
"You alright pet?" I heard a voice that I didn't recognise ask me softly, I looked up and recognised that it was Maura Gallagher, Niall's mum.
"Oh yeah! I'm fine, just a bit nervous, it's my first time being a photographer at a concert" I explained, she opened her arms and pulled me into a warm, motherly hug. I was extremely grateful as I was also missing my family back in Austria.
"You'll be amazing my love, I can tell. You're Ava, aren't you? Niall has told me all about you and sent me some of the pictures you've taken. They're beautiful, you've got absolutely nothing to worry about"
"I am" I smiled back at her, "I'm also a bit homesick and missing my brothers and grandparents."
"If you need anything, I'm here and so is Niall, don't hesitate to ask him for help, he will be happy to help you with absolutely everything,"
"thank you again Maura."

I gave her a hug before walking around the room trying to find Tara, I knew she would be able to distract me so I wouldn't be so nervous. But before I could find her I bumped into Niall.
"You ok, Ava? My mum said you were nervous and a bit homesick?" Niall asked me. He was definitely the best boss I had ever had, he always made sure I was ok before asking me to do any work.

"Oh yeah, I'm still a bit nervous, I've just never done anything like this before." Before I could say anything else Niall grabbed my hand and gently pulled me towards the door. He led me to an empty room at the end of the corridor. He suddenly wrapped his strong arms around me tightly, so my body was completely pressed to his. I was short enough to comfortably rest my head against his warm, soft chest and wrap my arms around his middle. I breathed in deeply, his comforting, familiar scent invading my nose calming me down almost instantly and focused on his steady heartbeat against my cheek. He pressed his nose into my hair, slowly breathing me in.
"Thanks for this Ni" I mumbled into his chest,
"no problem at all petal. We can't have you nervous before a show can we?" he replied softly before kissing my head then resting his cheek against it. "you have nothing to worry about, you're an amazing photographer and even if it takes a couple of shows to get used to it then we can just use Christian's photos. I would never get angry at you for anything". Niall continued to whisper reassurances into my ear as we stayed in a tight hug before he pulled away and pressed a light kiss to my forehead and smiled at me warmly.

"Let's do this!" he exclaimed before taking my hand again and pulling me to the side of stage where the band were doing their final preparations.

We had now finished the show and I was just looking through the photos I took, there were some fairly good ones, hopefully Niall would like them.

"See, it went alright didn't it? I knew you would do amazingly, that's why I chose you" Niall said before taking a seat next to me on the sofa. His hair was wet as he had just got out of the shower and he was wearing a plain white tshirt, grey sweatpants and his grandad slippers. I smiled at his choice of outfit and relaxed against the back of the sofa and closed my eyes, the adrenaline from the show had suddenly left my body and I was very tired.

"Come on! We're going out to the pub; you can't fall asleep on me!" Niall said shaking my arm slightly. I rubbed my eyes before getting up and following him out of the venue towards the door and out to where the car was waiting for us. I laughed as he stepped out onto the pavement and quickly went back inside to look for his shoes while we all waited for him.

As soon as we got to the pub Niall went to the bar and ordered everyone a drink before coming back and sitting in the booth where we stayed for the rest of the night.