Just a Photographer (Niall Horan)

Chapter 19

I was sat with the band on the bus after a show, talking to them about how well it went and how loud the crowd was when I saw Niall approaching. He had a nervous smile on his face as he called me over to him.

"Aves, do you want to go and get dinner with me? There's this really nice sushi restaurant that Tara told me about" Niall asked, a blush spreading across his cheeks and down his neck. 

"Yeah of course, I'll go and ask the others if they want to go, I know Ellie was talking about getting some sushi" I replied, confused by the nervous look on Niall's face and the blush that I knew from past experiences had spread all the way to his chest. 

"N-no, I thought we could go just us two" Niall replied, I was even more confused by the way he was acting so I decided to joke to relieve Niall's embarrassment and nervousness.

"You asking me on a date, Horan?" I asked with a smirk. 

"Um... yeah" Niall mumbled along with a nervous laugh. My breath caught in my throat at this, as much as I wanted to believe that Niall might also have feelings for me, I just couldn't bring myself to believe him. We stood there, staring at each other with matching blushes spread across our cheeks. 

"I thought we were just friends?" I asked, frustrated at my reaction but I was so nervous and couldn't quite believe what Niall was asking me. He has to be joking with me surely? The Niall Horan is not going to ask some random girl on a date. But maybe he's just lonely because of tour and he just wants a one night stand? I couldn't take the tension and confusion spreading through my body like a cold wind, normally Niall brought a sense of safety and home, not confusion. Everything had always been so easy with him, that's what I loved about him. 

"Ava, I really like you and you make me feel happier than anyone else ever has and.. yeah." Niall blew out a long breath and a nervous laugh, "If you don't want this, just..."

I knew as soon as Niall said it that I wanted to go on a date with him but I was still worried that he might not want to be close to me or be friends with me if I admitted that I liked him.

"I'm not love," Niall said with a defeated look on his face, "I thought you might've liked me too but don't worry if you don't. I hope we can still be friends though."

I was shocked at the look on Niall's face, his eyebrows were pulled together in a deep frown, his normally bright eyes a bit more cloudy than usual. It instantly caused me to pull my own eyebrows together but the words left my mouth before I could stop them:

"I'll see you for the show tomorrow, Niall."

I walked away quickly, beyond embarrassed. Why the fuck had I just said no to a date with Niall Horan? I have had a crush on him since I met him! I almost ran into my hotel room and locked the door behind me, letting out a groan as I lent my back against the door, the whole conversation with Niall going repeating itself in my mind over and over again. 

I sighed and tried to bury my face further into my pillow as I tried to block out the noise coming from outside my room. It was only when I heard Tara's frantic begging that I opened my eyes and moved towards the door slowly, trying not to trip over anything on the way. 

"Ava! Do you know what happened to Niall? He's locked himself in his room and won't speak to anyone and we're worried about him."

"Um.. yeah" I mumbled, embarrassed that my actions caused this and worried about Niall.

"Can you fix this?" Tara asked urgently.

"Yeah... but it's private. It's between me and him, I don't think he would want everyone knowing"

"I don't mind what happened as long as he's ok"

"I'll go and see him" I said before giving Tara a quick hug and rubbing the remainder of the sleep from my eyes before setting off down the corridor to Niall's room. My heart was thumping in my chest, worried that I had ruined my friendship and any chance of a relationship with Niall. 

"Niall! Please let me in so we can talk!" I shouted through the closed door, hoping to explain everything but all I was met with was deathly silence. "Niall! Please!" I sighed as another minute went by with no response. I walked back to my room, defeated. 

I noticed the notebook sitting on top of my suitcase as I walked in and decided that if Niall wouldn't answer the door then I would explain myself on paper and put it through his door. 

Dear Niall,

Please read this and try to understand my point of view, ok? When you asked me on a date I couldn't believe it was happening, I thought I was dreaming. I like you a lot, Ni, you make me feel so safe and warm and like I can truly be myself when I'm around you. I would love to go on a date with you but I can't risk losing my job if something happens, it's all I've got. I beg you to try and see this from my point of view, I've got no home, no job, no money and I'm in a foreign country if anything happens and I just can't risk that. 

I'm worried about you, Ni. Please open the door and let me explain to you. Communication is key. 

Your Aves xxx

I slid the note under his door, hoping he would read it and then let me in. I tried explaining my situation the best I could but it was hard as I wasn't a writer and English wasn't even my first language. I decided to wait for a few minutes to see if Niall wanted to talk. 

I heard shuffling coming from his room, and I strained my ears to hear any other noises coming from the room over the blood rushing through me and the fast beat of my heart. 

After a couple of minutes of complete silence I heard the lock sliding in the door and it opened a crack before I heard the steps retreating again. I took the opportunity to shuffle into his room, surprised to see his pale cheeks with tear tracks running down them, leading from his unusually dull eyes. His dark brown hair was a mess from him repeatedly running his hand through it. I had to refrain myself from pulling him straight into my arms as I knew he deserved a proper explanation first. However I reached my hand out to take one of his hands in both of mine, hoping to comfort and reassure him with my touch in the way that he had done with me so many times. I smiled a hopefully comforting smile at him, feeling satisfied when he didn't pull away from me, instead he pulled us both towards his bed. He sat with his back against the headboard and I sat opposite him, cross legged with my hands wrapped around his between us. 

We sat like that for hours, talking and explaining ourselves. By 3am we had agreed to give this relationship thing a go but to take it slow. He reassured me that he wouldn't just fire me and kick me out of his house, leaving me homeless and jobless no matter what happened between us. We ended up falling asleep curled around each other with the TV still on. 

a/n: I hope you enjoyed this and Merry Christmas if you celebrate! I have mock exams in January so I'll be very busy but after that I should have some time and hopefully update more regularly. 

I've also been thinking about what I'm going to write after this as this book will have 25 chapters in total. I have two ideas: a book about Niall with children (because he's so cute with kids and is going to be an amazing dad one day) or a book about a girl with epilepsy and how Niall would deal with that. I have epilepsy so I thought I could educate people a bit more about that. What are your thoughts on that? Which would you prefer me to write first?

Thank you for reading!