Saying that you were excited to finally see your blond Irishman home from tour was the understatement of the century. It had really only been a few weeks since you'd seen him in person, you'd visited the band while they were prepping for their show in Australia, but the thought of having him home with you, sleeping next to you and eating dinner at the same table, just made you so happy.
You were waiting for him at the airport now, rocking back and forwards on your heels impatiently. The plane had landed a few minutes ago now, you had watched it from the window, but still nobody was coming through the terminal and the longer you waited the more excited and impatient you became. You just wanted to see him. And kiss him, that too.
It would be exactly like in the movies.
You'd run up and jump into his arms and he'd swing you around and then press his lips against yours. Everyone would coo and aw apart from a prude old couple who haven't had sex in twenty years.
A couple with their toddler came through the terminal, laughing and smiling. You stood up on tiptoes and searched through the crowd of people streaming into the airport for the familiar tuft of blond hair. He was nowhere to be seen. A confused frown settled on your face as you watched person after person filter through the terminal.
Finally you caught sight of him and called out his name as you slid through a small group of people with hushed apologies.
As you grew closer you realised how un-Niall-like he looked. His face is pale and his eyes are bloodshot and red. His movement was slow and he seemed to be stumbling over each step. He looked as if he'd been crying. He was always fairly drained after a tour, but he had never appeared quite this awful.
"Welcome home, love," you hummed gently as you dove into his arms, deciding to get the most important part out of the way before you questioned him about the puffiness of his eyes.
His arms immediately curled tightly around your middle, gripping at your shirt as he ducked his head down into your neck.
"I had a dreadful time on that d-damn plane, sweetheart," he moaned quietly.
You smoothed his hair back, "I can tell babe, you look awful."
You weren't sure what had happened while he was in the air but it must've been rough, Niall wasn't usually a big crier.
"I was sick the en-entire time, I still feel like I'm gonna throw up," he said sadly, you could hear his voice quivering.
"The whole time?" His flight was almost 12 hours long, no wonder he was in such a state.
He nodded in confirmation, digging his chin into your shoulder.
"Aw Love, I wish I was there. . ."
"You're here now," Niall replied and you noticed that he'd removed one arm from around you an it was instead holding his stomach.
"Let's go home Ni, you can rest up and then we can catch up properly."
You laced your fingers through his and started walking very slowly towards luggage claim, not wanting to trigger any vomiting episodes in the middle of the airport. Niall was literally clinging to you and he must've had a bit of vertigo as he was swaying slightly. You felt really terrible for him. Twelve hours throwing up on a plane. You doubted you would have survived yourself.
You picked up his stuff and started for the car.
"I don't feel very well. . ." Niall mumbled warningly and you glanced up to see him with the back of his hand pressed against his lips nervously and he was even paler than he had been when he'd gotten off the plane. Maybe even slightly green.
"Come on then, let's go find a bathroom." You tried to smile reassuringly but you were pretty sure the pitying grimace still showed on your face despite your efforts.
Niall just shook his head with a slow blink, "no, I just wanna go home."
"The drive is about twenty minutes love, if you think you might be sick then I think it's best to get it out of your system now."
He forced a crinkled grin and as unnatural as it looked, it was nice to see him smiling, "I think I'll be alright, sweetheart."
"Are you sure?" you asked, squeezing his sweaty hand.
"Promise," he breathed, lowering his hand from his mouth and inhaling a deep breath.
You started walking again, holding him close to your side in case he tipped too far, "okay Ni, we'll do it your way. Tell me if you start feeling any worse though okay?"
Once the two of you finally reached the car, you loaded the boot with all the stuff Niall had with him and then helped him lay down across the back seat. You closed the door and let out a sigh as you made your way around to the driver's seat.
This was not how you imagined the reunion going at all.
You sat down in your seat and strapped your belt across your chest.
"I missed you so much," Niall murmured from the back seat and you glanced back with an easy smile, "not as much as I missed you, Ni."
"I'm sorry I'm like this," he said quietly.
"Like ill? Don't apologise for that babe, you can't help it and I'm more than happy to help you feel better," you promised, moving the car into drive and backing slowly out of the park.
Niall grimaced at the movement and tucked his legs up, "I know, it's just. . .I don't know. This isn't how I, uh," he swallowed, "this isn't how I wanted this to go."
"Well, we always were original," you laughed, trying to brighten the mood. Niall stared at you with a content look on his face and his lips tiredly quirked into a smile.
"What's that look for?"
"You're so fucking beautiful," he said airily.
You smiled and curled around the seat, "I'm going to kiss you now."
Knowing that he wasn't up for much, you kissed him gently and he moved against your lips, a thumb running across your jawline.
A car honked obnoxiously and you leaped apart. You felt your face go red. You had totally forgotten that you were sticking out of a car park.
"We'll finish that later, when your breath doesn't taste like puke," you chuckled as you sat back into your seat and shot an apologetic wave at the middle-aged man who had tooted his horn at you. He didn't look overly impressed and didn't make any move to wave back.
Niall shifted a bit and coughed, "sorry."
You kept looking back to check on Niall while you drove. He had his eyes shut and in the beginning you thought he was asleep but his face would screw up every time you stopped a little to quickly or went over a bump in the gravel.
"You good Ni, do I need to pull over?" you asked after a low whine came from the back of the car.
"No, keep going" he groaned in a strained voice. You were kind of hesitant. You knew that being in the car wouldn't be helping Niall's situation at all, all you wanted was to be home already. You didn't like knowing that he was suffering.
You pressed down a bit harder on the gas pedal, rushing through the orange light.
Five minutes later you finally pull into the driveway, a quiet sigh of relief passing your lips. You'd been asking Niall about the last couple of weeks of tour, and how they'd been, in an attempt to distract him but the one worded answers did nothing to convince you that you were helping.
"We're here Ni, hang on."
You smiled back at him before getting out of the car and going around to his side to help him out. He looked absolutely exhausted and when he was on his feet you thought he might just collapse right there on the driveway.
He coughed as you made your way up the steps to the porch and you paused, waiting to see if he was okay. He nodded, obviously feeling your worried gaze on him, so you carried on up to the front door with Niall hanging loosely off your shoulder.
You dug your hand into your pocket in search of your keys to unlock the door. After a long sixty seconds you finally pulled them out and started rifling through them for the one that would open the door. You had always been terrible with keys.
You got it in the end but just as you were about to slide it into the lock Niall heaved and vomited on the decking, his whole body curling over in pain.
"Shit, love, I'm so sorry! You poor thing!"
You struggling to keep him on his feet as he gagged wetly towards the ground. He was sick again and although it was nothing but stomach acid and water you knew how much it was hurting him and how much it was taking out of him.
You quickly unlocked the door and he instantly staggered inside, slumping against the closest piece of furniture.
"Not much further Ni, we've got to go to the bathroom," you said, feeling mean but knowing that it was the best place for him right now.
Half way there he vomited again, almost falling over. He was mumbling a string of never-ending apologies but you kept telling him not to worry about it as you slowly got closer and closer to the bathroom. He lunged over the sink and retched the moment you got there but nothing came up and you rubbed his back soothingly as he gasped over the porcelain.
"Being in the air hasn't hit you this hard in forever babe, I'm really sorry," you whispered softly into his ear.
He breathed heavily with his head ducked down into his chest, "can w-we go to the b-bedroom?"
You ran your finger down his arm and wiped some of the collecting heat off his face with a facecloth, "are you sure you're ready? Are you not nauseous any more?"
"I'm a b-bit, uh, lightheaded," he said and you noticed how tight his grip was on the sink. His knuckles were ghostly white. He still looked like he was about to throw up though, the little jerking movements and the sounds his stomach was making.
But you didn't want him to faint.
You hooked your arm through his and he slowly loosened his grip on the sink, swaying dangerously before grabbing onto your shoulder, "alright babe, tell me if you want to stop."
"I don't like this," he whimpered as you took a few careful steps forward.
"I know Ni, but I'm sure once you get some sleep you'll wake up feeling so much better."
You got to the bedroom and helped him lay down. He smiled a little, "I forgot how amazing this bed is."
He sounded like your normal happy-go-lucky Niall and a smile came onto your face.
Then he twitched and heaved into his hand and you snapped out of it, hurrying to get the waste bin from the corner of the room under him.
He spat into it a couple of times but shook his head wearily after a few minutes of nothing, "I'm e-empty."
You gave him your bottle from the top of your draws, "drink some, just a little if that's all you can manage, babe."
Niall took a few careful sips before dropping it onto the ground and collapsing back into the bed.
"Tomorrow we're gonna go out to that cafe with the perfect bacon and egg pie on the river front, and then I'm going to take you up to the top of the cavalier building and we're going to dance like they do in high school musical, I'll even sing if you want," he murmured, his eyes closed. You could tell he was half asleep and you weren't quite sure he if he was talking to you or just rambling. Either way, it made you smile.
"And then what?"
"Then we're gonna have sex in the lobby of that hotel where we first met."
You scoffed, "nice try."
"Come lay down, promise I won't upchuck on you."
"I would love to Ni, but I have to go clean the porch, and the hallway. And the bathroom."
It wasn't going to be a fun job, but it needed to done.
"Forget about it," he groaned.
"I can't babe, it'll smell horrendous in here."
"The scent of you will block it out."
"Smooth Horan, but no. I'll be back before you even notice."
He yawned and burrowed further into the bed, "at least wait until I'm asleep?"
By the looks of it he wasn't going be staying conscious for more than a few minutes so you sighed and gave in, nodding your head and crawling into the bed.
"I love you."
"I know."
He opened one eye expectantly. You smirked and he poked his tongue out.
He rolled away to face the other direction and you laughed, "don't be like that. I love you Niall, more than anything."
"I know."
I don't really like this one. I was really excited about writing the request, but I think I ruined it. I'm really sorry lovelies, forgive me? I'll try get something else up before monday to make up for this.