Niall’s POV
Jesus was it hard to find a parking place around here.
Whatever, let’s just get this over with.
I know that sounds rude but, I just can’t believe Gran made me come to this party. I mean, I know I don’t get to see her much but I don’t even know these people!
Whatever. There better be food here.
“Oh, there you are. Perfect timing, my dear. You’ve parked the car alright?”
“Yeah, it took me longer than I expected because the street’s practically overflowing with cars. Not many places to park.” I said to Gran as I walked up to the door.
A girl was standing next to Gran. I looked at her, and suddenly this night got a lot better. She was beautiful.
“This is your grandson??” The girl stammered out.
I laughed. The girl looked confused; it was kinda cute.
“Hi. I’m Niall Horan.” I introduced myself with a cheeky smile.
“Hey. I’m, uhhh... Erin. Erin Collins. Nice to meet you Niall.” Did she almost forget her name? I chuckled softly
“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you Erin.” I said with a little bow that made her giggle. And I giggled too.
There was something about this girl. I don’t quite know what it is yet, but it was something. Something that made me want to get to know her better.
Erin’s POV
Alright now, let’s get this straight. I am not a fangirl, nor will I ever be one. But come on, it’s not every day an international celebrity walks through your door. Of course I was going to be a little star struck but in no way was I a fangirl.
I saw his eyes look me up and down as he passed through the doorway.
Did he just check me out?
I managed to spit a few words out while my mind was running a mile a minute, “This is your grandson?”
I was so confused. Hopefully it doesn’t show on my face.
Okay, Aunt and Uncle were friends with Niall Horan’s grandmother, and she decided to bring him to MY welcoming party.
Oh yeah. That sounds perfectly normal.
“Hi. I’m Niall Horan.” His introduction brought me out of my thoughts.
“Hey. I’m, uhhh...” WHAT IS MY NAME? Oh, right. “Erin. Erin Collins. Nice to meet you Niall.”
How could I almost forget my name?!
Damn. Now I seem like a fangirl.
Freakin. Shweeet.
“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you Erin.” Niall said with a very charming smile and a twinkle in his deep blue eyes.
I thought I was going to melt.
That is until…
“Food!”He obviously spotted the tables of munchies and I knew he was a goner.
Well, that was good while it lasted.
I’m going to find Jade. I need to tell her about this.
It didn’t take me long to find her. She was in the living room talking to a group of people.
I grabbed her arm and she looked pissed at first but it eventually faded when she saw the look on my face. She knew something big just happened.
“Niall Horan is here.” I said flatly.
She looked at my blankly. "And?”
“AND? DID YOU HEAR WHAT I JUST SAID?!” I whisper screamed to her because I didn’t want the other guests to overhear our conversation.
“Hun, this is Mullingar. It’s not the first time Niall’s been here.”
“Touché, my friend.”
I went on to tell her about my embarrassing introduction and nearly forgetting my name. But that was after I told her how Niall practically checked me out when he first arrived.
“Ohhh dang, girly! He got da hots for youuu!”
I guffawed. "You’re funny. No way a guy like that has ‘da hots’ for a girl like me. That just doesn’t happen.”
“Whatever you say, girly.” She smirked. With that, she walked back to the party, leaving me alone with the crowd of people still bombarding me with questions.
PERSONAL BUBBLE, PEOPLE. PERSONAL. BUBBLE.
I needed air. This was getting crazy.
I mentioned I wasn’t good with crowds, right?
Politely, I walked away from the people and made my way to the back porch. It was a beautiful night. The stars and cool air soothed me and brought me back to reality. My thoughts faded away and all I saw were the rolling hills. It was truly magnificent.
“Trying to get away from the party too?” A voice asked from the other side of the porch.
“I just needed a minute to catch my breath. It’s so beautiful out here. It makes me not want to go back to the party at all,” I laughed lightly.
“I know what you mean,” Niall said as he made his way over to stand by me next to the railing.
I’m not positive, but I don’t think he was talking about the landscape anymore.
There was silence for a little while, and before it got awkward I decided to speak up.
“So. About our introductions earlier.”
“Yeah?” he said, sounding slightly confused.
No worries bro, I know the feeling.
“I sounded like a babbling idiot.” I let out. I was still embarrassed about earlier and my social skills obviously still hadn’t kicked in. I was never good with words, but it seemed like he still understood. Good. Less explaining for me to do.
“Actually, I thought it was kinda cute.” His smile made me blush and look away. Heat rose in my cheeks; I could tell I was beet red.
He laughed, and I joined.
Thank goodness this wasn’t awkward even though I nearly embarrassed myself again.
Things sort of flowed easily after that. We talked for a while about all sorts of stuff.
He was charming. Different from the guys I normally talked to in Wisconsin; he seemed like he was genuinely interested in what we talked about. He was so… indescribable. He was just different. I’d never met anybody like him before. And I didn’t just mean that because he was famous either. There was just something about him.
A stray dog howled in the distance and it startled me. In my moment of fright I reached for the first thing I could find. And in my case, that just happened to be Niall’s hand as it rested on the porch railing.
When I grabbed it, I felt a spark. The kind of spark you see in movies that you never believe actually happens to people. It happened. It pulsated through my arm and into my stomach, causing thousands of butterflies to flutter inside me.
I glanced at Niall who was already looking at me. From the look in his eyes, I could tell he felt it too.
A couple minutes went by and neither of us said anything.
I looked over and realized he was checking me out. Rather inappropriately, might I add.
It was offensive. I'm not a piece of meat for you to size-up. His eyes scanned my body while his lips twinged into a smile. What a pig.
“Excuse you? What do you think you’re doing?” My tone was intolerant; he was detestable.
“Enjoying the view. Aren’t you?” he asked cockily as I glared back at him.
“Ew," was my only reply. I turned away and started to look at the landscape again. He walked over to the new direction I was facing and stood in front of me.
“Ew? What do you mean ‘ew’?” He asked me. Ooooh. It seems I struck a nerve.
“I mean, you’re a jerk if you’re going to look at me like that.”
“So you think I’m a jerk?”
“Isn’t it obvious?"
“How can you think I’m a jerk? I’m Niall Horan. I’m not a jerk.”
“Really? The famous card? That’s low. But thanks for proving my point. JERK!” I shouted the last part in his face as I walked away from him and back inside to rejoin the party.
Who does he think he is? His fame doesn’t give him the right to check me out rudely or act like such a jerk.
And to think, I actually thought he was charming. Boy was I wrong.
When I came back inside, I realized most of the people had already left and it was getting pretty late. I helped clean up for a while but Aunt Tara saw how tired I was and told me to go up to bed. I didn’t bother to argue. I was too tired. Socializing really wore me out.
I fell asleep, still angry with Niall. But I don’t know why. Yeah, he acted like a jerk, but why couldn’t I forget about it already?
Stupid brain. Why do you mess with me?