~*Niall's POV*~
"Well, we've gotta leave some time!" Louis shouted, and girls' screams shattered my eardrums. "Bye, San Francisco!" we yelled, somewhat in unison and left the stage. I was exhausted, but more than anything, I was confused. Abby and I hadn't talked much since the whole kissing incident yesterday, she mostly kept to herself and Azaria. I don't know why she kissed me, she's obviously into Liam, but why would she just kiss me and run away like that?
"Hey!" Azaria snapped. "Hurry and get out of your stage clothes, we're all going out tonight to celebrate your award nominations!" she said enthusiastically and clapped her hands. Award nomination? The confused look on my face must've told her that I had no clue what she was talking about, because she stopped jumping and looked concerned. "Oh... You guys didn't know?" she asked, sounding guilty. "Oh well! Don't tell the boys!" she said and winked playfully at me.
I undressed myself, got into my daytime clothes, and filed into the hall, where Harry, Louis, and Abby were waiting. They seemed to be having a fun time, they were talking, laughing, and playing around. Until I came in... As soon as Abby saw me she stared down at her feet, which drew attention from Harry and Louis as well. "Hey, Niall." Louis said politely, obviously sensing tension between Abby and I. "Hi, Lou." I replied and smiled. We just stood there for a bit with our hands in our pockets and Abby's face toward the ground.
"Let's just start over, okay?" she said and snapped her head up. It made me flinch slightly, but I agreed, we just needed to start fresh. "Okay." I said cooperatively and nodded. Suddenly, Zayn and Liam walked out and followed Azaria down the hall, the rest of us took the hint and made our way back to the bus. Abby was walking right next to me and I felt extremely awkward. I guess she could sense that I was a bit anxious and slipped her hand into my own.
"Niall, let's not stop being best friends, I love you and I don't want what happened to ruin our friendship." she said softly. She just told me she loved me and I got friend-zoned in the exact same sentence, if this isn't the definition of 'confusing' I don't know what is. I smiled down at her and kept her hand tight. I wanted to say 'I love you too, Abby.' but I knew I couldn't. "It won't." I said, still plastering my fake smile. She smiled that smile at me that made my heart race and looked down, words couldn't explain how bad I wanted to kiss her again.
I led her to the bus, let her in, and got on. The ride was pretty silent, and Abby kept staring at Liam with sad eyes and I couldn't take it. Finally, we arrived at a very fancy looking restaurant, Acquerello, and I realized that we were all terribly underdressed. "Okay boys, we're here because all of you have been nominated for four Grammys!" Paul, who was sort of like a babysitter to us, said and smiled. Wow! I was genuinely excited, I thought we were up for one Grammy, which is exciting enough, but FOUR?! Amazing!
"Well, what are we going to wear?" Liam asked. "We can't go in like this!" he said, and everyone agreed. "Calm down boys, we've got your suitcases, just change in here, and Abby and I will wait outside!" Azaria chimed in and walked off of the bus with Abby.
~*Abby's POV*~
I stepped off of the bus and looked at Azaria, she was just as underdressed as I was. "What are we gonna wear?" I asked, the boys had things to wear, but we didn't! "Don't worry, I've got a few dresses on the other bus, you can borrow one and we'll change there!" she said confidently and took me to the bus behind the boys'. As soon as she opened the door my mouth hung open, it was like the best mall you could imagine times twenty. "Just pick anything you want, they're in multiple sizes." Azaria said, which led me to wonder how she got them.
"How did you.." she cut me off. "I don't only work for the boys ya know, so I've gotta be prepared for any wardrobe incident!" she said, going through a rack and pulling out multiple dresses. She threw one at me and smiled. "Try that one on!" she said and began changing into the one she had picked for herself. I slipped into the semi-formal white and black dress, found a cute pair of heels, and added a few accessories. "What do you think?" I asked and turned around.
Azaria looked wonderful, she had a black and purple floral dress, the highest heels I'd ever seen, and pretty feather earrings. "You look amazing, Abby!" she said and ran over to me, which she is a legend for in those heels, and hugged me. "Thanks, you do too!" I grinned and grabbed a cute clutch on our way out of the bus. I carefully walked down each step, trying my hardest not to fall flat on my face, and walked to the boys' bus where - surprisingly - they were still changing.
A few more minutes passed before the door came open and five amazingly attractive guys popped out. They filed out one by one, but when Niall walked out I couldn't breathe, something about the way he looked was making my heart race out of control, and I had no idea why. He didn't move, he just watched me, just as I was watching him. "Well are you two gonna just stare at each other, or are we gonna get this show on the road?" Azaria said playfully and signaled for us to come on.
I was a bit embarrassed, I looked down and waited for Niall to step down from the bus and interlocked our fingers. Any other time this wouldn't have been such a big deal, but knowing Niall's feelings for me made everything different, it made it feel special. We walked in and were sat down immediately at an eight person booth. I sat with Azaria and Liam, and Paul, Zayn, Harry and Louis sat on the opposite side. Niall was sitting directly across from me, and from the way he was looking at Liam, I could tell that he didn't like the seating arrangement.
"I'm so proud of you all! You can get whatever you'd like, but don't go overboard Niall!" Paul teased, which made Niall blush. I reached my hand across the table and took his, smiling sweetly so he wouldn't feel as embarrassed. From the corner of my eye I saw Liam grinning at Niall and dropped eye contact with both of them. After what I'd heard when I was laying with Niall, my feelings for Liam seemed to completely flip-flop, they just... disappeared.
After a bit of talking, a waitress took our orders and we waited for our food. "So Abby, I'd say you and Niall have become quite close." Zayn said, and smiled at Niall. I smiled politely at him, but in my head we were slap boxing, and I was winning. "Yeah." Niall said, tightening his grip on my hand, and I could feel him shaking his knee from under the table. Just in time to save us, the waitress was back with several trays of food. She established what food belonged to what person and served them out to us.
"Alright guys, let's eat!" Niall grinned, and when he opened his platter his face lit up. That was the moment that everything stopped, no one was moving, no one was talking, no one was even breathing. It was just myself and my thoughts in my own little world. At that moment, I knew that Niall wasn't just my friend, he wasn't even my best friend, I actually had feelings for him, feelings that I'd never felt before. Azaria lightly nudged me, causing me to suddenly snap back to reality, and looked at me with concerned eyes.
'Are you okay?' she mouthed to me when no one was looking, I nodded a quick 'yes' and began eating my food. Every now and then Niall would look at me and I'd quickly dart my eyes to avoid contact, I could tell that this was confusing to him, but I couldn't help it. Since I'd accepted my feelings for him I'd been extremely cautious of what I did in front of him. We all quickly finished our food and Paul stood up with a bottle in his hand, it appeared to be some sort of alcohol, but considering the fact that I don't drink, I wasn't sure what type.
"Any other time, letting you boys drink would be no big deal, but because we're in the US, it's illegal." he stated and opened the bottle. "BUT I'm not going to let that spoil the fun. Let's just not get too crazy, okay?" he said and poured the drink into everyone's glass but mine and Liam's. It wasn't too long before Niall and Zayn were completely trashed, and we had to leave before either of them could make a scene.
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The bus smelled strongly of alcohol, and Zayn was passed out from the drinking. Niall, who was sitting right next to me, was wide awake and telling us about the time he and his cousin had gotten into some trouble for stealing some jellybeans a while back. I couldn't help but laugh, he was the funny drunk, but after a few more minutes he transitioned into the 'I love you' drunk. "Abby... com'ere. I wanna hold you." he slurred and pulled me closer to him, I could tell that I was blushing.
Laughter erupted on the bus, which woke Zayn, and the rest of the boys winked at me playfully. I sat next to Niall and he put his arm over my shoulder. "Lemme tell ya somethin Abby..." he said softly. Liam's eyes widened and he scooted to the seat next to me. "Careful, Niall." he said and pulled me away from Niall's tight grasp. I knew what he was about to say, but tried my best to act like I didn't, after all, neither of them knew I was eavesdropping.
"Stop it, Liam! You're always there to screw things up when I'm trying tell her... Not this time!" Niall yelled, not necessarily because he was angry, but mostly because he was drunk. I was mortified, I had no clue what to do... I knew that at any second Niall was going to tell me what I'd suspected he would, but how do I respond? Do I tell him I feel the same way? He's drunk, he won't even remember, but Liam, Harry, and Louis will. "Abby, I really like you... and not like a best friend or whatever." he blurted and smiled at me.
Everyone on the bus was silent, oh my gosh... what do I say, what do I say?! "I like you too, Niall." I forced out, and though it was true, I was hoping the boys wouldn't think so. Maybe they would think that I just said that to get Niall off my back, or that I was just making light of the situation. Before I could say anything to the other boys, Niall had basically tackled me and covered me in kisses. The boys looked both concerned and impressed, and Zayn was laughing for no apparent reason.
"Niall, stop it!" Louis said, and pulled him off of me, allowing me to breathe. Niall looked angry for a second or two, but calmed down after a moment. Suddenly, the bus stopped and everyone got out but Niall and I, he could barely stand up and I felt awful, so I helped him out of the bus. I walked Niall into the house, down the hall, and into his bedroom. I sat him on his bed and it was obvious that he would need help changing so I began undressing him. I felt a bit awkward, but he could barely talk properly, much less change himself.
I unbuttoned his top and my fingers slightly ran over his chest, causing goosebumps to spread across my body. When I got to the final button, I opened his shirt and slid his arms out. "Okay Niall, you can go to bed now." I said and walked toward the door. "NO! Abby stay with me!" he shouted and waved me toward him. "Well I have to change..." I reasoned, but Niall wasn't having it. "Just borrow one of my t-shirts!" he said assertively and pointed to his dresser.
I sighed and rummaged through the dresser for a shirt that would fit, I found a big 'free hugs' shirt and stepped into a corner. I slipped out of my dress, which I luckily was wearing shorts under, and slid the big shirt over my shoulders. I made my way over to the bed, slipped in, and was immediately pulled close to Niall. We were face to face and I could feel his chest against my own. "Abby?" he whispered, "Did you mean what you said on the bus?" I was completely shocked.
How did Niall remember that? Maybe he's not as drunk as I'd assumed he was. I didn't know what to say, do I tell him? I know he feels the same way, but what will happen when the tour is over and the boys have to go back to England? In my mind I was going back and forth on whether or not to tell him how I felt. He pulled me even closer to him, and I could that tell he was waiting for a response.
My heart was racing and I know Niall could tell, he rubbed my arm with his thumb and it calmed a bit. "Just tell me the truth..." he whispered, overwhelming me with anxiety. Is now the right time to tell him? "Well..." I said softly and drew shapes into his chest with my index finger nervously.
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YAY :D Please leave feedback, I'd love to know what you think of my story! Abby and Azaria's dresses are in the picture to the side (: