Niall Horan Imagines

The Problem

Niall was sheltered his whole life. His parents controlled almost every aspect of his childhood, including what he did and who he did it with. Growing up in Ireland, his family was very religious and Niall was almost always surrounded by people from his church. He had all of two friends, who both lived on his street and went to his church, along with his private school. That's another thing-his school was small, mostly filled with only local boys. For the most part, they all grew up the same way; entirely ruled by their parents' beliefs. Niall couldn't speak for himself. He was shy and didn't know what it meant to be an individual. He loved soccer, but never took the chance of trying to join a team. Instead of taking the risk of making a fool of himself, he watched everyone else in his town play on a team while he sat to the side and wished to be like them.

He had one brother, whom grew up very similarly to Niall, until he went off to a university to lead his own life. And Niall was given the same opportunity. Years later, when Niall had finished all of his local schooling, he was expected to continue on and get into a good university. His parents would pay for him, and his grades were certainly good enough. He had every intention of going to a university, that wasn't the problem. The problem was that he wanted to study abroad. He wanted to see another part of the world; he wanted to experience what he'd never been able to see under his parents' control. He wanted to live.

His parents were totally against it. "Stay in Ireland," They told him, "It's the best place for you." But he wasn't convinced. Obviously, he'd heard about America, and he'd heard of other people having a lot of success there. It was a year later when he made it final. It was his dream now-to go to school in America. He was sitting at dinner with his family, and his brother was visiting, when Niall broke the news. He was nervous about it, and even felt somewhat sick to his stomach when a silence fell upon the table. His brother's eyes widened. He knew his parents wanted Niall to stay in the country, and he also knew that Niall wasn't one to go against what his parents wanted. But this was different now. Niall was growing up, and he finally felt it was his time to stand up and make his own decisions.

To sum it up, it didn't go over well with his family. His parents got mad and said they couldn't stop Niall from doing it, but that they certainly wouldn't help him any. They weren't going to pay for any of his schooling, not even a plane ticket to get there. They said, "If that's really what you think you want, then you'll have to make it by yourself." So that's what Niall did. With no experience, and only about a handful of self-confidence, Niall packed up over the summer and made plans to fly to America in early July. He'd already sent an application to New York University, and managed to get in without a problem. He picked this school mainly for its location-right in New York, which he'd heard so much about. He was granted a nice scholarship that would cover at least his first year of school.

His small job of working in a local pub had given him enough money to buy a plane ticket and still have some money left over. All he'd been doing in the time before he left was working and saving up everything he got. The day that he left, he said goodbye to his parents and they grudgingly hugged him and sent him off. His mother cried a little, but Niall was sure it was only because she was still upset with him. In reality, she was sad to see her baby go. She was nervous about watching him leave to an entirely different country with absolutely nothing behind him. But it was far too late for her to do anything about it now. His brother gave him a ride to the airport in Dublin, which was a fair drive from his house. There was silence for nearly the entire drive. In fact, his brother didn't say much until they actually got to the airport. With a few tears in his eyes, he gave Niall a brotherly hug and told him he wished the best for him. And then, just before Niall could walk away, his brother slipped him a couple nice bills and said, "Cash this in for American money when you get there. Take yourself out to dinner somewhere in New York, alright? Maybe find a girl to go with you." Niall swallowed hard, trying not to cry, before he nodded and left.