Like Dreamers Do (Niall Horan Fan-Fiction)

Chapter 22

I didn't sleep at all, which was why I was so grumpy the next day. My grandad had come home at about 3 in the afternoon, rambling on about what a strange woman Mrs. Winterberry was. I told him that I already knew that.

Nevertheless I tried to act interested, covering up my confusion and anger from the night before.

Mainly anger, because Niall was right about the fans.

They had been waiting outside the house all morning, the last one leaving just before my grandad got home, which was quite lucky.

And whoever the girl was from last night, she had uploaded the photo of Niall and I to the internet.

My name was already out there given that stupid photo with Zayn, so now I looked like a complete whore. If it was any consolation, the photo was actually kind of good. We had been standing right in front of the window, the moonlight shining on us both as Niall had one arm around my waist, the other stroking my cheek.

But now it just made me upset, given I hadn't spoken to him since yesterday. He hadn't even bothered to contact me at all, unless you count the tweets he had been sending out to people. It's lucky that I don't have Twitter, given the things people were saying about me now.

I think 'slut' would have been one of the nicer terms.

But Niall had replied to one particular girl, who had insulted me by saying 'This Elli girl is an ugly slut LOL!' He had taken it upon himself to type back 'You must literally be blind then.'

Which annoyed me further, because I was supposed to be upset with him, but he was making it very difficult.

Now, I was in my room doing some homework that I should have finished earlier this week. I was blasting The Arctic Monkeys through my speakers as loudly as I could, hoping my grandad wouldn't be too upset.

Just as I was nearly finished with my English essay, my phone started to ring. Quickly checking to find it was a private call, I answered as loudly as I could.

"HELLO?" I exclaimed, rushing over to my speakers to turn down the volume.

"Arctic Monkeys? Good choice!" The voice called back, and I instantly recognised the slow drawl.

"Harry?" I answered more quietly, given I had found the volume button. "What are you calling me for?"

"Lovely to speak to you too." He answered, sounding dejected. I sighed.

"Sorry. Let me rephrase. Oh hi dearest Harold, to what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?" I answered monotonously, collapsing down onto my bed.

"Just thought I'd call and check you were okay. Niall said there might be fans outside your house." Harry confirmed, sounding distracted by yelling coming from the background.

"It's all good. No deaths yet." I mumbled back, annoyed that Harry was the one to call me rather than Niall.

He was such a coward.

"Anyway, you disappeared last night. Niall just said that you needed to get home, is everything okay?" Harry asked, his voice raising at the end as the yelling on the other end of the line got louder. What was going on over there?

"Err, yeah I'm fine Harry, what about you, how was your night?" I asked in the hope that he wouldn't press the subject of me disappearing.

"It was fun! You're friends are hot." He sounded completely distracted now, as though he was running a marathon.

"What the hell is going on over there?" I asked, and suddenly the other end of the line became quiet.

"Ah sorry. We're recording today, we're just taking a quick half hour break. I've just gone outside cos Louis and Liam were playing air hockey, getting way too over excited." He answered, sounding calmer now. "Anyway, yeah your friends are great. It took a lot of restraint not to hook up with at least one of them, that one with the blonde hair and the blue dress-"

"Yep, I get it Harry." I answered, hearing him smirk at the other end of the line. "So you and Zayn seriously didn't hook up with anyone?" I asked, a little surprised.

"Nope." He answered, sounding genuinely upset about it. "I mean there would have been people taking photos, can't damage our perfect reputation. Which is obviously something you and Niall don't care about." He added cheekily. I sighed.

"You saw the photo then." I asked, sitting up and running a hand through my hair.

"Elli, everyone's seen that photo. You're on Perez Hilton for God's sake." He laughed, and I groaned.

"Fantastic. I'll just wait for the death threats now then, shall I?" I sighed. I heard Harry take a quick intake of breath.

"Niall said nothing happened though." He added quietly, sounding as though he didn't want to hurt my feelings.

"Of course not." I mumbled, leaning my head on the wall behind me. "Why would it?"

Harry took a little while to answer, each second giving me a new set of butterflies.

"Well to be honest Elli, he talks about you a lot." He answered, leaving me a little light headed.

"Yeah well," I began, trying to think of something witty. "Well I talk about school a lot, that doesn't mean I like it."

Harry smirked on the other end of the line. "I've never heard you talk about school."

"Okay so I made that up, but regardless, nothing happened. People are freaking out about nothing." I finished, scrunching my eyes tightly shut for a second. I heard Harry sigh.

"Are you so sure that it's nothing though?" He asked, and I heard a door open at his end of the call.

Then Niall's voice calling out to Harry 'Who are you talking to?'

I acted quickly. "It's not nothing for me. But to him it's nothing. I'll talk to you later Harry."

I swiftly cut off the call and threw my phone to the other side of the bed, grabbing a pillow and screaming into it.

So now Harry knows.

And I can put money on him telling Niall exactly what I just told him.

But maybe that wasn't a bad thing.

Then again, it definitely was.

Last night I had trusted Niall with everything, telling him about why I moved to London, how there was a killer on the loose who may or may not still be after me.

And he had left.

Whether it was because he didn't want to deal with someone as fucked up as me, or whether he didn't want to be seen in a relationship didn't matter.

He had still left.

And that isn't even what hurts the most.

What hurts the most is that I have completely, 100% fallen for him now. And there's nothing I can do about it.

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