A Thousand Ships (A Niall Horan Fanfiction)

Chapter Two

Chapter Two: Life as Niall Horan

(Niall's P.O.V.)

"Hi! We're One Direction!" We called out to a crowd of screaming girls for about the millionth time. Well, not quite that many, but whose keeping count?

I did my usual thing on stage as we performed our set list. But as usual, I couldn't help but look into the crowd to see if I could see my future wife. But the faces were all blurred together and we were bouncing around too much for me to notice any one girl in particular. The other lads and I had a decent performance, not our absolute best, but not our worst. Just... the usual.

When we got a water break, I headed backstage and couldn't help let out a big sigh. Where was she? My future wife. My princess. Louis had Eleanor, Liam had Danielle, and Zayn had Perrie. Harry was single with me, but he went all over the place dating here and there and... ya' know. I personally was happy to wait, but it was so hard sometimes when all the other lads were so happy. I just wanted to find her. But I knew someday would be mine and when it did, the wait would be worth it.

"You okay, mate?" Harry came over with that look of concern in his eyes.

"I still don't see anyone."

Harry smiled at me, "you'll find her. Soon. I promise. She will be everything you've been waiting for and more."

I nodded, believing my friend. Then I put a smile back on and said, "Now let's go make a whole bunch of our girls' happy."

Harry was more than willing to follow me back out to the stage. Louis, Liam, and Zayn already waiting for us.

　

(Louis' P.O.V.)

Another night, another show. We were on break for a minute, when Niall stepped a little distance away from us and sighed. He'd been doing that a lot lately.

"Do you think he's okay?" I asked Liam.

"I'm not sure. Why don't you go ask?" He replied.

"He's probably still looking in the crowd for someone. Poor kid, he always gets worked up over it," Harry looked over.

"Well he shouldn't. He needs to enjoy the moment before he gets whipped," I joked.

Zayn and Liam gave me a look saying "I know what you mean, but we love our girlfriends." Harry stood there smiling because he knew it was true.

"Well whoever she is will never be good enough for our Niall." Harry had concern in his eyes, "I fear that if he dates a fan, she'll only like him for the fame."

"But if he dates another famous person, then what if they just use him for the attention?" I rebutted to Harry's statement.

"The fans only think they know him. But they don't. He deserves the best, he's been waiting so long and it's hard not to get protective of the little Irishman." Harry replied matter of factly. He then went to go ask Niall about it before we gossiped too much.

"I get what you're saying Lou." Liam put a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"But we want the best for Niall." Zayn added.

I nodded and looked across at the blonde boy.

He was smiling happily at Harry and I assumed all was well.

I just wanted the best for him, too. We'd just have to wait and see who the girl ends up being.

(Niall's P.O.V.)

The rest of the performance went well. Afterwards, we had to do a meet and greet which was always fun. I loved meeting the fans, especially the ones that liked hugging all us boys.

"Niall! I wanna be your princess!" Some girls came screaming over. They looked to be only fourteen, but I smiled at them and told them all my fans were princesses. They seemed excited. I got several proposals, which I always said yes to. I just felt bad I couldn't really marry all of them as much as I'd like to, but the smiles on their faces of me saying yes, even though we both knew it wouldn't happen, was enough for us. They were my fans. And I was their Niall.

There were only a few that night that didn't want to hug me or get my picture. That happened sometimes, but I was starting to get used to it when I noticed they did that to the other boys' sometimes too. They didn't like all of us, and we were different people, so I guess it made sense. But the true Directioners were the ones who liked all of us, despite our differences. Those were my favorites.

Eventually we got back to our hotel. We had a long day tomorrow because we had to get up early and drive to the next town where we'd be doing rehearsals until the show. Ugh, when would I get to eat?

The time was way late and we were all very tired, but I felt like it was just one of those nights.

"Can we hang out tonight guys?"

They all nodded at me as if anticipating the question.

We ended up in my room all crowded around or on the bed watching a movie. I liked times like these when the five of us got to have a break from the crazy life, but still be together. Just chilling like normal guys. I listened to the other guys talking and laughing and I joined in here and there, but the whole time my (future) princess was on my mind.

Who was she? What was she doing right now? Is she a fan or just some girl who doesn't care who I am?

Questions like this continued to rush through my mind until my head hurt. I decided that could be fixed with a little food.

"Let's make some popcorn!" I ran to the kitchen to fix some up. As I left, the boys requested different drinks to have with the light poppy goodness. I managed to fit a pop, two waters, an iced tea, and a frozen coffee all in one trip back. I passed the drinks 'round and set mine down on the table before I went back and got the popcorn in the microwave.

I missed my mom's cooking. And I missed eating three regular meals a day, everyday. It was nice when we were home, but when we were out and about, my eating habits were very irregular and I did not like it.

Microwave popcorn here in America was not as great as a popcorn maker back in Ireland. And that would never compare to real meals. I was waiting much too impatiently for the snack to finish that by the time it was ready, I immediately grabbed the bag and burned my hand.

"Ouch!" I yelped while the heated demon fell to the floor. I picked it back up by the corner with as little skin touching it as possible and got it in a bowl.

When I returned to the room, the boys were all talking in hushed tones, but when I stepped in they stopped and looked at me. I looked around at them confused, a strange feeling about it coming over me, but Harry smiled at me and got up to carry the bowl back and I sat down beside him on the bed. I decided not to push the subject, these were my lads and if they needed to talk to me about something, I knew they would. I trusted them and they me. No problems.

The next morning we were woken up way too early, as expected, by some management. We were rushed rushed rushed out to the car so we could get to the next city. I was still feeling groggy when I packed my bag into the trunk and got in the vehicle. Paparazzi wasn't so bad today since we just walked out of a hotel in comfort clothes and no one was with us.

I fell asleep again during the drive. I wished this country had more nando's for us to stop at, but the nearest one was states away. America was just too big.

Once we reached the next destination, we got a chance to clean ourselves up before rehearsal. It was nice to have a shower and time to think. I knew looking in the crowd tonight would be a bad idea. I thought maybe I could try not to this time. Then again, that's what I always thought.

I sighed and just let the hot water take over. I didn't need to worry about it right now.

I would find her eventually.

Little did I know then that it would be that very night.