Like Dreamers Do (Niall Horan Fan-Fiction)

Chapter 30

I didn’t attend my school dance last year. 

My friends in Australia thought it would be funny if we all boycotted the event, and instead we all hung out at one of my mates houses, getting drunk off wine and watching movies. 

But standing here, under the lights of the dance, with Niall on my arm and a hundred bodies surrounding me whilst moving with the beat of the music, I couldn’t be happier. 

“We’re on in five.” Niall whispers in my ear, his breath trickling down my neck as he wraps his arms tighter around me. At first I thought he was going to be a bit distant from me, given that everyone had been staring at us from the moment we walked in. Some people were even taking photos of the two of us, which I found extremely weird.

But he kept me close, holding me as though to keep me safe. It can almost be classified as a normal school dance, but the security guards surrounding us kind of give that one away.

There are even more guards surrounding the rest of the boys, who are on stage setting up for their gig. Girls are surrounding them in mobs, but their security are quite scary looking.

I am just as excited as the other girls are, but for different reasons.

“Do you know I’ve never seen you guys perform before?” I suddenly realize, my eyes widening. “I feel like such a horrible girlfriend.”

Niall grins, running a hand through his hair. “Nah, its cos you’ve been waiting for this moment.” He assures me, placing his hands on my shoulders. 

His eyes swarm mine for a moment, as though he is trying to read me like a book. For a minute, I can’t hear or see anyone else around me, all I can concentrate on is Niall and the way he is looking at me. 

“I booked the hotel.” He muses, still searching my eyes as though for some kind of approval. I don’t react to his words on the outside, but inside my heart is beating a hundred miles an hour, my nerves tingling. 

“Yeah I know.” I answer, smiling to myself and playing with his tie lazily. He grins and moves closer to me and I feel another jolt of electricity rush through my veins. 

“We don’t have to go there, if you don’t want to. I mean it’s completely up to you and I would totally be okay with doing this another time, if that’s what you wan-”

“Niall!” I interrupt, laughing. “I want to.”

I don’t have to say anything else, and neither does he. All we do is put our arms around each other and stand there for a minute, completely ignoring everyone else around us. I am so beyond ready for tonight, I almost want to leave the dance early and go straight there, but I refrain.

“Hey.” Niall says, pulling back for a second and searching my eyes again, smiling at me as though he is waiting for my approval. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”

“Niall!”

We are interrupted by Harry, who is frantically calling Niall up to the stage. We had been so engrossed in our own little world, both of us completely forgot about their gig. Biting his lip, Niall gives me a quick peck on the lips and straightens his tie.

“But I can tell you later.” He shrugs, giving me a small wink as he runs up to the stage, a group of girls squealing as he passes them. A few of them rush up to me and start gushing.

“You are so beyond lucky to be dating him!” They sigh, either looking at me with scowls or with wide eyed approval.

“You have no idea.” I agree, folding my arms and suddenly being hugged from behind by Taylor. He picks me up and whirls me around, with Tony coming to my side carrying a hip flask. 

“Want some?” Tony asks in his low drawl, passing me the flask discretely. “It will help you get through this lame excuse for a dance.”

I smile to the ground, and Taylor takes to my other side. 

“Plus,” he begins, casually throwing an arm around my shoulder and pointing to Niall on stage. “It might make you a bit more prepared for tonight...you know, for later.” He winks. 

I look up to the stage, where Niall has begun to unbutton his suit jacket and loosen his tie, much to the girls in the front few rows pleasure. He grasps the microphone and takes his spot on the stage, smiling down to everyone. He catches my eye and keeps my stare, leaving me grinning like an idiot. 

“You know what, I think I’ll be fine without it.” I say, not taking my eyes off of Niall. I catch Tony and Taylor giving a small glance to each other, their eyes filled with something unfamiliar. I frown.

“What?” I ask, shoving them both to the side. Tony doesn’t meet my eyes, taking another sip from his hip flask. I turn to Taylor instead, who looks sheepish.

“It’s just...we’ve never seen you so happy before. It’s like Niall fixed you or something. The way you look at him is like...” Taylor trails off, cuddling me tight. 

I almost forgot that I didn’t tell Taylor or Tony about what happened in Australia, about my parents. Yet they still look after me and care about me, like real friends should. I wrap my arms around both of them, resting my head on Taylors shoulder.

“He did fix me. He’s more perfect than you could ever imagine.”

The two boys grin and take my hands, striding to the front of the stage and pushing past all the over excited girls from my year level, who are looking at me like I’m famous too. I catch Harry’s eye, who winks at me and takes to the microphone, introducing their first song ‘What Makes You Beautiful’.

I don’t take my eyes off Niall the whole performance, because what I see is too amazing. I want to kick myself for not watching these boys perform earlier, they are actually really good. And they certainly know how to work a crowd, everyone around me is going insane.

They launch into their last song ‘One Thing’ and Niall is playing the guitar, which is a little bit too much for me at this point. The last thing I see is Niall grinning and coming over to my part of the stage, because a second later, everybody starts to panic.

The lights in the hall have been switched off, as has all the electricity. It is pitch black, people are starting to yell and laugh and come up with theories. Someone yells out that it is probably Davey Keilor, a boy who was kicked out of school for pulling one too many jokes and was hence not allowed to attend the dance. He’s probably pulling a practical joke.

Another girl starts screaming that ‘This is going to be just like Carrie! We’re all going to die!’

Our principle doesn’t act fast. He slowly makes his way onto the stage, running a hand over his bald head.

“Now, now, no need to panic.” He says lazily, as he sends a member of staff out the front to investigate what has happened. 

But it is another story with One Directions security. Around fifteen of the guards start to move quickly, grabbing the boys and ushering them out the back. They take me too, pushing me along after them all. All the girls begin to complain that they didn’t even get to finish their last song, but the panic that has arisen within security has me a little worried. And I can’t even see Niall as I am lead through the back entrance of the building and into a darkly tinted car, and I feel like I am about to start panicking at any minute-

“Elli!”

Oh thank God.

I wrap my arms around Niall, who is in the seat next to me looking a little shaky.

“What happened in there? How come you guys had to leave so quickly?” I ask, not wanting to let him go. Niall kisses my softly on the cheek, his curls tickling my neck as he rests his head on my shoulder. 

“It’s nothing. Just our security freaks out when stuff like that happens, but everything’s fine.” He assures me, but I feel a little sick, because that’s the second time today that I’ve felt uneasy, as though somebody is there, as though there is something I simply cannot explain.

But I’m sure it’s nothing.