Party Of 1 (A Niall Horan Fanfic)

Chapter 6: Teenage Icon

As luck would have it Niall Horan's break from the world tour wasn't has glamourus as he'd hoped it to be. He thought he would have been enjoying himself but as he looked around in the small bunk of the tour bus he realized he had done absolutely nothing. 

"Niall!" he heard from the other end of the bus. Footsteps enchoed on the floor as Liam pulled across the curtain that was conceiling Niall. So much for a quick nap, he thought. 

"Come on, come play Black Ops with us," Liam said, making his way back to the end of the bus. 

Niall groaned, practically falling out of his small bed. He was shirtless but he was too lazy to put a shirt on anyways. 

Once he got into the small lounging room he could hear Louis' angry shouts at Harry who 'just wasn't being fair.' Harry snorted, bumping his shoulder into Louis'.

"No cheating, loser," Louis said to Harry. 

Niall sat down next to Zayn who was doing something on twitter on his laptop. Zayn looked up at him, smirking, and Niall raised an eyebrow.

"So, loverboy, how's that new lady of yours?" he asked. 

Louis paused the game, showing a gruesome face of a zombie trying to attack both Louis' and Harry's characters, as suddenly all the boys turned to him. They all gave him questioning looks, like this was some kind of interrogation. It made Niall uncomfortable.

"I don't know. She hasn't texted me back since Saturday," he told them, hoping they would drop the topic. He hadn't told them about whatever happened that night but he did tell them about what she was like and that she was really pretty. 

In truth he didn't know the exact details of that night but he knew enough from Rory's friend Sydney to know this wasn't the first time it'd happened. After Rory didn't message him for a few days he expected the worse but Sydney had given him her number, and he would ask every so often how she was doing.

She had told him that Rory was being really distant and after they'd gotten home from the hotel the next day Rory had dropped off Sydney without saying anything, and hadn't made a move to talk to her the rest of the week, either. Niall knew school was starting for them soon so he knew Rory would have to make an effort soon, otherwise it would probably lead to awkward encounters in the hallway.

"Do you have a picture of her? Anything? C'mon I need to know Niall's future wife," Louis teased. 

Niall smacked him on the shoulder, shaking his head, as he showed a picture of Rory that Sydney had sent which she then proceeded to give him shit about for the entire week. 

As his phone was passed around the boys gave him approving nods. 

"Eleanor's prettier," Louis admitted. Niall smacked him upside the head, getting up to go get some food, and hopefully be alone. 

Zayn followed him out, because, of course he has too, he's the who you can talk to, about anything.

"What's up," Niall asked, rummaging through the fridge for whatever, really. He doesn't find anything he wants to eat, so he starts looking through the cupboards. 

"Nothing." Zayn sighs.

Niall finds a box of cheese-its. As he starts eating them he sits down at the little dining table. He motions for Zayn to sit down, who does, across from him.

"No really, what's wrong, mate?" Niall questions. He looks out the little window that overlooks the parking lot where they'll be playing their next show at tomorrow night. He admits, honestly, that they could have slept in seperate rooms at a hotel, but they would rather all be together, stuffed inside a bus, even if it smelled like ass and dirty socks. 

Zayn folds his arms on the table, dropping his head onto them. Niall doesn't know what's wrong with him. Then Zayn props his head on his hands, brown eyes looking directly at Niall. And he feels like Zayn is looking at him condiscendingly. Niall stops eating, giving him an 'um, what are you doing dude' look. 

"Do you like her?" Zayn asks suddenly. 

Niall shrugs, he hasn't given much thought. "Just a friend. I mean, it's only been a week. So, just a friend." Niall nods, agreeing with himself.

Zayn gets up walking back towards the bus, leaving Niall more confused than he's even been in his life. 

"Don't forget we have an interview tomorrow morning on Radio 109!"