Until I Find You Again // Book One

Chapter 1

"Niall, I don't wanna go."

"Why not, Em? It'll be fun. Zayn will be there."

I paused. Zayn was hot.

"I don't care. Harry will also be there."

"Please....pleeeeeassseeeeee...."

I wasn't in the mood for a party. Much less a party that included Harry Styles. I wanted to finish Niall's history homework, wash my hair, and finish watching my favorite show Liberty Heights. I was 17 years old, not yet old enough to drink or do anything even remotely interesting. Not to mention, I was an honors student and I had 2 tests on Monday. There was no time for a party.

The next thing I noticed in my peripheral vision was blonde hair. Niall leaned his head down, finally placing it in my lap and turning over to look up at me. A gesture he usually saved for when he really wanted something from me. Being my best friend since birth afforded him that type of cheesiness without me making fun of him for it.

"I'll owe ya big." He said, sticking his lip out in a deep pout.

I looked down at him and shook my head. I held up the pad of paper I'd been writing on as he situated his head in my lap,

"You already owe me. I'm doing your homework."

He knitted his brows,

"Really? What subject?"

"History." I answered, placing the pad of paper on my knee with no regard for the fact that it slapped him in the face.

I could feel him watching me. I could hear him thinking. Niall never kept anything a secret. I ignored him anyway. After a few moments of no attention, I felt him reach up and tap my bare shoulder. I shifted my gaze to his. He smiled, one of those cheesy, Cheshire cat grins.

"Please?"

I sighed,

"Niall-"

He sat up quickly, interrupting me before I could say no again. He sat on his knees,

"C'mon it's the CD release party. You have t'be there. Ya been there for everythin' else!"

Niall had gone and done something I was never entirely sure about a year ago. He tried out for the X-Factor. He made it onto the show. After being denied as a solo artist, the show's producer, Simon Cowell, put him into a group with 4 other boys. Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Harry Styles. They had done well, making it to the finale before losing to someone whose name I couldn't even recall anymore.

Simon had assured them he would take care of them. Because he wasn't an idiot. Anyone with any sense at all could see what had been happening. Girls....so many girls.....all these girls. All the time. Everywhere.

And so, he flew them to London. And they recorded a CD. A CD that was now probably the most anticipated CD in Europe after the release of a single I couldn't get out of my head no matter how hard I tried.

Niall's life had completely changed.

Mine hadn't.

Except for the occasional curious fan who connected the dots and found my Instagram, I was virtually a non-entity and I was fine with that.

I'd been subjected to hearing Niall sing since he realized he had vocal chords. Our mothers were best friends, we were born 2 weeks apart. I was older, something I never let him forget.