Dance to the Beat of My Heart (Narry)

Chapter One

Niall nervously paced back and forth through his apartment, tightly gripping his cell phone. His finger tapped the device rhythmically as he tried to prepare himself for the worse. His tongue swept across his bottom lip in anticipation, unsure if he was ready for the news or not.

He had always wanted to dance professionally on stage. Even when his friends and family ridiculed him, Niall continued to follow his dreams. It had been several days since he had gone through the first few vigorous rounds of the auditioning process. This was Niall's first audition since he had joined the agency, and he was actually quite surprised when his manager suggested that he should audition. Despite his inexperience, Niall had managed to catch the choreographers' eye among a sea of five hundred dancers. If he were to pass this round, Niall would be up against forty-nine other dancers for a spot of only fifteen.

The phone softly vibrated in his hand, startling the lad. His clumsy hands almost dropped the device, but by a stroke of luck, he caught it at the last second. Sweat began to accumulate in the palms of his hands as he answered the phone.

"H-hello?" He frowned slightly at the sound of his cracked voice before clearing his throat from the lump that had formed from the lack of use in the past few hours.

"Niall, you made it to the final round! Cheers mate!"  The voice on the other end excitedly rambled.

Niall gasped, grasping the neck of his tank top tightly.

"Are you sure Lou? Is that what they really said?" Niall asked. He knew that Louis was the type of manager who liked to mess with his talents for the laughs, but he sure hoped that he wasn't the next victim of Louis' horrible pranks.

"I swear upon the life of my unborn child. Now go out and celebrate before I get the schedule faxed. Drop by the office at six, alright? I should have the schedule by then. I knew you could do it Niall!"

Niall stared at his phone in disbelief. He couldn't believe he had made it thus far despite being completely new to the industry. Almost as if his hands had a mind of their own, they began to pull up the contact of the one man who Niall wanted to share the great news with the most but had no reason to; Zayn Malik, the man who had inspired Niall to continue in his career and danced beside him through thick in thin.

Zayn was not only Niall's friend and dance companion; he was also Niall's boyfriend—well, ex-boyfriend. It had been both Zayn and Niall's dream to tour with famous singers. A few months ago, Zayn had received that fateful letter of acceptance. Niall had been sitting in the living room of Zayn's apartment when the ivory haired lad burst through the door with an envelope in hand. They had opened the letter together, promising one another that no matter what was inside, they would always be together. Of course, that is not what happened. Their love was put to the test and they had failed. Niall spent many sleepless nights, wondering how Zayn was doing, not once receiving a single phone call from the latter. Regardless of his lack of contact with Zayn, Niall still believed in him and never questioned him. Niall wasn't delusional or clingy; he simply trusted Zayn with his entire heart. In the end, Zayn betrayed his trust. The worst part was that he had to find out about Zayn's unfaithfulness through a drunken picture that was posted online. Needless to say, the two had a sloppy breakup. Niall never quite got over his feelings for the older boy; he only knew that he was never good enough for him. To this day, Niall still questions whether or not Zayn really loved him at all.

Niall inhaled sharply, glancing down at his finger that was a hair's length away from pressing the call button. He was glad that he had realized what he was doing before it was too late. He slumped down onto the couch, resting his neck on the headrest. He sighed deeply, placing the phone in his lap. His moment of joy was so easily conquered by thoughts of that man again, the man he had been trying so hard to forget about all of this time.

Niall was no longer in the mood to head downtown to celebrate. Instead, he opted to stay at home and celebrated by popping open a bottle of champagne and putting on a sappy romance movie.

👞 👞 👞

Well, this was ridiculously short.