Niall Horan Imagines

Shelter (Request)

My jacket clung to me, along with my skirt, and I shivered. The streets were empty but the sidewalks full. Hundreds of people bearing umbrellas passed in front of me. They seemed to mock me, just like my boss had before he fired me not an hour earlier. 

They were like a river, the people with their umbrellas, flowing under the ceaseless rain falling from above. 

I looked around for a taxi, but in doing so, I met someone's eye. A blonde man, about my age stared back at me. 

For an unknown reason, the rain around me seemed to be suspended in the air, like the universe wanted me to notice him. 

And I did. 

I gave him a small smile. He was the only one in the river not moving, and he made his way towards me. 

"You're soaked," he called out above the loud patter of drops on the pavement below. I squinted up at him.  

"I'm aware," I teased, trying to lighten my own mood. The dreary clouds above me did nothing for my effort. 

"Stand under my umbrella," he offered. I shook my head quickly, not wanting to be so close to someone I didn't know so well. 

"I'm quite alright," I politely obliged. He held out his hand to me, and I remembered the phenomenon that had occurred not moments before. 

I took his hand and took a leap of faith, hoping he wouldn't steal me away. If the universe was sending me the right message, he was supposed to be beneficial, not otherwise. 

"I'm Niall," he said as my shoulder pierced his side. I nodded. 

"Chyna," I responded, looking out at the street. A few cars crept by, but no taxis. 

"Where are you going in weather like this?" he asked me, his warmth very comforting. I pushed that thought away to properly answer him. 

"I'm trying to get home." He shifted next to me. 

"My car is only a few blocks down," he commented. 

"Are you offering?" I asked with a hint of playfulness. He chuckled next to me. 

"Only if you're agreeing," he shrugged. I shifted further away from him to laugh. 

"I'm quite alright getting a cab home," I denied. I felt his hand pull me closer to him. 

"You're freezing," he breathed out, pressing my body to his. I inhaled quickly, expecting to feel violated and uncomfortable. Instead, I felt very safe. The structure of his arms around me served as a shelter inside the shelter. 

Even though it was wrong, I snuggled further into his dry, warm frame. 

"Thank you," I mumbled into his shoulder. He hummed at that but didn't let go. 

A yellow car caught my eye, and I quickly detached from safety. I waved frantically, feeling the heavy rain soak me once more as my attempt failed. I walked back towards him, seeing his mouth turned down in disappointment. 

"My car really isn't far," he sighed, welcoming me back under his safe roof. 

"I couldn't intrude like that," I declined, smiling a little to myself. 

"But we just cuddled vertically," he seemed to whine. I turned to look at him, feeling my cheeks redden for the first time in forever. 

"Vertically?" I questioned, hugging myself to stay warm. He nodded eagerly. 

"Usually it's horizontally," he answered, making a line with his hand. 

"I see," I smirked, looking away. Another taxi began to creep by in the increasing waters, and I called for it. It quickly pulled over onto the side, and I struggled through a few people to reach the door. I briefly waved to my shelter, climbing in. He began my way, and I rolled down the window. 

His eyes met mine as if for the first time, but I had a feeling it would be the last time. That thought was dismissed inside of me as implausible. 

He came closer, smiling directly into me. The rain slowed like it once had, and I sent a message out to the universe. 

I see him. 

The promise of something beautiful hung in the air like the humidity had this morning, or like it would any morning before a big storm like such. 

I didn't know when or why, but I knew who. It was my shelter when all fail-safes left me stranded. It was my shelter within a shelter, that extra protection I so needed and possibly craved. 

The universe works in mysterious ways, but some days it reaches out and makes sure something so important and extraordinary happens. And this was that. 

I couldn't ignore the inevitable force that seemed to be pulling us together, and before I could be torn from my shelter, he smiled. He smiled like he knew how important we would be to each other. 

And I had a feeling he did. 

"I'll be seeing you again," he said like the world counted it on, and it might as well have. 

"I'm counting on it," I thought out loud. The car pulled away, and so did my shelter. 

And the universe congratulated me; I had finally found something I could put my trust in. 

Someone. 

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thanks to chynita343347 for requesting! i hope you enjoyed reading it!

thanks for reading! please leave a comment of what you thought. if you would like an imagine, let me know in the comments as well.

pileofniall made a poem about this, so that'll be in the external link

oh my gosh i usually don't write like this 

Mel x