The Luckiest Person in the World

Chapter 14--The Signing

"Oi, you lovebirds ready?" Lou pounds on our door.

Niall turns off the TV, we've been watch "Two and a Half Men" for at least an hour, and we go to the door when we come out.

"Well, aren't you two adorable? Matching and everything."

Niall and I immediately look at each other. Sure enough, we're both wearing light jeans and neon green t-shirts, though mine is tighter than his. We laugh at the coincidence and then the three of us join Liam, Zayn, and Harry in the elevator.

Both lunch and the signing are at the Hard Rock Cafe, so, naturally, that's where we go. We're escorted by several body guards from the hotel to a private dining room in the restaurant. The service is quick and the food is fantastic. The company is also great. With each moment, I feel more and more comfortable. Halfway through lunch, I feel like I've known the boys my whole life. They're so easy to talk to and they make me laugh like never before.

After we're done eating, we're brought to another private dining room that's been turned into a kind of reception room. It's empty besides a rectangular table with five chairs.

"Andy, do you mind getting us one more chair?" Niall asks.

"Oh, no!" I protest, "I can stand. It's fine. Anyway, nobody's gonna want my signature. It's your signing."

They allow me to finish my rambling, then Niall turns to Andy and asks for the chair again. Andy leaves and Niall turns to me with a smile.

"I said I can stand," I raise an eyebrow.

"There might be someone who wants your signature," he shrugs, "You never know."

I laugh, "Don't get my hopes up."

Andy comes up with the chair and we all sit. Ten minutes later, the doors open and hundreds fans come pouring in. They're wearing One Direction t-shirts, bracelets, necklaces, even home-made shoes! As they get up to the table, they tell the boys how much they love them and their music and their interviews and forks and carrots and potatoes and cats and... Well, you get it. There's a lot of love. Not so much towards me, though... I mean, some of them say hi and tell me that they "totally ship Nila!" but most of them just ignore me. About halfway through the signing, though, I get a lot of attention.

The girl is decked out in as much 1D apparel as I'm sure you can own. She's all smiles and giggles for the boys, but as soon as she sees me, her smile disappears.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she glares.

"Excuse me?" I cock my head to the side. The whole room has gone silent and I can feel all eyes on us.

"You heard me, bitch. You don't deserve to be here."

"She has just--" Niall begins, but I cut him off, telling him I'll handle it.

"Like hell you will!" the girl scoffs, "You won't be able to keep us quiet. We hate you. You're just a phase."

That does it for everyone. All of the boys call for the body guards to get her out, the other fans go crazy, either agreeing with her or defending me, and me? I get out of the room as quickly as possible. Luckily, I'm still allowed in the room we had lunch in, so I shut myself in there. As I sit, my phone is ringing constantly with Twitter updates. Suddenly, I get a call. I'm about to ignore it, but it's Arden.

I pick up, "Hello?"

"Lila, oh my God, are you okay? Twitter is exploding and someone put the video up. Don't believe a word she says!" she says quickly.

"Arden, I'm-- I'm fine," I lie, choking back tears.

"No, you're not. Holy shit, I can hear you're about to cry! Lila, listen to me, 'WeSupportNila' is trending, okay? That dumb slut doesn't know what she's talking about. They love you."

"Arden, I've gotta go."

"Don't you dare hang up on me, Lila. Don't hang up on me to cry. Don’t'--"

I hang up and rest my head in my hands. I try to let what Arden said comfort me, but the tears come. I can't help but think that the girl and her supporters are right. Maybe I am just a phase...

"Lila?" Niall's voice comes from the door. I look up and see the concern in his eyes. He comes over and sits next to me quickly and wipes away my tears. I try to turn away, not wanting him to see me like this, but he pulls me onto his lap and wraps his arms around me tightly. Quietly, he starts singing "Hold On" by Michael Bublé. My tears stop at the same time as the song and I look up at him.

"Lila, don't listen to her," he dries my tears again, "The fans love you, the band loves you, the crew loves you, the boys love you, and... Well, I love you."

"I-- I love you, too, Niall," I smile softly, realizing how much I mean it.

"Good," he kisses my forehead, "Because otherwise," he kisses my nose, "this could've been awkward," he softly touches his lips to mine. With a smile, I put my arms around his neck and lean further into the kiss. His lips are soft and warm and somehow feel perfect against mine.

"So you'll stay?" he smiles after pulling away.

"I wouldn't dream of leaving," I smile.

"Good," his face lights up, "Do you wanna go back to the hotel?"

I shake my head, "You've got a signing to finish. I'll just wait in here."

"You sure? I don't want to leave you by yourself..."

I nod, "I'm positive. I've gotta call Arden, anyway. I hung up on her right before you came in."

He laughs, "All right. So you'll be okay?"

I kiss him softly, "I'll be okay."

I stand so he can go. After he's gone, I tweet quickly: Doing fine, everybody. Thanx so much for the support, it rlly does make a difference #ISupportNilaToo ;)

As soon as I send the tweet, Arden calls.

"Hello?" I laugh.

"You're really okay? Thank God! What happened?" I can hear the smile in her voice.

I grin and sigh happily, "I got my first kiss."

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