Nervous (A Shawn Mendes x Niall Horan Fanfic) ✅

(Part 20)

Shawn's POV

I was sitting on my couch reading 'To Kill a Mockingbird' when my phone rang.

"Hello?" I asked, closing my book and answering my phone.

"Hey, Shawn," I heard Niall say.

"Uh, hey," I said.

"I'm sorry I blew you off earlier today," Niall said. "I feel terrible about it."

"You don't have to feel terrible about it," I said. "It's fine, really."

"No, it's not. I was so very rude to you this morning and I feel bad about it," Niall said.

"Who are you and what have you done to Niall?" I asked, earning a chuckle from Niall. "Seriously though, I understand that you were tired this morning and snapped at me."

"So, we're cool now?" Niall asked.

"Of course," I said.

"Good because I have some song ideas that I would like you to hear," Niall said.

"Sweet, where are we meeting?" I asked.

"Would your place be okay?" Niall asked. "I mean, as much as I don't think James minds us hanging out at the guitar shop, I don't want to bother him any more than I have to."

"Yeah, my place is fine," I said.

"Alright, what's your address?" Niall asked.

I gave Niall my address and, once everything was in order, ended the call only to spring up off my couch to clean my apartment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had just finished shoving the last pile of clothes into my closet when I heard a knock on the door. Leaving the room, I went over to the door and looked through the peephole in the door. Seeing the brown-haired, blue-eyed man on the other side, I opened the door.

"Hi," I said, greeting Niall as I opened the door.

"Hey," Niall smiled.

Suddenly, I became nervous. My hands started to shake and I was getting self-conscious about what I was wearing. Yet, no matter how nervous I was getting, my eyes never left Niall's.

"Are you okay?" Niall asked, probably sensing my nervousness.

"Yeah, I'm good," I said. "Come on inside."

I opened the door further so Niall could walk inside my still dirty apartment.

"Looks great in here," Niall said, admiring my apartment as I shut the door.

"It does?" I asked, noticing crumbs on the couch and coffee stains on the table from when I didn't use a coaster.

"Yeah, it's a nice place," Niall said.

"Okay," I said.

"Anyway, where is the best place to start the song process?" Niall asked.

"This way," I said, leading Niall to the extra bedroom I had that I converted into a music room.

As soon as we stepped into the room, I could see Niall's blue eyes darting all over the place. They went from the electric piano in the corner to the guitars. Then from the guitars to the microphone in the middle of the room.

"This looks awesome," Niall said.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah," Niall asked before pointing at the piano in the corner. "Do you play?"

"No," I said sarcastically. "I just have a random piano in the corner of my room."

"So you do play?" Niall asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"Could you play a little for me?" Niall asked.

"Why?" I asked.

"I wanna hear you play," Niall said.

"Can you play piano?" I asked.

"Watch and learn," Niall said, walking over to the piano.

He pressed a few keys but the piano didn't make a sound. Niall then looked at me confused.

"You have to plug it in," I said.

"Why do you unplug it?" Niall asked, finding the cord and plugging it into the outlet.

"Because if I don't it racks up my electricity bill," I said.

"Oh, smart," Niall said before pressing a few keys and getting a sound.

Niall smiled as he let his fingers fly across the keyboard. He had played flawlessly and left me standing there with my mouth wide open.

"Where did you learn to play like that?" I asked.

"I've been practicing for a few years now," Niall said.

"So you're self-taught?" I asked.

"Yeah, kinda," Niall said. "But now it's your turn."

"To play a song?" I asked, earning a nod from Niall. "Joy."