His Princess

“I am so sorry!”

Sparrow realized far too late that these weren’t a bunch of thugs trying to hurt her and her best friend. It was, in fact, One Direction running from crazed fans. They wanted to spend a night out in New York City free from the worry of security and management. For one night, they wanted to have some fun.

It backfired when fans realized they were alone, but fans weren’t the only ones hunting them down. They had a security team searching far and wide, through every street, so if they were gonna get away, they couldn’t stay in one place long.

The three guys on their feet were angry, but they were more concerned about their friend’s safety. It didn’t seem normal that he was convulsing for so long.

Niall and Emmit . . . neither of them moved from their place on the ground. The water on the concrete soaked through their pants, but both were too surprised at the sight of each other to actually notice.

To Niall, it was like he was seeing his true purpose in life. He felt crazy and couldn’t believe what his mind was thinking, but at just first sight, he imagined marrying this girl. Going all over the world with her, raising a beautiful family . . . because any child that came from her would be beautiful.

That was crazy to him, so crazy he was angry with himself. Real life wasn’t like Disney movies. He couldn’t marry a girl he just saw, even if that was a new reality show some idiot decided to come out with. More than that, he shouldn’t be thinking about marrying her. He knew, deep down, he should look away, look to his friend who wasn’t moving after he finished trembling, but he couldn’t rip his eyes away from the soft and angelic face staring back at him.

Emmit knew Niall Horan was attractive; anyone with any sense knew Niall Horan was attractive. She knew that if she ever got the privilege of meeting him in person, this would be how she reacted. He would think she was an idiot, or just another fan girl, but she hadn’t realized how powerful seeing Niall in person really would be.

She felt like it wasn’t just a fan girl thing. A part of her thought maybe it was love at first sight.

Maybe it was her inner fan girl, but she couldn’t tell if that was really it or not. It was hard to say, but fear crept through her mind as she realized she would never actually know. Time would continue on, and she would never get to see Niall this close again.

It would always be a mystery; love at first sight or dedicated fan girl?

I could barely breathe, but no one seemed to notice. The ones still conscious and on their feet were just yelling, and I couldn’t make out a thing they said.

Niall’s expression shifted, and no longer did he look at me like I was out of place. Now, it was like I was a person he wanted to talk to, and that was weird for me.

I was visible to him? To Niall Horan?

He swallowed before giving me a nervous smile. “I like your shoes.”

I glanced down at my feet, but when I did, I noticed the t-shirt I was wearing—a “Crazy Mofos” shirt identical to the one Niall liked to wear.

Through my deep blush, I gave him a timid smile back. “Thanks.”

“I have that same shirt,” he informed me, giving me a crooked grin as my face only got hotter. “Where’d you get yours?”

“Internet,” I laughed, rubbing the back of my neck to get some of the water that had splashed up on it.

His grin widened as he laughed himself. “Well, that’s pretty awesome we have the same shirt.”

I couldn’t believe this was happening. Really, I could see why someone would buy this shirt if they weren’t a One Direction fan. Who doesn’t want a shirt that says “Crazy Mofos” on it?

With the 5 Seconds of Summer shoes, however, I think he could figure out that this wasn’t just a coincidental thing, especially since I was completely star struck at the sight of him.

Or maybe I was just dazzled.

Either way, the way he casually played off the fact that I had a shirt only a Directioner would truly understand was pretty awesome. He made it far less awkward.

“What’s your name?” he asked. “I’m Niall.”

“Emmit,” I murmured, and I let out another nervous laugh. “Uh, I’m sorry I ran into you.”

“Actually, I ran into you,” he corrected. “Definitely my fault. We’re kinda on the run right now, and clumsy me wasn’t paying attention to where I was going. I’m such a knob. I’m sorry, lass.”

I shook my head. “Don’t be. I’m okay. Uh, you okay?”

He nodded. “My arse is wet, but aside from that, I’m fantastic. Yourself?”

“I could say the same.” And for once, telling someone I was good wasn’t a lie.

Right now, I was more than good.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!”

Finally, some of the yells broke through. When Zayn and Louis stopped yelling, it was a bit easier to hear what was being said between Harry and Sparrow.

I immediately realized that Niall and I were a bit out of place. Sparrow had just tazed Liam with a pretty damn high powered taser. Her parents insisted on it because if she was attacked by a big muscular man, she needed a taser powerful enough to bring him to the ground long enough for her to get away.

It was powerful alright . . . .

Liam was breathing, but he wasn’t conscious. Zayn and Louis knelt down beside him and just left Sparrow and Harry to dish it out.

Niall’s gaze moved away from me and over to Liam. “Shit!”

“I didn’t mean to!” Sparrow yelled back at Harry, who showed no signs of calming down. “It’s fucking New York City! Your friend falls to the ground, you taze somebody!”

Harry’s eyes widened. “I’ve never heard of that happening in New York City!”

Sparrow frowned. “Well . . . fine, that was just me. Look, I’m really sorry! I panicked. My parents have me beyond paranoid, okay? I . . . I don’t know what to do!”

The sound of girls screaming not even two blocks away didn’t reach anyone else besides me. I was fully alert to everything going on around us, including Zayn and Louis pulling up an unconscious Liam and draping his arms over their shoulders so they could move him along.

“We don’t have much time to figure it out either,” I said, butting into their conversation before it got loud enough for the fans to hear. “You’ve got fans a couple blocks away.”

“Where the fuck do we go?” Niall groaned. “Look, you two know your way around New York, right?”

Sparrow nodded slowly, her eyes wide as she looked over to Niall. I think hearing one of the guys talk so calmly to her after she tazed Liam was surprising, but it made me smile.

“Help us get out of here,” Louis begged. “We just wanna have a fun and relaxing night without a security team hanging over our shoulder.”

I nodded. “Alright. Follow me across the road. We can lose the ones behind us in an alley just across the street.”

There were no cars coming. This street was mostly abandoned because of the thugs that lived in the apartment buildings. Honestly, I was surprised the guys made it through unscathed.

Well . . . until they reached us, that is.

Sparrow took a deep breath. “Okay. You’re right, Em. Let’s just get to the alley and lose them there.”

Louis and Zayn moved Liam without much problem. Together, they were able to scurry across the road and make it look like Liam was just drunk. He put one foot in front of the other, just awkwardly . . . .

I could hear the screams as we all practically jumped into the dark alley, but I didn’t get time to check for the fans. I think Niall was listening because he pinned me against the wall with wide cyan eyes and bright red cheeks.

“Get some!” Harry whispered under his breath.

“Actually, that’s a good idea,” Zayn hissed. “You two, look like you’re together or something.”

Harry glared at Sparrow. “Don’t you dare taze me.”

“Fucking lay off it!” she exclaimed, but she wasn’t really able to fight it much after that. Even if she had wanted to fight, Harry’s lips caught hers in a crazy and very heated dance that would make the fans uncomfortable enough they didn’t look.

I was uncomfortable . . . which was saying something because Niall Horan had me pinned against the wall. Yet I was uncomfortable? We were totally fine. The fans would look away for sure.

Zayn and Louis angled themselves so that people walking by wouldn’t see their faces, and they hunched Liam over and began patting his back.

“There you go,” Louis said in a wonderfully executed American accent. “No more Fireballs for you, bro!”

Niall leaned in closer to me and tilted his head so that his face was angled away from people that might walk by, but unlike Harry, he didn’t kiss me. Actually, the idea of kissing me seemed to make him nervous.

“Uh, I . . . uh . . . think this should be good enough,” he mumbled. “I don’t wanna make you uncomfortable.”

It was hard to pretend that didn’t hurt my feelings a bit because it did. I mean, it was a classic story I had memorized the moment Sparrow and I hit puberty. She was the princess every man, prince or not, wanted to sweep off her feet. I was the ugly duckling that never grew into a beautiful swan.

It was just how things were, so of course Niall didn’t want to kiss me.

Still, he played it off really well. With his face so close to mine, his intoxicating aftershave mixed with his minty breath, and I lost all cognitive thought processes. I must’ve looked like he was kissing along my neck.

“Where’d they go?” I heard one girl scream as the mob nervously shuffled past the alley, not even giving the seven of us a second glance. “Ladies, we’re going the wrong way!”

“Oh, baby,” Sparrow moaned, loud enough that it got the girls’ attention. They briefly glanced at her, only long enough to see a girl getting kissed all over in a very disturbing, not-public-friendly way. “Let’s do it right here!”

We were such horrible people. The way the girls screamed and took off running in scattered directions was only evidence against us. They didn’t look back, only screamed how disgusting some people were.

I had to strain my neck to look around Niall, but I was glad to see the entrance to the alley clear of all traces of fan girls.

“Clear,” I sighed, and Sparrow pushed Harry away from her so fast, I was surprised he didn’t fall on his ass.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” she exclaimed. “You were kissing my boobs! Who does that?”

“It worked, didn’t it?” Harry scoffed. “Besides, you tazed Liam.”

Sparrow’s eyes widened. “You kissed my boobs!”

“Alright, guys, we can’t get into this right now,” Niall said. “We’ve got to get somewhere safe.
As New Yorkers, where is somewhere low-key that we can go to just relax? I don’t care about partying. We want somewhere to eat and just relax.”

Sparrow looked puzzled as she racked her brain for a place that matched Niall’s description, but I knew exactly where to go in an instant.

A timid smile spread across my lips. “I know just the place.”

Notes

The quote in the description is by Albert Schweitzer. :)

Hope you guys enjoy! :) This was a lot of fun to write. Just imagining these characters in this scenario makes me laugh, and I hope it does the same for you! x3

Let me know what you think!