His Princess

The stitches hurt, but Niall’s knee hurt worse. Even as he laid on his bed with an ice pack on both his head and knee, the pain medicine the doctor prescribed him already kicking in, Niall’s knee was killing him.

Just as he started to go to sleep, more people came waltzing in like they owned the place.
Since the security team were the only other ones with a key, Niall wasn’t worried for his well-being. That didn’t mean he welcomed the guests, however. All he wanted was to go to sleep and have the next day begin.

The police and management had different ideas, however. When Niall finally decided to open his eyes at the sound of someone clearing their throat, he was greeted with a few strange faces mixed with others he was never too thrilled to see.

“Mr. Horan, before we try and get a warrant for your arrest, we’re gonna need to get your official story,” one of the men, dressed in a suit instead of a police uniform with a badge hanging on his pocket, said to Niall as he started rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He was an overworked detective by the name of Russell, but Niall didn’t ask for a name. “I don’t think we have to tell you what this is about. A man by the name of Daniel Jenkins has brought assault charges against you.”

“I assaulted him?!” Niall scoffed, and he stood from the bed so he could show the officers the back of his head. “I had to get thirteen stitches in the back of my head after the bastard shoved me into a wall! I didn’t lay a hand on him until then. All I did was tell him to leave my friend alone.”

“Did you approach him?” Detective Russell asked as he pulled out a notepad and pen to write these things down.

Niall’s eyebrows furrowed. “Well, yes.”

“Did you threaten him in any way?”

“I just told him to leave her alone,” Niall said. “She was trying to push him away, but he kept biting her neck, and—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Detective Russell interrupted, and his eyebrows rose. “He was currently messing with your friend?”

Niall was confused now. If Daniel reported it, how did they not know about Emmit?

“Yes,” Niall finally said, after he got over his surprise and remembered that the police were here questioning him. “It’s how we even came in contact with each other. He told her some bullshit story about how he was in town for our concert and wanted someone who lived here to show him the town. She went, but she asked me to come along in case things got bad.”

The detective wrote this down again and wordlessly gestured for Niall to continue.

Niall let out a breath. “He was . . . kissing her neck and . . . I don’t know, holding her against the wall. She was telling him to stop, but he just kept saying what they were gonna do. I just walked up to him and told him to back off. My friend kicked him in the balls so she could get out of his grip, and then he goes psycho.”

“What exactly do you mean?” Detective Russell asked. “Define ‘goes psycho’ for me.”

“He recognized me and asked for an autograph for his girlfriend, but why the fuck would I sign an autograph for him? He was assaulting my friend and cheating on his girlfriend, who apparently didn’t even care, but I told him no. Then he threw me into the wall.”

Detective Russell paused for a second and looked back to the officer standing behind him. “Let dispatch know that we will not need that warrant.”

Niall let out a breath of relief as his eyes closed. “Is he pressing charges against Emmit?”

Detective Russell’s eyebrows rose. “Uh, you didn’t mention another guy.”

Niall shook his head. “No. That’s my friend. Her name is Emmit.”

Detective Russell actually scoffed. “No, but from what I hear, she may wanna think about
pressing charges against him. He didn’t mention her in his story, just said that you punched him after he asked for an autograph for his girlfriend. It wasn’t a lie, but he did leave out the fact that he was assaulting your friend and cracked your skull first.”

“Did it break his nose?”

Niall hadn’t realized Harry had come into the room, but apparently he couldn’t sleep. While Niall was being doctored and lectured on what to do and what not to do while he was resting, Harry had texted him and told him he might come back over. All the excitement had him restless. Niall just never realized that he actually had.

Russell nodded and turned back towards Harry. “Pretty good, actually. It was a solid hit. Is your friend okay?”

“I think so,” Niall said. “Just a little shaken. She’s not really used to this kinda thing, and that asshole didn’t really help anything.”

Alice, a woman in management, let out an annoyed scoff as she stood from the chair beside the window. She was a small woman with a petite frame, but she scared all of the guys shitless. Tiny woman with more power than she knew how to handle properly.

“Who the hell is she to you?” she asked with more anger in her voice that was even remotely justified. “One of the sluts who got you all to come with her last night?”

“She’s not like that, so fucking lay off!” Niall all but shouted, and he was on his feet in an instant. “We asked her for help after we had already left.”

“And look how much help she’s given all of us,” she scoffed. “Niall, you’ve gotta stop seeing this girl.”

Niall’s eyebrows rose as a surprised and very sarcastic smile pulled across his lips. “Actually, I don’t. I won’t.”

Harry stood behind Detective Russell and watched as Niall very angrily defended Emmit, defended his right to see her. He noticed how strange it was. Unlike the rest of them, Niall usually did whatever management said without much question. If they told him to jump, he jumped. He didn’t ask how high, but he did it.

It wasn’t like him at all. Of course everyone could see the chemistry. They could see the way that they flirted by looking at each other, but Harry never expected this.

As a tiny smile pulled across his lips, Harry excused himself to the bathroom so he could inform the other guys of the situation. There was only one logical explanation for this, and Harry had never been more proud of his brother than he was then.

Is it really possible? Harry thought to himself as he unlocked his phone and sat down on the stool Lou had left behind.

Niall didn’t even notice Harry’s disappearance, even if he had verbally excused himself. All he really noticed was that Alice was being a bitch, as per usual, and he was done letting her tell him things she really didn’t have a right to tell him.

“Niall, the last thing you need right now is a girlfriend,” Alice said, but there wasn’t emotion in her voice anymore. It was only superiority.

Niall wasn’t flinching. Her alpha dog trick she used on them wasn’t gonna work this time.

“She’s my friend, and she’s showing me around the city tomorrow,” Niall informed her, a small smirk coming onto his lips as he saw a massive wave of rage flush across her eyes. “And, gee, I just don’t know what might happen.”

“Niall, you are not allowed to—”

“Oh, I’m not allowed to have a girlfriend, but everyone else is?” Niall interrupted. “No. That’s not happening, and fuck you if you think I’m gonna stand here and let you make it. I don’t know why you’re getting all pissy, though. She’s just my friend.”

“Your friend who you broke some guy’s nose for!” Alice exclaimed. “You ran away with her and her friend the night prior, so I don’t really think that this is the kinda friend you need to involve yourself with. You’re in the middle of a tour. You don’t have time for friends.”

Niall grabbed the piece of paper the doctor had pointlessly written out for him, the work excuse that said he couldn’t do anything for at least two weeks. Though he had insisted he not waste his time writing it, the doctor had anyways, and now, Niall was glad he had.

“I’m not allowed to do anything for two weeks at risk of killing myself,” Niall reminded her. “So, no. Right now, I’m not on tour.”

Alice hated this new Niall. He hated the man this bitch had created in a matter of twenty-four hours, but Niall was right. There wasn’t really anything they could do to keep him from her. It didn’t break his contract in any way.

Niall could see that he won, but Alice wasn’t done arguing. “If she’s just your friend, why did you do all this? Guys don’t punch other guys for kissing on their friend.”

“I punched him because he wouldn’t let me get away from him,” Niall scoffed. “A decent man is gonna intervene when he hears a random stranger telling someone to stop like that, but I forget. You wouldn’t know the first thing about decency.”

Harry heard that from the bathroom and had to clamp his hand over his mouth so that he didn’t actually laugh, but man, did he want to roll in the floor. Where was this Niall coming from?

Harry knew that his theory was definitely right.

Detective Russell cleared his throat. “We have a couple more questions so we can let you sleep, Mr. Horan.”

Niall looked back to the detective and nodded. “Of course.”

Alice very angrily stormed out of the room and into the hallway, already in the middle of calling someone. Niall didn’t know who, but he figured he’d find out later.

The more the officers asked Niall about what happened, the more Niall began worrying about Emmit. Something in the pit of his stomach churned, and at the realization that she hadn’t said anything since she left . . . not even asking if he was okay . . . it worried him.
Though he hadn’t known her long, he already picked up that she would make sure he was okay. It didn’t seem like her to not ask.

What stopped her?

The more he worried, the more he realized how unusual this was. How long had they known each other . . . ? And he was worried sick. That math didn’t add up in his head, but then again, he wasn’t really a math guy. That was Luke’s department.

There was just something about her that he noticed the moment he laid eyes on her. It was like she was different from everyone else, like he could’ve spotted her in a crowd of people.
There was no physical difference, no random light glowing down on her, but she wasn’t just anyone.

Niall couldn’t believe it, but he was crushing on this girl . . . from first sight. He just wanted to know her, and the more he did, the more he wanted to be around her.

That was exactly why he couldn’t get what he wanted. Maybe Alice’s point was right, but she had it all backwards.

Maybe she didn’t need him. Niall knew he needed something just like her in his life, but no one ever needs him in their life.

Niall immediately pushed the thoughts away before he thought too much about his feelings. Could he really make her suffer through being his girlfriend? Through touring, constantly being away . . . she didn’t need that in her life. No one did.

The officers finished up their questions and asked if Niall would get Emmit into the station. After writing down the correct floor and place to go, Niall promised to do his best. On their way out, they urged that he talk to her about filing a sexual assault report so this didn’t happen again, and Niall agreed to try.

By the time the officers left, it already made the news that Niall was involved in an assault case. The anchorman said that though there were no details on the case or details on what happened, it is clear that Niall Horan has assaulted someone.

They just had to say it like that, didn’t they?

Niall immediately turned the TV off and rubbed his eyes. “Guys, can I please sleep now?”

The security team nodded, and everyone cleared out of the room—including Harry, who scurried out of the bathroom and bid Niall a goodnight. Niall noticed that he was acting funny, but he was just too tired to question it.

As soon as Niall’s head hit the pillow, he was out. He thought he would be too tired to dream, but he fell into a deep sleep that allowed dreams.

He dreamed of lounging around on his couch back at home in London, but he wasn’t alone on the couch. Snuggled up next to Emmit with his arms wrapped around her, the two were watching a movie.

Niall woke up as fast as he had fallen asleep, though a few hours had passed since. His eyes were wide, and a layer of sweat covered his body. He hated that the lights were still on, but he was in too much pain to turn them off.

Despite his headache, however, all he could think about was this dream and how he could make it his reality.

Notes

I'm not sure who the quote in the description was made by, but I adore it. <3

Hope you guys enjoy! I'm glad you've enjoyed it so far. :D Makes my day, all your reviews do. :D

Let me know what you think of Niall's perspective on all this, hmm? :3