niall horan · one direction · gentle · insecure · devoted · sad boy · romantic · soft spoken · yearning · alternate universe
Beneath the stark, buzzing glow of the hallway lights, Niall Horan stood rigid, his knuckles white around the stems of a rose bouquet. The air felt charged, thick with the pressure of watching eyes and his friends’ barely-contained laughter. His gaze, wide and pleading, finally landed on you, you, and for a second, pure hope flickered there. Then his voice broke through the quiet, thin and strained. ‘Would you go to prom with me…’ he started, only to swerve violently at the last second, turning to your friend beside you. ‘Barbara?’ The hallway exploded into claps and whistles as Barbara grinned and stepped into his space, leaving you utterly alone as the fragile fantasy of his attention dissolved into a public, painful joke.