*Niall’s POV*

I sat at the table, headphones plugged in my ears, staring at my phone as I kept listening the video message over and over again. It never failed, every time she’d hit that long note, shivers crawled up my spine. “Mate, you’ve been staring at that phone all morning, what are you doing?”

I was staying at Zayn’s place for the night, since my place was having some small issues with water pipes. I called a few men to check it out and they wouldn’t be able to come until next week. Well, I’d be on tour by then, so Zayn being the awesome best friend he was, he let me stay at his place until we needed to leave for tour again.

I blacked my screen before he could look. “Nothing.” I answered.

He gave me a look before taking the phone out of my hand. “You have a video of Pan?” He asked, raising an eye at me.

“She sent it to me last night.” I defended, trying not to come off like a freak.

Zayn rolled his eyes as he tossed the phone, making it land on my lap. “How long are you going to stay oblivious to your feelings? It’s bad enough seeing Hazel and Liam be so close and not actually be together, but it’s understandable between the two of them. Between you and Pandora…” He shook his head in disbelief.

“How many times do I have to say this?” I said to him. “We’re just friends.”

He scoffed. “Mate, the first time we came home, you called her at least twice a day for two weeks. It’s one thing to text, but I’ve never seen a boy talk on the phone so much. It’s almost like you’re already her boyfriend. And I bet you are still doing it.”

I wasn’t going to lie by denying, but I wasn’t going to admit it either. “She’s by herself. I worry.” I defended.

Zayn sighed heavily, running a hand through his quiff. “I’m going to tell you this now, mate. You told me this morning the news about Pan getting scouted. What are you going to do when she debuts? She’ll become popular, meaning she’ll start making more friends.”

“What are you implying?” I asked.

“What I’m trying to say is that if you don’t wake up soon, she’ll get snatched away. Pan is a great girl, and you are the sweetest guy any girl could ever have. You both love the same music, play guitar, and sing… you’re perfect for each other!”

I didn’t say anything. Zayn just stared, waiting on my response. I swallowed, staring down at my phone. “We’re… just friends…” I whispered.

He heard. He just groaned, giving up on me. “Don’t come crying to me when she gets stolen away by another lad, mate.”

He left me alone, heading toward the living room. I turned on my phone again, watching the video once again. This time, instead of listening to just her voice, I watched her. I watched each expression as she sung every word. She sung like she meant what she said. Her passion was in the song. I already knew she was singing this song to Hazel for support, but I could feel her love and message behind the song.

I jumped whenever a message popped up from Louis.

Harry and I are going over to see if Li’s home. You guys comin?

I got Zayn’s attention, asking if he wanted to go. “Yeah, sure. Why not?”

So I texted them we’d be there soon. We got our jackets, running out in the rain to get in the car. The rain wasn’t as bad as last night, but it still came down in a spraying shower. Zayn drove us over to Liam’s flat, pulling over on the curb behind what I recognized as Harry’s Range Rover.
We climbed out, hurrying to the door, not even bothering to knock. I was pretty sure Louis or Harry warned that we were coming, plus Zayn and I wanted out of the rain, so we just ran in. Shaking off the rain, we took off our jackets and shoes, knowing how much of a neat freak Liam was.

We found everyone in the living room, Louis and Liam cheering on a football team. Harry had his macbook, eyes switching between it and the TV. I took a seat between Louis and Hazel.
“Took you two long enough.” Louis said, putting an arm over my shoulder.

“Niall’s nose has been stuck on his phone all morning.” Zayn shrugged.

That had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he drove extremely slow through the rainy streets of London. “You were the one who drove like a grandma.”

“What do you mean?” Louis asked. “My grandma drove pretty fast.”

“That’s one trait that didn’t get passed down.” Harry commented from the computer.

“Watch what you say, Mr. Foreign Nipples.”

Harry turned his head, fake-pouting a Louis before exaggerating how hurt he was by sniffing loudly. “You know how self-conscious I am about my nipples!”

“What in the world has this conversation turn into?” Liam asked, shaking his head.

I could hear Hazel chuckling. Seeing her next to me reminded me of something. “Oh! Haze… Panda sent me something for you to see…”

I gave her the phone, allowing the music to play loudly. Liam muted the TV so we could all hear Pandora sing. “Oh, so that’s what you’ve been listening to all morning.” Zayn muttered.

Louis raised an eye at me. I looked away from the two of them, slightly embarrassed. “Wow, I’ve almost forgotten how good of a singer she was.” Liam said.

“Not only that…” I started, getting everyone’s attention.

I told them about the scouting agent that spotted her in the store. “Oh, my God, that’s great news!” Hazel said excitedly.

“Yeah. She wanted to send the video to you personally, but couldn’t since you had no phone.”

“You have no phone?” Harry asked, confused.

“Yeah, it got smashed beyond repair getting hit by your all’s van.”

Everyone was silent, remembering that horrid night. “I still feel bad because of that.” Louis said, sobering up some.

“There’s nothing we can do to change what happened.” Liam spoke up. We looked at him. This would usually be one of those times we’d call him ‘Daddy Direction’, but… somehow I felt we’ve moved past that. We’ve all changed since that night, meeting Hazel, and experiencing everything up until now. We were looking at everything in a new light. “All we can do is just… be together and try to move on with it.”

We all nodded slowly in agreement. Silence soon filled up after that, so Liam turned up the TV to fill that silence up. I felt my phone buzz in my hand and I looked. I felt a small smile light up my face, seeing that it was a message from Panda.

She’s signed up for the audition. All she had to do now was prepare a song and be ready to present. I was about to get up and call her and personally tell her congrats, but Zayn’s earlier remarks came to mind. The way he said it, it really was like I was her boyfriend. Calling her all the time, texting her a lot. Sure, I worried for her, but somehow his words were starting to make a meaning.

…if you don’t wake up soon, she’ll get snatched away…

We’re just friends, I thought to myself, closing my eyes. Panda didn’t think of me more than a friend anyways, so why should I even try to make a move. Plus, with me, relationships rarely ever worked out. I was always on tour, always busy. How could I be able to have a girlfriend and keep up with a job at the same time? I wasn’t like Louis or Zayn, I didn’t have that kind of patience. Even Liam, he had to break it off with Danielle because of our work.

It just… wasn’t meant to be.

Notes

Niall doubting himself!? Aw :(

You know, i was actually in conflict who Pandora should end up with. Niall or Harry? Eh, well, we'll see :)

Oh, my gosh, I freaking love the next chapter after this. It's kind of funny, really. It's in Hazel's POV, but she and Liam get into a little cook-off haha xD!