Chapter Text
“You will need one, there’s no discussion there” Simon said and Niall pouted again. “But since you’re so obviously unwilling we decided you’d at least get to choose him yourself. So we made a list of possible candidates, you can look through it and tell us who you’d like to be your bodyguard.”
“Fine” Niall huffed. “I still don’t see why I need one though.”
“Niall” Claire, his agent, sighed. “We discussed this. Yes, your fans are mostly lovely teenage girls that don’t intend to hurt you. But if your popularity keeps rising like this, it could get really dangerous, especially with your claustrophobia. There's been such a big turn up on your last public appearances, we need to take precautions."
Niall sighed again. "Okay, yeh. I'll look through the list then."
"The list" turned out to be a compilation of CVs, letters of application and other references Niall didn't give a shit about. He skimmed through the letters that were all the same, listing qualification after qualification. Niall did definitely not feel like hiring some middle-aged ex-cop as his bodyguard. Someone who quit the police to become a personal bodyguard couldn't be much fun.
Then suddenly, he came across a letter that didn't look quite as formal, which made Niall immediately curious. He skipped the first paragraph - everyone had the same one anyway - and went straight to the second part.
"Due to health issues, I am not allowed to continue my professional boxing career, which changes my whole future and everything I had planned. I need to do something for a living, and since formerly mentioned health issues don't prevent me from keeping screeching teenage girls at bay, I decided to apply for this job. I'm not much older than your client and think I can relate to him in this still new situation. Please take me into consideration.
Yours sincerely,
Zayn Malik"
Niall chuckled. That was by far the least motivated letter of motivation he had read, and he loved it. Zayn Malik, he thought. Professional boxer.
He couldn't really picture him, but Niall wasn't that interested in boxing anyway, football, rugby and golf were more his thing. Basically everything as long as it involved a ball, so definitely no boxing.
He turned the page to look for a picture and oh.
Pinned to a -very short - CV was a picture of a man, looking a couple of years older than Niall, tan skin, prominent cheekbones, strong jaw and eyes - Niall swallowed and wondered if it would be a good idea to have someone that attractive as his bodyguard. It was only a stupid small photo and that guy already looked ridiculously beautiful.
He quickly checked his birthday and tried figuring out how old someone born in 1993 would be. 21. Well that was only five years older than him, they'd probably get along fine, just like it said in the letter.
And that was the only reason Niall chose that particular file to take it to Claire.
"I want him" he said, putting the file onto his agents' desk.
Claire flipped the file open and read the name, looking back up at him, her scepticism clearly showing on her face. "Are you sure? He's the least experienced one."
"Will he be able to do his job?"
"Yes. We only gave you the applications that came into consideration."
"I don't see a problem then. I want someone I could actually get along with since we're gonna be spending so much time with each other, and he seems the best choice for that."
-
Niall spent his evening on the internet, absolutely not googling Zayn Malik.
The 21-year-old had broken into the professional boxing business at the young age of 16, Niall's age, and he started to understand why Zayn had said he could relate to Niall in his situation. According to several articles he had had quite the fan following right from the start, due to people being impressed by his skills despite of his age.
For four years, he had won many fights, his popularity only rising, until about a year ago, when he had had his wrist broken in a very unfortunate way that prevented him from ever boxing again.
Niall felt really sorry for him, if something would keep him from ever singing again, he'd be absolutely miserable.
Apparently, Zayn had completely disappeared from the public since then, he didn't attend any matches or galas, and was very rarely spotted going shopping or eating out. Then again, Niall was pretty sure boxers weren't as sought out by paparazzi as popstars were.
Niall kept reading through article after article until one of them led him to a video of one of Zayn's last fights.
He usually wasn't that into boxing, he thought it was kind of weird watching two guys beat each other up, but he was curious about this guy that he wanted as his bodyguard, so he pressed play.
One hour later, Niall snapped back into reality when his phone rang. He shook his head and tried to get images of Zayn's sweaty body moving gracefully, his muscles flexing and rippling on his back, out of his head.
"Hullo?" he answered his phone.
"How's my favourite pop star doing?"
"Hi Louis, no need to yell."
"I wasn't yelling babe, don't pretend you're not pleased to hear from me."
"I am happy to hear from you, Lou" Niall grinned. "How's life back home?"
"Don't tease me or I will start to hold it against you that you made it so much further than I did, Nialler." Niall laughed. "Just kidding, you know I'm proud of you."
"That's why you're the best friend in the world."
Niall and Louis had met on the X Factor, and instantly became best friends. Louis didn't make it through the live shows, and while Niall was placed fourth in the end, Louis never got jealous of him. Not even when Simon Cowell decided to sign Niall following his huge popularity and all the attention from the media he got.
"Thanks for the flowers" Louis joked. "I'm not at home though, I'm with Haz in London."
"Oh! We could all meet up then!"
Harry was the third member of their little group, he came sixth on the X Factor, but unlike Niall he hadn't been signed by Syco, instead choosing to reunite with his band White Eskimo, who were now working on their album with a small indie label.
"Miss us that much?"
"You know I always miss you" Niall said, but he was kind of distracted by a victorious Zayn Malik showing off his tattooed body on his computer screen. He'd turned off the sound quite a while ago, he still didn't really like boxing, he only wanted to admire how nice Zayn's skin looked, tan and sweaty and inked all over his lean body.
"What are you up to?" Louis asked curiously. "You seem distracted."
"Oh not much" Niall tried to play it down. "It's just that I'm supposed to get a bodyguard and I'm looking him up on the internet."
"A bodyguard, huh?" Louis repeated. "How important do you feel now?"
"Honestly? It just feels weird. My own, personal bodyguard? It's crazy."
"Kind of, but also pretty sick." Niall could hear the grin in Louis' voice. "You're famous, man. But how does that work, looking a bodyguard up on the internet? Is there like a dating website where rich people can find their bodyguards?"
Niall laughed. "Nice idea, but no. Thing is, we've" he made sure to say 'we', knowing full well he'd never hear the end of it otherwise, "already chosen him, so I knew who to google."
"You sound as if I'm going to know him too."
"You might. It's Zayn Malik."
"Zayn Malik? That does ring a bell...is he like a big thing in sports?"
"He used to do boxing."
"Used to..? Hold on, he's that boxer that like broke his arm and then disappeared, right? He's your bodyguard?"
"Well not yet" Niall said. "They're still running background checks on him and stuff. But after that, he will be."
Niall heard a gasp through the line. "Okay" Louis said. "Niall. I forgot what he looked like. He's smoking hot! Who chose him again?"
"I might have had a say in it?"
"For god's sake, Niall! I really hate you for your fame right now."
"You can come visit, he's probably going to be around a lot" Niall suggested.
"Yeah and then I'll just stare at him creepily, sure. No, if I visit you, it's for you and not some beautiful boy toy you got."
"He's hardly a boy toy, Louis, he's like 5 years older than me and I'm probably gonna be something like his boss."
"Okay, yeah, boy toy might've been the wrong word...and you're right, workplace romances never work anyway."
"How many have you had so you can sound that sentimental? You're 18, Louis."
"Older than you."
"I know that, you twat."
"Anyway" Louis said. "I wouldn't condemn you if you wanted to...say, initiate further contact."
"Nicely put, Lou. And I'm not saying anything has to come from it, but a little flirting never killed nobody, right?"
"Would you complain if someone came from it, though?"
Niall spluttered and heard Harry's voice in the background yelling: "What sort of inappropriate stuff are you discussing again?"
"Inappropriate?" Louis screeched. "Me? You wound me, young Harold."
He'd always had a thing for dramatics, that one.
Harry let out a low chuckle and Niall could hear him sitting down on a sofa. "Alright, Niall?"
"Hi Haz" he smiled into the phone. "How's life treating you?"
"Can't complain, can't complain. I hear you're not so bad yourself. Releasing your first album in what, three weeks?"
"Four I think."
"Pretty big deal, huh?"
"Yeh, 'm excited. How's yours coming along?"
"Quite good actually! Why don't you come 'round this week? Haven't seen you in ages and it'll be the old gang back together, with Louis here and what not."
"I'd love to! Can't tomorrow though, got to interview my new bodyguard" Niall said, reading through the email Claire had sent him that stated exactly that.
"Bodyguard?" Harry asked. "Wait, is that who you were talking about?"
Niall sighed. "Yeh, let Louis show ya a picture. I'll probably have ta bring him 'round when I come anyway, they don't want me to go out on me own."
"Good news!" Louis yelled and Niall laughed.
"How about Thursday, then?"
-
When Niall woke up the next morning he briefly considered dressing up for the interview with Zayn, but quickly decided against it. That wasn't him, and Zayn would find out soon anyway. So he just put on his favourite pair of sweatpants and a soft jumper saying SKOOL SUCKS.
If he was being honest, he was quite excited about meeting this guy, and not only because he was incredibly hot. It wasn't about that at all for Niall. Sure, it was a plus if he'd have someone nice to look at, but mostly he'd chosen who he thought he'd be most comfortable spending all of his time with. And Zayn was only five years older than him, in contrast to the other applicants who were at least 30.
Niall's phone rang, the doorman telling him his driver was there. He still wasn't used to this, people making this kind of fuss over him. He'd grown up in a small house with his parents and his brother in Mullingar, Ireland, it had been fine but never anywhere close to luxurious. And now he was living in a nice two-bedroom-flat in London, with a doorman and someone to pick him up for meetings. He hadn't even released his album yet! Sometimes it still all felt unreal to Niall, like a dream.
When the car pulled up outside of Claire's office, there were no paparazzi around, for which Niall was immensely thankful. The public interest in him was something he could not get used to and he couldn't really say he liked it all that much. He was incredibly grateful for all the support he got, as it had gotten him to where he was now, living his dream, but he had his troubles with the crowds he'd attracted recently. He was slightly claustrophobic, and his fans were quite persistent. So really, if he was being completely honest, he didn't think a bodyguard was that bad of an idea.
"Is he here yet?" Niall asked as he kissed Claire's cheek in greeting.
"No, he's not supposed to arrive until eleven, so he has a couple of minutes left."
“Okay, good. What do I have to do, exactly? Don’t really know what’s expected from me here.”
“Leave the main work to me” Claire said, smiling reassuringly. “I’m going to make sure he’s fit as a bodyguard and you just have to figure out if you’re comfortable with spending your time with him.”
“Alright, I think I can do that” Niall grinned, taking a seat next to her behind her huge desk. “So he’s alright otherwise? You’ve done the background check?”
“We have, yes. He finished school while successfully pursuing a boxing career, so that’s pretty impressive. He’s also done some courses over the past few months, to qualify as a bodyguard. Being able to throw a punch isn’t all it takes, after all.”
Niall laughed. “Guess you’ve got a point there.”
“So how about you wait in the next room?” Claire suggested, gesturing to the door on one side of her office. “I want to talk about some basics with him before he gets to meet you.”
Niall knew that she was subtly excluding him from the business part of this, but he didn’t mind too much. He wasn’t that interested in how much his future bodyguard would earn or whatever they’d talk about.
“Sure” he said, closing the door behind him just as there was a knock on the main door. Zayn was there.
The room Niall was in now was small, furnished only with two armchairs, a small table and a bookshelf.
He could hear voices murmur from the other room, obviously Claire and Zayn, and briefly considered eavesdropping, but quickly decided that'd be immature and also very unnecessary. He'd meet the guy himself in a couple of minutes, so it wasn't like Niall was incredibly curious about him per se. He was curious about what Claire told Zayn about him though. He was pretty sure she would tell him something, so that Zayn knew what to expect. Would she say "16 year old, loud kid, all over the place"? Or would it be slightly more flattering? Or even less? He didn't want Zayn to run before they'd even met.
Niall sat in one of the armchairs, nervously biting his fingernails. So far he hadn't really considered the possibility of Zayn not taking the job, but what if he didn't like him? Once Niall had made his mind up about what he wanted, he very rarely changed his opinion again or was willing to compromise. And he'd made up his mind: if he had to have a bodyguard, it had to be Zayn Malik.
A good first impression was essential. How to impress a 21-year-old ex-boxer who was obviously and understandably very unhappy about how his life had changed in the past year?
Niall got up and started pacing nervously. What if he really looked that good in person? He didn't think he was that good at talking to fit blokes.
Go for casual, he told himself. You want to be an international pop star, nothing out of the ordinary here.
"Niall?" he heard Claire call from the other room and then the door opened, revealing her smiling face. "Would you come join us?"
Niall nodded and followed her into her main office, his step faltering a bit when he spotted Zayn, because damn, he was insanely hot.
"Niall, this is Zayn Malik" Claire introduced them when they reached the tan lad. "He's been quite impressive so far."
"Could've just come without your shirt to impress" Niall said and mentally face palmed right away. He had not really said that, right?
Zayn quirked an eyebrow. "Sorry?"
"Um, sorry, I...nevermind" Niall stammered, blushing profusely. "Nice to meet you."
"You too" Zayn said, shaking his hand (so what if Niall held on a little bit longer than necessary, his hands were unfairly soft for a boxer).
Claire ushered him to the chair next to hers and he distinctively heard her snicker into his ear, which he chose to ignore apart from sending her a glare.
"Okay, so I thought I'd let you two get together to find out if you'll be able to work with each other. Niall, Mr Malik is definitely qualified to work as your bodyguard, but we're letting you have the last word in this. If you get along, we'd be happy to welcome you on board, Mr Malik." Claire got up again. "I'm gonna leave you two alone now, so you can get to know each other a bit. I'll be back in a few minutes, but there are a few things I have to tend to."
With that, she left the room, leaving a much more flustered than usual Niall behind with this god.
"Um" he said, not as eloquently as intended.
"So" Zayn said. "You're Niall? I'm Zayn."
"Hi. I know."
Niall could feel Zayn's eyes on him, feeling slightly uncomfortable. "How old are you again?"
"'m sixteen."
"Hm." It was a noncommittal sound, just a hum of acknowledgement. "And you're a pop star."
"Well" Niall started, finally finding his voice again. "Not yet. I'd like to become one, but so far I haven't really done anything but sing on a talent show."
Zayn looked at him thoughtfully and nodded. Niall felt like he'd somehow said the right thing.
"Claire said you weren't all that excited to be getting a bodyguard."
"No, I..." Niall paused, trying to figure out how to explain himself. "It's just, when the idea first got thrown around, I felt like they were babying me, you know? Like it was a way of saying I wasn't able to take care of myself, was too young. I don't like being treated like a baby, so I rejected the idea right away. But then lately, I've been thinking about what crowds do to me. I don't know how much Claire told you, but I'm claustrophobic, and recently more and more people have come to see me...so I've been thinking that maybe someone helping me deal with that isn't such a bad idea after all."
Zayn looked at him for a long moment. Niall was starting to feel like he did that a lot, looking and being silent.
"You're not much of a talker, are you?"
"You're quite the talker yourself, I assume?" Zayn asked right back, making Niall chuckle.
"My friends always complain they can't shut me up once I've started talking."
"Somehow that is something I can picture perfectly."
"Well since we've talked about me now, can I ask you something?" Zayn raised an inquiring eyebrow. "Your application wasn't exactly the most motivated one. And the end of your boxing career doesn't look to be voluntary either - you don't have to answer this if it's too personal of course" he added quickly, seeing something flash in his eyes at the mention of boxing. "I was just wondering...why me? Why did you apply as bodyguard to some singing kid?"
"No it's okay" Zayn said quietly. "I just needed to feel like I was doing something with my life...and you were the first offer that came along after I'd completed my courses. Besides, I meant what I said in my application, that I can emphasize with you in this situation because I've gone through the same thing."
Admittedly, it stung a bit being picked simply for the reason of being the first offer, but then again Niall wasn’t really sure what he’d been expecting. So he simply said: “I think so too, it’s why I picked you.”
“Okay, cool. And you still think we could work with each other?”
“Yeah. Yeah, sure” Niall said, feeling a bit insecure again. “Don’t you?”
“No, no, I think it’d be quite cool.”
“So you’re gonna take the job?”
“Sure, yeah, why not?” Zayn shrugged and Niall couldn’t quite hold in his excited grin.
“Great!” he smirked. “Bodyguard.”
-
Apparently things didn't take very long to sort out after that, because when Niall went to meet Harry and Louis at the studio, Zayn was waiting for him in the car.
"Hi!" Niall said surprised when he spotted the handsome lad.
"Hey, Niall."
"I didn't know we had already sorted everything out" Niall admitted, taking his seat next to Zayn.
"Yeah, I had a meeting with Claire yesterday, and she asked me if I was alright to accompany you today."
“Okay, cool. Dunno if it’ll be really necessary though, I’m only meeting a few friends after all.”
“Claire said there might be paparazzi in front of the studio” Zayn explained. “Besides, it’ll be better for us anyway if we start with small situation to figure out how we work together before being thrown into the real thing.”
"Yeh, okay, that's probably true" Niall said. "You're gonna meet the idiots I call my friends then."
"I can wait outside."
"No, don't be stupid. Besides, when I told them I was gonna have a bodyguard they were really excited to meet you."
"Well, I'm not really the social type" Zayn said, running his right hand through his hair.
"I've kind of noticed" Niall smirked. "You're one of those people who prefer to observe, right?"
"How quickly do you usually notice things about people? This is only the second time we meet."
"Well, I'm kinda observant myself, and you don't hide it very well." Niall lowered his voice to barely above a whisper. "I also might've looked you up."
"You what?" There was a silence before Zayn continued talking. "You looked me up? Seriously?"
"I was curious" Niall explained in a small voice.
"You could've just asked me."
Niall didn't say anything. No need to tell him that was before they'd met or that Zayn would've never told him all these things anyway.
"Great, now I feel like you've got an advantage over me."
"You could just look me up too" Niall offered. "Or I could just tell you everything."
"No thanks" Zayn said, sounding distant. "I don't need to know everything about you, I'm here to protect you, not to be your new best friend."
Niall was a bit taken aback. He wasn't used to people reacting so coldly towards him, he usually won everyone over with his boyish charm and carefree persona. He'd had a feeling Zayn would be a bit harder to crack, but he hadn't expected this straight out refusal to open up.
"Fine" he said, trying to sound as distant as Zayn had. "Fine. Purely business then."
Zayn gave a curt nod and pulled out his phone to do something, leaving Niall to stare out of the car window, sulking.
"So this is what we're gonna do" Zayn said when they were almost there. "I'm gonna get out of the car first, and then I'm gonna stay close by your side until we're inside."
"That's your plan?" Niall snorted.
"Well, yeah. There's really not much else we could do in a situation like this."
"Okay." Niall shrugged.
The car pulled to a stop and Niall looked out of the window to see if there was anyone there, and indeed, a few paps were waiting outside of the studio, together with a huddle of girls.
Zayn opened his door first, getting out while Niall waited obediently. When Zayn opened his door for him, the girls started shouting his name excitedly.
Niall smiled and waved at them, walking over to take pictures and sign autographs. It was all still a bit new to Niall, but this was a manageable amount of fans and Zayn didn't do anything but hover protectively behind him.
The paps took pictures and asked him a couple of questions, but it was all very civilised. They mainly revolved around his and Louis' and Harry's friendship and their respective albums, but they also asked him who Zayn was to him.
"He's my bodyguard" he replied a little puzzled, wondering if they had recognised Zayn. It seemed that way. The way they had asked the question confused him a little though. What was Zayn to him? What did they think he was? Of course, Zayn's jeans, t-shirt and leather jacket didn't immediately identify him as a bodyguard, but his protective demeanour should've made it pretty obvious.
They made their way inside, leaving the happy girls and bored paparazzi behind.
Within seconds Niall had two people clinging to him, his face pressed against what seemed to be Harry’s shoulder (would he ever stop growing?) while Louis pressed kiss over kiss to his face.
“Ew” Niall made and did his best to push them both away, wiping his face with his sleeve. “You know I love you both, but will you ever stop being overly affectionate?”
“Never” Louis said and Harry added: “We just missed you, Nialler.”
“Missed you too, you idiots” Niall said fondly. “Oh!” He turned to look at Zayn quickly. “This is my bodyguard, Zayn. Zayn, those are Harry and Louis.”
Zayn cracked a tight smile and gave them both a curt nod. “Hi.”
Niall thanked god for the fact that Harry and Louis actually had the common sense for once to keep their greeting civil. Somehow he didn’t think Zayn would welcome their enthusiastic way of reacting to new people.
“We need to meet up more often” Harry sighed and ruffled Niall’s hair. “I’ve missed your stupid face.”
“Still your old charming self, I see” Niall chuckled.
"This is Harold we're talking about after all" Louis grinned and poked one of Harry's dimples.
"Yeah, yeah, make fun of me all you want, you bloody tossers" Harry joked. "Niall, come on, say hi to the other boys."
Niall had met Harry's friends and bandmates a couple of times already and he'd liked them well enough, so he was looking forward to seeing them again.
"Hiya boys!" he called, entering the room the three musicians were sat in.
"Niall, hi" Nick gave back, smiling at him.
"Good to see you again, mate" Will waved.
Haydn got up and patted his shoulder in greeting. "Long time no see."
"Harry says the album's coming along fine?"
"It is" Will grinned. "We're recording our songs now."
"Have you written them all by yourself?"
"Will's quite the writer actually" Harry said from the door where he'd just entered. "He's written most of the music, and Louis turns out to be a big help with the lyrics."
"Louis?" Niall asked. "Our Lou?"
"Thanks for sounding so surprised, Niall" Louis called from behind Harry. "It's nice to know you think of me so highly."
"It's just that I never knew you wrote songs" Niall defended himself.
"Well neither did I, until I tried for the first time and it turned out decent."
"Don't be so modest" Haydn laughed. "You're brilliant."
"Shh" Nick made. "Don't blow his ego up any more, Haydn!"
"What are you implying, Nicholas?" Louis huffed. "I do not know what you're talking about."
The whole room erupted in laughter and Louis huffed again, plopping down on one of the sofas.
"You're all wankers."
-
They spent the day at the studio, catching up and listening to the already recorded songs. They were all kind of indie rock, different from Niall's singer-songwriter style, but he thought it was great. Zayn was mostly quiet, keeping out of their conversations and shenanigans, but Niall caught him tapping his feet to the beat of the song.
Later in the afternoon, Harry, Louis and Niall left the studio with Zayn awkwardly trailing behind. There was no one outside waiting anymore and they were mostly left alone at the cafe they went to, none of them famous enough to be recognised everywhere.
"We should've gone to the pub" Louis groaned, sipping on his coffee. "This is so girly."
"Stop complaining, Lou" Harry said, teasingly patting Louis' cheek. "You're probably the girliest of all of us."
"No, that's you Haz" Niall laughed. "No offense, but you're the epitome of girly."
"Why me?" Harry whined. "Why not you, Niall?"
"I'm not girly, though. That's what's so great about our group, we're not stereotypical. If someone had to guess who’s the gay one out of the three of us, literally no one would pick me. Louis is the gayest straight guy I’ve ever seen." Niall saw Zayn throw him a surprised look when he mentioned his sexuality and worried for a second, but there was no hostility in his amber eyes.
"I have an open mind" Louis defended himself. "We don't have to act a certain way just because stereotypes tell us to."
"And gender stereotypes are the most stupid thing anyway" Zayn added, and they all turned to look at him surprised. It was the first time he'd spoken without being addressed directly. "What? I just don't think there are "boy things" and "girl things", I've met a few amazing female boxers who could easily keep up with a man, and they've all been told what they were doing wasn't "womanly" at some point. I'm not the typical boxing kind of guy either, but just because we might not seem like something on first glance doesn't mean we can't do it."
Niall looked at Zayn thoughtfully. This was the most he'd ever heard him talk, and it was intriguing. Zayn was intriguing.
"You are so right" Harry exclaimed. "My mum says I can't be a musician and do my GCSEs at the same time, but I'm doing just fine."
"Well" Zayn said, "that wasn't exactly what I was talking about, but good for you."
It stayed the most thing Zayn said all afternoon, he only started talking on his own accord again when he and Niall were in the car on their way back to Niall's apartment.
"So...you're gay?" he asked without any introduction, stunning Niall so much he was only able to nod silently. "I don't want this to seem inappropriate, but do people know you're gay?"
"I've never denied it, but I haven't exactly said it either in front of anyone but my friends and family...why?" To say he was confused would be an understatement.
"It's just...I don't know if you know this about me too, but I came out to the public about two years ago. So I guess us being seen without an official statement telling people I'm your bodyguard might cause some rumours."
"Oh" Niall said, suddenly seeing the whole day in a different light. "Oh."
Zayn just looked at him, observant.
"I don't mind" Niall blurted out. "I mean, I don't mind there being rumours about me being gay, or even people knowing. But you're right, I should not let you be dragged into this, the rumours are about you too after all."
"Okay" Zayn said. "Just thought I'd best let you know so you don't freak out or anything."
"Thanks" Niall smiled, thinking how the day had turned out better than what he'd initially expected after their first car conversation.
-
It turned out that Zayn had been right, an openly gay ex-boxer and a maybe-possibly-probably gay rising pop star being out together did create rumours. There were pictures of them outside the studio, Zayn hovering protectively behind Niall (which literally everyone had picked up on - interpreting it as a protective boyfriend move), in the café with Louis and Harry, a picture taking from a small distance but plainly obvious that they were looking at each other, smiling, making Niall wonder how the hell that photographer had managed to capture the only time Zayn had smiled at him that day, and of them walking towards their car. Niall couldn't even remember that Zayn had put a hand on his lower back, it had to have been a very small touch, but there it was, on a photo that was everywhere he looked. People were spamming his twitter mentions with it and curious questions, making his head hurt.
Niall's phone started ringing and he groaned, picking up purely to make the noise stop.
"They think we intruded on a hot date" Louis' voice said, and Harry laughed in the background. "Sorry if we were."
"You know you weren't" Niall said, feeling tense for some reason. "He doesn't even like me as a friend, and definitely not like anything else."
"Do I hear hurt in your voice there, Mr Horan? Are you offended Zayn Malik doesn't like you?"
"No! No, Louis, shut up. It's not like that. It's just...I picked him as my bodyguard because I wanted someone I'd get along with, and I like him, I do, he's nice and clever and funny I think...I'm sure we'd get along so well, but he doesn't even want to give us a try. For some reason, he doesn't like me."
"Maybe you just need to give him some time" Harry suggested. "He'll warm up to you eventually."
"You sure?" Niall asked, and his voice sounded smaller than he could appreciate. He wasn't entirely certain why this was getting to him so much.
"I am" Harry assured him. "Just remember at the café, he came out of his shell for a second there. He'll do it again, you'll see, and suddenly you won't be able to see what the shell was anymore."
"Nicely put, Hazza" Louis piped in. "Nearly made me cry there."
"Shut up, Louis" Niall and Harry said simultaneously.
-
Later that day, Niall met up with Claire and a guy called Edmund who apparently was his publicist, to talk about what to do about the rumours.
Claire had wanted to simply release a statement, declaring Zayn was Niall's bodyguard, but Niall had asked her if he couldn't just come out at this opportunity.
Now he was sitting through a dreadfully boring meeting where Edmund droned on and on about target groups, markets and profits, brand profiles and more stuff Niall knew nothing about.
From what he did understand, Edmund didn't want him to come out because he thought less teenage girls would buy his album if they knew they didn't have a chance with him.
"But that's bullshit" Niall said. "From what I've seen on the internet and from the twitter mentions I've gotten, I think most teenage girls would actually like it if I was gay. They seem to have a thing for that."
Edmund stared at him for a few seconds as if he hadn't known Niall had a voice. "Well" he started, drawing the word out. "Even if the majority of these girls supported you – which I highly doubt, I might add –, the majority of their parents definitely won't. I'm sorry if you feel like that limits you in your freedom, but we've got to remember our primary interests are of monetary sort here, and parents might not want their daughters to buy your music."
Niall couldn't quite believe what he was being told. "To be completely honest with you" he said, trying to keep his voice calm. "I don't give a fuck about these people. And I don't give a fuck about your money. I want to make music because I love it, not to make you rich. And if someone doesn't want to buy my music just because I'm gay, I don't even want them to. I don't need assholes like that."
"Watch your language, Niall" Claire said, but Niall could've sworn he'd seen the corners of her mouth lift in a supressed smile.
"I would strongly advise against this" Edmund insisted, his face turning a light shade of red. "We invested a lot of money in you."
"This is still my life" Niall replied, willing to fight for this. He'd either do this the way he wanted or not at all. "I still get to make the decisions, and if you'll deny me that, I won't hesitate to walk out of here."
-
A couple of hours and countless phone calls and discussions later, Niall set up a small camera to record a video.
"Hey guys" he started when the red light started blinking, signalling it was recording. "So I realize there have been a few rumours about me going around lately. I still think it shouldn't be necessary for me to make this video, but I feel like I owe you an explanation. So I'm not gonna make a big deal of this, I'm just gonna tell the world that yes, I am in fact gay. And I hope you won't make a big deal of this either, because this is who I am and I will not change for anyone, and definitely not for fame. So if you choose to support me, thank you so much and I love you. If you decide you don't want to support a gay person, then I'll happily let you leave, I wouldn't want to call someone like that a fan." He took a deep breath, smiling a little.
“About the rumours surrounding me and Zayn Malik, no those aren't true. He's my bodyguard, but that's it. Zayn" he shouted, knowing Zayn was just next door. "Would you come in here for a second?"
Zayn entered the room, asking "What's going on?"
"I'm just making a video for my fans, would you mind telling them what kind of relationship we're in?"
"Sure" Zayn shrugged and came to stand behind Niall.
"Um, hi" he said a little awkwardly. "So I'm Niall's bodyguard...dunno why these rumours about us spread so quickly, to be honest. I can promise you there's nothing going on though. He's too young for me anyway." He chuckled a little while Niall pouted at him exaggeratedly.
"Gee, thanks. Now I'm basically being called a child in my own video."
"I'm not sorry" Zayn teased and left, but not before he patted Niall's head like a small child.
Niall sighed. "I have no idea what I did to deserve this. Anyway, I hope this answered your questions. Don't feel like I got a bodyguard because I don't like seeing you guys though! I love it, I wish I could talk to every single one to you. I owe everything to you, and I'm so, so thankful. As many of you know, though, I'm a bit claustrophobic. So I might need someone to help me if there are too many of you at the same time. I do appreciate you, and I don't want any of you to take this personally. I love you, you're the best fans in the world. Thanks for being so supportive!"