Chapter Text
“Oh no, Niall.”
Startled, he jerked awake and almost fell out of his computer chair. “Whazza?”
Louis shook his head at him and tsked. “How many times have I caught you fall asleep editing?”
“Shove it.” Niall yawned. He spun his chair back around to face his computer, jiggling the mouse so the screen lit up. Last night’s video popped up with his face frozen in a cheesy grin. “Maybe I’m just more dedicated than you.”
Still looking unimpressed, Louis dropped a white bag next to his mouse. “If ‘dedication’ means getting drool all over your keyboard, I don’t think I need it.”
Niall opened the bag to reveal a breakfast sandwich, the smell of sausage and maple syrup wafting to greet him. “Oh,” he moaned. “I knew there was a reason I kept you around.”
Louis laughed. He took a sip of his coffee, effectively ignoring the blond’s pout and swatting away his hands. “So is it ready to post?”
“Mhm,” Niall nodded with a full mouth. “Just need to add the background music.” He crammed the rest of the sandwich in his mouth and wiped off his hands before touching his computer again.
Curious, Louis hovered over his shoulder while Niall searched for a soft song for his five-minute video.
“What do you think, Lou? Should I slip in some Justin Bieber?”
The older boy knew his friend was mostly musing to himself, though he couldn’t help but roll his eyes anyway. He full-on groaned once he saw Niall’s official pick. “18? One Direction? Seriously?”
“It’s instrumental. Nobody’s even going to notice.” Niall said innocently.
Louis snorted. “Yeah. Right. Just hurry up, Grimmy’s waiting for us down at Radio One.”
“What’s he want?” Niall asked absently as he logged into YouTube. He uploaded the finished video and hoped it processed and published quickly.
“Dunno. Says he’s got a surprise for us.” Louis shrugged.
“Let’s go. I’ll check this when I get back. Grab my camera, yeah?”
“Where are we going today, Lou?”
His friend made a face for the camera. “Radio Three, Two, One!”
“Apparently radio host Nicholas Grimshaw has a surprise for us.” Niall turned his camera around to his own face. He wiggled his eyebrows. “Wonder what it is.”
“Well, your third-year anniversary on YouTube is coming up.” Louis pointed out.
Niall shook his head. “Don’t think he’d know that, he’s more your friend than mine.”
Louis hummed but didn’t answer. He turned away from Niall to look at the shops they were walking past.
“Louis? What do you know?”
“Nothing!” he squeaked. “Come on, we’re almost there.”
“What do you think, friends? Is Louis hiding something from me?” Niall winked conspiratorially at the camera. “Don’t worry. I’ll get it out of him.”
Niall spent the rest of the walk trying to do just that. As much as he whined and begged, however, Louis refused to spill. Once they entered the building and climbed into the elevator Louis got antsy.
“Hey, dude. How about you let me hold your camera for a second?” Louis asked with pretend innocence.
“Sure,” Niall said warily. He wordlessly handed over his camera just as the elevator opened again. They filed out and went down the hall into the studio on the left.
Nick Grimshaw was sitting in front of the soundboard with black headphones on. Niall knocked softly on the side of the door so he would notice them. He spun around to face them and gave them a wide grin.
“Hey!” He pulled the headphones off and gingerly put them down. “Perfect timing! I’ll introduce you as soon as this song’s over.”
“Oh-okay?” Niall shot a questioning look at Louis. He didn’t think they would be going on air, he just thought they would wait for Grimmy’s show to end.
Louis just shrugged and sat down on one of the two empty chairs. Niall plopped down beside him and they both put the extra headphones on.
“Looks like our special guests have just arrived. You might know them as ‘Tommo91’ and ‘HoranTheWorld’ on YouTube please say hello to Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan!”
“‘Sup.”
“Hello Radio One!.” Niall chirped.
“Welcome, welcome. How are you guys doing today?” Nick asked.
“Just fine, Grimmy. How’ve you been, man?” Louis nodded.
“I’m great.” Nick grinned. “And you Niall? Louis was telling me that you’ve just hit some kind of milestone recently?”
Niall cleared his throat. “Right. Yeah. Actually, it’s about to be my three year anniversary on YouTube in about a week.”
“And Niall’s channel just broke 2 million followers.” Louis bragged.
Raising his eyebrows, Nick nodded. “Impressive. How’d you celebrate?”
“Tommo took me out for some pints. Got to see a bunch of me mates and had a good time.” Niall grinned.
“Yeah, Louis sent me a link for the link for - for what, your vlog? I think I saw a bit of that night. Just enough to see you and Louis rocking out at some bar’s karaoke.” Nick chuckled.
He remembered that night clearly. He and Louis had pregamed in their apartment, downing two or three pints before walking to the pub down the street. Louis had convinced a lightly buzzed Niall to bring along his guitar case. After knocking back three more drinks he and Louis were up on the small corner stage, belting out covers. They ended the night with an original they had written together, earning the applause of their friends and three drunk audience members.
“'Twas a right laugh.” Louis cackled, bringing Niall’s attention back to the conversation.
Nick laughed. “Okay, so we kid. But I’m not going to lie, you two have some real talent. Great job guys. Honestly.”
“Thank you mate.”
“Thanks, man.”
“Alright, so I’ve got a surprise for Niall here,” Nick stated seriously. “Louis contacted me a while back, saying he wanted to do something special for his best mate’s milestones.”
Touched, Niall looked at Louis. “Ya didn’t have to do that-”
“And after a few more meetings we came up with the perfect surprise. I talked to some friends, pulled in a few favors, and did some serious begging… but Niall Horan for next week’s video, you will be interviewing One Direction.”
His first reaction was to snort. His loud, carefree laughter was the only sound in the studio. Yeah, he was going to meet the most famous pop band in the world right now. And then Cher Lloyd was going to return his calls and want him on her next album.
Once he caught his breath he realized he was the only one laughing. The other two just stared at him. The smile slipped off his face. “Yer not serious?”
Louis bounced in his seat, grinning maniacally. “Yep!”
It was like his breath evaporated in his lungs. He stared at the two in front of him in disbelief.
“And there you have it. Our own Niall Horan, speechless, for possibly the first time in his life.” Louis said to the camera with a cocky smirk.
“Niall?” Nick asked warily.
“I - I’m going to meet… I get to interview… One Direction?” Niall wheezed.
“I’m going to have to ask you not to faint, Niall.” Nick said with false sternness. “Can’t have you braining yourself on this expensive equipment.”
Louis flashed a thumbs up at the camera before finally turning it off. The next moment he had a lap full of Niall. “Thank you, Lou. Thank you thank you thank you.” He pressed a sloppy kiss to his cheek.
Nick laughed. “And with that happy ending, we’re out of time. Thank you to our special guests. It’s been Nick Grimshaw for Radio One, and I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”
“Thank you, Nick. Thank you so much.” Niall said, turning wide puppy eyes to the host.
“Not a problem, Niall.” Nick assured him.
“Seriously. I can’t believe you and Louis did this for me. I can’t imagine what you had to do-”
Nick shook his head. “Nah, dude. Like I said, I just called in a few favors. I made the offer and the band was interested so it’s going to happen. Congrats. And great job on your channel man, you’re really killing it.”
After a few handshakes (from Louis) and a lot more thank you’s (from Niall) the two of them finally left.
Niall was hyped. He couldn’t stop bouncing on his toes or pulling Louis into another hug at every stop along the way. Once they made it into their flat he dragged his best friend down on the couch and slung his feet across Louis’ lap.
“I can’t believe you’d do this for me.” Niall confessed quietly. “Thanks for setting this up.”
“Anything for you.” Louis batted his eyelashes and pretended to swoon.
“I take it back. I hate you.”