Just My Luck - Chapter 7

*Liam’s P.O.V.*

We arrived at the plaza just on time, heading up the elevator to the studio we would be interviewed in. when we walked in, we were welcomed with a table of snacks, which Niall was pleased as pie to attend.
“Welcome, One Direction!” The jumpy interviewer greeted, rushing to shake all of our hands. “Please, have a seat on the sofa. We’ll begin in just a few minutes.”
We all squished on the couch, waiting for Niall to finish eating. We looked at him as he stuffed his face with some of the snacks.
“What?” he said sheepishly. “I missed out on breakfast.”
“C’mon, Nialler. The interviewer’s waiting.” Lou encouraged. Niall sighed and stopped eating, coming over to the sofa. He was disappointed to see it all taken up. Putting his hands on his back, he said, “Come on, guys. Can I sit?”
Zany got up and offered him his seat, which he gladly took. Zany perched himself on the armrest of the red velvet sofa.
“You guys ready?” The interviewer said, flipping her notebook open to her questions. We all nodded, and the camera man began to roll. “Hello viewers and welcome to CelebStop! I’m your host, Sophia Reynolds, here with the biggest boyband in the world: One Direction!”
We waved at the camera, then looked back at Sophia.
“So how are you guys doing this afternoon?”
“Good, good.” Harry answered.
“Ready for the first question? Alright, so as you may know, you started your 2013 tour four months ago in February, but the concerts came to a sudden stop last week. Do you mind letting us in on how come?”
“Well Niall here has been quite ill lately, and he just hasn’t had the energy to get up and perform. So we thought, ‘We aren’t One Direction without n Niall!’ so we just called some of them off until he got better.” Louis explained. “We should be getting in the swing of things next week.”
“And Mr. Tomlinson, you posted a picture of some sort of…x-ray scan on Twitter?”
He looked down. “Ah, yes. But I took it down—wasn’t exactly the most polite thing to do.”
“Well how did it tie to Niall? You tweeted—“
“I know what I tweeted; ‘twas just a joke, miss!” he laughed. Sophia laughed with him, a fake girly laugh, which caused Niall to look the other direction, wrapping his sweater tightly and protectively around his middle.
“So how are you feeling now,  Niall?” Sophia said, directing her attention to him.
“Still sick,” He said quietly. “But I’m getting better.”
“Well that’s great to hear! Do you have any intention of quitting your career? Rumor has it that—“
“No. he’s not going to quit any time soon.” Zayn answered for him. Niall nodded.
“I’ll be here for a good long time.”
Sophia plastered another tight-lipped smile on her face. “That’s wonderful news.”
“Sure is.” Harry said.
“Okay. Next question. Rumors have been floating around that Niall is a transgender.” Sophia said, looking at her notes in surprise. Niall frowned and shook his head.
“No! Of course not! Why would they think that?”
The rest of the boys, including me looked dumbfounded that anyone would get that idea. Sophia skimmed through her questions. “Well, this is followed by another rumor, but…”






*Niall’s P.O.V.*
No, no, no this couldn’t be happening. She’s not about to say what I think she’s about to say.
I swallowed many times to moisten my dry pallet, my heart beating rapidly.
“Rumor has it that Niall is…pregnant.” She said, as if it were a disease.
Harry guffawed loudly, slapping his knee. “Of course it’s not true! What kind of joke is that!?” He said, still laughing. I sat statue still, hands in trembling fists on my lap. But it’s not a joke… I thought.
“Right?” Sophia said, laughing along with Harry.”I mean, come on, he’s a man.”
Louis, Liam, and Zayn were expressionless and silent. Which told Harry something was up.
“A pregnant man! What a pun!” Sophia continued to ramble.
“It is.” I blurted.
“What is?” Harry asked.
“It’s all true. I’m just a joke.” I said. “A pregnant joke.”
 
*******
I stormed out of the plaza before the tears would come back again. My life had just fallen back into place; I was happy with everything. But now I’m just a joke.
I didn’t expect the boys to follow after me,; they were much more serious with their job than I was. So when all four of them came dashing through the door of the plaza after me, I was surprised. And I felt a little more loved.
“Niall!” Liam said, grinning. “You did great.” He slung is arm over my shoulder, leading me to the car.
“Great with what? Being a moron?” I asked. The other three fell behind us, giving us some one-on-one.
“With telling millions of people your secret, that’s what!” He said enthusiastically, ruffling my hair.
“Really? You think so?”
“Yeah, lad. I would’ve been mortified.”
“Well I was mortified.” I said.
“You didn’t shut yourself up like I would’ve. I would be clammed up.”
“I don’t think you’d ever be in my position. You’re much more responsible.”
Liam laughed as we both walked across the underground parking garage to get to Paul’s car.
“Eh,” Liam said with a shrug.
“What do you mean, ‘eh’? You’re the father figure of One Direction.”
“I wish I could think that way about myself.”
“See, Liam? We both have problems. I can’t consider myself manly being pregnant and you can’t consider yourself Daddy Direction because…well, I don’t know why, really.”
The door slid open and Liam and I squished into the back with the three other guys. After that day, I felt rejuvenated. A thrilling sensation always singing in the back of my mind, because I knew that this was me.
 
*******
 
We were staying over at Paul’s flat—more like Paul’s mansion—for the night. I was about to follow the boys down to the Pub Paul had downstairs in the basement, but, “Niall! Come in the kitchen for a moment, lad.” Paul called. My shoulders slumped.
“I’ll be down in a moment, boys.” I shouted down the stairs so they could hear me over their music. Without waiting for a reply, I went back to the kitchen to find Paul scrubbing our dishes.
“Sit down, Horan.”
I pulled up a chair, slowly lowering myself into the seat and wondering what was up this time. Paul finished the last of the dishes, and then came over to the table, flipping his chair backwards and sitting on it like a barstool. He connected the pads of his fingers together, resting his hands on the table.
“So what’s going on?” he said.
Before answering, I tried to add up just how many times people suspected, how many people I’ve told, how many people knew, how many people didn’t know, and how many people who were disappointed, that I was pregnant. “I’m…pregnant?” I said, expecting him to know that already.  Gossip spreads like wildfires.
“I’m aware of that now. Some virus, eh?”
“Are you mad at me because I lied?”
“Quite. You should have told me Niall! It’s my duty to protect you, your secret would’ve been confined with me!”
“I know, Paul. If this is an issue about me trusting you, then you don’t have to worry. I was just…confused, and, and not sure what to do with life. I just couldn’t bring myself to tell you.” I explained. He looked me deep in the eye.
“I forgive you for lying. But there’s still some things I’m concerned about.”
I sighed, becoming queasy and unsettled.”Okay.”
“First of all, I have no problem with you hanging out with girls. It’s what guys do. But I’m not okay with—“
“Woah. Stop right there. Who says a girl did this to me?”
Paul looked at me like I was stupid. Then I realized how dumb that sounded. Last time I checkewd, I was straight.
“Uh…” I muttered.
“Being gay—“
“Don’t even wanna talk about it.” I said to Paul.
“All I’m saying Niall is I need to know who the father is. Or mother or whatever.”
“Yeah. Me too.” I agreed. Paul raised an eyebrow.
“You don’t know?”
“No! I forgot everything.”
“We need to get you a DNA scan.”
I nodded. “That would help.”
“I’ll set you up an appointment for tomorrow,” Paul said. By this time, I was already tired of seeing the doctor,
“Niall, having children is probably the biggest responsibility you can have in this world. It’s not easy.”
“I Know, Paul.”
“Do you? And since you’re famous, things will only get harder.”
“Times two.” I reminded, since he didn’t know about the twins. He opened his mouth to say something, hesitated, then said “Yes. Times two.”
“What are my boundaries?”
“So there’s no drugs, no toxic food, no falling, no going on rides, no sleeping on your stomach, NO MORE SEX, and most of all—“ he ticked everything off on his fingers, then leaned in closer, directing his finger at me. “No. Drinking.”
“Aw, damn it.” I grumbled. “I’m going to be on a withdrawal.”
“It won’t be that bad, you’ve got cravings to help you out with that.” Paul assured jokingly, pulling a goofy grin.
I dragged my hand across my face. “Only six months to go.”
“Luckily we only have a few stops left in California. Do you think you’d be able to get up there on stage?”
“Of course. I feel a lot less self-conscious now.”
“That’s always good to hear.” Paul said, nodding his head and tapping his fingers on the table. “There’s more to discuss, son. But I’m going to give you a break. You need to bond with the boys after such tough times, you know?”
“Okay. Thanks, Paul.” I said, pushing up and out of my chair to go down to the basement.
“Just remember, Niall. Stay safe.”