Niall and I were driving down the road to go and meet his manager. I had to admit I was a little antsy because I knew Niall had just gotten his license and hadn’t really driven anywhere yet. It showed, because he was driving almost as slow as Louis and slamming the brakes every so often causing the car to jolt forward.

“Niall, just drive!” I exclaimed as he swerved around a leaf that had fell on our side of the road.

“I’m trying! That leaf could have caused some serious damage like a popped tire or a gas leak.”

“It’s a leaf,” I said slowly. “I mean I’d understand if it were a cat or a-”

“Squirrel!” Niall shouted loudly, gripping the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles were white. He then turned the wheel as fast as he could trying not to hit the squirrel that had ran in front of him.

“Stop! Hit the brakes!” I told him.

“I’m trying! I’m too short!” He then slunk down in his seat to try and tap the brakes.

“You’ve been hitting them the whole time you’ve been driving!”

“I know! That’s cause I was slumping the whole time!”

Niall’s foot finally found the brakes and he slammed hard on them. My head then flew forward and just about hit the dashboard. I sat with my head by the dash for a little bit and then took in some deep, slow breaths. All of that…For a squirrel?

“Niall, can I drive?”

He nodded his head quickly. “Please do.”

So we got out and changed seats in the car. Niall turned the radio on and put the volume all the way up. He then rolled down his window and stuck his hand out, hitting the air to the beat. Guys are so obnoxious.

He directed me towards a huge glassed studio that had to of been about 100 feet in the air if not more. I turned into the parking lot and tried to find the closest spot I could find. I failed at that because the only parking spot available was way in the back. Regardless, Niall and I hopped out of the car and rushed into the studio.

“I love these!” Niall exclaimed, running forward into the revolving doors that led into the studio. He then ran around and around in them with his mouth gaping wide open screaming as loud as he could. Just seeing him do this remind me of the movie “Elf”. I cracked up laughing as people who wanted to get in and out of the studio just watched him with dumb expressions.

“Niall, we need to see your manager,” I reminded him as he continued to turn the doors.

“Oh, yeah. That’s what we were doing,” Niall remembered, stopping the revolving doors so that I could get in.

I slid in quickly and then got out in a huge lobby with numerous desks. There was a waiting room to the side with black leather furniture and a coffee table with magazines on them. Confused, I just stood there while people walked past me, bumping me while doing so.

“Come on, Ri. You’re holding us up,” Niall teased. Yeah, I’m the reason we’re being held up. Not the fact that you don’t want to kill leaves…

Niall walked right up to the front desk and put on of his arms down, leaning towards the receptionist in a near-seducing way. The lady behind the desk glanced up, annoyed, over her black glasses and just sighed at Niall.

“Yes?”

“My manager needed to see me?”

“Yeah. 29^th floor.”

“Great. Thanks,” he told her, grabbing my arm and pulling me towards the elevator with him. Crap. Why did we have to take the elevator for?

“I can’t do this.”

“What? Do what?” Niall asked quickly.

“I’m scared of elevators.”

Niall gave me a weird look and furrowed his brow. “You’re scared of elevators? Really?”

“Yeah. Why would I lie about that?”

“I don’t know. Will you ride it just this once? It’ll take forever to climb twenty-nine flights of stairs,” Niall begged.

I sighed and looked up at the high ceiling. “I guess this once I could-”

“Good,” Niall interrupted, grabbing my arm yet again and pulling me into the empty elevator. He then pressed the button twenty-nine and the elevator started to go up. I was breathing heavily now and standing in the corner of the elevator, my head in the crease of the wall.

“Rian, come here,” Niall told me. I turned around slowly and drug my feet across the floor of the elevator trying to get to him. I must of taken too long because he moved and met me halfway, pulling me into a hug.

“It’s just an elevator. They’re not scary.”

“Yes they are! What if the cables break and then we fall and die?”

“Then I guess we die,” he said slowly. That was the last thing I wanted to hear right now. I wanted to be reassured, not terrified out of my mind.

The elevator stopped and lurched upwards. The little ding! sound went off and I turned towards the doors. When they didn’t open immediately I started to freak out.

“They’re not opening! They’re not opening!”

“Rian! Calm down!” Niall then lifted up my chin which made me look directly in his eyes. “They will open.”

And sure enough, as if on cue, the doors opened up. Niall let go of me and I bolted out into a blue carpeted hallway with three doors on either side and a door at the very end.

I finally calmed down and then walked towards the last door in the hallway. I assumed the manager would probably be in the middle since he was top dog.

Niall appeared right behind me as I knocked on the door and a voice from inside told me to come in. I walked in attentively and gawked at the humongous office I was now in. On his walls were gold, silver, and platinum records of the songs he had helped bands sell. Every inch of his wall was covered…

His desk was in front of a huge glass window that overlooked the entire city. The manager had his hands crossed and he was sitting in a formal blue chair. He pointed to the other blue chairs in front of his desk, telling us to sit down.

“Niall.”

“Mr. Manager.”

“And I assume you’re Rian?”

“You assume right sir.”

“Do you know why I called you in here?” he asked both of us slowly. All we gave him as a response was our shaking heads.

“My daughter was on Twitter this afternoon and saw that your sister Fallyn had tagged you both in a picture. Were you aware of this?”

“No.”

“Yes.” Niall and I both said at the same time. We then quickly turned to look at each other with confused expressions on our faces.

“You knew?”

“After I talked to Fallyn. I thought maybe you got on your phone and saw the pictures,” I told Niall.

“No, I didn’t think about that. I was too busy reading all of your death threats.”

“Point is,” the manger continued, making us both go completely silent. “Every girl worldwide thinks that you and Rian are an item.”

“I’m sorry sir.”

“Sorry? Why would you be sorry?” he asked incredulously. “Your relationship is making One Direction even more popular. You guys are trending everywhere.”

“Excuse me sir, but we’re not even dating,” I stated.

“You’re not?”

“No. It was just Fallyn’s idea to do that for fun.”

“Well, here is what I propose we do,” the manager started. “Riall will continue and you two are going to date for publicity.”

“What?” Niall and I both shouted.

“You heard me. Just until ratings go over the charts and back down again. When they go back down, then you can end it and get the ratings back up by being the most heart-wrenching break up.”

I gave Niall a look of astonishment. We were going to pretend to date just so we could get publicity up? There was no way I was going to do that. This guy didn’t own me. He couldn’t tell me what I could and couldn’t do.

“I don’t agree with that. If Niall and I date I want it to be because we like each other, not because we’re forced so we can bring publicity up.”

“Rian,” Niall whispered. I turned my head to face him. “This could be funny. Let’s just try it and see how it goes.”

You, Niall, have the weirdest sense of humor I have ever known to be in a person.

“Atta boy!” the manager exclaimed. “Take one for the team!”

My shoulders slumped and I looked back at the manager. “Fine.”

“That’s it then. Niall Horan and Rian-”

“Lane,” I finished for him.

“Are now a couple,” he continued on, getting on his computer and typing on the keyboard. What in the world was I getting myself in to? It was a day and I was already “dating” Niall. I just seem to keep digging myself into a bigger hole.

As I went to get up, Niall remained sitting, just sitting there and smiling at the glassed wall.

“What?” I asked

“We’re going to be the best fake couple ever.”

*So I had this chapter up forever ago but it got deleted so sorry if the story didn't make much sense haha.