Le Cirque

“I still don’t understand why we have to go to a circus.” Niall mumbled, looking around at all the happy little families and feeling really out of place.

“What, afraid it’ll hurt your street credibility?” Louis laughed. “Come on! It’s supposed to be an amazing show! I thought you wanted to do something fun on our day off!”

“A circus, though?” Niall all but wailed. The other band members just looked on, thoroughly amused. “I haven’t been to one of these since I was five!”

“Let’s just go in man, I’m sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised.” Liam said, slinging an arm across his friends’ shoulders. “They’re supposed to have an amazing act with two lions.”

Leave it to Liam to actually research where they were going, Niall thought grumpily.

He followed his three friends into the main tent, Louis having strayed away to get some cotton candy.

“There grumpy, food.” Louis said on his return, handing Niall a big bag of popcorn. “Now you’re obligated to love me again!” The loudmouth plopped down next to him with his usual infectious grin.

Niall couldn’t help but laugh as well. All had been forgiven.

Their attention was soon caught by the dimming of the light, the show was about to start.

They were treated to a wide variety of acts, one more stunning than the other. The lion act was indeed amazing and had left the quintet in awe.

As the ringmaster came out again, Niall found himself curious to see what the next act would be. He hadn’t expected to enjoy the circus this much.

The ringmaster was a little person with the stage present of a giant. He had the crowd in the palm of his hand the entire night.

“I am proud to present our final performer of the night. Here to grace us with a new act, our own: Paige!”

The lights were dimmed completely, soon replaced by a single spotlight aimed at the top of the tent.

Every pair of eyes looked towards the elusive ‘Paige’. They’d all seen her advertised but no one knew what kind of act she would be performing.

Slowly but surely, the spotlight moved a little to the side. Finally, they saw.

Paige was sitting in the ridge of the tent. Her legs were crossed, locking her in the two tissue cloths.

As the music started, so did she. Niall quickly recognized the music as a song by one republic, all the right moves.

The entire tent was enthralled by the raven haired girl, tumbling down the two cloths. She had everyone on the edge of their seats as she stopped a mere 2 feet off the ground, her ankles wrapped around the cloths and her legs in the splits.

She had to have dropped at least 50 feet. Niall noticed he was holding his breath and tried to concentrate on getting it right again.

It was no use though, as the act continued.

He was amazed by her strength and grace as she lifted herself up those cloths numerous times. He couldn’t imagine the concentration, not to mention dedication it took to learn something like that.

In his opinion, the act was over far too soon.



“Not so sorry we came after all, now are ya!?” Louis laughed, dancing around his Irish friend.

“I saw you eyeing the pretty acrobat girl!” He continued.

Niall just shoved him, earning a laugh from all his friends.

By now, the sky had started to darken. They had decided to wait out the worst of the crowd after the show. Day off or not, they needed to be smart about the way they moved around.

They walked around the circus terrain, back to where Harry had parked the car.

With the black SUV in sight, they got ambushed by a few young girls who wanted pictures and autographs. Happy it was just a small group, they obliged.

Niall was the first who was ambushed so he was also the first who was done. As his friends snapped a few more photo’s, he found his gaze being pulled back towards the circus tent. They were at the back now and could see all the trailers and cages they kept the animals in. A flicker of light caught his eye and he realized it was an impromptu campfire. A few of the performers were already sitting around the fire, talking animatedly. Music was playing in the background and they seemed to have a lot of fun.

With a small smile, he realized that their life wasn’t exactly that different from his. They just had another talent to perform.

A familiar tune came on, making Niall’s head snap back again. Paige was dancing to the same song she’d performed to almost an hour ago, now encouraged by the laughter and clapping of her friends and colleagues.

She once again captivated him with her movements. The lack of tissue cloth did not diminish her grace. She moved with a fluidity in her movements that made his hands itch to reach out and touch her.

He shook his head, scolding himself.

Don’t be stupid.

He turned to find his friends grinning at him.

“Come on, Romeo, let’s go over there.” Louis

“What!? No!?” Niall reached out and grabbed his friend’s shoulder.

Everyone looked at him expectantly.

“You can’t just go up there.. it’s private property..” He protested weakly.

Louis grinned. “You’ve been staring at her all afternoon. Come on, you know you want to know her..”

Before he could come up with a legitimate objection, his friends were dragging him towards the campfire.

“Hey!” Louis called out when they were walking up, focusing his attention on one of the women. “We really loved the show and just wanted to say so to you in person, hope that’s alright..”

Niall couldn’t help but roll his eyes. The winning Tomlinson smile was out, this meant they were staying.

“It sure is, thank you for saying that. We’re glad you liked it.” She answered.

“Hope it’s okay that we just come barging through here..” Louis drawled, continuing his spell. “I’m sure that’s not customary.”

“Actually..” The woman interrupted. “Our grounds are open to the public, we have a sign that welcomes everyone to come and see how we work. People hardly ever do though, I think it’s intimidating..”

Louis’ face lit up. “So we’re not breaking any laws then?”

The woman laughed. “No you’re not. You’re welcome to stay and roast some marshmallows with us if you’d like..” She gestured for them to sit down. Despite his apprehension, Niall didn’t need to be told twice. There was an open spot next to Paige and he took it.

His friends immediately started talking to some of the performers. Niall couldn’t help but stare at the fire, he needed to gather up some courage.

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been nervous to talk to a girl. He wanted to kick himself for feeling like such a little kid.

“Marshmallow?”

He was pulled out of his reverie by two beautiful green eyes. Paige held out a stick with two marshmallows skewered onto it.

“Thanks..” He mumbled with a smile.

“You’re in a band together right? The one from England?” She leant her head on her hand as she looked at him.

Niall smiled. “Yeah, One direction.”

Paige perked up a little. “Hah!” She let out, a small satisfied smile on her lips. “I knew I’d seen it correctly!”

Her triumphant remark made him laugh.

“I loved your performance..” It was out before he knew it.

The grin on Paige’s face softened to a smile.

“Really? I was so nervous..”

Niall nodded. “You were amazing, I’ve never seen anyone move with that sort of grace.”

They were both staring at the fire now.

“I hadn’t performed in ages..” Paige confided to him in a whisper.

“Trust me, it didn’t show.” Niall assured her, laying a hand on her shoulder. Paige briefly looked at it and smiled.

“Do you want to see the grounds?” She asked, marshmallows long forgotten.

Niall nodded and stood up with a smile. She was easier to talk to than he’d expected.



“These two beauties, are Simba and Spot.” Paige said with a smile. She’d taken him along nearly all the trailers and cages. Now they were at the back, staring at two beautiful lions.

“Simba?” Niall laughed.

“Come on, they let me name him when I was 10, of course it was going to be Simba!” Paige laughed.

She raised her hand to the cage, getting the attention of what Niall thought was Simba. The lion immediately walked forward, softly butting his head against the bar her hand rested on.

“He’s my pride and joy..” She said softly, quickly fingering the mane of the enormous cat.

Niall narrowed his eyes at her a little. “You’ve been here since you were ten? With the circus I mean?”

Paige withdrew her hand and turned towards him with a smile.

“Niall, I’ve been here since I was born..” She laughed softly. “I own this circus.”

He felt his eyes widen at her admission. “You own it? But how!? You can’t be that much older than me. I thought the ringmaster..” His confusion grew and grew.

Paige laughed. “You thought Emmet was the owner?” Niall nodded. “A lot of people do..” She answered with a smile. “It’s okay, they can believe what they want. He helps me out a lot, he’s been here longer than I have.. I am still learning.”

Trying to keep up with her explanation, Niall frowned.

“I inherited all this from my parents. They died in a car crash. I was eighteen when that happened, currently twenty one.” She added with a small smile that made his insides flip.

“Officially I’m the owner, that means dealing with a lot of paperwork and organizing. That’s also the reason why I haven’t performed in ages. Until today of course.”

Niall looked at her in wonder, not quite sure how to react.

“Emmet helps me a lot with the practical side of things, which I’m very thankful for. I’m thankful for the entire family I was able to fall back on when things turned out this way.”

“You’re that close huh?” He asked with a smile.

“It’s a family.” Paige nodded in confirmation.

“Same with me and the guys, they’re all I have when we travel. I don’t think I could do it without them.”

It was Paige’s turn to look at him. “Yeah, I guess our lives are not that different from each other.” She mused with a smile.

Niall grinned. “Oh they are, I really cannot bend like that.”

Paige laughed and bumped his shoulder with hers. They’d sat down against one of the trailers, just enjoying each other’s company without the prying eyes of both their families.

“Don’t ever stop performing.” Niall suddenly said, after a few minutes of silence. “You’re too good to let it go to waste behind a desk. You’re beautiful.”

Paige felt herself blush, staring ahead of her instead of looking him in the eye.

“Thank you.. That means a lot.”

As silence settled down on them again, both young adults had a lot running through their mind.

“I’d like to call you.” Niall’s heart thumped so loud he could barely hear himself speak.

“Call me what?”

Niall looked at her with wide eyes, was she really going to make this even more difficult for him?

Paige’s eyes widened in realization.

“Oh!” She blushed, he saw. “I’d like that too..”

After exchanging numbers, both of them wearing silly smiles, they made their way back to the campfire.

“I really didn’t want to come to the circus today..” Niall suddenly laughed as they neared the others.

Paige looked up at him with a strange kind of smile that he couldn’t place. “I’m glad you did though..” She whispered.

They rejoined the group and saw that his friends were getting ready to leave.

“Paul called.” Liam explained as Niall raised his eyebrows at him.

“Looks like we’re leaving then..” Niall sighed, turning to Paige.

“You’ll call?” She asked, carefully sliding her arms around his waist in a hug.

Niall smiled. “I’ll call.” He assured her, hugging her back.



They weren’t even fifty feet away from the campfire when his friends started interrogating him like gossiping schoolgirls.

“Niall!” He turned around at the feminine voice behind him.

Paige came bounding up to him, pressing her lips against his in a swift kiss. As quickly as it started, it ended again. Moving her lips mere millimeters from his, she whispered:

“No regrets?”

Niall grinned.

“None.”