Freaky Sunday: Part III (Patreon)

Make sure to read Part I and Part II first! Thank you again to patron cicerosg2003  for the wonderful idea for this miniseries!

The work of a musician was never done, not even after the end of a long international tour, but thankfully Niall Horan appreciated the privileges more than he struggled with the frustrations that came with success. Ever since the dissolution of One Direction he had carved out his own career as a singer-songwriter and had been enjoying the creative freedom that came with being a solo artist instead of part of an overly manufactured boy band. He still loved all four of his former bandmates like brothers but this new chapter in his life was perhaps the most rewarding of anything he had ever done. As such, he really didn’t mind that he’d only had a week at home in Ireland before flying back out to Nashville to start working on a new batch of songs for the next album.

He’d been partnered up with Jared, a talented young musician in his own right, and together the two had already completed two tracks that Niall felt rather happy about. It was toward their first week of writing sessions though and the former boybander was beginning to feel a little dry creatively so he had suggested that the pair of them get on their boards and go for a skate outside the city. The other had agreed and they were off immediately, Niall already feeling refreshed as he felt the gentle breeze against his pale skin once they were out on their boards.

While Niall was no stranger to boarding on some rough terrain, the rough hills outside the city proved to be more of a challenge than he had expected and it wasn’t long before he took a tumble thanks to a rock he hadn’t spied quick enough. He was launched right off of his board and even though he did his best to bring his hands up in front of his face, it wasn’t enough to prevent his skull from making a nasty impact with the ground and the singer-songwriter was sucked into a state of unconsciousness.

Niall’s hearing was the first thing to return as he began to recover and, much to his confusion, he was greeted to the muffled sounds of a distant crowd - not altogether unfamiliar from somebody who had been playing to sold-out stadiums since he was a teenager - and a small army of concerned voices that seemed to be much closer. He figured the muffling was a result of the safety helmet he’d been wearing but even then it raised concerns about how long he’d been out of it if Jared had managed to gather so many people to fuss over him!

“Ugh, that sucked,” he groaned in a voice that rang deeper and huskier than he had been anticipating. There was something else about it that sounded off but his throbbing skull was still causing enough of a distraction for him not to be able to quite put his finger on it. The next of his senses to return was thankfully his sight but as he finally managed to pry his heavy eyelids open, he encountered quite the strange sight: he was surrounded by a fully uniformed American football team with all their heavy padding and sleek helmets. Taking note of their navy blue jerseys with red and white features, Niall was even able to identify them as members of the New England Patriots roster - he’d always had an interest in a wide variety of sports, the NFL included - but what they were doing at his side was a total mystery.

“I’m not surprised, son, that was a nasty tackle,” remarked the only other man among them without a uniform, whose shirt instead identified him as the Patriots Team Medic. He shone a light into Niall’s eyes to closely inspect the pupils and hummed to himself. The musician was at a total loss for what was going on and as he pushed himself up to a seated position, he was only presented with more questions such as how the hell had he gotten into a Patriots uniform himself and how had he ended up in the middle of a football field? The distress as he glanced around was apparently evident in his eyes as the medic’s expression grew graver. “Okay Rex, we’re going to take you back to the locker room to get checked out.”

“Rex?” Niall queried incredulously in a voice he could now confirm was definitely not his own. Why was he talking in an American accent? “Locker room? I don’t-- I need to--”

“Get checked out,” the medic asserted, leaving no room for argument. “You know the concussion protocols. Let’s check you out and if everything’s fine you might make it back for the fourth quarter.” He indicated for the players closest to Niall to lift him up to his feet and they did so, although once Niall was in a standing position he discovered that he felt heavier and not just from the weight of carrying the various pads that came with an NFL uniform. Strangely it felt like his body was holding more bulk than it usually did, although as various pieces of information presented themselves to him, he was always starting to solve the puzzle.

Absently following the medic off the field and towards the locker room, he politely nodded at the various players and coaches that clapped him on the back and wished him well as he passed. Strangely they were all referring to him as Rex and seemed unaware that there was an Irish former boybander in their midst. Their reasoning became more obvious once they were back in the locker room though and the medic guided him to sit down at the station of one Rex Burkhead, according to the signage. There was even a mirror at the station and once he had removed the helmet from his head, Niall was finally able to confirm his suspicions as another man’s face looked back at him!

By far the biggest shock for Niall was that he now possessed a head completely devoid of hair aside from a well-groomed beard of brown hair along the lower part of his face and around a pair of thin lips. He brought a hand up to feel the smooth scalp and let out a brief chuckle - that was weird. Over the next fifteen minutes as the medic performed various checks on him, Niall continued to sneak glances at his new reflection to take in more of the unfamiliar man he saw there. He was undeniably handsome with his perfectly straight nose and deep blue eyes and with every vague response he gave to the medic’s questions Niall was enjoying Rex’s voice even more. Despite being an undeniably crazy situation, perhaps it wasn’t all that terrible…

When the medic finally decided that he had seen enough to confirm that “Rex” wasn’t concussed and left to go convey as much to the coaches, Niall was given a few minutes to inspect the athlete’s locker. It didn’t take him long to discover a book full of running back plays that Rex had drawn out and annotated. As he looked through though, Niall discovered that he felt familiar with each of them and was strangely even able to recall how it felt to run those routes as if he’d been practicing them daily in training camp for the past several weeks. Those were Rex’s memories for sure and Niall wasn’t sure how or why they were bleeding through to his own brain but they certainly presented an exciting opportunity that he was certain he’d never get again.

Returning to the sideline just as the medic was conferring with the Patriots head coach Bill Belicheck, Niall placed the helmet back onto his head and jogged over to the pair. “I’m good to go, coach!” he declared, adrenaline pumping through every inch of the muscular body he now possessed. He wanted to know how he’d ended up in another man’s body, sure, and what had happened to his own, but how could he pass the chance up to play a game of American Football from inside the body of a professional NFL player? If his career in music had taught him anything then it was to seize every opportunity, no matter how crazy it seemed. Right now the Patriots were tailing by seven points at the start of the fourth quarter and having one of their star running backs in the game again could help turn the tide. The coaches seemed to agree on that as they gave him the go ahead and Belicheck slapped #34 on the back as he made his way out onto the field.

This is gonna make one hell of a story the next time I see the boys, Niall remarked as he knocked helmets with his new teammates and listened to the QB identify the plays they were going to make. Sure, maybe none of his former bandmates would ever believe that sweet little Niall Horan had ever scored a touchdown for the New England Patriots but once the game was over he was going to make sure that was the honest truth!