little do you know: the december drabbles // niall horan au

day 27: traveling for the holidays (in which apologies are made)

Mona was fuming.

She knew Niall had his moods, that sometimes he needed his space. But fuck all she wanted to do was help him.

She'd been pacing the length of her bedroom for the better part of the last three hours, frowning because she didn't know why he was so upset, therefore she didn't know how to fix the problem. Normally, she'd ask Harlow for advice, except Harlow was in California, probably having a great time with her family, while Mona was stuck in her room moping around.

But Mona was frustrated beyond belief. Niall frustrated Mona beyond belief. Because she liked being able to read people and Niall was the only person in the entire world that maintained a completely unreadable stance on everything.

When Mona glanced out her window, the sun had disappeared from the sky, but she was still annoyed, and she found herself reaching for her backpack, which hung on the hook beside the window. If Niall wanted her to leave, then she would fucking leave. As she stuffed random articles of clothing into her bag, she thought of San Francisco, and how there was no one there—besides Harlow, or course—who even cared about her. Because if they did, then she would've received a phone call or an email or something from her mother or her brother or someone in all the near year that she'd been away.

So Mona couldn't do it.

She couldn't leave because, honestly, where would she go? And as much as she didn't want to admit it, Niall was ignoring her and it was probably because she'd said or done something to upset him. So she turned her bag over, the clothes she'd just jammed in now falling out into a haphazard pile. But then that took too long and what she really needed to do was talk to Niall, so she wiped her tears—that she honestly didn't know were falling—and took a deep breath, not bothering to slip her feet into her slippers before opening the door and walking across the hall to Niall's.

Her hand had been poised to knock but then the door opened, Niall emerging from behind it, all dressed in his coat and scarf and Mona wanted to cry again. He looked a bit surprised to see her, but also a bit relieved because he'd let out a breath neither of them noticed he'd been holding, his fingers falling from the doorknob as Mona's hand fell to her side.

They stood in silence for a long moment before Mona decided that it was making her crazy. "Niall, I—"

"Mona, you—"

They both paused, brows raised because they'd spoken over each other. Something in the atmosphere snapped then, that palpable tension that had been lingering around them since this afternoon, shattering as if it were a sheet of glass falling to their feet. "I'm sorry," they breathed in unison, and Mona shook her head, getting ready to laugh it off before Niall was gathering her to his chest, arms wound tight around her.

"I was going to come and get you," he whispered into her hair, and she held on a bit tighter. "I didn't want you to leave. I never wanted you to leave." They remained tangled together for quite some time, lingering in the doorframe, swaying side to side, and Mona never knew it was possible to crave the presence of someone as much as she did Niall's. They'd spent so much time together over the past few weeks that she didn't want to let it go. "I'm so sorry," he murmured against the side of her face, and he must've sensed the lingering presence of her tears because she felt the downward tug of his lips. "God, Mo. I really fucked up didn't I?"

When Mona opened her eyes, Niall's gaze was cast downwards, as if he were ashamed, and Mona didn't want him to feel that way because this whole thing was probably her fault. Niall wouldn't have acted the way he did without a reason. He just needed his space sometimes, Mona knew that. She shook her head, pushing him inside the apartment so she could shut the door, wrapping her arms around Niall's torso again. His fingers brushed a loose strand of hair from her face, dawdling a bit, and something about the gesture felt so strangely comfortable that it had an ache growing in Mona's chest. She didn't understand why.

"I'm sorry too," she whispered. The odd ache in her chest only grew stronger because she noted how sad Niall looked, lips drawn down into a frown, eyes glassed over and red rimmed as if he'd been rubbing at them, and it was then that she noticed that he wasn't wearing his glasses. "Niall," she started, and he hummed. "How on earth were you going to expect to find me if you're missing two of your eyes?"

Niall pulled back to give her a look of confusion, brows furrowed in a way Mona found endearing, before a twinkle of understanding reflected in his eyes and then he burst out laughing. Mona honestly had no other choice but to join in, because his laugh was contagious and she was just glad he didn't look so forlorn anymore. "I hate you," he sputtered. "I truly do."

Mona feigned offense, holding her hand over her heart. "But I bought you burgers."

Niall rolled his eyes, shrugging off his coat and hanging it on the rack by the door before gesturing for Mona to follow him to the kitchen. "Speaking of which, we need to eat those burgers. I'm starvin'." And Mona scoffed before following behind him, flicking his chin before reaching into the bag to reheat the sandwiches.