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

day 28: a holiday proposal (in which jingle offers some advice)

Niall liked to believe he was Jingle Connemara's favorite person.

Jingle always gave Niall free drinks and would always humor him by listening to his rants about whatever debate they were having in class, and if that wasn't proof enough that Jingle liked him, then Niall didn't know what was. Besides, Jingle didn't like most people, and for her to give Niall a free drink was saying a lot, so Connemara's quickly became Niall's favorite hangout.

"Did your hair get more orange or is it just me?" he asked, eyes squinting behind his glasses as he scrutinized her hair.

Jingle rolled her eyes, sliding over a pint of something or another and Niall realized she could drug him and he would never know. He knew she'd never do that, of course, but that still didn't stop him from making a mental note to not get on her bad side. "I swear you and Mona are the same person," she grumbled. "She asked me the same thing the other day."

As if on cue, Mona walked out from the backroom, carrying a crate of glasses to store under the counter. "What did I ask?"

"About my hair," Jingle snarled, and Niall couldn't remember a time where he ever saw the girl smile. He wondered if Mona had gotten it from her, because now, he noticed that Mona only ever smiled when she was with him or Harlow or Harry. He also noticed that she got sort of jittery in public, and he couldn't help but wonder why.

"Oh." Mona glanced at Niall, raising her brow. "It got more orange, didn't it?"

Niall grinned. "So I'm not the only one." At that, Jingle simply rolled her eyes, gesturing for Mona to go down to the end of the counter to take the orders of the group of college students that just walked in, and Niall's attention snapped to the immediate persona change in Mona.

"So," Jingle started, snapping him out of his thoughts and Niall watched instead as she shuffled some invoices into a neat pile and stuffed them in a drawer behind the counter. "You disappear into the woods for a few days and you come back hopelessly in love. What's that like."

Niall didn't have to ask how the hell she knew because Jingle had a knack for that sort of thing, reading people like the back of her hand. His shoulders slumped under her scrutinizing gaze and he frowned into his drink. "Awful."

"Ah," she nodded, understanding. "Good ol' unrequited puppy love." Niall only shrugged in response, not wanting to dwell on the topic any longer, and Jingle picked up on that. "Well," she said, smacking her hand on the counter as if to make a point. "We're having our annual New Year's Eve bash in a few days and it's always quite the party. You should come. Maybe find someone else to get your mind off of it." Jingle shrugged sympathetically. "It can be like, a holiday resolution."

Niall mulled it over for a few moments when Jingle moved away to tend to the flock of people who'd just shuffled through the door. The thought bothered him, if he was being honest, finding someone else on New Year's Eve. Because he didn't want someone else, he wanted Mona. It was Mona's hand he wanted to hold, and her lips he wanted to kiss, and her arms to be wound around him when he woke up in the mornings. And if he couldn't have her as a lover then he wanted her as a friend, because she was important to him and he wanted her in his life in one way or another.

"Here are your fries, Irish." Carter snapped him out of his reverie by tossing the basket in his direction. Niall didn't dignify him with a response, instead rolling his eyes and watching warily as Carter waggled his eyebrows at Mona only to have her flip him off. Niall always wondered why Jingle didn't fire the bloke yet, because not only was he good for nothing, but he was also a creep. Niall would've punched him a long time ago if it hadn't been for Liam holding him back.

Before he could dwell much on it, Mona was swiping a fry from his basket, grinning foolishly. "Are you bored without your drinking buddies?"

Niall shrugged. He actually was missing the lads but he wasn't about to admit that out loud. "I'll live."

Mona simply giggled, and Niall figured she was like the sun and he could be the moon. Or maybe Niall was the sun and Mona was the moon. She could also be the stars because her eyes were as good as two of the brightest ones in the universe.

Niall didn't know what they were just yet, but they were definitely something alright.