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

day 29: crappy new year's resolutions (in which it gets a little steamy)

Mona liked to believe she was pretty good at upholding her New Year's resolutions. After all, her wishes weren't entirely outlandish that it was hard to keep up with. Niall, on the other hand, was doubtful of her abilities.

"There has to be some resolution that you broke," he said, eyebrows raised in that disbelieving way of his. They were sitting on the couch at Mona's. Well, Mona was sitting and Niall was laying in her lap, glasses fixed a bit crooked on his face. "Humor me, Mo." She rolled her eyes, fiddling with his glasses until they were straight, flicking his nose in the process. Niall groaned. "Why d'you always do that?"

Mona shrugged. "You've got a nice nose," she said, flicking it again, and Niall was swatting her hands away. "And a nice chin." He scowled at her which made her giggle, and she watched his lips soften into a smile. "And besides," she murmured. "My resolutions are attainable. Not extravagant bullshit."

He hummed, reaching up to brush the strands of her hair away from her face and behind her ear, his touch lingering for a few seconds before he let his hand fall, and Mona realized that he looked at her like that a lot lately, with a sad glint in his eyes. At first Mona wondered if she was imagining things, but it happened too often for it to be a figment of her mind. She blinked and then the look was gone, a smiling Niall left in its wake. "Last year, my resolution was that I wasn't going to go back home," he shrugged. "I think it's the only resolution I kept."

Mona huffed out a laugh. "That's funny because that was my resolution too."

Niall grinned. "I remember. You transferred in after the new year, right?" Mona nodded, and he hummed. "I saw you hanging around Harlow and I remember asking Liam who you were." Mona had been stroking his hair when he burst out laughing. "Because you scared me."

At that, Mona gasped, a bit offended despite the fit of chuckles that took over. "What do you mean?"

He shook his head, red-faced and sputtering. "Mo, you walked around campus with that look on your face all the time. I think you scared everyone."

Mona huffed indignantly, but laughed nonetheless, pushing Niall off her lap so that he fell to the floor, his laughter only getting louder. "You're such a pest," she got out between giggles, whacking him with a pillow. "I hate you."

His glasses had ended up on the floor somewhere because Mona kept hitting him with the pillow, Niall's skin flushing a deep pink because he couldn't stop laughing. "Stop!" he squealed, when Mona had thrown away the pillow, opting to skim her fingers along his hipbones instead, which were now exposed because his shirt had ridden up. "Mo!"

But Mona simply laughed, and before she knew it, Niall was wrestling her off him. It was as if she blinked and her back was on the floor, Niall's hands pinning hers above her head. "Don't be such a bad girl, Mo." He was still laughing a bit, chest heaving because he was slightly breathless, but his voice had dropped a couple of octaves, hoarse and raspy from all the laughing, and Mona almost blushed.

It was then that she noticed how big his hands were as they were wrapped around her wrist, and how his eyes were blazing, a striking blue that made her knees a little weak and she was glad she wasn't standing. "Do you want to kiss me, Niall?" she asked jokingly, giggling to diffuse the sudden tension.

But Niall only leaned down a little closer, supporting his weight on his forearms, his knees between her legs, and when their noses touched Mona thought she was going to faint. How hadn't she noticed? How hadn't she noticed the way his biceps bulged and the way he had this intense stare that could make any girl pass out? Why hadn't she been paying attention when he kissed her in the elevator? Because she couldn't remember how his lips felt or tasted, and she felt like a bit of a jerk. "Do you want me to?" he asked lowly, and Mona thought if his voice got any lower then she might actually faint.

"Uh," she giggled nervously, her gaze stuck on his stupid fucking eyes and it was like she was drowning in all of the blue. "I don't know," she said, squirming a bit in his hold. Because Jesus fucking Christ, Niall Horan was hot and she never noticed. She must need glasses. Maybe she'd borrow his sometime. "We'd be like the next Harlow and Zayn." She couldn't stop giggling, because this was too much pressure. She couldn't remember the last time she'd noticed a guy the way she'd just noticed Niall and she felt as if her throat was closing up.

But Niall's lips were hovering over hers and if she'd remembered how to breathe then she might've let out a little squeal, because he was looking at her with that passionate stare of his and fuck if he asked her to jump off a bridge or something then she'd fucking do it. Except he was pulling away, and she tried not to whine at the loss of his body heat. He sat back on his haunches, and it was only then that she realized how her legs were splayed open because he was kneeling between them.

Niall laughed again, helping her up, and Mona tried not to blush. "So," he said, swiping up his glasses before leading her to the kitchen where there were cookies in the oven, and Mona realized that it was why he must've pulled away because the timer had gone off, but she was too absorbed in him to notice. "What did you say your new year's resolution was going to be?"

It was the first time Mona regretted putting a batch of cookies in the oven.