little do you know // niall horan au

chapter 16; do you know? (part ii)

Mona watched her hands warily.

Her mehndi stain was a beautiful and rich dark brown. Pari created an intricate yet simple design that suited Mona to the bone, but her words constantly rung in Mona's head whenever she looked down at the stain.

Niall's name looked as if it was mocking her, all tiny and nestled into the tip of a flower petal. She sighed.

She wasn't having the best of days. She woke up with a dull ache in her chest, acutely aware of how cold her bed was, how alone she was. The memory of Niall's lips on hers burned, which she knew would happen. She knew if she slipped up and finally got close to him again that it would hurt too much when she woke up in her bed alone. And yet, something came over her last night that she couldn't control, something she could only describe as an overwhelming want.

She wasn't really sure if she regretted anything yet.

"Mo, what are you waiting for?" Jyoti's voice cut right through her thoughts, and when Mona looked up, she was watching her quizzically from the door. "Aren't you gonna come down? They're gonna start in a few."

She was in Pari's room, sitting on her bed. Pari had all but dragged her in here as soon as she'd come by this morning, yammering on and on about how she just had to help Mona get ready because they weren't allowing her to do much with Deepa, who had hired a hair and makeup artist. As soon as she laid eyes on Mona's mehndi stain, though, she grew quiet, and Mona looked up only to find her grinning deviously at her. She didn't need to say anything. Mona already knew what she was thinking.

Now, Mona sighed, sending Jyoti a small smile. "Yeah, I'll be down in a second."

Jyoti smiled too, but she seemed a bit more unconvinced. "You okay?"

Mona looked down at her fingers. She'd been restless since she woke up this morning and no attempts of calming herself down had worked. She shrugged. "Nervous," she muttered, huffing out an anxious laugh. A lump of emotion lodged itself into her throat and she had to fight to swallow it down.

"Oh, Mona darling," Jyoti sighed, crossing the room in a few strides to take a seat next to her on the bed. She placed a hand over Mona's trembling ones. "I know this is probably not what you wanna hear right now..." Mona held her breath, looking over to meet Jyoti's eyes, only to find hers glazed over in seriousness. "But, I think you need this. I think you'll feel so much better once you get through it."

Mona heaved out a deep breath. She'd been trying to give herself that same pep talk all morning but she'd been spiraling. She couldn't help it. It had been so long since she even spoke to him, and, for some reason, despite that one phone call on the night of her birthday, she didn't feel comfortable with this situation at all.

"Come on," Jyoti drawled, giving her shoulder a nudge with hers. "You'll be fine. We're all here for you." Mona looked up only to find her smiling at her. "Now put on your happy face. We have a wedding to show up to and god knows Deepa will throw a fit at the mandap if she spots you looking sad."

At that, Mona cracked a smile, much to Jyoti's delight. She sighed as she took Jyoti's hand and let her lead them out of the room. As soon as they made their way through the hall and down the stairs, the atmosphere, and Mona's mood, had shifted. The festivities were in full swing, and the excitement and happiness in the air was so palpable that it felt as if it were seeping into Mona's skin.

Jyoti left her side when someone called her name from the crowd and Mona went off to go find Harlow. She grabbed a glass of water from someone with a tray nearby and gulped it down in one go. She couldn't help but feel a little jittery, and everyone she interacted with definitely noticed. Harlow's aunt even went as far as blatantly asking if she was okay.