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

day 7: putting up stockings (in which whiskey is opened & secrets tumble out)

Mona's favorite part of the holidays had to be the decorating. She loved putting the ornaments on the tree and hanging fairy lights on the windows and wrapping presents. Which was why when Zayn walked in with another box of decorations, she was ecstatic.

The box contained more fairy lights and an assortment of stockings, all ranging in size, color, and pattern. She and Harry sat on the floor arranging them, writing names on the tops of them with glitter glue pens.

Harry, because he basically had the mentality of a toddler, came up with crude explanations for why each person was assigned a certain stocking.

"Zayn's got the small one because he's got the smallest dick," he began, earning a snarl from Zayn. "Liam's got the red one because of hickey-gate," which was the infamous moment Liam showed up to class bright maroon lovebites all along his neck. Harry and Zayn never let him forget it.

"Once!" Liam objected, rolling his eyes. "Wanker."

Harry was giggling relentlessly, and so was Mona, tears stinging the corners of her eyes because she hadn't laughed this hard in what seemed to be ages. "Harlow's got—"

"No!" Harlow interrupted from where she'd been lounging on the couch, head on Zayn's lap and toes tucked beneath Niall's thighs. "I don't want to hear it!"

Harry snickered. "Fine, fine, you baby. Okay, so Mo's got plaid because...actually." He paused. "I haven't thought of one for you yet."

"It's because you're scared of her throwing you out the window," Niall hollered from the couch, shooting Mona a wink and then she was laughing again.

"No," Harry frowned. "I'm scared of you throwing me out the window. It's not like you haven't done it before."

"Okay, first of all, I didn't throw you out the window, which was on the first floor by the way. You fell because I yelled at you and you got scared." Harry frowned even deeper at the fact that Niall was biting his lips in an attempt to tamp down the urge to laugh. "And second of all, I apologized."

Harry opened his mouth to retort but Liam was already popping open a bottle of whiskey passing around glasses and pouring a generous amount in each. Mona's giggles subsided and she started to hang the stockings on the wall behind the tree, which was still bare of decorations. She had planned to dress its leaves after she'd designed the stockings, but whiskey seemed like a better idea.

As the night progressed, the group became louder, drunken laughter following ridiculous anecdotes of the pranks they pulled to pass time last semester. Harry was, unsurprisingly, the first one to black out, falling asleep with his head under the tree where he had stumbled in his inebriated state. He was followed by Harlow, who had enough sense to stagger back to her room to fall asleep in the warmth of her bed. Zayn wasn't drunk just yet but he followed Harlow anyway, ensuring that she walked safely to her bedroom without fracturing a bone or something, and Mona watched from the corner of her eye as Liam's smile faltered a bit.

"You like her don't you."

Liam looked startled by her bluntness but Niall simply wobbled over and gingerly sat on the floor beside them, flinging his arms around Liam's shoulders before giggling much like Harry had earlier. Niall, Mona learned, was a very clingy drunk. "Liam loves Harlow," he slurred, falling into a fit of giggles once again. "He's loved her since freshman year."

Liam looked horrified by Niall's words. "How do—"

"Seen it with me own eyes." Niall's arms were still around Liam, but he was looking at Mona now, eyes a cloudy blue. "He looks at her like she put the stars in the sky. Like..." Niall laughed. "Like she's everything—the sun, the moon...the universe and everything in it." Apparently, Niall was a very poetic drunk as well, and Mona's lips were curling into a smile at his words. "Fucking enamored, Liam is." He then frowned, leaning his head onto Liam's shoulder, nuzzling until Liam had to to hold back a laugh. "But Liam won't make a move and it makes me sad."

Liam's smile softened, looking at Niall with a certain fondness, and Mona realized that the same look was probably reflected in her own eyes as well. "Does it really make you sad, mate?"

Niall nodded solemnly. "Very, very sad," he murmured. He was about to say something else but then Liam was already helping him up, except he had quite a few to drink as well, losing his footing a bit.

"I've got him," Mona said, taking Niall's arm and putting it around her shoulder, propping him up with a hand on his back. "Go to bed, Liam."

He complied, retreating to his bedroom, which was the only one on the first floor, while Mona carefully helped Niall up the stairs. His eyes were falling shut, body becoming lax and Mona was finding it increasingly more difficult to basically carry him to his bedroom. Eventually, she made it to his bed, letting him fall onto the pillows with a soft thump. She was about to leave when Niall tugged her with such force that she quite literally tumbled into his bed.

Without a single word, Niall pulled the blanket over the two of them, drowsily smiling at her as she watched in amusement. He nuzzled into the crook of her neck similarly to what he did with Liam, and, okay, perhaps they were cuddling now. She wasn't usually the most affectionate type, but something about him was endlessly adorable. So, she let her hands wander to his hair, smoothing the soft locks which he'd left unstyled for the past couple of days.

"Does it really make you sad that Liam won't tell Harlow how he feels?" she asked softly, unable to understand how he'd gotten so drunk when she wasn't even tipsy. Then she remembered the bottles he and Harry were smuggling from the kitchen and she was smiling again. Niall hummed in response. "Why?"

He sighed, body relaxing as he was beginning to fall asleep. "I like it when my friends are happy," he mumbled. "It makes me happy."

With that, he fell asleep, and Mona found herself wishing to see his sensitive side more often. Instead, she simply continued to stroke his hair, giving up on the idea of leaving him because he was warmer than her blankets were; so she settled more comfortably in his arms and fell asleep.