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

day 11: secret santa exchange (in which mona finds solace in her crazy friends)

Mona really wanted to scream at Harlow.

She was driving her up the wall with her stupid Christmas spirit and her stupid festive cheer. Mona didn't want to wake up at the ass crack of dawn to stumble down the stairs to open presents. What were they? Five?

And yet, there she was, sitting on the floor between Harry and Niall—both of whom seemed to be the most enthusiastic, next to Harlow of course—trying to keep her eyes open because she'd essentially spent all night reassuring herself that Niall was, indeed, fine. He had given her quite the scare.

However, there was an unspoken agreement that none of them would mention last night, because Niall had walked down the stairs with a smile, easy-going nature once again restored, and no one in their right mind would disrupt that.

"Okay!" Harlow began, clapping her hands together, and Mona wondered how the hell she was so cheery when the sun wasn't even up yet. "Let's do the secret santa first! I've been dying to know who pulled my name." She was saying something else but Mona's eyes were so heavy they fluttered shut on their own accord, her head falling onto Niall's shoulder. In fact, his sweater was so warm, so soft, that she probably even fell asleep for a few moments before Harlow was throwing a pillow at her face. "Wake up, you Scrooge!" Mona grumbled something under her breath, just barely dodging another pillow which was aimed for Liam, whose head was resting on Niall's lap, moments away from drifting off to sleep himself. "You two would give old Ebenezer a run for his money, I swear to god."

Harry chuckled from beside Mona. "It seems like Niall has turned into the human pillow," he laughed. "You got any more room, mate? I want a cuddle too." Harry grinned madly and it was as though Mona could hear Niall rolling his eyes. Without an invitation, Harry crawled over, resting his head on Niall's other shoulder.

Harlow scoffed, though Mona knew if she was in the mood, she would've wanted to join their little huddle. "Can we continue with the presents part of this morning?"

Liam mumbled something along the lines of Whatever and then Harlow was passing out the gifts. Because she wanted to go first, Harlow was already opening her present before either of them had the chance to blink. Inside her box was a delicate pair of exquisite diamond earrings, the stone catching the glint of the lights and shimmering a bit. Mona smiled, already knowing who had gotten it.

Harlow was over the moon, automatically looking at Zayn only to see him shrugging his shoulders, gesturing that it wasn't him who had bought her the beautiful jewelry. "Oh?" She was a bit surprised, and Mona didn't have to look over to know that Liam was frowning. "Who bought these then?"

Liam cleared his throat, smiling sheepishly before sitting up and sending Harlow a small smile. "I—erm. I got them for you." Harlow gasped before squealing, a bit overdramatically in Mona's opinion, and rushed over to wrap her arms around Liam's shoulders, thanking him profusely for such a wonderful gift.

Next was Harry, whose gift was a new lens for his DSLR, from none other than Zayn. Mona was taken aback at Zayn's thoughtfulness, but then she remembered it was why she became friends with him in the first place. Niall received what appeared to be a pack of socks, and everyone knew who had gotten that.

Harry grinned cheekily. "What?" he laughed. "Everyone needs socks!" But when Niall rolled his eyes and let out a chuckle of his own, Harry simply shook his head. "You're supposed to open the socks, idiot."

Niall gave him a look but ripped the plastic open nonetheless, sticking his hand into the cottony pile before pulling out a brand new phone. His eyes widened. "Shit, mate. You didn't have to—"

"Shut up and accept it, Nialler." Harry shot him a fond smile which Niall returned, readjusting his glasses on his nose before returning his attention to Liam, who was now opening his gift.

"Sick!" he exclaimed, when he'd unwrapped a new set of the latest fashionable headphones that had cost Mona a pretty penny after she'd broken his the week before. Liam chuckled. "I think I know who got these. Thanks, Mo," he grinned at her. She shrugged, resting her head on Niall's shoulder again because she was exhausted, but there was a big ball of happiness and contentment expanding within her chest, and for the first time in what felt like forever, as Zayn was opening his gift, she felt as if she was finally somewhere she belonged.

This was where she was meant to be, and there was a huge smile spreading across her face at the realization.