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

day 21: badly singing carols (in which it's too cold outside)

Mona had honestly never been so bored in her life.

She'd done everything there was to be done: cleaning, cooking, organizing, reorganizing. And yet she was bored out of her mind.

Her body was in New York City but her thoughts were in San Francisco. She thought of the three-hour time difference, so even though it was sundown in New York, it was still bright back home. She thought of her mother and her brother, and what they must be doing, and if they still even thought of her despite the fact that she rarely thought of them.

"What are you thinking about?" Niall's hands were covering her eyes, breath fanning into her ear, and she just about jumped out of her skin because she hadn't heard him come in. His hands traveled down to rest on her shoulders, thumbs pressing into the skin between her shoulder blades. "You're all tensed."

A large sigh and a deep breath later and Mona was spinning around, flicking Niall's nose playfully. "Don't sneak up on me like that, fuckface."

He feigned a disparaging look, holding his hand over his chest in mock contempt. "That's my word, Mademoiselle Shaw."

Mona shook her head, patting the space of the couch next to her so he'd sit down. "I take it that you're better?"

It was only when he rounded the corner of the couch that Mona saw the tray in his hands, two Styrofoam cups held securely on the inside. He shrugged, placing the tray on the coffee table as he sat down, picking a cup up and offering it to Mona. "I guess. Went for a walk and ended up at the coffeeshop down the road."

He was still hoarse, but Mona thought the low rasp suited him. It was an odd thought, but she couldn't help it. After all, it was only the two of them for the rest of the week.

They settled into a comfortable silence, the only sound in the room being from the television. But then the hot chocolate was finished and Mona couldn't focus on Love Actually anymore. Because her body was there but her mind was in San Francisco, on people who don't even care.

"You're doing it again." When she looked at him, he was already staring, his empty Styrofoam cup sitting next to hers on the coffee table. Without a second thought, it seemed, he was reaching for her hand, the rough pad of his thumb soothingly stroking her skin. "What's going on in that head of yours?"

There was something about the twinkling in his eyes and the honesty in his smile that always got to her. She always wondered how he did it, getting her to open up to him as easily as he did. His hand had slipped from hers, their pinkies linked, and it was the comfort in the gesture that Mona relished in. "Home," she said simply, looking for the question in his eyes that never came. Niall would never be one to judge, she knew, and yet she nearly expected it, almost surprised when his eyes remained fixed on her. "It's," she hesitated, faltering. "It's stupid really."

He hummed, adjusting his body so that his head was resting on the pillow on her lap, reaching up to flick her nose like she always did to him. "I'm sure it's not."

Mona was quiet again, eyes trained on Niall's pinky linked with hers. A huge sigh heaved from her chest. "I didn't...I didn't go home because... Well, I kinda sorta...ran away."

Niall's brows quirked. "Kinda sorta?"

She stumbled. "Well, okay, I literally ran away. It's—Um, it's a bit weird to, um, like...explain. But—"

Niall smiled, and it was only then that Mona realized how hot her skin was, the warmth spreading across her face, and she wondered if Niall could see her blush. "Maybe we should get some more hot chocolate, yeah?" he said, standing up and tugging on her hand so she'd follow him. "Relax a little before you start."

Mona frowned, and with a glance outside the window, she saw that the tree branches were shaking with the wind. "But it's cold outside."

"Mo." Niall was getting ready to roll his eyes, but then there was a spark of mischievousness in the deep blue, a laugh bubbling from his lips. "Baby, it's cold outside," he crooned with his raspy voice, holding back his giggles.

Mona gave him a look. "That's cheesy."

He scoffed. "It's also problematic, but I think we can work with it."

He tugged on her hand with a bit of force, and before she knew it, she was stumbling into his chest. Niall adjusted their position so one of her hands was held in his while the other rested on his shoulder, his other hand—rather shyly, in Mona's opinion—rested on her waist. She huffed at him. "You don't really expect me to sing with you, do you?"

It wasn't as if she was really going to oppose, because his eyes were sparkling and she loved it when they did, because sometimes it was as if he was so engrossed in his own head and with those books of his that sometimes he forgot how to have fun. He shrugged, lips stretched into a wide grin so as to hold back the fit of laughter they both knew was coming. "This evening has been," he continued, feet moving to waltz around Mona and Harlow's sitting room. "So very nice."

Eventually, Mona gave in, racking her brain for the correct lyric. "I'll hold your hands, they're just like ice."

At that, Niall actually laughed, only then realizing that he'd been stuck with the submissive side of the song. "My mother will start to worry," he got out between his giggles.

Mona intentionally deepened her voice, knowing Niall would get a kick out of it. "Beautiful, what's your hurry?" she sang, waggling her eyebrows, and just as she'd expected, Niall nearly doubled over from laughing. Between their fit of hysterics, Mona accidentally skipped a few lines, tears stinging her eyes as she tried to control her amusement. "Beautiful, please don't hurry."

"But maybe just a—" Niall sang, and then paused, knowing that this was one of the creepier lines of the song. Mona watched as he struggled to find sufficient words. His gaze danced around the room, landing on their empty Styrofoam cups. "Maybe just one hot cocoa more." He burst out laughing again, smugly grinning at himself because he thought he was so clever, his eyebrows waggling.

Mona rolled her eyes, but chuckled nonetheless, reaching over to flick Niall's chin. "Alright you dweeb," she said, parting from him to find her coat, which she'd chucked somewhere when they arrived yesterday. "Let's go get some more hot chocolate."

He followed her, giggling as he grabbed his own coat, which he'd draped over the arm of the couch when he arrived earlier. After checking for his wallet, he followed Mona out the door, and she tried not to roll her eyes when he hummed the song under his breath when they started down the stairs.