little do you know // niall horan au

chapter 16; do you know? (part i)

Mona felt numb.

They landed in California about three hours ago. Harlow begged her to accompany her to her house, but Mona adamantly refused, opting to stay at the hotel with the boys instead. She wasn't in the state of mind to go say hello to Harlow's family, knowing that if she showed up there looking like the zombie she felt like, she'd have to answer a lot of questions, which she didn't really want to deal with right now.

She spent the better part of the past few hours laying in her hotel bed staring at the ceiling. The traveling was tiring but despite all of it, she couldn't sleep. Her mind flitted from thought to thought relentlessly and she was starting to feel the beginnings of a headache swirl around her temples. Sighing, she hugged a pillow to her chest. Something about being in a hotel room in San Francisco had her feeling so incredibly alone.

Without thinking, she swung her legs over the edge of the bed, slipping her feet into her slippers before heading towards the door. She wasn't sure where she was going until she found herself in front of Niall's room, and it was too late to turn back because she could see her hand reaching forward to knock.

Niall opened the door almost immediately, glasses perched low on his nose and hair a disheveled mess. "Mo, hey," he breathed at the sight of her, lips curling up into that sweet smile she loved to hate. "Everything alright?"

Mona wasn't sure why she was here. But when Niall smiled at her, those bright blue eyes glimmering in her direction, she realized she just wanted to feel less lonely for a while. "Um," was what came out of her mouth as she averted her eyes. She wasn't sure how to phrase what it was that she was feeling. "I dunno, I just—is it okay if I—" She huffed at herself as she trailed off, frustrated at her inability to express herself.

Niall, as always, understood, his hands lightly brushing over hers to tug her inside. When she looked up, he was shaking his head at her, a knowing smile on his face. "Yes, Mo. It's okay if you hang out in here for a while."

Mona huffed again, but this time there was laughter in it. She let Niall pull her into his room, his hands warm against hers as he tangled their fingers together. There were books all over his bed and she couldn't help the way she grinned at the sight of them. Only Niall would study on their break.

"Sorry," he mumbled as he moved them to make room for her, looking up to send her a sheepish smile. "Was bored."

She rolled her eyes, immediately shuffling under the blanket to make herself comfortable. "Of course you were." Niall tossed her the remote with a scoff, slipping into the bed next to her. He continued reading as she flicked through the channels, eventually landing on the Food Network. She tried not to think too hard about leaning her head against his shoulder. For some reason, she'd been overthinking all of her actions lately and it was starting to drive her crazy.

Niall leaned into her as well, eyes never leaving his book. They stayed like that for a while, just breathing, quietly enjoying each other's company. Mona missed feeling like this, like she could just sit here and relax with him and nothing else really mattered, at least not for a while. Really, she just missed Niall in general. She hadn't realized just how unhappy ignoring him would make her. Her world was dim without her sunshine boy.

"What are you thinkin' so hard about?" Niall's voice was a whisper along her hairline, and when she looked up at him, he was smiling at her. She returned the smile easily, reaching up to push his glasses back up his nose.

"You," she replied. She could afford to be honest about this. Holding everything in all the time made her feel exhausted and drained. Niall raised his brows at her in surprise and she breathed out a laugh. "I just missed you."