little do you know // niall horan au

chapter 17; bumper cars (part i)

It was much warmer in Las Vegas than it was in San Francisco.

Mona wasn't completely sure how they'd gotten here. She was too busy rolling her eyes at the fact that they all got split up on their journey.

"Mo, if you roll your eyes one more time they might just fall out of your head," griped Zayn. He was always irritable whenever it was too hot.

She replied to him with a smack to the chest. In front of them, Niall laughed. "Will you two stop now. We're almost there." He was sitting in the passenger seat of the cab they were in, though if Mona was being honest, they should have put Zayn up there. Maybe if he complained enough the cab driver would have kicked him out.

"Thank god." Zayn slumped against his seat, face nearly hanging out of the open window. He resembled something akin to a dog.

"You're such a child," muttered Mona. "Worse than Harry."

Zayn gasped dramatically, and she eyed him warily. She wasn't sure what exactly had gotten into him. He was acting more theatrical than normal. "That's insulting."

Niall huffed. But before he could say anything, the cab was pulling up in front of the hotel and Zayn was already opening the door to tumble out. Niall paid the driver while Mona and Zayn grabbed their bags from the trunk. Zayn handed Niall his belongings before they walked into the hotel. Mona sighed in relief as they spotted Harlow, Liam, and Harry waiting for them in the lobby.

"What took you guys so long?" Harlow asked as they headed towards the check-in desk. Mona didn't dignify her with a response because she knew that Harlow was fully aware of the situation. The airport lost some of Mona and Zayn's luggage and they had to wait for them to find it. Luckily, they did, otherwise Mona was sure Zayn was about to throw a fit. Niall simply stuck around to be nice—but also probably to make sure Zayn didn't punch someone.

Mona sighed at the irony. Once upon a time, the roles would have been reversed.

"Alright?" Niall asked her now, nudging her shoulder with his. They were at the back of the line that had formed at the desk. He was already smiling at her when she looked up, and she couldn't help the way her body slumped towards him.

"Just a tiny bit irritated," she muttered, stepping up as the line moved.

At that, Niall chuckled, nudging her again. "Wouldn't be Mona if you weren't irritated at something."

She sent him a glare but ended up cracking a smile nonetheless. "Shut up."

Niall laughed and she found herself laughing too. He smoothed a hand along her lower back, leading her up as the line moved and it wasn't long until it was her turn. This was meant to be Deepa and Aditya's trip with their friends but they changed their minds at the last moment, passing the tickets and reservations along to Harlow and the rest of them. It was a free trip and it all seemed like a solid idea to Mona.

Until now.

"Oh!" the receptionist exclaimed excitedly when Mona gave her name and she inputted it into the computer. "You're just on time! Your honeymoon suite has just been prepared."

Mona rose a questioning brow. Behind her, Niall coughed. "My what?"

The receptionist's smile faltered a bit but she put it back into place quickly. "Your honeymoon suite, ma'am. With, uh—" she looked at her screen again, "Mr. Niall Horan."

Mona's jaw slackened. She glanced behind her at Niall, who looked equally as bewildered as she felt. She couldn't understand how such a mistake could have been made, but when her eyes landed on her group of friends standing off to the side, she realized that this was no slip-up. Harlow was biting her lips, averting her eyes, and Harry and Liam were both trying to hide their laughter behind their fists. Zayn, for his part, looked at her a bit apologetically, but she rolled her eyes at all of them regardless.