little do you know // niall horan au

chapter 24; gravity

Niall was freaking out.

His leg had healed significantly over the past few weeks, and he didn't need the crutches all too much anymore, but he still needed to take it easy. Which was why Mona could not understand why he was currently limping back and forth across the length of his bedroom. She didn't know why he was so stressed. After all, nothing was happening that warranted this type of behavior.

The only thing that was happening was that his mom was coming over for a visit.

"This is a big deal!" he got out frustratedly after she insisted, for the millionth time, that it was not. "I told her that she didn't have to come and that I was fine but of course she didn't listen and is coming over here for the second time in the past few months—"

"Niall," Mona huffed, cutting him off. She was currently sitting on his bed helping him sort through his clean laundry since apparently she kept leaving her socks in his hamper and now she couldn't find any of them. "You're being ridiculous."

Finally, he stopped pacing, but only to send a glare her way. "You're not helping," he muttered after a moment, resuming his route across the length of his room.

Mona groaned, tossing a sock at him. The stress was radiating off of him and it was starting to make her feel jittery. "Stop it, you're driving me nuts!"

Niall huffed, turning towards his window and leaning on the edge. "You don't have to be here then," he muttered under his breath. Clearly it wasn't exactly meant for her to hear.

But she definitely heard it, and she rolled her eyes, pausing to watch him quietly for a few moments. He was leaning on the windowsill to take the pressure off his bad leg, occasionally running his fingers through the hair near the nape of his neck in the way he did when he was annoyed. She frowned to herself, wondering what about this situation had him so worked up. She thought he and his mom were fine.

She figured she should let him cool off for a bit before asking him again, so she slipped off his bed and towards the kitchen. Liam wasn't around and with only the two of them in the apartment, it was unnervingly silent. She opened the freezer to see if there were any ice packs in there since Niall had an annoying habit of leaving them around. Luckily, there was one left. She grabbed it and wrapped it in some paper towels, knowing that Niall would probably be in pain once his adrenaline rush wore out with all the pacing he was doing.

When she got back to the room, Niall was sitting on the bed, elbows resting on his thighs and head bowed as he rubbed his temples with his fingers. She sighed to herself. She didn't like seeing him so upset. Silently, she made her way over to him. His eyes were closed before she reached out to him, and when she trailed her fingers through his hair, he looked up at her with those sad blue eyes that always made her heart ache.

"Thanks," he mumbled when she handed him the ice pack. "And I'm sorry for being a jerk."

Mona smiled at him. "C'mere," she murmured, holding her arms out towards him, and he wasted no time in pulling her in, her knees nestled between his as he wrapped his arms around her hips and rested his forehead on her tummy. She held him for a while, swaying slightly with her fingers playing with his hair. It was a bit grown out since he hadn't had a haircut in a while and it was still slightly damp from the shower he'd just had, but he hummed as she pressed her fingers over his scalp and down the back of his neck, rubbing circles all the way across the width of his back.

He sighed, shoulders slumping as he relaxed. She leaned down to press her lips to his head, and when he looked up at her, she thought that he looked so exhausted, so she pressed another kiss to his lips too. "I'm tired," he mumbled quietly against her lips. "Will you lay down with me?"