little do you know // niall horan au

chapter 19; broken frames

All of that probably led to Harlow gently knocking at her door about an hour later. "Mona darling?" Her voice was muffled through the door, and Mona closed her eyes against her pillow, not having the energy to answer. "We don't have to talk about it now. But at least let me make you a cup of tea. It'll warm you up."

As soon as she said that, Mona realized that she was shivering under her blankets. She still didn't have any clothes on, and her hair was still damp. A cup of tea actually sounded amazing in that moment.

Harlow didn't wait for her answer, simply giving her the time and space to make up her mind. In the meantime, Mona somehow found the willpower to peel herself off her bed, crossing the room to grab a towel. She dried her skin and her hair and slipped into some comfy leggings, a worn t-shirt, and a warm hoodie. She was just putting some socks on, having worn the hoodie for all of three minutes, before she got a whiff of the scent that was clinging to it and realized belatedly that it was Niall's.

She couldn't bring herself to take it off.

As she headed towards the door, she caught a glance of herself in the mirror. Her skin was pale, undereyes swollen and red-rimmed. Her face was puffy, nose red from the cold, and lips tinged a ghostly pale blue. She tossed her towel over her mirror before she headed out the door. She didn't know who that person was, reflected in her mirror, but she didn't want to see them again.

When she got to the kitchen and slid herself onto a chair at their tiny excuse for a kitchen table, Harlow already had her tea ready and placed it in front of her. Zayn and Harry were still there, also seated at the kitchen table, and Harlow took the last chair available. No one said anything. They simply tentatively sipped on their beverages while Mona stared at the swirls of steam emanating from her mug.

When she finally took a sip of her tea, they all placed their mugs down on the table, watching her carefully. She knew what they were doing. They were deciding what kind of mood she seemed to be in, whether they should push the topic or simply stay silent. Mona knew they saw this going one of several ways. If they broached the topic, then she could either walk away and lock herself in her bedroom or she would actually indulge them with a conversation, which, really, the latter option was highly unlikely. Or, they could play it safe and simply say nothing at all, which ensured that she sat at the table with them, and she didn't cry or get angry.

Mona knew there was another option as well, that she would start a conversation herself. But she knew that everyone was aware that pigs would have to be flying out of their window for that to happen.

It was clear what they had chosen after a few moments. Silence. No one asked her anything, and she didn't offer a word. It was better this way, she figured. She wasn't in any state of mind to relive the past few hours of her life, and she knew that they respected her enough to give her space when she needed it.

From the corner of her eye, she watched Harlow give Harry a concerned sort of look and Harry shook his head at her, probably to discourage her from asking questions. Mona took that as her cue to get out of there. If Harlow was getting antsy, it was only a matter of time before she started to talk everyone's ear off.

"Thanks for the tea, Roop," Mona got out, though it really just sounded like a whisper. She pushed the mug to the center of the table and dragged her feet back to her room. After locking the door behind her, she shucked her socks off and crawled back into her bed, where she had stayed until now.

She had just woken up from another fitful slumber and was now staring at the ceiling. Her hands mindlessly reached for her phone from where she'd left it charging on her nightstand. When she unlocked it, the screen showed her the last desperate text messages she'd sent to Niall, the red exclamation point signaling that it was not delivered mocking her in the corner of each message.