It was cold.
Like, crazy cold. Skin raising, teeth clattering, blue lips kind of cold. Mona felt like she was in some sort of frozen hell.
Regardless of the absolutely disgusting temperatures, she was at ease. She didn't think she'd be so happy to see the cabin again, and the sight of it coming up in the distance had her heart seizing up in her chest. A slew of memories were starting to come back from their time spent here last year, and she was excited to make some new ones.
Zayn borrowed his cousin's car again and their group ended up in the same arrangements from their Six Flags trip about two months ago. Louis and Cleo made nice additions to their group, and Mona wasn't even bothered that Niall and Cleo were giggling like schoolchildren in the backseat this time. Niall deserved someone who would make him happy, and because sometimes Mona feared that person wasn't going to be her, she was glad Cleo was there to make him laugh.
She was torn from her thoughts when Zayn pulled into the drive. There wasn't a lot of snow on the ground this time around, and Mona was glad for it. If there was anything worse than the bitterly cold winds then it was the icy hell called snow. Louis had stopped to buy gas a few miles back so he wasn't too far behind. In the meantime, she, Zayn, Niall, and Cleo took their time transporting the luggage and food supplies they'd brought along from the car to the cabin.
It was tedious work. Mona didn't realize just how much the little car could hold until she was making a third trip to haul one more bag. She made sure to click the doors locked with the key Zayn had tossed her, closing the door of the cabin behind her when she made her way inside to shut out the cold air that was pricking at her skin. She tossed the bag into the heap of luggage that someone had started near the entrance to the sitting room before moving to get the fire started. It was bitterly cold in the cabin and her fingers were beginning to go a bit numb, so it took a bit of fumbling before she had a cheery fire going. Zayn, Niall, and Cleo were busy stocking the shelves in the kitchen with whatever food supplies had come with them, so Mona resorted to picking her bags from the pile near the door and heading upstairs to choose a room at random.
She tossed the bags near the foot of the bed before shedding her coat and scarf in favor of spreading her bed and bundling up into a blanket cocoon when she was done. Her feet were impossibly cold, and she distantly thought of calling Niall up just so she can tangle her legs with his and leech onto some of his warmth. The expected afterthought that usually told her how stupid it was to wish for things like that never came, and Mona welcomed the silence in her brain for once.
The traveling had her limbs feeling heavy, exhaustion creeping into her bones and weighing them down into the mattress. It wasn't long until her eyes were fluttering shut against her pillows. Before they completely closed though, she caught the sight of something interesting sitting on the stand at the front of the room. She slowly realized that she'd unknowingly chosen the room with the television in it again, and she ended up falling asleep with a grin on her face, knowing that when she woke up from her short nap, the boys will be harassing her for a switch, and she'll never grant them the pleasure.
~
"I honestly cannot believe Mona got the room with the telly again," Harry grumbled, arms crossed over his chest and lips tugged down into a petulant frown as he and Zayn glared at her from the couch.
Zayn huffed in agreement, rolling his eyes when Mona let out an amused scoff. "I know," he all but snarled, angrily taking a bite out of his sandwich. "It's not fair."
Mona shrugged them off, grabbing a sandwich of her own from the platter sitting on the little coffee table and tearing it in half. "Life's not fair, my friends."
By the time she made herself comfortable next to Liam, who, not so surprisingly, was also frowning at her, Harlow, Louis, and Cleo came strolling into the room from the kitchen with a rather frustrated Niall trailing behind them. Mona, again, let out a bemused chuckle.
"We need rules!" huffed Niall, a scarlet flush rising to the tops of his cheeks as he glared at the sheepish trio that he'd just chased out of the kitchen. "Otherwise you lot are going to drive me crazy."
"What kind of rules?" asked Zayn rather warily as he reached over for another mini-sandwich.
Harlow huffed. "Before we do that," she interrupted, giving Niall a pointed look, though Mona knew she was secretly glad that she wasn't the one being chased out of the kitchen this time around. She remembered it like it was yesterday, telling Niall that Harlow burned water once and him not believing her until the kitchen ended up being a mess and it took way too long to calm him down. "We need to set up rooms. There are four rooms and eight of us so we're gonna have to pair up." A thoughtful silence fell over the room until Harlow spoke up again, her next words surprising Mona. "I guess I'll go first," she sighed. "I want the room I had last time. Cleo, you can room with me."
Mona tried not to frown. She was sure Harlow was trying to avoid her because she probably knew that a line of questioning would follow any sort of conversation. Mona didn't mind not rooming with Harlow, she just hoped that she'd work out her issues regarding Zayn and Liam before anything got worse. They'd all be under the same roof for the next week or so, and Mona really didn't want to deal with drama on her break.
"Erm," Harry piped up, sending Zayn a questioning look. "Zayn and I can room together. And Lou and Liam can take the room down here because Mona already set up camp in hers." Mona tried not to look over at Liam's reaction to Harry's statement. Everyone knew he and Liam didn't really get along, but she hoped they'd look past their differences just for this week. "That just leaves Niall, then."
Niall pursed his lips. "I'll find someplace to sleep, don't worry about me. Like Harlow said, there are eight of us here, and we need to establish some rules if we all want to keep our sanity for a week."
Louis scoffed. "You're saying this like we all hate each other and living with each other for a week is comparable to hell."
At that, everyone laughed, which only led to Niall rolling his eyes. Everyone knew he was slightly amused, though, if the twitching corners of his lips were any indication. "Rule number one," Niall began with another eye roll, and the room rumbled with chuckles again. "No one is allowed in the kitchen when food is being made except for me and Mona. All you lot know how to do is how to make a mess."
"Heyyy," Harry drawled out indignantly. "What about me? I'd say my cooking skills have grown immensely."
Zayn cut him off with an unceremonious burp. "Yeah well I'd rather not have over toasted bread and butter for dinner every night so I second that rule."
Harry squawked in response, reaching out to twist at Zayn's nipple, and the whole room laughed in unison at Zayn's high pitched yelp. "Fuck you," came Harry's voice in the commotion, and if anything, everyone started to laugh even louder.
"Well I have a rule to add," Harlow added as the laughter started to die down. When everyone was paying attention to her, she shot both Mona and Niall a pointed look, and Mona instantly knew that it wasn't going to be good. "No sex in the cabin."
At that, the whole cabin shook with the rumble of guffaws and chuckles that followed Harlow's statement, and Mona huffed and shared an unamused look with Niall, whose cheeks, she noticed, flushed an even deeper shade of crimson. "You guys are the worst," she deadpanned, rolling her eyes as the giggles only got worse.
"I have a rule!" Harry got out while trying to suppress his incessant chuckles. "No fighting inside the cabin. If you want to throw some punches then you'll have to leave the premises."
Mona snorted out a huff. The room had gotten a bit quiet at his words, and from the corner of her eyes, she spotted Liam sending Zayn an apologetic look. "Are you condoning physical fighting then?" she asked to relieve some of the tension, and Niall, Louis, and Cleo all reacted in a way to help her do that.
Harry shrugged. "Not really," he said with a smile. "But to each his own, right?"
Everyone seemed to mull over this idea for a few moments before agreeing in unison, and after a few more minutes of banter, Zayn recruited Harry and Louis to help him grab the decorations from the shed next door while Cleo beckoned Harlow to their room to unpack. Liam also made his way back into his room, only turning around to politely tell Mona and Niall to call him if they needed any help.
Mona sighed as she slipped her hand into Niall's and pulled him into the kitchen. She had a feeling it was going to be a long week.
~
"Mo, can you pass me a spoon?" came Niall's voice as she was taking care of the dishes.
She looked up at him as she was placing the last plate onto the drying rack only for her eyes to catch on the slight sheen of sweat that settled above his brows. He had that look about him that he only got when he was focused, lips parted just slightly, and Mona knew that he was running through the recipe in his head to make sure he didn't forget anything. Niall loved to cook, and Mona never saw him more at ease than when he moved around the kitchen. His shoulders were less tense and the gears in his head stopped turning incessantly when he was behind the stove. She also secretly liked the lightest rosy flush that would rise to the tops of his cheeks whenever the temperature in the kitchen got a bit too hot.
He was good at preparing food too, better than Mona even. She acted cool around that fact externally, but on the inside, she couldn't help but be the tiniest bit jealous.
Niall took the spoon from her hands without looking at her and dipped it into the stir fry to catch a bit of everything in it. He held it up to her lips with a glint in his bright bright bright eyes, lips turning upwards into a cheeky smile when Mona blew on steaming food before letting him shove the spoon into her mouth. Niall was a great cook, but he had a problem with salt, and Mona felt a tinge of satisfaction at the fact that he wasn't perfect and that she could still catch up with him in flavor. They were always competitive in the kitchen.
Before she could get a word out, though, there was a loud crashing sound coming from the sitting room, and she and Niall jumped so hard that the spoon clattered to the ground. They exchanged looks of both concern and confusion before Niall moved to turn the gas off and Mona rushed over to the door to see what the commotion was about.
The floor of the sitting room was littered with shards of Harlow's good dining set, a guilty Harry standing just near the damage and an annoyed Harlow, looking as if she was way too close to pulling her hair out, fuming nearby. "What happened?" came Niall's voice from beside Mona—she felt the warmth of his skin radiating from his proximity—as they took in the scene in front of them. Zayn cringed at the question while Louis and Cleo tried, and failed, to hide their amused snickers from where they were lounging on the couch.
"Stupid fucking Harry just dropped—whoa, whoa, freeze!" Everyone in the room peered up curiously at the sudden change in Harlow's tone. Her eyes were trained at something above Niall and Mona's heads, and Mona was confused only for a few moments before realization dawned on her before she even had to look up. She could tell the exact moment Niall realized it too, his breath whooshing out of him as she stiffened up beside him. "Mistletoe."
The cabin was flooded with silence for a good minute and a half. It was so quiet, in fact, that Mona heard Niall's breaths speeding up the slightest bit. She remembered being in this situation before, last year, under this very doorframe, though it wasn't near as tense as now. The silence was broken with Louis letting out a low whistle and a, "I'm sure you two lovebirds know the rules of mistletoe," garnering the snickers of everyone in the room.
Niall, undoubtedly recalling the last time they were in this situation only a year ago, chuckled nervously beside her, clearing his throat as he dipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans. He avoided her eyes. "Erm," he got out, a tensed laugh at the cusp of his tone. "I—like, we don't really have to—"
Harry scoffed. "If you're not gonna snog her then I will."
"No! I mean--" Niall was fumbling over his words, a scarlet tinge rushing to the surface of his skin as he blushed profusely. "Like, I don't really think—"
He stuttered over his words for a few more moments and it got to the point where Louis had to shove his face into a pillow to stop himself from absolutely cackling and Zayn was snorting out his orange juice. Mona found it funny herself, but when Niall's face got impossibly red, she decided to put him out of his misery before she ended up laughing too. She rolled her eyes before grabbing his overheated face and pressed her lips to his, swallowing the surprised sound that worked out of his throat with a grin.
For a while all Mona heard in the background was the wolf whistles coming from their friends because, while she has kissed Niall many, many times before—and she enjoyed kissing Niall very, very much—they'd never blatantly made out in front of their friends before. And when the initial awkwardness passed and Niall got less bashful and more enthusiastic, he placed his baseball mitt hands on the small of her back and pulled her closerclosercloser and it suddenly felt like she couldn't be close enough. It dawned on her that they'd come a long way since the first time they were caught under this very mistletoe, that a year of tiptoeing around each other had somehow led them back to this very spot where it all began, and she felt a surge of overwhelming affection well up inside her chest because Niall meant so much to her and she could never admit that to herself before.
When they pulled away, the cheers and guffaws came back into focus but all Mona could pay attention to was the way Niall was looking at her, blue eyes glazed over with fondness as he brushed away a few stray strands of hair from her face, tucking it back into her bun. It felt right, being all wrapped up in his arms under the mistletoe. Mona didn't want it to end.
But, of course, all good things must end, and Louis proved that with a rather loud cheer accompanied with a whistle that rippled through them until they were jerking away from each other with a start. When she glanced around the room, everyone was grinning at them, a round of applause roaring throughout the room until Niall's face was suffusing with color once again.
A bark of laughter emanated from Zayn and Harry at the sight of Niall's cherry red face because "He's blushing like crazyyyyy, holy shit!"
"Shut up," griped Niall, but he was laughing too, and the only thing he could do for himself as delirious giggles shook through the both of them was bashfully cover his face with his hands before slinking back into the kitchen, pulling Mona inside with him, and the cheers from their crazy group of friends only got louder.
When Mona listened as Louis broke out the whiskey shots as a "celebration," she knew this trip was going to be interesting.
~
Dinner was quite eventful in the sense that everyone seemed to be getting a kick out of teasing Niall and Mona, and Liam and Zayn were interacting again. It wasn't particularly noticeable at first—actually, it wasn't noticeable at all if one didn't pay attention—but Mona watched as they slowly started to warm up to each other again. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Louis had opened another bottle of whiskey, but Zayn didn't cringe when Liam laughed anymore, and Liam actually acknowledged when Zayn said something funny, so Mona considered it progress.
Everyone was well past tipsy but she was still nursing her second glass. She didn't really like being drunk and everyone knew that so they respected her refusal of another glass of whiskey. Niall, on the other hand, was in that stage of drunkenness where he started to show off his crazy knowledge of weird information. At the moment, he was impressing Louis and Cleo by reciting the elements on the periodic table by memory, and, to Mona's surprise, they were actually quite interested.
Mona knew they would regret their decision to decorate the cabin in their inebriated state in the morning, because, at the moment, the place was looking like a tornado ran through it. Louis had somehow managed to tangle himself in the string lights and Harry had dropped more ornaments than he had hung. Still, she couldn't really find it in herself to be the slightest bit annoyed by it all. After all, this was where she wanted to be. This was her family.
The night was well spent, though, regardless of how messy the floor was. They had managed to eat themselves into oblivion thanks to the crazy amounts of food Mona and Niall prepared all while getting drunk on Louis' favorite whiskey. Harry was already asleep on her lap by the time Liam managed to excuse himself to his room without throwing up on the rug, and in a few more moments, everyone else followed suit. Mona helped Harry to the room he was sharing with Zayn and tried not to trip over his lanky, fumbling legs.
After wishing the two of them a good night, she started towards her room only to realize that she'd left her laptop downstairs. She quickly retreated, making her way down the stairs as quietly as she could. She noticed a while back that they had a tendency to creak in certain spots. When she turned the corner into the sitting room, she spotted her laptop on the couch where she left it, but before she could get to it, a hand had latched onto her arm, pulling her back until she was pressed against the doorframe that led to the kitchen, and it took everything in her not to scream.
"Hi," Niall murmured, nose brushing against hers, and once she'd gotten over the initial shock she opened her eyes only to be met with his sparkling blue ones twinkling with mischief. His hands caressed her face, thumb brushing against her lower lip as he watched her intently. Mona wondered how well he was able to read her, wondered if he could tell that the electricity coming from his fingertips was shooting into her so that sparks were running through her veins, wondered if he knew that there were always butterflies fluttering in her core every time he got this close and looked at her like that. Niall drove her crazy, but in all the best ways. She wondered if she made it as obvious as she felt she did. "Guess we're under the mistletoe again."
The puffs of warmth that fanned over her skin from his mouth only had more heat surging through her body and her own breath was starting to run away from her. Despite the fact that she knew exactly what was hanging on the doorframe, she looked up anyway. Maybe she did it to catch her breath a little, but Niall used her moment of weakness to his advantage, his lips skimming up her jawline and latching onto the spot behind her ear that made her knees go weak, creating a searing trail of heat that had her breath whooshing out of her, and she had to hold on to the door frame behind her to keep from collapsing.
She felt the way his lips curled up into a smirk at her reaction, his knee moving to settle between her thighs as he pressed even closer against her, his tongue trailing from that spot at the back of her ear to the curve of her shoulder before he took a bit of the skin between his teeth and sucked lightly. "Missed having you like this," he whispered hotly into her ear, baseball mitt hands trailing up her sides and resting just under her breasts. "All breathless for me. You fucking glow when you blush, it's crazy."
And it's been so long since she's been this close to him or even kissed him with intent that she flushed even deeper at his comment. They'd been so caught up with school and their friends'—and even personal—drama that they haven't even slept in the same bed in weeks. She craved his touch and being pressed against his skin, was desperate for him to have his way with her. No one has ever made her feel this way, but Niall could have heat pooling in her stomach with a simple look. "Aren't you gonna kiss me?" she breathed, feeling hot all over at that point. Niall was too preoccupied with tugging on the sleeve of her loose, baggy jumper so that her shoulder was more exposed for the pleasure of his insatiable lips. "You know the rules of mistletoe."
He hummed against her skin, the vibrations of it zipping down her spine and around to her core, and a breathy whimper left the confines of her throat before she could stop it. His lips trailed a searing line from her shoulder to the swell of her breasts, a gasp rushing through her when she was suddenly sliding up the frame, her feet leaving the ground as her body was supported on his knee and being pinned down to the frame with his hips so he could get a better reach across her chest. She couldn't help the breathless sound that left her lips as he made his way up to the spot behind her ear again, biting down and sucking until her back was arching off the doorframe.
When he finally kissed her, Mona saw stars behind her closed eyelids. She tasted the whiskey on his tongue but he somehow smelled sweet, like chocolate, and she almost felt as if she was drunk simply by the taste and scent of him.
He pulled away all too soon, lowering his knee until her feet were once again on the ground, moving away from her until he was slumped on the other side of the door frame. He was a breathless sort of pretty in the dimmed light, all pink cheeks and red, swollen lips, and Mona felt as if the thick column of his neck was calling her name when he slumped his head back against the wood to catch his breath.
"That was the best mistletoe kiss I've ever had," she whispered in the quiet of the cabin, and Niall chuckled breathily in response.
"I'm flattered," he said, voice deep and husky and Mona felt her knees weaken again. There was silence for a few more moments, and she watched as Niall's eyes fell heavier and heavier until she was sure he'd fall asleep leaning on the doorframe. But then, his eyes popped open, the bright blue of it twinkling as he looked at her. "What do you say to going on an adventure with me?"
Mona snorted rather unattractively because of all the things she expected him to say, that was not it. "Niall," she laughed, "it's almost midnight."
He shrugged, grinning. "That's what makes it adventurous."
She huffed on another laugh, rolling her eyes but not protesting when Niall reached for her wrist and tugged. He knew she wouldn't say no and she knew that she would probably follow him to the ends of the earth, no questions asked.
~
"You're fucking crazy," panted Mona as she reached for Niall's hand on the trek up the hill behind the cabin. She did not like Niall's idea of adventuring.
He laughed, the sound emanating from his gut and echoing all around them. "And you're out of shape."
She groaned. Her thighs burned and she panted harder and harder the farther they got up the hill. He always found ways to make her breathless, she thought with an eye roll. He knew just how to push her buttons because they were dealing with two things she didn't like at the moment: the cold, and physical activity. "Why are we hiking up here in the middle of the night anyway? Are you secretly psycho and using this opportunity finally get rid of me?"
Her attempt at a joke wasn't all that funny but Niall still laughed, and somehow her efforts seemed a little more worth it. He stopped in his tracks, turning around and leaning forward until their noses were nearly touching. His eyes glowed in the moonlight. "How'd you know?" he said lowly, and Mona's stomach dipped weirdly at the way he squeezed her hand, warmth surging through her.
"Fuck off," she said, pushing him away, though it wasn't all that intimidating with the breathiness of her voice. Niall laughed again and pulled her up so they were walking side by side, untangling his hand from hers so he could wind his arm along her lower back to help her keep up speed. The crunch of what little bit of snow was settled over the dead grass was the only sound in the silent night, and Mona would've found this whole thing creepy if the moon wasn't full and if Niall wasn't by her side.
When they got to the top, they decided to rest along the rocks that seemed stable enough to sit on, and it was only when they stopped walking that Mona started to feel the chill of the night pricking at her cheeks. She couldn't focus too much on the frigid temperatures, though. All that seemed to register in her mind was the fact that Niall couldn't really stop smiling, and neither could she if she was being honest with herself. There was a sort of electricity between them that had her heart pumping twice as fast and her bones feeling light with an emotion that she could only describe as happiness.
Niall unzipped his coat and reached in to produce a thermos. "Brought something you might like." He was grinning from ear to ear when he handed it to her, and Mona couldn't help the adoration that fluttered high in her chest.
The thermos was hot to the touch but she didn't really need it as a source of warmth when she had her sunshine boy by her side. Still, she teased, "Did you seriously keep this in your coat and watch me suffer in the freezing cold without sharing?" Niall simply laughed in response—honestly, Mona would never get tired of that sound—and scooted closer so they were pressed tightly together.
He reached out for the thermos and opened it for her. "I know you really don't like the cold so to make up for you agreeing to go adventuring with me, I brought my special hot chocolate."
She hummed before taking the thermos from him. "And what makes it so special, Blondie?" She decided to answer her own question by taking a sip, and sure enough, as the hot liquid made its way down her throat, she could tell just how special it was. "Ohh, I see," she laughed. "So I was right. You brought me up here to give me whiskey-laced hot chocolate and then you'll get rid of me."
He shrugged, swiping the thermos to take a swig of his own. "You're right," he said, dragging the back of his gloved hand over his upper lip where a chocolaty moustache had formed. "Need t'get you out of the way so I have no competition in our best chef competition." Mona laughed loudly, her head lolling onto Niall's shoulder to stifle her giggles in the collar of his coat. Niall brought his arm over her shoulders to bring her closer and they stay like that for a few moments before he said, "Anyway, I brought you up here because it's a full moon and the stars are out and you don't get this kind of view in the city."
She smiled into his coat, unable to suppress the feeling that was fluttering in her chest and starting to radiate out into the rest of her. "It reminds you of home, doesn't it?" When she sat up properly, he was looking at her with that sad glint in his eyes that she hated because she didn't know what it meant. She wanted him to laugh again.
"It reminds me of Ireland, yes. But that's not home anymore." Niall's skin seemed to glow in the moonlight with his words, and he radiated a sort of light that seeped into her skin and settled in her bones. She had to take a gulp of the hot chocolate to tamp down the urge to smile again.
"Where's home then?" she asked, her voice hushed. She could see her breath fanning out in smokey plumes as she spoke, but, for once, she wasn't cold.
Niall's eyes glittered just like the stars in the sky, lips quirking upwards into a tiny smile. "Right here," he whispered, and her breath caught in her throat.
Because, right then, she had a word for the feeling that had been growing in her from the time she kissed Niall under the mistletoe, the feeling that probably started months before. She knew in that moment that Niall had always been special because she couldn't feel this way about anyone else. As the stars twinkled in the sky and reflected in Niall's sparkling eyes, she realized just how much she was in love with her best friend.
"Shit," she muttered under her breath at the realization. This wasn't supposed to happen. She wasn't supposed to feel this way about him. Someone was going to end up hurt in this situation.
"What?" Niall asked with another laugh threatening to break through his voice. He was looking at her all amused, and Mona tried to school her features in such a way that she wouldn't look as mortified as she felt.
"Umm." She was getting all breathless again, all caught up in the way he shined so bright and she was flickering out. "I—we, um, ran out of hot chocolate?"
And Niall simply laughed his sunshine laugh and brought his gloved hand to her face, his thumb stroking her cheekbones before he leaned in to run his tongue over the top of her lips and then kissing her sweetly. Mona felt all the oxygen get knocked out of her lungs. "Well," he drawled, voice low enough to send chills down her spine, "ya had some on your lip there, but I guess it's mine now."
He smiled against her lips and kissed her again, and Mona realized another thing in that moment.
She was truly and utterly fucked.
~
Mona felt like she needed to get away from Niall for a few moments to process these new feelings, so the first thing she did when they got back to the cabin was shed her winter gear for the shower.
She spent half an hour in the shower just thinking. She thought about how far she and Niall have come since they first fell asleep in the same bed in that very room. She thought about how he treated her like she hung the moon in the sky and how he kissed her like he was giving her everything he had and how he was genuinely sweet and kind and this beautiful ball of light, stumbling into her life just when she was looking for some sunshine in her dark days. She thought about being his and being able to hold his hand in the streets and kiss him whenever she wanted. She thought about the two of them in five or ten years in a tiny house with just the things they needed and being content because they had each other and that was enough.
And then she turned the knob until the water ran colder because those thoughts were just absurd.
She finished up her shower a few moments later, drying off with her towel before realizing that she hadn't brought any clothes with her. Swearing under her breath, she hoped Niall was asleep when she went into the room because she didn't think she'd be able to stop herself if he tried anything with her. It wasn't as if she particularly cared about Harlow's cheeky rule, but the heat was still pooled in the pit of her belly and she couldn't help the want crawling through her skin that the cold shower couldn't wash away.
Just her luck, Niall was most definitely not sleeping when she entered the room and locked the door behind her. Last year the boys tried to pull some awful pranks on her to get her to switch rooms with them, and if anything were to happen tonight, then she didn't need them barging right into it.
Niall was lounging on the edge of the bed with his feet planted to the floor. He'd already tugged off his shirt and tossed it somewhere and was scrolling through his phone. At the sight of him, she realized that he wouldn't have to be the one to try something to get her going. She was already riled up as it was, and she couldn't help the way her feet propelled her forward until she was standing right in front of him.
He smiled at the sight of her, locking his phone before tossing it somewhere on the bed behind him and sitting up. His fingers reached out to toy with the end of the towel wrapped securely around her, knuckles brushing over the tops of her thighs where the towel ended, bright blue eyes twinkling as he grinned up at her.
At that point, all of her self-control went out the window. It had been ages since she'd spent some proper time with him all tangled up in her sheets and she wasn't about to miss this opportunity just because of some dumb cabin rule. And besides, it wasn't as if she could resist it when, with his shirt off, it was obvious that he'd been finding time to work out, his shoulders more broadened and defined since she'd last taken a good look at him. She placed her hands on the hard muscle of his shoulders for balance as she straddled his lap, his breath fanning over her collarbones as he huffed out a laugh.
"Don't you remember the rules, Ms. Shaw?" he teased, yet his baseball mitt hands were smoothing across her skin beneath the towel, running over the curve of her ass up to the dip of her waist.
She grinned against his lips before dotting slow kisses over his stubbly jawline, relishing in the slow sigh that worked its way out from his throat as he leaned into her touch. He had her feeling like her entire world was spinning uncontrollably on its axis but he was her anchor to keep her tethered to the ground. There was this fluttering emotion flying high in her chest, and she had to keep it trapped there before it made its way up her throat and onto her tongue. She was madly in love with him but she couldn't tell him. She didn't know how. "I don't follow rules," she murmured into his cheek.
He laughed and she tasted the brightness of it on his tongue when she kissed him properly. He was sunshine and she was darkness and they would never work together yet she wanted so badly for them to fit. They weren't puzzle pieces that slotted together but she loved him with her heart and soul anyway. He was able to sneak up on her and shatter her walls down, and now that she realized it, she didn't know what to do.
She did, however, know what to do when he loosened the towel where it was secured near her chest and let it drop to the floor in a whisper of quiet. "Shhh," was what came out of his mouth when her fingers found the waistband of his sweats. "Hav'ta be really," a kiss, "very," another kiss, "quiet."
She grinned against his lips before tangling her fingers into the soft, brown hairs at the back of his head as he rolled them over to settle between her thighs after shucking his remaining pieces of clothing off. "No promises," she whispered, eliciting another breathy laugh from him.
This started off as just sex, and it was going to stay that way.