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.
She turned back to the receptionist. "Um. I'm so sorry but there's been some mistake."
"Oh." The word sounded now much flatter coming from the receptionist than it did previously. She typed away on her computer, and as each moment passed, her smile quickly fell. "Oh my gosh, I'm very sorry but your reservation is for a honeymoon suite."
Mona opened her mouth to say something but no words came out. She was going to kill her friends. Niall cleared his throat behind her, pressing a soothing hand to her back as he stepped closer to the desk. "Erm, is it possible to just fix the issue? Can you cancel the suite and get us separate rooms?"
The receptionist hissed in a breath. "I'm sorry. We have no more vacancies."
Mona sighed. She looked at Niall, whose cheeks were flushed with what she knew was a nervous pink. His hand was still a warm weight on her back. "It, uh," he murmured, eyes widened nervously. "It's not that bad is it?"
Mona's stomach dropped with the realization of the fact that he thought she reacted so harshly because she didn't want to share a room with him. The truth was, she didn't think she could spend these few days with him, in the same bedroom, in Vegas, without her feelings for him growing exponentially.
But, of course, she couldn't tell him that.
She turned to the receptionist with the most convincing smile she could muster. "Okay, it's fine. We can make it work."
The receptionist fixed her brightest smile back onto her face and completed the check-in. She handed them their key cards and a voucher for a complementary in-room breakfast, and when it was all over Mona gathered all their things, grabbed Niall's hand, and marched angrily over to their friends.
"The look on your faces!" Harlow began to squeal, but Mona quickly cut her off.
"I can't believe you did that!" she gritted out. If looks could kill, Mona was sure Harlow would have been on the floor by now. "What the fuck were you thinking?"
Harlow, for her part, simply rolled her eyes. Beside her, Zayn looked as if he wished the ground would swallow him whole. "Well," she drawled, "Deepa was giving me and Zayn the honeymoon suite but then after Zayn and I talked it over, we decided that we should just give it to you guys!"
Mona sent a glare at Zayn, who simply mouthed I'm so sorry to her, and then crossed her arms before returning her death gaze to Harlow. "And what gave you that bright idea, Roop."
Harlow waved her off, much to her irritation. "Never mind all that. Let's just all go up to our rooms and rest up. I want to hit the clubs tonight!"
Mona huffed, watching Harlow and the gang make their way towards the elevators before shaking her head and grabbing her own bags. Niall was still beside her. When she looked over at him, he was frowning. "What is it Niall?"
She grimaced at the way he flinched. She didn't mean to take out her frustration with Harlow on him, but she also didn't know how to explain that to him. "If you're uncomfortable," he mumbled, shrugging, "I can room with Harry or Liam for the next few days."
Mona scoffed. She bumped her hip against his as best as she could while juggling her bags. They walked into the elevator that was empty of their friends, who'd already beat them to one a few moments before. "Don't be ridiculous. What am I going to do in a honeymoon suite all by myself?" She pressed the button to their floor, leaning back against the mirrored glass and watching as his features significantly relaxed. "I guess it can't be that bad. We can boast to the others about the jacuzzi that's probably in there." She reached out to tap against the corners of his lips so he'd smile a little bigger, and when he did, she swore the whole damn elevator car lit up. "Besides," she murmured, wrapping her arms around his waist, "if there's anyone I'd rather share it with, it's you."
Niall simply leaned his forehead against hers and smiled. And Mona figured that this trip couldn't be too bad.
~
"Can you zip me up?" Mona called out to Niall, who was still taking his sweet time in the ensuite.
"Yeah, gimme a sec," he called out in reply, and Mona sighed.
She really wasn't in the mood to go to the club. Or she was, but she would much rather spend the night in the room enjoying room service and free champagne with Niall. The "club" was connected to the hotel via a glass corridor. They had discovered it when they'd been exploring earlier.
"We need to come down here tonight!" Harlow had exclaimed excitedly, noting the TV screen near the door flashing the events planned for the night. Apparently, several affluent DJs, all of whom Mona had never heard of, were booked for the night, much to the excitement of Harlow, Liam, and Zayn. Harry, Niall, and Mona simply sent each other wary looks and shrugged at their friends, knowing there was no point in even saying anything as their minds were already made up.
Besides, they were in Vegas. It was probably against the rules to not go to at least one club during their stay.
Afterwards, they had gone up to the roof, where there was a swimming pool as well as an exquisite view of everything Vegas had to offer. Mona couldn't help the way she watched it in awe. She'd never dreamed of ever making it here, especially not with this group of people she'd come to think of as her family. It seemed so surreal.
What seemed even more surreal though, was the way Niall gently slid against the railing next to her, giving her shoulder a nudge only to send her the most radiant grin when she looked up at him. She had returned his smile, holding back the Hey Niall, we're in Vegas where anything is possible so I kinda feel obligated to tell you that I'm in love with you from escaping the confines of her throat.
Luckily, they were moving again. Mona overheard Harlow saying something about taking a nap before partying their asses off tonight and she didn't know about the others, but she could really use some rest. She'd never been the greatest at traveling, and despite the plane ride being on the shorter side, she was still feeling a bit tired.
She lagged behind her group. In front of her, Niall was laughing at something Liam said, and as they waited for the elevator, he stretched his arms over his head and yawned. It was a completely normal thing to do, but still, Mona found herself gulping at the sight of the strip of skin Niall's ridden up t-shirt left exposed from the stretch, the lines of his hips clearly visible from his low slung jeans. She blinked the emotion away, averting her eyes and focusing on biting her fingernails instead.
She didn't know what had come over her. She supposed it was because she hadn't been intimate with anyone in months. She hadn't even thought about sex or anything in that time frame, and suddenly, they were here, in Vegas, the dry heat in the air wrapping around them, and she didn't know what to do with herself.
The weight of her situation suddenly hit her. She was sharing a room with Niall. A honeymoon suite. And she hadn't properly been with Niall since their cabin trip around the holidays.
Niall met her eyes as they filed into the elevator. The way he smiled at her had her knees going a little weak. Oh god, she thought to herself. There was no way she was going to survive this trip.
Now, as Niall opened the ensuite door, emerging through it from a cloud of steam and that cologne—well, maybe not really a cloud, but it sure as hell looked that way in Mona's mind—that drove her crazy, she couldn't help the way the butterflies fluttered in her stomach at the sight of him. He looked good. Too good. He had the top few buttons of his shirt undone, hair done up in that tousled yet styled look that she loved.
She hadn't realized she was staring until his hands were smoothing down her hips, breaking her out of her daze. The heat of his skin radiated across hers, the grin he sent her causing a warm flush to take over her body. "You look nice," he murmured, words cascading down her neck as he leaned in closer to her ear. He was close, very close, and if Mona were only to shift back the slightest bit, her back would have pressed against his chest.
"Thanks," she managed to get out despite her tongue feeling a bit too heavy, a slight shiver working through her skin as he brushed her hair to one side of her shoulder, the tip of his finger lightly grazing the back of her neck. His eyes didn't leave hers once, and she felt hypnotized by his gaze, the bright blue glimmering mischievously. He knew he had her under his spell.
His fingers made a point to graze her body on their way to the zipper at the back of her dress and it honestly felt like it took centuries for him to pull it all the way up. He leaned as close to her as he possibly could, stubble grazing her cheeks and sending chills down her spine. Goosebumps had already rippled all across her skin, and it didn't help that Niall's eyes were locked on hers through the mirror.
She was actually starting to feel a bit lightheaded, the air heavy with want around them. Her vow of staying away from him, which she had so diligently kept up with for the past few months, was definitely not going to last on this trip.
"Something on your mind?" he asked coyly, blue eyes absolutely glittering. His hands had somehow found their way back to her hips.
Mona, for the life of her, could not produce words. Her throat was so dry and her tongue felt so heavy that it just was not possible. She simply shook her head, in a complete daze, and that reaction was enough for Niall's grin to widen tenfold.
"Mona Shaw, flustered?" His voice dipped in feigned surprise as he spun her around, lightly pinning her against the edge of the dresser with a press against her waist. His nose lightly grazed against hers and Mona couldn't help the way her eyes fluttered, gaze suddenly locked on his lips. "I ought'a tell everyone downstairs. They'd get a kick out of that."
As if on cue, someone's phone rang. It took a few seconds for Mona to recognize it as her ringtone for Harlow. Suddenly, her eyes shot up to meet Niall's, widening at the mischief swirling around his pupils.
They both made a mad dash for the phone lying somewhere on the bed. Niall's arms tried to grab around her waist to slow her down but she was too fast for him. She crashed into the mattress in her frazzled dash, hands searching the disheveled sheets for the phone. Somehow, her fingers found it and she latched onto it, Niall cackling behind her as he tried to wrestle it away. She started to laugh uncontrollably as she attempted to fend him off, pushing at him to release herself of his grip.
But then, the phone stopped ringing, and, suddenly, she was pinned under Niall, his baseball mitt hands pressing her wrists to the mattress, and the laughter stopped. Silence engulfed them, save for the sounds of their panting breaths, and the heavy air returned, blanketing them into stillness.
Mona gulped as Niall's face inched the slightest bit closer to hers. The tip of his nose brushed against hers before slowly trailing down the side of her face. His lips brushed ever so lightly over her skin and Mona felt all of the air leave her body. She nearly shifted her head to catch his lips with hers before she realized he was slipping the phone out of her hand and pulling away.
It took a few long moments for her to gather her wits about her because her brain was still stuck two minutes in the past. By the time her vision zeroed in on Niall again, he was standing and had put several feet of space between them. He was grinning madly, teasing her with her phone in his hands, but she couldn't find it in herself to care about all of that because all she could focus on was how bad she wanted to kiss him.
Niall seemed to notice soon enough because she was still staring at him, her limbs sprawled across the bed as she watched him. She had to bite her lips to stop herself from saying something stupid because the moment stretched on in utter silence, both of them simply watching each other. Something in Niall's face changed at that. He gulped before slipping the phone into his pocket as he inched towards her slightly. "Fuck," he ended up muttering under his breath before nearly throwing himself at her.
When their lips met, it was like magic. Mona saw stars and fireworks and colors when Niall kissed her, his hands holding her face delicately but his lips moving with a passion so unlike any Mona had ever felt. Niall sighed into her mouth when her back hit the mattress, one hand snaking around to tangle into her hair while the other slid down her body to adjust her legs around his hips. He swiped his tongue along her lower lip before rolling it between his teeth slightly, and the action had a sort of delirious sound bubbling out from her throat. Her hands didn't know where to go—one moment they were carding through his hair and the next moment they were sliding down his torso to skim along the waistband of his jeans, which had him huffing into her mouth.
She wasn't able to get too far with that one though, because they were being jolted out of being consumed by each other with the phone ringing again. Niall groaned at the sound of it, rolling off of her to lay down on the mattress, and once Mona could blink the white clouds from her vision and turn her head to look at him, she was met with the sight of his heaving chest and bright red lips as he slid his finger across the phone screen to answer it and held it up to his ear.
It was Harlow obviously, calling to find out where they were. But Mona couldn't find it in herself to pay much attention to the conversation. Instead, she found herself lifting her head and resting it on her fist to get a better look at him as he scrubbed his fingers along his flushed cheeks while giving whatever excuse to Harlow. Mona didn't really care about leaving their friends waiting. As she stared at his lips, she realized that all she really wanted to do was kiss him for the rest of the night.
When he wrapped up the call and tossed the phone to the side, she took the opportunity to swing her leg over his legs to straddle his waist, which, again, had him groaning. "We should probably stop and go meet up with the rest of them, you know." He tried to sound scolding but the rasp to his voice wasn't helping in his case. Nonetheless, his hands immediately went to her hips, sliding down until they were skimming across her exposed thighs from her ridden up dress, his fingers lightly tracing random shapes onto her skin.
She grinned at him, trailing her fingers along the buttons of his shirt and leaning down until their lips were nearly brushing together. "Or we could just stay here," she got out, voice merely a whisper. Niall sighed into her mouth when she kissed him again, hands trailing up to her back to pull her down until it was hard to tell where he started and she ended.
They made out for a few more moments before Niall was sitting up on the bed and huffing—though to Mona's ears it sounded more like a moan—as he pulled his lips away from hers. "You need to get off of me before we really end up staying here," he groused, attempting to shove her off of him.
Mona giggled before wrapping her arms loosely over his shoulders again, leaning forward to rest her forehead on his. Because she genuinely couldn't help herself, she moved closer to press one last light kiss to the corner of his mouth before she slipped off his lap and straightened up her clothes. When she met his eyes, she saw a glimmer swirling in the bright blue that she'd never seen before. He was wearing a soft, fond smile, cheeks flushed with that light rosy pink that she loved, and the sight of him had butterflies erupting in her tummy.
This was different. Something was different.
As she turned around to look at herself in the mirror, she saw the same look in her own dark brown eyes, and she wondered what exactly it was.
~
The club was hot.
And loud.
And unbearably crowded.
Mona was on her third drink of the night and, needless to say, she was already tipsy. Everyone else had fucked off to god knows where and she was left at the booth with Zayn, who was now sliding back into his seat with another round of shots. He slid one to Mona with a sly grin on his face, hair wilting slightly from the heat of the place, a skinny strand hanging down in front of his forehead.
"So," he started as he held up his own shot glass, "have you told Niall how you feel yet?"
Mona rolled her eyes. Of all things, this was not what she wanted to think about or even discuss tonight. She brought the glass to her lips, tossing the liquid back and immediately cringing as she swallowed, the burn traveling slowly down her throat. "Ergh," she got out, "that was the worst one so far." At that, Zayn gave her a look because he knew she was just stalling which made her huff. She rolled her eyes again. "No, Zayn, I have not."
Zayn knocked his shot back, hissing as it went down. "Well what're you waiting for?"
Mona grumbled. "It's not that easy."
He snorted. "Seriously?"
She could hear the sarcasm dripping from his tone and she didn't appreciate it. "You're one to talk!" she snapped, but he didn't even flinch at that. "And, no, it's not that easy. Every time I think I'm gonna say it something either happens or it just doesn't come out."
Zayn pouted slightly at her, hand reaching out over the table to hold hers. "Well, just know, Harry and I are rooting for you two."
Mona started to smile before she caught on to what he said. Then, she started to grimace. "Please don't tell me you told Harry."
This was when Zayn actually cringed, and she groaned at the sight of it. "Wellll," he started to say, but then they were being interrupted by Harlow who dragged Zayn away to go dance. Mona was then left alone at the booth. She nursed her drink for a few moments, scanning the crowd before her eyes landed on a familiar figure.
Niall was standing at the other side of the room, leaning against a wall with one hand in his pocket and another holding his drink. Mona wondered how long he must have been there, but then scrapped that thought and instead found herself sliding out of the booth. Her feet automatically started moving her towards him. She didn't know what was happening—it was as if there was a magnetic pull between them and she couldn't resist it.
Niall grinned at her as she got closer, eyes an electrifying blue, and, paired with the thrum of the music blasting in the club, Mona felt as if she was vibrating. Earlier in the night, they'd been sitting side by side in the booth and she'd teased him by placing her hand high up on his thigh, finger lightly tracing shapes into the fabric of his jeans until he swatted her away and excused himself to the bar.
Now, as she placed her hands on his chest, his own going to rest on the small of her back, it seemed as though all his confidence had returned as his grin bordered on smug. "Why're you standing here all by yourself?" she asked, lips grazing his ear. Niall simply shrugged, setting his glass down on a nearby table as he let her slip her hands into his and pull him towards the dance floor.
He laughed as she started to move her body to the beat of the music, jumping around slightly as she felt the thrum of the bass in her bones. He followed suit, nonetheless, and soon they were just a pair of laughing idiots on the dance floor. She didn't have a care in the world if they looked stupid though, because, in that moment, all she could feel was happiness.
The song slowed down and Niall took the opportunity to pull her into him. His lips grazed hers and she grinned against them, catching his lower lip between hers and rolling it between her teeth. Niall sighed, and the sound and feel of it was probably what got her going again. Her fingers trailed down his torso to graze along the waistband of his jeans.
Mona was unsure of how things turned around from there, but it wasn't long until she found her back being pressed against the wall of a dimly lit corridor somewhere along the back of the building. It was relatively concealed but she could still feel the beat of the music washing over her skin. Niall kissed her hard when he got her there and she couldn't help the sound that left her throat as a result.
She felt like there was a fire lit in her core and was burning her up from the inside out. It was nearly unbearably hot in the club, and with the way Niall was pressing her into the wall, his baseball mitt hands gripping her hips firmly and his warm, insatiable lips trailing hotly down her neck, she felt like melting putty in his hands.
"I think you're forgetting that I know exactly how to get you all riled up," he murmured into her ear, teeth rolling over her ear lobe. Mona couldn't help the desperate sound that left her mouth. He was right; he knew exactly how to make her breathless. His fingers were fiddling with the hem of her dress, knuckles skimming the tops of her thighs. She hadn't been intimate with him in a long time and she was definitely feeling the effects of it now. "Know exactly how to make you want me."
Mona was overwhelmed, but in the best way possible. She wanted him, really wanted him. All she could think about now was dragging him back upstairs to bed and having her way with him. But she wanted to know what was on Niall's mind more, if he missed having her as much as she did. Her brain was clouded with want as she grabbed the hand at the hem of her dress and pulled it higher up her thigh under the fabric. "Then have me," she whispered, and she knew he heard it even through the loud thrum of the music from the way he grinned wickedly against her lips.
He made no haste in dipping his hand into the waistband of her lacy underwear, fingertips pressing to that sweet spot where she wanted him most. "Fuck," he breathed at the arousal he found, and the sound of it had more heat pooling in the pit of her belly. "Wish I could see these," he muttered, referring to the underwear, fingers moving back to the waistband of it again to pull it back and release so it snapped against her skin. "They feel sexy."
She huffed out a laugh against his cheek, tilting her head to kiss him again. His fingers resumed making tight and fast figure-eights and circles on her clit and her entire body flooded with fire as he lifted her leg to rest along his hip. She couldn't help the way she was gasping against his lips, acutely aware of how exposed they were in this tiny corridor. Anyone could turn the wrong corner and spot them, and for some reason, the thought got her infinitely more turned on.
He slipped a finger inside of her and her head fell back in the pleasure that ripped through her, thumping against the wall behind her. She could feel the rough pad of his fingertip as it stroked her walls, a low moan leaving her lips as he curved it just right to hit her sweet spot perfectly. "Fuck," she gritted out as his mouth found the soft skin of her neck she left exposed for him, skilled lips pressing into the pulse at the side of her neck and sucking softly.
"I can make you come on my fingers right now," he got out, voice all raspy and smug and cocky and hot. Mona bit her lips at the comment because he could, he so could. He knew exactly how to work her to have her unraveling in moments, especially with how the tense knot in her core felt. As if reading her mind, he slipped his second finger into her, pushing in all the way to his last knuckle and curving them on the way out, the movement causing a louder and more distressed moan slipping out from a higher part of her throat.
With his free hand, he gripped her thigh firmly. Mona curled her fingers tightly into the collar of his shirt for balance, her back arching against the wall as he pumped faster and faster. She was so incredibly close. Sweat was dripping down her back, the fabric of her dress clinging to it. Her arms tightened around Niall's neck, groaning into his skin as he hit a rhythm that had him pressing into her sweet spot every second. She wasn't going to last long at all.
Then, all at once, he stopped, leaving her slumped against the wall breathlessly as he let go of her leg. He grinned at her before bringing his fingers up to his lips, tongue licking her arousal from them and eyes glimmering down at her even in the darkness. She bit her lips at the sight, her hands closing around the collar of his shirt and pulling him down so she could kiss him hard again. Her thigh brushed against his bulge, straining against his jeans, and he groaned into her mouth in response.
"Let's go up to the room," she breathed out between kisses. She felt like a live wire, like she would never be able to get enough of him. It was primal, how much she wanted him.
"Yeah," he got out, voice all gritty and rough. "Room. Now."
He was tugging at her before she was able to get another word out, feet moving quickly around the bend of the corridor and through the crowd towards the exit. When they got out to the bright lobby, Mona was able to get a good look at him. His hair was stuck to his damp forehead, the tops of it sticking out at weird angles from the way she curled her fingers into it earlier. His cheeks were flushed a deep pink, lips bright red and delicious-looking. He looked a bit wrecked, with his now wrinkled shirt and sweaty skin.
If he looked like that, Mona could only imagine what she looked like.
She didn't have time to wonder, though, because Niall was pulling her into the elevator, finger quickly pressing the button for their floor. There was quite a bit of people in there as well, so they stood off to a corner and counted down the seconds until they got to their floor.
Niall all but ran out when the doors opened. Mona struggled to keep up with his longer strides as he rushed to the room. He swiped the key card and got the green light on the first try, and Mona didn't have the time to be impressed before he was tugging her inside and pressing her to the door, lips finding hers immediately.
Mona pressed her hands to the curve of his jaw, trailing down to the buttons of his shirt as she blindly tried to undo each one. "Off, off, off," she muttered, pushing him back towards the bed.
Niall's breath hitched. "Mo—" he started but she was too impatient to listen. She led them backwards until Niall's knees were hitting the bed. "Mo, hey, wait," he got out as he sat at the edge of the mattress, Mona already straddling his lap.
"What, Niall?" It took everything in her not to roll her eyes.
Niall's eyes were wide and blue and unsure, and it was only when she got a good look at them that she slowed down. "Are you sure you wanna do this?"
She huffed, impatience edging at her again. "Yeah, yes, Niall." He was sweet and all, asking first, but they'd done this so many times already so she just kind of wanted to skip over the formalities. She leaned down to kiss him again but Niall stopped her with his hands pressing at her abdomen.
"Mo, c'mon." She sighed as she pulled back again, meeting his eyes to catch the way they sparkled slightly from the light coming from the lamp beside them. He reached up to brush back her hair behind her ear, smiling at her softly. "Just wanna make sure, y'know. 'Cause we haven't done this in a while and I don't want it to be just because we're a li'l drunk an' stuff."
Mona snorted and somehow that led them to being reduced to a giggling mess. She missed him, missed this playful side of their relationship. She wished she wasn't so scared to pursue this more, wished she wasn't only confident to reach for him when she was drunk.
She wished he loved her like she loved him.
Niall smiled against her lips and Mona kissed him softly, just a press of her lips on his, and somehow, that meant infinitely more than everything else they'd done. "Yes," she whispered, smoothing away his fringe that was stuck down onto his forehead. "I want this. I want you." It was somehow the most honest thing she'd said to him in a while, and the fact of it was a bit sad.
Regardless, Niall grinned at her, eyes sparkling. "Well, what're we waitin' for then?"
He rolled them over onto the bed and Mona laughed into his mouth.
There was no one else she'd rather spend her night with.