Soft (Mona x MC)
Book: Ride or Die: A Bad Boy Romance Pairing: Mona x MC (Lexi Padilla) Plot: Lexi’s birthday is fast approaching, but nothing seems good enough to Mona...except one thing. Notes: Thank you to everyone who read/commented/liked/reblogged by first fic! I appreciate you all, and all your prompt suggestions! I did a mix of some plus some stuff I had floating around in my head. I’m sure I’ll use some other suggestions when inspiration strikes ;) Warnings/Ratings: None. Total fluff. Music: Un Sospiro - Franz Liszt (played by Moura Lympany...my favorite)
Mona sat, legs folded as she stared out the window at the nearby park, sipping on her steaming cup of coffee distractedly. Her fingers tapped against the mug, ideas forming and simultaneously being shot down in her head.
Clothes? New phone? Nah, she doesn’t really care about that stuff. A dog? HELL no. Strap on?
Mona grinned, taking another sip of coffee as her mind wandered...that would have to wait for her birthday.
Mona huffed in frustration. Lexi’s birthday was in a week. She didn't know why it was bothering her so much, why she felt that nothing was good enough. She’d already coordinated a surprise visit with Riya for a long weekend, which was more than she’d ever cared to do for anyone in the past. People were lucky if Mona even remembered the month of their birthdays. But Lexi isn’t just people, Mona mused, finishing up her coffee.
With a grunt, Mona got up and took her mug to the sink, then headed toward the room to get dressed. She felt stifled, her mind blank; she needed to get out of the house. ---
Mona walked into the music store, scanning the contents before making her way to the back area. She let her fingers graze the different instruments as her eyes fell on a familiar Clavinova.
I could always…
Mona shook the thought from her head. Nope. Absolutely not.
She wandered toward the instrument and sat down, running her fingers over the keys. It looked just like the one back home. Music was one of the only things she had to herself; she didn’t have to hide, didn’t have to worry about anything going on in her life or the world when she played. It was hers, and it was...meaningful, made her vulnerable. Vulnerable was not something she was with people.
Lexi isn’t people…
“Shut up,” she grumbled to herself, brows furrowing.
“Ma’am? Is there something I can help you with?”
Mona slowly turned her gaze to a concerned and slightly confused looking employee, who donned a large “STANLEY” name tag.
“Well, Stanley,” she started, flicking his name tag as she got up, “how about you start by never calling me ma’am again.”
With that, she walked toward the exit. She’d figure something out, just...not this.
---
Mona stood outside a studio two days later, looking up at the sign with a heavy sigh. She couldn’t believe she was actually about to do this. She’d gotten in contact with a few people from the past she thought might have an idea of a decent studio in the area. After making a couple of painful calls, she booked a session with the one that irritated her the least on the phone.
This is a horrible idea, idiot, she thought to herself and she walked through the doors.
“Ma’am?” she heard, interrupting her from her thoughts. She narrowed her eyes. Do I look like I’m 50? What the hell is with everyone calling me ma’am lately?
“I have a 2 o’clock booked.”
The receptionist widened her eyes in alarm and began clacking at her keyboard, knocking things over in the process.. “Sorry, I uh...um…”
“Spit it out, Karen,” Mona said shortly, growing more and more impatient. The longer she stood there, the more and more she was convincing herself this was the wrong move.
“Room six! Third door on your left,” the receptionist squeaked. Mona grinned and winked, sauntering in the direction of the room. As she approached the door, a thin, short-haired blonde woman was just unlocking it.
“Hi, I’m Sara! Are you Mona?” she asked excitedly, extending a hand.
“So they tell me,” Mona responded, giving her quick handshake and a nod.
“Do you want to do a few practice runs, just to get warmed up?” she asked, and Mona had to refrain from rolling her eyes. She’d somehow managed to unbutton her shirt at the top, her body language anything but subtle.
“Nah, I can play this crap in my sleep,” Mona mused, removing her jacket and making herself comfortable on the bench as she placed the headphones over her ears. “Let’s get this over with.”
Sara nodded and headed back to the mixing area, giving her a silent cue that the tape was rolling. Mona cracked her fingers and rolled her shoulders, closing her eyes to center herself before placing her fingers over the respective keys and playing the opening chords. She recorded the entirety of the composition in one take, an arrogant smirk on her face as she wrapped up. Still got it.
“You weren’t kidding,” Sara said, leaning against the frame of the mixing room as Mona shrugged on her jacket and gathered her other belongings. “Where’d you learn to play like that, gorgeous?”
“Around,” she responded flatly, making her way to the door and flinging it open. “Thanks.” ---
Mona pulled out of the cell lot at the airport, having just gotten the go ahead from Riya to circle the airport. After about ten minutes, the back door opened and Riya’s bright face popped in enthusiastically. Mona grinned in response, waiting until Riya was in the car and buckled before pulling out.
“How was the flight?” Mona asked, eyes scanning the road as she followed signs to the highway.
“Loooong,” Riya groaned, throwing her head against the seat. “The guy next to me had his nasty feet propped on the seat in front of him the whole time.”
“At least you weren’t in that seat,” Mona quipped with a shrug. Riya laughed in response, followed by a comfortable silence.
“So...how’s she doing?” Riya asked, scanning Mona’s profile. Mona shrugged one shoulder, chewing the inside of her lip.
Lexi had gone through a bit of a depression a few months into the move. The gravity of everything that had transpired finally caught up with her, bringing with it a wide range of emotions and sleepless nights. The arguments started, small at first but eventually growing to full on screaming matches, usually surrounding Mona’s difficulty with emotional availability. Quite a few times Mona was on the verge of throwing in the towel. She had already pressed her luck by ignoring every instinct to run and fighting through it. What the hell was emotional investment really doing for her besides causing more stress?
But every time Mona got to that point, memories flashed through her mind like a film reel, tugging on those damn heart strings only Lexi had figured out how to pull. So she stayed, and they fought until they could figure out how to talk about what was really going on. That’s not to say things were perfect - not even close. Mona continued to retreat into her comfort zone at the first sign of danger; Lexi continued to beat at her walls, determined to break them down, screaming the whole time. But at the end of the day, they stuck it out...and Lexi’s moods and behaviors gradually started to improve. After almost a year collectively, things were starting to feel balanced.
“She’s doing okay,” Mona finally responded. “She still has her days, but overall she’s smiling more than she’s yelling. That’s always a plus for me,” Mona joked, trying to lighten the mood.
Riya hummed in acknowledgement. “I was...really worried about her.”
Mona’s eyes left the road for the first time, glancing at Riya. “I know,” she replied, hesitating for a moment. “So was I.”
“I know.”
Silence ensued as they became consumed in their thoughts. Mona began to wonder, as she often did when these topics came up, if she made a mistake by following Lexi. How would Lexi have fared if Mona had have just let her go? How selfish was it of her to continue inserting herself into Lexi’s life when she’d definitely have been better off without—
“She really needed you...still needs you. You know that, right?” Riya’s words shook Mona out of her thoughts, stunning her for a minute.
“You some sort of mind reader?”
Riya shot her a cheeky grin, clearly pleased with herself. “I like to fancy myself one,” she quipped. Mona chuckled, shaking her head. These women…
---
Mona had just gotten Riya settled in when Lexi walked in the door, headphones in and eyes on her screen. Lexi screamed loudly, dropping her belongings and rushing to hug Riya in tears. After realizing what was happening, Lexi transferred her affections to Mona, and despite Mona’s attempt at appearing nonplussed, it made her heart swell to see Lexi so happy.
After the hype settled, Mona snuck into the room and scanned her surroundings, ensuring nobody was coming. She picked up her pre-packed bag and quietly unzipped the side, pulling out the card she had written for Lexi. She had hidden the digital recording in a subfile on Lexi’s laptop, as detailed within the contents of the card, affectionately titled Happy birthday, punk. Mona hesitated, card in hand.
You don’t have to leave it...she doesn’t even know it exists…
Mona tapped her fingers against the envelope in a silent tug of war before rolling her eyes and shoving it inside a drawer at the computer desk. She grabbed her bag, scanning the room one last time before emerging.
“Where are you going?” Lexi exclaimed as she eyed Mona, bag slung over her shoulders as she grabbed her keys.
“Dallas. Visiting a friend.” Lexi protested loudly as Mona looked on at her in amusement. “Hey, I set this up, but I never agreed to stick around. What makes you think I want to spend my weekend with you banshees? One of you is enough, I need a break.” She winked and planted a loud kiss on Lexi’s cheek as Lexi swatted at her in laughter.
After exchanging goodbyes with Riya, Lexi walked Mona out to her car.
“When are you coming back?”
“Sunday night.”
“Mmm, good, then I still get to have my way with you on my birthday,” Lexi joked, prompting Mona to wiggle her eyebrows and slap Lexi’s ass.
“I still don’t understand why you’re leaving,” Lexi said with a pout, leaning against the side of the car as Mona threw her bag in the trunk.
“I told you, I need a break from you,” Mona teased, making her way back to Lexi.
“Mmhm. You can make all the jokes you want, lady, but I know the truth,” Lexi said, jabbing a finger against Mona’s chest gently.
“Oh yeah?” Mona asked with an eyebrow raised, wrapping one arm around Lexi’s waist as the other wrapped around the hand on her chest. “And what’s that?”
“That you, my love, are a giant softie inside,” Lexi responded softly with a grin, eyes shining.
Mona pulled her closer and raised Lexi’s hand to her mouth, kissing the pad of her pointer finger as she gazed into her eyes.
“Only for you, gorgeous.” ---
Mona went on with her visit as she would have any other time: bars, the occasional club, poker...you name it. But it didn’t feel the same, and as she laid poolside in a hammock with her friend Jace into the wee hours of the morning of Lexi’s birthday she began typing out a text, instructing her on where to find the card when she woke up. She had been staring at the text for five minutes, back and forth about whether or not to send it; whether she was ready to expose this much of herself.
“You’re different,” Jace mused. Mona turned her head sharply, looking at him dubiously.
“Hardly.”
“You are,” he reiterated. “I mean, you’re still an asshole,” he started, earning a proud grin from Mona, “but...I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve ever had a memory of you turning down a dance or a makeout session before now. It’s weird.”
Mona rolled her eyes. “I figured it’s time to leave some for the less fortunate.” Jace elbowed her, the two of them throwing half-hearted insults at each other before settling into another comfortable silence.
“You’re in deep, aren’t ya?”
Mona glared at him, then glanced down at her phone, wallpaper adorned with Lexi making a comical face. She sighed, her thumb running down the screen affectionately before unlocking it and sending the text.
“Yeah. Damnit.”
---
Mona unlocked the door, hands full with her bag, an extra large supreme pizza (Lexi’s forever favorite), and a small red velvet cake she’d picked up on the way in. She kicked the door closed, setting her things down on the table and looking around suspiciously. She knew Riya’s flight had been scheduled for mid-afternoon, but it was just after 7PM; she’d half expected Lexi to be impatiently waiting for her to get home out of boredom.
“Lex?” she called out, walking down the hall to the room, where she found Lexi fast asleep with Gunther curled up above her head. Shoulda known. Never had she met someone who loved to sleep at any given opportunity as much as Lexi. She sauntered over to the bed, getting in behind her and throwing an arm across her waist. Mona kissed her hair, temple, and down her cheek as Lexi began to stir.
“Morning, princess,” Mona said softly, running her fingers across Lexi’s exposed midriff.
“You’re home,” Lexi replied sleepily, reaching back to cup Mona’s cheek. “I missed you.”
“Duh,” Mona quipped teasingly, then with a sigh she buried her face in Lexi’s neck. “I missed you, too. Punk.”
Lexi turned her head to place a gentle kiss to the corner of Mona’s mouth, then nestled back into her pillow. Suddenly she shot up, scrambling out of bed and over to her computer. Mona sat up as well, looking at her in alarm.
“I never opened the file,” she explained, and Mona’s heart sunk for a second before she composed herself.
“It’s not that serious, don’t worry about it—“
“Yes it is!” Lexi exclaimed, whirling around from her seat. “Obviously whatever it is was important enough for you to go to such great lengths to hide it...I just wanted to be with you when I opened it.”
Mona flung herself back ,running her hands down her face. The whole point was so that she wouldn’t have to be around to humiliate herself.
“Can’t I just wait on the couch?” Mona groaned, throwing an arm over her eyes. She felt something bounce off of her and looked to her left, seeing a pencil on the ground. “That could have impaled me.”
Lexi rolled her eyes and double clicked on the file, then came back to the bed as the introductory chords began spilling out of the speakers. Lexi looked at Mona, wide eyed and questioning, but Mona made every effort to keep her expression neutral. No way in hell was she going to admit just how terrified she was to willingly share this part of herself with another person.
One of the more surprising things they’d discovered about each other early on was their mutual love of classical music - one composition in particular. Lexi never knew, though, that Mona could play; nobody did, really. That was one of the only parts of her former life she could keep, and she’d never intended to share that with anyone.
The emotion was evident in every ebb and flow of the melody, stunning Lexi repeatedly as the music continued. She sat motionless as the last few chords played, then silenced. After a long moment she turned to Mona, eyes shining in silent questioning. Mona cleared her throat and sat up, suddenly feeling incredibly exposed.
“My, uh...my mom taught me how to play when I was four. I surpassed her pretty quickly, though,” Mona explained with a breathy laugh, scratching her head with a shrug. “I just always kept up with it. One of the few outlets I have, ya know?” Lexi continued to stare at her in silence, making Mona shift uncomfortably.
Lexi crawled over to Mona, sitting on her knees and staring straight into her eyes as she placed a hand over Mona’s heart. “Nobody has ever done something so perfect for me before. I…”
Mona pressed a chaste kiss to Lexi’s mouth, unable to handle the emotions palpable in the room; in her body. They rested their foreheads against each other, eyes closed. Mona kissed the tip of Lexi’s nose affectionately and sighed.
“Happy birthday, Lexi.”