A Second Chance.

Chapter 33

~Jo~

I head down the stairs and walk over to Mercy and her friends.

"Hey, my brother was looking for you. He's around here somewhere" Mercy says to me as I reach them

"Oh yeah yeah. No no I saw him" I say and look to the floor

"Cool. Go and grab another drink" she says nudging my arm

"I'm ok thanks" I say and smile at her.  I don't want to be hung over tomorrow at Christmas lunch.

Alex walks into the lounge and tells everyone to come outside as they're gonna set off some fireworks. Mercy links my arm and we follow him out to the back garden.

As soon as we get outside, the cold crisp air hits me and I instantly shiver. I then feel a warmth over my shoulders and turn around and see Hero standing next to me.

He places his jacket over my shoulders. I then slide my arms into the jacket and zip it half way up.

"Thanks babe" I say and peck him on the lips.

He then moves behind me and places his arms around my waist. He leans in and kisses my cheek. I lean my head back on to him and he kisses my cheek again

"Get a room you two" Mercy says to us.

I turn my head towards her and I raise my eyebrows twice.

"Ew. I didn't want to know that" she says as she screws up her face.

Hero and I laugh. He tightens his grip around me. I place my hands on top of his and he intertwines his fingers with mine.

He kisses my cheek again. I then flinch when the sound of a firework startles me.

I lean my head back and he rests his chin on my shoulder, as we watch the fireworks.

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~Hero~

After the fireworks, everyone heads back inside.  Mercy and her mates head back into the lounge, where as a few of us stay in the kitchen.

I catch Jo yawning and grab Jo by the hips and pull her towards me.

"Let's go home" I say, resting my hands on hips.

"No, no. We can stay I'm good" she says with a smile

"No, you're tired. Plus if I'm hung over tomorrow at Christmas dinner, my mum will probably kill me" i say

She laughs a little.  I grab my phone out of my pocket and order an Uber, I then slide it back in my pocket.

"Right boys, we're off" I say.

"Aw man. It's still early" Alex says

"Yeah man" Felix adds

"I've gotta be up early, I agreed to help my mum with Christmas dinner and that" I say

"Ah ya whipped man" Alex adds. He nudges Felix and they both laugh.

"Whatever man" I say

We say our goodbyes to the boys and head into the lounge to find Mercy.

"Hey we're off now" I say as I reach her

"Ok. I'll see you at mums tomorrow" she says and hugs me. She then turns to Jo and hugs her.

"Yeah. Don't drink too much. You know mum won't be happy if you turn up with a hangover" I add

I take Jo's hand and we head out to the waiting  cab. Once in the cab, Jo rests her head on my shoulders. I put arm around her and she snuggles closer.

After about ten minutes, we arrive back at my house. Within the short car journey, Jo has fallen asleep.

I raise my shoulder a few times and say her name softly to gently wake her. Once out of the cab, I bend down and lift Jo over my shoulder.

"Hero" she says playfully

I carry her up to the door and then set her down. I unlock the door and then go to pick her up again

"No, no" she says with her arms out stretched to prevent me picking her up.

She walks into the house and I follow her in. We head straight upstairs to bed.

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~Jo~

I wake up early and decide to take a shower, while Hero sleeps. I head into the bathroom and turn on the the shower.

I step in and stand still for a while and just let the warm water cascade over me to relax the nervous excitement running through me.

It's Christmas day and we're spending the day with Heros family at his mums house.  I'm looking forward to today. Last Christmas and New Year, I couldn't spend it my family due to the pandemic. So i'm really going to make the most of this year with Heros family and mine.

I get out of the shower. I wrap a towel around me and one around my hair and head back into the bedroom.

"Merry Christmas babe" Hero says as I enter the bedroom.

I walk round to his side of the bed and lean down and kiss him.

"Merry Christmas" I say back "Oh I have your gift in my case."  I add

I start to move and Hero grabs my hand. He pulls me down to sit on top of him.

"I thought we could exchange gifts later. If that's ok" he says

"Sure" I say.

"Right, well I better jump in the shower and we better start getting ready to head over to mums" he says and lifts me off of him.

As he heads in to the bathroom and I grab the hairdryer and start drying my hair. Once dried, I get dressed. I put on a new dress that I brought especially for today.

"You look lovely" Hero says as he re-enters the bedroom.

"Aw thanks" I say smiling at him

I head back into the bathroom and put on my make up.

When I re-enter the bedroom. Hero is fully dressed. He looks so handsome, standing there in his navy trousers and light blue shirt.

"Ready?" He says when he sees me

I grab his gift from my suitcase and grab my clutch bag. "Yep, I'm ready" I say

I follow him downstairs. We head into the lounge, Hero picks up the bags of presents for everyone and I pick up the flowers that we got for Martha.

We grab our coats and head outside, just as the Uber pulls up. Hero puts the bags into the trunk and we get into the cab.

After about thirty minutes each arrive at Martha's house. I exit the cab, I take a deep breath and walk up the pathway to the front door.

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Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Thanks to everyone whose read, voted and commented on my story so far. Can't believe it's at 5k views. A big thank you to all of you!

Keep safe
xoxo