ᴀʟʟ ᴛʜᴇꜱᴇ ɴɪɢʜᴛꜱ

𝙵𝙸𝚅𝙴

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

This phrase was plastered over every part of Sophia's life during the Christmas period. The radio was playing it out loud, there were signs in all the shop windows reminding her to be happy this festive season and her family were practically in Christmas fever from the time midnight struck on Halloween.

However once again they started to make plans for them all over the Christmas period and the normal questions arose.

"It would be nice for you to have someone wouldn't it?"

"Don't you miss not having a special person to share the festive period with?"

"Oh no partner again this year?"

She didn't know how she could make it more clear to them all, she was happy on her own. She was only 26, she didn't feel the need to tie herself down to some hapless relationship when she didn't feel fully committed or happy. Besides, she liked her own space, the time she could spend doing whatever she wanted and not having to answer to someone else.

So, as she got herself ready for the Annual England Christmas Party she did up her trusty black heels up and pulled her wrap around velvet green dress down and found herself excited to have a couple of drinks and enjoy her night.

*

For Mason it was all a bit daunting. He had taken a taxi to the party with the others, but his mind wasn't on the amazing food, like Dec's was or what music they might be playing like Ben had questioned, but instead on what stood in front of him now.

This was the first Christmas he would be spending without Daisy for years. Even the year before they properly got together they had spent that Christmas with each other, he had known from the moment he met her that she was different to other girls, she was his best friend and now she wasn't by his side.

He looked at Ben as he walked into the room with Harriet on his arm, his best friend, if that's what they were calling themselves currently and he can't help but feel a pang of jealousy. He looks at Dec as his hand sits in Laura's while he looks down at his own hand, it was empty. Daisy should be here, she usually was.

However, it was his fault that she wasn't. Not the break up, he knew that was mutual, he knew they weren't working but he didn't ever think she wouldn't be here for the big moments like this. But he had screwed that up, and to put it bluntly that had happened when he started screwing the new Chelsea intern.

He hadn't meant for it to happen, but he had gotten bored of going out and trying to find love in the worst places. There was a part of him that at one point truly believed he could find the love of his life at 3am in the morning in a dank and sticky club, but he realised that this was stupid. He only ever found girls to pass the time with, so he stopped trying to find this.

That's when Meg came about. She had just started working at Chelsea, she was pretty enough, she didn't really have a lot of banter, not like Daisy but she was hot, so it worked. He basically started a fuck buddy situation with her, thinking they can both get something out of it, but keeping it casual so he could actually work out what he wanted.

However, when he asked Daisy if she wanted to come with him to the party tonight he realised that he might have screwed up their friendship.

"I'm happy to hang out with you Mase but I am not coming along to some event with you to have questions asked about us" she remarked on the phone "besides can't you just ask Meg to go with you?"

He hadn't realised she knew but then he remembered how close the girls were so of course it had gotten back to her.

"But I want you to come" he had said "I thought it would be nice to hang out" he tried to get her to see the benefits of it all.

"Mase I'm not being funny but the idea of doing couples things with you while you fuck someone else just doesn't sit right with me" she replied as he realised she was right.

How could he expect her to come along tonight, hold onto his arm as they would walk into the room, possibly even dance with him when a slow song came on to just go their separate ways at the end of the night. He knew as well that if he had a few more drinks he would probably try something with her and they had spent so long creating that space between them that this probably wouldn't be the best idea.

So here he was, alone, even though Meg had said she was available. But he didn't want to take her, he didn't want her to think that this was anything more than two people who hook up. He would prefer to spend the night feeling the loneliness of not having a partner than bring someone with him that he didn't feel anything really for.

But now he was regretting that decision, mainly because of the fact that just because he came alone doesn't meant others would have. It doesn't mean Sophia was alone and he felt another pang in his chest that the crazy thoughts he had been having about her would come crashing down around him when he sees her, maybe with her arms around another, he doesn't think he could take that.