𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝

𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲-𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ | i adore you | ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

real life | surrey, england
andrew's apartment
- december 8th, 2021

     THE NEXT MORNING, Sophia woke up in the bed of the guest room to her phone ringing loudly. She groaned, rubbing her eyes before reaching over to the nightstand. Shakily grabbing her phone, Sophia's eyes widened and her body woke up immediately at the caller: Mattias.

"Oh shit," Sophia mumbled as she sat up in her bed and answered the call. "Hello?"

"Hey hermanita!" Mattias' voice rang through the phone and Sophia rolled her eyes. "Did you just wake up?"

"Yes!" Sophia replied tiredly before quickly doing the math of the time zones. It was 3:00 AM in LA, but 10 AM in Surrey. Her family thought she was in Los Angeles, "Mati, what the fuck? It's 3 AM. Of course I was asleep!"

"Sorry, sorry! Just a quick question and then I'll let you head back to sleep," Mattias apologized and Sophia held back a sigh. "What day does your flight get here for Christmas and what time? We're trying to figure out who's going to pick you up."

"Oh," Sophia whispered before running a hand over her face, panic rising in her chest. "Wait, we? What do you mean we? It's 6:00 AM over there, why are you awake?"

"Some of us have real jobs, Sophia Luna." Sophia could hear her mother's voice in the background of the call and the blonde rolled her eyes immediately.

"When's your flight, Soph?" She could hear Gabriel in the background asking the question and closed her eyes in fear.

"It's, um," She mumbled hesitantly before opening her eyes, speaking strongly, "I'm not going to Miami for Christmas this year."

The girl let out a shaky breath, relief filling her as she finally let the words out. However, her anxiety grew when she heard the multiple "What?"s and "¿Que?"s in the background of the call.

"You're not coming home?" Mattias questioned again.

"No." Sophia replied before she heard her mother demanding the phone from her son and the blonde mentally prepared herself for the shouting.

"Sophia, what do you mean you're not coming home? You're supposed to come home in two weeks!" Angelica asked and Sophia could hear her mother getting angry.

"I'm not going to Miami for Christmas. I am going to stay home in California with Laila and Minnie." Sophia answered, gathering up all her courage to seem strong.

"Stay home? Sophia, Miami is your home. You were raised here. Your family is here! ¿Quién crees que eres?" Angelica began to raise her voice furiously. "We are your family! You spend the holidays with us!"

"No, not this year." Sophia told her, shaking her head as tears filled her eyes.

"Sophia Luna Rivera, listen to me very carefully," Angelica warned. "You will buy a ticket to Miami and you will be spending Christmas with us. That's how it is! I don't care of whatever plans you have with your friends, they are not your family!"

"Yes, they are!" Sophia raised her own voice, trying not to let tears fall down her face. "Laila and Minnie are my family. I'm spending Christmas with them, and you can't change that. I'm an adult, and I'm choosing to surround myself with people who don't make me feel like garbage every time I'm with them."