Love At First Lie | Herophine Fic

First Of Many

HERO

Feeling somewhat disorientated, my eyes begin to flicker open slowly. Instantly, two thoughts cross my mind. Number one, where's Jo? She's not in bed with me as she was when we fell asleep hours ago. We finished watching Elf together, feeling the Christmas spirit around us even more than we did before then went to sleep. Sillily agreeing that if we didn't sleep, Santa wouldn't come. But now, she's not here.

And secondly, it's Christmas morning. Even now, as an adult in my twenties, it's not to ignore the buzz that's coursing around my body. Like my body's tingling everywhere at the thought of all the presents and company I'll get to share for today. But the one person I wanted to share that buzz with from the moment I woke isn't here. It's just me, in a somewhat cold bed. She can't have gone far, but considering how cold the bed is on her empty side, she must've gotten out a good while ago.

My initial thought is perhaps she's in the bathroom. But the cold sheets beside me say otherwise. Unless she's having a shower - without me - that is. If she was though, I'd hear the running water splashing against the tiles. That rules out the shower.

Turning my head to my bedside table, I look at the clock and see it reads 6:38am. There's no way in Hell any of the guys are awake now. Surely not? I'm always the first one up out of the three of us. Always. Like clockwork. And don't get me wrong, Jo always woke up around the same time as me in the house. She still does now, but she's never left the bed. She must've been gone for some time. The sheets are cold and the duvet is solely wrapped around me. Purposefully placed, tucked around my body. But I won't be happy if I do find out they've left me in bed. They know how much I love Christmas.

Quickly though, I turn my head as a distinct laugh in the distance captures my attention. It's Jo's laugh, but then it's followed by a voice that's not Jo's. And it's not Mia's either. But it is Australian. My brows furrow in confusion and wonder what she's doing. I push to sit up and pull the duvet off me, feeling a chill course through my body, causing goosebumps to rise on my skin. Before opening the door, I grab my robe and pull it around me. As I walk out, Jo's voice and Mia's become clearer and clearer with every step I take towards the open living, kitchen area.

When I see them, I realise what they're doing. Of course, they're talking to their loved ones in Australia. We're dealing with heavy time differences here and while it's the start of the day for us, they're well into their Christmas Day. Jo's completely engrossed in her conversation with her family. So much so, I turn on my heels, deciding to leave her to it. She'll come back to bed when she's ready and has spoken to them, I'm sure. I don't want to interrupt, so I'll leave her be.

"Hero, you're awake!" she cries. My head turns at the mention of my name and a smile breaks out onto my face.

"Good morning, love," I sigh, content.

"One second," quickly, she hops off the stool and rushes over to me. She's still in her pyjamas, no surprise there. I love that she's kept them on though. The first of many I hope to buy her to keep this tradition going.

Reaching me, she takes my hands excitedly and begins to pull me towards the laptop sitting open on the worktop.

"Wait, what?" I rush, unsure and almost certain about what's going to happen.

"I'm talking to my family. I want you to meet them," she says, calmly. I feel my eyes widen in panic. I'm in my Christmas pyjamas and a robe, it's not even 7am and Jo wants me to meet the family. She looks so happy and playful, so there's no way I can say no to her. My body allows her to pull me closer and closer to the screen before I sit down on the stool beside her taking in the three people in front of me.