live a little - j.birch

f o r t y - f o u r

isabella had to stand on her tip toes and jump to reach the doorbell once her and her mother had arrived. it was the first time bella was going to a play date and it was safe to say, she was very excited. her mom smiled at the pure joy radiating off of her only child, enjoying seeing the light isabella seemed to shine from within. she always was such a happy child.

"mommy! it's bella!" the duo could hear leah birch's excited shout from inside the home, one which made isabella's mom chuckle. somehow, within the few weeks of starting kindergarten, both girls had bonded straight away. it was adorable to see them together.

the door swung open to reveal diane with her youngest child, nick, attached to her left hip. he babbled incoherent words into diane's ear, which made bella giggle.

"bella!" leah screamed with excitement, bundling to the door and dragging her friend inside by her wrist. the two moms grinned at their girls before engaging in their own conversation. the girls slowly ascended the stairs, all whilst the blonde bragged about her extensive barbie collection. She had a dolls house taller then she even was with an almost unhealthy amount of barbies inside. bella herself was more of a bratz girl, but would happily play with the barbies.

that plan seemed to disintegrate as the girls reached the doorway to leahs bedroom. inside was a dark haired boy, wielding a pair of scissors and surrounded by the synthetic hair of the barbies. the wail that left leahs little body almost sounded animalistic and made the little boys eyes dart up to his little sister. his smirk fell as his big bright green eyes fell onto the companion beside her. bella's round blue eyes stared back at him deep in thought for a moment - well as deep in thought as a 5 year old could go. diane had sprinted up the stairs, two at a time with bella's mother close behind. from downstairs, it sounded as if leahs dollhouse had fallen onto one of them by the scream she let out. this was one of the first times diane noted how dramatic her daughter truly was.

leah was sobbing as her eyes looked around at the wide array of barbies who had met the clutches of her brother. some of them were completely bald whilst a few others had very uneven hair. no one would be commending the boy on his haircutting talents anytime soon.

"oh judd! how many times do i have to tell you? give your own toys haircuts." diane hugged her daughter, trying to avoid nick pulling on her blonde pigtail and worsening her emotional state. bella grinned as she got an idea once her eyes fell onto a big box of multicoloured markers.

"leah! we can colour their hair with your markers! that way they'll still look pretty!" bella bundled towards the box, peeling off the lid and lifting out a light blue marker. she held a pink one out to her friend, to which she accepted with a few sniffles. they began their dye job all whilst judd watched on with astonishment. like she was feeling his eyes on her, isabella turned to the boy.

"your eyes are like two big apples. i love apples!" she displayed a toothy grin, showing off the top middle one which had fallen out a few days prior. the boy felt his face get hot and both the mothers watched the interaction.

"who are you?" the almost 7 year old asked rather sheepishly. she reached past him for another barbie. he picked it up first and passed it over to her.

"thank you! i'm isabella." the smile stamped on her face seemed to be contagious as the boy smiled back shyly, his fingers twisting together.

"i'm judd." He quietly responded, his reserved nature around strangers wanting to disappear but he wasn't quite able to shift it.

"that's a cool name." the 5 year old went back to focusing on her dye job as leah pushed the barbie she had just coloured pink, orange and purple towards her. bella complimented it, completely unaware that judd was staring at her. he was trying to think of more things to say, a reason to keep talking to the girl. she had said his name was cool, but in that moment he couldn't recall meeting a cooler person then isabella. she radiated an infectious joy, one that seemed to bubble over everyone in the house. it made judd's chubby cheeks burn as he realised he wanted to do nothing more then sit with the girl and hack at barbie hair together. though, no more words seemed to bubble out of his throat. he settled for watching the two girls play for a moment.

diane leant closer to bella's mother, a cheeky smirk on her lips.

"i have never seen judd blush before. i think he's just got his first crush." the adults giggled before leaving the children to their own devices. diane's heart warmed as a thought crossed her mind:

maybe judd isn't as cold as we thought. maybe he just needs the right type of person to pull out the warmth inside of him.

3 CHAPTERS REMAIN UNTIL THE END

A/N
HELLO!!! I know, I know. You all must fucking hate me! I know uploads are ridiculously slow but life makes writing hard atm and all of my stories have suffered because of it. Incase you were unaware, I'm actually a mum. I'm only 21 but I have a 3 year old and a 6 month old so as you can imagine, my life is very hectic haha! I love this story though, as well as reading through everyone's comments and let me just say, the support this story has received is unreal!

I couldn't thank you all enough. I will finish this book, I promise you that! It's just hard to get bits and pieces out. But the last 3 chapters are planned (one being a treat for you all and the last being an epilogue) and will be starting on the next one today - obviously it most likely won't be finished today but I just wanted to add this authors note to tell you all how incredibly happy I am with all the support! Thank you for every vote, every read and every comment! I appreciate you all 🫶🏻

And if you enjoy my writing and would like to check some of my other stuff out feel free! I have 2 other ongoing stories: a 7 Deadly Sins anime one as well as a Sidemen (British YouTube group) one! Hopefully you all enjoyed this little flash back, the next chapter will be longer!