Chapter Twenty-One: Christmas Joy
Christmas was making its year-round appearance. As the duo drove home on a taxi cab, red, green, blue, white, and practically every other color imaginable lit the houses beside the roads. Although it was on December first, Christmas blow-ups had taken over yards of many.
For such a joyous holiday, the situation Lilian had put herself in was everything but. While other people were giddy buying people presents and drinking the over used Pumpkin Spice Latte, Beatrice expected to find Lilian crying and throwing a tantrum (but for this given reason, she finally had an excuse). For such a merry month, Beatrice already knew it was going to be dreary.
Her head fell on Hayes' shoulder, "I'm really sorry we had to cut this little vacation short. If it counts, I had fun."
Hayes scoffed, pushing a piece of lilac hair out of her face, "of course it counts, dummy. The reason why I went to that concert was to have fun with you!"
She couldn't help a smile, "do you like the band?"
"They have good music."
"I bet you think the drummer is hot. Everyone thinks they're hot. You think the drummer is hot, don't ya?" she bugged. The aura wasn't the best, so she thought she could make it better with a small bit of pestering and being annoying.
Hayes knew what she was doing, "yeah. Totally up my alley."
"I knew it! The Hayes Grier likes the band 5 Seconds Of Summer and he just admitted he has a thing for the drummer!"
He chuckled, "as much as I'm proud of the country for legalizing gay rights, I'm kinda not gay."
"Never would've known."
Hayes popped his shoulder, bouncing her head purposely. It was fun joking with her - he enjoyed it.
The two observed the Christmas decorations on awe. With every speckle of light or a not-so-clear view of a Christmas tree, it only added to the joyful mess flooding the car.
"So," Hayes drew a breath quietly, "what're you doing for the holidays?"
Beatrice shrugged, "I usually stay home with Lily. It's fun because I get to watch her burn the food and we usually go out for take-out after. Every. Single. Year." The memories still brought a smile amongst her face.
"You don't go home to visit your family? I mean, I understand you like to spend time with your best friend, but why don't you spend time with family at home?"
Her face remained straight, almost too firm for his liking. "My dad is at war fighting for our country and my mother and I were never close. Buried past and I'd like not to dig it up."
He nodded, not overstepping his boundaries, "oh, sorry."
"Don't be sorry, you didn't do anything."
In a few speedy minutes, the two had arrived at Beatrice's apartment and although she hates to do it, she left Hayes with the luggage and the cab fee. What can you say? Her best friend needed her.
When she entered the house, the lights remained off, the sound of Lily's sobs could be heard from miles away, and it smelled like burnt food and broken hearts.
"Lily?" She called, following the sound of her cries. For some reason, they led back to Bea's room. "Hey, LilyPond, are you okay?"
Lilian sat on Beatrice's bed, wrapped up in a velvety blanket decorated with a galaxy. Tissues laid on the nightstand and littered every inch of the floor. She looked like a mess.
"I have an appointment tomorrow. Apparently it isn't recent. He didn't tell me until today, thinks could get bad, Bea!"
"I'm sorry, love. Is there anything I can do?" Beatrice was never good at consoling, but Lilian was there when her dad first went to fight, so she could be there too when her best friend is in need.
She cracked a dry smile, "show me the merch, pictures, and videos. After that, maybe we can watch some chick flicks."
She nodded, climbing into the bed beside her, "oh, Hayes is here too."
As if on cue, Hayes stumbled on with two duffel bags and a tired face. It was evident that his sleeping schedule was cut short and he needed some more time.
Lilian paid no mind to that, "I hope he like the Notebook."
Hayes overheard, scratching the nape of his neck, "I think I'll just crash on the couch, if you don't mind."
Beatrice accepted the silent plea (everyone knew that he just wanted to sleep to get out of see Ryan's face - he knew the girls would swoon) and tossed him a blanket from the many in her drawer. She mouthed a thank you and pulled out her phone to show her the photo of Luke and her entering an embrace.
They both swooned.
This update is so ugly but it's an insight of Bea's life and her friendship with Lilian. btw i wasn't keeping track of time so I made it Christmas LOLOLOL ok bye
btw round of applause for me BC IM being so active with this book omg yayayayayy
