Ashes // l.h.

17. ugly truth

Fleurie- Hurts Like Hell

17. ugly truth

Egg nog. Mikey's mother made egg nog and I guess he brought home a whole pint for all of us to try. I never thought I would like egg nog because it just sounds so peculiar to me; what the hell is nog? And who thought of mixing egg with it? But there is a certain cinnamon taste to it that I like, and a slight burning sensation of rum that I'm fond of.

"Present time!" Mikey wobbles into the living room area, dressed up as Santa Claus; white beard hanging from the top of his lips and all. Me and Luke sit beside each other, in our pajamas while Grace is dressed up as an elf.

"I'll go first." Calum grabs his large laundry bag, containing boxes and boxes of presents. We are all seated on the two couches, me next to Luke and Christina. Grace, Mikey and Faye on the other couch. The only one missing is Ashton. He texted me saying he'd show up later, after rehearsal and I'm kind of disappointed that he couldn't take one day off to spend with me and our friends on Christmas after I told him what a horrible trip I had.

"Andie," Calum hands me a large rectangular gift box and goes down the row, handing out presents to everyone. They were all with their family up until an hour ago and Grace told me how they started this tradition where they would all gather at the boys' apartment late Christmas night to spend with their second family. "Alright, open them up!"

I smile excitedly, tearing the tape off the gift box's sides. I don't know what I was expecting, but it most certainly was not this. "Calum," I begin to laugh. "You got me bras!" There are eight of them, all different patterns and colors but all one size, 34A. "You even got me the right bra size."

"Anyone would. " Christina remarks. "You have a chest that resembles a six year old boy's."

I laugh because it's true and I have no desire to get into an argument with Christina when everyone is so happy, enjoying themselves.

"Oh, fuck yes!" Mikey jumps onto his feet, holding a 3DS game box with Pokemon on the front.

I turn to Luke, nudging his shoulder. "What'd you get?"

He tilts the box over for me to look. It's a handheld vacuum cleaner, and I look up to meet his eyes that hold pure excitement for the cleaning tool.

"Calum!" Faye screams out in rage, making all of us jump in surprise. "He got me vibrating panties."

Calum shrugs lightly, taking another sip of his egg nog. "You seem very tense lately."

The living room fills with laughter, and I lean against Luke as my stomach begins to cramp. He looks down at me, a small smile stretching across his lips, our faces only inches apart from one another. I quickly stand up, remembering the last time I was that close to Luke, the last time our lips were that close together. We have yet to talk about the kiss, but I know it's going to happen sooner or later.

"My turn," I announce, walking over to where the small Christmas tree stands. I grab the gifts I placed around it and hand one out to everyone except Faye because hers is sitting behind the couch. Christina gives me a confused look when I hand her a bag. I walk over to the other side of the couch and drag out Faye's box which is the largest out of them all. Excitedly, I say, "Okay, open them up."

Grace squeals as she pulls out the glossy black leather jacket I bought her with red satin on the inside. "This is so hot!"

Mikey opens up his next, revealing the gold pack of magnums I bought him, the Leonardo DiCaprio poster and the red onesy that has the words Netflix and Chill on the front. "You know me too well." He remarks.