Talia's Tradition

7. The Holly and the Ivy

❆ The Holly and the Ivy ❆

We were silent for the whole car journey home. I kept sneaking glances over at Jacob to see if he was mad, upset, concerned...but he just stared ahead at the car in front of us. The only sounds came from the traffic and me letting out a squeak every time we had to break suddenly.

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair before I rested my chin on my hand and stared out of the passenger window. It was still snowing heavily and Jacob had turned the window wipers on to full power to stop the falling snow from gathering.

My head was still spinning but the embarrassment had well had truly sunk in. I can't believe I had let myself get this drunk. I hardly ever drink because I hate feeling this way afterwards. I slumped down in the seat and covered my eyes with my hand. I didn't want to see anything or anyone ever again.

"We're home." Jacob announced ten minutes later. I removed my hand from over my eyes and saw that we were pulling into the driveway. Nick's car wasn't in the driveway so they were either still at the restaurant or on their way home.

As soon as the car was parked, Jacob opened the door and climbed out of the car. I followed him from window to window as he walked around the car and opened my door for me.

"Thank you," I said sheepishly as he offered me his hand and helped me out of the car. The snow had begun to settle and walking through it in heels turned out to be a difficult task. Jacob offered to carry me but I refused...three times, I was already embarrassed enough.

Jacob paused at the front door and waited patiently for me as I fumbled around in my bag for the house keys.

"I swear they're in here. I put them in here, I know I did." I was getting desperate now, I was looking more and more like a fool stumbling around on the doorstep. I dropped to my knees and began emptying the contents of my bag onto the snow.

"It doesn't matter, you can stay in the outhouse extension with me, come on." Jacob said softly and wrapped an arm around my waist to help me up off the ground.

"I'm such a mess." I mumbled brushing my hair out of my face.

Jacob kept his arm around my waist as we slowly made our way up the path to the extension. I'd given up insisting that I could walk by myself by the time we reached the front door. I watched as he slipped his hand into his pocket and produced the key, sliding it easily into the lock. I wanted to roll my eyes but I stopped myself. He pushed the door open and pressed his hand against the small of my back to encourage me inside.

I fumbled around trying to find the light switch as he closed the door. Finding it a flicked the lights on and instantly regretted it.

"Ow," I squeezed my eyes shut to block out the brightness. I sagged against the wall and when I opened my eyes again I found Jacob looking down at me with a sad smile. A little piece of my heart broke at the sight of that sad smile, knowing that I had more than likely caused it.

"Come on," He said in a low voice, hanging my leather jacket on one of the hooks opposite the door, "let's get you upstairs to bed." He took my hand and pulled me away from the wall.

I didn't say anything. I trailed behind him in a daze as he led me up the stairs. My mind flashed with happy memories of nights that had ended similarly, a mixture of date nights and outings we used to go on when we were together. Both of us in fits of giggles as we clumsily made our way back to the flat ready to lose ourselves in each other in our own safe haven.