{Merry Christmas everyone}
ship: halsey x reader
genre: fluffy
trigger warnings: n/a
word count: 971
other: idea from a book of ideas by @btsexts
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It happened on the dot of 4:25pm every single day, for 365 days of the year.
My neighbour would press the play button on her old and decrepit boombox (yes, people still use those) and Christmas music would blast out for exactly six and a half minutes. None of the songs would ever be the same either.
I was making a cup of tea when it occurred yesterday and I had groaned loudly. It was the middle of July.
I had to admire her though, she had a schedule and she stuck to it.
Some days I looked forward to the strange ritual and some days I dreaded it. It depended on my mood really.
Yesterday was one of those days where I simply just rolled my eyes.
I had then took a seat out on my back porch and listened to "Baby it's cold outside" in the summer sunshine while drinking my cup of tea. It was strange but to me it was normal.
Today however, I had enough.
I had a horrific day at work. My boss gave me so much to do, the vending machine broke, I spilt water all over my skirt, my laptop broke, then, that stupid fucking music started and to make matters worse, it was that song "Merry Christmas everyone", the one that my ex wife would sing to me every Christmas morning.
I threw my pen across the room and groaned loudly, before scraping the chair back and storming to the front door of the house beside me, banging my hand against the door.
I had to wait four and a half minutes until the ritual was over before my neighbour kindly graced me with her presence.
"Yes?"
I was leaning against the wall, absolutely fuming. But it was over now and there was no point in doing anything.
"I-I...never mind"
"No no come on. I'm sorry for taking so long I-"
"Was listening to Christmas music. I know. You do it every day at 4:25. I live next door" I pointed to my house.
I nodded "Right. Uh, do you wanna come in?"
I ran a hand through my hair, sighing "Sure why not?"
I had never really spoken to this girl before now, but I couldn't help but admire her. She was beautiful, with long blue hair cascading down her back and white jeans hugging her waist and a The 1975 t-shirt hanging off her shoulder.
She brought me into the kitchen, where she poured me a glass of chocolate milk "Sorry, I'm not going shopping until tomorrow and it's all I have. Unless you want a cup of tea with chocolate milk but I really wouldn't recommend it, it's horrible"
I couldn't help but give a chuckle "You seriously made tea with chocolate milk?"
She nodded, blushing a little "Stop! I didn't have anything else and I thought why not"
I chucked again at how eccentric this girl was but sipped on my chocolate milk, which surprisingly hit the spot.
"So, figured out why you're here yet?" she asked me.
"I was here to shout at you for playing Merry Christmas everyone" I said honestly "But it doesn't matter now"
"Oh. I won't play it again then, thanks for letting me know. I'm glad you didn't shout at me though" she smiled a little.
"You don't have to do that but thank you. It's just my ex wife used to sing it to me every Christmas morning. It was our thing. And then she left me, after four years of marriage and 15 years of knowing each other for a boy"
She winced "Woah. That's harsh I'm so sorry"
I rolled my eyes "Don't waste your sympathy on me please, it's over now. It was a year and three months ago, it doesn't matter anymore"
The girl looked at me sadly, playing subconsciously with the ends of her hair "It must matter if you know how long it is. You must be counting. That's not healthy you know. You can't be dwelling on such a skank like her"
I went to defend my wife but then it sunk in that she wasn't mine anymore and I suddenly burst into tears. I was an ugly crier unfortunately and I sobbed loudly in front of the petite blue haired girl who looked borderline terrified of me.
"No no please no don't cry!" she looked around for help, like a teenager looking for something to give a crying baby.
"Please stop no" she wrapped her arms around me, hugging me tightly "Please, she's not worth your tears"
I sniffed while she wiped away my tears with her thumbs. She was very comforting and she kept hugging me until the sadness had passed and I just felt empty.
"You feeling better now?" She whispered.
I nodded "I'm sorry. But thank you"
She shook her head "There's nothing to be sorry for. It's okay to cry. In fact, crying is great"
I smiled shyly "You're really kind. Here I am, pouring out my life story and crying in your arms and I don't even know your name"
She smiled warmly at me "My name's Ashley. And you're welcome here to cry at any time"
"I'm y/n. Thank you Ashley" I hugged her. I wasn't much of a hugger but I felt she deserved one.
She was so petite in my arms but she fit perfectly, like she was made for me.
"Hey, how about tomorrow, you come over and you can pick the Christmas songs" she asked me, biting her lip a little.
I laughed loudly "You know what? I'd love to!"
