3:26 am

t w e n t y - t h r e e

t w e n t y - t h r e e

I heard my doorbell ring and groaned in frustration as I looked at myself in the mirror. I had decided to curl my hair today, so that the curls would be loose by tomorrow, but I had only done half of my head.

I sat my curler down and braced myself for the embarrassing encounter I would soon be having with half way done hair. I walked through my apartment and to the front door, unlocking it and opening it as I got to it.

"Oh, Holden," I said, looking up at a familiar face. "What are you doing here? Did you text-"

"No, no, I didn't," Holden told me and I sent him a smile, opening the door wider so that he could step in. "I uh, I'm leaving the day after Christmas, and we only got to see each other once... and I don't know, I wanted to spend a little more time with you." My smile grew with every word and I started to nod.

"I'd like that, yeah, come in," I closed the door behind Holden and he took off his coat before walking further into the house.

"Quinn? I think you missed a... chunk," Holden looked down at me and laughed quietly as he touched the straighter strands of my hair.

"Thanks, I hadn't noticed," I told Holden as I let my eyes roll playfully, all the while crossing my arms. "I need to finish curling my hair, so you make yourself at home."

"I don't want to be left alone, I'll just watch," I gave Holden a look of confusion, but let my shoulders shrug before walking further into my apartment and down the hall to my bathroom, with Holden following me.

As we got into the bathroom, Holden took it upon himself to sit on the sink's counter closest to the door and lean against the wall, watching me as I picked up where I left off.

"So, how've you been?" Holden asked and I looked over at him as I held a piece of hair on the wand, waiting a couple seconds before unwrapping it.

"I've been good, how about you?" I asked him, suddenly feeling awkward as I spoke to him.

"I've been good," As Holden responded, the room fell silent, and I bit my lip as I continued to curl pieces of my hair.

"How's Andy?" I asked, trying to sound as pleasant as I could while doing so.

"She's... good," Holden said, taking a second to think about it. "She's spending Christmas with her older sister, and she kind of hates it."

"Oh," I said, nodding slowly in response.

"We're making this awkward," Holden pointed out and I glanced over at him, knowing he was right.

"Yeah... we are," I told him, sighing quietly as I sat the wand down. "Why are we doing that?"

"I don't know," he said, shaking his head. We both laughed quietly and I started to curl another chunk of hair.

"When are you leaving?" I asked, filling the silent room with sound. It fell quiet as soon as I was done talking and I glanced at Holden to see his eyes closed, looking gloomy.

"Really early the day after Christmas," he told me and although I was shocked to hear he was leaving so soon, I composed myself. I started to slowly nod as I switched to another chunk of hair and he sighed quietly. "Andy and I got into a fight," I looked over at Holden with my eyebrows raised and, forgetting what I was currently doing, I relaxed my hand and my finger fell against the wand.

"Shit," I said as I pulled my hand away from the curler. Holden reacted as well and reached forward, but instead of helping, I accidentally dropped the wand toward his hand and ended up grazing it across the top of his hand.