Vlogmas: a YouTube Christmas Special [YouTube]

Day 2

On the second day of Vlogmas, YouTube gave to me:

Talkin' Around The Christmas Tree (Carrie Hope Fletcher [ItsWayPastMyBedtime])

**

You do a tiny, swaying dance to the Christmas music that drifts in from the lounge as you pour hot water into three mugs. The spicy smell of the tea makes your nose itch, and it takes all your willpower to resist the urge to scratch it while you're carrying the mugs in both hands back to your friends in the other room. They're laughing at some silly thing your wonderful (but frankly rather ditzy) roommate, Heidi, has said when you walk through the door.

No sooner have you entered than Carrie hops up to help you, taking two of the mugs from you and setting them down on the coffee table. "Heidi was just telling me about the time she switched trains at the wrong time and ended up in Bristol instead of Brighton," Carrie explains, eyes dancing merrily.

Heidi cackles from her spot on the floor. She's wearing a strand of tinsel like a feather boa around her neck. "Oh, Carrie, you should've heard Ez when I called him from Bristol." Consumed by giggles, she waves incoherently at you to finish the thought.

Grinning, you step gingerly over a coil of lights to hand Heidi her tea. "Jeezus, Heidi!" you thunder, imitating the accent of your other roommate, Ezra. "Are you fookin' seeriouz?! Jeezus!" You may have been exaggerating a bit for comedic effect, but Heidi and Carrie both throw back their heads and laugh so hard that their curls shake, so it's worth it. You pick your way back to the coffee table and hand Carrie her tea. "The poor guy near about had kittens."

Carrie beams when she sees her mug. "Aw, you have a Hopeful mug!"

Your roommate reaches across and punches Carrie lightly on the arm. "Of course we do! We both have one. After all, I can't very well not buy my long lost twin sister's merch, can I?" It's true that Heidi and Carrie look alike, but that's probably just because of the hair; the majority of the similarities end there, but the two were so delighted to find someone who shared their curly hair woes that they sort of ignore the rest and just call themselves twins.

The three of you sit and chat over your tea for a minute more, enjoying your girl time, before you remember that you'd called Carrie here with the intention of decorating your gigantic tree (which had ended up fitting through the door, just barely, and only after a half-hour's worth of effort) and get to work.

You get landed with step stool duty and are struggling to see past the twigs poking your face when Carrie, who's holding the ladder while Heidi untangles and feeds you the fairy lights, asks, "Where is Ezra? He's not here, is he?"

"He's out with some of his artsy friends," Heidi answers. She sticks her tongue out with a wrinkle of her little button nose. "Good thing, too. We don't want his boy-ness mucking up our girls' night."

"I'll drink to that!" Carrie laughs, sipping her tea from the hand not holding the step stool.

"Boys can be fun," you point out, winding the last bit of lights around the top of the tree and stepping down the ladder. "Dan and Phil are fun."

Heidi puts her fists on her wide hips and cocks an eyebrow. "Dan and Phil hardly count as boys."

You untwist the tinsel from around her neck and start arranging it on the tree artfully. "Okay, but... What about Pete? He's definitely a manly man. You like Pete, right, Carrie?"

She smiles, putting her tea down and turning to fuss with the tinsel. Her eyes have a dreamy look in the warm glow from the lights. "Pete loves Disney and singing songs from musicals. He's not exactly a manly man."

Heidi takes a fistful of tinsel and goes to the other side of the tree. "Well, I'll tell you what, he is one fine hunk of human flesh," she declares. "I'd let him serenade me any day of the week."

You glance at Carrie from the side of your vision. Is she... blushing? Abruptly she leaves your side to pick up a box of ornaments.

"I kind of thought he fancied you, Carrie," you mention in a casual tone. "He was always so sweet to you, bringing you pizza and making you tea... Do you still talk often?"

"We still see each other, yeah." In the quiet that follows, the baubles clink against the plastic lights softly as she hangs them one by one. The delicate sound is a desynchronised accompaniment to the carols ringing over the radio speakers.

You make subtle eye contact with Heidi across the fir needles. She raises her eyebrows.

"Do you know if he fancies you?" Heidi repeats. You both watch Carrie, who is turning a bauble over in her hand, watching her reflection.

The latter sighs. "I dunno. I thought he did, but I freaked out and... I'm not so sure anymore." She meets your eyes. "I'm kind of scared to like him, y'know?"

You nod sympathetically. "He'd be your first relationship in a while."

"My first boyfriend since Alex." Carrie frowns down at the bauble in her hand. A chisel mark appears between her brows. "All my romances crash and burn so violently, and... I dunno, but I'm scared to like Pete because I like him so much? And that doesn't even make sense."

Heidi pipes up. "It's 'cos you don't want him to turn out to be a bad egg." She shakes her head, short curls whipping around her face. "This is a bit grim, but, if you look at it this way, there's no way he could be worse than Alex." She shrugs.

You reach out and take Carrie's hand with a reassuring smile. "Don't do anything you're not ready for. But, also... Don't let fear hold you back." You squint one eye sheepishly. "Sorry we're so bad at advice."

Carrie laughs and it's like the sun has come out again. You let out a breath you didn't know you'd been holding. "You're both absolutely grand," she says firmly, pulling you into a hug and holding an arm out for Heidi, who joins eagerly. "I can always depend on my girls!"

"We are pretty fab," agrees Heidi.

The tree turns out slightly lopsided, although when Ezra comes home from his #LADS night he insists unconvincingly that it looks spectacular. You don't care too much, though; it's hard to care too much about anything when you're covered in glitter from the baubles and halfway hoarse from laughing so loudly. However, the night doesn't end until you hug Carrie goodbye one last time at the door and she whispers in your ear, "You're a good friend."

You squeeze her tight. "Never as good as you."

**

A/N:

Still open for suggestions! ^__^

Also, I entered this in a contest...? I don't think anything will come of it, but hey, we'll see :)

Happy Christmas!
virtues