SANTA TELL ME ( JOE KEERY ) [SLOW UPDATES]

ONE

CHAPTER ONE - DAY ONE

ARIANA felt like she was a teenager again, going on a ski trip with her parents and older sister, even though she had turned twenty five a few months ago. It was a Christmas tradition, they did it for years, until Ariana turned seventeen. That was when her father's health had declined and he suffered from a heart attack, meaning the Christmas of 2009 was spent in the clean, pristine, strict, strong smelled hospital. After that year her mother put a stop to the trip, even though her father persisted and begged, assuring her that he was fine. But her mother was frightened and worried, scared that if they left and went all that way something would happen and they wouldn't be able to get help. She was scared he would die, and even though the daughters wouldn't admit it, so were they. However this year she finally caved in to him and his infectious smile, gathering her two daughters and driving them up to the ski lodge; her father had also been on new medication for six months, it was way more effective and specific. Plus her mother had memorised the exact time he had to take them, and she was content with herself forcing him to take the pills and caring for him, like he had when she got her hip replacement.

So now she was sat in the back seat, behind the passenger in her mother's small, old car as it chugged slowly through the snow, shaking slightly every time it hit a bump. Both her father and sister had fell asleep, they were alike in many ways, and her mother thought Ariana had too. Yet she was only resting her forehead on the cool window, watching the snow fall and kiss the covered ground. They'd been driving for hours and it had made Ariana tired, but she couldn't get comfortable in the car, especially with her sister's legs sprawled on top of hers. Careful not to knock them, she blindly swung her arm in front of her seat, searching for the plastic bag they had got from the fast food stop. When her hand hooked the handles she pulled it up and balanced it on her sister's feet before rummaging through it, pushing bags of cheap sweets apart to create a gap between until she found the bag of smoky bacon crisps she was looking for. She gently dropped the bag on the floor of the car again before resting her head on the frosted window, her left temple numbing from the temperature. She pulled the sides apart quietly and gently as if it was a secret, ripping open the seal and inhaling the flavoured potato smell. Every so often she popped one in her mouth, chewed as silently as she could, but the crunching filled her ears until it was all she could hear, drowning out the loud chugging of the overrun car.

Before Ariana could even finish the snack, the vehicle pulled into the car park. Many other cars filled the spaces, some concealed in snow and some lightly covered in a thin, sparse layer showing they were new arrivers. The concrete, like all the other ground was coated in snow, but due to the slush, footmarks and tire lines the dark grey floor peaked through in areas.

Once Ariana's mother had carefully parked into a spot flanked only on one side by a red jeep, she called sweetly to her husband, chanting his name soothingly to coax him out of his sleep. Whilst Ariana just shook her sister slightly, before shoving her feet off her lap, her boots slamming into the opposite chair. Soon enough Whitney had woken up, jolting upright and almost smacking her head on the roof. As soon as she had shook her head, her short dark blonde bob bustling at her shoulders, and she had rubbed the sleep from her eyes; she realised what had happened and shot her sister a dirty look. In return Ariana just gave her a sickly sweet smile before the pair climbed out the car.

Ariana rubbed her hands together, cupping them and bringing them to her mouth, blowing her warm breath on to them. She had left her gloves in her bag, and now she mentally cursed herself for her stupidity. The dirty-blonde haired sisters trudged to the boot, the older one flipping it open.

The pair took as much luggage as they could carry, whilst their parents scooped up the rest, before they all bustled into the large, wooden lodge. Ariana followed her parents through the huge dark oak door, the sudden opening filling the warm building with a freezing breeze that smacked everyone in the face and shot shivers down their spines.

Once they had past the threshold Ariana once again, like in the car ride, was transported back to being a teenager. Standing in the exact spot huffing and rolling her eyes as she twiddled with the ends of her hair. But now she was twenty five, maturer and even more independent with a whole new fashion sense, yet she had the same length hair and looked relevantly similar to her younger self.

Ariana swiftly moved her foot from holding the door open behind her, letting it slowly close, the room warming up again. The family shuffled to the reception desk, like a little unit.

There was no line, so they stood in front of the wooden counter waiting for the staff member to finish sorting out the mail. After a few minutes the timid ginger girl noticed the family waiting patiently and with a rushed, almost incoherent mumble of 'sorrys' welcomed them to the lodge. She must have been new, all the staff at the place knew the Grieves as if they were their own; they were well adored and even though they hadn't been for eight years they would still be recognised like no time had pasted. Around Christmas time the lodge hired young people needing all the help they could, and the teenage enthusiasm lit the place up, bring a new festive, modern warmth to the place. The last year they were here, when Ariana was seventeen, they asked her if she'd like to take part in the program and she instantly and excitedly agreed, but the next December they didn't come back. Ariana wasn't that fussed about not being able to do the job, her father's health meant way more and she was too stressed with it to even think about the lodge, plus she was so absorbed and concentrated on her studies; she wanted to be a teacher.

"We're the Grieves" Her mother beamed at the young girl over the desk who wore a nervous smile and span to the computer, quickly brushing hair from her face.

"G-r-i-e-v-e-s" Her mother spelt out slowly and sweetly to help the girl who was obviously struggling. Ariana couldn't help but feel sorry for her, she wouldn't be able to make the whole trip, it wasn't as if the job was difficult but she could tell she was juggling a lot.

Even though Ariana had been here so many times, and she knew the whole place like the back of hand with everything memorised, she still slowly gazed around the spacious room as if it was the first time she'd seen it. The famous Christmas tree was already standing up proud, so tall that the star scraped the high ceiling. Beside it was the stone fireplace, the flame flickering and covered by a metal guard. Next to both the tree and fireplace was one of the many sitting areas, a long dark red and black rug spread on the wooden planked floor. Standing on top was a dark wooden table, the legs small and stubby. Two matching dark red sofas were sat around it, and weirdly were empty. Ariana had rested there so many times that she could now feel the soft cushion beneath her hands even though she stood feet away from it. She couldn't drink in the rest of the room before someone spoke gently behind her, the breath hot on the bare areas of her neck.

"Um, excuse me miss" The male voice whispered politely, she could hear him uncomfortably shifting his weight behind her.

She didn't answer at first, still stuck in her trance, until the person awkwardly cleared his throat. Slowly she turned to see the man standing behind her. She peered up at the man through her clean lashes, he was taller than her but not by much and he had a flop of large dark hair upon his head. His jawline was more defined from this angle and on his lips was a natural slight smile, he looked at her with large, puppy brown eyes.

"Hmm?" She murmured softly, her eyes now focused on his face.

"You, um" He stuttered, smiling kindly "Dropped this"

They both glanced down at his outstretched hand, which held a small green clutch bag full of makeup even though she rarely wore it.

"Oh thanks" She beamed, swiftly scooping it from his hand, hers brushing his palm. Before she awkwardly balanced her bags so she was able to slot the clutch into one.

"Ariana" Her sister called, as the family walked away towards the stairs, their bags now in a friendly bell boy's hands.

"I better go, thanks again!" Ariana rushed as she jogged to catch up with her family, still clutching her bags.

Ariana trudged behind the other three on the wooden stairs covered in a long rug, running from the top all the way past the bottom step, a small grin on her lips from the boy's kindness. She couldn't help but look back at him over the staircase railing, he still stood at the desk his eyes also on her. When they locked, she gave him the sweetest smile before disappearing up onto the hallway.