Together | A.F.I

⁂ 10 :: ferris wheel ⁂

Joelle stood at the end of the road in a dark maroon skater dress with her leather jacket over the top, waiting for Ashton to appear. She assumed he'd chosen the middle of nowhere because it was meant to be a surprise, but honestly she was just cold.

"Joey!" Ashton shouted from across the street, running over and hugging her "Sorry I'm a bit late. You look gorgeous"

"Heya Ash" She smiled, hugging him back and kissing his cheek "Don't look so bad yourself. So, where are we going?"

"It's a surprise" Ashton grinned, taking her hand and walking with her down the chilly street, checking his phone for the time "And we're early, so we should have it mostly to ourselves"

She nodded, running a hand through her hair "God, I love winter. It's so cold, though. Worth it to be able to watch the grinch, though"

"The grinch?" He asked, leading the way towards the large park that had been converted into a funfair, the ferris wheel just visible above the tops of the trees.

"I love the grinch, he's the person I aspired to be when I was younger" She explained, then caught a glimpse of the ferris wheel, not saying anything. Joelle loved funfairs. So much.

"That explains a lot, actually." Ashton nodded "What are you doing for christmas?"

"My dad's going away again for work, so I'll probably bomb some christmas parties. He doesn't know that I don't know, but I do" Joelle hummed, letting him lead her to the front gates of the park.

"You can always come around here! My family loves you, and me and the boys were going to ask you if you wanted to hang out on boxing day anyway, so" Ashton offered.

"I'd love to, Ash, just make sure I'm not intruding please."

Ashton nodded "I'm sure it'll be fine, but I'll check just for you. So, what do you want for christmas?" He asked, leading her through the cluster of people until they were in their own space.

"As one thicc legend once said, Ashton, all I want for christmas is you" Joelle told him honestly "I will go into the full song if that's what it takes to prove my point"

He chuckled, shaking his head "You're a headcase. Guess I'll just have to use my imagination, won't I? So, what do you want to do first?"

"Depends, Ash, do you think you can beat me on the hoops game? And, are you ready to be beaten?" Joelle asked competitively, confident in her own skills.

"Question is, Joelle, are you ready to be beaten?" Ashton teased, leading her over to the hoops kiosk.

"Never. Bring it on, Irwin."

The hoop game ended in a tiebreaker and two small stuffed frogs, one blue with yellow spots, the other yellow with blue spots. Joelle stuffed hers into her jacket and zipped it up, afraid to lose it, whilst Ashton placed it in his skinny jean pocket, trusting that nothing could ever work its' way out of it.

"Ferris wheel?" Ashton asked, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Yeah, I'd love to." Joelle nodded, resting her arm over his shoulder as they walked towards the large wheel, noticing the fairy lights and little rose decor on each carriage. "Casanova much?"

"Doing my best" He told her, walking up the stairs to the kiosk, paying for the ride and then letting the obviously bored kiosk manager open up the ferris wheel carriage to let them in.

"You're doing well, then" Joelle told him, taking his hand in the carriage. "How did you know I liked fun fairs?"

"I didn't. I just thought it'd be nice to come to the funfair, and so I could show you how awesome I am at funfair games. Should've expected you'd be amazing at this aswell" Ashton told her honestly as they began to ascend slowly.