Life's Not Fair

Chapter 20

Song for the chapter: All of the Stars - Ed Sheeran

~<{ His Side }>~

It was about 3 o'clock in the afternoon when we finally made it to the cabin in Maine. It wasn't really just a cabin, my grandparents owned a ski lodge. There were just a bunch of cabins though, instead of a huge building, with lots of rooms. We started unpacking the car as another wave of slow flurries started falling.

There was already a good amount of snow on the ground, but this next falling layer just added to the Christmas joy.

"So Lance, have you heard from anybody? Anyone else up here yet?" My dad asked as we brought the last of the bags into the cabin.

"Umm... Well I heard from Avery--"

He cut me off short, "Go... Come on, go see her"

"Are you sure? I mean we just got here... You and mom don't wa--" I was confused.

"Nah, we'll be fine. Now go" He said opening the door back up.

I headed through the door into the light falling snow, "I'll text you later"

My dad laughed, waving me off before her closed the door again.

I found my way down the little snowy trail to the cabin that Avery's family always rents out. I had been down this path so many times, and every year it always seemed the same.

The massive pine trees sheltered me from the calm winds blowing across the mountain. They never seemed to mind the roofs of snow that they held.

In no time I found the end of the trail, and standing up on the deck of the cozy log cabin, was Avery.

A smile spread across my face as I watched her make her way down the endless staircase. We both walked at a steady pace towards each other, closing the distance between us.

Once she reached the bottom of the staircase, she took off running towards me. It was no time at all before she was in my arms, and I was spinning her around.

Man... I wish someone could've been there to take a picture of this moment, because it was absolutely, perfect.

I stopped spinning, and set her down in front of me. She looked me in the eyes and smiles effortlessly.

She made the cutest little giggle before finally speaking, "You've grown"

I smiled back at her, "Well, it looks like I'm not the only one"

A flood of red washed over her face, and she looked towards the ground. 

"Yes, I was talking about your boobs" I said, winking at her.

"Stop it!" She shouted, and pushed me. She then was off running towards the cabin, but stopped short to bend down and scoop up a handful of snow. She proceeded to thrown the snowball at me with quite precise aim.

"Hey watch it!" I held up my arm, deflection her throw. She continued laughing and made her way up the stairs. I laughed along and chased after her.

~<{ Her Side }>~

Only two days till Christmas, I told myself. Christmas time was my favorite time of the year. I wasn't sure why though... I mean we never spent time with family, but that was because I had no family. Both of my parents were only children, so I didn't have any aunts or uncles or cousins to hang out with. 

Both sets of my grandparents had died a few years ago, so we had just gotten use to spending Christmas alone. Usually we would go to some big Broadway show or something like that for Christmas eve, and then just spend Christmas day at home.

Christmas day was one of the very few days that both of my parents had off. They pretty much worked every other day of the year. I guess that was why I liked it so much, because it was the one time a year I felt like I actually had loving family members.

I was sitting in the kitchen, watching the snow fall outside the huge glass windows. It had been a few days since the guitar club show, and my run-in with Sam, but I couldn't stop thinking about him.

I had thought about everything in my life that night. Everything I had done which put me in the place I was right now, and I finally saw things with clear, perfect vision.

When I saw him up there on that stage, smiling and laughing as he played along with all of his friends... It made me so happy, knowing he was happy.

He opened my eyes to finally realize something. He made me remember what it was like to be happy and just let go.

Up until that point, I realized I had been living such a sheltered life. I had been constantly living in fear of being hurt by everything, that I forgot what it was like to just be carefree.

He made me realize that I needed to find my reason to smile again. I had been living so long without it, that I had forgotten that it was even missing.

So for the last few days, I began living a different life. I would go out to the store and I would smile at random strangers, because it made me feel good. And it gave me a reason to put a real smile on my face.

I continued watching the snow for awhile. I liked winter... Yea it was cold and sloppy... But it was so breathtakingly beautiful, that it made up for all of those other reasons.

I picked up my phone and saw that Lance had snap-chatted me. He sent me a picture of the snow mountains at sunset. His comment was, "Evening in Paradise".

I smiled, because I couldn't have described it any better.

__________________

A/N

So Charlotte is finally getting over her sad, miserable state, and is that because of someone other than Danny or Lance?!?

I hope all of you enjoyed this chapter, I know it's been a while since I updated... Sorry...

As always, please vote, comment, and keep reading!!! Stay Lovely!!!

~emmyspringer