Something Like Fate (editing)

Christmas Reunion

I was dragging my arse to the Harries household on Christmas day.

“Why we’re doing this?” Lucy inquired. She was walking beside me, tying my borrowed scarf around her neck tightly. “You guys ended your thing months ago, remember. Some may say this is a bit weird.”

“His mother died and his father has gone off to Spain with his girlfriend. Jamie and Drew are all alone, I’m sure I can put aside my ego for one day,” I said, trying my best not to stop in the middle of the deserted road as the heavy bags full of food and presents became too much for me. “We’re his friends, Lucy.”

“That’s not true,” she said. “I’m not his friend, and I’m only out away from my family today is because I love you. Him, not so much.”

She huffed out a breath angrily. But the truth was that Lucy never forgave Drew for how he treated me. She would shoot him daggers and sigh dramatically in his presence even after Drew and I had somewhat moved on: well, I would still look at him secretly, feel him linger, but we tried to be civil. Lucy? Yeah, she wasn’t over him hurting me, Harry was still on her bitch list so Drew had no chance. It didn’t matter that Dina and I would always try to move on in whatever way we could, we’d do our best to forget the guys and the hurt, but it was Lucy who truly felt our pain. It was as if she had been hurt too. And in a way she had.

On the other hand, I started to feel suffocated as my feelings for Drew refused to go away. It didn't matter that he moved away to university or that I only saw him a handful of times because of this, I felt his presence. It didn’t matter that he hurt me, I still wanted him. I wanted him and needed him because I missed him. I missed the guy even when he was with me in the room, I feel for him without even realising, and I didn’t know how to get back up again. I would remember his boyish charm, or the way he had his guard up because he didn’t want to let others hurt him so he hurt them a lot first, or that smile which continued to make appearances in my dreams, or how we could talk about anything and he’d somehow still make it all interesting, or how he made me believe he felt all of that…I was mending my heart. And I couldn’t hate him while I did because it meant that he still meant something. I wasn’t going to let him change me, the hope I held was something I would share, even with him. But mostly Jamie, the only Harries brother who I might give a Christmas kiss to.

 “Lucy,” I said, sighing. “It’s the afternoon, so we’ve all spent time with our families, and it’s not like we’re spending all night here. We’re stopping by for a bit so they don’t feel alone and know people care. It’s a nice thing to do…I’m not going back” – I pointed to where we had stopped back Drew’s house – “there.”

“I don’t doubt that you won’t go back there. He just doesn’t deserve your kindness, or my freaking Christmas cake,” she softly said. “It took me two hours to bake this thing because the first attempt was ruined after Ryan ate the bloody thing. You and my brother.”

“Your brother is clearly the fun one in the family, he supplies me with food. Got competition for my best friend position, Lucy,” I joked.

“As long as you don’t hook-up then I’ll survive,” Lucy rolled her eyes, thankfully not catching onto my twitchy look because she would not be pleased. No, I wasn’t going out with Ryan. But it seems that Dina had found her rebound after Sean after seeing him shirtless in the kitchen after our sleepovers one too many times, and Lucy was the only one not partial to this information. “Ugh, I don’t want to go to see Drew right now. You know, since I don’t like him and all. You’re not getting a Nobel Prize for this, Sophia, but you are gonna get a headache because I shall scream if he turns those puppy dog eyes on you.”

I grabbed her hand as we spotted Dina and Matt outside Drew’s doorstep while they blew us kisses. “Classy,” Dina bellowed to Lucy’s other hand holding a half drank bottle of wine and both of us baring our legs in matching slip dresses covered by extra-large green Christmas jumpers. We both squealed when we saw each other at the bus stop that morning because our planned outfits looked even better than we thought: we looked like cute little elves.