london boy | wroetoshaw

fourty one

"You left so soon back to Scotland, I didn't even get a chance to give you your Christmas present! I spent proper time picking it out too." Talia complained whilst she was sat directly across Mia in their usual booth at The Tavern. 

Mia offered a sympathetic smile to her friend, "I still have yours at my flat, I promise to bring it next time I see you!"

She felt weird, however. Mia hated keeping things from her friends, even though she had caught herself doing it more and more often lately. She was very much the kind of person who kept internal battles, well, internal. And even if she was one to share every little thing as it was happening, she wouldn't even know where to start. 

But she knew she had to, had to start that is. Mia needed to start processing what she had done, and not in the same was she had 'processed' it in Scotland, because that was more or less just throwing a pity party for herself in the comfort of her childhood bedroom. What she needed to do was find the right things to say to Harry, and more than anything the right thing to say to herself. She was still just as lost as she was when she got off the plane in the first place, the only thing that she was sure of was how bad she felt. 

As she listened to her friends tell her about their Christmases, Mia took in her surroundings. She was sat next to JJ, with Talia and Simon across from them. The three of them had come together, with Mia arriving about 5 minutes after they had already sat down. 

She caught herself glancing at the door a few too many times, waiting for Cal and Harry to walk in until they finally did, and the bell above the door rang loud enough to catch her attention. Her head turned quickly as her eyes landed on him for the second time that day, her breathing slowing as Harry shook the rain out of his hair. As soon as he looked up in attempt to scan the room, their eyes locked, causing Mia to look away. 

The pair walked over to the table, grins on both of their faces as they greeted their friends. A bit to Mia's relief, Cal had slid in next to her before Harry had the chance to do so, forcing him to sit next to Talia. But Mia didn't miss the quick look of confusion that crossed his face as Cal took Harry's usual spot beside Mia. 

"Did you two enjoy your time at home?" Simon asked Mia and Cal after the drinks that they all ordered arrived. 

"Well I did," Cal announced as he reached over to grab his drink, "but I wouldn't know about little miss grumpy over here."

"Grumpy?!" Mia exclaimed, slightly offended as she turned her head to face him, "How was I grumpy?!" 

Cal glanced at her from the corner of his eye as he sipped his drink, shaking his head slightly as he set it back down. A small grin played across his face, almost like a smirk, as he turned to look at the rest of the table, instead of just her. 

"For someone who claims she loves Christmas time so much, little miss grumpy didn't even leave her room! Unless there were people over, people other than me that is, the only reason she'd come out was to eat." 

"That's not true!" Mia protested, slightly embarrassed, sinking down into her seat as she crossed her arms with a huff.

He turned to look at her, raising his eyebrows in amusement, "Don't make me tell them about the ice cream." 

Mia's eyes widened, her face turning red as she shook her head quickly in some sort of pleading attempt to stop him. The rest of the table watched the two bicker, amused as they usually were at the pairs relationship. 

"What happened with the ice cream?" Simon asked from the corner of the table, raising his eyebrows as he awaited an answer. 

And though Mia opened her mouth to stop him from speaking, Cal quickly interrupted her.