Preacher Man // ross lynch + driver era

11

Christmas Eve. When only the insane go out to get gifts. Me included.

"Are you getting Ross something?" Liv asks as we walk through the populated mall entrance.

I nod, "probably something small. I don't know what we are so I don't want to go overboard and scare him. I already got yours, I just need to get Kayla something. Who did you need to get?"

She groans, her hands going into her blonde hair. "I need to get yours, Kayla's and my parents."

We decide to get Kayla's first so we head to Victoria's Secret. We get her perfume and a new set of lingerie that she loves to collect to show off her figure. It was a madhouse in there.

Liv wanted to get her parent's some clothes for her brother's engagement party so we went to Macy's and decided to bang out as much as we could.

For the five things we have managed to purchase, that took four hours. Malls on Christmas Eve? No thank you.

I decide on simply going online and buying Ross tickets to one of his favorite artists because I don't want to deal with this mess right now. Liv made me leave her as she dispersed into stores in attempt to find me a gift. So I made my way to the food court.

I sat down in one of the two person booths and pull my phone out, searching what concerts are coming around her soon to see if any names ring a bell to what I know Ross listens to.

Coldplay. Cardi B. Justin Bieber. Lady Gaga. Drake. The Weeknd.

I raise my eyebrows at the options and continue scrolling. I go back up and click on The Weeknd. I purchase two seats that seem somewhat decent for the price and am happy with the gift.

Liv calls, "Hey. I'm done, where ya at?"

I reply, "I'm in the food court!"

A few minutes later, she comes around the corner and spots me in the massive crowd, rushing over and putting her stuff down. "I'm going to grab some food from Chick-fil-a. Want me to grab yours while I'm up so we don't lose our table?"

Ten minutes later she comes back, a tray in her hand. She sits down and looks at me with wide eyes. "What's wrong?" I ask, leaning forward to question her look.

She glances to her right then looks back at me. "So don't freak out, it's fine. Ross is sitting over there with the blonde girl from that frat party I think."

I follow her eyes and see him sitting there further away, his head tilted back in laughter. I look at the girl across from him, wondering if it's Rydel or not. And nope. It's the girl from the frat. Sarah.

I shrug, "Probably just friends." I reach down, pulling the waffle fry out and placing it into my mouth.

"Did you know they still talked?" She questions.

I shook my head, acting as though I'm not phased. I'm definitely not phased at all. "No, I didn't. I didn't ask either so she just never came up. They're probably friends. Plus, like I said earlier, I don't even know what's going on with him and I. Yeah we kiss sometimes and text a lot, but that doesn't mean anything." I pick up the sandwich and bring it to my mouth.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry if I freaked you out," she laughs nervously.

I shrug. "You didn't. Don't worry about it," I glance back at him. His hand touching hers now. "They're just holding hands, but it's nothing," I whisper to her.

"I'm just gonna throw something out real quick, okay?" Liv says, smiling as she stands. I go to grab her hand to stop her, but she's too far from my grasp.

I pick up my drink, trying to not look at her walk past Ross. She tosses her napkin and walk toward him again. "Ross? How are you? What are you doing here!?" She says, stopping at their table.

I lean further into my seat, trying to hear them. "Oh, just um, some last minute shopping." I glance at him, his hands in his lap with his legs bouncing up and down.

Liv replies, "Oh nice! I'll let Hayley know you say hey." I hear my name and I immediately look down at the food in front of me. I pick up my phone and act as if I'm sending a text message.

I hear someone sit in the chair across from me and I glance up slowly. "Hi," I say to Liv's smiling face.

"I made him uncomfortable, but Ross says hi." She says the last part a bit louder. She points in his direction and I slowly look at him. His eyes meet mine and he lifts his hand go do a small wave.

I wave back the same way. Sarah is sitting there as though she is beyond aggravated.

I look back at my friend across from me. "Can we please finish up? I don't want to be here." She nods, picking up her sandwich and quickly eating the rest.

Twenty minutes later, we were on our way home. We took our exit route with limited amount of having to pass Ross. I didn't want to talk about Sarah so I simply avoided him.

Once inside of the apartment, we separated to our rooms to wrap the gifts. I lived with Kayla and Liv since freshman year and it has become a tradition where we give each other our gifts on Christmas Eve since they both go home to their parents the next day. I finish wrapping it and wait in the living room.

Moments later, they come out with boxes. Liv got me some new sweaters. Kayla got me a matching necklace, bracelet and earring set. I got Liv some new headphones since she broke her old ones. And we gave Kayla the array of stuff from Victoria's Secret.

Knowing these were the only gifts I was potentially getting this year, I was happy and content as we prepared a Christmas movie to end the night. Little did I know how tomorrow morning would go.