Keywords: New years eve, Popcorn and Ketchup
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New years eve was coming... but I had nobody to celebrate with. Mom and dad were on vacation to the Bahamas, leaving me on my own here in London, like every December 31st the past 2 years. After a massive family-fight my parents decided to cut all bonds with my family and so they decided to go on several vacations to avoid any possible contact with them and even though I wasn't involved at all in the fight, they all somehow forgot about me in the process of hating each other. Not like 'she doesn't exist anymore', but more like 'we don't care how you feel about it' and I didn't want to be around the anger my parents emitted when they talked about the rest of my family (which they did a lot), so I decided to stay at home while they were gone.
The last 2 years were durable. I had quite a few friends that would accompany me when I felt lonely. That was one of the perks of my parents' constant absence; I could do whatever I wanted to do in the three story house my parents owned. So I would often organize a sleepover with some close friends. We would watch movies and eat heaps of popcorn and dance wildly to One Direction songs. But somehow the world was against me these two weeks, seeing as all of my friends' parents decided to make a trip to their 'o so far away living relatives'. Now we're back were I started. Me... and two friends... 'Myself' and 'I'. Hahaha..ha 'no Ella, not funny'... wait, why am I talking to myself? Urg, I should get out of this lonely house before I start making up imaginary friends... Although, it would actually be pretty awesome to have an imaginary friend...
I was humming Wake Me Up by Ed Sheeran while walking trough the park near my house. It had snowed and everything was covered with a white blanket. Our neighbourhood was very social and everybody got along well and every winter they decorated the trees with fairy lights and hang up fat balls for the birds (A/N: I don't really know what they're called in English ): ). The latter was my idea. One of my friends told me once about this old Celtic feast where people celebrated the return of the (sun)light by decorating trees with food for the birds and things like that. It's called Yule (pronounced yool) and celebrated on the 21th of December.
I walked past trees filled with birds that savoured the fat balls and the little light shone as if the trees caught the stars in their branches. All in all it was beautiful, especially because in the distance I could hear Christmas music playing. I strolled along the snowy gravel road until I reached the small pond in the middle of the park. It was frozen on the edges and in the middle were some swans drifting, cuddled together. I sat down on a bench, only to jump up again immediately. I forgot it was winter for a moment, the bench was cold and frozen over. Sighing, I swung my Eastpak bag over my shoulder so it hung on my stomach and pulled out the towel I brought with me before leaving the house. I unfolded it and put on the bench before sitting down again, 'much better :)'.
I had been sitting here for quite some time, just looking at the cuddling swans and thinking about the things I could do to fill the empty days when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked up, only to have my mouth falling open in shock; in front of me stood a boy, but not any boy...
"Hey, what's a pretty girl like you doing alone out here?" I looked to my sides to see if he was talking to someone else but his hazel eyes stared right at me. 'Damn, Ell', say something!' "Uhmm... Why do you care?"... 'Seriously Ell'?! Now he thinks you're mad or something!' My conscience yelled at me. He did look taken aback a bit. I don't even know why I said that! It's just... how crazily and abnormally coincidental is it that you're sitting alone on a bench and suddenly friggin Ashton Irwin walks up to you and asks why you're sitting alone?! And he even called me pretty! I groaned and put my face in my hands. "Gosh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude..." I felt a gust of wind and when I looked up I saw that he sat down next me, apparently not minding the coldness of the bench. He looked at me and smiled "No worries, I guess it is pretty weird when some stranger walks up to you and starts talking to you..." "Nonono, you're not a stranger to me at all! You're Ashton Irwin of 5SOS! Everyone knows you!" I said, trowing my hands in the air. He laughed, the sound waving trough the air like tinkling bells. "So you do know me already! Can I ask your name then?" He smirked at my blush that creeped up my cheeks. "E-ella..." I stuttered. Oh god, this is embarrassing... "Hmm, beautiful name for a beautiful girl." He said which caused me to turn completely red. "So why were you sitting alone?" He asked after a short silence. "Well, uhm, my parents are on a vacation, so are my friends. I decided to stay at home, alone." I said quietly, looking down at my feet, finding my shoes suddenly very interesting. "You miss 'em, don't you?" I looked up and into his eyes filled with the same loneliness I felt. "Yeah..." I replied, my eyes suddenly getting blurry.' I will not cry.' I chanted in my head, again and again, I wouldn't cry in front of him. I took a deep breath and was able to see clearly again. "I miss my family too, you know?" I shouldn't feel as surprised as I did, but I never thought about it. Of course he missed his family too, he had been touring for a year and now he was in London.
My thoughts were interrupted as he suddenly took my hand and started to drag me away from the bench. I squealed and ripped my hand out of his. "Whoa, what are you doing!" I said, or yelled more likely, I was in shock from the sudden movement... And the fact that he took my hand in his... It was really warm... And strong... "Come on! I wanna show you something!" He said pouting. I couldn't help but burst out laughing at his face. I clutched my stomach but managed to stop laughing. Then I remembered his request, and looking back at him I saw he was still waiting for an answer. He held out his hand. I looked at it with big eyes, was he being serious? I stuttered a 'sure' before getting up and folding my now slightly wet towel and putting it back in bag. I turned back to him, he still has his hand lifted for me to take it. Blushing, I slowly lifted my own and put it carefully in his. Immediately my hand was engulfed by the same warmth I felt a minute ago. He turned and started walking, tugging me by my hand after him, I had to run to keep up. 'Where is he dragging me to?' I wondered. He looked at his watch and suddenly started walking faster, I barely managed to keep up, but then my feet decided to play Twister and I stumbled, closing my eyes, expecting the hard ground... But it never came. (AN: Gosh! That's so cliché, sorry 'bout that!) I felt a pair of strong hands keeping me from falling. I looked up and blushed a fire red at the sudden closeness of our faces. My breath hitched as his face came closer. "Careful, love. I don't want you getting hurt, okay?" He whispered in my ear, his breath leaving a tingling feeling in my ear that spread like goosebumps over my cheeks. He put me back on my feet and took my hand again, this time walking slower.
We arrived at a bridge and walked halfway, then standing still at the railing, looking out over the water. "So you celebrated Christmas alone too?" Ashton asked after a while. I looked down again and sighed "Yeah... Though it can't really be called 'celebrated'. All I did was sitting in the Starbucks and drinking coffee while opening all the Christmas letters I received." The memories filled my mind again. Me sitting alone, ripping open every single boring letter I got. All filled with the same unoriginal wishes. It was the worst Christmas ever...
In my peripheral vision I saw Ashton fumbling in his jacked than pulling out a little wrapped up present. He then turned to me and held it in front of my face. I looked up questioningly. "I bought it for Michael but you deserve it more than him." He said and chuckled. I carefully took the present and looked at him again to see if he was being serious, but the smile that was plastered on his face made it clear that he was. I carefully removed the paper and my eyes grew wide. In my hand was now sitting a small Key ring Ketchup! I gasped and without thinking I threw my arms around him. "Omgomgomg! Thank you soooo much!" I squealed before realizing what I was doing. I quickly let go, or more like 'wanted' 'cause Ashton kept me from letting go by putting his arm round my waist, keeping me close. My face went into tomato-mode and my body froze. He leaned closer, again, and before I knew he had pecked me on the cheek, leaving a familiar tingling sensation. "I'm glad you like it." He whispered in my ear before letting go. I was still in shock and didn't know how to react, I mean 'friggin Ashton Irwin just kissed my cheek! I think I'm gonna die!' Trying to calm down I just turned away facing the water again, now fiddling with the tiny Ketchup in my hands. Ashton stood beside me, also facing the calm dark water. It was a pretty awkward silence, at least for me it was, so I took out my phone to look what time it is. 'Oh poo, it's almost midnight!' I promised one of my friends to be home at midnight to Skype with each other and wish each other a happy new year. But actually, being here with Ashton was... I don't know... It felt like the one thing I was missing these past few weeks; happiness. So after deciding to stay rather than going back home I looked up. "It's almost midnight, you know?" I said and actually smiled as he nodded and smirked. "Why aren't you with the other boys?" I asked, wondering why he was out here. "Well, I just wanted to catch some fresh air, but then I came across you." he said and... was that a blush?! He was actually blushing! But then my mind registered his words and started blushing too, hiding my face with my hair. Ashton then looked at his watch again and smiled broadly. "It's almost time." He said mysteriously. 'Time for what?' I thought but then he started counting down... Five... Four... Three... Two... One...
A huge bang could be heard all over London. I covered my ears quickly. But then I saw what had caused the bang; a beautiful firework lit up the night sky, and soon more followed. My eyes were wide open with fascination. I looked back at the boy next to me to see his reaction only for my lips to be covered by something warm. Ashton. Irwin. Was. Kissing. Me.
My mind went crazy and my heart sped up. The fireworks that were being fired in the background were nothing compared to the explosions in my stomach. The butterflies multiplied by a million, 'I felt like I could fly' was the understatement of the year. I unconsciously wrapped my arms around his neck, him doing to same around my waist, both of us deepening the kiss.
It felt like an eternity before Ashton pulled away, leaving my lips with a stinging sensation that made me crave more of the honey- and chocolate-flavoured kiss. He lifted up my chin, looked deep into my eyes, smiled, and said:
"Happy new year."
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Well, that's it! What do you think? Give me an honest opinion and maybe some feedback!
This is the first chap and first attempt to write a short story! I'm actually pretty proud of myself :)
Thanks to my two awesome friends @DreamingOnMySide and @meykemalik for supporting this idea :) and yes Meyke, I added the word 'poo' for you :D
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Thank you for reading! I love you all!
And yes, there seriously is a feast called Yule! Look it up if you want :)
Yule <3