Hey my lovelies. So, this chapter isn't QUITE as long as some have been, but don't worry, I packed in Harabella drama AND Harlie moments. I know it took forever, but keep in mind, as much as I'd like it to my life can't revolve around writing. All my teacher's are loading us with work before the holidays. BUT WHEN THE HOLIDAYS COME, MWAHAHHA. I shall probably be updating much more often. YAYAY.
Dedication... @DarkRosexx because she puts so much time and meaning into her comments. I can honestly tell that she loves this story, and there's no better feeling in the world than that <3
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Chapter 28 *4m 31d*
-Hallie-
Friendship doesn't occur with the snap of a finger, as though it's some sort of destiny that hangs within the stars. It's a slow, subtle mingling; tinkling laughter at one another's jokes, lighthearted teasing, whispering gossipy secrets in one another's ears, a connection that eventually becomes unbreakable.
Initially, as the foundation of my friendship with Arabella gradually solidified, I felt a twinge of doubt. Possibly from the rumors that circled around the group of friends I had taken to sitting with, possibly because she simply seemed the slightest bit insincere.
Still, I gobbled up her compliments, insincere or not, as though they were red velvet 'cakelets' and within time, we had developed a remarkably deep bond. I was her best friend and she was mine and that was all there was to it.
Funny, then, how love can so abruptly disrupt everything. Love, that helpless, roiling desire in the pit of your stomach. Love, the tingling of your nerves, the pounding of your heart, the exhilaration of your senses. Love, the spark that gleams within you at the mere hint of smile or eyes cast in your direction. Love, which makes everything that once seemed oh-so incredibly important, like friendship... pointless.
Love. It's the magical sensation, the knotting of my stomach, the flushing of my skin, the racing of my pulse. Suddenly, a hardened ball of icy slush ruptures across my face, instantly causing flares of numbness and prickling in my cheeks. Rivulets of snow cascade over me, trickling past my shoulder blades as goosebumps erupt across my flesh. My chilled, soggy shirt clings to my body and I gape accusingly at the startlingly handsome boy rocking on the balls of his feet.
"Why... why would you... do that?" I question, my teeth chattering uncontrollably and my silvery eyes narrowing reproachfully.
An irresistibly attractive, crooked grin illuminates Harry's face and his eyes sparkle with an undeserved innocence. "Why wouldn't I do that?" he retorts.
"Because you know I'll get back at you," I declare unblinkingly, planting my hands firmly on my hips and throwing a daring half-smile towards him.
He arches his eyebrow confidently, his enchanting smile curling into a smug smirk. "I don't think so." In an unconcerned manner, his shimmering eyes sweep over my furry slippers, satiny pajama pants, and oversized white shirt. "You're hardly dressed for a snowball war."
"Is that so?" I blink, unimpressed by his bluster.
"It's very so."
-Arabella-
A stunning, poised girl hovers serenely in front of me, her distinct blue eyes glimmering strikingly from the frosty grey shadow dusted heavily over them. I purse my glossy lips at the reflection, satisfied as I admire my cream-colored cashmere sweater, complete with the intricate cut-outs of tiny snowflakes. It's remarkable, actually, that I've managed to pull myself together so well after last evening.
As if being stuffed into a spare guest bedroom on a lumpy mattress that had an odd scent wasn't torture enough, my curly-haired fiancé was jittery throughout the night, tossing and turning with an infantile excitement.
"Harry," I'd snapped, my voice harsh in the sinister silence of night. "Will you lie still?"
"It's Christmas Eve," he'd protested in a whisper, swiveling around so that his electric green eyes that glimmered with anticipation met my weary blue ones. "I can't help it."
"Learn to, then," I demanded, exasperatedly burying my face in the starchy pillow in an effort to escape the dense, smothering tension that was tainting our relationship.
"Aren't you the least bit excited that it's Christmas Eve, though?" Harry murmured, persistent in his attempts to restore peace between us. Hadn't he noticed that all my smiles in his direction had been forced? Wasn't he aware of the strained quality of our conversations? Didn't he realize that I was simply not in the mood to discuss things with him?
"Not especially." I closed the conversation abruptly, sighing sleepily and shifting to face the empty side of the bed. Harry inhaled heavily, slumping backwards into his pillow. For a moment, my muscles stiffened and my jaw clenched as I mentally prepared for an argument. An argument that never came.
Tucking a silky curl behind my ear, I waltz past the tacky Christmas tree, which is coated in ugly homemade ornaments and reeks of a pungent evergreen scent. Why in God's name don't people purchase flawlessly decorated, artificial ones that don't smother the air and aren't cloaked in tacky objects? Prancing away, I notice a massive, bulging bag stuffed with the remnants of wrapping paper and roll my flawlessly black-lined eyes. Of course they proceeded to unwrap all the gifts without me.
I storm into the tidy kitchen, where Anne is hunched over the stove, preoccupied with the fierce stirring of a holiday soup. Gemma lounges carelessly at the kitchen table, chatting nonchalantly with her mother. Her gaze flicks towards me and with a prissy, slightly uncomfortable smile, she wishes me good morning. God, what I wouldn't give to be in Paris.
"Merry Christmas," I reply dryly. "Where's Harry?" As irritating as he's been, I'd prefer his company to that of his family; we, in particular, are as agreeable as a hive of bumbling, vicious bees and a honey-craving bear.
"Out," Gemma offers unhelpfully. "Did you sleep well?" Her concern over my sleep is so insincere that I nearly gag.
"Fine, thank you," I inform her tightly. "Where is out?" I peek through the green curtains framing the window, half-expecting Harry to be flailing outside in the snow. He honestly is such a child. But no, the driveway is barren and the snow untouched. So where the hell is he?
"He said something about dropping off gifts," Anne chimes in, smiling tenderly. "Can I get anything for you? Breakfast? Juice?" I've never quite been able to pinpoint what I dislike about Harry's mum, but this is most certainly a factor. From the moment I met her, she's always seemed so clingy, so overly perky. As though she's desperately trying to conceal the fact that, in reality, she disapproves of my relationship with her son with a ferocity only a protective mother contains.
I glower, my icy blue eyes swamped with rage at the realization. What kind of man abruptly abandons his beautiful fiancée on the biggest, most celebrated holiday of the year without even letting her know where he's gone? Well, merry effing Christmas.
-Hallie-
An alarmed shriek explodes from my chapped lips and I scoop up a handful of snow, tossing it defensively in Harry's direction. The icy wind has chilled me to the bone, my flesh is numb, my throat burns uncontrollably, my fingers are as solid as bricks, numerous snowballs have smashed into my face, and I'm having the time of my life.
"Surrender!" Harry threatens, winding his arm back. Sparkling snow clings to the curls that have escaped his woolen hat, his eyes sparkle with glee, and his nose resembles a pink button. It takes all of my willpower to keep from staring.
"Fine!" My hands swing upward in the signature surrender position and I collapse onto the crunchy, ice-concealed ground.
With a playful grin, Harry gently lowers himself beside me, sighing contently. For a moment, the silence is so pure that I can practically hear the soft pattering of snowflakes drifting to the earth. Breath spills from between our lips, forming misty clouds over our heads. The moment in itself is enticingly simple and I teeter on the verge of whispering some silly sentence about love.
Instead, breathless from the snowball war and from my close proximity to such a flawless boy, I blurt out, "Have you had a nice holiday?"
He nods lightly, his expression indistinguishable. "I hadn't seen my family in a while."
Although I'm aching, gnawing my lip and repeatedly instructing myself not to mention her, the questions slide shakily out of its own free will. "And Arabella?" Furious with myself, I scrape up a fistful of snow and cast my eyes away.
Harry spits out a rumbling cough. "Erm... she's not particularly pleased with me at the moment." He shrugs, the shoulders of his warm brown coat forming a pattern in the snow. It's clear that
I muster the courage to pivot my eyes back towards him, my vision connecting with the prickling red blush that creeps up his cheeks. Once again, I have no control over my speech. "Really? Why's that?"
Words seem to linger on the tip of his tongue and yet, he hesitates. I struggle to quiet my anxious breathing, staring vacantly at the sky which is enclosed in swirling clouds. "Well... it's hard to explain. She's convinced I had some sort of relationship with Taylor Swift, which you might already have heard about in the tabloids, and keeps accusing me of cheating. Which I'd never do. I mean, I'm just not the kind of guy who cheats on someone he loves, you know?" At the word love, piercing pain stabs into my stomach like a dangerously sharp needle. "But that's not it. It's... tense between us. Probably the weather and stress and whatnot, but we've been arguing constantly and I'm just exhausted with it."
The honest flow pours unstoppably from deep within him and I remain perfectly still, not even daring to breathe. "I don't know how to fix it, either. I try to talk to her; she snaps at me and becomes defensive. I try to argue; she goes into fierce warrior mode. I try to blow it off; she gives me the cold shoulder and refuses to even speak. And that doesn't work for me. I've got to be able to solve the problem or it'll be this way forever."
He flits his grass-green eyes towards me, watching me with an expectant frown. "Here's the way I'd look at it," I suggest softly. "Is it worth it?"
"Is what worth it?"
For a moment, I waver, briefly considering the answer Arabella. But, naturally, I'm not that bold. "The arguments. Because if they're making you doubt your relationship, you ought to say something. Don't be accusatory and don't blame her. Just... try to compromise. I mean, if you can't get along, things will simply go downhill from here." And that's exactly what I'm hoping.
Harry's smile illuminates the entire yard and I tilt my head towards him, angling my lips in the hopes that he'll instinctively decide to plant a gentle kiss on them. I absorb every refreshing, breathtaking detail of his face; the shimmering green eyes with the slightest hint of blue rimming his pupil; the thick, dark eyelashes that flicker up and down when he laughs; the hardly noticeable smattering of freckles; the boyish curls that tumble from his head, masking his forehead and ears; the pink lips that frame his sparkling white smile. "Thanks, Hal."
I shrug modestly, shivering from the intensity of his gaze. "Anytime."
"Well, I've got to repay you somehow," he insists, shifting a bit closer to me, so that the sleeves of our coats brush softly against each other. My heart thumps. Colorful lights, glistening through the frost-covered sitting room window, reflect beautifully off the snow and create a sparkling rainbow.
Without warning, his left hand whips around, clutching a small, hurriedly formed snowball. He propels the icy slush into my face, chuckling delightedly. Sputtering, I swipe at the shards of flaky snow and blink, disgruntled. Before I can even leap off of the ground, he's sprinting towards the opposite end of the yard. Adding that to the tally, my overall score totals two bitter disappointments in the last hour.
Knowing he can't hear me, I finally allow myself to murmur the sentence I've been forcibly shoving away. "I love you," I whisper. The words are whisked away by the tumultuous wind, into the murky sky, to the shimmering snow, to the world of unheard thoughts.
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Eh? I got a lot of "YOU SHOULD CONTINUE AND THEY CAN HAVE A SNOWBALL WAR" last chapter. I don't even care if it's cliche. I just wanted a bit of cuteness. I was in the mood for cute because this is the only romance I'll ever live and meanwhile my best friend gets to date a cute junior who adores her and tells her all this adorable stuff and I sit here writing. BUT IT'S OKAY. I HAVE YOU ALL.
You guys keep getting to my goals like it's a piece of cake (mmm cake). I love you. New goal: I Do gets to 2,000! Or MORE. I think that would be the best birthday/Christmas gift in the world. :)
Just a little reminder: if you REALLY like this story, share it with your fans and friends! Or vote! Or comment. Or all of the above <3 I'll love you foreeeeeever. Merry Christmas/Hanukah/anyotherholidayduringthisseason!