Written as part of a Christmas Instagram challenge for the twelve days of Christmas, this very HSA Christmas is a unique series set in no particular time within the series; written simply for some festive cheer.
With Christmas music blasting out of the speakers of the stereo, the group toasted another year, another delicious dinner and another party. For it wasn’t a HSA occasion without at least one.
And as Sticks settled in his armchair by the fire, feet on the footstool, a glass of whisky in his grasp, Will watched from the opposite armchair as his friends partied the last hours of Christmas Day away. Susannah and Jasper were dancing by the stereo; arms wrapped around each other, noses pressed together and their lips occasionally brushing. It was a sickly sweet sight but Will was pleased for them both.
About time.
At the coffee table, Sam was setting out the Monopoly board, perching on the edge of the sofa between Erika and Anna who drank deeply from their wine glasses in preparation for a game that should never be played with friends. Especially not competitive friends. And so as Elivia, Tom and Dominic settled on the floor the other side of the coffee table, Will turned his attention to Bender who’d fallen asleep curled up in a ball like a cat on a rather plush looking piece of furniture in the corner by the piano. As he smiled at his sleeping friend, tuckered out from all the day’s excitement, Santa hat still flashing upon his head, Will spotted Emily.
Carefully, she draped a blanket over Bender’s sleeping body, tucking it in around him to keep him warm. With a gentle pat to his head, she smiled tenderly down at her friend as he sucked on his thumb and no doubt dreamt happy dreams. What else did a guy like Bender have to dream about?
As for Will, his mind was, as always around Christmas, occupied with far less pleasant thoughts. Thoughts of his father, his mother, his life long before Hillside Academy and all these wonderful people. Casting his gaze into the fire, his grip tightened around his bottle of beer. Just a few years ago, everything had been so different; unrecognisable. How had he ever made it here?
Blinking away the tears that burned in his eyes, Will noticed someone moving out the corner of his vision. He spotted again Emily glancing at the time on the mantelpiece clock then making a discreet exit from the living room.
While the mattresses and bedding had been cleared away to make room for the day’s festivities, they would all be sleeping downstairs again tonight and probably for the foreseeable future. So Will wondered where Emily was possibly going as he placed down his beer bottle and climbed out of his chair.
Leaving his friends playing Monopoly – and already arguing – Will headed out into the hallway, pulling the door closed behind him. The sound announced his presence, startling Emily half way up the stairs.
It was gloomy in the hallway, a draught seeping beneath the front door. Even so, as he gazed up at Emily who had turned to look at him, she was illuminated in a cold pale light; moonlight reflected off the snow outside beyond the large picture window beside her. It caressed her dark hair and shone in her quizzical eyes as Will stepped across to the bottom stair.
“What’s the matter?” Emily questioned.
“I just – I wondered where you were going,” Will said, feeling suddenly foolish.
“To the toilet,” she blushed, glancing up the stairs.
Now they were both embarrassed.
Great job, Will, you muffin.
He cleared his throat, desperate to rectify this moment. Desperate for something – anything to quell the longing in his heart that grew triple in size as he gazed up the stairs to Emily peering back at him.
She, like the rest of them, was wearing a Christmas jumper. While his bore a Christmas tree, complete with knitted baubles that lit up and a stump that sang Jingle Bells, Emily’s was pink and adorned with a single present; a yellow ribbon for a bow trailing down over her large bust. He knew if he tugged it, her jumper would sing I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday by Wizzard. His favourite Christmas song.
“Will?” Emily said, breaking him out of his adoring daze.
“Yes?”
“Is there something you needed?”
You. I need you.
However before he could even conjure a sensible reply, his eyes spotted something hanging above them. Tied to the ceiling just before it disappeared to make way for the stairwell was a bunch of mistletoe.
Of course.
Stifling a chuckle, Will moved onto the first step of the stairs, Emily even closer. But she didn’t move. She stayed perfectly still as he nodded up to the mistletoe.
“You’re supposed to kiss under mistletoe,” Will said, his voice annoyingly shaky. This was what Emily reduced him to; a fumbling nervous boy who’d had a crush on a girl ever since he’d laid eyes on her all those years ago. He could hardly breathe let alone speak as he took another step, leaving only inches between their Christmas jumpers, and more importantly, their lips.
Even standing two steps below her, they were the same height, which was perfect as Will took her trembling hands in his.
“Kiss? Kiss me?” Emily stammered.
“Do you see anyone else?” Will chuckled quietly, noting the redness of her cheeks and the anxiety in her eyes. “Yes, you, Emily Fox. Just you. Only you. Only ever you.”
Without another thought, Will kissed her. And when she kissed him back, he knew.
This was the best Christmas he’d ever had.
A very HSA Christmas Copyright © 2020 Jodie May Mullen