22~ Snowball

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"Merry Christmas!"

Numerous people shout at us as we enter the Mackenzie household, the majority probably drunk on eggnog. Blue and silver Christmas decorations cover the house, the smell of Jane's cinnamon rolls float from the kitchen.

It's going to be a good night.

I take the coats from my siblings and walk upstairs to Ella's bedroom, leaving the loud chatter of the party. However, as I reach the top and try to fiddle with her door underneath five coats, I hear muffled voices and they sound angry. I panic and try again to open the door but in the process I drop the gift I have for the Mackenzie's, creating a loud bang.

Great.

The voices stop and moments later the master bedroom door opens, revealing Ella's parents. Their faces flash in panic before settling on smiles.

"Scarlett, dear, we didn't hear you." Jane offers. How could she with all that yelling?

I shuffle the coats and try to pick up the bag, extremely uncomfortable with the entire situation. "No, it's my fault. I wanted to dump our stuff in El's room since it's crazy downstairs but I...um ran into some trouble." I explain, lifting the puffy coats up for emphasis.

The couple stands there for a minute before understanding my words. Instantly, Dave hurries forward and opens the door for me while she picks up the bag. I quickly throw our stuff on her bed and find Jane extending the bag back to me.

I shake my head, "It's a gift for you, mom said to always bring something for the hostess."

Not that a candle was an amazing gift but it was something and it's her favorite scent, apple orchard.

The sincere smile that appears quickly falls away, "Could you please keep this little encounter to yourself?"

I look at the woman I've known since a child, for the first time she appears frail. I gulp and nod my head. Couples fight all the time so why did this feel different? I walk back downstairs in a daze, the question of mentioning this to Sage or not floating around my mind.

While I'm lost in thought, a pair of arms wrap around me. "There you are!"

I jump out of my skin before realizing it's Ashton. I turn around and for a moment I'm completely speechless. He looks amazing.

For once his messy black hair is combed with product in it. His black dress shirt fits snug, displaying his muscles on proudly.

"Merry Christmas!"

Merry Christmas indeed I think as my eyes scan his body again. "You ok?" He asks, leaning closer to my face.

I rub my lips together, "Yeah, just great." Get it together woman.

He leads me towards the kitchen as he talks about something but I spot Ella hugging one of her grandparents and I'm reminded of her parents again. I feel awful.

Everything's fine, Scarlett.

Suddenly, we stop walking, "Sweetheart, this is my Abuela." He says, letting go of me to peck the gray haired women on the check. She looks frail with leather like skin and spots from days spent in the sun but underneath that there's a strength.

It takes me a moment to understand that this is his stepfather's mother, not that it matters, and that I must look extremely rude just standing there.

"Hola Abuela, me llamo Scarlett" and just like that my Spanish comes fluttering back into existence, where was this during the Spanish final I struggled through?

She remains silent in her chair, dark brown eyes evaluate me skeptically. I fidget with the hem of my emerald dress before Ashton stops me with a reach of his hand. He shakes his head comfortingly and I give him a look, slightly embarrassed and angered by his antics.

But the next thing I know his Abuela breaks out in a toothy smile, "Hola" she says warmly before transitioning to English. "I've heard a lot about you".

There's a warmth about her voice that makes me want to crawl into her lap and never leave. A small part of me reminded of my own Abuela. Before I can wander too far down memory lane Ashton begins to cough profusely.

"And your siblings, especially Saffron." She adds with a chuckle while I slap Ashton's back, causing him to wince.

After chatting with her we make our rounds with the adults before they get too drunk. The constant conversation makes me uneasy and somehow Ashton senses my discomfort, sliding his hand into mine. I can't help but realize that this is our second time holding hands this week.

We begin to head to the door when a voice calls out. "Scarlett Rhodes, is that you?"

I stop in my tracks, afraid to see who's walking over to me. Slowly turning around, I come face to face with Bob and Wanda Yates, both clearly a little intoxicated. "Hello."

She kisses my cheek before her husband engulfs me in a hug. "Good Lord, we haven't seen you since you were yay high." Bob says, motioning to his mid stomach.

"It's definitely been a while. It's so good to see you two." I turn to go, already pulling Ashton along with me when Wanda squeals again.

"Oh, this is supposed to be a secret but I just can't hold it in any longer. John should be home in the next few days."

I look back at her, a smile working it way onto my face. "Are you for real?"

Part of me doesn't want to believe her, it could be the alcohol talking but Jane walks over, a wine glass in hand. "Oh, you two, that was supposed to be a surprise."

I begin to bounce on the balls of my feet, no way. I have to tell my siblings.

Ashton clears his throat, "Um, who's John?"

"My Godfather, he's been in Asia these past few months working on development projects but now he's coming home. Wanda is an executive in his company." I explain, my face beginning to hurt from smiling so much. This is going to be the best Christmas in a while.

"Who is this?" Wanda asks, finally paying attention to Ashton.

He extends his hand, "Ashton McClain, it's nice to meet you both." Ashton's hand instantly finds mine again and this time I squeeze his hand as he shifts uncomfortably.

Wanda giggles in her drunken state, "You two are such a cute couple, oh gosh, Scarlett."

My face burns in embarrassment as I drop Ashton's hand. "Oh, no, we're not... we're just friends."

The couple just smiles at us, Jane finally dragging them away under the pretense of more alcohol. I walk to the door, Ashton following behind me. Once I reach the outside the cold air cools my burning face.

"I'm sorry about that." I tell Ashton but he has an amused smile on his face.

"Don't mention it, I thought they were kinda funny."

We walk in silence for a while, for some reason I'm not sure of what to say after that. It's stupid I'm so embarrassed over a drunk persons comment, it means nothing.

"So what are your Christmas plans?" He asks, kicking at the snow.

Part of me wants to lie but I've already done enough of that with Ashton. I take a deep breath and watch as fog forms in the air. "Dinner with all of my mother's family and the rest of the time it's just us."

He stops walking and begins to brush off a log on the ground to sit down. By now I can hear the people in the barn singing terrible Christmas songs and yelling but I sit down next to him.

"Is it really that bad?" When I look at him confused he clarifies, "Dinner with your family."

Hell to the yes. This dinner will be extra painful, especially so close to the anniversary.

"I mean, you know how Avery is." It isn't a question but he nods anyways. "Well, the rest of my family can be worse."

He purses his lips and I remind myself we are talking about a somewhat serious matter. The cold adds a red tint to his checks and he looks adorable.

"How come?" He demands somewhat frustrated, which only makes him appear cuter.

"My family isn't traditional. In case you haven't noticed, we run a little buck wild and can be rather eccentric. It's not what they deem acceptable. My grandparents think the boys should be focused on learning the trades of the family law business while Saffron and I are sent off to lady etiquette training to undo all of our roughness." I laugh but it's bitter. Karen almost did send me away until she realized she would actually have to do things for the other kids. That changed her mind real quick.

I stare intently at my feet, I've never told anyone that before. Even when they talked about it, only I knew and I kept it to myself. In that moment I'm regretting my shoe choice of strapped heels when Ashton grabs my face.

It takes me off guard, the sudden lack of space between us. The determined look he in his eyes. "I think you're pretty great." He whispers so close to me that when I gasp for air his mint is all I can taste.

We both lean in and just as our lips are about to touch Sage hollers from the now open barn door, "Snowball fight!"

Just like that the moment is over as a snowball pelts the side of my face.

I shriek from the coldness as Ashton laughs. He's the one who creamed me with the snowball. Was that his plan all along?

I throw one right back at his retreating figure, hitting Stella instead. She was to busy on her phone to see it coming and I can't help but laugh, stopping to watch the scene around me.

Saffron is being carried by Silver so she can get snow down people's shirts, extremely evil I know. Sage is darting from person to person on a mission to hit the most people without getting hit in return. Ella uses Sam for shelter while he takes his job very seriously. James attempts to challenge Silver. Stella flings handfuls of snow, not even bothering to form them into shapes while Ronnie chases Sterling.

The picture forms in my mind and an old feeling begins to stir inside of me. This is happiness. It's not something that can be bottled up and saved for special occasions. It just shows up when it wants and right now this is one of my most happiest moments.

I get hit again, twirling around to find Ashton with a handful of snowballs waiting on me. His infamous smirk in place. "Run."

So I do.

As I dart in and out of people in my heels, I remember the fact that I wasn't planning on being outside for that long nor was physical activity on my agenda but here I am. He hits me repeatedly with no mercy and I scream partly from the cold and excitement.

My enjoyment ends; however, when my ankle falls into a hole hidden by the snow. A loud snap fills the air as a pain shoots through my right leg.

I bite the inside of my lip to stop the tears from flooding my face. The pain mixed with the snow creates a numbness through my body. I try to move but hiss in pain. Ashton is the first to reach me, carefully placing his jacket around my shoulders before scooping me into his arms.

"Sage!" He calls out but he's already there barking out orders.

"Sam, go get your dad and tell him to meet us in the kitchen. Ella, get your parents to clear the kitchen out so we can use it. Stella, you go help her."

I see spots of bright colors as we make our way inside. I'm fine. Everything is completely fine.

"Hey" Ashton taps my head with his own, pulling me from my panic. He seems completely relaxed, perhaps my ankle isn't that bad.

I risk a glance and immediately regret it. It's the size of Texas and completely purple. I can practically feel it throbbing.

"Breathe with me." He whispers softly.

And I do. Matching him breath for breath as we enter through the garage door, in through the nose and out through the mouth.

The table is cleared off and everyone is waiting. The twins wrap me in a warm blanket overtop of Ashton's Jacket.

Stella's dad is an orthopedic surgeon so he studies my ankle gently. I grip Sage's hand while Saffron climbs into my lap, pressing soft kisses to my forehead in comfort. Ella gives me a hot mug of cocoa and places something into my hand. My anxiety pills.

"I'm fi-" I begin to protest but Sage silences me.

"No, you're not, now take them."

I'm oblivious to the shake of my body until I pick up the drink and almost spill it. I down my medication along with some pain killers.

"Is it broken?" I finally ask, my voice shaky.

Jacob is silent for a long time and I fear for the worse. "No. It's sprained severely but not broken."

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. I wouldn't miss the entire cheer season and I didn't have to pay for a cast. Plus, I'm tired of always being the one who needs help.

"Monday morning I want you to come in just to be sure since this ankles been broken before." He informs me and I nod my head sluggishly.

"Where are her parents?" Someone asks. I look over my shoulder to find Abuela, she stayed in here.

I panic, trying to think of something but Sterling beats me to it. "Our father had a mandatory Christmas party for one of his big clients, we should probably take her home."

Lies. Lies. Lies. For some reason that bothers me more than usual.

Everyone nods in agreement and I panic, the party isn't even halfway over. Dinner hasn't been set out and us kids haven't talked to overly drunk people yet. I don't want to ruin their fun. This is nothing.

"Guys, I'm perfectly fine." I insist. To prove my point I get up from my chair and crumple right into Ashton. I must admit, that wasn't my greatest idea.

I receive a bunch of I told you so looks, "Ok, so I can go sit in the basement while everyone else has a good time."

Everyone protests loudly, not helping the headache that's beginning to form. Ashton senses my discomfort and whistles, covering my ears before he does so.

"I'll stay with her while you guys have go back to the party." Sage tries to protest but Ashton holds his hand up, "She will not move a muscle I swear."

"Fine." My brother grumbles, clearly not happy. He's not gonna let me do anything for a solid month.

As everyone files out of the kitchen, I'm scooped back into Ashton's arms and carried downstairs to the basement. I wince as he sets us down into the couch. I stare at his face as it's illuminated by the fire but my eyes begin to sag.

"Why are you staring at me?" He whispers, looking down at me.

I giggle, my fingers reaching up to touch his face. "You're pretty."

A pink tint appears on his cheeks as he fumbles for words. "What exactly did they give you?"

I yawn, trying to remember. One pill was different from the rest, I'm so observant. "Pain medication."

Ashton shrugs his shoulders, the shocked look from earlier replaced with a smirk. "So you think I'm pretty?"

I nod my head over enthusiastically, "Very, especially your eyes. Sometimes I just want to sketch your face but that would be too weird."

He leans his face down to mine, "And why would that be weird Scarlett?"

"I don't really know but don't call me that?" I protest, poking his chest accusingly.

He frowns a little and it makes me sad, "Call you what?"

"Scarlett."

I'm readjusted in his arms, my favorite look reappearing on his face. "It's your name isn't it?"

"Nope." He scrunches his brow in confusion so I roll my eyes. "Your name for me is Sweetheart."

"Sweetheart?" He repeats, looking like he's two seconds from bursting with laughter.

"That's the name, don't wear it out, Asshole." I mumble, tugging at the blanket.

"Well, Sweetheart, have I told you that you look beautiful in green?" His voice is barely a whisper, his lips millimeters from my ear.

My hand shoves his face away, "You're such a flirt."

He lets out a laugh and despite my headache I want to listen to it nonstop. "And why is that a bad thing?"

My grin falls off my face as I stare directly into his eyes. "Because, we're friends."

After that I nestle my head against his chest, deciding I no longer like the word friends. Behind his head I notice something dangling from the ceiling.

"Mistletoe." I say somewhat dumbfounded as a yawn escapes my mouth. Looks like I know what Sage did when he was here last night.

Ashton looks up and chuckles slightly, "Indeed, it is."

I wonder what he's going to do as he props my leg up on a couple throw pillows and drapes another blanket over us.

"That's not what mistletoe's for." I grumble, slightly annoyed he isn't already kissing me.

He leans down extremely close to my face just like he did earlier, gray eyes focused on my lips. My tired eyes burn as I force them to stay open in anticipation.

Lighting fast, he kisses my check, "Get some rest, Sweetheart."

And like that I'm out.

*****

SOOOOOOOOO ITS BEEN A HOT MINUTE. I didn't realize how much I missed this story till I had a dream about it last night. I went through a rough patch of trying to balance school (I'm a senior now), toxic friendships (the death of me), and avoiding any and all topics of college.
But I'm back and I'm determined to finish this story.
If you stayed around I'm glad and if your new, welcome!
Xo Mo

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