Christmas time is here! So you guys know I love Christmas, so this year instead of just doing a one shot, I'm going to do a short five chapter story. The first four chapters will be all for you guys and then the fith chapter will be Laurarauraross's Christmas present, (don't worry, she already knows). So, that's it! I hope you guys enjoy!
"There, perfectly aligned with the snowflakes." Ally said to her curly haired best friend, who rolled her eyes at the slightly OCD brunette.
"The Christmas lights looked fine when I put them up. Plus they're in the hallway, its not like anyone is going to stop and say, 'hey these Christmas lights aren't even with the snowflakes, this is a disgrace!'" She said, sarcastically. It was Ally's turn to roll her eyes. "Don't you have to go meet Jace?" Ally said, making her latina friend light up.
"Oh yeah! Okay, I'll call you later and tell you all about the date, wherever he's taking me. I hate Christmas suprises." She said, picking up her bag that was sitting by Ally's apartment door a little ways down the hall, decorated with a snowy white reef with a red bow. "I'm sure you'll have fun." Ally said, hugging her friend. "Just make sure you call me. I'm going to need help if you-know-who shows up." She said with a shudder, making her friend laugh.
"I will. And don't be all lonely and mopy this year. Christmas is your favorite holiday, but you always have to spend it alone."
This was, sadly true. Ally Dawson had loved Christmas since she was old enough to know what it was. She loved the hot cocoa, the smell of the Christmas trees, and ever since she moved to New York, the snow.
She just loved how almost everybody was marginally happier when Christmas came. But, after college when she decided to stay in New York with Trish, she had always had to spend it alone. Except on the rare occasion where her dad came to visit or Trish wasn't busy managing something.
"Eh, my spirit for Christmas is enough for like, two or three people." She said, making her best friend laugh. Ally waved to her curly friend as she stepped into the elevator. "Bye Trish." She said, getting a final wave once the doors closed.
She turned around and admired the creation of white lights and snowflakes combined to make a Christmas tree, with a white star sitting at the top to tie it off. She bent down, picking up boxes from the lights and snowflakes. She had about two or three boxes in her hands when she heard the elevator ding, and footsteps come closer to her.
"You know tennants aren't supposed to decorate the hallways according to building rules and regulations." Someone said from behind her, making her pause in her box pick ups. The voice sounded smooth and dark, and she probably would have thought it was attractive if it wasn't for the hint of malicious sarcasm in it.
"Well, yeah" Ally said laughing, "But what's wrong with a little Christmas decorations?" She said, stacking the boxes inside one another as she stood up, making them easier to carry. She heard the voice scoff. "Its covering the whole wall, I wouldn't say they were little."
At this remark, Ally turned around to look at the person insulting her decorations. She had meant to give him some choice words of her own, but stopped dead in her tracks when she saw how freaking gorgeous he was.
He had blonde hair that flopped over his head, some pieces falling into his hazel eyes. His face was chisled in the way that it was handsome, but still had that boyishly cute aspect to it. He had pink lips that were in a half smirk, like the asshat knew he was stunning.
"Hello, did you lose the ability to speak?" He said, running one of his black gloved hands through his hair. Ally blinked, and sighed in frustration.
"No, I have not. And I'll have you know that the land lord asked me personally to put up decorations." She said, and he quirked an eyebrow.
"Really?"
"Really. He's an old friend of my Dad's." She said, crossing her arms.
"Well, can't argue with a friend of the landlord's can I?" He said, walking around her and unlocking the apartment one door away from the lights on the wall. And, right before he closed the door, he said something purposefully to piss her off.
"Oh, and your snowflakes are crooked." He said, making her give a short laugh of disbelief at him. And before she could spin around and respond and tell him in fact that her snowflakes were not crooked, the door closed, no sign of Christmas swinging on the door.
Ally was putting her plate up from her dinner when her phone rang on the counter next to her. She picked it up and smiled at the caller ID.
"Hey Trish." She said, walking into her living room. Trish sighed happily on the other side of the phone. "You know earlier when I said I hated Christmas suprises?" She said, an airy note to her voice. Ally laughed.
"Yes, vaugely." She said, sitting on the couch and folding her leg under her.
"I lied." Trish said, sighing again. She heard something thump, and figured it was her friend laying back on her bed. "So your date was fun I'm guessing?" Ally said knowingly. Trish giggled.
"He took me ice skating Ally! Ice skating! And then we came back to the apartment cause he's going to make dinner! For a boy who reapeatedly broke bones when we were younger, I think he's really sensitive." Trish said, and Ally laughed.
"So enough about my day. What did you do after I left you with our masterpiece?" She said. Ally's smile dropped a bit. She was still a little ticked off about the blonde grinch from down the hall.
"I think there's a new guy in my building." Ally said, trying to sugarcoat her dislike of the blonde.
He could have said that she had missed a box on the floor, maybe even had a missing light bulb on the white strands. But to question the symetrical soudness of her snowflake tree when she had checked it once, and definitely checked it twice, was something that no one did.
Trish seemed to detect this in her voice, so she was careful with what she said next. "And do you have a problem with this new guy Allyson?" She said. Ally huffed.
"Problem? No problem I can't solve. First he comes up behind me and tells me the rules of decorating the hallways, saying stuff about rules and regulations. Like I haven't read the rules from back to front multiple times."
"Well of course." Trish said, smiling at her ranting friend.
"Then when I tell him Robbie asked me to do it, he gets this look of disapproval on his annoyingly handsome face." Ally said heatedly.
"How dare he."
"And that's not even the worst of it! Once he walked around me and into his apartment, he turned back around and told me that the snowflakes weren't straight."
"No." Trish said, mock suprised. She was actually trying very hard not to laugh.
"My snowflakes weren't straight. Me." Ally said running a hand through her hair. "Unbelievable." She said, biting her lip.
"To his defense Ally, he probably has no idea who you are. Even if he is new, you only talk to like three people in the building." Trish said. Ally scoffed, laying down on her couch so her whole body was the length of it.
"That's not true." Ally said incredulously. Trish laughed.
"Yes it is Alls! You talk to the family you babysitt for, Old Mrs. Wilkens, and Donny. And we only talk to Donny because we went to school with him for four years and it would be kind of rude not too." She said. Ally bit her lip, knowing her friend was right.
"Are you sure he's even new?" Trish said with a hint of bemusement. Ally rolled her eyes.
"Yes I'm sure. Maybe I only talk to three people, but I would have at least noticed him. He's gorgeous. A sarcastic ass, but gorgeous." Ally said. She heard Jace call over the phone to Trish and new she had to go.
"Ally, maybe just try to avoid him if you don't like him that much after talking to him once." Trish said. Ally sighed.
"Yeah, maybe your right. Now go enjoy your date. And tell Jace I said hi."
"Will do." She said, and Ally pressed the end button.
She had decided to take Trish's advice and avoid the blonde, but it wasn't as hard as she had thought it would be. All she had to do was not get to the elevator or walk across the huge apartment lobby when he was on one side. But as she was avoiding him, she had noticed more things about him.
Like the fact that he concentrated very hard on walking towards the elevator when he had to pass the 25 ft Christmas tree in the lobby, and always passed up the charity Santa Claus across the street without even a glance at him. And the fact that even as Christmas drew closer, there was still no decoration on his door.
She had come to the conclusion it wasn't her decorations he had hated, it was Christmas.
But she let it go, and had only thought of the fact that one of her neighbors hated Christmas once since she had come to the conclusion, and twice now as she glanced at the blonde's door.
She started to dig in her purse for her keys, but they weren't where she usually put them. She rumaged in her purse a few more times before she came to the conclusion she had left them in her apartment, again.
She groaned, and pulled her phone out of her now very disorganized purse. She dialed Trish's number, but got a voicemail.
"Hey Trish. Um, so I left my keys inside again, any chance you could come over and open it with the spare? Thanks, bye." She said dejectedly. She ran a hand through her hair and leaned on her door, sliding down until she hit the floor.
She stretched out her legs, careful not to tear her black colored tights on the cold concrete floor.
She went into her purse and pulled out her worn copy of Let it Snow, her favorite holiday book. She opened to her bookmarked page, and planned to read until Trish came, or it got so cold she had to result to desperate measures.
She heard the elevator ding a few times distantly, and doors open as people came home. But, when she heard footsteps coming her way. She thought it must be one of her neighbors passing to their apartement, but when they stopped next to her, she looked up.
It was the cute blonde she had been avoiding, holding a warm cup in his still black gloved hands.
"Here." He said, in a lot nicer voice then when she had first spoke to him. She opened her mouth and closed it.
"I don't drink coffee."
He smiled, showing a row of straight white teeth. "Its hot chocolate. You looked like you were freezing." He said, still holding it out to her. She looked from him to the cup once more before she gingerly reached up and took it in her hands, all the warmth spreading through her fingers.
She opened the lid, the smell of the chocolate wafting up to her as she blew on it to make it cooler. She put the lid back on, looking up at the blonde. "Thank you." She said with some suprise laced through her words. He smiled down at her.
"No problem." He said nicely. She looked back down at the cup, and gingerely took a sip. She could taste the rich chocolate on her tounge, and felt the warmth spread through her as it went down her throat.
"Did you get locked out of your apartement?" He questioned, rocking back and forth on his heels. She looked up, after she took another sip of the delicious hot chocolate.
"I left my keys in there." Ally said, swallowing the bit of chocolate. He nodded, shaking some hair out of his eyes. "You don't keep a spare?"
Ally laughed. "No, I do."
The blonde raised his eyebrows in question. "You don't leave it in one of the plants or something?" He said. Ally laughed again, pointing to the plant on the right end of the hallway, which she was closest too.
"Everyone puts their keys in that plant," she said, and then switched over to pointing to the plant on the left end of the hall, closest to her white Christmas tree. "And everyone who thinks their clever puts it in that plant, because they think no one puts it in there. And then there is a small fraction of people who put it in the door jam on top but, I can't reach it. So my friend Trish keeps it, in a totally different apatement across town with her boyfriend." Ally said, taking another sip of her chocolate. The blonde smiled.
"That's good to know." He said, making her nod.
"Yup, its very good information." She said, before draining a little more from her cup. She looked down, expecting the boy to walk away by now. But, he didn't. He slid down next to her. She looked over at him.
"Look, I'm really sorry about the other day." He said, and Ally blinked. Now, she had two options. She could either take the high road, and decide to forgive him and let it go, or she could pretend that she had no idea what he was talking about and make him work for it. She took a sip of her hot chocolate.
"I have no clue what your talking about." She said.
So, not the high road.
The blonde smiled, and looked down, his shoulders shaking slightly. "The other day when I was really rude to you, and insulted the lovely snowflakes you put on the wall. Which are, indeed straight." He said, looking back up at her. Ally smiled.
"No need to apologise." She said, sipping her hot chocolate again. "Some people just don't like Christmas." The blonde smiled.
"Its not that I don't like Christmas, I just, don't believe in it." He said, looking at her sideways. Ally blinked at him.
"Huh." She said, a little hint of suprise in her voice. The blonde obviously didn't expect this kind of reaction to his words, because he was looking at her in surprise.
"Your not confused, or worried for my sanity?" He said. Ally shook her head.
"No, just a little surprised." She said, still sipping her chocolate.
"You see, I've met people who don't like Christmas. And I've met people who don't understand Christmas. But I've never really met someone who doesn't believe in it." Ally said. The blonde laughed a little. "Can I ask why?" She questioned. The boy looked up at the lights on the ceiling.
"A bunch of reasons really." He said. She figured that was the only explanation she was going to get, at least for now anyway. But, since she had figured out some people can't handle Christmas as well as she can, she made made a promise to herself that no matter what their problem with Christmas was, she'd try to fix it.
And that exact thought was going through her head when she stood up and held her hand out to the blonde after brushing off her skirt. "Come on."
He tilted his head at her. "What?" Ally rolled her eyes and just opened her palm a little bit more. "Come on." She said, a little more stress on the last word. He still stared at her for a few minutes before he grabbed her hand, and she pulled him up.
She turned and looked at the door to her apartment, sighing. She reached into her hair and removed a bobby pin that was holding half of her hair up. The hair came tumbling down around her face as she bent down, inserting the bobby pin in.
"What are you doing?" The blonde asked, looking at her as her hair covered her face.
"I'm picking the lock, what does it look like I'm doing?" Ally said, sticking the tip of her tongue out the corner of her mouth in concentration as she squinted at the key hole and the pin wiggling inside.
"Should I be concerned that you know how to pick a lock?" He said with a smile on his face. Ally popped the lock right after he said it, throwing her door open and looking at him. "Not unless you really piss me off." She said, walking into her apartment and gesturing for him to follow.
He stepped hesitantly into the apartment, quickly forgetting his hesitance as he looked around. "Woah."
Ally's apartment mirrored her Christmas spirit, a lot.
She had twinkly white lights up, and her highly decorated Christmas tree in the corner. She had a little elf on the shelf sitting on top of her refridgerator, that happened to be littered with Christmas magnets. And her coffee table had a clear bowl of minature candy canes on it.
"Don't stand under the mistletoe." Ally said from her bedroom. The blonde looked up and indeed saw he was standing under the green plant with red berries hanging from the ceiling. He stepped back and rounded the couch, right as Ally came out with a phone in her hand, finishing a message to Trish telling her she didn't have to come.
The brunette held out a notebook with a snowman on the cover out to the blonde, who just looked at it. "What is it?" He finally questioned. Ally just rolled her eyes.
"A Christmas planner." She said, putting it in his gloved hands. He raised his eyebrows. "Why do I need a Christmas planner exactly?" He said, taking it.
"I, am going to get you to believe in Christmas." She said. The blonde laughed, his eyes crinkling. "Are you now?" He said, amusement lacing his words.
"I swear it."
He raised an eyebrow. "And what do I get out of this?" He said. Ally bit her lip, looking up and rocking on her heels. "The satisfaction of believing in Christmas." She said. He laughed again.
"I'm going to need something a little more interesting if your planning to change my whole view on a holiday." He said, taking his gloves off and putting them in his pocket. Ally thought about it.
"How about, I take down all my Christmas decorations if I don't get you to believe in Christmas." She said looking around at all her sparkly lights. The blonde nodded. "And if I get you to believe in Christmas," she continued, "You have to put up a Christmas tree in your apartment." She said. The boy considered this, then held out his hand. Ally placed it on the notebook, raising her right hand.
"I, Allyson Hope Dawson,"
"Well that explains a lot." Said the blonde, who closed his mouth when he got a silencing look from the brunette.
"I, Allyson Hope Dawson, promise to do everything in my power to get," she paused, realizing she didn't know his name. The blonde smiled. "Austin Moon."
"To get Austin Moon to believe in Christmas." She said. Austin raised his right hand.
"And I, Austin Moon, promise to try my best to honor Miss Allyson—"
"Ally, you can call me Ally."
"To honor Miss Ally Dawson's abilities in trying to get me to believe in Christmas." Austin said. Ally smiled.
First chapter, done! Well I hope you guys liked it! My last exam is tomorrow so I should be able to update soon, but until next time
Stay lovely ;)