Chapter 19 ~ Sadness
It was Christmas morning and one by one the Hanson siblings ran down the stairs to the tree. Their parents were already up. They knew they would be up early, so they thought they would get up and wait for them, instead of being yelled at. They were all excitied about opening the presents, especially the younger ones.
"Now you guys wait 'til everyone gets down here." Mrs. Hanson said smiling at their happy faces.
"Oh, I'll go get Kirstie, she's not up yet." Zac jumped up from the couch and went to her room. He creeped in quietly and layed down beside her. Feeling the bed move she opened her eyes. "Merry Christmas." Zac said kissing her on the cheak.
She smiled and sat up. "You look extra cute this morning." She laughed.
"Well, you know, I just didn't feel like changing." He had on a pair of boxers and a big t-shirt. "Come on, let's go." He grabbed her hand and ran down the stairs together to join everyone else.
"Hey Merry Christmas sleepy head!" Ike said, giving her a hug.
Then Taylor walked over to her, still seeming to be half asleep. "Merry Christmas Kirstie." He gave her a hug too. She really liked how they were such a loving family.
They all sat down together in the floor around the big decorated tree. They passed the presents all around and hugged and laughed. Tons of thank you's were said.
Taylor grabbed a gift and handed it to Zac, "Here, I think you'll like this. I guess I kinda owe it to you." He smiled.
Zac unwrapped the present and pulled out a notebook that said 'journal' on the front and even had a lock on the side. "Haha. You're right. You do owe it to me. Hmm... this is too sneaky. Did you already make a copy of the key to it?" They both laughed.
Thirty minutes later all the presents had been unwrapped. Jessie, Avery, and Mackie were playing with their toys and Ike and Taylor were playing a video game. Zac walked over to Kirstie, who was sitting on the couch, and grabbed both her hands. "Look. I found one last present." A big grin spread across his face.
"Zac? What is this?" She smiled and took the small box wrapped in pretty paper.
"I just wanted to give it to you so no one else would know." He sat down beside her and put his arm around her. "Open it."
She was careful not to tear the pretty paper, she really hated doing that. She opened the small box and her eyes got wide and her face began to glow. "Zac! I can't believe you did this!" She put both arms around him and hugged him tightly. "Oh but I love it!" It was the ring from the store. Its diamonds sparkled as she slid it on her finger.
"I thought you might kinda like it." He kissed her and looked at her eyes. "I love you Kirstie. And I wanted to get you something that would show that."
"I love you too. But this cost so much." She looked at it and shook her head. "Thank you."
The day seemed to go by very quickly. Lots of relatives started showing up for Christmas dinner. It was crowded and really loud. But everyone was so happy. After dinner they all sang Christmas songs and danced. All except Taylor. He couldn't get his mind off Ashley.
Kirstie walked up to him and lightly punched his arm. "Come on Tay, it's not like you'll never see her again."
He looked up and attempted to force a smile. "How did you know what I was thinking about?"
"I can see it in your eyes. You look so sad." She put her hand on his shoulder.
Taylor pushed his hair behind his ears. "You look really nice tonight. I like your dress." He smiled a little, but his mood hadn't changed.
"Thanks. I got it the other day when I went shopping with your mom. She's so nice." They stood there silently for a minute and Kirstie noticed tears begining to fill Taylor's eyes. She hugged him. "Tay, don't be sad. You'll get to spend all day with her tomorrow." She stood there hugging him while she felt a few warm tears fall on her shoulder.
"I'll get that!" Zac shouted when the door bell rang. He walked through the crowd of people and passed Kirstie and Taylor. "Hey Taylor, get off my girl." He finally reached the door and pulled it open. Missy stood in front of him.
"Zac, I know you probably don't want to see me, but it's Christmas, can we at least talk?" She pleaded.
He hesitated a minute. "I guess, but just for a minute."
"Okay let's talk out here then." Missy said, grabbing his sleeve and pulling him over by the swinging bench that sat on the front porch. They sat down and Zac scooted to the end. "I'm sorry about that night at the movies. Look, we were friends for so long. Please can't we be friends again?"
Zac looked up at her, not knowing what to say. He did miss being friends with her, but... "I don't know."
"I'm sorry, please. I shouldn't have kissed you like that at the movies." She paused for a minute, "I should have asked first." She paused again and ran her fingers through his hair. "So, can I kiss you?"
He turned towards her and shook his head, "Missy, I don't..." But he didn't get to finish, she had already leaned over to him and was kissing him. He leaned back breaking the kiss. He just stared at her, not saying anything. Staring at the girl he had been friends with so long, the girl he use to have feelings for. He leaned forward, stopped for a second, then she leaned in the rest of the way and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her, and she jumped back.
Zac quickly turned around to see what she was staring at. Kirstie stood right outside the front door staring at them. "No, Kirstie, this isn't, I mean, wait!" He jumped up and ran towards her.
She stepped inside the house and took her ring off. Tears started to stream down her hot face. She threw the ring at him and it bounced off his chest and landed beneath him between his feet. "I can see how much you want to show me you love me!" She screamed through her anger and sadness.
He started to go after her but she slammed the door in his face. "Shit." Was all he could say. He bent over and picked the ring up. What have I done? He thought. "Missy, you better go. We can talk some other time." When she started to walk away his slipped the ring on his pinky and ran in the house. "Where'd she go?" He asked Taylor who was just standing there staring off into space.
Taylor pointed to the stairs and shook his head. "I can't believe you did that." He watched his brother run up the stairs. He walked over and got the cordless phone and took it with him to the couch. He layed down holding it, and slowly fell asleep.
Taylor rolled over on the couch and the phone fell, landing on the floor with a thud. He woke up and looked around. Someone had put a blanket on him. A little sunlight came through the small crack between the curtains. He squinted to see the clock on the other side of the room. 6am. He sat up and wiped his eyes, then started dialing Ashley's number.
After 3 rings someone finally answered? "He..hello?"
"Hey Ash, that you?" He asked eagerly.
"Yeah. Taylor, its 6 in the morning."
"I know. I'm sorry, I just wanted us to have a long day together." He said, feeling a little sad.
Ashley smiled at the sound of his sweet voice. "Okay, I'm going to get ready and eat and everything and I'll be over there at 8. Is that okay?"
"Sure that's great." He answered sounding happy again.
At 8am everyone was already up except Ike, Zac, and Kirstie. Taylor was sitting on the bench outside when Ashley walked up. "Hi." She smiled at him and they embraced when she reached the porch.
When they walked in Mrs. Hanson waved to Ashley and then spoke to Taylor. "Honey, you guys need to start packing today."
"Alright Mom." He answered, going back to his depressed mood. They went up to his room, forgetting Ike and Zac were still in bed. "Oh yeah," He said when he opened the door. "Do you wanna go out somewhere, or just sit in the living room?"
"I doesn't matter sweetheart. I just want to be with you." She took his hand and they walked back downstairs. "Let just sit down here for now if that's alright."
"Sure. Sounds good to me." So they sat down on the couch together holding each other. "I had an awful day yesterday."
She looked at him, "I know, I did too. I don't think I've ever had a bad Christmas before. But I just couldn't get my mind off you."
"We're going to spend as much time together as we can the next couple days, okay?" He said, trying to hold back tears.
"Of course." She said and smiled a little. They just sat there for a minute and she finally spoke, letting tears come out with her words. "Oh Taylor I don't want you to leave me. I haven't even known you that long but you're everything to me. I love you so much."
He hugged her and told her everything would be fine. He had to be strong for the both of them. Wiping her eyes with his shirt, he sang quietly into her ear. She hadn't heard the song before but it was something about everlasting love and she thought it was so beautiful it made her cry even more. "Listen Ash, nothing is going to change between us, I mean... we'll get to see each other again soon. I'm sorry it has to be this way."
"No, it's okay. Don't be sorry, it's your life. And I'm happy for you." She whispered. "I'm just going to really miss you."
Taylor wanted all the sadness to stop. He wanted them to be happy again. He layed her down on the couch and layed on her. They began kissing and he started to tickle her. They played that way laying there on the couch for a while until they were both finally laughing. When they began to get tired they held each other for an hour, just whispering sweet things to each other. The last thing Taylor said was "I love you," and they drifted off to sleep smushed together on the small couch.
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Chapter 20 will be up sometime. Right now, I have no idea when. :o) ~ Krissy