Merry Christmas, I Could Care Less

I wasn't one for getting dressed up. I hated suits, ties felt suffocating, and dress-shirts made me feel like a fraud, especially when they were covering my tattoos. It just wasn't natural for me to wear dress clothes; I was a skinny jeans and t-shirt type of guy.

So why was I standing in McKinley's flat in a pair of slacks, a collared shirt, a tie, a vest, and a jacket over all of that, waiting for her to finish prepping herself?

Because I was a sucker; I was such a sucker, even I couldn't believe it.

I blamed her though. It was entirely her bloody fault, and no one could tell me otherwise. It was that stupid power she had over me that could get me to do anything she damn well pleased. All she had to do was look me in the eyes, bat her lashes a few times, and maybe caress my arm slightly and she would have me practically drooling at her feet.

It was ridiculous, but there was also nothing I could do to stop it.

When she finally reappeared from her time in the bathroom, she looked proper gorgeous. The black dress she wore hugged each and every one of her curves perfectly. It was long enough so she didn't look like a tramp, but short enough that it was still McKinley. Her long, light blonde hair was cascading in curls around her shoulders, which showed off something I hadn't seen before.

"Yeh're lookin' pretty fit there Kinley," I grinned, taking a few steps closer to inspect her hair. "But wha' in bloody 'ell is this?" I grabbed ahold of a few strands of her hair that were bright pink, contrasting drastically to the rest of her blonde hair.

She grinned devilishly. "I though meh dress was kind o' plain, so I added a little colour. Yeh like?"

I laughed. "Yehr mum will kill yeh."

The twinkle in her eyes told me she couldn't have cared any less.

Before I could question her further, she walked into the kitchen. I followed, watching as she opened up a drawer and pulled a baggie out. She held it in the air, a mischievous grin taking place on her face. "Want a pick me up before we 'ead ta the start of a string of lame parties I will have to endure of the next month?"

My jaw dropped at the thought. "Kin, I'm not one ta say no ta a nice blunt but come on, love. I want ta at least try ta make a good impression on yehr parents. Showing up high as a kite won't exactly scream 'I'm perfectly capable of taking yehr daughter out without bringing her home with a new tattoo, piercin', or worse.'"

McKinley scoffed. "Since when do yeh care wha' people think of yeh, Matt?"

"Since yeh asked me on this date ta yehr parents snooty party," I fired back.

She just rolled her eyes and stuffed the baggie into the pocket on her coat. "Trust meh, yeh'll be thankin' meh lata when yeh're bored outta yeh mind."

Finally, we left in my little red car, Kinley silent in the passenger seat. If you knew Kinley, you'd know that silent was in her vocabulary, so it worried me a little. "Wha's wrong love?"

"The fact tha' I'm on meh way ta this stupid party, tha's wha'," she mumbled.

“Come on, Kinley. It can’t be tha’ bad. Why do yeh hate them so much?”

“’s all just a bunch of bullocks, tha’s all. Did I tell yeh tha’ meh mum set me up wiff some bloke she fhinks will be perfect for meh?” Kinley scoffed, telling me she thought the exact opposite. “She doesn’t even know meh, ‘ow could she know who would be perfect for me and who wouldn’t?”

I smirked from beside her and glanced at her while I drove. “Lucky yeh got me then, aye? We’ll show yehr mum jus’ the kind of blokes yeh go for.” I winked and let my hand find her knee, giving it a squeeze.

She just laughed. “Yeh jus’ wait, Matty. Yeh jus’ wait and see.”

***

When we finally pulled into McKinley’s parents’ house, I was in shock. Sure, I knew Kinley’s parents were ridiculously rich and I knew what her background was like, but that didn’t mean I had ever been to her childhood home. And let me tell you, it was something else entirely.

It was proper huge to begin with. After the initial shock wore off, I started firing questions at Kinley as we parked and climbed out of the car, making our way towards the front door. “’s fuckin’ huge, McKinley!” I exclaimed in awe.

She rolled her eyes. “’s jus’ a ‘ouse Matt. Nofhin’ special.”

I scoffed. “Yeh’re kiddin’, aye? My ‘ouse ‘s jus’ a ‘ouse. This is a fuckin’ mansion.”

She was quiet as we walked, only speaking when we finally got to the huge wooden front door. “They’re gonna disapprove of yeh Matt, but don’ worry ‘bout it. They won’t vocalize their complaints, but don’ be surprised if yeh get a backhanded compliment or two.” She turned to me and reached up to fix my tie, then stopped herself for merely a second before reaching out to mess with it a little.

When she finished, she sighed, turned to face the door and said, “’ope yeh’re ready for this, Matty.”

Opening the door, you would expect nothing terrible to happen. Besides from the overly huge house with its large amount of attendants inside, nothing too terrible popped out at me right away.

I watched as Kinley slipped off her coat, so I did the same and handed it to the maid that appeared out of nowhere, thanking her with a small smile. “Let’s get a drink,” McKinley said, looping her arm through mine and gently leading me towards the bar.

“Two Jack and Cokes please,” she said sweetly to the bartender before turning to me. She wasn’t looking at me though, but rather through me to survey the area. The smile on her face was sweet, too sweet, almost fake, and it bothered me. “My mum is headed towards us as we speak and the look in ‘er eyes says she’s proper pissed.”

I inspected Kinley’s face to see how she was feeling, and the mischief in her eyes was telling me she was feeling just fine. Something wasn't adding up, but I figured this was no time to ask.

I turned around just as Mrs. Jacobs was getting to us. “McKinley!” her mum exclaimed, opening her arms to hug her daughter. "Don' yeh jus' look proper adorable in tha' dress. And I…" she trailed off, stumbling over her words. She reached out to touch Kin’s hair, and her perfect exterior faltered for a second before the smile was on her face again. “I love wha’ yeh did wiff yehr ‘air.”

The gushing over her daughter was fake and we all knew it. Kinley pulled away, and then introduced me. "Mum, this is Matt. My date."

I would be lying if I said that hearing the word date come out of McKinley’s mouth didn’t shock me. In my mind, I felt like this was a date, but I could never be sure of anything with Kinley. Hearing the words come out of her own mouth surprised me, but it also made me feel pretty damn good.
“’ello Mrs. Jacobs,” smiled at her, reaching out to shake her hand. She accepted the gesture, eyeing me skeptically, and most likely disapproving of the gauges in my ears. As she looked down at my hand, she gasped.

Apparently, she didn’t approve of my tattoos either.

I didn’t back down though. I had never once been ashamed of my tattoos or anything else about me, and I wasn’t about to start now, just as Kinley had said. I just smiled at her and complimented her on her nice house and nice party, which she seemed to accept. I could see the disapproval in her eyes, but I didn’t care.

“Well McKinley, I’m glad yeh’re ‘ere. Yeh father is around somewhere, say ‘ello ta ‘im sometime tonigh’ please.” Kinley said she would and then with one final disapproving look, her mum was gone.

I felt like I could breathe again.

Kinley touched my arm, the same mischievous grin taking place on her face. “I hate ta say it, but I told yeh so.”

I shook my head and knocked back my drink. “Love, nofhin’ yeh could ‘ave said would ‘ave prepared meh for tha’. I completely understand the weed now.”

She laughed, swallowing the rest of her drink in one swift motion just as I did before turning to me with a twinkle in her eyes. “Speaking of…” she trailed off, playing with a button on my shirt.

“Wha’?”

“Wan’ ta?”

“Smoke?” I asked, confused on if she was asking for a blunt or sex. I would have agreed to either at that point though, so it really didn’t matter.

She laughed and nodded.

“Thought yeh’d neva ask.”

McKinley grabbed my arm and tugged me in the direction of the stairs. We went up them quickly, trying to keep everyone at the party's attention diverted away from us. We ducked into a room at the end of the hall, and shut the door behind us. Kinley didn't turn the light on, but by the way she moved confidently through the room, I assumed this used to be hers. She walked over to the far end of it and pushed open the glass French doors, revealing a balcony just big enough for the two of us to stand on and that was about it.

I followed her outside, before closing the doors behind us. Before I could utter another word, she already had a blunt rolled and in-between her lips, a lighter held up to it ready to start the real party.

She inhaled deeply and I watched as she lifted her head to the dark night sky, exhaling the smoke in almost perfect circles. She always had had a talent for smoke circles. I used to tease her and say that wasn't all her mouth was good at.

She passed the blunt to me before taking a seat on the ground and I followed suit. We were quiet for awhile, just inhaling, exhaling, and passing. It became a steady rhythm, something we were comfortable with, something we were used to, before she broke the silence.

"I'm glad I 'ave yeh around Matty," she said quietly, leaning over to lay her head on my shoulder.

"Why's tha'?" I questioned before I inhaled.

"Because yeh get it," she said simply.

"I get wha' Kin?"

"Me." I didn't have time to answer because she was already attaching her lips to my own, the blunt in-between her fingers slowly dying out. When she pulled back, she was grinning again. "I think yeh need to come to more of these stupid parties wiff me."

And for some reason, I found myself agreeing. That stupid power she had over me reared its ugly head once again and I found myself saying yes to something I had no interest in doing just because McKinley was asking me to do it.

I was a sucker, and it was all because of a stupid bird.