Dear Beth...

December 20th

The curly brown haired man sat down on one of the chairs in the home studio, sighing at the situation he was currently stuck in. Lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice his best friend walk over to him and sit right beside him until he heard the faint sound of his name being called.

"Hey, Aled," Shay said, slightly louder so that his best friend could hear him. Aled turned his head to face the smaller guy sitting next to him. "What's up, man? You're not joining it with Partyman so obviously something's wrong." Aled frowned slightly, he was always down for Partyman, but the thing that had taken over his mind was a lot more important.

"You know our show tomorrow at Clwb?" He asked, and Shay nodded his head. "Well, I was looking at the guest list on the facebook event and-" Aled started, but much like a couple, Shay finished his sentence.

"She's going to be there, isn't she?" Aled couldn't reply and so simply nodded.

"It's just..." he tried to speak, but instead, let out a sigh in an attempt to compose himself before speaking again. "You know, Shay, I keep seeing her everywhere and it sounds pretty stupid, but it's driving me crazy. She's always at the parties and stuff, and she always flirts with me, but then leaves with another guy like it's nothing. I know that she'll be there and fuck it, it's my turn to be the guy she leaves with."

"And hopefully she doesn't come back." Phil said as he walked over to where we were sitting.

"What do you mean by that, mate?" Aled asked, unsure of what the tallest friend meant.

"Well, hopefully she doesn't come back again and leave with another guy again," Philip explained, "I'm just saying, it's extremely obvious that you like her and that, maybe you should like, ask her out?"

Aled stared wide-eyed at Phil, his mind processing what he had said, and then drifting off into what could be... if it was ever possible. "But I don't even know her that well," he sighed. Aled felt horrible, purely because he was so sure that he was in love with a girl that he'd barely uttered any words to.

"Well get to know her then," came Joel's input. "Bloody hell, Aled. When it comes to girls, you're certainly not normally like this, so just go out and do what you'd normally do, okay?" Iain walked over to join the three lads surrounding their best friend, giving Aled a supportive smile.

"Right, okay then, just gonna go for it."

December 21st

"Okay mate, she's just walked in. Time to go for it, yeah?" Shay said, putting his hand on Aled's shoulder for comfort and encouragement. Aled looked up at his darker haired friend and smiled nervously.

"Do I look okay? Is my t-shirt cool? When are we going on? Can I have a drink?" Aled asked, rushing through all of his questions. He'd never been more anxious in his life. The girl had obviously affected him greatly, and all of the lads knew that, considering he'd gotten a text from The Blackout guys earlier simply saying 'Easy Tiger... haha go get her ;) x'.

"Yes, yes, 10 minutes, if you're quick," Shay responded just as quickly and Aled stood up from his seat in the dressing room, fixing his hair and leather jacket before walking out and to the bar. Of course, he noticed the tall girl - yet still shorter than him - with her friends as he was walking over to the bar, and he shot her a smile as she waved shyly at him.

'right,' Aled thought, taking the shot glass in his hand, 'it's now or never.' He downed the shot of god-knows-what before getting up and hurrying back to where the boys were backstage.

"Ready boyo?" Joel asked, and Aled's face lit up. He'd forgotten something. He darted back to the dressing room, shrugged off his leather jacket and threw a cheesy Christmas jumper on over his t-shirt. He then ruffled his hair slightly and topped his head with a Santa hat, before running to the side of the stage.

"Now I am," he replied, smiling. He bounced onto the stage with the rest of the band members and his eyes instantly darted to hers. She blushed and lowered her head, her fringe covering her eyes as Aled flashed her a grin.

"Right, hello everyone, we're Kids In Glass Houses," Aled paused and the club erupted in cheers, "and we're going to get this going quickly. I want everyone in here - everyone of age anyway - to take a shot and dance to this one like your lives depend on it. It is the end of the world today after all." Aled chuckled as the crowd began cheering and shots were handed around the audience.

As the intro played, he saw her dance nearer to the front of the stage with a few of her friends and throughout the song, he had to concentrate really hard on the lyrics because most of the time he was just watching the way she moved. She herself thought she looked like some sort of awkward... moving thing attempting to not look like an idiot in front of Aled, but to him, it was the complete opposite...

And then he realised that it was time. He caught her gaze as he sang and beckoned her to the front of the stage. She complied and when she was just in reach, he reached out for her hand and knelt down in front of her. She blushed as Aled took a deep breath before reciting altered versions of the song lyrics.

"You know I've been a good boy, have you been a bad girl, do you promise you'll try, try to feed the whole world, you know I've been a good boy, will you be my bad girl..." and just then, Aled whipped the hat off of his head and placed it on hers. His hand moved to cup the brunette's chin and he lifted her head up so that it was tilted enough to see the mistletoe hanging above them.

Before the girl could even begin to comprehend what was going on, a bolt of confidence struck in Aled and he leant forward, pressing their lips together in a smooth yet forceful kiss. Her hand moved up to tangle in the back of his hair as his hand stroked her face, and although the kiss felt like it lasted forever, it merely lasted for a matter of seconds before Shay pulled Aled away to finish the rest of the song as the crowd burst into an uproar.

Aled eventually came down from the euphoric feeling, however, it was too late. She was gone. Aled panicked. It wasn't as if he could go running after her, he was in the middle of a set. It would just have to wait. The rest of the lads noticed his confusion but paid no mind to it as they were engrossed in the music that they were playing.

Roughly eight or nine songs later and a bit of playful banter, the set was over. "Happy Christmas everyone! Hope you all find your Secret Santa's because I've found mine!" Aled called as he smiled at the crowd who were cheering for him and his band. She was still nowhere in sight.

"Mate, where you rushing to?" Shay asked his best friend as he hurriedly shrugged on his leather jacket, scarf and backwards snapback. Aled's face was flushed, purely because he was rushing to find her.

"I don't know where she is. She wasn't in the crowd for the rest of the set. I need to find her. I'm not letting her go again." Aled rushed through his sentences and almost sprinted out of the door, until he remembered something. He ran back to Shay, grabbing his face with both hands before pressing their lips together forcefully and quickly. "If I don't see you again between now and the 25th, happy fucking Christmas, bud." And with that, Aled excited the club.

Running through the doors, he looked left, then right, and then his eyes settled upon the very girl he was looking for as she walked away from the venue. He watched as her soft hair swayed in the wind and the clouds formed by her breath dispersed into the cold December night... and Aled grew ever more frustrated as his feet wouldn't let him move from that spot...

or at least, they didn't used to. This time, he went running. Chasing down the girl he was hopelessly in love with. As soon as she came into reach, he tapped her on the shoulder, panting heavily as she turned around and pulled her headphones out. Aled could hear the faint sound of 'Historia', one of their first songs, pouring out of the buds, and the girl grew embarrassed.

"Beth," he breathed, and just then, she decided that her name had never sounded so good. She looked up from under her fringe to see him bent forward, breathing heavily, but looking up at her hopefully, with pleading eyes. He stood up properly, so that he was just slightly taller than her, and his hand awkwardly started rubbing the back of his neck. "Where're you going?"

"Home," Beth replied quietly, showing the fear in her voice; the uncertainty.

"Please, Beth. Don't do this to me," Aled begged, trying to get the girl to understand. He took her cold hand in his warm one and she suddenly felt safer, which was odd. Beth knew her feelings well. She knew she liked Aled more than a lot, but she didn't realise just how much until today. Until he kissed her, she didn't know, and after he did, she didn't want to believe it.

"I-I-I d-don't know what y-you're talking about..." She replied, but she knew.

"Please, Beth, don't give me that. Do you know how hard it is to see you going home with a different guy every time we're at the same party or something? The way we dance with each other is always the best part of my night, but it quickly turns into the worst when you disappear. All I want is to be with you. No other girl has made me feel like this, and I think I-" Aled paused as a big flake of snow fell onto his nose.

They both stopped, looking up at the sky which was shrouded in white clouds where large, icy, yet soft snowflakes fell and settled on the ground. Aled knew this was it. He took both her hands in his and as she noticed, he pressed his lips softly to hers. As they brushed against each other, the feeling was intense and Beth, as much as she didn't want to admit it to herself, didn't want to leave. Aled's lips left hers far too soon for her liking, but he needed to continue.

"I think I love you, Beth, and you can't deny that you have feelings for me too. So could you please, please come home with me tonight, so we can snuggle on my sofa and watch crappy Christmas films whist drinking extensively? Because to me, that would be perfect."

Aled looked directly into Beth's eyes, and before she knew it, her hands were wrapped around his neck and he pulled her into a tight hug. "Yes," she whispered, "yeah, we can. That would be perfect to me too."

Aled lifted the tiny figured girl up and spun her around, like in one of those extremely cliché movies, before putting her down and intertwining their fingers. As they walked off towards Aled's flat, Beth squeezed his hand ever so gently. He stopped walking, which too caused her to stop, and he looked down at the girl he found to be so completely beautiful.

"I love you too, Aled."