Under the Mistletoe

"Why the hell are you trying to pin this all on me?!" I exclaimed to my boyfriend, my eyes widened in anger.

"Because, once again, you're getting angry with me for no reason! I've been home for three bloody days and you've gone mental on me every five seconds!" Louis shot back.

I let out a dry laugh. "Oh really? I'm mental?" I questioned. "Then why don't you just leave and stay gone?!"

He scoffed, quickly getting out of his seat on the sofa and walking into our bedroom. "Maybe I will!" he called back.

I stood in my spot with my arms crossed, gritting my teeth as I felt tears well up in my eyes. Do not cry, Kayla. Do not let him see you cry, I kept repeating to myself. I didn't want him to see me cry. I was not the bad person in this situation and I shouldn't be crying.

"I'll be at Harry's," Louis grumbled as he brushed passed me with a suitcase in hand, grabbing his jacket off the coat rack before exiting the apartment, slamming the door on the way out.

"This has got to be at least the 20th complaint this month that we’ve gotten from the apartment below you,” the landlord—what the hell was his name? I wasn’t sure; Louis usually dealt with him—told me with his eyebrows furrowed and his mouth in a straight line.

Had I not been in such a bad mood from the night before, I would’ve laughed at this. All but a few of those complaints were not because of the volume of our voices when we were angry, but when we were actually quite the opposite. I don’t think we’d still have this apartment if Lou weren’t such a sweet talker—or if his niece weren’t a big One Direction fan. “I’m so sorry, sir,” I apologized, trying my hardest to look sincere. All I wanted was him to leave so I can go curl up on the couch and sulk, but of course this man had to ruin my plans. “I guess the TV was up louder than I thought.”

He grunted. “I suppose you should work on that TV’s volume. It seems that it’s too loud quite a lot,” he said in what sounded like a fatherly tone. Ha, please.

I nodded. “I’ll be sure to make sure we work on that,” I promised, inching the door closer to its hinge.

“If you say so,” he replied flatly, obviously not believing me in the slightest. “Also, I need to talk to you abou-“

“I have to change my tampon,” I interrupted, hoping it’d make him leave. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing at the look of horror that crossed his face. “So if you could hurry this conversation up…”

He cleared his throat, stepping back as if my period were contagious. “Ah, um, okay. I’ll come back at a more convenient time. Perhaps when Mr. Tomlinson is in, we could have a chat,” he suggested.

“I’ll be sure to do that, thank you. Have a nice day!” I wished as I closed the door. I let out a heavy sigh, resting my head against the door briefly. My head was currently pounding, probably an aftermath of the sugar rush all the holiday treats Johanna sent over. I knew it was a bad idea when I’d opened the tin with various green and red trees decorating it but between the argument with Louis and… well, the argument with Louis, I couldn’t resist.

I plopped onto the couch, grabbing the remote to continue my movie when my phone started ringing. I groaned, picking it up and pressing the answer button with looking to see who it was. “What?” I asked into the receiver.

“Whoa, don’t sound too happy to be hearing from me!” Harry’s voice floated through the phone.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Harry, along with the rest of the boys in One Direction and they’re great to talk to. But right now, he was the second to last person I wanted to be talking to from the band. Not only was Louis staying with him right now but he was also his best mate, so there was no doubt in my mind that Louis had told him all about our argument. “I’m busy at the moment and I’m not feeling very well,” I spoke slowly. “So how did I get so lucky to have such a lovely, but short, conversation with you?”

He laughed. “Well I hope just because you’re feeling a little under the weather doesn’t mean that you’re going to blow off my fantastic Christmas party,” he answered.

“Dammit,” I cursed quietly. I sighed. “I can’t come, Harry. There’s no way.”

“Well I’m sure when you and Lou make up he can fix that but I—“

“Not what I meant,” I said, rolling my eyes. “As you know, Louis and I aren’t speaking right now.”

“Yes, I do know that. But the two of you can’t end this… feud if you don’t speak with each other,” he said matter-of-factly.

I sighed, slightly annoyed by Harry’s persistence. “I can’t even remember what we’re even arguing about, okay?” I admitted.

“That’s great!” he said happily. “Neither does he! When he explained to me what happened this morning, he said he couldn’t recall why you two are bickering. So you’re going to turn off of Love, Actually, get dressed and get over here so you can tell him he’s allowed back.”

I narrowed my eyes. “How do you know I’m watch—“

“Please, Kayla. Who doesn’t know that you’re watching that movie? I’d even bet that there is nothing sweet to eat left in that flat.” My silence caused him to laugh. “Thought so. Anyway, this is important because as long as he’s crashing on the couch, I can’t spend proper time with my girlfriend. It’s a win-win situation, really.”

I groaned. “Harry, I have enough relationship problems of my own. I don’t need yours,” I informed him.

“Great! So it’s settled!” he spoke. “So you’ll be here within the next hour, yeah? Don’t take forever to get ready, either. See you soon!”

Great. This is just great.



“It is so good to see you!” Perrie cooed, giving me a hug.

I laughed. “It’s good to see you too!” I replied. “Your dress looks great,” I complimented once we’d pull away.

She waved her hand dismissively. “This old thing? It’s nothing,” she winked, smoothing her hands over the fabric. “You look lovely as well!”

“Thank you,” I said, smiling. I noticed Zayn’s eyes scanning the room full of people, obviously looking for his girlfriend. “I think Zayn’s looking for you. He’s beginning to look a bit lost.”

Her eyes followed my gaze before laughing. “He’s trained well,” she joked. “I should get to him. We have to get together soon, Kayla. Just because the boys are off touring the world doesn’t mean that I’m always busy!”

“Definitely,” I promised, nodding with a smile. She gave me one last hug before walking away. I intertwined my fingers behind my back, unsure of what to do. I didn’t see many familiar faces and the ones I did come across were already busy doing something. I also saw no sign of Louis.

“Kayla, you made it!” I heard a voice with a deep Irish accent yell from behind me.

I laughed, turning to find the blonde-haired boy. “Niall, I’m two feet away from you. You don’t need to yell at me,” I told him.

“Psh,” he said, waving his hand. I wiped the small amount of spit that got on my face, forgiving him because he was heavily intoxicated. “You! I need… you to come with me.”

“Um, alright?” I said unsurely, letting him drag me away by my wrist. I quickly apologized to the people he just shoved through. “Niall, didn’t you ever get taught not to sho—oof!” I felt myself be pushed into something, my head definitely smacking the wall. “Ouch,” I mumbled, holding my forehead as I continued leaning on whatever I was shoved into.

“Dammit, Niall. Are you alright, love?”

I froze when I heard the all too familiar voice. I pulled away abruptly, nearly tripping over my feet as I did so. “Um, yeah. I’m fine,” I muttered, his nod being the only assurance that he’d heard me. I tried focusing on how angry I was at Niall for putting my in this situation instead of how great Louis looked, but it was hard. His white suit looked so amazing on him and his hair was styled to perfection caused me to almost forget that I was mad at him. “I’ll be—yeah, okay.” I turned, trying to figure out where I could go to escape my embarrassment when I felt his fingers lock around my wrist.

“Kayla, wait. Please,” he nearly begged, causing my heart to wrench.

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath before turning around and taking my spot in front of him. “Yes?” I asked him.

“I don’t really know what’s going on, or what I did wrong, but—ah, um,” he stopped speaking, sighing as he ran his fingers through his hair. I knew he was trying to apologize and while it should’ve made me feel better, it didn’t. It only made me feel worse. “I’m sorry for—“

“Now, what are you two doing just standing here?” Harry asked, appearing out of what seemed like nowhere with his hands on his hips. I glared at him but he either didn’t notice or didn’t care. “Tsk, don’t either of you know anything about tradition?”

“What are you going on about?” Louis asked, also irked about his interruption. The curly-haired boy smirked and didn’t say anything but point up above us. My eyes looked up to find a small, fake plant hanging from the ceiling above us. “Really, Haz? How old are we?”

“It isn’t about age! It’s about tradition,” he explained. “And you know how this tradition goes, yeah?”

“Yes, but we were kind of in the middle of something,” I told him, gesturing between Louis and I.

“So? That can continue after you two kiss. It is in the rules, you know,” he stated matter-of-factly.

I narrowed my eyes at the stupid, cheeky boy. “You set this up, didn’t you?” I asked in an accusing tone. “You told Niall to get me and push me into Louis.”

He gasped in shock. “I would never!” I rolled my eyes at how offended he sounded at the thought. “Now kiss.”

“Harry, I don’t think you understand. You are taking this way to—“ I was cut off by somebody grabbing my face and crashing their lips against mine. I immediately recognized the taste and returned the kiss, ignoring that it was probably only meant to make Harry leave. My hands slid behind his neck to deepen the kiss. If you’re gonna put on a show, why not go all the way?

“Slow down, kids. The mistletoe is meant to keep it PG,” Harry instructed, causing me to pull away. I silently thanked God when I noticed that nobody was giving us weird looks. “R is for behind closed doors.”

“You won’t be able to use your behind door tools if you don’t let us talk privately,” I told him with a smile.

“Feisty,” he commented, holding his heart. “You wound me, Kayla. You really do.” He wiped away a fake tear before not-so-slyly winking at Louis and walking away.

“That was…” I trailed, searching for something to say.

“I’m sorry about whatever I did wrong,” Louis apologized, his hands pulling me closer to him by my waist.

I wrapped my arms around his neck. “You were probably right,” I insisted. “It probably was my fault we were arguing and I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let you left.”

He grinned. “You’re forgiven,” he said, kissing me briefly. “So, what have I missed in my short departure?”

“Well,” I emphasized. “We got a complaint. It was a bad one this time, too. Apparently we were arguing too loud last night, so I got a nice visit from the landlord today.”

He pouted. “Aw, I missed a visit from Rick? How sad.”

“Rick is his name? I had no idea,” I said with a chuckle. “Anyway, I don’t think I’m as charming as you are. He didn’t seem as nice as you make him out to be.”

He hummed, pulling me closer to him. “Then I should explain everything to him, shouldn’t I?” he questioned. “But wait, however will we get him to come over so we can talk?”

I saw the mischievous glint in his eyes. “Should I get my coat?” I asked.

He nodded with a smirk. “You should get your coat,” he confirmed. “We’re leaving.” I giggled, giving him a quick kiss before making my way to the room full of coats.