Under The Mistletoe

** Christmas Day**

Ashley woke up late, around 11.00am, with a killer headache. It didn't take long to figure out the cause of the headache. Last night had been the worst night of her life. The voice of that girl, Juliette, and the look on Drew's face brought more tears to her eyes, but she refused to let her emotions get the better of her. Again!

She drug herself into the bathroon and quickly showered and dressed. Even though she was freshly showered, Ashley still looked like crap, and she felt it too. No matter how many cucumbers she out on her eyes, the puffiness and redness around her eyes was still evident.

She sat down on the couch, resting her head on the pillows. She lookes across the room to find Drews leather jacket hanging over the back of the chair. Just the sight of her ex, well they hadnt officially broken up yet but it was close enough, boyfriends jacket, the same one which had given her warmth and comfort when he wasnt here made her break down in tears.

The doorbell broke Ashley out of her trance, making her jump out of her seat. She wasn;t expecting anyone today, and she didn't really feel like talking to Drew just yet. Checking for Drews head peeking over the glass in the door, and not seeing it there, she proceeded to open it, wondering who was there. Her suspicions were confirmed when she found Allanah and Adam standing there, worried looks on their faces. She tried to force a smile, but only started to cry more,and was quickly enveloped by Allanah's arms in a warm hug. Adam then put his arms around the two girls, soothing Ashley with comforting words as he lead them inside her house.

Once Ashley had calmed down and they had all settled down onto the couch, Adam asked the first question.

"So, how are you doing?"

"I feel like I just found out my boyfriend has been cheating on me, but, gee, other than that, just peachy." She told him in a sarcastic. She soon felt guilty and mumbled a quiet sorry to him.

"Its all right, you always have been the smartass in emotional times!" That got a laugh out of them all.

"How did you guys find out?" Ashley asked the question she was intrigued to hear the answer to.

"Well, we rang Drew this morning to say Merry Christmas, and he was crying, and then he told us the whole story, and we came here to see hwo you were." Allanah told her friend, leaving out the part where herself and Adam went over to Drew's house this morning and devised a plan to get the two back together.

"I should have seen it coming I suppose, it's all my fault anyway!" Ashley said, chocking back the tears that threatened to escape.

Adam almost fell out of his seat when he heard that.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"It's true Adam, he deserves someone better, someone who can be with him the whole time, obviously im not good enough or else he wouldn't have doen this!" Ashley let go, letting everything out in the open.

"Ash thats not true, you are good enough, but did you stop to think that maybe that chicks just a friend?"

"Wouldnt he tell me if he met up with a friend Al?"

"I suppose, you got a point there."

********

Drew stepped out of his house, ready for a very long night. He was on his way to Adam and Allanah's house for their Christmas dinner. They had been over to visit him earlier, checking up on him , and somewhere along the line they had comeup with a plan to get him and Ash back together. It was a bit risky, but he was willing to try anything once, he would do anything to get Ashley back. Without Ash, there was a huge gap in his heart.

Adam had called earlier to let Drew know that Ashley was definitely coming to dinner. It had taking a lot of persuading on their part to convince Ash to join them and the rest of the group, but she finally gave in, not thinking if Drew would be there.

So here he was, standing outside Adams house, trying to plan what he was going to say. He did have it planned out but decided to go with his heart, and just tell Ashley how he felt in his heart. That was if she even gave him a chance to explain himself, and the way things were looking, she wasn't. Everyone stopped talking when Drew locked eyes with her, waiting for someone to make the first move. Everybody except Ashley knew the story behind Juliette and knew Drew was innocent, now it was Ashleys turn to discover the truth, but first she had to gove him a chance.

********

Ashley kept staring at Drew, not believing he was there, right in front of her. Part of her wanted to run up and kiss him, and just forget about what happened, but the other half wanted to go up and slap him for all the pain he had put her through.

She realised everyone was waiting to see what would happen next, and right now she didn't have the guts to actaully talk and discuss things with Drew. She turned to Allanah and said,

"Thanks for inviting me, but I dont feel up to this, im just gonna go home."

As she was putting on her jacket, Drew said, "No, you stay, i'll go."and he proceeded to put his jacket back on.

"Both of you are staying here, but you will sort this thing out. Now, keep your jackets on 'cos your going outside in the snow, and i'm not letting you back in until you have reached a mutual decision, got it? Yyou both have things to say, so here your chance. Now get your asses outside!" Allanah demanded, pushing her two friends out onto the verandah, locking the door behind them.

Once outside, Ashley wrapped her arms around herself, not sure where to start. There was so much she wanted to say, but she wasnt sure if she really wanted to hear the answers she needed. But one way or another, she was going to hear them anyway.