It was Christmas day in Walford and all members of the Mitchell family were excited, except for one. Jay was stood at the sink peeling vegetables while he listened to Ben ramble on about his Christmas with Paul the night before.
If only Phil knew the truth, Jay thought. You wouldn't be talking about this then.
"Are you even listening to me, Jay?"
"No," he replied honestly. "I'm not."
"The amount of times I had to listen to you go on about Abi," Ben mumbled.
"Pfft! I could say the same about you."
Ben glared at Jay but a knock on the door interrupted him...
Abi sat on the floor, her legs curled beneath her. Her face was stained with tears and mascara, having not taken off her makeup from the night before. She hadn't really moved since the night before.
The memories came flooding back into her head and she fought to keep them away. She knew she had handled it badly when Jamie was there, but she'd handled it even worse after he had gone. Abi forced herself to lift her head up and look around the kitchen. It looked as though a bomb had gone off in their.
After he'd left her last night, Abi went straight into the front room, knocking down the Christmas tree and pulling down their decorations. She'd spent ages perfecting the table decor the morning before but now it was on a heap on the floor like the tinsel.
The place was a mess, but Abi was a wrecking ball.
Jay moved towards the back door not really knowing who to expect as all of the Mitchells had already arrived. He opened it and a guy pushed past him. It took him a few seconds to realise it was Jamie.
"What the hell do you want?" Jay sighed.
"I need you to do me a favour."
"Why would I want to do?"
"I thought you cared about Abi, but forget it."
Jay looked over to Ben to see if he was feeling as suspicious as Jay did.
"Of course I do. What is this about?"
"I'm worried about her."
"Why? What happened?"
"We broke up last night."
Jay struggled to hide his happiness.
They'd broken up. Abi was free. Now was his chance to win her back.
"You broke up with her at Christmas? That's low even for you."
"I didn't have a choice."
Jay laughed. "Of course you did!"
"You don't understand."
"You're right, I don't. I don't really care either. Why are you here?"
"She didn't take it very well."
"C'mon, it's Abi. What were you expecting?"
"Look, here's my key," Jamie held out a set of keys to Jay. "Will you please just go and check on her for me?"
Jay nodded. "Of course."
"Thank you."
Jamie turned to leave.
"Wait," Jay stopped him. "Why did you break up with her-"
"That's none of your-"
"When you're clearly still in love with her?"
"What makes you think that?"
"You wouldn't be here if you didn't. Trust me, I would know."
"Do you want me to come with you?" Ben asked as Jay zipped up his jacket half an hour later.
"What is she? A bloody tiger? She's not going to hurt me."
"I know. I just..." Ben trailed off.
"I need to talk to her. Alone."
Ben nodded. "Yeah, of course."
"I'll see you later then."
Jay headed of in the direction of Abi's place. He wasn't really sure what to expect. He knew better than anybody what Abi was like when she was on a rampage, but he still didn't believe that she liked Jamie that much. She had kissed him. Why would she be so cut up about Jamie when she had done that? Jay had it all planned in his head. He'd go into the flat like a knight in shinning armour and him and Abi would live happily ever after. Except that wasn't what happened...
Jay found it strange to let himself into the flat, like he was intruding on something. He made his way along the corridor but he could already tell something wasn't right. It was quiet, far too quiet.
"Abi?" he called out. "Abs, it's Jay."
He made his way into the kitchen, figuring she'd be fixing herself something to eat now that it was getting on to one o'clock. He felt like he was pushing heavy boxes out of the way when he opened the door and was faced with what looked like a jumble sale.
"Abs?" he said again.
He looked around for a few seconds before he spotted her.
She was leaning against the wall, her legs pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped round them. He couldn't look at her face because her head was facing the floor but he could tell from her messy hair that she hadn't slept all night.
"Abs, babe."
He heard Abi take an intake of breath and then looked up at him at last.
His heart melted for her. Her lipstick was smudged and her mascara was running down her face but she was still beautiful to him.
He walked towards Abi and slid down on the floor next to her. He didn't even have to say anything before she leaned her head against his chest and automatically he put his arm around her, pulling her close.
Hey guys! Sorry this chapter was a bit shorter than usual, but it was an important one and I didn't want to overdo it. I hope everybody is still enjoying this and I should have the next chapter up within the next week. Please keep commenting and let me know what you think :)