I pottered around my bedroom, tidying away any mess that had been left out. It was half five on Christmas Eve, and the Stones family (currently minus John), were downstairs. Growing up, John and I had been the best of friends. Our parents had known each other long before we were born, and growing up just three months apart in age, we had become inseparable. Over the past few years, John and I had drifted apart after his move to Everton, and then onto Manchester City. It had to have been at least eleven months since I'd last seen him, and I felt nervous. The last time I'd seen him, I practically confessed my undying love for him, just for him to turn around and say he wasn't sure how he felt. Since then, I'd avoided seeing him at all costs, far too embarrassed to ever face him again. So, when my parents announced that their best friends would be spending Christmas with us, I was as nervous as nervous could be.
The door bell rung, sending me into a state of panic. Standing in my door way, I listened out for someone answering the door, and sure enough, within seconds, John's voice echoed throughout my house. Pushing my door closed gently, I sat down on my bed and started scrolling through my phone. No one knew about my confession to John, and so my family probably thought I was being extremely rude right now, but I'm sure he understood why I was secluding myself.
After about ten minutes, there was a knock on my door. "Come in." I called, preparing myself to be faced with the boy I once called my best friend. The door opened slowly and in walked John, pushing the door shut behind me. He didn't say a word as he stood and looked at me. It got slightly uncomfortable as we sat in silence, and eventually I spoke. "Hi." I said, fake smiling.
"Hi." He said, his voice monotone.
"How are you?" I asked.
"Fine." He nodded. "Have I done something wrong?"
"No." I shook my head. "Why do you think that?"
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because for the past eleven months I've been trying to get in contact with you; I've invited you to games, invited you to come up to Manchester, and all you do is ignore me. I thought we were meant to be best friends, Luce."
It angered me that he was so blasé about this. I frowned at him. "Do you think I've wanted to ignore you? Do you think I've wanted to cut you out of my life? Do you know how nervous I was knowing you were coming here today? I've felt sick since I woke up this morning, knowing I'd have to face you. So I'm sorry that I haven't tried to contact you, but I've had to do this for myself, John."
"What do you mean?" He asked, his voice soon as he walked further into my room.
"Do you not remember the conversation we had eleven months ago?" I asked, even angrier now.
"Yes." He said, moving to sit down next to me on my bed. "Yes of course I remember. There isn't a day where I don't think about it. But there's no reason for you to ignore me, Lucy." He placed a hand on my leg. "You didn't have to cut me out of your life."
"How would you feel if you confessed your undying love to someone and they brushed it off?"
"That's not the case." He said, his voice turning harsh once more.
"It is!" I yelled. "You said you didn't know how you felt and then left. You went back home."
"Not once did I say I didn't feel the same. I was scared."
"Of what?!"
"Hurting you." He said. "I live so far away. I just don't know how it would work."
"It doesn't matter now, anyway." I said, storming past him and down into the living room. I sat down on the sofa with our families, waiting for John to follow closely behind me. Everyone could sense the tension in the room as he walked into the lounge, my younger sister shooting me a knowing look as I crossed my arms over my chest.
"Everything okay?" John's mum, Lisa asked.
"Fine." I nodded.
"Lucy, can we have a word?" He asked. "In private."
"No." I shook my head. "Anything you need to say, you can say in front of our families."
I was testing him, and he knew it. He shuffled awkwardly on his feet, shooting me a glare. "Like I said, it's not that I didn't know. I just wasn't sure what to do." He was trying to be as vague as possible. "You live here. I live there. You have a job. I have football. I couldn't ask you to move up to Manchester." He moved closer to me and crouched down in front of me. "I'm not going to lie to you and tell you I've been in love with you for years, because I haven't. But I can tell you the time I knew I wanted this to be more than friends. My birthday, two years ago. You looked so beautiful and I had so many people asking me who you were. I didn't want to tell them. I didn't want them talking to you. I wanted you all for myself. So when you told me you had feelings for me, I didn't know what to do. Distance scares me."
"So what are you saying?" I asked.
"That of course I have feelings for you."
"Merry Christmas!" My dad cried, both families erupting into fits of laughter. John and I looked at one another, confused. "Do you know long we've been waiting for this to happen?"
John smirked at me.
"Merry Christmas, Lucy."
"Merry Christmas, John."
