haze / afi

part 40. boxing day

the day after christmas, everyone is usually exhausted. sleeping in later than usual after how busy the day before was.

luckily for violet, she wasn't in ohio with her family this christmas. meaning she gets to enjoy a peaceful morning without being forced to get up to start the day.

however, being in a house with four other guys. well.. four potentially chaotic guys. the morning couldn't stay peaceful forever.

violet startling awake to the sound of something smashing downstairs. and what she thought was michael getting mad at whoever he's with.

she groans, not wanting this to be the way she's woken up on the day after christmas. but, feeling ashton's arms loosely around her waist isn't something she'd complain about.

at that moment, ashton tightens his arms around her, pulling her closer, if that was possible. he sighs into her neck, also seeming that he didn't want to be awake yet.

"why do guys not know how to be quiet?" violet says before letting out a yawn.

"i'm quiet." ashton defends.

"luckily for me i have feelings for you then." she laughs. rolling over to face him.

he looks down at her with a small smile, kissing her forehead before snuggling together again. her head resting against his chest.

"this is the best way to start boxing day," ashton lets out a breath. "other than the noise."

"what's boxing day?" violet asks, having not heard of it before. "are we having a boxing match or something."

she leans back from ashton while laughing. she's joking, of course she knows it's not about actual boxing. to emphasise her joke, she curls her hands into fists, gently knocking ashton's chest with them.

"very funny," ashton can't hide the smile on his face. "in australia it would just be about stores having sales, originally it was about giving gifts to the poor, but it's not really a thing here."

"sounds interesting."

"i mean, we usually spend the day relaxing," he tells her. "watching movies mostly, with a little napping here and there."

"today will be good then." violet smiles.

she rolls onto her other side, reaching to get her phone. just to check if she has any wonderful texts from her family.

she lays on her back, switching her phone on. a couple of texts from rose, asking how christmas went yesterday. one text from her oh so lovely mother, asking if christmas was worth staying in california for.

violet rolls her eyes as well as shaking her head. only clicking on rose's message to let her know that christmas was amazing and that she had a great time with ashton and their friends.

ashton noticed violet roll her eyes, leaning over to see what she's looking at, only seeing her replying to a few texts from rose.

after replying, violet swaps to the texts from her mom. her asking if christmas had been as good as she hoped for and if it had really been worth staying in california for it.

she hovers her thumbs over the keyboard for a moment. trying to think of what to say.

"you don't have to reply," ashton tells her. she lets out a sigh. "why should you reply?"

violet turns her phone off. placing it back on the bedside table. she lays on her back looking up at the ceiling. ashton can tell her mom's text has thrown her off.

"don't let her get to you," ashton tucks violet's hair behind her ear, hand lingering for a moment. "you had a good christmas. i'm not about to let her ruin today or the run up to new years."