The mistletoe hung over their heads as they stepped into the room. If it hadn’t been for the other occupants in the room they never would have realized it was there. Considering it was now May, it shouldn’t have been there now anyway but it seemed that someone forgot to take it down the many months before.
“Oh, look what the two of you are standing under!” Joe exclaimed, pointing above their heads. He was bouncing slightly in his seat on the couch seeing as the five Red Bulls he’s had in the past hour were kicking in.
“Mistletoe. What in the world is that still doing there?” Nick muttered. He ran a hand through his brown curls as he pondered the question.
“The two of you have to kiss,” Joe commented once again.
“But it’s May. The mistletoe doesn’t exactly count in May,” the dark brown curly haired girl shot back at the hyper boy. As much as she would love to kiss the boy standing next to her, she didn’t want things to get awkward which she was sure would be the only thing that would come from this situation.
“Nope, it’s still mistletoe and it’s the rule. Whoever gets caught under it has to kiss,” he explained as his older brother, Kevin, sat at the other end of the couch shaking his head with a hint of a smile on his face. He knew that the pair had feelings for each other but that both were too scared to actually do anything about them. This would be the perfect opportunity for something to happen.
“Kevin, come on. Will you tell Joe that the rule doesn’t apply in the middle of May?” Ashley turned toward the eldest boy. She could tell from the little glint in his eyes however that he had no plan of stopping this.
“Sorry Ash. But Joe’s right. It’s the rule,” he told the two of them.
She rolled her green eyes as she turned to the youngest of the three boys. She was only a few years older than him and had always had a crush on him. However she had always used the excuse that he was too young for her, especially when she was 18 and he was only 15. But seeing as the boy standing in front of her was now 18, that excuse didn’t hold up as well.
“So, we going to do this? Or are we going to have to listen to the crazy one over there for an hour first?” she asked. She was nervous and as much as she would love to kiss him, she was afraid that the only reason for the kiss was the annoying thing dangling above their heads.
Nick shifted his weight nervously. The same thought that was racing through Ashley’s mind was racing through his as well. As much as he liked her, he didn’t want to screw up the amazing friendship that they have had for so many years. But she was expecting an answer and so he gave her and everyone else in the room one.
He bent his head down and captured her lips in a tender kiss. At first she was shocked, but her eyes quickly closed as she wrapped her arms around his neck. His arms instantly went to her waist as soon as he felt her respond.
After a few moments they finally pulled apart and looked into the others eyes. Chocolate brown meeting jade green. When their gaze broke, they looked into the living room to see it empty. Apparently the other two boys had decided to leave the couple alone.
The two of them pulled apart from each other completely and stood awkwardly. They both knew that they didn’t regret their own actions but they weren’t too sure about how the other one felt.
A couple of minutes of silence passed before one of them spoke up. “Nick, um…that was just because of the mistletoe right?” she asked almost not wanting to know the answer. She was almost positive that it was and once she hears him confirm her suspicions, it would break her heart.
Nick stood silent not quite sure how to answer the question that was presented to him. Does he give her the honest truth or tell her what he thinks she wants to hear? He figured that now wasn’t exactly the time to start lying to her. “Not completely Ash,” he muttered quietly.
“What?” she asked surprised. That wasn’t exactly the answer that she was expecting to hear.
“Honestly, I’ve kind of wanted to do that for a while now. I guess the mistletoe, and my brothers persisting, just finally gave me a reason to do it,” he explained with his eyes downcast. He was afraid to look at her in fear that she didn’t feel the same way. The feeling of her soft hand against his cheek however caused him to look at her. He could see her eyes glistening slightly from unshed tears but wasn’t sure why they were there. Until she spoke the words he wanted to hear.
“Well I’m glad that you did. I’ve been wanting to do that for a while now too,” she told him before leaning her head up to capture his lips once again.
