A Heartbreak and Hot Chocolate

“I’m sorry, Amber. I can’t come to see you for Christmas, or at all. I’m in a relationship now.”

Amber felt incredibly stupid for crying over the text message she just received. But she did, she cried over it, and she was really glad that she was alone in the dorm. The girls would have comforted her right away, but she preferred to be alone – she didn’t want them to worry either, or to start talking bad about the guy which she fell for – and also the guy which just broke her heart.

She met him a while ago in Los Angeles when she visited her family and friends. Actually, he was one of her friends. And she always kind of liked him, so she finally let him know that – since she didn’t have much time to beat around the bush – before she returned to Seoul. Ever since then they sent each other text messages each day, sometimes they called each other, sometimes they even skyped. No matter how full her schedule was, Amber always found some time for him.

And what was it worth? – Nothing. She had a lot of happy moments with him and she was looking forward to his visit on Christmas, even though she was afraid to believe in his words. Would a guy really travel around the world only to spend some time with her on Christmas? As if. Even though it was painful, she kept rereading the message, just to tear up again and again.

This had to stop. She knew it was normal to cry, especially for a girl, but she didn’t want that. She had to get out of here for a bit, just a little walk to make herself feel better and to get clearer about the mess inside her mind. If that was even possible …

Henry wasn’t sure if he should find it funny or annoying how all these people rushed in and out of the shops and malls in the city centre. Christmas was getting closer and closer, and a lot of people hadn’t bought all their presents yet. So it was kind of funny to watch them rushing around, but annoying at the same time since some of them didn’t seem to notice that there was someone walking in front of them – or behind them, since some people suddenly turned around when they decided to attack another shop than the one they were heading to.

That’s why the young man decided to lean against a shop window – all safe – and watch the people from there. Somehow it was something beautiful though. All these people were looking for something which would make their loved ones happy, right? Even though Christmas had another meaning than giving presents to each other, Henry really liked this part. He liked giving presents to others – even without Christmas or birthdays or anything. But since some people didn’t like getting presents out of nowhere, Christmas was just perfect for him. Luckily he already bought all the presents for this year, so now he could just amuse himself about all the people around him.

Until Henry suddenly saw a familiar face between all the strange ones – no matter how many people were around, he would always recognize this special person right away. Instead of smiling happily though like he always did whenever he saw her, he just frowned worriedly. He quickly made his way through the crowd, heading to a shop across the street. When he reached it, he looked down to Amber which was, lost in her thoughts, looking through the shop windows. “Hey”, he said slowly, still looking at her.

Amber gasped a little as she quickly looked up to him – making Henry even more worried when he noticed her slightly reddened eyes, and even her voice was kind of hoarse. “Henry … What are you doing here?” She tried to smile, but it didn’t work.

Instead of answering her, Henry just pulled the girl into a tight hug and rubbed her back. He had no idea what happened, but it was obvious to him that she needed this. Another gasp came over her lips, and actually she wanted to pull back and tell him she’s okay. But she suddenly felt all safe and warm in his arms, so … she just stayed like this. Since she already cried enough alone in the dorm and promised herself not to cry anymore about this, she was able to hold her tears back – but Amber still felt the need to bury her face against the grey coat Henry was wearing. When he suddenly tightened the grip around her body though, she just couldn’t help it anymore and burst into tears, hiding her face against the young man’s shoulder.

He didn’t let go of her until she stopped crying after a while.

“Here.”

Amber looked up, avoiding looking straight in Henry’s face, and smiled weakly as she saw the cup of hot chocolate in his hand. “Thank you …”, she mumbled and took the cup into her own hands.

Henry just shook his head lightly and sat down next to her onto the bench. In front of them there was a huge decorated Christmas tree, partly covered with snow. Just like the ground all around them. For a moment they just sat there, not talking at all, just being lost in their own thoughts. While Henry kept watching his close friend, Amber looked down at the hot chocolate, blowing slightly at it before she had a sip.

“You know …”, she said then with a low voice, still looking down and avoiding looking at her friend.

“Mhm?”, Henry smiled softly as she finally started talking, but when she didn’t continue doing so he asked: “What is it?”

Amber swallowed and continued, almost whispering. “I really thought he liked me … I really thought someone would be able to fall for me, you know.”

The young man bit his lower lip lightly before a smile appeared on it again. “Nah, come on … Don’t talk like that. Of course someone is able to fall for you, and one day you will fall for that someone as well.” He tried not to make it sound like he was talking about himself. Because, actually, he was.

“Yeah … I guess so”, she smiled weakly and shrugged then. “For now I should concentrate on other things which make me happy. Like this”, she said and looked down at the cup in her hands again.

Henry followed her look and smiled again, nodding. “True. Chocolate is way more fun than falling in love, huh?”

Amber couldn’t help it and laughed lightly at his words.

“Huh?”, he blinked in confusion, at the same time though he was glad to see her laughing after all.

“I’m not talking about the hot chocolate, silly”, she replied and finally looked at him with a weak smile on her lips. “Thank you for being here for me, Henry.”

Henry held his breath for a moment before he smiled widely at the younger girl, reaching for her then to ruffle her hair. “It’s nothing, Ambie.”

Amber was about to protest about his ruffle attack, but something else caught both their attention then – suddenly, all the little colourful lights of the Christmas tree in front of them switched on. Henry and Amber turned their faces to look up at it, smiling in fascination about this beautiful view before they looked at each other again, still smiling.

Even though Amber was going through a tough time now, Henry was really happy to be able to spend some time with her. And one day he would make sure to also get a chance to spend the rest of his life with her. Because he was in love with her.