Axel groaned as he sat up, putting a hand to his head. What the hell happened last night? All he remembered was sitting alone at the bar, bemoaning his lack of company when a pretty girl came up to him and asked him to fuck. That's all.

He heard a noise and turned his head, seeing the girl(Emma, right?) sitting on the floor in front of her tree, (stupid thing, that) with her back to him. Her shoulders shook and he wondered vaguely if she was crying.

Axel moved and rustled some paper, causing Emma to turn around and see him.

"Oh, you're awake," she sighed, sounding less than excited.

"And you sound so thrilled," he noted, pulling his knees to his chest. He was still in his jeans and button up shirt, although a few buttons had been undone at the top.

Emma shrugged. "Sorry, I'm hung-over and my boyfriend isn't here, so."

"You have a boyfriend?" Axel asked, horrified. "Shit, I gotta get out, shit," he cursed again as he scrambled to his feet and tried to find his phone.

Emma laughed without humor, and Axel didn't think he'd heard a more sad sound. "Not anymore, don't worry about it. We broke up a couple days ago. You're fine."

"So I was just someone to help you get over your boyfriend?" Axel questioned, pausing in his mad haste to get out.

Emma nodded and looked at the ground. "I'm sorry."

"No it's fine," Axel said. "It's not like this was going to be a more than one time thing, eh?"

At this, Emma cracked a faint smile. "Well, we didn't actually do anything, but..."

"We didn't fuck?"

"No," Emma said. "Sorry. I got you drunk and I got your hopes up and then I backed out, sorry. I just wasn't ready."

"Huh," Axel said. When he woke up, he swore that he had gotten at least some action last night. "We didn't kiss... or anything?"

At this, a faint blush colored Emma's cheeks. "We did... I'm not sure how much."

Axel ran another hand through his hair. "Well, I'm just gonna go then..."

Emma nodded and snuck a look at the tree. Suddenly, she sniffled and a tear ran down her cheek.

"Oh no," Axel immediately panicked. He grew up an only child; he didn't know how to deal with crying girls. "Don't cry, um, I can stay if you want."

Emma laughed through her tears. "I'm not crying because you're leaving, dumbass, I'm crying because I just got dumped."

"Oh," Axel sat on the ground next to her. "Um, I know it's none of my business, but why did he dump you?"

Emma hiccupped. "He came home, like he always does, but when I went to kiss him hello he pushed me away and said that he found someone else and to avoid staying in this relationship to keep me happy and eventually end up cheating on me, he told me he wanted to break up."

"Ouch," Axel said, thinking privately to himself that any guy that breaks up with a girl like that is a dick, and a pretty big one at that. "That's harsh."

"I know," a small smile tugged at Emma's lips. "I'm great in bed!"

"Well, I wouldn't know," Axel tried his own hand at a joke and succeeded; Emma was laughing.

Her eyes fell on the presents underneath the tree. Axel looked at them too. There were none with Emma's name on them.

"Where are your presents?" he asked.

Emma winced. "He took them with him, he said that he only bought them for his new girl."

This made Axel want to find this dick and punch him in the face. Emma was pretty, and she was funny, why did he want to leave her? "He's a dick," he said firmly.

Emma laughed, then started crying. Subdued, she said, "But I loved that dick."

Axel didn't know what to say.

She continued, "I would wait for him to come home just to cuddle and swap stories about our days. I bought him things randomly to surprise him. I wanted nothing more than to just spend eternity with him. I moved into this apartment with everything in his name. He could kick me out and I would have nowhere to go. I'm not even sure if I get paid enough to pay for this place on my own."

Axel felt his heartstrings tug a little bit at her story. "Well, I vote we burn his presents."

Emma blinked at him. "What?"

"Let's burn his presents," Axel said with more confidence. "He's a prick, he won't be needing them. Plus, it'll make you feel better."

"Okay," Emma said uncertainly. "But where can we burn them?"

Axel nodded towards her fireplace. "Right there. Have a burning fire, right before Christmas."

Emma laughed. "Maybe you're not as much as an Ebenezer Scrooge as I made you out to be."

Axel smiled before getting up. He started putting logs in place and Emma started pulling his presents out from under the tree. With a flick of a lighter that Emma gave him, Axel lit the fire.

"You're good at this," Emma said appraisingly. "I'm shit at lighting fires. Which sucks, because I want them all the time. Matt used to-" she cut herself off abruptly.

Axel glanced at her. At the mention of her ex's name, she suddenly looked pale.

"Here," he said hurriedly, grabbing a present. "Let's burn 'em."

He tossed one on the fire and it immediately flared up, the wrapper turning black as it burned. Emma hesitantly picked one up and tossed it on, a smile breaking over her face as it burned.

"You're right," she said. "This does make me feel better."

After all the presents were burned, night had fallen and Emma yawned, putting a hand over her mouth. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go change into more comfortable clothes."

She left and Axel found himself watching her as she walked out. He didn't know why he was staying so long; but he did know that with every passing second he was liking Emma more and more.

She came back in sweatpants and a Christmas jumper; her hair in a bun at the top of her head and no makeup on, just some glasses with big black frames.

When she caught Axel looking, she looked embarrassed. "Is this okay?" she asked. "This is usually what I wear when there's a fire."

"I didn't know you wore glasses," Axel said. "They look cute."

Emma blushed, then seemed to realize something. "Oh, um, you don't have to stay with me anymore, I just... sorry for keeping you away so long."

"I have nowhere to be," Axel found himself replying and Emma's smile was kind of worth it.

"I have some of his stuff, sweats, you know, if you wanted to change out of your jeans," she said awkwardly.

"Um, sure," Axel said.

He came back in sweats that fit perfectly and a hoodie that was a bit too large, making Axel think that maybe he wasn't as well built as he thought.

Emma was curled on the couch in front of the fire, watching it. The flames danced in her eyes. When she heard him come in, she looked up. "I made some hot chocolate," she said, pointing to the two huge mugs on the coffee table.

Axel sat down and picked one up. "Thanks," he said. "I love hot chocolate."

"Really?" she asked. "I thought you hated Christmas."

"But not winter," he replied. "And hot chocolate is for winter."

Emma smiled and she offered her blanket. Axel shook his head and they resumed simply watching the fire.

"I love watching fires," Emma whispered, as if talking to loud would put it out. "They're so beautiful."

"Yeah," Axel murmured.

"Um," Emma said and when Axel glanced at her, she looked rather embarrassed. "Can, can we cuddle?"

She  burst out the words and after they came out she looked like she wished she could swallow them. It was cute and Axel smiled.

"Sure."

"Seriously?" Emma looked astonished. "But, that was like really weird, right, I mean, I barely know you-"

Axel cut off her babble. "Believe it or not, I like to cuddle, so come over here."

Emma moved her blanket so she could scoot over to where Axel was sitting, and she tentatively rested her head on his shoulder. One of Axel's arms came around to hold her against his chest and Emma's blanket covered them both, making Axel quite warm.

"You're really warm," he mumbled.

"Thanks," Emma winked. "I always found myself quite hot."

Axel rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, out of all the heat related puns in the world, you go for quite hot?"

Emma shrugged. "Come one, you got a better one?"

Axel racked his brains for a second. "Nope."

"That's what I thought," Emma said with satisfaction.

A couple minutes later, after they both had cuddled closer after they got more comfortable with each other, Axel said, "This must be awkward, cuddling with another guy who's wearing your ex's clothes. I must smell like him."

"No," Emma mumbled; she was half-asleep.

"No?"

"No," she affirmed. "You smell like you."

"And how do I smell?"

"A lot better than he ever did."

Axel felt a warm feeling rush his belly, but before he could reply, Emma was fast asleep, cuddled up to his shoulder, her fingers laced with his. Axel smiled down at her and whispered, "and you are better than any of the girls I ever dated."

It was as if she heard him, be cause she smiled in her sleep and tightened her grip. From her lips, she murmured, "Axel."

And the man in question thought his heard would burst.

_____________________________________________________________________

yes I understand it is July but you know what I was feeling Christmas and I was sweaty when I wrote this because it's TOO DAMN HOT HERE AND I MISS BEING COLD AND CUDDLING UP WITH MY BLANKET BECAUSE I HAVE NO MAN BECAUSE I AM ALONE.

sorry for the caps lock.

but I hope you enjoy, I have decided this is going to be longer than expected so yay! *mini fireworks go off*

please vote and comment!

love ya!

-T A Y L O R