It's my last day in this apartment. I look around the packed boxes, taking in how I've lived here ever since I graduated from Columbia. The day seems long back, but it's just been a couple of years.

All the boxes aren't mine, some belong to Nick. Audran's supposed to come back this afternoon to collect some of his stuff because we have to vacate the place by tonight. Our apartment is unsettled as it is so we didn't have space for Nick's stuff who went back home with Myra couple of days back. Audran offered to help him out.

Blake and I wanted to start the New Years in our own place. It seems weird to think about it, to think that I'm grown up enough, or have a stable enough relationship to be able to move in with my boyfriend.

We found a place after a lot of looking around. A lot of it. Two weeks, and all we did during my lunch break or after office was look at one place or another. Some genuinely were as good as his studio apartment, and some had one issue or another.

But then we found a place in Brooklyn Heights itself, just five minutes away from this place. It seemed perfect almost instantly. There was one bedroom, a kitchen attached living room space and a laundry closet, which felt like more than enough for the two of us. I have never shared a room with someone, ever. I have shared an apartment, but even back in college days, I had a separate dorm room. This, however, is different.

I'm a little nervous about the changes, but rather in an excited manner.

A content sigh leaves me as I sip on the coffee, leaning against the kitchen counter. Just as I put the empty cup in the sink, two pair of arms wrap around my belly, pulling me into a comfortable warm body.

"Hey, sleepyhead." I tilt my head back to kiss his jaw as he lets out a yawn in my face. "Morning breath, jackass!"

"Mm, how are you so sweet?" He mumbles, leaning in to kiss me just to annoy me further.

I pull away from him, grinning as he scowls at me. "It's all about the charm, babe."

He's wearing a pair of sweats but he's very, very shirtless. I have to resist reaching out to roam my hands on his chest. He arches a knowing eyebrow as a playful grin takes over his features.

"Those shorts are extremely short." He points out and I look down at my very short-shorts that barely cover my ass.

"And your point is?" I smile at him, aware that it's driving him crazy since last night. But these are extremely comfortable and very loose.

"I like it." He smirks, stepping closer to me and I try to hold back my snicker.

"We aren't having sex, Blake." I flick at his forehead, immediately making him scowl.

"Why?"

"Because you go super wild and don't realise where all you leave the marks. We have to meet our families tonight, remember?" I very subtly remind him.

"I thought you liked me being wild." He juts out his lower lip as he comes to stand in front of me. I feel him rub his erection against my sides, sending a strong sensation right to my core.

"Love it. Absolutely love it, but there are some places where I can't reach to apply make up, like the back of my neck." I remind him, but my body only gives into his as his hands go to the waistband of my shorts.

"It was once!" He defends himself.

"Frank pointed it out! We don't know how many times it has happened." I try to argue, an embarrassing flush taking over my cheeks at the memory.

Blake left a huge ass hickey on the back of my neck which I had absolutely no idea about. I mean, we both get pretty lost during the sex to actually care about such stuff. Frank, however, was sitting by my side during a meeting with Ron and thought I had some sort of a wound that needed to be looked after.

I just very easily pretended that I had no idea how I got it, because I'm clumsy like that. Blake, on the other hand, had a great laugh about it.

"I'll make sure to stick to places that you can reach or aren't visible at all." He promises, his hand going down to the end of my shorts, fumbling with the material.

I didn't realise how short and loose these shorts are, but then he easily moves a finger right to my core, rubbing a thumb on my panties.

"Fuck. You aren't wearing these in front of anyone else." He whispers, his lips coming around my neck. I narrow my eyes at those words and he grumbles. "Please."

"I'll think about it." I manage to smile, my hand gripping the counter to maintain the balance.

Just as he slides away my underwear, there's a loud knock on the front door that erupts a curse from both of us. Our eyes meet as he hollers over, not moving his hand one inch.

"Who is it?"

"Audran!" The guys yells before knocking again. "Open the door!"

"You weren't supposed to be here until afternoon." Blake bellows back and I roll my eyes, swatting his hand as I step away from him to open the door. "No, wait!"

I look down to his sweats and notice his hard-on, biting on my lower lip to stifle a snicker. "Go!"

"But you're wearing that!" He points to my shorts.

"Would you rather have him see me wearing this or greet him with a boner?" I cross my arms across my chest.

"This isn't fair." He groans before giving me a look and going down the hallway where I hear the bathroom door being shut.

I open the front door and notice Audran typing on his phone. His eyes shoot up when he realises that I'm standing in front of him. A huge smile takes over his face as he enters inside and hugs me.

"Merry Christmas, Em!" He kisses my cheek and I smile at him.

"Merry Christmas, Aud! How are you so free today?" I ask, hoping that I'm not crossing a boundary.

"I just have to grab the boxes to keep in my car then I'm off to this fancy party my Dad's throwing." He waves it off like it isn't a big deal.

"Sounds nice." I nod along as I move to point to two big boxes and one gym bag that belongs to Nick. "That's about it."

"Where's Blake? It'll help me save the trip." He frowns, looking around. "Wasn't he just here talking to me through the door?"

"He must be in the bathroom." I try to hide my blush as I peek down the hallway and Audran smirks almost instantly.

"Sorry to interrupt." He shrugs shamelessly, not sounding apologetic at all.

I ignore him, going down the hallway as I knock on the bathroom door and Blake almost instantly opens it, wearing a t-shirt.

"Is he gone?"

"No, asshole! Still here!" Audran shouts from down the hallway, making me laugh.

"He needs your help carrying the boxes down to the car," I tell him, and he nods, sighing as he steps out of the bathroom.

They both share a nod before Blake picks up the box and gym bag while Audran picks another. As they approach the door, Audran turns to me.

"See you around." He winks at me and I wave at him with a smile.

Once I'm alone, I look around to see if there's anything else that needs to be packed apart from a few dishes that I kept out for having breakfast. This place came mostly furnished, so we had to buy a few things for the new place. We shifted the couch from his place to the new one since he owned that, the television from here because I bought that from my sixth month salary, and the recliner.

We had to buy a new bed and mattress that we already flipped there yesterday after we got the keys in the afternoon. We also had to hire help to shift majority of the stuff, including a lot of our belongings but there are still some bags and boxes left.

When we signed the lease, it seemed like a major milestone in the relationship but it also felt like the best step I've taken in my life, with zero uncertainties.

Our relationship isn't perfect, there are a lot of things we both need to work through, and we are. Constantly. There's still the Nicole situation we're both treading around, but ever since that day when Blake told her no, she has tried less to reach out to him.

She asked to casually grab lunch the other day, and he told her no, again. Without an excuse. He's learning things, and so am I. We're both growing into this together.

The front door opens, distracting me from my trail of thoughts as I turn around to see Blake's chattering teeth.

"Oh my god, oh my god!" He mumbles as he enters with a pink nose and ear tips.

"You idiot!" I grumble, noticing that he went down in half-sleeves t-shirt.

"I'm freezing!" He lets out a cold breath as he makes his way over to me, moving to wrap his extremely cold body around me but I immediately take a step back.

"Don't you dare!" I hold up my hand and he gives me a pout.

"Baby, I'm so fucking cold. Please." He rubs his arms with his palms and I let out a huge grunt, rolling my eyes.

I open my arms wide, "Come here."

He doesn't even think for a second before wrapping his arms around my body. Even through the t-shirt that I'm wearing, his cold palms raise goosebumps on my skin.

"Fucking hell." I curse out, shaking my head as I rub his arms for some warmth.

He should be fine in a while but then he pulls back a little and kisses me. I can taste the mint of his toothpaste still fresh on his tongue a I welcome it, his cold lips feeling exotically fabulous against mine. His tongue's warmth only adds onto the sensation as he runs it on my lower lip, pushing me against the kitchen counter again.

We're beginning right where we left.

He traces his hands down to my shorts, his fingers trailing inside from the ends of it. When he pushes aside the fabric of my underwear, I suck in a breath at the coldness of his fingers meeting my core.

"Blake." I moan his name into his mouth as he starts rubbing it down the slit.

"Just warming up." He teases, both with his words and his fingers, moving it in circles without actually giving me exactly what my body needs.

"Please." I put weight on his hands, a grin etching on his face at my actions before he slides in two fingers together.

"Jesus!" He breathes, his lips meeting my neck as his tongue comes out to play with my skin. "I can so easily fuck you in this."

His words make me swallow at the prospect, my body warming up almost instantly. I bite on my inner cheek to hold back the plead to actually do it. I try to savour the sensation that runs through me as I grip tightly on his shoulder for support.

My other hand goes down to the front of his sweats, palming the bulge when our eyes meet. He lets out a slow hiss at the contact before I start rubbing my palm on it.

He steps back a little, making me scowl at him as his hands leave my body too.

"What?" I reach for him but he just shakes his head, removing his shirt over his head before kneeling down in front of me.

He takes a single moment to pull down the shorts along with my panties, blinking up at me. "Step."

I follow his instruction, kicking away the clothes and he moves his hands to hold my thighs, parting the knees. When he meets my eyes, he doesn't look away as he leans forward to kiss my thigh.

Just like that, we spend the rest of the morning trying to warm each other's body in much more ways than one. His hands always move to the most unexplored parts of my body, like the curve above my waist where he always leaves a wanting kiss.

"So," I start, still catching my breath as we both somehow end up on the couch. "What's the plan?"

"We have to go to the new place to keep all this stuff." He speaks up, tracing circles on my belly. "Then I need to go back to my place."

Blake has to pay a week's extra rent because he couldn't find a tenant wanting to move in before New Year's. So, we decided to shift his stuff after we were done with mine.

"It's not your or my place anymore, it's our place." I correct him and he smiles at me, a genuine wide smile that's almost contagious.

"Can you believe that?" He whispers, like he's afraid that if he says it out aloud, someone would burst our happy bubble. "It's a dream come true. A Christmas miracle."

"I didn't know it was a dream of yours to live with me." I tease him, kissing his jaw.

His smile falters a little as he stares at me. "There's so much you don't pay attention to, Emma."

"Hey, what does that mean?" I scowl at his words but he just shakes his head.

"Nothing. Just know that I love you, so, so, much." He kisses me, letting the warmth spread through. "I'd never leave you."

The thought of losing him makes a sinking feeling erupt but I immediately push it back, sighing in his arms as I brush back his hair from his forehead.

"I'd never leave you either, ever." I promise him. "It's just very surreal that we've known each other our whole lives and it took us so much time to be this way."

"Everything happens for a reason, right?" He repeats the words I've told him I believe so firmly in.

I smile, "Definitely."

It takes us two trips to hoard my car with bags and boxes after lunch. For some stupid reason we left the final moving day to Christmas. We just procrastinated it till the moment we really had to get the stuff moving.

We also have to be at my parent's house for Christmas dinner tonight. Our families ended up deciding to celebrate it together — there's no surprise there. Gramps and Gram are visiting Aunt Charlotte while Granpa refused to travel again, saying that he had a Christmas date which has still left all of us perplexed.

"Where the hell do I sit?" Blake asks, looking at the box in the front seat.

"You can keep it in your lap," I suggest, shrugging as I go around to driver's side.

Blake whines a lot, throughout the five minute drive which actually turns into fifteen minutes because of Christmas. I haven't given him his present yet, it's packed amongst other things but I'll give it to him once we return from dinner.

"I could've dropped you at your place." I wonder out aloud.

"Then you would've ended up making at least five trips." He rolls his eyes, grabbing two boxes while I grab a bag.

"You can leave as soon as we're done with this," I tell him in the elevator on our second trip upstairs.

"Yeah, I haven't wrapped gifts yet." He mutters under his breath. "Probably gonna run late."

"What's new?" I tease, approaching the apartment on sixth floor.

After we're done shifting most of the stuff, our living room looks packed with everything. The bedroom has lesser stuff because we agreed to only hoard one place at once. He leaves almost as soon as he settles down the boxes and I offer him my car but he refuses to take it with him.

For the clothes, I pick out a ripped washed jeans and the Christmas sweater my mother sent for me with Myra last week. She wanted to pick me up from the house, but I couldn't make the trip because how busy I've been, so I asked her to give it to them.

I make sure to keep everyone's gifts. It's not much this year. I had to cut down on a lot of holiday budget because of the investments in this new place. Blake threw a huge fit when I paid for more stuff, but it's only fair. I'm working full time, and he isn't.

It takes me an hour to reach my parent's place. I dread the traffic the entire way, and I hate driving during the holidays but I don't really have a choice.

When I ring the doorbell, it's Mom who opens the door wearing a very similar Christmas sweater to mine. I step in to hug her.

"Merry Christmas, Mom!" I gush, pretty sure I'm already freezing from the cold.

"Merry Christmas, hon! C'mon, El and Con are already here." She gestures to the living room and I move in.

I notice the lit up Christmas tree, making me smile as I turn to Ohana, "You picked a white tree?"

"Yes!" She giggles from Connor's side.

"Merry Christmas, everyone!" I grin at them, noticing that Dad and Ella are in the kitchen.

Everyone wishes me back as I settle the gift bag under the tree before sitting by Odion's side on the couch. I notice that everyone, everyone is wearing a Christmas sweater, like every year. It's an unsaid ritual.

"How's work, Em?" Connor asks and I shrug.

"Same old. Tiring." I smile lazily as I move over to snatch Caiden's phone from his hand before narrowing my eyes at him. "No phone during holidays."

"I was in the middle of a game!" He groans, reaching out to take it from my hand but I put it in my jeans pocket.

"Nope."

"Mean." He pouts before sulking back in the couch.

Ella steps in the living room, giving me a smile. "Merry Christmas, Em!"

"Merry Christmas!" I grin at her, Dad stepping in at the same time so I turn to him. "To you too!"

"How're you, hon?" He asks, a wine glass in his hand that he passes to Mom.

She kisses his cheek as he takes a seat by her side while Ella sits down by Connor's, both of them having their own glasses. I hold back an eye roll as I respond back a 'fine'.

"Cay, your Dad mentioned you're applying to UCLA?" Connor starts and Caiden nods.

"Yeah, I've got some backups too, but that's the goal for now." He shrugs casually.

"When can we open gifts?" Ohana pouts, interrupting.

"As soon as Blake's here. That kid's never on time." Mom shakes her head disappointingly and I hold back a snicker.

Almost on cue, the doorbell rings and Ohana rushes out to the door, obviously excited to let him in because that means we can get to the gifts. I hear them chatting and his chuckle before they step inside, his grin evident as he looks at everyone.

"Merry Christmas!" He greets everyone before Ohana plops down in her place again.

Everyone quickly greets him. He keeps a few gift boxes under the tree as Caiden speaks up. "Have you ever thought about showing up on time?"

"Yes. Plenty of times." Blake grins at him, that classic grin which irks everyone off as he sits down by my side.

"Maybe you should follow it too." I roll my eyes and he shakes his head, leaning in about the same time to greet me with a kiss as do I.

"Aren't you on a snarky roll today." He retorts, a slightly amused smile on his face.

I'm about to respond when Dad clears his throat. Both Blake and I focus our attention on everyone else, realising that literally all of them are staring at us with wide-eyes. Except Ella, she also has her lips parted as she looks at us with shock.

It takes me a moment to process the scenario in front of me until I realise what just happened. My eyes widen almost instantly, as I gape at Blake who's already staring at me nervously.

Did we just—?

Oh my fucking god.