Mal was putting on her shoes when she received the notification on her phone. Her flight has been canceled due to the raging storm outside. She stared at her phone until the display went out. She was both angry and relieved at the same time. This was going to be the first Christmas where both of her separated parents agreed to spend it together as a family.

Mal cursed under her breath. It was going to be the first time where she was going to spend some time with both of them during a holiday, and a stupid storm blew it. She could feel tears burning in her eyes with anger. She was so irritated about the whole situation and on top of that, she would spend the holidays alone. Lovely.

Mal didn't see much of her father. He was a rockstar, touring around most of the time. Playing at venues and living his life. Hades left their life because Mal's mother was apparently "too much to handle". He has left his daughter behind and went to live his life to the fullest. Eventually, he came through and told Mal how much she loved and missed her. It was hard for Mal to forgive him.

Growing up with her mother was a whole other story. Mentally, it wasn't the best childhood experience, but Mal got the best out of it financially.

So when this year both of her parents agreed to make an exception and spend Christmas together with their daughter, of course, the force of nature would be against that.

Mal has been preparing to leave for a week now. She asked Evie to take care of Ben while she was gone, which didn't take a lot of convincing on her part. Evie already loved Ben. She has been packing her stuff for a few days and has been stressing over what presents to get for her parents.

All of it going to shit.

Mal took off her shoes after she calmed herself and walked back into her apartment. She sat on the couch and unlocked her phone. It was best to get this over with as soon as possible, so she dialed her mother. It only took a few rings for her mother to pick up.

"Mal," her stern voice echoed from the phone. "Are you getting on the plane?"

"Mom, listen, there is a slight change of plans," Mal sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"Change of plans? What do you mean? Spit it out."

"My flight is canceled due to the storm," the blond explained and looked out the window.

"Storm? What storm? Here is sunny and hot as in the depths of Hell,"

"Well, here is not. There is this big storm raging out right now. I do not know when I will be able to come. They say it's going to be here for a few days."

"I cannot believe this!" Maleficent said with anger. "What am I going to do? Alone with your father of all people! Unbelievable!"

Mal started getting irritated again. Of course, her mother would think about herself only, not that Mal will be spending Christmas alone for the first time in a while.

"Please, mom! I get it! I'm not pleased about it, too."

"I can not believe this!" her mother replied again. Mal could hear her father's voice in the background.

"Who is it? Is it Mal? Is she on her way?" she heard him ask.

"No, she ain't coming at all!"

"What? Why?"

Great, now she had to listen to her parents arguing on the phone.

"Some stupid storm over the city!" her mother explained to him.

"She is going to spend Christmas alone? My girl.."

"Hey, guys! I can hear you, okay?! I will be fine, so please do not kill each other while I am not there. I will see you for New Year's." Mal wanted to end this conversation as soon as she could so she could figure out what to do.

"Alright, sweety. Take care, we love you-" Hades said before Mal ended the call.

Mal spent almost an hour sitting on her couch and blankly staring at the wall. She would think about last year's Christmas that she spent with Harry's parents. She has never felt more at home before. They would laugh and play family games; Harry would take her under the mistletoe and kiss her until their smiles would get in the way. It was perfect then. Now it was bittersweet.

When she come to her senses and pushed the dreadful emotions to the bottom of her being, Mal exited her apartment and rang the bell to the door next to hers. It took a minute for the door to be unlocked and opened.

"Mal?" Carlos greeted her with confusion.

"Hey, C. Can I come in?" Mal asked unsurely.

"Yeah, of course! Come in, Mal," said the boy with a smile on his face.

They made their way into the living room which was filled with laughter, coming from the kitchen. Jay and Evie were preparing dinner when they noticed the blond walking in.

"Oh, hello!" Jay greeted noticing Mal. Evie's head spun after Jay's remark. They were so busy laughing that they didn't hear the ringing bell.

"Hi, M. Thought you should be at the airport now?" Evie asked looking at the clock on the wall.

"Yeah, my flight has been canceled due to the storm," Mal sighed. She was already tired of repeating that.

"Aw, bummer. I know how excited you were this year. I'm sorry," Evie walked around the kitchen countertop and stand in front of her with a sympathetic smile.

"It's fine, I thought I could come and pick up Ben since I will be spending Christmas here,"

"Oh, yeah of course. He is in my room, sleeping," the taller woman pointed in the direction of her room.

"Why don't you stay for Christmas?" offered Carlos.

"Thank you, but I don't want to bother you guys. You already have plans together,"

"It's no biggie, we plan on getting into a food coma and watching Christmas movies," Jay laughed.

"Don't forget the ugly Christmas sweaters," Carlos added.

"Yes, Mal! Stay with us," Evie beamed at the idea.

"But I didn't get you any presents guys," Mal said sadly.

"Ah, don't worry. We have a strict no presents for Christmas rule." Jay explained. "Do you even see this place? Does it looks Christmasly to you?"

Mal looked around and there was no Christmas decoration, such as in her apartment. It did not feel like Christmas at all.

"We all come from pretty rough family backgrounds so we don't celebrate the old-fashioned way," Evie hummed and walked back to the kitchen.

Mal agreed after that. She had no interest in spending Christmas alone and spending it with Evie and her best friends sounded more appealing than listening to her mother complain about her father on the phone.

That is how Mal found herself wearing one of Evie's last year's Christmas sweaters. It looked big on her but not that much. They have spent a good 10 minutes choosing from Evie's ugly Christmas sweater collection. Mal settled on a bluish one with Santa Clause riding a dinosaur. It looked so ridiculous that Mal couldn't believe that such a thing existed.

Evie, Jay, and Carlos have gotten new ones for this year, all of them in different colors. They all looked ridiculous spread out on Evie's couch; like an ugly four-colored rainbow. Christmas movies played in the background as they were playing truth or truth since no one was in a mood for dares.

"Okay, Mal, it's your turn," Jay laughed and looked at the blond.

"Alright, um," she said deep in thought. There were many weird questions asked tonight, but Mal couldn't fight her curiosity just like that. "Okay, Evie," she turned to the dark-haired woman, her eyes sparkling. "This will probably sound weird but, do you always have this many people coming around?" Jay and Carlos erupted in laughter, which made Mal a little uncomfortable. Evie smirked and waited for her friends to calm down.

"No, Mal. I usually don't have this many one-night stands," Evie replied amused by Mal's curiosity.

"Mhm, okay girl," Carlos protested and looked at his friends with playful eyes.

"Oh my gosh, Carlos!" Evie laughed and threw a pillow at his face. "I swear, I am not that kind of girl,"

Mal kind of regretted asking this question and the answer did not quite satisfy her. The boys' reaction made her not push the matter further. It was already uncomfortable.

"So M," Evie started after ending the pillow war between her and Carlos. "How did you get Ben?"

"I got him after I moved out here. One of my best friends from high school adopted him for me," Mal explained remembering the little furball that Ben was. "The funny part is that I named him after my friend, Benjamin," Mal laughed at the thought while her friends were dying of cuteness. "It kind of stuck so I never bother to call him otherwise,"

"How cute," Jay remarked and looked at the sleeping cat on the coffee table.

"Yeah, excuse me guys, I need to go to the bathroom," Mal said and stood up, disappearing into the corridor. She was unaware of staring eyes behind her.

"Okay, so, what is going on here?" Jay asked after making sure Mal was out of the hearing radius. Evie looked at him with confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh c'mon, she is clearly digging you, you as well. It's so obvious," Carlos rolled his eyes.

"I mean, yeah, Mal is great, good looking and all that, but it is best to not act on it," Evie explained.

"Why not?" the freckled boy asked.

"Because, she is an amazing friend, and sleeping with her will totally ruin that. Not to mention that I want to keep her as a friend, she is great," the taller woman sighed.

"Evie is right, C. This won't end well for both of them," Jay agreed with her.

"But but, you were never interested in someone for so long, E. You should at least try and see what it can be with her before, you know.." Carlos said. Evie sighed at the thought.

"I know, but it will only make things worse. She has been hurt enough already,"

"Pup, I agree with Evie. There is not enough time for Evie, it will only hurt them both. It is best if you don't act on it," Jay said again.

"I won't," Evie assured him.

"I still think you should give it a shot, but I understand where are you coming from guys," Carlos sighed. "Will you tell her?"

"I don't know, not for now." Evie leaned on the couch. "Please don't tell her either, I want to be the one who tells her if it ever comes to that," she looked at the guys for confirmation, they only nodded their heads.

The mood shifted after their conversation. Mal returned and caught them lost deep in their thoughts, the movie playing softly in the background.

"Oh wow, I just went to the bathroom, I didn't die," Mal tried to joke but it only earned three pairs of eyes to look at her.

As Mal nested next to Evie, the brunette couldn't push the thought of Mal out of her head.