A/N:

You can tell this is ridiculously late :-0

YOU WOULD'VE think we were having dinner after attending a funeral.

Orion smirked at Hunter - he's been doing that for the past few minutes and was not helping - and with one elbow propped lazily on the table, he motioned for the bowl closest to him. "Peas, please?"

I was this close to kicking him under the table and by the steel narrowing of my eyes burning on his forehead, Orion knew it too, coughed, and sat back up properly, smiling a little less like a smirk.

As Hunter silently passed the bowl, Orion thanked him without raising an eyebrow, making a salacious comment, or smirking. Which was progress so far. He turned to me as if asking for assurance like a dog that he did good, but I stubbornly refused to make eye contact.

Of course this was a play, acting out the part of the one night stand partner that lasted for an entire season, it was starting to burn through every facet of a decent dinner like a forest fire.

After he had taken back his apparent 'missing shirt' strewn just casually over the sofa and locking himself back in the bathroom, the room had gone silent as a grave.

It was only my quiet and rigid assurance to finish this dinner decently that made its way for them to sit in the plastic chairs and get themselves each a serving of mashed potato.

And so the taunting and offhand comments started.

A minute of silence isn't unusual. But Finn and Orion wasn't aware of my usual.

"So, Orion," Hunter started with a pleasantly fake smile plastered on his face like a politician. "What'd you bring for potluck?"

"Potluck isn't necessary," is my reply. And it was. Only none of them were trying to be civilised with each other.

But Orion smiled back, as fake as Hunter as possible. "I tried making something but I got too burnt out. Thinking too hard what would Bree like, what would you like so..." He shrugged, his smile biting and wolfish. "Next time, sir, I promise. I'll make sure to make one up."

Hunter froze, his smile prickling as he gritted his teeth.

I didn't need to raise my head to glare at Orion anymore. I reared my leg back as far as I could and threw the kick as hard as possible. He yelped, his eyes going wild before he forced a simpering smile. He stared at me until I looked up and matched his stony look.

This is going to be a long night, I thought. And at Orion's smirk as if he knew what I was thinking, he was agreeing with me.

Hunter stared at the both of us, burning and confused, before he sighed and popped open the bottle of wine. It was mostly decoration and for Hunter's benefits. Just a few sips since he has to drive back and I didn't have a lot of alcohol as I wasn't a big drinker to begin with, but Orion and I stared at him as he poured his glass to the brim.

He toasted us and took a gulp, half of it swiped as it went down on the table.

Orion and I blinked at him.

...And then Orion grinned, took the bottle, and poured himself too. "Get myself some of that action too damn."

I stared at them. They stared back - Orion, amused, Hunter, unamused in the slightest.

Fuck it.

I poured myself some too.

- - -

"Gift giving time!"

We were all sprawled across the floor, a little drunk and dazed, when Orion scrambled to rose and stumbled over his backpack. I blinked at him. I was not drunk per say, but I wasn't sober either. When I was like this, I was more or less indisposed with a slow brain processing problem.

"You actually got gifts." My mouth felt like velvet. I touched my tongue.

"Of course I did." His smile was so drunk that I snorted. "But only gift. Sorry, Hunter, my pal, my bro, my new hoe. I didn't get you any because... I forgot. Oops."

Hunter clutched his chest as if he was hit by a bullet between the chest cavity. "Nooo." And then he blinked. "But I didn't get you anything too. Because I really don't like you."

Orion tossed me my gift, wrapped in zoomed reindeer faces. It landed softly on my lap while he tripped over to Hunter and they waited, with bated breath and held hands, at my reaction. Like parents at a soccer practice but murmuring the words, 'it's okay, bro, I still love you' between them.

Tearing through the thin wrap, I found myself at odds with a thick, bloodred material on my lap. I rose it up and was surprised to found it big enough to lump the floor.

"What... is it?"

"It's a cloak, silly!" Orion crawled toward me before standing and offering his hand. "Come on. So you can actually be Little Red Riding Hood now." He helped me put on the cloak, floor length and warm, and steered me to the mirror. He pulled the hood on and back to show me, his grin soft. "See?"

I touched the material over my fingers, surprised and warm. "Thank you. Really, I love it."

"Good," he whispered, close enough to warm the back of my neck. I shivered, unable to look at anywhere else but his eyes. Light as the forest floor during dusk. "Oh, and look at the back."

"Huh?"

He turned me slowly enough to show the imprint on the back. A werewolf sauntered over with one foot forward and the galaxy behind him contained in a circle. "I had Elise make it. That kid has a good eye."

"Elise?"

His grin was dimpled and not at all drunk. "It was a surprise. She was more than happy to make one for you."

"That's - wow. Thank you, Orion."

"Hey, lovebirds!"

We turned to Hunter's little pout and waved a red envelope. "I got you a present too, little bee Brielle."

"Okay," I said as I slowly untangle myself from Orion's grasps, one of which, I didn't even realize, was his hands on my back and my elbow. I kept blinking as I sat down in front of Hunter and Orion moved quietly to the sofa. I could feel his presence like a heat monitor, my face suddenly feeling flushed.

"It's not a cloak." Hunter blinked and offered me the envelope. "But it's what you always asked for and I finally got my mom to give it to me."

My eyes widened and quickly tore through the paper. "It's not - oh my god." Hunter's grandmother's peach cobbler passed down from generations. "I - oh god. Thank you, Hunter, thank you so much."

Hunter's smile softened, his hands wrapping around my own. "Of course."

I blinked at him.

"W-Who wants to have some peach cobbler?"

I stood up, albeit a little clumsily, and clutched the recipe to my chest turning to Orion. I didn't know why I did that, stared at him as he was staring at me. Our gazes felt heated, searching or... waiting.

I didn't realize it was for him to smile, a small assuring one that didn't feel like his usual smiles, one that accosted for the heavy look in his eyes.

I turned away, feeling flushed and red all over again. A sweeping of emotion that tided over any calm resolution or strong footing. I felt messy and scattered, emotions not foreign, but stark and suddenly very alive.

And it made me very, very nervous.

- - -

Hunter left after a semi-disastrous peach cobbler attempt while semi-drunk. Fun fact: don't attempt it. But so far, apart from a burnt crust and an uncooked peach and it was more a hassle than it was worth it, but doing something I was familiar with helped with the feeling of unease and unbalance.

I cleaned up as much as I could while I took sips of my coffee just to rid off the drunken daze. The room suddenly felt small and compacted, especially with just Orion and I now in it. Baking kept all of us from talking too much, and now ignoring everything that happened before seemed like a better idea than anything.

"Oh hey," Orion called. Sat on the stool with a mug of his own cradled between his palms, he raised his head over hunched shoulders, face unnervingly at eased. "Thanks for the sweater. It's weird how I never saw you making it."

"I did it usually when you weren't around," I explained, voice leveled enough that I was grateful it didn't show the shakiness I felt. Suddenly, he felt so sincere, lacking the usual goofiness that made it easier to take the things he do and say as a joke. "Or else it wouldn't be a surprise."

He smiled again, the wrong kind of smile. The smile that burned down my stomach and warmed my neck. "Well colour me surprise."

He stood up and I turned away, the conversation falling stilted once again but it was no surprise.

I wanted to say something, anything. An occurrence I never thought I'd be doing. I like him, I thought, my hands shaking the plate I was trying to dry. I don't know what time it was, snow fell lightly over the dark window, but everything felt so... real. Sharp. I can feel him behind me, his presence. I could still smell and taste the wine in my tongue, perfuming most of my senses.

Impossible, lurched in my stomach. Impossible.

"Please don't hate me for this," he whispered. I attempted to turn but stopped, feeling his body heat overwhelm. Every sense I've ever had panicked within just a few seconds.

"What - "

"Look up."

And I did. Barely because he was so close and my heart leapt. I raised my head and there was a mistletoe.

"I'm being cheeky as shit, but-" He pressed his lips swiftly on the side of my head. It was soft, a flutter, but it was present. "Merry Christmas, Bree."

I felt him back away and I turned, blinking. He wasn't blushing but he smiled sheepishly. His eyes were on the floor and he felt inward, like he was compressing himself.

"Please don't kill -"

I leaned forward and kissed his cheek, my hand going over his own. When I pulled away, staring at his shocked face, I smiled softly, raising the mistletoe I took from him.

"Merry Christmas too."