* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Olivia finds herself standing on Mrs. Keen's porch in the exact same spot as she had stood one year ago. Back home from college, she very much wanted to surprise Gia and Coby. Ringing the doorbell for the fifth time in ten minutes, Olivia finally decides that it's time to leave; they don't seem to be home right now.

As she walks down the steps and back to her car, something cold and wet hits her on the side of the head. A giggle sounds in the distance, and Olivia whips around, searching for the person behind the snowball attack. Following the tracks of three pair of footprints, Olivia runs into the backyard just as another snowball whizzes past her face.

"Get her!" a familiar voice yells as Gia and Coby run off the back porch to give Olivia a hug.

Olivia almost cries out in pure delight when she spots Lincoln standing behind the glass screen door. The last time she saw him was over the summer, back when they would sneak into stranger's pools for a midnight swim and mini golf as the hot sun set behind the hills. God, it's been a long time since she laid eyes on his messy hair, wide smile, and gleaming brown eyes, and she hadn't realized how much she missed him until he was right in front of her eyes.

Their powerful eye contact breaks when Gia and Coby tackle her to the ground. Laughing, Olivia closes her eyes and hugs them close to her chest because, sometimes, the best things in life are not exactly seen but felt. "I missed you guys so much," she laughs.

"We missed you, too!" Gia says, giggling as she rolls off Olivia to make a snow angel on the ground. She really can't believe how fast they grew up in the span of a couple of months, but she's overjoyed to simply see them again. Coby also flops on the ground to make a snow angel, which leaves enough time for her to get up from the ground. Seizing the opportunity, Olivia runs onto the porch and yanks on the glass sliding door as Lincoln watches her struggle to open the door.

"Dude, it's locked," she says, narrowing her eyes at him.

"What?" he yells, playfully cupping his hand around his ear. His shout travels through the glass and sounds more like a faint whisper to Olivia.

"Open the door!"

He doesn't seem to hear her, so she pulls her phone out from the pocket of her coat and calls him. She watches Lincoln fish out his cell phone to answer her. "Hey, beautiful, what's poppin'?"

"Can you please open the door so I can greet you properly?"

"Hmm, well, the door only opens with a password." He grins, winking at her as he chews on a piece of gum.

Rolling her eyes, she guesses ping pong, Christmas, elf, popcorn, and every other word in the dictionary. All of them are wrong, according to the boss himself. "Dude, you're taking this way too far. Just let me in so I can give you a proper kiss!"

"Finally, you guessed it. The word was kiss." Lincoln flips the lock, pushing the door open and expecting to receive a huge hug from his girlfriend. And just as Olivia approaches him, she shoves him backward. "Hey, what was that for?" he yelps, rubbing his rib.

"That was for locking me out," she smirks, pecking him on the lips.

His eyebrows scrunch up in confusion. "Then what was that just for?"

"That," she laughs, eyes sparkling, "was just because I missed you, regardless of your little pranks."

"Good to know."

Gia and Coby rush into the house, covered in snow. Olivia and Lincoln help them take off their coats and boots before allowing them to play in the living room. "So what are you doing here, anyways?" Olivia asks because, quite frankly, Lincoln was the last person she expected to take over her babysitting job while she went to back to college.

"Gia and Coby are my cousins, and my mom and my Aunt Sophie wanted to Christmas shop for them," he explains. "So, yeah, I'm the new babysitter."

"Great, you robbed me of the only job I ever really liked."

"Merry Christmas!"

Clearly not amused, Olivia replies by saying, "Haha, very funny."

A comfortable sheet of silence falls upon the couple, but Olivia doesn't particularly mind because she can't stop staring at Lincoln. He looks so fresh-faced and happy, so joyful and carefree.

"Why are you staring at me?" Lincoln asks, poking her side. A couple giggles sound from deeper within the house.

"I don't know, maybe because I missed seeing your face in person."

"Just the face, huh?" he asks, chuckling.

"Hey, keep it PG, my friend, or else we're both going to be on the naughty list this year," Olivia lightly threatens.

"Hey, I'm Santa's elf, darling, I'm sure I could pull a few strings to get out names on the nice list."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

[A/N] Thank you so much for reading! I appreciate all the support you guys give me. PS: I update every Friday :)