Sunlight sneaks inside from the slits of the curtains, igniting the hotel room with a different light.

Fifteen minutes ago, a loud ringing of Sarah's phone woke me up along with her. She flew off the bed to answer the phone and I hadn't been able to fall asleep again. Mostly, too occupied by my beautiful lady asleep.

I was chasing something so dark, something of vengeance and revenge. Instead, I found my forever light, the source of my peace. I kiss her cheek, tilting my chin up to kiss her forehead and then her other cheek. How would she react if she knew what those three kisses meant?

Deciding whether to tell her or not, how much I truly do feel about her, is one of the hardest decisions I've had to make. I'd do it in the blink of an eye if I wasn't worried about how she'd react. Would it scare her? Does she not feel the same?

It would mean opening a door to a room we'll never get out of even if it goes badly. Or not, she could feel the same.

I wish lovers spoke about it more. I wish there was someone to talk to about this but then again there's no one I trust enough for that besides Rin.

Mitch is knocked out behind me, letting out soft snores that are mostly muffled by the pillow most of his face is shoved into. There's a little furrow forming between her brows, if I wasn't looking I wouldn't have noticed it.

Her hand was around my waist and now slipped to lay flat on my belly. Breath silently caught in my throat, my eyes glued to her hand. Her hand drags down past the little rolls there from arching my body in her. Fingertips trace my happy trail to where it disappears under my boxers and I feel all tingly.

Before her sleepy state could get carried away, I caught her hand and brought it to my face. Her thumb drags across my cheek, tracing the curve of my cheekbones and finally, those pretty eyes opened.

They take my breath away- such a simple statement to describe how she malfunctions my systems just by her eyes. The perfect shade of brown that I'd guess was only seen in heaven so then she had to be an angel sent down just for me.

Rin doesn't keep her eyes on mine, they lazily drag across my face, catching onto little details of it. "Pretty boy," her lips barely move as she says it though the reaction is much more. The butterflies nestled in my belly flutter awake just like that. She snuggles closer into me, throwing a leg across both of my thighs. Pretty boy.

"Merry Christmas," I say and she lights up like a Christmas tree- sorry, I have to- probably realising what today is. "Merry Christmas, Harry," she sighs, holding me tighter. Just then, Mitch snores loudly and we both laugh as quietly as possible to ourselves.

The bedroom door opens and our eyes flit to it. Sarah strolls in with sleepy eyes and a lazy smile. She abandons her phone on the bedside table and makes her way to Mitch. He stirs awake and his arms open so she could slide in.

Eventually, the four of us drag ourselves off the bed. Mitch and Sarah have places to be and very soon, they'll need to rush to get going.

It's amusing though there's a little worry settling as Rin slowly stretches out her limbs and takes careful steps. "You alright?" I check as she continues to walk with a slight waddle. "Mhm," she gets the hang of it and disappears behind the bathroom.

I make a call and have tea and breakfast bagels with cream cheese delivered up. Along with that are some clothes, none of them in specific sizes but they'll do since I doubt we'll want to get back into our outfits from last night.

By then we were finished in the bathrooms and refused the urge to slide into bed again. The balcony is beautiful and spacious with the gentle wind whistling by. With cream cheese bagels and mostly filled cups, we lounge on comfy chairs.

I draw Rin in closer, unable to help myself and she sighs into my arms, keeping her eyes on the wide expanse of blue sky, puffs of clouds slowly moving through.

Somehow, last night does not feel real but sitting so casually, the four of us like this, emphasises what happened. I had a foursome. Not too long ago I was still a virgin.

Mitch and Sarah leave before Rin and I do, needing to collect their luggage from where they are staying soon in order to make it to Mitch's family in time for Christmas dinner.

We take our turns with hugs and when Rin hugs Mitch, heat rushes to her cheeks and I find it adorable. I don't remember her blushing last night.

Sarah inserts both Mitch's and her phone numbers into our phone, demanding not to forget them after this as I've done in the past. However, this time we part ways on good terms which wasn't the case last time.

We made promises to let each other know whenever we were going to be in the same places again and then walked them out, Sarah and Rin hugging one last time.

Rin and I leave next after cleaning up the hotel room. One hand holding onto hers, swaying our hands back and forth between us and my other hand holding a bag filled with our clothes from last night.

My car awaiting us as it was delivered sometime this morning. By the time I shut her door and strode across the front of the car to my side and got in, she was messing with the radio instead of putting on her seatbelt.

"Seatbelt, Rin. The seatbelt," I say with a sigh, leaning over to bring the strap across her body and it clicks as I lock it into place.

"How was last night?" I ask as I get onto the road, glancing at her and she's already looking at me. Such a disappointment that I had to return my eyes to the road. "It was good, wasn't it?" She answers maybe a second later. I smile and my head nods, "Yeah, yeah it was."

"So, about the piercing," Rin changes the topic and I can feel the curiosity in her eyes, studying me for a reaction. Suddenly, I'm thankful that my eyes have to remain on the road. My fingers flex around the steering wheel.

"I have a confession to make," I stated, feeling pressure in my chest. "I'm listening," she urges me to go on, curiosity intensifying.

"I'm scared of getting piercings."

"What?" Rin says it as if it's the most absurd thing ever. "I know! Just the image of the gun going through my skin," The thought of one on my dick shivers my blood. The image causes me the need to shake off my shoulders as if it would rid it from my head.

"I even have a few clip-on earrings at home," I say, remembering that little phase of mine. "You're basically covered in tattoos!" Rin points out as if that's supposed to help her argument but it really doesn't.

"That's different," I insist. "Is it?" Her tone is accusing. "Yes, it is! Don't ask me how, but it is," I insisted and from the side vision, I see her shaking her head.

"And you? What are your thoughts?" I ask. "On a dick piercing? I can't really get one because, you know..." she trails off. "No," I huffed," me not getting one. If you want me to get one I could man up and do it."

"Oh. No, Harry," she shrugs," if you're not comfortable getting it done then you're not doing it, simple. I want you just the way you are over anything else."

My eyebrow lifts and I glance at her again, momentarily searching for the lie before my eyes return to the road. "Okay, alright. Thank you," I say, feeling pleased. "Don't thank me for that," she scoffs, beginning to mess with the radio again when the station host did more talking than playing music.

"Would you ever get a tattoo?" I don't tell her that I've been meaning to ask this for a while now. "I've wanted to," she admits and there's a longing in her voice.

"Why haven't you?" I wonder and her shoulder shrugs," It seems unprofessional." She says it with distaste in her tone. "Unprofessional? Zayn is covered in them and he runs Malik Creations."

"He got that handed to him." In more ways than one. "I have to work for things," she's so going to kill me if she ever finds out one day.

"Tattoos are very common, darling. You deserve to have them if you want to. If not, that's alright but if you ever get one, I'd love to be there with you."

"Yeah?" She looks at me with excitement and I think my little dream of having a matching tattoo may come true. "Yeah," I echo.

"I'll think about it." Translation: Heck yeah!

The closer we got to home, I held the wheel tighter. The nerves are present, unsure of how she'd react to the Christmas present. We agreed on keeping things simple for this year but I couldn't help myself. Tonight, she'll have the other presents I bought but for the beginning, I'll let her think I've kept things simple.

Much to my displeasure, a small vehicle I recognized as Lennon's (Lennie's) sits along the side of the road in front of my driveway.

"Oh, right," Rin murmured, probably recalling what on earth she was doing here. Lennon doesn't block the driveway entirely so I drive in and Rin scrambles out of the car, rushing to her before I could've even killed the engine.

I watched as they exchanged a few words, handing her something from the front seat. Realising I'm probably being weird by standing by the car and watching them, I reluctantly made a move to unlock the house.

She meets me as I shoved open the door, Lennon driving off. "Santa delivered your gift," she sings. My face scrunches at the implication of Lennon being Santa. I might throw up.

I took a peek at it, attempting to calculate what it might be and as a result, a hand shoved my face away. I managed to bite her finger as she pulled away her hand and as a result, she nudged my shoulder.

The present settles on the coffee table, the door is locked and secured and we follow each other to the bedroom to shuffle into better clothes. Of course, Rin settles on sliding into my clothes.

She demands that I stand beside her whilst she teaches me her usual skincare routine in the bathroom, which I already have memorised but still listened attentively. Even applied some of it to my skin, stating all of the benefits it intends to give me. Meanwhile, I'm just allowing it because it makes my face feel all soft.

She cleans up the bathroom while I do the bedroom. It was left in a little mess, I'm not proud of it but at least now I can look at my bedroom without cringing. I took the bag from the hotel that has our clothes and while setting out them in the wash, I was not expecting Rin to scream my name.

It startled me, to say the least, the panic echoing in her voice filled me with fear and I abandoned everything, rushing for her. "Rin? What's wrong?" I shout back while making my way through the house, nearing the kitchen, growing more worried when I don't get a reply.

Relief has never felt so good when I see her standing under the archway leading to the kitchen. "What's wrong?" Worry is probably etched into my features whilst my eyes are busy tracing over her, looking for any source of harm.

"Hi," Rin giggled, wrapping an arm around my waist, pulling us closer and it's safe to say I'm confused. "Hi, baby?" I play along waiting for some sort of an explanation.

Her head tilts up and mine follows, our eyes settling on the mistletoe hanging from the middle of the archway.

"When did that get there?" I wondered, finally at ease. Her shoulders shrugged," must be Christmas magic." Yeah, right.

"You know the rules," she wiggled her eyebrows adorably, tilting her chin up and her lips pucker slightly for a hint as to what she meant. "It's almost as if you find me irresistible or something," I whisper, leaning into her.

"You're a bit slower than I'd imagined if you're just realising that," she admits and I give her what she wants. Warmth sparks in my chest at the soft collision of our lips, the slide is addictive as always.

Not long after, we sat down on the rug beneath the coffee table in the living room that holds our teacups that's next to us, surrounded by Christmas decorations and it felt absolutely perfect.

"I wrapped it myself," Harry boasts proudly with a little adorable snicker. In his hands is what looks like a thin box wrapped beautifully with red and white wrapping paper and a red bow on the top.

"I've seen better," my shoulders shrugged, accepting it from him. He gasps, offended. "This is the best gift wrapping you've ever seen," he tells me flatly, with no room for objection. "Yeah, it totally is," I agree, nodding my head.

With narrowed eyes, still not nearly convinced, he still hands it over. Now it sits on my lap and I made a move to undo a tape from the corner. "Wait!" Harry stops me, his hand slamming down on the surface of the gift, stopping me from going further.

"Maybe I should go first," he suggests, eyes wide. Just like that, the playful moment was long gone and it was like reality had settled in for him. He's trying to hide it, the nervousness simmering beneath his
excitement but it's clear to me.

"Are you worried I won't like it?" I guessed. "No...I don't know actually," slowly, Harry's hand drags away. He takes a deep breath. "Go ahead," he urges. "Are you sure?" I ask for confirmation, not wanting to go ahead if he doesn't actually want me to.

"Yeah, I've been excited to show you this, not gonna let overthinking ruin that," he assures me. I'm convinced and my attention returns to the gift. The paper slides off the smooth surface of whatever is beneath it, two ends falling to reveal what's no longer hidden.

A white box.

I glanced at him, he nodded his head again and I went ahead, opening it from the side. From the feel of it, as my fingers dragged it out, the wheels of my rain began to envision what it was but I hadn't completed it until it was out.

"Harry," I say his name with complete shock. Both of us, younger. A few weeks after we met for the first time at the orphanage, I already developed the repetitive cycle of visiting him as much as I could.

The frame of it is beautiful- gold designs with red touches. This picture was taken on the nearly broken down playground set behind the orphanage, both of us wearing wide smiles in the middle of saying 'cheese.' Harry's hand was wrapped around my upper back, hooked on my upper arm and mine around his middle.

"One of the few things I took with me when I left but it turned out to be the most important to me out of everything," he spills softly while my finger brushes across the glass over our faces, drinking all of it in.

"Wow," I whispered. "Is that a good wow or a bad wow?" Harry blurts out. My head tilts up, my panicked eyes settling on his and I leave the gift resting on my thighs. "Because I really can't tell and I'm-"

My hands cup his face and his posture relaxes, shoulders sinking with a sigh. "It's a great wow. I love it, it's the start of our photography collection," I stated. His eyes light up, eyebrows lifting on his forehead. "You want a collection? With me and you?"

"Yeah, I do."

Couldn't help myself imagining sometime in the future when we'll have a few pictures from big moments in our lives and this one is our starting point.

"Good," his eyebrows drop to normal, he clears his throat and nods his head. "Great. I'd like that," Harry admits casually, playing it cool but the uncontrollable grin on his face says otherwise.

"Now can I borrow a kiss, Sweetheart?" Gentle hands on my jaw, drawing me in for the perfect collision of our lips. A soft, lazy yet insistent kiss. No matter how many times I taste his lips on mine, I'll never grow tired of it.

"Thank you," he whispers without pulling away, pecking my lips one more before pulling away.

"My turn."

"It's not as good as yours," I warned him. He's gonna like it, I do not doubt it but it's not as sentimental as his. Without lifting his head, he glared at me through his eyelashes, silently telling me he disagrees with that even if he has no idea what it is.

Likewise, mine was inside a box. I hadn't wrapped it. Instead, it's inside a pretty gift bag surrounded by Christmas theme coloured tissue paper. He's eager to dissect the gift, removing the bag, the paper, and the box until he discovers what's inside.

Harry gasps upon realising exactly what he was gifted, his face lighting up along with his dimples making an appearance. "No, you didn't!" Harry screams, holding it delicately in his hand while rotating the glass.

"I found someone that makes customized candles and I thought Reese's scented one would be perfect."

The sticker on the front is exactly like the wrapping paper for Reese's and everything. "It is perfect," he murmurs, and rotates the silver lid covering the glass container so he can bring it to his nose for a deep inhale and he lets out a pleasant sigh at the scent.

"This is my new favourite candle," he states proudly. I'd doubt that, claiming that he's only saying that for my sake but I do know this man and his Reese's so I don't.

He puts the lid back on, carefully placed it on the coffee table and then tackled me over in a tight hug, hand sliding under my head so it wouldn't hurt on impact. In moments like these where his smiles are infectious, I can actually feel his happiness. Like a warm blanket wrapped around us.

He's so beautiful like this too. His lips are pulled into a lopsided grin, a row of perfect teeth on display with deep dimples and messy dark curls.

We stay that way for a few minutes, simply holding each other unable to contain our happiness. That is until we both admitted we were hungry. Watching him get excited over cooking blooms warmth in my chest.

"Harry," I say his name while watching him move around the kitchen, getting all the ingredients ready while nodding his head to the music playing softly from the living room. "Hm?" He hums in reply.

"The way we feel now...did you ever feel that way back then?" I ask, with some hesitation because if he had, I don't know how I'd react. Harry pauses what he's doing to look at me, handing over all of his attention.

"No, I didn't but I believe I would've eventually," he admits, with slightly furrowed brows. If we could've gone from hating each other to this, I can see us going from friends to this too. "Did you?" He reciprocates and my head shakes, denying," No."

Harry smiles, walking closer he holds my face in his hands. Thumb stroking my cheek, nose nudging mine with the breath from his lips hitting mine as he speaks. "I'm happy I followed the temptation. I can't imagine going through all of this without you."

"I'm happy it's you I feel this way about," my breath shuddered from the weight my shoulders held to say those words and what they truly mean.

It feels as if every decision I've ever made is worth it all for this. Entirely, he makes me feel that way. Every painful dig they've all made to break me was worth it because he was the one I'd compliantly open up for.

His eyes softened, I'm so close and I can't look away that I see the shift in them. "Rin..."

Three hard knocks sound throughout the entire house, breaking us apart and our head turns to stare at the front door.

I took a deep breath with my eyes fluttering shut, allowing it to travel imaginatively through my entire being. Who the fuck is knocking at my door on Christmas?

"Maybe they'll go away if I don't respond," I say and it sounds like the most brilliant idea. I wasn't expecting anyone today- on Christmas -so that's a valid enough reason to not open that door.

Her pretty lips parted and she was rudely interrupted by the stupid person knocking on my beautifully carved, painted and polished door. I spent over three hours choosing it if I remember correctly. The one that came with the house was too boring.

"You should..." The rest of Rin's sentence is finished by her glancing at the door again and I received the message. My lips flared as I blew out a loud breath and reluctantly walked to the door.

The knocks came again, this time softer than the previous two. I groaned and threw it open, mentally crossing my fingers that whatever is behind it does not ruin my first Christmas with Rin in ten years.

"Harry! There you are!" A very startled woman, who I definitely did not want to see right now stands outside my door. Outside, behind my car sits hers. "In my house?" I say and she pushes past me, stepping inside. Immediately, there was a shift in atmosphere when I noticed her sweaty pale skin.

"She's bleeding," Rin blurts out and I barely have time to react as Lilith's body sags. Her eyelids dip, her body lost balance and she was close to tumbling to the floor. My hands slide under her arms and hoist her up, putting her weight against my body.

"Ni-" her throat bobs as she gulps. "S-stitches. Need Stitches-"

Just my luck, those are her last words before she goes completely unconscious in my arms. Now that she's passed out, her arms relax and a bloody bullet hits the floor and rolls. She had previously held it tight in her hand. Damn it.

Maybe it's not a gunshot wound, maybe she had an accident while cooking Christmas lunch- which is what I was about to be doing. I carry her further inside, to the nearest space which was my couch. Oh God, not my couch.

"Lay her down," Rin mumbles and shuts the door. There's concern etched across her features for a woman she doesn't even know about. "Not even gonna ask who she is?" I wondered while fixing her on the couch, barely reacting to my hands covered in blood. Once again, mentally crossing my fingers that the blood doesn't ruin my couch.

A darkened area on the side of her torso leads me to believe that's where the source of all this blood is from. Obviously. Rolling up her top, worry finally starts to seep in when I see the blood oozing out from what looks like a bullet wound. Too much blood and definitely not a cooking accident.

Fuck's sake.

"What have you gotten yourself into this time, Lilith?" I ask her unconscious, steady breathing body while Rin grabs the nearest thing to absorb as much blood as possible- A blanket. A really nice blanket. "Lilith?" Rin speaks with curiosity.

"Her father was the head of security back home. He was killed that night along with most of his team, it's how they got inside. She works with the FBI now and also with me." Implying that by me I am referring to Death Hood was somehow hard to say. I'm going soft.

"Oh. She's your connection to the FBI," she realises. "Yes. She is."

Now that most of the blood was soaked up, I moved it to have a better look at the damage. "Does she need stitches?" Rin wonders, studying the wound from next to me where we kneeled aside on the couch.

"Stitches," I confirmed. "Hospitals are open on public holidays," I go back to applying pressure to the wound hard enough that her skin bows inward, thinking of the next steps needed to get her help.

"Harry, she's here for a reason," Rin states the obvious," she told you to stitch her up. Why else would she have come to you like this? Plus, I don't think she'll last till the hospital."

"You know, if you're excited to stitch her up you could just say so," I huffed. I signalled that I was about to stand so she replaces my spot in slowing down the blood flow. I go to the room, to locate the medical supplies kit Niall would usually use on me.

Finding them, Rin urgently takes them from me, unlocking the kit and her eyes locate what she needs inside, hands grabbing them meanwhile my hands are at Lilith's torso again.

Her curly hair is now tied into a messy bun at the top of her hair, all of it away from her face. My eyes briefly ran over her features. "Get me a bowl of water," I'd still been in a trance though my brain begged me to concentrate but my heart apparently loved bad timing.

"A bowl of water?" I snapped back into reality after my unavoidable moment of weakness. "Yes, water!" Her head snaps up, sharp and beautiful eyes pinning me," Have you heard of it before?"

"From the tap!" My feet finally moved. Not in proper correlation since I even tripped over myself for a split second before steadying. "No, from the freaking lake," Rin mutters while the bowl fills.

After she has the water along with everything else she needs, she prepares herself to get started while I sit next to her, ensuring that Lilith remains alright.

Her hands are shaking while holding the needle and she drops it, rolling them into tiny fists. My hands covered hers and her widened panicked eyes met mine. "You got this, you did it before. The gunshot wound isn't fatal," I assured her and thankfully, my words seem to do the trick.

Rin nods her head and her instincts seem to kick in then as she holds the needle again. She does an amazing job, threading through the skin to seal the wound whilst I'm cringing at a needle going through the skin.

Her hands remain steady, eyes concentrated and in my eyes, she's near professional but that may be my biased opinion. Did I mention how hot I find it too?

Not the time, Harry.

Unexpectedly, Lilith springs off the couch in the middle of Rin finishing the last stitch, her body jolting forward and she awakes with a large gasp and widened eyes.

I'm quick to shove her back down, thinking it will ruin the stitches and either way, she shouldn't be using much energy right now. Frantically, her faintish eyes met mine and she seemed to collect herself, taking steady deep breaths.

"Niall."

Despite her weakened state, the grip of her fingers around my arm is tight and made of steel, her voice hoarse as she struggles to speak at minimum. "No, I'm Harry," I corrected her. She groans, dropping her head back down on the cushion.

"Niall's been taken."

Happy 10 months of Masked🫶 Over 200k in ten months is absolutely insane. Beyond what's capable for my mind to comprehend. Thank you so much for making this possible<3

Also if anyone wants to follow me on Twitter it's verygucciri
for doses of Masked content but also Soriyaah☺️ (me lol.)