This chapter is dedicated to all my little elves 🎅🏼😉❤🎁✨ MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

"Theone?" I rush. He must know where he is, but the way his eyebrows furrow in a deep frown digs a hole inside my stomach.

"Theone?! I've just dropped him at the station."

"What?! No?! Why?!" I exclaim, breathless, and I can feel it's close to becoming a cry.

"He said you've chosen Aden and that he can't stay watching you–"

"What?! Why?! I've never chosen Aden! I've chosen him! I love him, he can't go!" My voice gets louder as if Theone would hear me wherever he is. Though he might hear the thumps of my heart from how loud it is right now. "How can he think that?!"

"I don't know, he's just told me that after his speech."

My heart stops... The speech... Aden and I... The mistletoe kiss.

"Argh! Theone! What an idiot! Didn't he see the mistletoe above our heads?! Always jumping to conclusions like he knows everything! He's so annoying!"

"Wait, so you love him too?" Jason interrupts my rant.

Okay, this may be confusing, hearing the way I'm cursing Theone right now, but that's how we are. That's us.

"Yes, and now he's gone." This fact falls on me like a ton of bricks, crushing me whole, my heart, my hope, my breath, and even my annoyance.

"No, maybe not." Jason grabs my shoulders, making me tilt my head back in front of his tall yet comforting figure. "He had to buy his ticket, and you know there isn't a train every two minutes in deepest Jersey on a Christmas Eve."

My heart jolts with hope under all the weight pressing it down.

"My phone! I need my phone!" I start running around like a maniac. 

I've always told that Theone would drive me mad; I just would have never expected to be crazy about him.

I jump on my phone when I spot it on the entrance's console table, between the figurines of Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus, and I pray with all my heart they'll help me as my shaky fingers press the call button.

One ringing tone... I hold my breath.

Two ringing tones... My heart starts cracking under the heaviness.

Three ringing tones... All the Christmas hope and magic vanishes from my body, even if I sound like a Christmas carol.

And when I get to his voicemail, I realize my heart is broken; it is broken because of me and my stupidity.

"Theone, please don't leave... I-I love you," I croak after the cold beep.

"He doesn't answer my calls either," Jason tells me, and the soft, careful tone of his voice is enough to prove how wrecked I look, how hopeless it is.

"Of course, he doesn't want to hear from me..." I'm not even cursing him anymore; I'm only cursing myself as I still try to text him.

I've hurt him. I've ruined my chance of true love. I don't even deserve him, so maybe it's better this way, and the crippling pain in all my muscles, especially my heart, is only fair.

"Go chase him then!" I lift up my head to find Aden and everyone standing by the doorway – when I've told you my life is a drama TV show for everyone around me!

"The ride is more than 10 minutes, and he's got already enough time to catch a train." I sigh, glancing at my phone to check the time and my texts for the hundredth time.

"I think you're not one to give up easily, and you never know if you never–"

"Try!" These words make my heart come out of the rubble like in those superhero movies where the hero stands up strong, sending debris flying around. "You're right! Thank you so much!"

"Don't thank me, go! I need a happy end for my articles." Aden winks playfully.

"What do I feel like I missed something?" Jason asks, and I totally picture his confused frown, but I'm already rushing out of the house with an unstoppable faith and determination until I stop in the middle of the driveway.

"Does someone have a car?"

Everyone goes silent once again, and the answer is obvious in the empty driveway.

"They're all at the town parking lot, aren't they?" I sigh again, though the despair is slowly turning into irritation as I feel like the whole universe is against me. 

I should have remembered that every year, everyone parks at this parking lot five minutes away from the house to leave the courtyard empty so my dad's Christmas sculptures are more visible, and you want to know something funny? This is one of my ideas again.

"Bill?" my dad suggests, and my heart soars with hope again; well, it's more like a mid start like Bill will certainly do. But I have no choice. 

I can't risk even five more minutes, so I catch the keys my dad throws at me, and I rush to the old truck parked in the garage, guided by the erratic beats of my heart.

In a blink, I'm already sitting on Bill's used leather seat, and I've never run so fast in my life. If Theone could have seen me, he would have to admit that I can run, at least when I have a great motivation.

However, my great motivation isn't enough for Bill when I turn on the ignition. I try to take a deep breath, as if it would help Bill's engine, and I try again, and again, and again, yet each time, Bill only sputters with the same dry and hopeless sound. Who is this mechanic who has assured it is 'as new'? I'm cursing him at the same time as Bill and the whole universe.

"Come on! It's Christmas please!" I resort to begging since cursing doesn't work, but this car must be the reincarnation of the Grinch because it only replies with another sputter that sounds like a snicker.

What do I do now? I can't give up, yet I doubt I can run to the station no matter how motivated I am, and the probability of Santa's sleigh appearing out of nowhere is really thin even on Christmas Eve. 

Each beat of my heart becomes more painful, and the fears and doubts I've been so proud to get rid of are coming back faster than the cold is invading my body.

"I just need a little Christmas miracle." I look up at the now-dark sky where a few stars are already peeking out. You never know, maybe I could glimpse a flying reindeer saving me.

But instead, it's a jolt that makes me come back down to earth. 

I glance around to find everyone standing behind Bill's trunk, and when they push again, my heart follows the car's jump. 

This is the real Christmas miracle: all the people I love, and it's their love that boosts me, and also Bill, as the car slowly gets into motion. I turn on the ignition once more as the wheels are slowly rolling, and it roars loudly, starting up. The cheers are spurring my faith and I speed up, while still being careful because I know how moody Bill can be.

I wish I could say the ride passes in a blink, but it doesn't, and each second is endless as I replay every moment with Theone to give me hope and counterbalance all the hopeless scenarios appearing in my mind, most being me standing alone on the station platform.

Nonetheless, Bill doesn't stall, and it's already a Christmas miracle. So I find myself in the station parking lot after just ten minutes and thirty seconds with all my hope and my dreadful scenarios.

It isn't like in my romance movies because Theone is definitely not waiting for me outside, ready to come back after realizing that he can't leave me.

But I don't lose hope; this is still Christmas, and once again, I miraculously run faster than ever until I'm standing in the station concourse and all eyes turn to my breathless self. 

Well, I may be exaggerating because there are only two people sitting on the rows of plastic chairs: one being a young man of barely twenty with his headphones on, so he doesn't even flinch at my grandiose gliding entry on the white slippery floor, and the other is a woman in a military uniform, who seems to find the out-of-breath girl wearing only a red cocktail dress and a wide-desperate look more interesting than the magazine in her hands.

There is no one else, no dimpled smirk, no striking green eyes, no Theone, and instead of catching my breath, I only lose it more and more as my gaze runs in every corner of the hall. There are still the platforms, and the counters that I can't glimpse from here, but where to go first? 

I have no plan, and my head starts spinning again, taking me back in a snow globe of doubts and panic as the Christmas tunes in the background have never sounded so nerve-racking, and the few cheap decorations on a leaning tree look anything but cozy or magical. This is really not the perfect romantic place for a romance, and I would have never planned for something like that. 

'Planned', that's it! I need to stop searching for a plan or even thinking. The best things in life are made out of impulse.

So I follow the loud beats of my heart, and I rush to the woman still waiting in her seat. She seems to be there since quite a while – which makes my heart shrivel as I imagine she's waiting to go back to her family – so she must have seen the people entering the station.

"Sorry, I-I need your help. Have you seen a tall man, around my age, with green eyes and messy dark blond hair, though he's probably wearing a beanie?" I realize I haven't been breathing in front of the woman's wide sorry eyes. 

But breathing isn't my priority right now, so I continue without thinking, "He kinda looks like an Australian surfer who got lost here?"

"An Australian surfer?"

My heart leaps higher than ever; I'm sure it goes until the stars because I feel it coming back in a sparkling rush when I turn around.

There, the green-eyed Australian surfer is standing a few feet away with his gray beanie, his messy curls poking out, and the hint of his devious smirk.

"Yes, a little." I offer him a shy smile in front of his lifted eyebrow, yet it falls down as fast as my ribcage constricts when I notice his left dimple is still missing. It's an unnerving impression when my heart is soaring with happiness that he's here in front of me, but the distance between us – and I'm not only talking about the few feet that I'm walking hesitantly to join him – is weighing heavily on my chest. 

It's hard to speak, or even breathe, in those conditions, but I have to. I have to make it up.

"It's why I love you– um, I mean, one of the reasons..." I've really thought I would be better at this after watching all those romances, yet Theone has a way to mess with my head with just one gaze of his piercing jade eyes. 

Stop thinking with your head, listen to your heart. 

"I mean, of course, you're handsome, but I mostly love what's inside the Australian surfer: I love how you can make me laugh even in the worst moments. I love the sound of your laugh. I love how you always stay yourself... I love how you look at me. I love how you know me better than I know myself. I love how talented you are without even realizing it. I love your heart... I love everything about you, even when you annoy me... I love you," I breathe out, and once again, in front of these clear penetrating eyes, the words come out easily straight from my heart.

"What about Aden?" he asks as breathless, as if afraid to let his heart jump to crash again, and I understand it more than anyone; that's why I have tried to push him away.

However, now I let my heart leap freely. "He was out of the picture the moment you kissed me."

"But–"

"I kissed him because we were standing under the mistletoe. You could have known at least, and looked better!" I swat him because of the rollercoaster of emotions he's sent my heart through, and also needing to find desperately the lightness we always have. 

Though I still become more serious to let out what's weighing on my chest. "Did you really think I would go back to Aden before answering you? The choice has never been between you two... You're the first and only prize... If you still want me of course?"

This time, I watch his smile slowly stretch, his dimples and the light in his eyes coming back with it. "I want you more than ever," he whispers, leaning closer, and there's no more weight holding me down; I'm lighter than ever as I lift on my tiptoes to meet his devious lips.

"What about all the 'buts'?" He pulls away one inch away before our lips can brush, and I almost think he's done it on purpose to tease me until I glimpse his frown. 

He's really serious for this, for us, and it makes my heart pump with more assurance.

"They are still there, but someone once told me you never know if you never try..." I smile as I now see what Theone has been trying to show me since that night. "And I know you're the one for me."

"Really?!" He shakes his head, and once again, hearing his light laugh fills my chest with warmth and coziness. "You're annoying, Penny!"

"But you love me." I offer him a wide sheepish grin.

"No 'but', and I love you," he replies with his devious smirk like every time he plays with my nerves, and now also with the erratic rhythm of my heart.

"Aw, shut up and kiss me!" I retort, and for this, he doesn't argue, cupping my face with his hands and crashing his lips on mine.

I immediately feel all the tinglings coming back stronger than ever. They're now turning into a wildfire, and I let it consume me fully, melting under the soft touch of his hands on my cheeks and sparking with the passionate caresses of his lips on mine. 

There is something desperate in this kiss as we've both thought we would never feel it again, yet that's also what makes us savor every sensation and go slow. We now know we have all our time together.

"Aww! Finally!"

We're still interrupted way too soon for my liking, and we turn to the woman now staring at us with this expression I usually wear when I'm watching the best parts of my favorite romance movies.

Theone and I burst out laughing as a janitor walks by with his broom at this moment and the announcement for the trains whistles through the speakers above our heads.

"I think we're not really good at the 'best parts'!"

"It's even better! It's our best part!" I grin, the dull surroundings not mattering as long as I see the sparkle in his eyes, and all our messy words spoken from our hearts are the most beautiful for me.

"There's not even snow!" He glances outside as if looking for a Christmas miracle or a 'ho ho ho'.

"It doesn't matte–"

"Wait! I think I have something!" He pulls away to feel for something in the pockets of his jacket, and when he finds it, I know with both of his dimples that it's a bad sign.

Yet I don't care, and when I glimpse the brown packet in his hand, instantly followed by colorful chocolate flying above our heads, this is even better. 

I jump at his neck again, and I kiss him even more passionately than before. Through my lips, I let him feel that I don't want any perfect Christmas romance; I want him everyday, and the magic is in the way he makes every instant so precious and extraordinary. Our love is kinda like those little chocolates: colorful, sweet, unique, and addicting. 

This time, we're not interrupted as everyone has left to catch their trains, or maybe there are still people, but we just forget the world outside. 

Nothing else matters, and as our tongues start to fight for dominance, because I know we will never change, I'm lost in all the sparks and colors flying around that we only create together. Regardless of where we are, what makes it special is being with Theone.

I pull away on that thought. 

"Oh, I forgot!" I gasp, trying to catch my breath, which is hard in front of the unique green color his eyes always take after our kisses. "Do you still want to follow me wherever I go?"

"Of course." He nods with this easy, assured tone that makes me believe he could follow me to the moon.

"Then how about all around the world?"

"What?!" He widens his eyes, and he's still so close that it makes the jade shades even more dizzying.

"I've called ID Decor Magazine." I pause as he nods eagerly, and I've planned to tease him a little and keep some suspense, but I can't when his piercing gaze is fixed on me this way. 

So I blurt it all out, "I showed them what I did for the party, and I explained them my style to mix various cultures, and they want me to write articles about decorations all over the world, so I'll travel with yo..." I can't finish as I'm swept off my feet by Theone's strong arms, and if before I've felt lighter than ever, now I'm a snowflake flying around and melting at the same time in the coziness of his arms.

"This is awesome!! Congrats! I told you! You're so talented!" he exclaims, even more excited than I am, and his voice is probably echoing all around the station. The only thing louder is my heart exploding in happiness.

"This is thanks to you and your rangoli!" I giggle as he stops whirling around, yet he still keeps me floating in his arms.

"I'll show you so much more, and we'll also discover new places together." He leaves fireflies kisses under my ears – yes, fireflies, as this is much more tingling than butterflies, and everything is more intense with Theone.

I find his lips again because the fresh mint mixed with his unique taste is becoming my favorite, and with each kiss, it's infiltrating deeper inside my nerves and my heart.

"I love you." His lips barely pull away to let me hear and feel his words, the vibrations traveling straight to my heart, and his shining gaze intensifying every tingle. 

It's hard to put into words everything he makes me feel, but I listen to my heart, knowing he understands me better than anyone else.

"I love you too... Thank you for ruining my Christmas romance plan..."

 Merry Christmas, my little elves!! 🎄🎅🏼✨❤🎁

I hope you've enjoyed reading this story as much as I've loved writing it – and no, don't worry, it's not totally the end, the epilogue will be out on New Year's Eve. 😉✨

But I still want to say thank you for all your support and love on this story. All your comments and feedback always melt my heart in cinnamon latte and often crack me up! 😍🥰😂

This is thanks to you that I've been able to almost finish it on time – I wished to post this chapter yesterday but I gotta remind myself that I'm not a robot! 

You're the best motivation through hard times and self-doubts, which happen a lot, and this story is the best example because it's been challenging to write a whole story in so little time and update so often. I'm not used to this, and I'm proud to say I did it! I've surprised myself and I've learned a lot. I know I wouldn't be able to do this all the time – hats off to the writers who write and update daily or with deadlines – because my health wouldn't allow it, and it's a lot of stress. But I'll definitely keep writing, and I hope you'll check my other books too, if you don't know them already. 😉

Finally, I hope this story has made you find and feel a little of the Christmas magic during those difficult and special times. Writing and sharing it has brought me a lot of fun, warmth, and joy – it sounds like the Christmas spirit, what do you think, Aden? 😏

Remember to love yourself and never change for anyone. Listen to your heart, always, and don't think too much. (I still gotta learn on this, you should see my daily lists!) 😅

Merry Christmas, I love you, my little elves 😘🎄🎅🏼❤⛄🎁✨❤

PS: I just wanna give a special shoutout to my mom, even if she won't read this, because the 'aww! finally!' part is totally inspired by her, she always comments this on the 'best parts' of the cheesy Christmas romances we watch together 😅😉❤