Togetherness. That's what Grady and Edaline believed Christmas was all about. So after opening the presents, which there were never truly a lot of, and visiting Dex's family, we hosted a giant Christmas block party. There was gossip and laughter an dancing late into the night. And there was food, oh, there was food.

A huge turkey- the biggest we could find, stuffed to perfection. After all, we were feeding the whole neighborhood. Cranberry sauce, stuffing, corn, corn bread, carrots, potatoes, bread and butter, tofu for our vegan neighbors. And drinks. At least sixteen different sodas, and six different wines and beers for the adults. Plus coffee and hot chocolate. The desserts were different every year because people always volunteered to bring them. One thing never changed, though, and that was Edaline's chocolate mousse cake. It was also one of the first things to disappear from the buffet table.

After helping set up, which took a few hours, I went upstairs to my room to get changed. My mom had picked out a dress for me. It was long-sleeved and cornflower blue, fading into purple at the skirt and the cuffs of the sleeves. (More or less like Elsa's dress from Frozen 2) Once I was dressed, my mom came upstairs to put my hair into pigtail braids. And, although I fought her, applied silvery eye shadow to match the dress. I didn't recognize the girl in the mirror. She couldn't have been me, she was far to beautiful.

At five O' clock, the party began.

People began streaming in from all sides. I kept a lookout for Tam and Linh, feeling that I would probably spend most of the night with them. I almost didn't recognize them when they did come in.

 "Whoa..." I said when they were close enough to hear me. "You guys look amazing."

 Linh blushed and Tam smiled. "So do you." He gestured to my dress. I could feel heat rising up on my neck. Great. They hadn't even been there a full minute and I was already blushing. Well, at least it was keeping me warm.

 "I got you something," he said, pulling a box out of his coat pocket.

I smiled. "So did I. I made these for everyone, but they're personalized."

 I handed Tam and Linh their boxes and opened mine. I barely had the lid off before I gasped. "Oh, gosh, Tam. Are you sure this is for me?" I asked, tipping the box towards him so he could see the glittering diamond snowflake it contained. I doubted they were real diamonds, Tam couldn't afford that sort of thing, but that didn't make it any less gorgeous.

"Hmm... now that I think about it..." he trailed off, thinking. My heart dropped. Maybe it wasn't for me. "Nope, it's yours!" he said, and my heart lifted back to where it belonged... and maybe fluttered a little. "Why? Do you not–"

"No, Tam. I love it." I said before he could finish his sentence. I placed the box on the ground and lifted the necklace out of it, examining the pendant more closely before reaching up to put it on.

"Here," Tam offered, taking the ends of the chain and moving behind me. I pulled my braids to the sides as he fumbled with the clasp. His fingers brushed the back of my neck, and the flutters in my heart intensified, moving outward until they were a visible shiver. I smiled when Linh looked at me worriedly. She smirked back, signaling that she understood.

When Tam came back in front of me to open his present, he was bright red and shaking. It took him a good five seconds longer than Linh to get his box open, but when he did, he asked, "You made these?" I nodded , and thus began a night of conversation.

When everyone had eaten dinner and stuffed themselves with dessert and it was starting to really get cold, my dad's voice echoed across the lawn. "All right, I know it's getting chilly, but don't go home quite yet!" he said. "We have hot chocolate and coffee, all you have to do is ask for it! But if you don't want any of that, why don't we warm up with a little dancing?" At his lat words, Edaline turned the radio on, playing the same 'Christmas Party' playlist as every year. The first song was relativity fast.

Not really in the mood for dancing, the three of us got hot chocolate and stood in the back, merely watching the dancers.

"How late does this go until?" Linh asked above the music.

"Late," I said. "Usually until nine or ten." She was obviously getting cold. And maybe a little tired.

"Do you want to go home?" Tam asked.

Linh smirked. "I'm not going home until you two-" she pointed back and forth between him and me, "-dance." Then she plopped herself on the grass and wrapped her arms around herself, shivering.

Tam rolled his eyes and grabbed my hands. "Looks like we're dancing, then."

Unfortunately for me, the next song was slow. I groaned as the first notes of Thinking Out Loud rung out over the yard. Tam, on the other hand, didn't seem uncomfortable in the situation at all. He just wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me so close I could feel his breath warming my cheeks. And, I realized with a start, it smelled minty. My mind flashed to half the movies I had watched, remembering what was normally about to happen if someone ate a mint. 

Did that mean he thought we might-

I didn't finish that thought. Instead, I listened to the music and tried not to picture Linh's smirk as she was probably also listening.

It was the second verse now, almost the end...

Take me into your loving arms...

Unable to help myself, I pulled Tam closer.

Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars...

I glanced up at the sky, wanting to curse the clouds for not being there. More than a thousand stars stared down at me.

Place your head on my beating heart...

I wasn't in control of myself anymore. It was late, and cold, and, and that song was playing... I leaned up.

Thinking out loud...

And I kissed him.

An unexplainable warmth spread through my body, starting where my lips touched his, rushing all the way down to my toes. For a second I forgot to breathe, and when I did, it was after I had pulled away, just as the last line faded away.

Maybe we found love right where we are.

So I know this is part of my Taffy (Taphie) day mass update so nobody's going to read this, but I just need to take a second and say: This chapter is insanely long. 1180 words long. Probably the longest chapter so far. And yet, it only took like 2 hours to write. I don't understand myself sometimes. Anyway, the next chapter is out, so no need to stick around!

~Mia