An Early Christmas

When we set step through Leo's door again, we both let go of each others hands at the same time but Amy must have seen it in a millisecond as she shot me a carnivorous grin that bordered on insane.

"I see you two are back," she mused, stroking her chin like a joker. I shot her a pointed look to drop it. What exactly? I, myself, didn't know but whatever was happening between Leo and I should stay between just us. If Damien or Nick found out...I didn't even want to consider the possibility of how bonkers they might go (over something that may or may not even exist).

"What took you so long?" Damien asked. 

He was sat near the fire place, plaid jacket thrown off on the bed displaying his white collared shirt beneath. He was rubbing his palms together, plopped down on the ground and occasionally tending to the fire.

"Yeah. Did something...happen?" Nick asked, his forehead creasing as he looked between Leo and I. "With your famil-"

"Everything went fine," I spoke up. "Just fine." There was no tint of bitterness in my voice as one might have guessed but the kind of tone that told Nick to just drop it and not worry himself. He was quick to pick up on that as he gave a firm nod in my direction and went back to focusing on Damien. The way it looked, it was like Nick and Amy were playing mommy and daddy as they babysat Damien who highly resembled a kid on sugar.

"May! Sit with me," he said, a wide smile on his face as he patted the spot next to him. "It's warmer here."

"I think Leo's jacket is warm enough for her," Amy coughed. I swear to all my Gods, if she didn't shut up-

"Can I have it back now?" Leo asked, and not in a nice way. Amy's eyes popped out of her head at the irritated way he had asked. I glanced up at him and saw him looking down at me with amusement in his eyes but only I was close enough to see that he was actually joking. He saw what Amy was playing at and was quick to shut her down. "We are back inside now. You can quit exploiting my hospitality."

"Wow, rude much, Leo?" Damien shot him a glare. "You come here May. You don't need his jacket when we've got this fire place running."

"You're right Damien," I said loudly, keeping my eyes trained on Leo's although he saw the small smile tugging at the corner of my lips. "Thank you but I no longer need your stupid jacket," I muttered, took it off and shoved it in his hands before walking away from him. Amy's eyes kept jumping back and forth between us which only meant we had done the job right. I was glad I had Leo on my side for this.

"Oh-kay," Nick said, dragging out the word. "This whole night has been extremely weird for me."

"Well, it's about to get weirder," I said with a wink at him. "I actually have something to tell you all."

Everyone turned to face me as I stood near the foot of the bed. Damien turned around, his legs crossed in front of him and his eyes fixed on me. Leo settled on the bed next to Amy and Nick and they all nodded to let me know that they were listening.

With a deep breath, I begun.

"I know that the reason why this party is happening now is because Leo and his family are going to be in France for Christmas. And I know, that all of yo- all of us," I said, correcting myself quickly before anyone noticed, "are going to be busy doing our own thing on Christmas day as well. But I wanted to make sure you guys all know just how much you mean to me so..."

"So?" Nick prompted.

"Well," I coughed and looked at the ground for a short while. "I don't really do mushy sentimental speeches but I honestly don't want to go this Christmas without letting you guys know how much you mean to me. I'm really glad that I moved here, not just because it was the fresh start that Dad and I needed but because I got to meet all of you."

"Even me?" Damien piped up, raising a hand like a school boy. "I thought running into stable boy was the worst decision of your life."

I shook my head at him, smiling to myself. "Nah, you've grown onto me Damien."

"So enough talk and more action. Where are our presents?" Amy bounced on the bed and Nick rolled his eyes at me on behalf of his girlfriend.

"She really means to say that she loves you too."

I laughed and wagged my finger at her. "You know me well Amy. You noticed there was a reason I brought my bigger handbag didn't you?"

"Well duh. For one, you were insistent on bringing it despite the fact I told you it didn't match your dress. I knew then and there there just had to be presents inside." What a genius. "Now show us!"

"Patience, Amy," Leo scolded her but didn't stop smiling at her enthusiasm. She had a way of charming everyone.

I took my lumpy handbag from the bed and opened it, taking out the first wrapped present.

"This is for you two," I said and handed it over to the couple. Amy took it from Nick, who was more than happy to watch her eagerly rip away at the packaging before she let out a squeak of joy at what she saw. "Awh, this is so cute!" She took out the fluffy warm sweater I had bought her and handed the matching one to Nick who looked down at his with a growing, cheesy smile.

"It's a couple themed birthday present. The saleswoman said this one would look best on you after I showed her your pictures."

"You can't shop alone for life, can you?" Amy said and I nodded, grinning a little shamefully. "But thank you May. This is amazing." She put the sweater on and hugged herself around her waist before turning to Nick and putting his on for him too. Her sweater had a picture of a female bear holding a heart, and his of a male bear doing the same thing but the catch was both hearts were connected by a single golden string, that, when they sat side by side, met. Standing up, they came over and gave me hugs and kisses.

"What about me, what about me?" Damien grinned. He was sitting back on his knees now and looked up at me like a puppy. I grinned and took out the large box I had taken so much care in packing for him.

"Oh!" He took the box and started tearing up the wrapping. "I can't wait to see-...what? Is this..."

"Hay," I said smugly. "Lots of it."

His mouth fell open as we all burst into laughter at the expression on his face.

"May, that is brilliant!" Nick said, clapping a hand on my back. Amy was doubling over in laughter as we watched Damien look between me and his box again and again. Leo, on the other hand, shot me a thumbs-up of approval.

"You got me...hay."

"Don't you get it?" I chuckled and crouched down till I was level with him. "Cause you're stable boy."

"So...hay."

I rolled my eyes at how blankly he kept repeating it. "Dig a little deeper into the hay, Damien."

He looked suspiciously at me before he started to do so, and finally found the real present.

"Aha!" he exclaimed and pulled it out. "A photo album?"

"Read the note."

"Dear Damien, you little shit," he smirked a little at that before continuing, "You've made my life miserable some days when I've all wanted to do is strangle your skinny throat. And others, you've made me smile so much it hurt my face. I guess I just want to say I'm glad you're a part of my life, stable boy. Do you remember the time you told me it's important to remember the good days so we can savor the memories for the future? That's why I got you this photo album. Maybe, once the new year comes around, we should start to make more memories together. All of us. Merry Christmas! Love, The Princess to your Stable Boy. P.S. Hope you liked the hay."

He set the note and the photo album down. "May, this is..." he gulped, "the sweetest thing you've ever done for me!" And with that, he came forward and wrapped his arms around me. I would have fallen back if not for the fact that I had prepared myself for him to do something like this.

"Very sweet," Amy said and smiled, clapping at the scene.

"What did you get for Leo?" Nick asked, trying to take a peek into the bag.

I went a little red and stood up, letting go of Damien who was flicking through the empty photo album.

"Umm, here's the thing..."

"Yes?" Leo hummed, getting to his feet and starting to walk towards me. He came to a stop before me and I started to blush harder as he smiled, waiting for me to give him his present.

"You did get him something right?" Amy asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

Very slowly, I shook my head. The only one who didn't seem surprised by this was Leo who didn't let out a single emotion of disappointment to show on his face.

"I'm so sorry. You have no idea how long I spent on trying to find you a present."

"Shame on you May," Nick teased. "You could have gotten him anything."

"That's the point!" I said, waving my hands a little erratically as the guilt struck me. "I didn't want to get you 'just anything'."

"Sshh," Leo hushed me and pulled me into a hug. "It's fine. I'm just glad you're here." I smiled and hugged him back, feeling the guilt seep away when I realized he understood. I heard Amy coo an 'awwh' that prompted me to pull away from Leo who was smiling warmly down at me.

"Okay, now that you've all got your presents-"

"Except Leo," Damien added. "Don't feel bad dude. She got me hay."

I rolled my eyes. "Leo, can you show me where the restroom is?"

"Sure."

He started to lead me out the room and I followed but not before looking over my shoulder one last time to see Amy and Nick showing off their sweaters to Damien who was taking a picture of them on his phone. It brought a smile to my face which didn't go away when Leo shut the door behind us.

"The bathroom's right down this hall, last door on your left."

"I don't care about that," I said and started to wave my hand at him. "Here."

Leo looked down at his hand, at what I had handed him.

"I thought you said-"

"I lied." I smiled at him. "I wanted this to be our little secret."

Leo stared down at the tickets. "You got us tickets to a skating show."

"Not exactly."

Leo raised an eyebrow, waiting for me to go on.

"It's a figure skating show but after that, they invite the audience to join in at the rink where the pro-team from Germany help us beginners learn how to be as awesome and graceful as they are. It's not for a while but I thought that..." my voice faded away when I saw the look he was giving me. "What?" The color drained from my face. "You don't like it."

"No, not at all." He smiled. "I love it. This is...really thoughtful Makayla."

"Then why the face?" I asked quietly.

"Because," he whispered, sighing a little as he reached into his pockets, "I got us the exact same thing." He pulled out two identical tickets, a small grin on his face. "I guess great minds do think alike."

My hands flew to my mouth as I let out a silent 'wow'.

"I was going to give you a ticket before you left, but I guess you beat me to it."

"Hey! This is actually...okay. We can get Nick and Amy to come with us."

"That's true," he hummed, looking amused by the turn of events. "Thank you, Makayla. Your present is very thoughtful indeed. And the fact that you took me aside to give it, even more so."

"So is yours," I giggled. "And yeah, I didn't want the others getting the wrong idea."

"I...see." He stared down at me in silence for a while but then shook his head to himself. "Is that all then?" He made a move to open the door behind me but I stopped him, putting a hand on his arm to stop him.

"No, actually. There's one more thing. It's not ready yet though so," I took out the delivery copy I had gotten from the shop and gave it to him. "I'm sorry. I wanted to give it to you today but the studio said they wouldn't have it prepared for a while. If you show this to the guy at the counter, he'll give it to you."

"Thank you," he said, pocketing the slip. "I'll be sure to get it."

"It's a framed picture, Leo. Of all five of us. We've taken loads together but this one caught my eye because we all looked so happy in it. We look like a family. Maybe that's cause we are one." Holding his gaze, I added, "I want you to go back to that cabin and hang it on the wall, where it belongs."

Leo's reaction was instantaneous. The shock that spread across it was one thing, but the traces of pure joy and what I thought was gratitude was another that had my heart leap inside of my chest.

"May..."

It was so very rare - the moments when he used my nick name but that only showed how truly surprised he was by the present I hadn't had the fortune of giving him in person. Smiling, I took his hand and squeezed it.

"That place should be one of happy memories, and not regrets. You could add one more to the collection. And maybe one day, we can all go there together."

Leo gulped, at a loss for words but he nodded and smiled at me.

"You're wonderful, May. Thank you."

He pulled me into a hug so quick that I didn't have the time to prepare myself for it. His arms encircled my body, face snuggled into my hair and all I could do was smile and hug him back tightly as I rested my head against his chest. I could feel the beat of his heart through the layers, racing so fast it almost burst through. That made me smile even more.

Standing on my toes, I whispered in his ear with all the happiness a whisper could provide, "Merry Christmas Leo."

--------------------CHAPTER END---------------------

Vote Goal: 10

I'm sorry it took so long to update guys! I got busy with uni and professional exams and ugh. But I'll make it a point to update regularly after this :3 

By the way, I'm looking for some good cover designers who might be interested in making some covers for Act II (the sequel to this book)? Anyone interested? Shoot me a PM!

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