#and eat some christmas eve appetizers

[lyekisses]

only a few more hours of work and then it’s christmasssss (eve)

[nancypullen]

Merry Everything and a Happy Whatever

Well, I cam back from Florida with just a couple of days to prepare for the onslaught of Christmas and promptly got sick. The virus that my sister had, some respiratory thing, definitely not a common cold, took me out at the knees. I slogged through the grocery store with my long list (I wore a mask!) and hauled home enough to feed an army. Everyone arrived on the 22nd and I made a dinner of pork carnitas, tortillas, and all the toppings. Rice and beans rounded out the meal and the whole gang was satisfied. The next night was a rotini and meatball bake, extra cheesy. And so it went. I was Typhoid Mary in the kitchen, coughing up a lung, and you'd think spreading disease. Would you believe that not a single person caught it? I'm just now feeling human again and no one else is even sniffling. I have to admit that the Christmas dinner was not my best. I kept forgetting to set timers. The turkey was dry (and I pride myself on juicy roasted birds!), the sweet potato casserole was not quite set, and I left the rolls in too long. I felt like a failure, but everyone ate and no one died.

Christmas was merry, Santa was sure good to all of us - especially a certain little girl. My boys spoil me absolutely rotten, to the point of making me feel guilty. I always cry and act like a doofus because I still see those sweet little boys of mine, and I want them to save their money for themselves. I should be proud that they're both doing so well and are so kind, but I just feel guilt. I'm not worthy! I'm sure a psychologist could have a field day with my thoughts. Anywayyyy, even though I was sick as a dog, it was wonderful to have everyone together. I felt like apologizing for not being more fun. I hate it that Matt flew all the way home and we didn't even play our usual rounds of Song Quiz or go on an adventure. In summary, Christmas was wonderful because my family is wonderful. The Edgewater parents had to go back to work, so we kept Little Miss for a three extra days since she's out of school. She helped me take all of the decorations off the tree (I knew she was dying to get her hands on those ornaments) and we collected all of the Santas, deer, and holiday knick-knacks from around the house. Between the two of us we got Christmas packed away and everything tidied up. Turns out child labor is beneficial. We took her to see Migration and she giggled all the way through. She dressed herself for the movie and I didn't fight it. Better to be overdressed than underdressed, right?

We handed her over yesterday afternoon and I came home and told Mickey that I was takin' to the bed. I don't think I moved for twelve hours. I didn't do much today either. I need to rest up for our big New Year's Eve festivities.

Yeah, I can't say that with a straight face. We have NO plans. I wouldn't go if we did. I don't even have a dinner planned for us. Usually Matt gets to stay through New Year's Eve and I do a buffet of appetizers. We may be eating tuna sandwiches on paper plates. Sounds like I've given up, doesn't it? Lawdy, I'm just tiiired.

Anywho, I survived and thankfully the family seems to have missed my contagious stage. I'd feel really awful if they'd all taken this nasty virus home. Glad it ended with me, good riddance to it. I'm thinking about what my word for 2024 will be and I'm just not sure. Last year I chose the word flourish. I chose it because I was so unhappy here, couldn't seem to make a friend, etc. I was determined to take control and make this my home. I should have chosen a different word. I tried, good grief how I tried. I'm an Army brat, I'm not shy about meeting people or being in new places. I've taken classes, gone to functions, reached out to others, even gone out a couple of times with some local ladies. Apparently I'm still undesirable. I did apply for and finally get a job at the library, so maybe that will help. If nothing else I'll make a little money while the local population rejects me.

Might as well make the best of it. Maybe my word for the new year will be acceptance. It is what it is. I'd rather my word be winner, as in lottery. Did you see that Powerball jackpot? Whew! I'd be outta' here so fast. With that kind of cash I could still see Little Miss every week. Fancy Grancy could jet in for gymnastics practice and dinner. Crossing all my fingers. I'll save one for Denton though.

Maybe that's the cold meds talking. Or not. I've whined my way through this blog post, so I'll end this little pity party. Just wanted to get you all caught up before we hang a new calendar. I'll think about my word for 2024 and get back to you. Anyone else choosing one? I've seen folks opting for simplify, balance, courage, gratitude...in what direction are you hoping to steer your next 365 days? We've passed the winter solstice and we're gaining sunlight every day, let's walk into the sunshine and choose happiness this year. I've always found happiness in small things - a pretty sunset, bird song, little green shoots in the spring. Tomorrow I'm going to get a whole bunch of tulip bulbs (a gift!!) in the ground. I'm planting hope. There's always hope, right? Alright, I'm off to soak in a bubble bath and read the latest Lisa Jewell book. I was on a library waitlist for months and so far it's been worth it. I downloaded it on my new Christmas KIndle. The Pullen men hate it that I'll use the same technology for a decade (my old Kindle worked fine, just didn't hold a charge like it used to). There you have it. It's over. Ladies, we decorated, shopped, wrapped, cooked, and spread joy like chicken pox. The lull between Christmas and the new year celebrations is a welcome relief. Rest if you can, recharge. You've earned it. Sending out loads of love tonight. Stay safe, stay well. XOXO, Nancy

[pickalilywrites]

Niccolo x Sasha request. Niccolo plans to confess his feelings to Sasha on Christmas Eve. Modern AU

thanks!!!

sweet confessions

nicosasha. modern au. 1564 words. read on ao3.

Today is the day that Niccolo has so meticulously planned for. It is the day that he is going to confess his feelings to Sasha Braus, and he has painstakingly prepared it for weeks. He has constructed the perfect menu — Mediterranean seafood, her favorite — and spent the entire day in the kitchen cooking each dish and baking the cake.

Planning the perfect confession had taken a lot more effort than Niccole had initially anticipated. First, there was the business of bribing his roommates to leave their apartment for a night so he could have the space to make a proper confession. Then there was the grocery list that he had written out the week before. He visited six different grocery store chains to get everything he wanted, only selecting the most high quality ingredients he could. He’s sure that Sasha probably wouldn’t have minded the difference, but he wouldn’t settle for anything subpar for her on this special night.  

Even though baking has never been his forte, he had taken baking lessons for two months in preparation of this day. He had settled on baking a layered lemon ricotta cake, a simple cake to make without any difficult meringues or complicated ingredients. Only frosting the cake is difficult to him now, but he’s practiced enough so that he can decently frost a cake. He’s not so much concerned about the cake’s appearance as he is about its taste. As long as it doesn’t look as if he slathered on the frosting haphazardly, he’s satisfied and he knows that Sasha will be more than happy.  

The most important thing about the cake is what’s inside: a small box that contains a strip of paper asking, Will you go out with me, Sasha? He had initially planned on laminating the strip of paper and slipping it inside the cake by itself, but he had decided against it and figured the box containing his feelings would be easier to avoid eating.  

Niccolo had decorated every inch of his apartment the night before. He had wanted to set the mood. Because today was Christmas Eve, he had gone with an elegant winter theme and had covered the apartment in snowflakes, even going so far as to hang them from the ceiling. He had gotten some of his roommates to help decorate the apartment in exchange for doing their laundry for two weeks (although he thinks he got the short end of the stick in that deal). They didn’t have much in terms of white home decor, but Niccolo settled for different shades of white so nearly everything in the apartment was anything from a stark white porcelain to a soft shade of cream. 

The only real hiccup Niccolo had faced was getting the wine. He had specifically requested that Floch purchase a bottle of Pinot Grigio and the idiot had come back with a bottle of Pinot Noir. Pinot Noir isn’t even a white wine! By the time Niccolo had realized Floch’s blunder, Sasha had arrived and was taking off her coat. He had to ask her to entertain herself with some television while he ran out to the nearest grocery store to pick up a bottle of the proper wine. Sasha didn’t seem to mind in the slightest and was still watching a gingerbread house making competition on the Food Network by the time Niccolo had arrived home.  

The two ended up finishing the gingerbread competition before starting dinner. (“I really don’t think that baker should have won. It was more of a castle than a house. Isn’t it a gingerbread house competition?” Sasha asked before switching off the television in disappointment.) 

Niccolo had started them off with an appetizer: baked oysters with lemon and crispy breadcrumbs. The Atlantic oysters he had purchased had a mild, delicate flavor which made the zesty lemon even more prominent, and Sasha hummed happily as she slurped the golden-baked oysters up. Served with the Pinot Grigio only made the flavor pop even more, and Niccolo couldn’t help but be pleased with himself as he watched Sasha smack her lips delightedly before picking up her next oyster.  

He had followed up the appetizer with a refreshing tuna couscous salad. The dish was simple to make but beautiful and flavorful, packed with different chopped vegetables and mixed with canned tuna before being topped off with fresh lemon juice and olive oil. He served the dish alongside some fried calamari. The squid had been cut into decently sized slices before coating them generously and tossing them into the fryer. Niccolo had been careful to watch them as they cooked in the boiling oil, dutifully waiting until they were a crisp golden brown before whisking them out of the fryer and onto a paper towel and patting out as much as the grease as possible. Sasha had squealed when presented with the fried calamari, her mouth watering as soon as Niccolo had brought the dish out of the kitchen.  

He then served Sasha scallops that he had seared until they were golden brown, their insides still soft and tender. While the dish itself looked difficult to prepare, it only took him half an hour to construct the entire plate. The scallops were served with a spicy, smoky red pepper sauce with a nutty aftertaste that paired perfectly with the shellfish. Sasha had finished her plate, leaving it completely spotless. 

For the main dish, Niccolo had prepared butterflied lobster tails. The shells glistened beautifully from the butter that had run down as the tails broiled. He had cooked the tails until the shell turned a beautiful red, the meat inside tender and juicy. Sasha had gasped, her eyes wide as Niccolo placed the butterflied lobster tails in front of her. She had licked her plate and her fingers clean after eating the lobster tails, a sight that made the butterflies in Niccolo’s stomach flutter even harder. He couldn’t believe that he would soon be dating Sasha officially if all things went well.  

“Oh gosh, I’m stuffed,” Sasha sighs happily, patting her stomach. She gives Niccolo a sleepy grin the way she does when she’s eaten her fill. “I don’t think I could eat another bite.”  

“Not even dessert?” Niccolo asks teasingly but he already knows the answer. Sasha always has a second stomach for desserts. He gets up excitedly, not noticing the way her smile falters as he heads towards the kitchen. “I made a special cake for you. You’re going to love it.”  

“Ah, is that so?” Sasha asks. Her voice lacks the excitement that it typically has when discussing food, but Niccolo doesn’t notice because of what he sees in the fridge or, rather, what he doesn’t see.  

“Where’s the cake I made?” Niccolo asks. He can feel his heart begin to race in his chest as he moves rearranges the contents of the fridge in case something is covering the cake. His panic grows as he realizes the cake is nowhere to be found even though he had placed it inside only a few hours ago. Had his roommates eaten it? He would entertain that possibility if only his roommates hadn’t left the house before the cake had been finished. So what then? Did the cake just evaporate? Did a ghost eat it? Did it grow legs and run away? Cakes don’t just disappear. 

“Um,” Sasha says. She has tiptoed behind Niccolo and is now behind him, looking over his shoulder with a guilty expression on her face. “If you mean the cake that was in the fridge earlier ... I ate it.”  

“You ate it?” Niccolo repeats. He turns his head to look at Sasha incredulously. There was a brief moment that evening when he had left her to get the bottle of wine, but she couldn’t have possibly eaten an entire cake in that time ... could she? He doesn’t know if he should be amazed at Sasha’s eating prowess or mortified that his surprise has been spoiled. “You ate it while I was out getting wine? Could you ... did you not know it was special?” 

“All your cakes are special!” Sasha pouts and his heart melts a little bit. 

Niccolo sighs and shuts the fridge door. He’s not upset, just relieved that that mystery has been solved so quickly. He reaches out to squish Sasha’s face between his hands. “And did you happen to find the box I put inside or did you eat that, too?”  

“Of course, I didn’t eat it,” Sasha scoffs. She reaches into her pocket and pulls out the little box Niccolo had hidden inside the cake for her. She presents it to him, opening it up to show him that the paper is still inside. “I kind of knew why you prepped this special dinner for me after I ate the cake but I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to spoil the surprise. You worked so hard, and on Christmas Eve, too. I’m really touched, Niccolo. This is my favorite Christmas so far.”  

Niccolo raises an eyebrow. He reaches out to cover Sasha’s hand around the box. “So, is that a yes?”  

“I wouldn’t ever dream of saying anything else!” Sasha giggles before throwing her arms around his neck. She plants a kiss against his lips and even though the cake has been eaten long ago he can still taste its sweetness on her lips. 

[alllofmylove]

I'm really looking forward to Christmas 🥲🎄 I find myself once again counting down the days for it to come when December hits. Having kids has made everything so much more meaningful for me than I could've ever imagined.

The first Christmas as a family of 4! The first year that the boy will be able to participate much more than he did last year when he was baby girl's age which is everythiiiiiing haha. Then next year will be so special too with both of them being toddler-involved. I can't wait to spend the day together just our little family. Going to my brother's at some point, which I'm looking forward to too, but mainly just hanging at home...celebrating together and cooking together! I think we decided on shrimp cocktail and vegetables and dip for appetizers and baked stuffed cod and asparagus for Christmas eve. Christmas day I'll probably cook frittata for breakfast and later on will be the glazed ham with pineapple and mashed potatoes and squash and lasagna. Someone in this household will tell you that the best part of the lasagna is the extra creaminess from the tiny bit of finely chopped boiled egg that I put into it, the way my Italian grandmother used to do. I say it's the basil but, hey to each their own 😌

I'm saving the wrapping for the night before because I promised Dan we would do it together. The kids will go to bed and we'll relax 🍃 and wrap gifts, eat cookies, watch Die Hard and then probably eat leftovers when the munchies kick in 😂 and then go to sleep and wake up with my little duo for Christmas together!

[holidayvisa]

25 December 2023 - I called my family and video chatted with most of the Whitehouses on their Christmas Eve. I got to see Mom, Dad, Judah, Uncle Bob, Kayla, Prateek, Grandma and Grandpaw. They are all at an airBnB together in West Virginia! I got to say a quick hello to everyone. Everyone looked festive and cozy. It was so nice to get to hear from everyone and feel the love from family, even though they're far away. They're getting ready for their Christmas Eve feast today, and preparing for their Christmas dinner tomorrow.

The Vaviches and I loaded food into the car and drove to pick up the Tetkas (aunties). We got to their house, and we smushed all five of us - Marie, Daniel, me, and the two tetkas - into the Vaviches' car, and we drove to south Sydney. As soon as I walked in the door, Luli handed me a piece of freshly flamed saganaki. DELICIOUS! I shook hands with a few people and learned a few names before I was ushered to a seat at the "kids' table", a plate appeared in front of me, and then Luli put two more pieces of fresh-off-the-flame saganaki onto my plate. These people are serious when it comes to food! Someone brought out a bowl of buttered octopus, which looked so cool that I had the inspiration to take a photo. I had several pieces of octopus, and it was delicious; but honestly, despite how tasty the octopus was, I enjoyed the fun of the experience over the tastiness. Other appetizers appeared on my plate, like spanakopita, a greek pastry with spinich and cheese inside. After I'd eaten a full meal of just appetizers, it was time to start eating the actual meal. Oh my gosh! when I got up to the buffet, I was told to take one of everything, and then come back for seconds of the things that I loved. OH MY GOSH. I literally couldn't fit one of everything on my plate. There were so many different dishes, that there was physically not enough space on my plate for one of each thing. There was choriatiki (greek salad), souvlaki (meat on a stick), burek (serbian ground beef pastry), and so many other things that I'm forgetting. When I couldn't poassibly have any more food, it was time for dessert. And for dessert, sticky date pudding, bougatsa (phyllo pastry and custard), and galaktoboureko (the greek version of flan). Somehow, more and more desserts kept on appearing on my plate. People would walk by and say, "Adam, you need to eat more of this," and serve me up another slice of bougatsa or another bowl of sticky date pudding! I was so exhausted from eating so much, I needed a nap! We arrived and the first piece of saganaki was put into my hands at 12:30, and we were constantly eating until probably about 4:30! After the meal, we played several rounds of Uno. And then, it was time to head home. We dropped the tetkas off at their house, and drove the rest of the way home. We got back around 8pm, and Daniel said, "I'm hungry." I burst out laughing because I was so full that I knew he must have been joking. Nope, he was serious! Daniel had some dinner that night while I cradled my very full belly.

I'm thankful for my family all together (all except for Josh and me) in West Virginia. I'm thankful for their love. I'm thankful to be invited to the extended Vavich family Greek orthodox Christmas feast. I'm thankful to be accepted into the wider family and for the loving atmosphere. I'm grateful for the delicious food. I'm grateful for Mira's sticky date pudding.

[soulmate749-blog]

So... it’s 2023

Wow. It’s actually 2023. It means that I am 22 years and a month old. I will turn 23 years old later in the year. I know that I am still young, but time flies. My twenties will end in a blink of an eye. I thought that I would spend NYE or New Years with my friends or a “boyfriend”. To mention, this is my 22nd year of being single. Can someone this year seriously stop this streak? Anyways, I am just in the house alone and writing this Tumblr post on the New Year. 

I wanted to write a journal entry about my Seattle trip while it was happening. I didn’t have my laptop with me, so I shall write it right now. 

I landed in Seattle on Christmas Eve. I stayed at Kimmy’s apartment for a week 12/24 to 12/31. There is a Korean dude named Louis, which I matched on Hinge back in October 2022. We had our first video call after the League of Legends Worlds. While I rooted for T1, he rooted for DRX. To make it interesting, we did a bet. T1 unfortunately lost, so Louis was given the opportunity to wish for anything when I am in Seattle. However, he was curious what I was wishing for, so I told him. I wanted him to go on a Christmas date with me. He smiled and happily agreed to it.

So... it’s Christmas. I wore my sock heels, skirt, a white long sleeve top, a cute gray jacket, and my gold Madewell earrings. We planned to meet up at 6:15 pm at La Vita E Bella restaurant in Downtown Seattle. I was holding his gifts (Ralph Lauren Coffee cup and coffee beans) in a Nordstrom paper bag while carrying an umbrella. The tips of my sock heels were very wet, and the paper bag was ripping apart. I was able to arrive at the destination two minutes early. I called Louis, and he told me that he was already inside. I entered the restaurant, and the server asked me if I reserved a table. She told me that there was no reservation under the name of Louis. Then, Louis came up to me because he heard his name being called. So, that was my first time actually seeing his face in real life.

We sat down and ordered our pasta and appetizers. I got this mushroom pasta, and he got carbonara. He asked me what my first impression of him was. I told him that he was cute. I genuinely thought he was cute. Then I asked him what his first impression of me was. He said, “I looked outside the window and saw a girl. I wasn’t too sure if it was you, but I was certain when I heard my name at the entrance.” I was not really sure if that was actually first impression. Then, he said, “Oh, I am not finished. I thought you were cute.” Okay, so at least we both were not catfishing. We had our talk, and he suggested that we should walk around downtown to check out some Christmas decorations. We see bunch of Christmas lights and this huge teddy bear. I remembered that I haven’t taken a BeReal that day, so I pulled out my phone and opened the app. I was hesitant to ask him if he wanted to be in picture with me, but I still asked because I have big balls. Louis said, “Yeah. I was actually getting ready to pose a selfie with you.” I was surprised and gladly took the photo with him.

After that, I really wanted to hold his hands. He promised that he would warm up my hands when I was in Las Vegas. I ended up mentioning what he promised, and he took my left hand and held it. I was happy, but I was not too sure if I really liked him or not. The moment we held hands it started to rain. 

We walked over to the Link station, and we were standing there until the Northgate link arrived. I asked him if he had fun, and he said yes. Of course, I said the same. We planned our second date at Nana’s Green Tea at 6:30 pm.

I went back to Fifi’s house to eat some hotpot and tell them what happened. I had fun during the date, but the important thing was if I really liked him enough to start a long-distance relationship. I couldn’t say yes exactly. I always think about William, my first ever crush. He is a frat Stanford dude that has so many red flags. And yet, I still like him. The biggest reason why I like him is because it is so comfortable to talk to him. I don’t try to be cute or anything. I talk to him like a friend, and my heart gets flustered. It is something I cannot control at all. I thought Louis would help me forget William, but it definitely didn’t.

So, the next day was our second date. Louis bought me this matcha latte float. It was delicious. We talked, but I was lowkey getting bored. The talk was very trivial, and I wondered if he felt the same way. I wanted to test the Platonic Effect again with him. I asked him if we could walk outside. We held hands. I confirmed that I didn’t like him. He took me to the Link again, and we didn’t talk anything about our third date. It was complete silence. Someone had to end our relationship. I asked him if he had anything to say, and he finally told me that I was like a younger sister to him. I was not hurt AT ALL because it wasn’t like I liked him either. 

The train arrived, and I gave Louis our last hug. I walked into the train station feeling indifferent. In fact, I took a BeReal there. It takes around 15 minutes to walk over to Kimmy’s house from the Roosevelt station. I called my best friend Carmen while I was walking. I started crying. It wasn’t because of Louis or William. It was because I was disappointed in myself. Why can’t I find a guy that I really love? Am I just being desperate for a boyfriend?

After the call, I was thinking alone. Although I didn’t like Louis, I was curious to why he saw me as a younger sister. Like I previously mentioned, our conversation was very small talk/trivial. I tend to avoid talking about my future and long-term goals because I still do not know what I wanted to do after I graduate. I don’t want the guy to see me as a girl who has no future. I want to be ambitious, but I am not motivated to go to med or dental schools. Therefore, I assumed why this was how Louis perceived me.

Today, it is January 1st 2023. My best friend Carmen will get a full time job in Massachusetts after she graduates. Kimmy is already working at Deloitte. What will I be doing after I graduate? I still don’t know. But I know for a fact that I do not want to go to med/dental school. I want to do something related to business, specifically product management. I want to prove to my friends that I am capable of something. I have realized that I have low confidence/self esteem. 2023 is the year where I need to grow and prioritize my future before getting a boyfriend.

I had stayed at Seattle for a week and didn’t feel homesick at all. I didn’t call my parents once. I would also intentionally have my phone on Do Not Disturb mode because I didn’t want to get any notifications from my parents. The biggest reason why I didn’t call them was because if I hear their voice, it feels like I am back home. The biggest reason why I went to Seattle was to get out of this suffocating home and to avoid their nagging. 

Therefore, in 2023, I want to stay strong and really accomplish something that will help my career. I can always find a partner anytime. Hopefully, I can find someone organically, not through dating apps. 

If I am still alive in 2024, I want the future Su to read this tumblr note.

Dear Future Su in 2024,

Hey it’s me but in 2023. I wanted to let you know that you have accomplished many things, even if you still haven’t landed a job. You probably have graduated by then. You are still young. You are only 23 years old. You have amazing friends that will talk to you when you need them. Just keep on trying, and don’t give up. You are doing a great job... One day, you’ll find a job and someone who will make you happy. And if you are currently employed and/or dating someone you cherish, congratulations. Regardless, I am proud of you.

Sincerely, 

Su 1/1/2023

[russellpipkin]

What Do Italians Eat On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day?

Christmas is celebrated all over the world, and each culture has traditions. Christmas is special in Italy; specific foods are eaten only during the holiday season. This blog post will look at what Italians eat on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We will explore traditional Italian Christmas cuisine, including seafood dishes!

Italians typically celebrate Christmas Eve with dinner and Christmas Day with lunch, though this year is far from typical. Every region has its traditional fare for the holidays, making the gastronomical celebrations a delightfully varied experience usually enjoyed in the company of family members.

 Feast of the Seven Fishes

In Italy, the Christmas Eve dinner is typically meat-free. It consists of seven different types of seafood – known as the ‘Feast of the Seven Fishes‘ in Italian-American culture. Seven is a number with tremendous significance in numerous cultures; it symbolizes completeness, flawlessness and solidarity.

This feast comprises seven exquisite seafood dishes, such as eel, baccala (cured cod), calamari, and shrimp.

The key is moderation for those wanting to commit to seven seafood dishes in one meal. Instead of serving an overly large main dish with seven whole fish, spread out the flavor profiles throughout a variety of small appetizers, soups, pasta, and sides that focus on seafood as their primary ingredient. This way, your dinner guests can experience all seven courses without feeling overly full!

This meal includes a variety of delicious salads, such as insalata di rinforzo (a salad with escarole, olives and anchovies), caponata with herbs, or radicchio tossed with olive oil. Salami-style appetizers are also popular choices.

Christmas Eve dinner in Italy.

Italian Christmas Eve Meals

In Italy, families come together for Christmas eve dinner. It’s a family affair! Italians need to have delicious, traditional meals that bring everyone together.

According to Catholic customs, meat is prohibited from being consumed on the nights before holy days. Consequently, Italians typically indulge in a fish feast on Christmas Eve as an alternative. The main course is usually a variety of seafood dishes, including shrimp, squid or octopus in tomato sauce, stuffed calamari, clams cooked with white wine and garlic, or baked fish.

Pasta is also a popular choice. Some traditional recipes include spaghetti with clams, ravioli filled with ricotta and spinach, or pumpkin-filled mezzelune. Potatoes or other pastries may also be served as side dishes.

The desserts are usually regional delicacies and vary from region to region. Some popular choices include panettone, pandoro (a round sweet bread sprinkled with powdered sugar), and torrone (a traditional Italian nougat candy).

Italian Christmas Day Meals

Christmas Day lunch is an important event where friends and family reunite, sit around the table, engage in conversation, and share jokes – all while savouring delectable dishes! Eating (a lot) of delightful cuisine is unquestionably the main agenda of this important celebration.

All across Italy, the traditional Christmas Day feast has remained consistent for generations, and it consists of the following:

The antipasti: An array of carefully selected cured meats, cheeses and delightful fried finger foods

The pasta: This course could be gnocchi, ravioli or spaghetti – depending on the region.

The main course: This usually features roasted or grilled meat, such as pork, lamb, beef or rabbit.

The contorni (side dishes): This consists of an array of seasonal vegetables, such as artichokes and bell peppers.

The dolci (desserts): Sweet treats highlight the meal! Some traditional desserts include panettone, pandoro or tiramisu.

An antipasti dish for Christmas

Antipasti

From prosciutto to Parmigiano-Reggiano, a classic antipasti selection features cured meats and cheeses. Garlic bread or bruschetta is also part of this course, helping to prepare the palate for the main dishes.

In the north of Italy, you may find polenta croutons topped with Gorgonzola cheese or Piedmontese bagna cauda (a garlic and anchovy dip). Meanwhile, focaccia, arancini (rice balls filled with cheese and other ingredients) and caponata are popular in the south.

Pasta Course

Pasta is an essential component of the Christmas feast. Common recipes include lasagne, ravioli, linguine or spaghetti accompanied by delicious sauces. Pesto alla Genovese (Ligurian pesto), ragù Napoletano (Neapolitan meat sauce) and pesto Trapanese are some of the most popular choices.

Main Course

The main course usually consists of roasted or grilled meat, such as pork, lamb, beef or rabbit. Some regions have their specialities, such as cotechino (boiled sausage) in Lombardy and zampone (stuffed pig’s trotter) in Emilia-Romagna.

Contorni (Side Dishes)

The contorni usually consists of seasonal vegetables, such as artichokes and bell peppers. Carrots, mushrooms or potatoes may also be served as side dishes.

Dolci (Desserts)

Tiramisu, panettone, pandoro and cannoli are some of the most typical Italian desserts. You may also find sweet ravioli filled with ricotta cheese or fruit pies decorated with marzipan in certain regions.

No matter what region of Italy you’re in, Christmas is a special occasion where friends, family and food come together to create an unforgettable celebration.

We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about delicious dishes Italians enjoy on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! Buon Natale a tutti! (Merry Christmas to all!)

Happy Holidays from Italy!

source https://sesamorestaurant.com/news/what-do-italians-eat-on-christmas-eve-and-christmas-day/ from Sesamo https://sesamorestaurant.blogspot.com/2022/12/what-do-italians-eat-on-christmas-eve.html

[craftygal65]

Taste of Home

These easy-to-make snacks are perfect for Christmas Eve celebrations.

https://trib.al/xsyqWNy

The one above looks soooo good!

Our party guests flock to this holiday gem of an appetizer - cherry-studded cream cheese served with graham or water crackers and pears. —Libby Walp, Chicago, Illinois

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Seafood Cakes with Herb Sauce

Living near the ocean, I have a wide variety of seafood available to experiment with in recipes. This one uses salmon and scallops, but shrimp, crab, lobster, or any firm white fish, such as halibut or even cod, would work equally as well. — Elizabeth Truesdell, Petaluma, California

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Creamy Cranberry Dip

You can use a variety of salty crackers to scoop up helpings of this slightly sweet cranberry dip. The recipe yields a lot so it’s great for large gatherings.—Joy McQuaid, Darlington, Wisconsin

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Easy Egg Rolls

I've always loved egg rolls, but every recipe seemed too complicated. I decided to start with a packaged coleslaw mix. Now I can make these yummy treats at a moment's notice. —Samantha Dunn, Leesville, Louisiana

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Holiday Salsa

When we offer this cream-cheesy salsa of fresh cranberries, cilantro and a little jalapeno kick, everyone hovers around the serving dish until it’s scraped clean. —Shelly Pattison, Lubbock, Texas

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Garlic-Herb Mini Quiches

Looking for a wonderful way to impress guests? You’ve got it—and you need only five ingredients to make these tasty apps! —Josephine Piro, Easton, Pennsylvania

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Chicken Crescent Wreath

Here's an impressive-looking dish that's a snap to prepare. Even when my cooking time is limited, I can still serve this delicious crescent wreath. The red pepper and green broccoli add a festive touch. —Marlene Denissen, St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin

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Cranberry Cream Cheese Spread

This festive dip is a snap to make, taking only 10 minutes from start to finish. Thanks to its hint of sweetness, both kids and adults will gobble it up. —Frankie Robinson, Lockhart, Texas

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I love recipes that delight the senses; and that my husband would actually eat. Add in my renal diet restrictions and it a lot. I need to try some of these.

[lara-transilvania]

In Romania we too fast and on the 24th we're encouraged to have a "black fast", meaning no food at all. Once the Christmas Mass is over (in the evening) so is the fast and we're allowed to eat. This year my family made:

1. Aperitiv - Appetizer, which was salami, schnitzel, meatballs, ham, cașcaval (cheese), peppers, olives and brânză (something like feta cheese but made of cow's milk).

2. Sarmale - same cabbage wraps as in Bulgaria. Also for some reason they're called piroște (singular form: piroșca) in my region despite the fact that they're completely different from the Russian pirozhki or Serbian piroška.

3. Supă de pui - chicken soup but like, clear chicken soup idk

4. Friptură cu sos - steak with sauce and it's usually eaten with #5

5. Salată de Beouf - Beef Salad, I think it's similar to the Russian Salad.

6. Colacul Crăciunului - It's ✨Christmas cake✨ which is just bread with a fancy name and a pretty design.

As for dessert, there was:

1. Prăjitura Televizor - TV Cake. It doesn't look like a TV that's just it's name. Details vary.

2. Bețivana - The Drunk Cake :D it contains a few spoons of wine and apparently that's enough of a reason to call it drunk.

3. Albinița - The Little Bee, cause it has honey. Duh.

4. Some cocoa cake with sweet cheese. Idk it's name.

Some of these will last until New Year's Eve. People often make deviled eggs too, also piftie/răcituri/aituri which is... pig feet soup jelly. At least the one my mom makes. I don't recommend. As for other cakes, cozonac (some sort of brioche bread with Turkish delight, jam, walnuts, chocolate or poppy) is very popular as well as cornulețe (rolls with the same filling options as cozonac).

What do you guys usually eat on Christmas Eve (also where are you from)? Here’s my Polish Wigilia:

Dish 0: Opłatek (Christmas wafer to be shared with family) 1. Barszcz z uszkami (dark red beet soup, no floating veggies just pig ear-shaped mushroom dumplings, the uszka) 2. Pierogi with cabbage and mushrooms, or if we’re feeling fancy krokiety with cabbage and mushrooms (dumplings or croquettes, both go well with barszcz) 3. Fish soup 4. Ryba po grecku („fish the greek way”, fried carp on a pile of boiled grated vegetables, mostly carrots, apparently Greek people have no idea what the fuck we’re on about) 5. Another fish, pan fried, with lemon (the reason it’s on the menu is that nobody in my family truly likes ryba po grecku and we’d all rather eat some different kind of fish, but it’s a tradition) 6. Herring in sour cream, details vary 7. Marinated mushrooms in mayonnaise 8. Vegetable salad, the one everyone makes (pickled cucumbers, onions, potatoes, carrots, parsley root, boiled eggs, apples, peas, mayonnaise, salt, pepper some mustard) 9. Leek and gouda cheese salad (leek, pickled cucumbers, gouda, pinapple, boiled eggs, peas, mayonnaise, salt, pepper, mustard) 10. Sernik (cheesecake) 11. Makowiec or „karaluszki makowe” (poppy seed cake or poppy seed cookies) 12. Piernik (gingerbread cake or cookies)

Other possible options include gravlax and more cakes - chocolate cake, multilayered nut cake we call „snickers” or, like this year, carrot cake.

We stopped serving kutia and kompot well before my lifetime because grandpa hates it. Grandpa is also the only reason fish soup is still on the menu.

[bangtanpromptsfics]

pyxis.

dialogue prompt #9: “Cheer up it's Christmas Eve, sweetheart”

pairing: jimin x reader

genre: christmas au, brother's best friend au, fluff, childhood friends to lovers

word count: 3,412 (oh no)

warnings: reader is a lil sad but nothing angsty tho

summary: christmas was always an eager wait. less for the tree decorations, family dinner and the fuss of toddlers. more for your childhood best friend who you kissed under a mistletoe years back.

a/n: ahhh!!! I'm not completely satisfied with how this turned out to be. the inspiration was from a few christmas themed fics I read here and the movie ‘It's Christmas, Eve’. anyway this was my attempt though it's nowhere near christmas time. one of my personal goals is to celebrate a christmas like the west, the snow, the fuss and the commotion ;-;. Also I lost sense of time and space and this turned out to be 3k ;-;

masterlist

“Cheer up it's christmas eve, sweetheart”, your mother chimes as she pours brown batter into little cupcake moulds.

You simply smile at her, the festive mood not really getting to you because of exhaustion. Uni was tough, and enjoying this Christmas when you know you have tons of essays due in a few days was hammering inside your brain every now and then.

“Is that chocolate?”, you ask, leaning your tired body on the counter where she is at work.

“And orange”, she smiles, turning around to preheat the oven.

“Where's Jin”. Though you hated the routinely flicks against your forehead, the absence of your big brother felt weird.

“He went with Jimin to get the Christmas tree”.

The mention of Jimin brings a smile to your face. His soft features and captivating grin filling your head. If there was one of the few things you enjoyed coming back to your hometown for holidays, it's chocolate cupcakes your mom bakes and Jimin.

His family are friends with yours after all. You, Jin and Jimin attended the same school until college and other priorities in life drift you apart. Though the bond must have rusted a bit, you can't deny the fact that you still have that crush which started somewhere in middle school, on a chritmas eve like this when he kissed your cheeks shyly under the mistletoe. Your friends and family, and even Jimin himself must have seen it nothing more than platonic, but you still find yourself relieving the moment in your head however crazy it may sound.

Standing up straight, you decide to fix your bed hair and complete the skincare routine before the said duo drops.

“Mrs. Y/L/n...”, Jimin softly kicks the back door. He is carrying one end of a huge fir, and your brother on the other end, grunting from the freezing snow outside.

“Oh dear place it right there”, you mother is quick to her feet helping the boys and doing her usual commentary on how well the tree looked.

Jimin looks more handsome than ever, especially with his nose and cheeks dusted in scarlet from the cold. He looks really huggable in his fluffy sweaters and red beanie. Jin is busy commanding around so you choose to sit back, a very typical sibling energy and the size of decoration boxes and the tree itself not really appetizing to your will to find any strength.

“Hey Y/n!”, Jimin stares back at your eyes in a split moment which has your lashes fluttering suddenly. You probably look like you are carrying a disease and right now you become very hyper aware of that.

“You alright? You look tired”, he comments. You feel his eyes carefully studying the black under your eyes and worrying his mind because that's what he is like. He cares about everyone and everything, has a heart so soft it hurts to even think about it.

“Jet lag...”, you say, “I'll be fine”. You shoot a little thumbs up on his way to reassure.

“Why didn't Jin get the tree earlier? It's Christmas in a few hours”, you dodge the focus around you and walk near in an attempt to closely examine the tree for no reason other than feeling Jimin’s eyes a little too long on you.

Your brother gets visibly annoyed seeing you start a very unnecessary talk. So he is completely obliged to shoot back with, “Because you were in charge of Christmas decorations this year but your lazy ass flew down here only yesterday”.

“You know I was busy with Uni!”

“Whatever”, he shrugs, getting back to the box of tree decorations. You feel a little bad seeing yourself not being helpful during a festive season. It felt like you were procrastinating on your responsibilities as always.

“Um...is there any way I can help?”, you ask softly, earning a mischievous grin from Jin and your mom fills in the answer.

“We need more baubles. Also I missed out gifts for Aerum and June, so maybe you can get them”. Now this was already tiring and you were not lying earlier either, the jet lag was still choking you alive. You wonder if the huge pile of stars and glitters beside your foot aren't enough but then maybe it's true because this is the largest fir you ever saw for Christmas in your house. And speaking of the five year old notorious duo, your cousins-- Aerum and June, you have no other option than to step out into the butt numbing cold and get something for the sake of not getting your brains eaten.

While you stand there doing these calculations, Jimin puts a two and two and immediately suggests to tag along with you.

“That'd be great! Thanks sweetie”, your mom chimes, her fine lines of face gathering around her eyes while she does so and you catch her throwing a wink to your side and you pretend you never saw that.

“Thank you Jimin”, you smile in all honesty while he reciprocates the same.

“No problem. I'll get my car. Will you be ready in an hour? I think you just woke up”

“Uh...yeah”, you fake a laugh, “Yes I'll be ready in an hour”

Jimin still lives here in your hometown, attends a community college nearby and his house is just a few steps away from your own. You remember how you had the same analogy in your mind as well. You like living here. You like Jimin’s company. The lake Park and the annual ice skating competition in December and the bookstores and coffee shops at the outskirts of the town. And you can't seem to clearly remember when and where that feeling started to become foreign. Maybe it was a teenage quirk to explore the world that you are now a three hour flight away from all of this. It wasn't a deep regret, but seeing Jimin, it almost felt like it. It felt like you betrayed him. Because he seemed to be keeping his word to this day.

This year, it's a few degrees lower than what it usually is and you find yourself chattering your teeth together as you walk to Jimin’s house.

His footsteps rush to get the door as soon as you ring the doorbell and he greets with the same wide grin as if he hasn't just saw you an hour ago.

“Let's go?”, he asks immediately, getting house keys from his coat pocket and locking the front door before stepping out making you confused.

“There's no one home? Where are your parents?”

“Oh well didn't Mrs. Y/L/n tell you?”, he studies your features and gets his response so he continues “They went to New York this year for Christmas. It's some elder people thing I think...so I'll be spending Christmas this year with your family”

“Really!?”, you chime, and then immediately notice a very childish jump you did with tiny fists and all, feeling a little embarrassed at yourself, “Ah... uh I mean that's great”.

“Yeah”, he giggles, sounding like a twelve year old who is still waiting for his growth spurt, “Get in the car it's freezing in here”.

Since it's been six odd months you've spoken to Jimin, you figured it would would be strange and awkward to be with him, but his demeanor states otherwise. He could effortlessly begin conversations and build momentum with you and by the time you are at a thrift store, he is aware of the little gist of student life and the dramatically exaggerated history research paper still due.

“What are you getting for the twins?”, he asks, seeing you checking out the kids toys section with absolutely no idea and that's exactly what you reply to him.

“How about this puzzle?”, he brings a big jigsaw to your glance and you figure it's a great thing to have their little brains engaged and give yourself time to breathe.

“It's perfect!”, you add, immediately placing it your cart with a few decors you picked up from earlier aisles.

Jimin places an extra pack of Christmas candies in the cart, and you send him a questionable look knowing it's his way of bribing the kids coming this evening. He puts too much effort into people's happiness, something you wish you were capable of as well.

The shopping went smooth. It was therapeutic to get hot chocolate with extra marshmallows afterwards like he insisted followed by that very cliche movie scene where one of them develops a creme moustache and the other notices and dabs it off.

You want this moment to linger a little longer, but your whole family arrives in less than two hours and the decorations were due. If Jin doesn't have you in the next thirty minutes he might as well eat all the cupcakes your mom is baking as revenge.

“I had a great time”, Jimin states as he stops the car in front of your house, stealing the words from your mouth and warmth hugs your cheeks immediately.

“Me too. It's been long since we spent time with each other”

You hear a lone sigh with white fogs coming out of his plump lips while he does so, as if he were suddenly sad when you mentioned that.

“Are you okay?”

His grips tightens around the steering, “I've missed you”, he says, eyes meeting slowly. And as if he was suddenly pulled back to earth he conjures another sentence to not sound so vulnerable.

“I uh... It's just--”

“I've missed you too”

Even with the gear box painstakingly blocking the way, you throw your upper half towards his body anyways and you find him hugging you back. His hugs still feel the same from years back; safe and warm and filled with love.

If it wasn't for the constant reminder that your brother is probably plotting a murder against you, you would've stayed much longer in his embrace. Maybe the hug was a big straightforward for a bond still gradually blooming, but it didn't feel weird at all and when you pull back he is smiling down at you.

“I thought you two lovebirds flew off”, a very annoyed Jin states from above you. He is balancing himself on a chair to attach the mistletoe to the ceiling.

“Sorry hyung”, Jimin says. And somehow now you are getting super aware of the way your family is low key shipping you both. Not that it's an irritating thing of course though you seem to act like it. But you have no idea what's going on with Jimin, what if he said he missed you as your childhood friend? It's a lot difficult to segregate his priority of giving affection. He seems to be giving justice in terms of care for every living being he knows.

“The circus is on its way so I hope you both hurry with putting up everything together”, the voice above states, now lowering himself to ground after putting up the twig.

Three of you giggle at the mention of your family as a circus. Well in a way it definitely was. You have a bunch if uncles who crack awful jokes, a trait Jin himself as picked up from a tender age of ten. Then their wives and kids who share certainly the same braincells in comprehending things. You bet they'll ask you again about your major and your dating history once they walk in through that door amidst clearly stating everytime that you are a history major and yes still very single.

In the hallway there is a half decorated tree. A thread of fairly lights wrapped around the green and very few baubles hanging here and there.

“I'll put up the star and join you”, Jimin says, digging out a golden star from the carton. Though now he doesn't know why it was a good idea for him to announce that when both of you were almost the same height. He is just a few centimeters taller than you and the top of the fir is still very much way above your heads.

So with a chuckle you both figure Jin has to do it.

“This is your final year right?”, Jimin asks stepping closer to you. He seemed nervous about something. Or was it anxious?

“Yeah...you?”

“Yeah...”, his sweet tone was drawn almost like a whisper and you sense you should ask him further about what's wrong. But before you had to deal with a starter he continues,

“Are you planning to work in Chicago as well?”

“Sweetheart help me clean up the kitchen please”, your hear your mom's voice overpowering through the house. Which is good. Because you don't know what you are supposed to answer. It was as if he was almost hopeful that you'll choose your hometown all over again. But you aren't sure. So you take the opportunity to step away from the situation excusing yourself.

And while you are clearing the blobs of batter stuck on the counter, your mind is a haywire. What are you going to do? Though you know your whole family wants you to stay, it's still a foggy place to be in. Four years apart in another city as a college student has not provided much, except caffeine addiction and sleepless nights. Things were not even as fun as everyone told you.

A few steps away Jimin silently prays that you stay, because he had truly missed you. Even though you have outgrown from the eighteen year old shell as he had known, he finds himself actively choosing to be with you. Even when other things in life occupies his mind, there's an element of it which goes back to you.

“They are here!”. You groan silently, while your parents are throwing their hands in air, giggles and chatter fills in as your uncles and aunts and the taunting toddlers welcome themselves in.

“Y/n! You have grown so much!”, the older aunt comments, and you supply a manufactured smile to tag along. Other comments follow by soon, about how tired you are, gasps about not having a partner and future plans, all of which are not completely answerable at the moment but you manage to get through them all and finally excusing yourself back to the garage convincing there are more decor supplies in there.

Families are nice. They make festivals brighter and lives less lonely. But yours was just hard sometimes. Not that you completely loathed the people now fueling themselves off the cup cakes your mom bakes, you were just merely lost, still yet to come up with an answer to what your stance is after graduation.

“Hey...”. Jimin has joined you now which you notice feeling a warmth against your shoulder when he sits, with an extra scraf knowing the garage is still comparatively chilly than the house, “you okay?”.

“Yeah...I was just...thinking”

“Is this about earlier? I'm sorry if I made you anxious”, he quickly adds.

“No!...I mean yeah but, it's high time I find a ground with this. What are your plans?”

“I was thinking about teaching at Jefferson High”, he shifts rather uncomfortably. He is talking of the school in your town, your school, where you have lots of memories with Jimin, “You know...like we said during Junior year in high school?”

“I'm sorry Jimin”, you feel the guilt inside you growing, “I never kept my promises”.

“Hey...that's okay! Everyone changes. I just want you to be happy. I...I hope you are happy Y/n”, he reassures, taking your hand from your side and squeezing it between his soft palms.

“I don't know about that either...”

As much as you hated showcasing vulnerability to another person, you know Jimin is an exception. You had cried to him about everything during school days and he had never invalidated a single thing, even when you were visibly dramatic over a downpour during a family picnic when you were five.

Jimin is frozen on his seat as if he can't find the words. He was never good with words so instead he hugs you, a little longer than the last time till he is sure you have calmed down. Grateful for not ending up crying, you smile up at him and remind yourselves to get back inside to avoid suspicion, especially from the kids who take humiliating people as an important milestone to achieve.

When you enter back inside and get immediately surrounded by a million questions and chores thrown at you, you find your answer. Maybe your heart belongs back to everything your younger self had blabbered about. Not to mention, this fairly good reunion with your crush feels nice, though, he might still see it as platonic. Maybe he makes things less daunting.

By the way Jimin was owning everyone's heart in the house, it felt like he was family. Well in a way he is. But to put more clarity, he bought things together and his actions bought so much peace and love within everyone. Even the notorious twins listen carefully to him and help the uncles and aunts in the kitchen.

He is again by your side, two cupcakes rests on his palms and you take it with a silent ‘thanks’.

Seeing no signs of him beginning a talk now, you think of coming up with something. Maybe a memoir from today? Or about how absolutely handsome he looks right now? Wait.

“They are under the kissing twig!”, Aerum screams like the house caught in fire, her sibling joining by the side to provoke the habit even more.

“It's called a mistletoe Aerum”, your aunt corrects before pasting a smug across her lips.

Nothing changed. They are the same people. Hyping you and Jimin to kiss just like when you were thirteen. If the factor of time is removed, this is the exact night. Both of you cemented to the flooring as if you forgot to exist.

Both of your necks snap together to the mistletoe Jin had attached to the ceiling earlier. And when you lower your gaze back, face gawks at each other eye to eye. It's the same. He has that blush, the shyness from years ago. It's going to be platonic. Yet again. And this moment will only ever be romantic and flowery in your head.

June was the first to squeak, and Aerum shuts her eyes the moment Jimin is leaning his mouth towards your lips. It was difficult to relax under the stares of many, but when he ghosts his mouth over your again and leans in for a second kiss, you are fixated on him. Hands holding each other, the plump of his lips so soft it felt like you were biting into a fluff of cloud.

Maybe he'll have an explanation to your family for this. Not like anyone in the audience was disappointed. Your mother was almost in tears? And Jin looked hardly surprised with any of this. As if it was all swell according to his plans.

“You both are so cute”, one of the aunts awes and your mother is quick by her side, completely agreeing to it.

“Jimin...”, you return your gaze to the equally flustered man who just kissed you and he sounded almost breathless,

“I'm sorry if this was wrong it ju--”

“I like you”, you immediately snap in and his face is a void for an instant. Fully processing the words, his eyes disappear when he grins, “I like you too...a lot”.

“Are you two dating?”, the twins haven't dropped the case yet, running to your feet to help their curious brains.

“Yes...”, Jimin responds, looking up at you for a reassurance, which you quickly supply with a nod, “Yes we are dating”.

When the kids are satisfied they go away snickering to themselves.

“I decided to stay”, you say.

“Really!?”, his disbelief was comical, yet wholesome considering how much he wished for this, “I'm...I'm so happy!”.

Giggling at him, this time you lean forward and peck the corner of his lips.

“You lovebirds better get a room”, Jin announces and thankfully not loud enough to catch everyone else's attention.

Usually Jin expects a punch to his arms from his sister, but he sees how grateful you are for his mistletoe decor. He leaves the couple, satisfied that there won't be any more ranting about how much Jimin likes you.

Thank you so much for reading!! ♡♡

Original Content of ©bangtanpromptsfics

[thatsamericano]

Some Updates on the Christmas Eve Drama

I wrote the Christmas Eve drama (finally), and it ended up going much worse than in my original plans. And the reason that it did is that I have written some additional scenes into this story that would reasonably make Arthur more suspicious about Romerica than he was before and more fed-up with their (in his view) nonsense. He was also steadily getting more annoyed with Alfred throughout the entire day because from his POV, Alfred is just acting really weird. First, when he’s giving Alfred his suit Arthur sees that something very bizarre happened to his pillow, and Alfred’s excuse about a “raccoon” is ridiculous and an obvious lie. Then, he sees Alfred blatantly staring at Savino in church during morning Mass and notices their over-affectionate behavior during the Sign of Peace thing. Right after Mass, it feels a little weird to him that Antonio is clearly trying to get them out of the house, and while they’re on their jaunt to the Ponte Milvio for the luchetti d’amore, he takes a circuitous route that is avoiding the hotel. Arthur doesn’t know Rome well, but he can tell that Antonio is taking them on a much longer trip than required. (Francis is enthusiastic about the luchetti d’amore and a romantic Christmas Eve walk, but he probably also think Antonio is behaving a little oddly). They get back, and Romerica might get back to the house later than just a quick trip to the hotel and back should take if they left right before FrUKSpa returned to the house. It seems like they actually weren’t at the house much, because neither of them removed their ties, and pretty much all the guys did after Mass when they were just hanging around the house for hours. (Alfred says he’s trying to avoid inconveniencing Savino since he doesn’t know how to tie a tie on his own, but there’s no reason for Savino to still be wearing his tie.) Alfred claims he wanted to get a camera to take pictures of the Christmas tree, but he takes three pictures very quickly and doesn’t bother to use it again. To Arthur, it seems like Romerica went on a secret date and Antonio helped arrange it for them (or unwittingly got used as a pawn), and it’s pissing him off. Arthur wasn’t paying enough attention to Alfred to notice that he was acting worried and antsy while Savino was upstairs, but he does notice that once Savino comes downstairs, Alfred is super clingy to him, and they’re cuddling in a way that’s even more affectionate than what they typically do back home even though Arthur explicitly told Alfred not to do this a few days ago.

Right before dinner, Alfred figures out that Savino isn’t wearing a scarf so his hickeys are visible, which could cause a problem. They try to manage the situation by sitting at a table without FrUKSpa, but their table is right next to theirs, and it includes Chiara and her little sisters, plus some people Alfred doesn’t know. They get through the appetizers okay, but then while they’re eating spaghetti con vongole, Alice (basically nyo Veneziano) notices the hickeys (there’s now two of them, because Alfred was that dumb). Savino is so terrified of people finding out about this that he drops the wine glass he was holding. It makes a loud crashing noise because it falls to the travertine floor, and everybody stops eating briefly and looks over at that table. Savino is silently freaking out about more than just the wine, but Mr. Vargas gets up to clean the glass from the floor so Savino won’t hurt himself by stepping on the glass in his socks and goes to get him more wine, and everyone pretty much goes back to whatever they were doing. Except that now Arthur is paying more attention to Savino and Alfred’s table. One of Savino’s cousins playfully teases him about the hickeys and his reaction, Savino says they’re not hickeys, Bianca (nyo Seborga) says they look just like hickeys, Chiara whispers at her to not give Savino shit today, and Savino comes up with the lie about ranting at a stronzo in his sleep and accidentally punching himself in the throat.

Arthur is listening, and when he hears a story that’s clearly bullshit, he says that’s one of the worst lies he’s ever heard, and it’s right up there with that unbelievable story Alfred told him about a raccoon this morning. Savino is extremely fragile today, so Arthur being snippy with him puts him on the verge of tears. Alfred tries to help him out by saying Savino muttered about a stronzo in his sleep while they were on the plane and does talk with his hands a lot when he’s awake, so he could have easily hurt himself that way. He also admits that he got his wildlife mixed up and maybe it could have been a cat or a squirrel, but he wouldn’t know because it got into the room while he was at the hotel. Antonio is extremely confused about the raccoon thing because this is the first he’s hearing of this, but he does say that Savino talks a lot in his sleep and always has. (He thinks the throat punching story is weird and at this point, he probably does think it’s Alfred, but he doesn’t want to make an issue of it during this trip, especially today.) Arthur gets pissed at Antonio for being “bloody oblivious” because Savino allegedly “punched himself” in the throat twice in a way that looks exactly like hickeys, and then he says it’s obvious what’s going on and glares directly at Alfred and Savino. (In Alfred’s POV, he thinks he’s being way more hateful than it is, but for Arthur, he’s just fed up of this bullshit he’s dealt with from them for nearly a month.) Alfred puts an arm around Savino because he’s whimpering and looking scared, and Alfred is scared too. Some cousin (Giorgio, but Alfred doesn’t know it’s him because he can’t look away from Savino) says “Savino has a secret girlfriend he didn’t tell us about?” and then Arthur says, “No. He has a secret boyfriend. Look at how they’re sitting right now.”

Savino bursts into tears, and Antonio loses it on him because all he wanted was a nice Christmas with the Vargas family and Arthur keeps ruining it with his ridiculous suspicions. He says Arthur already fought with Alfred about this (on Thursday, when Arthur and Francis told Alfred not to do stuff like play footsie with his stepbrother in Rome), and now he’s upsetting Savino too. Francis tries to get Arthur to calm down by saying they shouldn’t make a huge scene about this right now on Christmas Eve and can discuss this another time. By this point, Savino is crying really hard from all the fighting, and Alfred is crying too because his boyfriend is upset and because this stuff is starting to affect him too (and he is dreading the “discussion” Francis mentions). Arthur snaps at Francis and brings up some of the stuff that had been bugging him today (his suspicion that Antonio helped Romerica arrange a “secret rendezvous” at the hotel because Antonio was clearly trying to get them out of the house, Alfred and Savino were acting antsy, and Alfred barely used the camera he allegedly needed to get from the hotel).

Chiara gets incredibly pissed off, stands up out of her chair and tells Arthur that it wasn’t a “fucking rendezvous,” but that Alfred was taking Savino to see his parents and his nonna at the cemetery where they’re buried. Arthur is stunned and apologetic, though he does get a little irritated at her repeatedly calling him an eyebrow bastard. The rant she goes on is very similar to how I imagined it before, except she’s more insulting and tells Arthur he’s lucky he didn’t get murdered after making Savino cry over something stupid like a hickey after he visited his parents and grandmother. She explains that he was definitely too miserable and exhausted to have a hotel rendezvous with anyone and that Alfred had to take him to the cemetery because Savino is too traumatized to go on his own. Vinny repeats the excuse he gave Antonio about how he didn’t want to hurt Antonio anymore by making him watch Savino lose his mind over his dead sister and that it would be too cruel to do that to his nonno when his wife hasn’t even been gone for two years and he’d have to watch Savino grieving his dead son too. He gets upset, because he is genuinely guilty about it, Alfred tries to comfort him, and then Chiara points out that Alfred was obviously comforting Savino as a friend when Arthur was upsetting him (with more insults of course). Chiara explains in detail why Savino goes on Christmas Eve, and how he actually appeared to be doing better this year before Arthur ruined it for him. Arthur apologizes to both Savino and Alfred, Alfred explains that he didn’t tell his parents where he was going because he knew they’d never allow him to go and explains how he made a plan to do this that would keep them both safe, and Antonio apologizes for deliberately concealing Alfred’s whereabouts from his partners and explains that he didn’t tell them about Savino’s annual cemetery visit earlier because it’s a very private thing for him and he wasn’t sure if Savino would be okay with them knowing. Arthur again apologizes for being a “bloody wanker” to Savino, and now that he’s apologized Chiara tells him to sit down, shut the fuck up, eat his food, and then be “quiet as a fucking church mouse” when they go to Mass later, because it’s the only way he can begin to redeem himself. Everybody slowly gets back to eating, and Mr. Vargas (who wasn’t there the entire time but was watching the worst of it and was about ready to intervene before Chiara told Arthur off), gives Savino his new wine glass.

[old-hyper-super-clover]

Secret Santa Event,

Day 6

This little story belongs to my Christmas project, a series of stories leading up to Christmas Eve! Check my Event Masterlist for more information, and have fun!

A/N: might contain interactions with my MCs Clover and/or Violet (no spoilers ofc), but you don't have to know them to understand the story!

Beelzebub was a very simple man.

Give him food and he will eat it.

Give him good food and he will very happily eat it.

Actually, you may even give him something that's not food, and there is still a very good chance that he will still end up, yes, eating it.

As the avatar of Gluttony, his stomach was a black hole, never able to fill up, to stay full, but always yearning for more and more.

And thusly, his interests tend to orbit around food, mostly. But, honestly, if your body was signalling you this constant, incredible pain that is being famished, you'd probably do the same.

And even so, compared to his brothers, Beel was one to think about his sin the least.

What was on his mind then, you ask?

Well, that we are about to find out, as our favourite soft big boy was about to get his secret Santa gift today.

And his very own Santa Claus wasn't one to choose the simple path, not about something you could pour a little love into.

----------

On the day the group had agreed on the secret Santa event, everyone had joked about how obvious it would be when Beel would get his gift, since the Santa would be standing in the kitchen all day, preparing some seven course meal the size of a whole family dinner.

And sure, you could definitely whack out some meal with it all -- Hors d'oeuvre, soup, appetizer, salad, a main course, desert and a nice mignardise -- and Beelzebub would drool himself crazy over that...

But his secret Santa Simeon wasn't going to spend any second in the kitchen for this present.

The angel had thought a lot about an appropriate gift for the sixth born demon brother. They knew each other since Beelzebub was born in the celestial realm, with Simeon having watched over him and his twin brother Belphegor a couple of times. He knew that Beel had a calm and friendly aura, despite his rough and unfriendly appearance, and the angel loved how nicely Beel treated Luke.

And so, one afternoon, when Beel was visiting them in the purgatory hall, taste testing (meaning eating all) of the cupcakes that Luke had made, an idea hit Simeon.

An idea, or rather, a memory.

--------------

"Hey, Simeon, where have you been yesterday?"

A few days later, in school, the angel sat together with most of the demon brothers as well as the other exchange students.

His gaze drifted towards Asmo, who had asked the question.

"That was the first time you ever skipped class", Satan noticed. "Is there something ailing you?"

Chuckling softly, Simeon shook his head.

"No need to worry", he hummed, before a smirk curled his lips in a mysterious way.

"Let us say, Santa had something important to tell me."

"Y-you met Santa?!", Luke bursted out, his cheeks flushed pink in the sudden excitement. "The real Santa Claus?!"

As Simeon would only continue to laugh as an answer, Luke kept bombarding him with questions.

At some point, Solomon finally chimed in.

"That must mean your secret Santa duty will come in to play soon, right?"

"Yes", Simeon smiled. "Today, to be precise."

All eyes widened in at least a little anticipation.

"Who'd ya get, then?", Mammon asked. "Can't you give the present now?"

"Patience, Mammon", the angel admonished.

"That's not a word that Mammon knows LOL", Levi chuckled.

Levi earned some angered comments, of course, but those were silenced once Simeon spoke up again.

"Besides, I do not have it here right now. After school, I thought I'd take the person concerned to the purgatory hall and hand it to them there...

Of course, only if that is okay with you, Beelzebub."

Beel looked up from the sandwich he was eating, terribly confused at first.

"... Am I getting the present?"

As Simeon gave a little nod, you could hear how Beel's stomach was growling in excitement.

"Now you made him hungry", Levi laughed.

Belphie pressed out a little sigh.

"Well, Simeon... I hope you have prepared something delicious, because Beel will have a hard time holding back his hunger now..."

"Don't worry", Simeon said.

"I am certain I have just the right present for him."

------------

"Self-made dinner?"

"Perhaps."

"Candy?"

"Maybe."

"Oh, yes, maybe those celestial realm sweets that you are hiding from me?!"

Chuckling, Simeon was approaching the front door of the purgatory hall, reaching for his keys as Beelzebub right behind him wouldn't stop trying to guess what delicious food would await him.

As they reached Simeon's room, Beel wasn't able to hold in his hunger any more, so he dashed right into the room...

... Utterly confused when he couldn't find any food.

"Where's... Uhm...", He mumbled, looking right and left, but nothing edible was in sight.

Simeon had followed quietly, coming to a stop now next to him.

"Merry Christmas, Beelzebub."

Irritated, Beel followed Simeon's gaze, looking over to a shelf.

And there it was, a little plushie dog, a red ribbon neatly wrapped around it's head.

The demon stepped closer, still confused.

And then, he remembered, too.

For the longest time, Beel kept silent. He picked the plushie up, inspected it, felt its fabric. It was really worn out, had to be incredibly old already, with some stitches here and there.

And Beel knew.

At some point, he turned to Simeon.

Tears were rolling down his cheeks.

"Is this... Really...?"

Simeon answered with a soft smile.

"Yes. Lilith's toy, from when she was younger."

Beel's voice was so thin that it took seconds until he could speak up again.

"... How?", he asked, staring at the toy.

Now Simeon came closer. "Right after the celestial war, most of your things got destroyed. But I felt that, even though you guys had fallen, I wanted to keep some memories of the people I held very dear to me. So I hurried to pick up whatever I could hide best, to keep a piece of all of you... and to remember Lilith."

Droplets of tears were falling onto the fabric in Beel's hands. "But this is yours... I cannot keep th-"

"No, Beelzebub", Simeon placed a hand on Beel's arm, "I want you to have it."

"B-but..."

Simeon looked up to him, waiting until he caught his gaze.

"You really love your family, don't you?"

And with his lower lip shaking a little, Beel engulfed Simeon in a big hug, not planning on letting him go until Simeon understood just how much that present meant to him.

[marveloussupernerd]

For the Holiday Prompts, can you do #46 with Saeyoung and a f!MC? Thanks!

Aw yes!! I was hoping somebody would request this with him :)

Seven’s Jacket - 707

This is from my Christmas prompt list !

Prompt: “I’m cold. Can you give me your jacket?”

Warnings: spoilers for Seven’s real name (duh !)

Summary: Seven had planned out the perfect outdoor wintry date. However, he had forgotten to tell you to plan for the weather. Lots of fluff

“Babe!” Saeyoung whined, calling you from your shared bedroom. “Are you almost ready?”

He had been asking you for the past fifteen minutes. You had just started your makeup when he started complaining. It almost made you want to go even slower, but you were worried he actually had time-sensitive plans.

You fixed your hair one last time before heading out of the bathroom to meet up with him.

“Wow,” was all he could say. You were wearing a dress and tall boots. You’d probably pair it with a scarf because fashion. But that was all. “Wait... you look sexy as hell.”

You giggled, brushing his comments off, trying to ignore how giddy they made you felt. “Worth the wait?” You asked him teasingly.

He swooped in and wrapped his hands around your waist, pulling you close to him. “Well worth the wait. You look perfect.” He kissed your cheek. Then your nose. Then your lips. Then he was peppering kisses all over you.

You tried to push him off of you, but it was hard to be serious with how silly he was being. “Saeyoung! We have to get going.”

He finally released you from his grasp, grabbing a jacket then taking your hand to lead you out the door. He picked his favorite bright red babe car, opening the door for you and making sure you were all situated before shutting it and getting in the drivers side.

“What do you have planned for tonight? I’m super excited.” You questioned, buckled your seatbelt.

“Oh lots of fun things! But we’ll start with dinner.”

“I can’t know the whole itinerary now?” You pouted.

He simply chuckled and shook his head. “That would ruin the surprise! You do trust me, right?”

You giggled and leaned over to kiss his cheek. Of course you did.

The restraunt (JESUS CHRIST I CANT SPELL RESTAURANT) he took you to was... really fancy. Like table linens. Cloth napkins. Domes over food as they served it. “Sae... how did you-“

He shushed you, waving his hand to disregard your question. He gave the host your name and you were brought to your table. They offered to take your coats and everything. Seven pulled out your chair and scooted it in for you.

“Am I dressed well enough for this? This is probably the fanciest place I’ve been in my whole life. How did you get in here on Christmas Eve?” Your mind was racing. This seemed like the type of place Jumin would take someone for an expensive business deal, not a place fit for you and Seven.

“Well, I-“ he ran a hand through his hair. “This is my first real Christmas. I’ve got you and I’ve got Saeran and I feel like I can finally be happy and enjoy it. That’s all thanks to you. I wanted to show you how grateful I am.”

“That’s so sweet. I’m happy we can share this day with each other, and tomorrow with your brother.” You couldn’t hide the fondness you felt towards the two. “You both deserve it.” The waiter came to take your order. Seven really wanted to order for the both of you (he said it made him feel fancy) so you decided, eh, screw feminism, you’d let him.

“After seeing the waiter I finally feel underdressed,” Saeyoung commented. He was wearing a dark maroon sweater and black jeans. It looked really nice, and pretty dressed up for Seven. He had switched his glasses to a plain black pair and everything.

You glanced at the women in evening gowns. “Me too honestly. I think you look nice though.”

“I think you look stunning.” He winked dramatically at you.

The rest of the dinner was primarily the two of you basking in rich people food and you poking questions to try and figure out what Saeyoung had planned after dinner, but he wouldn’t budge. Your eyes about popped out of their sockets upon seeing the bill (and that was WITHOUT an appetizer or dessert), but Seven seemed unphased. Later you’d have to ‘reprimand’ him for spending so much money on you.

Finally you left, hand-in-hand. You walked to the car, but Saeyoung kept going. “Cmon. I’ve got more planned, remember?” He tugged your entwined hands a little to get you moving again.

“Where are we going? Am I allowed to know now?”

He sighed like it was the most dramatic thing on Earth. “Well, if you must, we’re going to the park.”

The park? You hadn’t even realized there was a park over here. Still, you were more than happy that he finally gave you an answer and kept walking.

There was a giant Christmas tree in the park. “Second biggest one I’ve ever seen,” he commented. “I wanted to show you it.”

“What’s the first?” You asked curiously.

“C&R. Who’s surprised.” Nobody was. Jumin’s father enjoyed the holidays quite a bit.

Suddenly, Saeyoung cupped your cheek, turning you to look up at him. His hands were slightly chilly. “That’s not the only reason I brought you here though.”

“Oh?” You asked, the air leaving your mouth turning to fog as you spoke. It was starting to get cold.

He let go of you and pointed behind you. It was a horse carriage, all decked out in holly! “For real!?” You turned to him, practically bouncing in excitement (and to keep warm).

“For real for real!” His eyes were lit up; it seemed he was just as excited as you. He led you to the carriage, giving you his hand to help you up, then grabbing yours as you pulled him up. The horse driver dude seemed to know what was up and started moving.

You wrapped your arms around Seven’s arm, nuzzling into his shoulder. “This is perfect.”

Tiny tiny snowflakes started to fall from the sky, melting as they hit the pavement. “Even more perfect,” he commented, kissing your cheek. His nose brushing against your face made you shiver involuntarily, which he took note of, chuckling.

“Did you just shiver?” He asked, pressing his cold nose all over your face to make you shriek.

“Yes! Saeyoung, I’m freezing cold. I did not dress for outdoor activities.” You pushed his head away from you, still cuddled up to his warm arm.

“Whose fault is that?”

“Yours for not telling me what we were doing! Baby please?” You whimpered, looking up at him with puppy dog eyes, scooting your legs closer to his to try and warm them up.

“Please what?”

“I’m cold. Can you give me your jacket? Pretty pretty please?” You were practically sitting on top of him to stay warm at this point. He chuckled, shaking his head at you, muttering something about how you were too cute, then took his jacket off. He placed it over your shoulders, rubbing his hands up and down your arms to try and warm you up.

“Thank you,” you sighed happily. “Much much better.”

“Yeah you’re telling me. It’s freezing!” He exclaimed. He paused. Then raised an eyebrow. Then asked the carriage to stop. Then bounded off, leaving you there confused. Within seconds he was back with two styrofoam cups.

“Hot chocolate!” He exclaimed, handing you both of them while he climbed back on. The warmth escaped the cups quickly, heating up your fingers to the point where you could finally get feeling back.

“How thoughtful.” You passed his cup back to him and then took a sip. The drink burnt your tongue to the point where you could hardly taste it, but you could feel the warmth going down your throat. It was so nice. You drank it in absolutely no time. He pulled your legs onto his lap to try and take in some of your warmth. Who knows how that went for him. He went to take his first drink, his glasses fogging up from the steam.

You gently took the glasses off his face, wiping the fog off on your shirt, then placing it back on him. “That’s not gonna w-“ his glasses fogged up again immediately. “Work,” he sighed. “That’s okay. I’m okay with being blind.”

You took the opportunity of his temporarily imparts vision and crawled onto his lap completely, wrapping your arms around his neck. “Guess Who?” You asked, whispering right above his ear. He shivered, some of his hot chocolate sloshing onto your dress.

“The only other person here?” He guessed sarcastically. “You made me spill my drink Babe.”

“I’m sorry.” All of a sudden the carriage stopped. “But if it helps, I think we’re done with our ride.”

Saeyoung wiped his glasses with his free hand while you clambered off his lap, jumping down from the carriage. You thanked the driver profusely, then linked arms with Seven again to go back to the car.

You were surprised when he didn’t start driving immediately. Instead, he locked the doors and then turned up the heat all the way, basking in the sauna. “You were cold, huh? I can give you your jacket back,” you offered, sliding a sleeve off.

“No! You look all cute and cozy in it. It’s okay.” He rubbed his hands together in front of the vent, glancing at you to give you a reassuring smile.

“So is that it? Are we calling it a night? Because I’m FREEZING!” You exclaimed, rubbing your hands together as well.

“We actually have one more thing on the list.”

“Oh?”

He grinned. “Go home and eat a whole roll of Nestle Tollhouse cookie dough with Saeran.”

Now that sounded like the perfect way to end the night. You buckled up your seatbelt, signaling you were all ready to go. “Can’t wait. But if I get a tummy ache from the cookie dough you’re gonna have to stay up and rub my tummy all night.”

He rolled his eyes. “As if I wouldn’t do that anyway. You ready to go Babe?”

“Super ready!”

“I wasn’t talking to you, I was talking to the car.”

[mae-gi-writes]

Une Premiere | Ju Haknyeon (The Boyz Christmas Series)

La Joie De Noel Series.

Sangyeon | Jacob | Younghoon | Hyunjae | Juyeon | Kevin | Changmin | Chanhee | Haknyeon | Sunwoo | Eric

'Une Premiere' : A First, included in the expression ‘That’s a first’. 

In which you and Haknyeon go on a first date on Christmas Eve.

things to know:  - moelleux au chocolat : molten chocolate cake. It has a liquidy chocolate sauce inside. 

I dedicate this story to:  @atbzkingdom​ , Dee, thank you for always bringing me comfort and for always having my back. Being friends with you on Tumblr has helped me so much this year and I wanted to write this fic for you as a gift. So I hope you like it <3 

-♡-

The warmth of Haknyeon’s hand on yours was burning through your palm and making it sweat bullets even though the cold was busy biting at the rest of your body. 

You were surprised that he hadn’t pulled away in disgust yet. Your mind was internally screaming at you: you had one job Y/N, and that was not to make a fool of yourself! 

You wouldn’t have been in such a state if not for the sudden inclination of such events tumbling one after another so that they left you feeling dizzy with euphoria, in a mess of feelings that made you want to squirm in place.

When Haknyeon had proposed to you that it was about time you’d had a first date with him -- he had confessed his feelings a few weeks ago and ever since there was this unknown, unspoken feeling that teetered between the two of you as though you were constantly balanced on a plate about to crash at any moment -- you had agreed wholeheartedly without thinking twice about the consequences that followed. 

Like right now, when you were practically unable to function because he’d intertwined his fingers with yours like it was the most normal thing he could’ve done. 

You wondered whether he could hear the way your heart seemed to palpitate within your chest like a ping pong ball.

Y/N you loser. Get a grip.

The Christmas Eve market was bustling with people and shining with lights that were strung, multi-coloured LEDs adorning the pedestrian cobblestone and turning the scene in a fairytale wonderland. You could hear music, Christmas jingles that floated through the air, and managed to somewhat relax despite your initial nervousness around the said young man. 

"Oh look, they have Christmas cookies,” Haknyeon tugged you along to one of the stands where a multitudes of red, green and white Christmas cookies were displayed for the occasion. 

“Three for five dollars!” The girl beamed while handing out samples.

“Woah it’s good,” your eyes rounded in surprise as you looked at Haknyeon, who chuckled at your expression, “we could buy some for your grandma. She likes Christmas cookies doesn’t she?” 

His thoughtfulness for your own grandmother made your heart soften. He was so considerate that you wondered how someone as angelic as Haknyeon could walk this earth.

Precisely one of the reasons why you’d fallen for him so hard. 

After thanking the cookie seller and stuffing one of her Christmas cookies boxes in your bag, you followed the string of people down the line of stands filled with various Christmas-themed items; decorations for sale, gift ideas already wrapped up in their respective bags, food items that would make good appetizers for your own family dinner if you hadn’t already prepared anything. 

"Oh my gosh they’re all so pretty!” You couldn’t stop yourself from exclaiming as you crouched along the row with barely restrained excitement thrumming through your veins, “what do you think? Look at this one!” you held out a glittering gold angel silhouette, “your sister would love that.” 

“Yeah. Unfortunately she’s at that stage where she likes to shove everything in her mouth, edible or not,” Haknyeon grumbled softly, causing you to giggle as you tried to hang it off his ear.

He eyed you with amusement, “Do I look like Christmas tree material?”

"More like boyfriend material,” the words slipped from your mouth before you could stop them, though he just burst out laughing before tugging you closer to drop a kiss at your temple, “you’re so cute.”

Face burning with heat at his bold action, you tried your best not to show your embarrassment, which proved to be useless since he noted the way you ducked your head away and how your hands seemed to pick at your nails in that adorable way of yours whenever you weren’t sure of what you should be doing. 

Deciding to warm yourselves up, you decided to stop by one of the cozy coffee shops that sold only Chocolate-themed desserts. Haknyeon’s excitement doubled when you confessed you’d never actually been to this place, quickly whipping the menu from your hands and promising that this was going to change your life forever.

“You’re in for the biggest surprise of your life,” he stated upon spotting the waitress making her way to your table. You had not failed to notice, in all this flurry of excitement, that his hand had entangled once more if yours under the table and was now currently rubbling circles over your palm. 

You hoped that your face didn’t betray the way your heart was racing about hundred miles an hour.

“Y/N,” he probably noticed your expressions, “you okay?” 

“Y-Yeah,” oh shit. Were you that obvious? “so what’s so special about that place anyway?” 

“I’ll tell you later,” and his hand squeezed yours softly, almost making you gasp at his tenderness.

A few minutes later your table was filled with a moelleux au chocolat and a macha-dark chocolate infused crepe garnished with bananas and snow sugar, accompanied by two hot macha lattes decorated with foamy little kittens.

Haknyeon didn’t hesitate to feed you, even folding the crepe nicely so that there was no need for you to open your mouth wide. Though you made a face at being babied (especially in public), he just insistently kept on urging you until you gave in.

“Good?” he tilted his head, watching you with affection practically brimming through the corners of his eyes. 

You nodded, taking a quick sip of your latte and sighing in bliss, “okay, you win. This is really good.” 

“Told you it would.” 

You cut into the moelleux as the chocolate oozed out of the cake, a delicious sight really. You reached over the table, “your turn now.” 

Haknyeon accepted your offered fork though from the reddish tips of his ears, he was just as embarrassed as you were. This was the first time you two were out in public, officially anyway. Still, you couldn’t help but coo at how cute he was.

“I’m not cute,” he scowled while unable to keep the grin off his face, “you’re the cute one in the relationship.”

“That’s debatable,” you take another bite of the crepe, “have you seen yourself?”

“Actually I have, and I disagree with you.” 

Without warning, he reached over to pinch your cheek, “look at you, so adorable,” he said, laughing as you swatted him away.

It was getting closer to midnight by the time you two hopped off the last night bus to walk towards your house, the streets alight with golden hues cast by the light posts and the snow that bathed the entire scenery in magic. A muffled silence rang through your ears, only interrupted by the soft stomping of your boots up your porch as you looked up and perceived the darkness coming from your humble abode, meaning that everyone was already asleep and no prying eyes would be peeping out at you.

Haknyeon’s grip on your hand tightened ever so slightly when you finally reached your door. Turning to meet his gaze, a small smile tilted your lips upwards when you are met with his eyes that seem to shine brighter than the snowflakes falling to the earth.

“I had a lot of fun today,” you murmur out, scared that speaking too loudly would break the magical bubble you’ve created with Haknyeon by your side, “thank you.” 

"Would you...” he tilted his head to the side, eyes averting for a second before locking with yours once more, “would you be okay to do this again?”

You knew it was eating him up on the inside, but you decide to drag it out of him, pressing your lips and drawing out a hum as if you were thinking it over. 

Haknyeon just shuffled uncomfortably, glad that the darkness was hiding the red flush creeping up his neck.

“Sure,” you grinned then, “why not? I quite liked it--”

And that was when you spotted a gleaming sliver of leaf atop Haknyeon’s head. Your mind stuttered to a stop, heart jumping up through your throat.

“What?” Haknyeon frowned at your shocked face, before tilting his head up. You scrambled to stop him, “don’t!--”

Too late. He gaped at the mistletoe hanging atop his head, blinking slowly. 

And when his head dipped back down slowly to gaze at you, something in his eyes had shifted. His orbs a darker, glimmering obsidian as he seemed to trace your features for a full minute.

Silence. You wondered whether he could hear how your heart was beating a thousand miles an hour.

“It’s just a petty tradition,” you finally found your voice and hoped you didn’t sound so desperate as you struggled to string a coherent sentence together, “I mean, really. Think about it--”

But he only tugged you closer, causing your words to die in the back of your throat as he leaned down so that his nose brushed yours softly, “should we just...” he gave you a look, hesitantly licking his lips and making you swallow, “humour it?” 

It felt like all air had constricted inside your lungs so that no words could make their way out of your mouth. He was so close, chest brushing yours and his hand entangled with your own in a firm grasp that had goosebumps skitter up along your arm. 

Your head dipped into a nod.

Haknyeon’s sigh was shaky. His other hand softly skimmed along your waist to pull you closer still, before he tilted his head and softly, tenderly allowed his lips to touch yours.

Your heart skipped a beat. He was so warm. His lips so soft. 

It was impossible not to melt slightly.

When it was clear that you had no intentions of pushing him away, Haknyeon proceeded to pull you even closer so that your curves blended into his frame, causing your lips to part with a soft gasp, one that he swallowed as he proceeded to kiss you a little deeper, a little longer. He massaged your lips with his own plush ones, catching your lip, kissing it, before going to your lower lip and letting his teeth nibble on the patch of skin with growing endearment. The sensation had sparks fly through your chest, butterflies practically rocking through your body as your lips gently moved back against his, as shyly as a baby fawn taking its first steps and Haknyeon would be lying to say that his own heart hadn’t leapt in excitement at how innocent you were, at the purity of your kiss, your lips.

When you parted, it was only to come up for air and he took this chance to run his thumb over your lower lip in adoration.

“Merry Christmas Y/N,” he breathed, nuzzling the side of your face before burying his nose into your hair.

Your hands wound around him in a gentle hug and you closed your eyes, allowed yourself to feel his warmth encircle you, “merry christmas Hak.”

--

[chocolatemillkk]

Party (JS)

I put the final bottle of champagne behind the mini bar and adjust the cocktail bowl slightly to the left. I look around the living room, the grand Christmas tree was still up as it usually was until after New Year’s. The whole place was covered in string lights, outlining the furniture and hanging from the ceiling. This was the famous New Year’s Eve party my parents have been throwing since before I was even born and this year was the last one I’d be attending for a while, I realise sadly. This time next year I would be living in LA, in my first year of university and my parents planned to come down for Christmas and be back here for New Year’s. I wouldn’t come along. I always looked forward to this, guess I’d have to savour it the best I could.

Both my mom and dad were only children which meant growing up they made a lot of friends along the way and each year our parties got a little bit bigger, more and more families coming together for their New Year’s eve party. I always looked forward to two though, the Michaels and the Suggs.

“Are you done daydreaming?” My sister comes up from behind me. “Because there should be appetizers that need rearranging or something according to mom.”

“I’m on it,” I say mock-seriously. My mom really went all out with the food and my sister and I always teased her about it. My sister, Liz, had started uni this year but luckily she was only in London. A lot of our friends her age weren’t though, so we were missing a lot of people this year. But at least Joe would be around, I think. And Zoe.

“Put these near the piano,” my mom hands me a plate as I make my way to the kitchen. “Don’t drop them!” I pretend to struggle under the tray which earns me a stern look. “You should get ready,” my mom reminds me. “There’s only an hour before guests start coming!”

I run up to my room after gently placing the tray where my mom wanted it and put on the dress I had bought for the occasion. It was deep green satin with a plunging neckline and a leg slit that went up to my hips—a shorter skirt lay underneath so I wasn’t flashing the whole party. I usually wasn’t this risky but I figured the occasion called for it. The sleeves are almost bell-like, and I do a twirl before the mirror, excited to see how people liked it.

Who was I kidding, I wanted Joe to see me in it.

It was silly, there was half a year before I was leaving this place, but more than half my life that I’d been crushing on Joe Sugg. Sometimes, I thought he knew how I felt, I thought I was quite obvious as a kid. For a second, I thought maybe the feeling was mutual. But after truth or dare in the seventh grade, I’d tried my hardest to hide whatever feelings I had for him. I wondered if he’d noticed.

“Truth or Dare,” Olivia asks my sister, Olivia Michaels was our neighbour growing up and the one who introduced my sister and I to the world of beer and rock and roll. My sister and I were good friends with her and her younger brother Felix.

My sister choses dare and Olivia has her eat one of the gross drink concoctions we made earlier. A few rounds later, my sisters asks me.

“Dare,” I say, feeling brave.

“I dare you to kiss either Joe or Felix,” my sister says smugly.

“What? I-“

“It’s a dare!” Zoe laughs and I look at Felix, he was a couple years younger than me-he was a child...and Joe was my huge crush. There was no way I was going to have my first kiss with him like this; with popcorn in my teeth and my lips stained with popsicles.

“Unless you’d like to kiss them both,” my sister teases.

Not wanting any more pressure, I lean over and peck Felix on the lips. I can’t help but sneak a glance at Joe as I go back to my seat and everyone laughs at Felix’s flushing cheeks. But he looks uninterested.

A few rounds later, Felix asks Joe and Joe picks Truth.

“Who would you date from this circle?” Felix asks. My heart plummets into my stomach. Joe looks around, avoiding my eyes and that makes my heart race faster. He had to know how much I would die to date him. To call him anything more than my best friend.

“Liz,” Joe says my sister’s name and I felt sick. Of course he liked her better than me, she was smarter and prettier than me. I was just his best friend.

“Aw you’re cute,” my sister pinches Joe’s cheeks and his sister joins in. I excuse myself but I didn’t think anyone even noticed.

A knock at my door reminds me there was a party about to go down, or already going down, I realise as I hear voices already. “How long are you going to take? Mom wants you downstairs to greet everyone!” Liz calls through the door.

“I’ll be a minute!” I say. I take my new christmas present-an eyeshadow kit my mom had given, and the lipstick my sister gave after I used most of hers, and put on my makeup, feeling like a grown up already. So much was changing and I was buzzing with excitement.

I skip downstairs and greet everyone the way I usually did every year. This year everyone asks about school, I tell them my LA plan and they wish me luck. Over and over. Until Joe walks in with a bottle of something in his hand and I run to him, nearly knocking him down as I throw my arms around him. He smelled like the cologne he reserved for special occasions, and the soap he always used. I could never tire of it, of him.

He was as handsome as ever, a clean white button up tucked into black trousers. He’d cut his hair recently but I sort of liked the way he styled it, the soft layers looked bouncy.

“You look handsome! Where’s Zoe?” I ask.

“Food poisoning,” he hands me the bottle and I take it from him, stepping a bit back so he could see my outfit but he continues on without comment. “Mum’s stayed home with her, the bottle’s from her.”

“Duh, as if you could afford this,” I tease, pretending like my heart wasn’t just stabbed by his nonchalance. He follows me in as I sneak the bottle past my mom and hide it in the kitchen, it was a tradition for us kids to get drunk on our own stash we steal throughout the night.

“Where’s everyone else?” Joe asks. “Your sister?”

I ignore the ache I get in my chest, “Oh doing her rounds probably. Pretending she’s an intellectual because she’s done one semester at uni.”

Joe laughs and I love the sound, especially when he laughs at a joke I make.

“You-“

“Y/N! There you are!” Felix and Olivia pop in, interrupting Joe, and I give them both hugs. Olivia had brought her boyfriend this year so we get introductions and a quick catch-up before Olivia goes to find Liz and I’m left with Felix and Joe. Felix had grown to be surprisingly handsome, in a nerd chic sort of way. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was younger than me, I could have even considered dating him.

“So Y/N you look really amazing tonight,” Felix says.

“Aw thank you,” I say. “You look quite chic tonight too, is that suspenders you’re wearing under your jacket?” I tease Felix until he’s pink in the face before I turn to Joe who looks bored. I loop my arm through his, “Want to get something to eat? I’m craving some shortbread cookies.”

“Yeah. If we’re having our own party later on we don’t want a repeat of ‘09,” Joe jokes. That was the first year we had all snuck a bottle of wine from the party and drank it on an empty stomach. None of us had a good time.

“Don’t remind me,” I shudder before I call behind me. “Felix you coming?”

Joe stiffens beside me but we walk on.

•••

After a dozen devilled eggs and shrimp cocktails, I lose everyone to the crowd and find myself alone near the stairs. I watch the crowd and bask in the togetherness the holidays brought on, I would miss this a lot. I almost didn’t want to go when I was in moments like these, but I knew what I wanted from life and I knew I couldn’t stay in dreary UK for it.

As I look around with the room so full of lights, the corners of my vision suddenly warp and distort into a blurry mass. I blink a few times but it remains. This was so not happening.

I sit myself on the step and close my eyes, placing my head on my knees but as I do that, the nause creeps in. This was getting serious. Perfect.

I go up to my bedroom quickly and close the blinds, shutting the room in darkness. I unzip the side of my dress to give my room to breathe and lay down.

Of course I had to get a migraine the day of new year’s eve. My last party for a while. I groan and turn to the side, blindly groping for any pill bottle, not wanting to risk turning on my phone light.

I lay in the dark, I don’t know how long. Time passed slowly in the dark, the only thing I could hear is the muffled sound of the party downstairs. My phone vibrates a few times but I don’t dare look at it. I wanted to nip this migraine before it could come full force. I couldn’t believe this was how my year was going to end, I think. And without meaning to, the tears leak out from my eyes. Stupid migraines and stupid Joe Sugg! He hadn’t even noticed what I was wearing, he didn’t even care. He fancied Liz more than I and I was still crushing on him like an idiot. I wasted my high school years waiting for him. And now I was going to graduate soon, with no history of a relationship and no...

A soft knock interrupts my pity party. I wait again as the knock sounds, just to make sure I wasn’t hearing it.

“Y/N,” it was Joe.

I swipe at my face, pulling my blanket over my face. “I’m here,” I say. “You can come in.”

I hear the door creak open, the noise from downstairs flooding through before the closed door muffles it again.

“Migraine?” Joe asks. We’d been friends long enough that he knew exactly what was going down. I sense him standing at the edge of my bed, the room still in darkness.

“Yeah,” I inch the blanket off my face. It’s not like he could see my makeup streaks in the dark. “Great timing right?”

“Can I do anything?” Joe asks. God, I scoff, I thought I could just turn my feelings off for him but him just asking that brings them back full force. “Maybe some water...”

“I’ve got water,” I say. I sense him shifting around the room.

“Didn’t you used to have those ice packs?” Joe knows his way around my room, he often came over when we did homework, or in the summer before we would go out with our other friends. He locates where I kept the freeze packs and he cracks them, walking towards my bed and sitting on my sheets. “Here.”

He places one on my neck and I flinch at the cold.

“Sorry,” he mumbles before putting it back on.

“It’s okay,” I whisper, the cold already numbing the throbbing in my neck. “Thanks Joe.”

“It’s nothing,” Joe whispers back. I take the pack from where his hands hold it and hold it myself as I gently turn in bed, the little light streaming in outlines his sitting figure.

“You don’t have to stay here,” I let him know. “Go back to the party.”

“It’s no fun if you’re not there,” Joe says. He slowly inches himself down beside me and the smell of him invades my nose. Oh no.

“Joe your cologne-“ I say and he quickly gets up.

“Oh shit right,” Joe stands and I see the shape of him pace away from the bed. “Uh, I can go home and change-“

“Oh my god,” I let out a laugh and cut it short as my head throbs. “You’ve left so many shirts here when we go swimming in the summer. Just put one on if you want to stay here so bad.”

“I’m just here to avoid everyone asking what my plans after school are,” he jokes. “Are they in the bottom drawer?”

“Yeah,” I respond. “Tell them you’re still figuring it out.”

“Everyone here has kids who are doctors or some shit,” I can hear the Joe changing and I try to keep the inappropriate thoughts at bay. “That’s not an acceptable answer.”

“Who cares what they think though,” I say. Joe joins me back in bed, laying down to stare at the ceiling as I look at his profile, barely illuminated by the light peaking through my blinds.

“Sometimes I do,” he says quietly.

I find his hand and squeeze it. He squeezes back and then turns to me. “So are you going to tell me why you were crying before I came in?”

“I was not crying,” I lie.

“You so were.”

“Was not.”

“Was too,” fingers graze my jaw and I’m busted. “Your face is still wet.”

“Fine,” I sigh. “I was just upset I was missing the party.”

“And?”

“I dunno, it’s my last party for a while!”

“Oh yeah,” Joe quiets down. A moment passes. Then another. “I’m gonna miss you.”

“We still have like 7 months together, don’t cry for me just yet.”

“You’re the one that was crying,” Joe shoots back.

“Shut up!” I joke. “Can’t you let me win? I have a migraine!”

“How is it?” Concern creeps back into his voice.

“The usual, I just have to tone down my senses. It’ll get better.”

Joe’s hand moves up to my face and cups it, my heart fluttering, the blood rushing to my face and joining the dance my migraine was putting on in my head.

His hand creeps up into my hair and suddenly his hand is plucking out the pins from my hair, and putting it on my bedside. Of course he was just being helpful while I was getting all bothered. “Do you want to get into something more comfortable?” He asks. I try to ignore the way I felt with his body hovering over mine in the dark but my mind blanks for a moment. “Y/N?”

“Oh I have every intention to go back to the party later,” I say. “This dress stays on.”

“It’s a great dress,” Joe says.

“It is isn’t it,” I say, noticing how uncomfortable Joe was getting. He actually noticed. Why didn’t he say anything earlier?

“I mean,” he clears his throat. “You looked...beautiful.”

I pause, pure joy rushing through me. Joe noticed me, he said I was beautiful. And oh god, all these things happening in my body were not helping my migraine. But I wasn’t about to tell Joe that.

“Thank you,” I say softly, too afraid to break the moment.

“It’s nothing new though,” he says just as softly. “You always look beautiful.”

I look at him, squint in the dark to try to read his face but it’s hard to. Was he saying this because I was having a shitty time or did he actually mean it?

“Not as beautiful as Liz though,” I deflect, deciding he was just taking pity on me. “She’s the one with the looks in the family.”

There’s a deafening silence around us, I can hear my heart beating in it. He wasn’t denying it, I want to cry.

“She is...beautiful sure, but you’re something different Y/N. You bloody take my breath away every time I see you.”

I want to cry for other reasons now. Was this really happening?

“Sorry,” Joe interprets my silence as rejection and begins sitting up to go. “The dark’s just made me stupid, I said way too much and-

“Joe,” I try to cut through.

“You obviously just, you need to rest and I’m-“

“Joe Sugg,” I say again and grab his hand. “Lay back down you big idiot, your blabbering is making my head pulse.”

“Right,” Joe lays back down but I can hear his quick breathing. I was glad to know he was just as nervous. I still have hold of his hand and I place it around my waist, inching closer to him.

“When?” I have to ask.

“Do you remember when we had our second friendiversary?” He asks. I did. We met when we were both 7 after our parents had set up a play date and we got along so well we knew we would be friends instantly. We’d spit on our hands and shaken them, declaring that day our friend anniversary, and we’d celebrated most years since. “You had your parents drop you off on your way home from your nana’s because it was our friendiversary and we didn’t see each other all summer. And your nana gave you cookies for the ride home, and you saved me the peanut butter ones? I don’t know, when you came in that day I just took a look at you and I had butterflies in my stomach. You were there ever since school let out and I’d missed playing with you for so long. I think I realised I missed you more than just a friend that summer. And when I saw you-“

“I actually remember.” I join. “Because you had just stared at me with your mouth open. And I just put the cookies in your open mouth. I was angry I thought you were looking at me like that because Liz had put gum in my hair a week before and my nana had to cut a lot off.”

“Yeah,” Joe chuckles. “I remember that too.”

“And since then?”

“Yeah,” Joe’s hand curls around my waist.

“What about the seventh grade? Truth or dare?”

“You bloody kissed Felix!” Joe exclaims.

“I...you picked my sister because I kissed Felix? He was like 10!”

“I was stupid.”

“Was? If I was feeling better I would be slapping you right now.”

“Good thing you’re not,” Joe tugs me closer. Our faces are inches apart, and I want to lean over and just kiss him so bad.

“What’s taken you so long,” I whisper, my fingers resting on his face.

“Scared I would ruin our friendship. You’re so much better than me, I thought you would laugh if I told you.”

“You are so ridic-“

“Shh,” Joe shushes me. “Do you hear that?”

I quiet down and listen as the party downstairs begins counting down to New Year’s. Suddenly my hands are clammy, this was it. I was going to kiss Joe Sugg once and for all.

“5...4...3...” Joe whispers between us.

“2...” I get out before Joe closes the space and kisses me, his lips so soft, my head feeling like it would explode. And not just because of the migraine.

“Wow-“ Joe gets out before I go in for a second kiss, the cheering downstairs drowns out as I pull Joe closer to me, closer, finally the love of my life was in my arms.

We’re moving too quickly, a wave of nausea hits me and I pull away.

“Sorry was that too quick?” Joe panics.

“Head,” I say as I squeeze my eyes shut.

“Shit,” I feel him sitting up and hovering over me, probably looking for the ice pack because soon the cold feeling returns to my temples.

“Thank you,” I whisper. He places a kiss on my lips as I stay still, trying to ease my nause. I feel a kiss on my jaw, then my neck. “Do you have to go home?” I ask.

“Nope,” Joe shifts beside me, I feel him get under the blanket, and he pulls me close to him. He lays his hand gently over me and I settle in beside him. What a New Year’s.

•••

“Y/N!” My sister’s voice wakes me and my eyes fly open. She stands in my doorway with her jaw open and I realise she’s staring at the weight on my right side. Joe.

“What?” Joe mumbles, awakened by my sister barging in.

“Oh my god!” My sister squeals. “It’s happening!” She runs out my door. “It’s happening!” She yells out to whoever was awake. And if they weren’t awake, her commotion sure woke them.

“She’s crazy,” I mumble before turning to Joe, the evening rushing to catch me up. He’s still only half asleep. When I call his name, he only groans and pulls me closer to him, hiding his face into my neck. My heart flutters, it felt like we’d always been together like this.

I allow myself the small pleasure of running my hands up into his hair and he groans into my neck, lifting his face up to look at me. Suddenly he starts laughing.

“Way to make a girl feel confident,” I’m suddenly self conscious as I get up.

“You do realise you’re in yesterday’s outfit? Including your makeup?” Joe asks, his voice hoarse.

“Shit!” I run to my mirror and laugh at what I see. “I’ll be back!”

I grab a spare shirt and move to the bathroom where I clean up and brush my teeth. My skin looked awful having slept in makeup but the glow I felt from waking up next to Joe kills any issue I might have had with it.

When I get back to my room he’s already up, the bed is made, and he’s folding his clothes from yesterday.

“You didn’t have to do all that,” I say as I walk to him. Immediately he catches my hand and pulls me in.

“Your head?” He asks.

“Great. Yours?”

“Clear as day. Glad it listened to my heart this one time.”

A smile creeps onto my face as the realisation of what he said settles in but pulls me in and kisses it off.

“Happy new year Joe,” I whisper when we part, pulling him in for a tight hug.

“Happy new year Y/N,” Joe whispers back. “I think it’s going to be the best one yet.”

[utterlyinevitable]

Thanks for playing along with my Christmas and Valentines HCs!

Fancy telling us about Christmas with Dr. Ramsey and Valentines with Dr Lahela? 😂

Anon, I love you so so so so so much! 

Thank you for indulging me and letting me ramble about my favorite beans 😘💕

Ethan is first and Bryce is below the cut!

A Very Ethan x MC (Becca) OHSY Christmas 

As stated in my Bryce Christmas post, MC sees her family the weekend before Christmas and ends up working Christmas Eve and Boxing Day. 

Her going away was a bit awkward between them, neither really knowing if they were in a place for him to join. They hadn’t talked about what their relationship actually is and what it means - just that they care about one another deeply. Neither even brought up the idea of him meeting the rest of her family. (He’d already met her mom during the incident. See: Leakage Series for more on that.) 

So she went home and Ethan continued to work himself raw. His mission to solve the medical issues of every single person in Boston. 

They texted every day and she even sent him photos of her with her one-year old nephew in a elf onesie. 

Ethan made a terrible joke about it and refused to acknowledge her matching sweater. 

On Christmas Eve, they both worked 18 hours. 

For a little reprieve, they were eating cafeteria sandwiches and finishing off some paperwork that needed to be transferred.  

Ethan broke the comfortable silence: “What’re you doing tomorrow?”  “Tomorrow as in Christmas?” “Yes.”  “I thought you didn't celebrate any holidays.”  “I don’t. But Dad is coming down and wants to spend some time with…” 

He didn’t need to finish that sentence, the vulnerable hesitation in his eyes told her all she needed to know. 

He didn’t even have to ask before she was agreeing to accompany the Ramsey men to Louise’s rehab center. 

Normally, Ethan would work the entire holiday and see his father the 27th and 28th. But with Louise around, Alan had a special request Ethan make time for family. 

She asked him about his feelings on it and he tried to evade the questions. Louise was still such a sore subject for him, she knows that, but it’s better for him to talk it out than bottle it up. But she knows Ethan. He’ll tell her eventually. 

They head to MCs apartment after work to pick up a few things. The little bits of belongings she kept at Ethan’s she deemed were too casual for their first holiday together. 

Ethan and MC were awake by 7AM, awaiting Alan’s arrival. 

Ethan was so nervous he made enough French toast and eggs to feed a small army. When asked about his feelings, Ethan brushed her concerns off. Honestly, he wasn’t sure if he was more nervous about seeing Louise or finally giving Naveen and Alan the satisfaction in knowing they were right about him and MC.

The three of them got to the rehab by noon, just in time for family luncheon. Ethan dawdled outside, shooing MC and Alan to just go inside he’ll be there in a minute. He’s only been back here once before to get a progress report from her doctors, he didn’t dare see Louise. 

MC stayed with him, offering reassurances. The two having a heartfelt moment. 

Eventually they made their way inside. Louise and Alan sat at a covered table in the holiday decorated dining room, him sitting at her right. They looked familiar, but anyone could see that Alan was the more guarded one of the two. 

Louise was surprised to see MC. She wanted a day with her family. She wanted to make up for lost time. And MC being there was a surefire way to remind her of all the time that had passed. 

Ethan sat across from Louise leaving MC to sit at her left. He pulled MC’s chair closer to him so she was practically perched at the corner. 

They held hands underneath the table the entire lunch. MC giving him all the strength she had saved up. 

Alan told stories, Louise asked questions and MC picked up the slack when Ethan refused to acknowledge his mother. 

They returned to Boston around 4:30PM, just in time to meet with the caterers Ethan ordered. Both Alan and MC rolled their eyes at the fancy spread but conceded that after the rehab visit none of them were particularly in the mood to slave over the stove.   

Naveen arrived and dinner was served at 6PM. 

The small little family told stories, embarrassed Ethan at every turn, and had a lovely time. 

Naveen headed home, with a note that they should make these dinners a more frequent affair. Alan extended the offer for MC to sleep over, though deep down everyone knew that was her intention. She’d never leave Ethan unless she had to.  

 A Bryce x MC (Becca) OHSY Valentines Day 

Bryce had never had someone he was this serious about before. He wanted to pull out all the stops and be Mr. Romantic for MC. If they were to go their separate ways in a few months, everything needed to show her just how much he cares about her. 

Becca felt the exact same way. 

They hadn’t spoken about what it would be like if there took residencies elsewhere. Neither of them wanted to confront the fact. MC was in deep denial, tbh. Bryce was kinda thankful for that, it means they can put off the heartbreak. 

They both had an understanding that finishing their residencies was their #1 priority. They’d take things as they come. 

Bryce made reservations at Don Luigi’s because he knows just how much MC loves their chicken parm and cannoli’s. 

But there were two problems with that plan. 

1. He forgot to tell MC about the plan and dinner reservation time. 

2. His surgery ran two hours over due to complications and he was too wrapped up in making sure the patient lived to ask someone to tell MC he’d be late. 

So Becca being Becca made her own plan. She went to Duane Reade and picked up the most gaudy looking card and packaged candies she could find. She even picked up one of those stupid singing Lovebugs. 

She used the key Keiki sneakily slipped her to let herself into Bryce’s apartment. MC missed the little rascal but she was thankful to have the apartment for the two of them once again. 

Becca was not a fan of seafood, and she knows it’s something Bryce loves and reminds him of growing up on the island.  So she compromised. 

She made a veggie filled butternut squash risotto, and mixed shrimp in his. She picked up friend calamari from Don Luigi’s as a appetizer, and found something as close to a Hula Pie that she could find. 

She set the table with candles and turned the lights off, letting the dim glow of the candles and tikki themed string lights she purchased light up the open planned living space. She even bought little coconut shaped glasses and filled it with their favorite mixed drink.  

She carefully planned everything so that dinner was nearly finished when he should arrive home. With what she thought was 15 minutes to spare, she changed into her outfit - new lingerie hiding under a burgundy red dress.

Time passed and passed and she kept checking her phone. Wondering where he was and if she got the plans wrong. 

She called. And texted. And called again. And texted again. And then she messaged the group chat. And Sienna called her. With the phone to her ear, the tiny resident shuffled to the OR wing and checked Bryce’s ROTA. A nurse informed them that there was an emergency. 

The bones in her lingerie began to dig and itch with every passing minute. When she bought the thing MC wasn’t planning on being in it for longer than an hour. If she was being honest, she planned to be out of it before the entrée. 

She tried to get out of it but there were way too many hooks in the back, her arms weren’t flexible enough to contort that way. She laid on the couch, drank her drink and watched the first random show she could find on Netflix. 

One hour passed and she put the food back in the oven to keep warm. 

Two hours passed and she could not stand this outfit anymore. She discarded the dress and tried to pull the corset over her head. 

She got it halfway over her head when the slender lower part was too tight to pass over her breasts. 

The door clicked open. 

Bryce walked in to see a half naked Becca, arms straight up in the air, wrists flailing to try and pull the bodice up, the perfect sight of her midriff and nearly transparent thong with suspenders and burgundy stockings. 

“What did I do to deserve such a wonderful greeting?”  “Don’t just stand there! Help me out of this death trap!” 

Bryce didn’t need any further invitation. His expert hands were on her immediately. Working through the clasps with swift precision. 

When she was free he took in her flushed face and gave her the sweetest kiss on the nose. 

“You’re late.”  “I’m sorry.”

Just one look at him and he was forgiven. His effervescent eyes were oh so easy to forgive. 

MC rattled off the meal she made as she heated it up and Bryce told her of the plans he forgot he made. They joked about how lucky they were to have one another. He looked around at the apartment and the theme she planned just for him because she knows he misses home. 

He responded earnestly before placing a kiss to her temple, “Home is here, and anywhere with you.”       

  I wrote too much again, didn’t I? 😅