#but anyway yeah when I finish paying off some of the other furniture we financed I’m going to get a bedroom set for the guest room

[jess-abides]

Beating the Sunday scaries with pigtails and weed. Also it’s day 4 of my husband’s symptoms and I tested negative as of this evening so 🤞🏻🤞🏻 maybe I’ll get lucky! I’ve been sleeping on the couch but I finally set up the air mattress in the guest room and am looking forward to a better sleep tonight.

[heyyyharry]

Christmas Special: Baby, It’s Cold Outside

(from the Couple in Flat 102 Series)

…in which Y/N doesn’t go home for Christmas, and neither does Harry (first Christmas as flatmates).

wattpad link

.

It was Harry's first Christmas away from Y/N.

Ever since they met he hadn't spent one Christmas away from her, so he didn't know how he'd cope with not having her around this year. He'd been excited for this whole month and had everything planned out in advance — They would decorate the flat together, have a nice little dinner, watch a Christmas rom-com, kiss under a mistletoe, then have mind-blowing sex (his favorite part), so yes, he was a bit too excited perhaps.

Unfortunately, Harry's entire plan had to be cancelled due to that one email Y/N received on one Wednesday afternoon.

Of course he was happy for her, he truly was. He knew she'd worked hard and deserved to be chosen to accompany her boss to go sign an important contract. However, the big problem here was that - the meeting would be held in New York...

...on Christmas Eve!

Harry's first thought when he received the big news was, who the hell arranged a meeting on Christmas Eve?!

"Our business partner went to see a fortune teller and were advised that the meeting should be held on that specific night or else our project would go down in flame. Those people are very superstitious," said Y/N.

"Or they're the Grinch and they just hate Christmas," Harry bitterly replied, making her giggle.

"Don't worry." She said before pulling his head down to kiss him on the lips. "I won't go. There's no way I'm leaving you alone on Christmas."

That was exactly what Harry had wanted to hear, but now that she'd said it, it didn't make him feel any better. He loved her so much. He knew for sure that he would miss her terribly if she went. But there was another thing that Harry also knew, and that was, although Y/N loved him and wanted to spend her Christmas at home with him and their cat, she also wanted to be on her boss' good list this year. She just loved Harry too much to admit it.

So Harry encouraged his girlfriend to take the offer, even though it killed him to be away from her. He thought it was the right thing to do, since she'd been so supportive about his internship to Japan a year ago. What kind of boyfriend would he be, if he couldn't be supportive in return?!

Consequently, after a long debate in the kitchen after dinner, Y/N finally gave in and agreed to go on the business trip.

"When I step out of their office, I'll hop on the first plane to go home to you. I promise," she said to him as they shared a hug. Harry was very proud of himself, but he felt downhearted too.

And so, there he was, decorating their flat on his own on the 24th morning of December while she was in New York.

"If your mother was here, she would help me untangle these little fuckers," he said to the cat, who was lying on the sofa like a Queen while watching her dad struggling with the Christmas lights. "Ugh...I wish you were human, so you would lend me a hand instead of lying there and...judging."

Treasure hopped off the sofa then strutted her way into the bedroom without taking a second look at Harry. She gave him that attitude all the time, he was not a stranger to it, so Harry resumed his work and didn't pay much attention to where the cat was or what she was doing.

It was not until Harry heard a heavy piece of furniture collide with the floor, that he dropped everything at once, and rushed to the bedroom to check on the cat.

Well, Treasure was alright. But his room wasn't. She'd spent less than five minutes in there but it already looked like a war-zone. The sound he'd heard earlier was her knocking over the standing lamp while digging through the bottom drawer of his closet. His forgetful mind couldn't remember whether it was him who had left the drawer open or she'd it herself. Either way, thanked to the kitty, he now had more housework to do.

"Bad girl! You're not helping and now you're making a mess!" Harry scolded Treasure then bent down to pick up the piles of clothes lying on the floor. That was when he noticed the oversized sweater beneath the cat. For a second there, he almost forgot how mad he was at Treasure.

Harry laughed slightly as he sat down on the floor and moved Treasure to his lap, holding up the sweater in front of them. He hadn't seen it again since they first moved in.

Treasure was staring at him, as if wondering why he was so happy to find such an ugly sweater. Believe it or not, that hideous sweater was actually his girlfriend's first Christmas gift to him. Y/N had told him she'd bought it a month prior and kept it in her closet, that was why it had smelt just like her. For some reasons, it still did.

Looking at it now only made him miss her more, which he didn't know was even possible. Harry remembered that day so well and how easy things used to be when they were just students, and had a lot of time to spare. It was their first Christmas together. She didn't go home to be with her family, and neither did he.

Little did they know, they were already with their family.

.

.

.

Five years ago...

"Why aren't you packing?"

Y/N removed her attention from her phone to look up at her flatmate.

"I'm not going home," she casually said, as if it wasn't a big deal. To Harry, however, it was.

Besides the fact that he was clearly a mother's boy, Harry believed Christmas was a family occasion and that everyone should spend it with the people they love. He didn't know much about Y/N's family since she rarely mentioned them, but he was sure her being with them was better than her being alone.

"Why?" He asked her. "Have you got other plans?"

If she said she'd got a Christmas date, he'd die, literally die.

"Well," she began with a sigh. "My parents have been fighting, so now they're not on speaking terms. Mum's spending Christmas at my brother's place, and my dad, at his parents'. I didn't want to pick a side so I decided to celebrate Christmas here, alone."

Once she finished, Y/N looked at Harry, and the pondering look on his face made her giggle.

"Don't worry about me. I've got a list of Netflix movies to watch on Christmas Eve so I'm good," she told him. "You go home with your family and enjoy your holidays."

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" He asked, because he genuinely cared about her, much more than one should for their flatmate. Through all that had happened in the last couple months, all the hugs and hand-holdings, goodnights and good mornings, he was now uncertain what they really were to each other.

"I will. I can take care of myself, you know."

He knew she could.

She didn't have to though.

So he told her he should get back to packing, then quickly headed back to his room. Harry believed this was going to be a very tough decision, when he sat at the edge of his bed and stared at the half-filled suitcase on the floor. Eventually, he grabbed his phone and quickly dialed his sister's number.

Gemma answered after only a few beeps. "What is it, H?"

"Hey, Gem, I need to tell you something but promise you won't be mad?" He said quickly, furrowing his brows with his eyes closed.

"What have you done this time?" Gemma cautiously inquired. Just from hearing the tone of her question, he could already see his sister raising one eyebrow while pursing her lips, silently judging him.

Typical Gemma.

"Uhm...I don't think I'm coming home for Christmas this year."

"Are you serious? We always spend Christmas together as a family! What am I gonna do with your present now?"

"Please don't be mad at me. I'm gonna call mum and apologize later."

There was a long pause on Gemma's side and Harry held his breath until he heard his sister's voice again.

"Y/N's not coming home for Christmas, isn't she?"

Gemma was quick when it came to this sort of things, still he certainly hadn't expected her to figure it out that fast. That was why he started to freak out, and as an instinct, tried to deny it despite knowing he was going to fail anyway.

"No, this has nothing to do with Y/N. I just have this...stuff...that I need to get done...It's important."

That had got to be the worst fake excuse he'd ever come up with. In his defense, he didn't have a lot of time to prepare a good lie. At least he'd tried.

"You don't want her to spend Christmas alone, I get it. But you can bring her here," Gemma suggested. Harry, however, didn't answer. "Wait...or do you want to spend Christmas alone with her, just the two of you?"

"Well..."

"I'm telling mum."

"No, wait!" He exhaled harshly, tugging slightly on his own hair - the thing he did whenever he got frustrated. "I can't bring her home, it'd be so weird!"

"Okay fine! Whatever mum got you this Christmas, it's mine now."

Harry sighed in relief, smiling as he thanked his sister for understanding. "You're the best, Gem. Merry Christmas!"

"You too, kid," his sister said before hanging up, this time, without one last sarcastic comment.

.

.

.

Because Harry wanted to surprise Y/N, he waited until the morning before Christmas to tell her he wasn't going home. Her reaction, however, was nothing like what he'd expected to see.

"What's wrong?" She looked at him, surprised. He had assumed that she would be so happy to hear this news, so seeing that look on her face truly disappointed him.

"Did something happen between you and your family?"

"No." He snorted, shaking his head. "I completely forgot I'd got this unfinished project that needed to be done after the holidays."

Harry finished by nodding his head, lips pressed together to form a cheeky smile. He thought it was a pretty good lie and was so proud of himself for coming up with that.

"Project? What project?"

"Just a small research on stock investments."

Good job, Harry! Real smooth.

"For the Finance and Accounting course?" She raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms, which began to make him feel uneasy.

"Yeah."

"Harry, I take that course with you! There's no research paper due after the holidays."

Shit.

"Not that course, a different one."

"We have two different FA courses?"

"Yes, but why are we talking about that when we should be talking about Christmas."

That was an awful save, he gotta admit. Lucky for him, she didn't go to the bottom of this or else he would've just ended up spitting out the truth.

"Oh, okay. I'm sorry you're stuck here with me though." She frowned then quickly put on a smile as she remembered something. "But don't worry, I won't be here on Christmas Eve, you'll have the whole flat to yourself to work on your project."

"Wait, what do you mean you won't be here on Christmas Eve?" Harry calmly asked with both eyebrows raised. Internally, however, he was screaming and shouting and kicking over a chair. He'd just given up on his family for her and now she was telling him she'd got other plans, which didn't include him?!

"I reckoned it'd be boring to watch Netflix the whole night so I signed up for the business club's charity Christmas musical." She smiled, and now he was just gawking at her.

He loved it when she started talking about a subject that she really cared about, and she had that little smile on her face without realizing she did. He was so in love with that smile.

God, she looks so pretty.

"We sell tickets and all the money will go to the foster care."

She's an angel.

"Harry, are you even listening?"

"Y-Yeah, totally, foster care." His reply made her giggle. Harry soon realized what a fool he'd been so he quickly cleared his throat and added in, "have the tickets sold out?"

"Not yet. It's not like a Broadway musical or anything."

"Right." He snorted, rolling his eyes. "Can you buy me a ticket? I'll pay you back."

"You wanna go?" The fact that she looked so shocked by what he'd just said almost cracked him up.

"Yeah, you're gonna be singing right?"

"No, I'm gonna be a tree in the background."

It was clearly a joke so he decided to play along by telling her, "that role was made for you."

Y/N huffed and playfully punched him on the chest. Then she called him a dork for pretending to be in pain.

But that was why she loved him.

"Shouldn't you be working instead of going to a charity event?"

"I'll swing by once I'm done," he told her. His name would definitely be crossed off Santa's good list this year for all these lies he'd come up with lately, well, if he'd ever made it on the good list.

Y/N nodded, biting back a grin, hoping the excitement wasn't etched on her face as she said, "okay, I'll be waiting for you."

.

.

.

Y/N wasn't lying when she'd told him she would be waiting.

From backstage, a few minutes before the show, Y/N peaked out through the gap between the curtains, watching the line of people coming in and hoping she would spot his face. She'd been looking for fifteen minutes or so. Maybe he couldn't make it after all.

The voice in her head tried to comfort her by saying he probably got stuck in traffic. Well, she could just ask someone to record her performance and show it to him when she got home.

But, said that little voice. It wouldn't be the same as having him here...

"Aww, expecting someone?"

Y/N didn't need to turn around to know whose voice it was. There was only one person that she knew, who sounded that irritating.

"Jess." She glared at her ex-roommate and the girl gave her a not-so-friendly smile, which reminded Y/N the reason why she'd decided to move out of the dorm in the first place.

"I'm sorry no one comes to see you tonight."

"Are you serious? This is a charity show, not the X-Factor finale!"

Jess opened her mouth to speak, yet got interrupted by another person.

"Hey, guys!"

"Oh God, Trix, what the hell is that?" Jess looked at the red-head in the tree costume with a look of disgust when Y/N giggled and said hello to the girl.

"You look so cute!" She told Trix, who happily swirled to show off what she was wearing.

"Thanks, Y/N. I'm a tree, if you couldn't tell."

"We've been rehearsing together for a week! We already know you're a tree, but this costume is just..." Jess reached out to touch a fake branch and a plastic leaf fell off, leaving the two others speechless and surprised. "...sad."

"Don't listen to her, Trix, you'll be a great tree."

"Aww thanks, Y/N." Trix suddenly pulled Y/N into a hug but before the girl could return it, Trix released her and screamed out loud. "HEY, Harry's here! Harry! Harry, over here!"

She started waving once her loud voice had caught Harry's (as well as everyone else's) attention. He started waving back, and as soon as his eyes met Y/N's, he gave her an endearing little grin, which could've knocked her off her feet right on the spot.

"Wait, who did you just say?" Jess couldn't believe in her own ears, or eyes, but her question was ignored by Y/N who immediately excused herself and walked away.

"Is that Harry Styles? They know each other?" Jess pointed a finger to where the young man was standing as she asked Trix. She had never felt more offended by the fact that the guy who fucked her then blocked her number was now (possibly) dating her loser ex-roommate. That was a hard slap in the face if she must admit.

Trix's answer obviously didn't make her feel better. "They live together now. Harry kind of has a crush on her."

"Seriously?" Jess exclaimed, putting one hand on her forehead and exhaled harshly. "He rejected me to end up with...that? What does she have that I don't?!"

"A heart?" Trix spoke with an innocent smile, which disappeared as soon as she received the glare from the other girl.

.

.

.

"Hey you!"

"Hey you!" Harry tried to hold back his showing fondness and he didn't even realize he just repeated after Y/N. The beam on his face was too bright to be covered up, and apparently, she felt the same way about him being there.

"Thank you for showing up. I thought you couldn't make it."

"Are you kidding?" He snorted. "I wouldn't miss a chance to see you on stage!"

"Well, I hope I won't disappoint you," she replied, looking delighted. "But I should get back now. The show starts in two minutes."

"Alright! Break a leg!" He told her but his eyes stayed fixed on her red lips. She didn't usually wear such a bold color. She looked so good with this lipstick on that he wondered what it tasted like if they kissed. Every single cell on his body was fighting to keep him from making that attempt, though he had been fantasizing about kissing her for months now.

That could be the moment, yet he let it get away, because he was nervous. It was so unlike him to be nervous around a woman. Maybe it was because of Y/N - only her could make Harry sweat in this kind of weather.

Y/N mumbled a quick "thank you" then waved him goodbye as she headed backstage. Harry took in a deep breath, keeping his eyes on his flatmate until she was finally out of sight. Then he started wondering what would have happened had he kissed her then.

"Harry?"

That voice pulled Harry right out of his own head. He prayed it wasn't who he thought it was, but he'd run out of luck for that night perhaps, because his two friends Niall and Layla were right in front of him when he turned around. They were the last people he would have expected to see at an event like this.

"H-Hey! What a surprise! I thought you'd already gone home!" He faked a laugh, watching his friends exchanging looks because they didn't understand why he was acting so out of character.

"I could either spend time with my dad's other problematic family or my mum and her dumbass boyfriend..." Layla rolled her eyes "...or I could stay here and enjoy a drama-free Christmas. I decided that the latter option would be better for my mental health."

"Wow, okay..." Harry blew up his cheeks and furrowed his eyebrows. "But then you forced Niall to stay in town with you too?"

"No, he voluntarily agreed. Tell him, Niall."

"S'true." Niall gave his best friend a shrug. Nevertheless, Harry knew it was bullshit. Niall was an idiot who only decided to stay instead of going home so his crush wouldn't be lonely, which sounded a lot like Harry himself.

The trio sat down so they didn't get in people's way. Layla sat between Harry and Niall, looking slightly annoyed as she complained about the uncomfortable seat, because that was what she always did, she complained about everything.

Harry raised an eyebrow at the girl. "And you're here because...?"

"Excuse me, I care about these children as much as you do!" She looked a bit offended, but he didn't seem a bit convinced. "Okay, fine, we came to see Trix. Isn't that why you're here too? Why aren't you home with your family anyway?"

"Well..." Harry swallowed, struggling to come up with another excuse, when suddenly the lights in the audience were dimmed, and Y/N stepped onto the stage for the opening performance. That already answered Layla's question.

"Idiot." She meant Harry, yet Niall widened his eyes, feeling like it was meant for him as well.

Normally, Harry would have a lot to say about Layla's attitude, but this time he put her remark aside, because Y/N just smiled at him and she was all he cared about tonight. He gave her a small wave to let her know he saw her then straightened his back to get more comfortable in his seat.

Then the show began.

.

.

.

Throughout all performances, Harry only paid attention when his flatmate was on stage. He didn't care much about the others and while they were performing, his mind wandered somewhere else, like sketching out different scenarios of how that night would turn out. The most far-fetched one had got to be him confessing his feelings to her and they kissed under a mistletoe.

Maybe he'd watched too many Christmas rom-coms lately, he was beginning to lose grip on reality. Because if he confessed and she didn't feel the same, he'd lose her; but if he confessed, and she felt the same, he could end up screwing things up and breaking her heart, then he'd lose her. That being the case, he couldn't risk it.

"Are you filming this?" Harry chuckled when he turned to see Layla holding up her phone.

"Trix asked me to film everything for her." She rolled her eyes and sighed, but Harry knew she was secretly enjoying the show.

The next performance was a classic song 'Baby, It's Cold Outside'. At first Harry got really excited when Y/N returned on stage, but he realized it was a duet and he started shifting in his chair when another male walked up and stood by her side. The music started and the scene began with them sitting on the sofa at the center of the stage.

Just like in the lyrics, Y/N's character was worried because it was late and she insisted on going home, but the guy begged her to stay with him for a night because 'it's cold outside'. Classic. But definitely not easy to watch.

It was a flirty song, and they were just acting, but there were a lot of touching going on. For the entire four minutes, Harry was on the edge of his seat...literally.

The song finished with a very long note, and the couple on stage suddenly pulled each other in for a big final kiss before the curtains were drawn. Everyone in the audience started cheering, everyone, except for Harry, whose eyes nearly fell out of their sockets. It took him a long moment to snap out of it and realize Layla was filming him.

"What the fuck, Layla?" He tried to cover the lens but she smacked his hand away while laughing her head off.

"Look at your face, Harold. You're so jealous it's hilarious!" Niall cracked up, and his laughter only got louder when Harry started sinking further down into his seat from embarrassment.

The show ended with a standing ovation and Harry received a text from Y/N, telling him to meet her backstage. He swore he had never leave a place that fast, so fast that his friends didn't even get the chance to ask him where he was going.

He pushed his way through a crowded room of people to look for his flatmate. When he finally found her, with a tremendous smile on her pretty face, his heart nearly burst into fireworks, and from that moment he knew he was already so far gone.

She giggled, reaching out to hold his hands. "Did you love it?"

"I did. I loved it." And you as well.

"What do you think about the kiss?" Her question made him froze for a second or two. Why did she have to bring that up? He was trying to forget it'd ever happened!

"Uh...it was very...unpredictable." He faked a smile. "Was it scripted at all?"

"No."

"Really?" His eyes went wide and he tried to hold the smile, making it look even more unconvincing. "So you two were so into the song that you actually...kissed each other?" Now Harry hated that dude, whoever he was.

"No, we had a discussion about whether we should do it without telling everyone else, then we both agreed, because it would wow people!" She broke out the jazz hands at the word 'wow' and it didn't fail to make him laugh, even though he should be upset because someone else had kissed her.

"I...was very wowed...but let's not talk about that anymore, okay?"

"Okay." She happily agreed. "Wanna go home?"

He wasn't sure if she knew, but he loved it when she referred to their flat as 'home'. So even though he wasn't the one she kissed tonight, at least he was the one she would come home with.

"Let's go," he told her, then both turned to leave. However, they were stopped by the same guy who had kissed her earlier on stage. Harry's expression altered the second he laid eyes on Y/N's friend, who, surprisingly, was hand-in-hand with another girl.

"Hey, I just want to say you did well tonight," the guy told Y/N, who also looked pretty confused about the girl he was with. He didn't wait for Y/N to ask and just went on to introduce her as "my girlfriend".

"Rob...you forgot to mention you had a girlfriend!" Y/N laughed wryly. She was obviously shocked by the news. He'd told her he wasn't seeing anyone, which was why they'd agreed to do that stage kiss. Had she known the truth, she wouldn't have jumped on board.

Harry didn't know Rob or his girlfriend, but he didn't have to to figure out what was going on. The guy was a dick who had probably lied about his relationship so he could get away with kissing Y/N. Now Harry was even more pissed than before.

Y/N politely said hello to the other girl, who not only didn't say hello back, but also stared Y/N down for having kissed her boyfriend.

"Who's this fella, Y/N?" The guy pointed to Harry. "Your boyfriend?"

"Actually—"

"Nice to meet you, I'm Harry." Harry went in for the handshake, ignoring Y/N's staggered stare. She was speechless so he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled him to his chest, grinning at the other couple. "We better get going now, you two have a happy Christmas! Let's go, sweetheart!"

Harry spun themselves around and urged her towards the exit. She looked at him in amusement without an intention of removing his arm around her.

"Sweetheart?"

"I saved your ass. She could've killed you for kissing her boyfriend." He said, smirking down at her as they walked through the door.

And I could've killed her boyfriend for kissing you.

.

.

.

On their way to the parking lot, Y/N said she was cold so Harry gave her his coat. They walked side by side in silence, stealing glances of each other once in a while. It wasn't the first time they'd been alone with one another, so neither understood why they were so nervous then.

Harry had both hands in his pockets, with only a thin sweater to keep himself from freezing. Y/N noticed that, and she also knew he wasn't good at coping with the cold either.

So she spoke up, "do you want your coat back?"

"No. I'm fine," he said. It was probably a lie because his voice was trembling. She stopped walking unexpectedly.

"Give me your hands," she demanded with a straight face, despite how appalled he looked.

"What? Why?"

"Just—" She sighed and grabbed his hands anyway. He watched her bring them to her mouth then blow hot air to warm them up. Then she held his left hand in her right and shoved them into the coat pocket, after that continued walking, pulling him along.

"You're just looking for an excuse to hold my hand," he teased, making her smile. He didn't know why she didn't make a comeback like she normally would, but he decided not to question and just enjoy the little moment while it lasted.

.

.

.

"I got you something," Harry said as soon as they stepped into their cozy little living room.

"You did?"

He replied to her with a nod, smirking at how excited she looked. "Yeah, wait here, I'll be right back."

Harry grabbed Y/N's arms as he gently pushed her down on the sofa before running off to his bedroom. Y/N didn't have to wait for too long since Harry returned less than a minute later, with something hidden behind his back. She immediately rose from her seat to come stand in front of him.

"Promise me you won't laugh," he said, and she gave him her words, her bottom lip tucked between her teeth as she couldn't wait any longer.

"Here ya go!"

"A CD?" She looked up at him through her lashes and then at the object in his hands. Harry didn't do that very often, giving stuff to a girl (or caring about one enough to give them anything), so it was obviously impossible for him to do it without blushing like an idiot, which she found extremely adorable.

"I...didn't know what to buy so I made you a Christmas playlist. Nobody listens to CDs anymore but—"

"I love it! Thank you!" She cut him off by pulling him into a hug, which was something he hadn't expected. So as he hugged her back, he was floating on air. She was the first to pull away but he didn't remove his hands from her hips (not that she would mind anyway).

"I'm going to play this for the entire day tomorrow!" She waved the CD in front of his face while grinning from ear to ear. He didn't know why she was so happy, it was just a CD. He had thought she would be so disappointed. Anyway, seeing that smile on her face made him feel fantastic!

"I also got you something, but it's not as cool...In fact, it kinda sucks."

"What is it?" He raised an eyebrow, feeling curious.

Y/N took a deep breath then walked back to get her backpack lying on the sofa. She pulled out a red sweater with a huge Santa Claus' head printed on the front, and the words 'Merry Christmas' on the back. He couldn't help but snort once he saw it.

"What?" He shrugged when she gave him a funny look. "You didn't tell me not to laugh!"

"I didn't know what to get you because you were so hard to please. So...I tried to think of something you didn't have already, and that would be an embarrassing Christmas sweater! Everyone has at least one in their closet, except for you, and I knew that because you made fun of mine when you saw it once." She clasped her hands together as he approached, looking very amused by her crazy idea.

"You're ridiculous," he told her while shaking his head.

She gave him a smile in return. "Thank you. I'm also a genius."

"Alright, genius." He stole the sweater from her hands and put on a big grin. "Thank you."

She didn't say anything else, just gazing at him, as if waiting for something. He wanted to do something, he really did. But instead he just looked right back at her.

They were happy.

He didn't want it to change. He wanted to keep her in his life, even if it meant he had to see her with someone else eventually. It would be better than to have her hate him when he broke her heart, unintentionally or not.

"I also got something else for ya," she spoke softly, breaking the silence between the two. Without waiting for him to ask, Y/N pulled out a mistletoe from the sweater pocket to hold it up above their heads.

"Merry Christmas," she said, and without warning, tiptoed to kiss him on the cheek. They both froze when she pulled away quickly. Her lips didn't stay on his skin for more than a second, but he could already feel his whole face heated up.

Harry thought he should say something as he ran over all these lines inside his head. However, what actually came out was, "where did you get the mistletoe?"

The fact that he wondered where she'd got it and not why she'd kissed him made her giggle. He wasn't thinking straight though, it was the best he could do.

"Stole it at the show," she answered, smiling timidly. When she was sure he wasn't going to speak, she carried on with what she'd been wanting to say that whole night. "That was me saying thank you...It really means a lot to me that you decided to stay here instead of going home."

"I already told you it—"

"I know the truth, H. Gemma told me."

"She did?" Harry's jaw dropped immediately. "Wha—What did she say?"

"She said you thought I might be lonely so you wanted to stay here with me."

"Oh, okay." On the bright side, Gemma didn't tell Y/N he was secretly in love with her. If she had, he would never have looked at his sister's face again!

"Well," he began with a happy sigh. "As long as we're still living together, you won't ever have to spend a Christmas alone."

"You won't either. You have my words." She promised him. She didn't have to, but she did, and Harry could swear he had never felt more happy. "I'm...I'm gonna go change and listen to your CD now..."

She took a few awkward steps back, and he did the same.

"I'm gonna...put on your sweater...and go to bed."

"Sure."

"Great."

"Perfect."

"Bye!"

They both turned their backs to each other at the same time and retreated to their rooms in a flash. It was not until each door was finally closed, were they finally able to breathe again.

.

.

.

"What the fuck, Layla?"

"Look at your face, Harold! You're so jealous it's hilarious!"

Harry was woken up by the loud meowing of his cat in the living room. He slowly opened his eyes to find the video on his laptop still replaying. He'd asked Layla to send it to him that night after Y/N's show just so he could watch it again whenever he was bored and missing her.

Sighing, Harry paused the video as he rolled out of bed and dragged his heavy feet to the living room. Treasure was probably messing with the Christmas lights again, that afternoon he'd had to untangle her from those strings. She was a very naughty cat, but an angel whenever Y/N was around.

"Treasure, what are y—" Harry's entire body turned to stone the second he opened the bedroom door. It was not just Treasure that he found in the living room, it was also Y/N, sitting on the floor trying to free the kitty from the light strings wrapped around her little legs.

At first he thought he was only dreaming, but then Y/N turned to look at him with the same sweet smile he loved so dearly.

She said, "I left her with you for a few days and came home to see her tied up."

"She did it on her own, I swear," he argued, pointing at the cat. "But don't worry, the lights run on battery. She won't be electrocuted."

Y/N raised both eyebrows at her boyfriend then turned back to Treasure, who was now freed from those light strings. "Next time, if mummy goes somewhere, you're coming along."

Harry released a chuckle as he comes to sit down next to his girlfriend on the floor. He held her head with both of his hands then starts showering her face with quick kisses, as if he hadn't seen her in decades and not only just a couple days.

"I missed you so much, love," He said, pecking her lips several times. His affection made her happy but also amused.

"I missed you too, very much." She took his hands and brought them to her heart. "That's why I came home early, I couldn't let you be alone on Christmas."

"But what about your job?"

"Well, long story short." She pursed her lips and exhaled deeply to begin, "I managed to find that fortune teller, paid her some cash so she would convince the other firm to move the meeting one day earlier. Then I got to the airport but all seats on the earliest flights had been sold out, I ended up lying to a stranger that my wife was in labor and I had to go home or else she would file a divorce. She felt pity for me and we exchanged our tickets so I could get on an earlier flight. Now I'm home with you! Christmas miracles!"

Harry looked pretty impressed by his girlfriend's story. While he'd been at home cleaning, sleeping, and being bullied by their cat, she'd actually went on quite an adventure!

"So you lied to a bunch of people from all the way across the world to come home with me on Christmas Eve?" He chuckled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "That's my girl."

"Promised you I wouldn't ever leave you alone on Christmas, didn't I?"

"That I remember." He laughed quietly, resting his forehead against hers.

"Also..." she trailed off then showed him the mistletoe she'd had in her pocket this entire time. "Our little tradition."

He shook his head with a smile on his face, thinking what a kid she was, but wasn't that one of the reasons why he loved her?

"No need to ask. This time I stole it from the lobby," she spoke before he could.

And he just had to kiss her now. The anticipation was killing him. He scooted closer, hands on the back of her neck, sucking gently on her pink lips, trying to make up for their lost time. That one kiss was slow and passionate and might leave them breathless when they pulled apart, but they were too into it to care if they might pass out at the end.

"It's so good to be home," she whispered, feeling him smile against her mouth.

Harry still believed Christmas was a family occasion and that everyone should spend it with the people they loved. So now his Christmas was complete, he'd got everything he needed right there with him — his missus, their cat, and kisses under the mistletoe.