Chapter Text
“Okay, so I haven’t put the tree up yet,” I responded as she reached into my back pocket and snatched the key before I could even think about it.
“Sorry, must have lost mine,” She chuckled, her beautiful smile bright enough to light up the room, or well, in this case, the porch. “Why didn’t you put up a tree? It’s Christmas, Bea! What were you waiting for?”
“What were you waiting for?”
I debated lying, telling her the tradition here was to wait until Christmas Eve. I debated telling her the truth, that I was wallowing in my own self-pity for months on end. But I knew it was just a waste of a breath; she could read me just like a book. “You.”
“Do you even have a tree?” She asked, slipping the key into the doorknob and jiggling the key to unlock it, just like we had to, day in and day out all those months ago.
“Uh, I don’t know? Maybe the previous tenants left one here?”
Ava snatched my hand and pulled me inside, slamming the door shut behind me. She pushed me against the door and her lips found mine yet again, as if it had taken her every bit of strength and willpower to keep our lips apart for the three blocks it took to get home.
“Wait, wait,” I said breathlessly pulling apart for a split second as her lips returned to mine, her tongue darting into my mouth. A moan slipped from my passageways, betraying my hesitation. “Wait.”
“Sorry,” she said, her own heart rumbling against her ribcage as she slipped away from me. My whole body tingled from the loss of contact.
“No, its just that.” I paused. “Camila is here.”
“No,” She chuckled, her eyes wild with madness yet again. “I came here before I went to the bar. She told me she was heading back to the OCS, and to tell that even though you don’t believe in god anymore, you should still believe in miracles.”
“Really? So, we’re alone?”
“Completely, and totally, alone.” Ava smiled. “On Christmas Eve. With my maybe, kind of, hopefully, girlfriend?”
“Yes,” I chuckled, her cheeks flushing red from embarrassment. “Yes, of course.”
“And even though we have no Christmas tree,” She sighed. “It’s still going to be the best Christmas ever!”
“What would you say to putting up the star?” I said, pulling out a vintage looking Christmas tree topper from a half torn open shoe box.
“Um, hell yes,” Ava said excitedly.
Clad in an oversized sweater (my sweater) which just dangled mid-thigh, she stood looking at her masterpiece, examining every ornament, every light, every branch with a smile. I tiptoed over to her, handing over the gaudy topper. Our fingertips touched and a spark of electricity danced between us, but no longer did I shy away from the intimate contact. Instead, I wrapped my arms around her shoulders, holding her close, as she set the star on the top branch.
“Beautiful,” I said, taking in the way the multicolored lights reflected off Ava’s dark brown eyes as I pressed my lips against the exposed skin at the crux of her neck.
“Pretty sure that’s you,” she said, spinning herself around in my arms to drop a kiss on my lips. “Next year though, can we get a tree that’s I don’t know, maybe a little bigger than three feet. I would like to impress you with my levitating skills.”
“Ava, pretty sure that tree is the same size as you. And you are taller than three feet.” I chuckled.
Her eyes locked toward the bedroom, and I followed her sightline, my vision falling onto the wrapped box on the corner of the nightstand. “You got it? I wasn’t sure if I did it correctly.”
“Did what correctly?”
“I don’t know how to explain it,” she said as she snatched the present from the nightstand beside our bed. It seemed like decades since I referred to it as our bed, though maybe it was just yesterday. “It’s like, I was here, but I wasn’t, you know? Or maybe I was, but I wasn’t fully materialized? It was like I was a ghost; I couldn’t touch you, but I could hear you and I could see you. Not in the creepy way... Well, maybe in the creepy way too. I could see were slipping, I could feel you were giving up hope, and I didn’t want you to give up. I couldn’t let you forget about me. I had come up with an idea to try to slip something to you, cross dimensionally. When I realized you had been doing inventory daily, I decided to hide this at the bar, because if I couldn’t get to you on Christmas, I would get a message to you. I needed you to know I was still alive, and that I was desperately trying to find a way back home. Back to you.”
She intertwined our fingertips and led me to the small loveseat, pulling me down to sit beside her. As soon as I fell onto the cushions, she snuggled closer, making any centimeter of space between us invisible.
“Go ahead, open it,” She gestured, holding the gift over for me to take.
“But it’s not Christmas morning,” I shrugged. “And I didn’t get you anything.”
“Trust me, this right here, you and I, together, celebrating Christmas, happy and free. That’s the only gift I could have ever asked for.” She smirked, dropping a kiss on my lips. “I never had a real Christmas, and finally, I get to have one, and spend it with the one person I love. That is all I have ever wanted. And-”
I turned my head, following her movements as we both read the clock above the stove. “It’s Christmas morning. Go ahead, open it.”
I took the small box from her hands and stared at the writing on it one last time.
“I’m right here,” she said as if reading my mind. “This isn’t the last piece of me you have. Go ahead, open it.”
I took a deep breath; my pointer finger sliding underneath the tape and slowly unraveled the wrapping paper piece by piece.
“So dainty,” She joked, as I removed the paper and placed it on the coffee table gingerly.
I placed my palm on the top of the box and slid it from the box. I glanced down a bright blue light shining through the tissue paper inside.
“This made a bit more sense back when I wasn’t here, but” Ava explained as my fingertips found the silver chain. I pulled the necklace out of the box, tears forming in my eyes as I took in the bright blue charm.
“It’s supposed to be my halo, see,” Ava pointed out. “And it’s divinum. I was hoping it would light up when I was near you between realms. That way you knew I was still here, still trying, still loving you. I know it doesn’t mean as much-”
I wrapped my arms around her, tugging her in close as tears fell down my cheeks. “I love it. And I love having you here. And I’m going to love seeing it light up all the time, as a reminder that you truly are back and here with me.”
“Well, I don’t know about all the time.” She laughed. “You might have to chuck it in a drawer at nighttime because I don’t know how if I could sleep with that bright light in my face all night.”
“Darling, you can sleep through anything,” I smirked, leaning forward and touching my lips to hers. “Do you think you can put it on me?”
“Can I draw you like one of my French girls too?”
“Ava,” I chided as her fingertips glided across my neck to move my hair out of her way. She snapped the chain together with ease, then dropped kiss after kiss across my neck.
“Look, babe,” Ava said, pointing out the window to the streetlight. “Its snowing!”
“You really are a Christmas miracle,” I smirked. “What do you say about watching your favorite Christmas movie before we get some sleep?”
“But the snow!” Ava whined.
“It’s barely even sticking yet, darling,” I said. “But later, we can go outside, okay?”
“Okay, fine,” Ava said, snuggling into my side. “So, Elf?”
“I should have known,” I said, dropping a kiss to her cheek. “I’ll make some hot chocolate while you load it up. Extra marshmallows?”
“You know me so well,” she said, reaching forward, snatching my hand and dragging me back in for yet another lazy kiss. “Best Christmas ever.”