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Ever since Derek had made an off-the-hand comment about how he saw no point in celebrating Christmas anymore, you felt the need to interfere. It wasn’t that you hated him being a Grinch, it was that you hated the idea of him being alone for Christmas. He pretended that he did not enjoy Christmas, but you knew the avoidance of the holiday mainly had to do with the loss of his family years before.
You had been in a relationship with him for a couple months now, and you wanted to spend Christmas with him, though he did not know this. He assumed you would rather spend your Christmas somewhere else, though neither of you had actually discussed it.
So, taking the opportunity of Derek being gone for an entire day, you made the decision to decorate his normally plain and cold loft. With the help of Lydia, you went to the store and bought some decorations.
Now back to his loft, you and Lydia stared down at the bags and bags of Christmas decorations that were littering the floor in front of you. “I think we may have gone overboard.”
“You think?” Lydia responded.
“Are you sure you can’t help?” You asked her, with a hint of desperation in your voice.
She looked at you, and you saw her almost give in, but she shook her head, “No, sorry. I have to meet Stiles, if I’m late he’ll freak. But good luck!” She said with a smile before leaving.
You looked at the bags of decorations, and then eyed the box holding the Christmas tree. Letting out a deep breath, you began to sort the decorations, hurrying a bit, as you were unsure of exactly how long you had until Derek returned.
Your main goal was to get the tree up so he could not veto it. So doing that first, you placed it in the corner of the room, letting it sit for a while so the branches could drop. After that, you began to wrap garland around the railing of the stairs going up to his bedroom.
Finally getting past the panic of getting stuff out before he returned, you relaxed a bit, allowing yourself to feel the festivity of the event. So, while placing various decorations around the sitting room and kitchen, you danced around doing so, as Christmas music played loudly through the loft, echoing off the bare walls.
Derek, upon arriving back to his loft just after the sun had set, frowned when he got out of his car. He stared at the loft, the lights were all on, and his ears picked up on the sound of Christmas music coming from inside.
When he walked into the loft, he found you, standing up on a step ladder, and attempting to hang tinsel around the windows. Walking towards your phone, he paused the music, causing you to spin around.
Seeing him looking at you with a calm face holding no emotion, you smiled innocently at him. “Surprise?”
Derek tried to remain stoic, but could not stop the small twitch of a smile on the edge of his lips as he saw you, gold tinsel wrapped around your shoulders, a few stray pieces lingering in your head and on your clothes.
“What are you doing?” He asked as he approached you, watching you as you clambered down the step ladder.
He looked around the loft, spotting the garland on the stairs, various Christmas themed animals and decorations on the shelves and tables. His eyes paused on the tree in the corner of the room before he looked back at you.
You were rocking back and forth on your feet as you looked at him with an air of shyness. “Well…” you began as he gently began to pull stray pieces of tinsel from your hair, “If we are going to spend our first Christmas together, I don’t want to do it in a loft with no Christmas spirit.” You said softly and with a shy smile.
Derek paused for a second as he stared at you, “You want to spend Christmas with me?”
Your eyes widened just a little in surprise, “Well…yeah. Do you not want to?”
“No- no, I mean, yeah I do. I just didn’t think you wanted to.”
“Oh…well I do!” You said with a smile.
A smile tugged at his own lips as you said this. Looking around at the loft again he shook his head lightly, “You were trying to decorate as much as you could before I got back right? So I couldn’t refuse?”
You shrugged a bit. “Maybe?”
He let out a soft chuckle before kissing you on the forehead, “I don’t mind the decorations. As long as you don’t go overboard.”
“Then I suggest you don’t go upstairs.” He raised his brow at you, and you giggled. “Kidding.”
He smiled at you before turning to look at the tree “You didn’t decorate it yet.”
“Of course not! That’s for both of us to do…it’s our first tree.”
‘Our.’ Derek looked back at you and smiled. It had been a long time since he celebrated Christmas. Not since he lost most of his family. But if he were to celebrate it again with anyone, he wanted it to be you. He mainly avoided Christmas this year, solely because he assumed you would leave for the holiday. But now knowing you wanted to stay with him, he couldn’t be happier.
Walking back over to you, he placed his hands on our waist before kissing you. When he pulled away, you smiled at each other. “Thank you.” He said softly.
“For what?” You asked softly.
“For doing this, bringing Christmas back to me. And for staying with me.”
You smiled at him before pressing a quick kiss to his lips. “You’re welcome. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Ever?” He questioned softly, showing you the more softer and scarred side of him, that almost no one else saw.
You shook your head lightly. “Ever.”
“Good.” He said with a smile before kissing you once more.
Stepping away from you he looked at the tree, “Did you buy ornaments?”
You nodded your head with excitement as you ran past him and to some bags near the tree. “I also have some of my own that I’ve had for a few years.”
Walking over to you, he began to go through the ornaments with you. Unable to ignore the warmth rising in his chest as the two of you began to decorate the tree. He didn’t realize just how much he missed this, and just how much he wanted to experience it again. And he could not be happier or more grateful that he was doing it with you.