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You and Christmas have never really gotten along. There has been a lack of the so-called "Christmas magic" in your soul for some time, and despite having a beautifully lit tree sitting in the patio window of your apartment on Christmas eve night, it just doesn't feel like Christmas. You know your boyfriend was busy with his little band of brothers and likely calling his own family. You're sitting on the floor in front of your couch, a cup of hot chocolate held between your fingers as you stare blankly at the tv as nothing in particular plays. Yes, you may have turned the tv on and spent ten minutes clicking through things and then randomly picked something that was holiday themed, but you don’t have it in you to actually pay attention; you’re much too lost in your own head. You can’t recall the last time you actually, truly enjoyed a Christmas. And while some would say to spend time with a significant other, you and Yuta have only been together for a few months, so you don't expect him to stop his usual holiday plans and cater to you. The sound of a familiar tone chiming has a distracted smile curving your lips as you open your phone to read the message.
{From; Yuta 💙}: How's my princess?
It's a simple question and yet, somehow, that helps you feel better. You want so badly to lie and say you’re fine, but you know at this point, anything that sounds dismissive will alert Yuta and he’d be at your door in minutes. You can’t ruin his usual plans to be selfish.
[⇚]: I’ve been better. At least I’m off tomorrow.
{From; Yuta 💙}: Do you want me to come over?
[⇚]: Yuta, no. You have plans with the guys already. I can’t intrude on that. You can always come over tomorrow. I’ll be fine, I promise.
You regret sending the message when you realize the last line of text. That’s one of the things you didn’t want to say. You frantically move to type in a reassurance, but the reply has already come in.
{From; Yuta 💙}: Are you sure? I can come get you, you know.
Emotions are already raw enough right now, and the way Yuta always takes care of you, even when you say you don’t need it, is one of the reasons you adore him so much. Your heart melts at the way he treats you like royalty, and it’s such a strange thing compared to any relationship you’ve ever had.
[⇚]: You enjoy your night with the guys, baby. You can come over tomorrow.
It takes a little longer than anticipated before the reply comes in.
{From; Yuta 💙}: Remember to stay warm. I love you.
He doesn't have to tell you, you know he loves you. He knows you know, but he does it at least twice a day anyway since the first time either of you said the words. 'I don't want you to ever forget.' he had said when you asked one time while he'd visited. You'd had a terrible migraine and he had come to take care of you, ending with your head in his lap as you laid on the couch listening to music quietly in a dimly lit living room. Small moments like that keep you going when work keeps the two of you apart. A smile has curved your lips in fondness as you reply back.
[⇚]: I will. I love you, too. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?
{From; Yuta 💙}: Bright and early. 😜
There's a laugh at the reply, and you shake your head a little. The group is barely four days into post-tour right now, which means the chances of Yuta actually being able to get up early, let alone get Johnny up to bring him over because his license test isn’t for another few days, is slim to none. Jet lag and overall exhaustion from giving their all will no doubt have them sleeping in another day or two. You lean back onto the front of the couch, deciding to try and pay attention to the show you’ve put on. It takes a couple of episodes, but you’re finally starting to enjoy the show and the chaos that’s ensuing on screen when there’s a knock on your door. A glance to your phone shows there’s no other message from Yuta, but you aren’t dumb. There’s no one else who would just show up at your door at this hour. Getting up from your little cocoon, you find yourself sighing as you make your way to the door. “Yuta, you didn’t have to make Johnny drop-” you cut yourself off when you open the door to find not Yuta, but all nine men standing on the stoop of your apartment. There are presents being carried and a few bags of gifts held in hands and you stare at them despite the cold seeping into the warmth of the apartment. “What are you guys doi-”
“We couldn’t let you be alone, Y/N.” Johnny begins, grinning.
“Yeah, it’s Christmas!” Jungwoo chimes in with childish glee.
You open your mouth but can’t speak, so instead you use the next few moments to take all of them in. Johnny clearly drove, you can see the keys in his hand, but he’s carrying a large bag that’s taped shut with a bow on it. Taeil is smiling, carrying a few of the boxes himself as he regards you curiously. Mark and Haechan look like children seeing Santa because it’s the first time you’ve met them in person. Jungwoo is balancing a large box under one arm and leaning into Jaehyun, whose hands are tucked into a jacket, but there’s a bag of gifts hanging from his left arm. Doyoung looks to be the most cold, hovering in the corner with a set of presents in his arms. Taeyong stands just behind Yuta, looking like a big brother as he rests his chin on Yuta’s shoulder, looking at you. Yuta himself is front and center, hidden behind a stack of boxes, but you recognize the jacket he’s wearing and the familiar sight of the silver dragon ring you gave him for his birthday.
“You guys…”
“Are you gonna invite us in, Y/N?” Taeyong teases. “It is kind of cold out here.”
Rolling your eyes, you reach to remove the stack of presents from your boyfriend’s arms, carrying them to the tree that only has a small batch of presents beneath it. The others follow you inside, placing their own carried packages around the tree. You step back so they can arrange everything, unable to keep from chuckling as you start toward the kitchen to put your kettle on - you’re going to need more than the little keurig for warm drinks. Yuta catches your wrist as you walk past where he’s closed the door and locked it, pulling you close to seal his lips over yours in a quick kiss. You let him hold you, not caring about the chill in his jacket as you return the gesture, one hand resting at the side of his neck. “Yuta, you know you didn’t have to come.”
“I wasn’t going to let you be alone, princess.” he whispers against your lips. “Not on Christmas.”
“But the guys-”
“Have been wanting to meet you anyway. If they weren’t asking me, they were asking Taeyong and Johnny.” Yuta cuts you off, reaching a chilled hand up to brush some hair out of your face. “They wanted to come. You’re a part of our family now, baby.”
Despite the chill of his skin, you lean into his touch, watching him with the pure adoration you regard him with at any given time. “Thank you. I love you so much.”
“I love you, too. And I never want you to forget that.” Yuta replies. The quiet moment of assurance between the two of you is broken when you hear Johnny from the kitchen.
“Hey, Y/N, where’s the big kettle? I know you have one in here.”
Both you and Yuta laugh softly, and you lean in to steal one more quick kiss and usher Yuta towards the mass of bodies in your living room. His arms move from where they hold you, taking his jacket off, which allows you to join the eldest of the ‘95 liners in the kitchen to open the cabinet above your stove. Johnny goes to reach for it, but you smack at his chest playfully. “No, sir. You are guests.”
“Family is never considered guests.” Johnny counters, staring at you sassily while easily reaching over you to pull the kettle from the shelf. He chuckles at the indignant huff you give him, but turns away to fill the kettle with water. “Go get settled.”
You shake your head and sigh at his words, turning instead to the breakfast bar to open the cabinet above and pull out mugs. You find that you’re lucky you’ve acquired such an odd collection of mugs over the years, otherwise you may not have enough for all ten of you. Johnny doesn’t argue when you get mugs first, but you don’t have to see his face to see the playful look to know he’s amused at your determination. You find yourself moving towards the living room, nudging Jaehyun from in front of the couch enough to sit and curl against Yuta’s side, your fingers finding his to lace them together. Mark insists on finding a movie to watch, and you nod to where the remote sits on the end table furthest from where you and Yuta are perched. It isn’t hard to notice the way the members who haven’t met you - which is most of the group - watch not just you but the way the two of you kind of settle into each other. Your mind is starting to spiral when Yuta’s hand squeezes yours and brings you back, laying a kiss at your temple.
“Breathe, Y/N.” he explains. “They wanted to come, to see you.”
“Why?” you whisper back, tucking further into him.
“Because I love you, and they want you to know you’re welcome.” The words make you smile just the littlest bit, turning your head to kiss him.
“What would I do without you?”
“You’ll never have to know. You’re stuck with me now.” Yuta answers.
“You’re stuck with all of us, really. But mostly Yuta.” Taeyong counters as he finds the place next to Yuta, having heard the last of the conversation. Your eyes take note of where everyone is making themselves comfortable, letting your head rest on Yuta’s shoulder. Jungwoo sits on Taeyong’s opposite side. Taeil has found a place on the chaise next to Doyoung with Mark and Haechan nearby on the floor. Jaehyun has moved down to settle between Taeyong and Jungwoo’s leg space, one arm draped over Jungwoo’s thigh casually. Johnny is still in the kitchen, making sure glasses are set up and ready for when the kettle screams at all of you. You know there have to be questions they want to ask you - ones they’ve probably already hurled at your boyfriend, but none come. Whether they’ve been told not to or simply don’t want to pressure you when literally all of them are there, it doesn’t matter. You’re grateful for the lack of interrogation.
“How was work?” Mark finally asks, clicking play on a movie before turning to look at you.
“Busy. I’m glad we closed early today.” you answer. “Last minute shoppers can be such a headache.”
“I’m glad we already had all our gifts bought.” Jaehyun muses with a laugh. “We thought about coming to visit, though.”
“Visit me? At work?”
“Yeah, but someone wouldn’t disclose where you work, so it fell through.” Haechan replies, only to be met with a stern voice as Taeyong scolds them for wanting to bother you on your most hectic work day.
You can’t help but smile, and the familiar vibration of Yuta’s chuckle makes you nuzzle him gently, enjoying the way it feels and wanting to remember the moment forever. It’s a familial presence to be around, brothers coming over for the holiday just because they can. The feeling is something you’d forgotten you’d even missed. Tea is made and sipped (with a few mugs of cocoa), pizza delivered despite the unusual hour, games played and movies going as background noise as you hear stories about insanity that happened behind the scenes during the latest tour. You aren’t sure where the time goes, you don’t even remember falling asleep, but you wake up when it’s still dark out, tucked in your bed with the familiar warmth of Yuta laying beside you. Blinking a little in the darkness, you blindly reach for your phone, double tapping the screen to wake it up, wincing at the brightness as the clock reads 3:52am. You sit up on one arm, rubbing at your eyes and reach to turn on the lowest setting of your bedside lamp, just enough to see by. You probably should be, but aren’t surprised when you look beside to find dark eyes looking up at you, half asleep as well.
“I’m sorry, baby. Did I wake you up?”
Yuta shakes his head a little at your question, moving to sit up and press a kiss to your cheek. “The others are asleep, too.” he adds with a yawn, running his fingers through your hair.
“When did they go back?” you ask sleepily, leaning into the touch and smiling as he kisses you. When he doesn’t answer, you tilt your head. “They did go back to the dorm, right?”
Yuta shakes his head again before explaining softly. “You fell asleep around one-thirty, and the rest of us were already settled in, watching tv. Taeil was asleep by two on the chaise, Jaehyun was asleep on the couch with Jungwoo by then. Once we realized that Doyoung, Mark and Haechan had fallen asleep on the floor, there wasn’t a point in trying to get back to the dorm. I showed the guest room to Yongie and Johnny. They’re on those beds. We made sure everyone had pillows and blankets, then I carried you to bed.”
Listening to him, you lean over to press a kiss to his lips. “My prince. What would I ever do without you?” you muse again, moving to stand. “Let’s go check on everyone real quick? I just want a head count.”
“You sound like Yongie at an airport.” Yuta teased, pulling back the blankets and following you down the hall to the living room. Despite being told, you’re still surprised to find that the living room is indeed filled with six of the members. Blankets from the hall closet are draped over the three on the furniture; Taeil is facing the wall behind the chaise while Jungwoo is curled into Jaehyun on the couch, his head tucked under Jaehyun’s chin. There’s a single blanket cocooned around Doyoung by this point, and the ones over Mark and Haechan have tangled by now as the pair lay facing each other. It’s a giant holiday sleepover, like the kids have fallen asleep waiting for Santa to show up. The sight warms you, and you tilt your head as you take in all of them.
“I’m glad they’re comfortable enough to be affectionate and relaxed like this here.” you say quietly, looking up as Yuta’s hand takes yours.
“None of us were surprised when Mark and Haechan admitted to their relationship. Those two, though, I think caught us a little by surprise.” Yuta answers, nodding towards the couch where Jungwoo and Jaehyun sleep.
“It’s family though.” you reply, leaning into him and resting your head on his shoulder. Your eyes close when you feel Yuta press a kiss to your head. There’s a warmth in your chest, a happiness you didn’t even realize you’d been missing until this moment, standing in a living room full of Yuta’s friends, knowing all of them wanted to spend this time with you simply because their friend loved you. “Alright, let’s check on the other two, let these guys sleep some more.” Yuta gives a nod and leads you back down past your office and to the guest room, where the door is still open. Taeyong is on the main bed, half curled in a ball while Johnny is on the trundle bed, head on the opposite end of the leader’s which sadly has him facing the window. You enter the room quietly so that you can close the curtains, knowing the fabric is room darkening and will help. Returning to Yuta, you slip your arms around his neck and lean up to kiss him. “Alright, let’s go back to bed.” you whisper. “Tomorrow is Christmas and I get the feeling it’s going to be a long day.” He keeps you from moving for a moment, and you find that you’re alright with that despite the way your head tilts curiously.
“Are you okay now, princess?” Yuta asks genuinely as the two of you stand there, looking down at you in the gray-ish light the dimly lit lamp of your room gives you to see by. You can see the concern on his face and one hand moves to cup his face as you lean up to steal another kiss.
“Much better, thanks to you, Yuta.” you reply, moving to pull away and head back to bed. You know he’s walking with you, closing the door as you crawl back into bed. As you settle into the blankets, Yuta’s there behind you, draping his arm over your waist.
“Merry Christmas, Y/N.” he whispers, pressing a kiss to your shoulder as the two of you settle into each other’s warmth and relax. Your eyes close as you smile, adjusting so your arm lays over his, tucking your fingers between his.
“Merry Christmas, Yuta.”