Note: Oh... hello. It seems we meet again-

I didn't think I was going to do this, but I figured, eh why not? It's Christmas. This is unedited, as I've just whipped this up, but I hope you'll forgive the imperfections and enjoy this chapter, my loves.

~~

"You look like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," Cecelia said, pressing a hand to her mouth, trying not to laugh at Jamie's bright red nose.

He reached a hand up and rubbed his nose, the way you'd rub an eraser against pencil marks, as if it would make it disappear. His equally red lips formed a pout.

"You're a bully," he grumbled.

"You're just sensitive," Celia said, poking the side of his stomach, which caused him to jerk slightly, clearly ticklish.

James scoffed. "Sensitive, my ass."

Cecelia let out a laugh at the way he stood a bit taller, as if trying to assert his macho manliness. The boy was in an ugly Christmas sweater, and his hat had a pom-pom on top. He looked less like a macho man and more like a teddy bear.

She noticed the small smile that formed on his lips at the sound of her laugh, which he tried to cover up.

"So are we going to stand here forever or are we going to do what we came here to do?" Cecelia asked, nodding towards the ice rink.

Jamie looked back and forth between the ice and Celia. "Haha, yeah, you go ahead, I'll wait here."

"That wasn't the deal, sweetums," Celia said in a sing-song voice.

"It is now," he said, crossing his arms.

"I don't remember agreeing to this," she said, a smile playing on her lips.

"You didn't," he said, matter-of-factly.

"Then it's not a deal. You're not going to break your promise are you?" Cecelia said with a pout.

James narrowed his eyes at her. "I hate you, Celia."

Despite his words, he grabbed her hand, causing an onslaught of tingles, the way they always appeared, from the first hug to a simple touch, such as this.

"No you don't. You love me, sweetums," she said with a smile, batting her eyelashes at him.

He didn't look at her, but his lips lifted in a small smile as he whispered, "Maybe."

Cecelia's heartbeat sped up the way it always did when he made comments like that, as if they were little hints. Cecelia knew she liked James as much more than just a friend, but they'd only met-met in November, a month prior, and they remained friends only. It was torture, but she was happy to have him in her life, at all. Through a screen, as a friend, any way, he'd be a gift she wouldn't take for granted.

The second they got onto the ice, Jamie almost fell backward, clutching onto Cecelia's hand even tighter, for balance.

"People do this for fun?" he wheezed out, his blue eyes wide with panic behind his glasses.

"It may be hard to fathom, but yes, sweetums. Some of us have something called balance," Cecelia said.

James chose to not reply, instead putting all his focus on his feet, taking extremely small steps forward.

"Jamie, you're supposed to glide, not stomp," Cecelia said with a laugh, though she didn't actually mind his slow pace. She was just happy to be spending Christmas eve eve with her sweetums.

Jamie glared at her. "I'd like to see you do any better."

"I would show you, but you're going to fall on that cute butt of yours the second you let go of my hand," Cecelia said.

"Bite me," he said, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Want me to?" Cecelia said with a smirk.

"Celia!" Jamie said, his cheeks going from their light pink to a deeper red.

"What?" she asked with a shrug.

"When I met you, you didn't even know the phrase spitters are quitters, now look at you..." the way he said it sounded like he was scolding her until a grin painted his face. "I'm so proud."

Slowly, they'd been getting closer and closer together, as they skated. The proximity overwhelmed her, in some ways. She couldn't help scanning over all his features, the messy brown hair hidden by the hat, the rouge color painting not only his nose, but his cheeks in an endearing way, and his lips in a tempting way, the shine of his blue eyes, which were the same shade as the sky in summer, and even his glasses. Despite the extremely cold weather, she felt a slight heat throughout her body, most prevalent in her cheeks.

In a sudden movement, Cecelia let go of Jamie's hand, deciding to show him how she truly could do a lot better at skating than he could, spinning circles around him and gliding around the rink, which was relatively empty for the time of year, yet not completely devoid of other people.

Once she'd mostly shaken the incessant urge to get closer to Jamie, specifically get her lips closer to his lips, she came back to Jamie, who had fallen, his butt firmly pressed against the ice.

Cecelia smiled, crossing her arms. "Well if it isn't my little damsel in distress."

Jamie narrowed his eyes at her. "Don't call me that."

"No? Do you need help up?" she asked.

"Yes," he said.

"Then you admit it, you're in distress," she said with a smirk.

"Not necessarily," he said.

"No? So you're sitting there for comfort?" she asked, trying to hold her laugh in.

"Maybe," he said with a shrug.

"So you don't mind if I just leave you here, then?" Cecelia asked, slowly backing away from him.

"Fine! Fine. I'm a fucking damsel in distress. I need help up," he grumbled.

"Good. Now, was that so hard, sweetums?" she asked. He ignored her, so she began to help him up, struggling with not falling herself.

By the time he was up, their position made her breath catch. He was only a couple inches away from her, her hands around his waist, from where she was helping him up. She dropped them immediately, refusing to look him in the eye, staring only at the ugly Santa Claus printed on his sweater.

She felt his fingers under her chin, gently urging her head up so she'd make eye contact with him. His fingers were cold, she realized, so he must've peeled his gloves off at some point or another, just like her, though she hadn't even noticed.

His eyes held a certain intensity, causing everything around her to disappear in a way, become less sharp, the way your surroundings did when you were under water. She noticed him clench his jaw slightly before his eyes flickered to something behind her. Slowly, he leaned forward, causing Cecelia to hold her breath, and let it out in a disappointed sigh when she felt his soft lips simply brush her ear.

He lifted his hand, pointing slightly behind her. "Look at the time."

She did as he said, all her disappointment vanishing, replaced by a giddy feeling she couldn't describe when she saw the hands of the clock.

"It's 4:36. The exact time we first-" she started, turning her head back towards Jamie, but she was interrupted... by his lips.

Cecelia was too shocked to respond, not that she didn't want to, she just lost her ability to breathe properly, let alone kiss him back.

James pulled back, only slightly, whispering against her lips, "Breathe, Celia."

And with that his lips were back on hers and she was kissing him back. Her heart was beating faster than it ever had before, as if it was dancing with joy in her chest.

She'd always thought that kissing would feel like fireworks, but it didn't. It felt like fire. Pure fire, coursing through every vein, lighting up every nerve, and like fire could, it caused her to melt into his arms, one of which was placed firmly around her waist and the other nestled against her, his hand pressed to her cheek.

Cecelia lifted her hands, which had been hanging by her sides, sliding upwards until they were in his soft hair, knocking his hat off as she clutched his chocolate strands. He nipped at her lips, playfully, causing her to let out a giggle, before his lips went back to hers. She let out a soft noise, feeling warmer than ever in his arms, despite it being late December.

"Mommy, why are they eating each other's faces?" a curious voice, belonging to a child, said, causing Cecelia to break away from Jamie, blushing as the mother gave a vague answer and guided the guild away from the two.

Cecelia looked up at Jamie who was smiling down at her and they both burst into laughter.

Cecelia pressed her lips together and watched his carefree laugh, her cheeks hurting from all of the smiling she'd done that day. She recalled her earlier thought, that Jamie would always be a gift she wouldn't take for granted, and as she stared at his messy hair, courtesy of her, and his swollen lips, also courtesy of her, one thought crossed her mind.

He really was her gift, this Christmas, and hopefully... forever.

~~

Note: y'all, I'm gonna be honest. I've never written a kiss scene before, because my fickle ass never gets that far in my stories, as I always get distracted and start a new one, LMAOO, so I hope this wasn't too disappointing. x