Everyone disappeared this Christmas. Lana and Christian are spending it in their penthouse in New York after Lana said she wanted to see New York snow—as if she doesn’t see enough here every winter. Isabelle and Luca have gone to their family’s house for the long weekend, Julian and Grace are at his parents, and Nico has the week to himself, but is busy working from home.
As for me, I’m alone at home with my sitcoms. And as for Natalia, she’s in her apartment alone, with Binx and potentially a Halloween movie or a nineties rom-com. That’s why I park behind her car and grab the bottle of wine and meals I cooked for each of us from my passenger seat.
I walk across the street, snow crunching beneath my boots with each impending step I take toward the front door of her apartment building.
As a courtesy of showing up uninvited, I’m wearing my comfiest pajama pants and crewneck under my jacket. On the key-pad, I type in her apartment number, 3B, and let it ring.
“Who is it?” Natalia asks through the intercom.
“It’s me,” I say. “Rowan.”
There’s a moment of static before she asks, “What are you doing here?”
I imagine her expression in my mind, her long lashes batting as she blinks at me with those hazel eyes.
“It’s Christmas eve,” I say. “And it’s cold. Let me in.”
The static stops suddenly and there’s a moment of silent hesitation that I feel from down here. Another few seconds and finally the door buzzes, unlocking the front doors. I take the elevator with butterflies in my stomach.
I wanted to see her—spend this holiday with her and make her smile—so that is what I’m doing. I’m so fucking happy.
The elevator doors glide open on the third floor and I find her door instantly. I knock with the knuckles wrapped around the bottle of wine and it’s only a second before the door swings open.
She stands there, barefoot with an oversized sweater that fits like a dress, legs bare, and fuzzy socks up past her ankles. Her hazel eyes beam up at me in a way that plays tricks on my poor heart and her pouty lips are pulled in a closed-lipped smile. Her bare face is glowing, all seventeen freckles sparkling like constellations. And her hair—straightened for the first time in a year.
“Wow, you?—”
Natalia pushes a long strand of hair behind her ear. “You like it?”
“Yeah—Yes,” I say. “Both. I love both. Your curly hair is just as beautiful as this.”
“I sometimes straighten it for holidays, just because I don’tever do anything else to it. And…Yeah, I don’t know why I did it—I’m not going anywhere.”
“You look beautiful, sweetheart,” I say, and a dash of pink colors her cheeks.
“Come in,” she says, grabbing the bags from my hands as I follow her in.
“How’s your Christmas so far, gorgeous?” I ask as I remove my shoes and jacket.
“Better now, I think,” she says quietly, a small smile on her closed lips. She sets the bags on her small granite island and I join her in the kitchen. “I did my hair this morning, called my dads, and I made my boxed mac and cheese.”
I huff a laugh. “You know I would have come and made it for you.”
She feigns offense with her hand over her chest. “I’m a self-sufficient woman.”
I grin. With her, I’ll be grinning for the rest of my life. I bring myself closer to her, backing us against her kitchen counter. “Well, I am not a self-sufficient man, because I need you all the time.”
She snorts. “We seem to always find ourselves in compromising positions in the kitchen.”
I shrug, both my mouth and shoulders, and wrap my arms around her waist. “Makes sense.”
“Hmm.” She brings her palms to my heart then smoothes them up my body until her hands are in my hair. “How is your Christmas so far?”
“Better now, I think,” I say and her eyes sparkle, a smile growing on her lips. I kiss the tip of her freckled nose. “Merry Christmas, by the way.”
“Merry Christmas, Rowan.”
I smile again. “I brought you a gift.”
