"So! I was thinking about inviting the girls, Kevin, Griffin and Reggie over...ya know, for Christmas Eve." Kat said as I unpacked my boxes. "That sounds fun." I said and smiled at her.

"Maybe we can bake cookies or decorate the house or make a fun dinner." She said excitedly as I chuckled. "Yeah, I don't think any stores will be open though." I said as she laughed.

"Honey, we're in LA. Everything is open year round." Kat said as I chuckled. "Oh, okay..uh..let me just finish unpacking these boxes then we can go. Is that okay?" I asked and chewed my lip.

I couldn't really understand why I was feeling so awkward right now. Maybe it was because I felt like I was intruding, and like I didn't belong just yet. Maybe with time I would feel more comfortable.

"Yeah, that's perfect. We can decorate the house and make it all festive. I've basically been begging the guys to do it for weeks but they said they were too lazy." She said as I shrugged. "I'm down to decorate, it's a little late though, huh?" I said as she shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess. We can just say it's for a Christmas party then." Kat said as I unpacked my clothes.

I didn't have much since Daisy destroyed everything I owned, so most of my closet consisted of Colby's clothes right now.

"Is that all of your clothes?" Kat asked as I closed the closet doors. "Yeah...my ex roommate destroyed everything I owned and I haven't really been able to afford new clothes yet." I said then started to break down the boxes.

"That's horrible! Why would she do that?!" Kat asked as I breathed a laugh. "She was in love with Colby." I explained and grabbed a pair of leggings. "Woah, plot twist. How did she know him? I thought you guys met from that contest they did? Holy shit! Is it that Daisy girl? I didn't get good vibes from her at all." Kat said as I chuckled.

"Yeah, she was my best friend...but now she's not." I said and let out a sigh. "I'm sorry..if it makes you feel better I can promise the girls and I won't ruin your stuff or anything like that." Kat said as I smiled at her. "Thank you..that means a lot." I said as she smiled and stood up to give me a hug.

I got changed as Kat brought the broken down boxes outside for me. I decided to wear one of Colby's sweatshirts and some vans since we were just going to target and I didn't need to dress up.

"I'm gonna say bye to Colby." I said then walked up the stairs. I realized I wasn't given the tour of upstairs yet so I had no idea which room was Colby's. I decided on the double doors in front of me, "Babe?" I asked as I opened the doors.

My jaw dropped at how massive the room was. You could fit my entire apartment in this room it was that big.

"Hey- what's wrong?" Colby asked as he and Sam turned towards me from the couch that was in the middle of the room.

"This room is massive." I said as Colby's face softened, "oh, yeah. It's the master bedroom." He said with a laugh as he stood up to walk over to me.

"What's up?" He asked as I bundled my sleeves into my hands. "Kat and I are going to the store..Kat wants to have a Christmas party." I said as Sam laughed, "That sounds like Kat." He said as Colby smiled at me.

"Don't have too much fun without me." He said then gave me a quick kiss before walking back to sit with Sam. "Bye guys." I said and waved before looking around the giant room again.

I still couldn't wrap my head around the fact that this man would rather stay in my shitty apartment with me than stay here with this beautiful house.

It didn't make any sense.

"Tara's coming is that okay?" Kat said as I nodded and walked down the stairs. "That's fine." I said with a grin as Tara came skipping over.

"Let's go bitches!" She said then grabbed her keys. Kat grabbed her purse as we followed her to the black Mini Cooper that was parked outside.

"Violet knows how to cook so I think we should actually cook for Christmas this year, that is if you're down. No pressure though!" Kat said as Tara started driving us to the store.

"Yeah, we can cook something. I'm a little rusty since I haven't really cooked in a while but I'm sure we can make something work." I said with a smile as I looked out the window.

I still couldn't believe I was surrounded by sun and palm trees right now. It felt like I was on a vacation that I seriously couldn't afford. But it wasn't.

I was living here now.

When we got to the store I raised my eyebrows seeing that it was two stories. I didn't even know those existed to be honest.

"Is something wrong?" Tara asked as I laughed, "What? Oh! No! I've just never seen a two story target before." I said with a laugh as we walked through the doors. "Oh yeah, I was amazed by it when they built it too. LA is constantly building crazy shit but you get used to it." Tara said as we walked towards the clothing section.

We walked around and grabbed a bunch of decorations and even some ugly sweaters. As time went on I felt myself getting a little more comfortable. Talking to the girls was a lot more natural than I thought it would be.

"What did you want to make for dinner? We suck at cooking so hopefully you have some ideas." Kat said as I chuckled, "My dad used to make this pork loin stuffed with cranberry stuffing..we can make it if that sounds good to you guys." I said then turned to them as they stared at me.

"What?" I asked as Kat cracked a grin. "I thought you were just gonna say Mac and cheese or something." She said as I shrugged, "We can make some Mac and cheese too." I said with a grin. "Good, because I'm a vegetarian and Mac and cheese sounds delicious." Tara said as I chuckled. "I'll make it fancy." I said and winked at her.

We then went grocery shopping for everything we would need. I was beyond excited to make dinner tonight, since it's been literal years since I really cooked.

The last Christmas I had with my parents my dad taught me how to make this meal which he always made for Christmas.

We honestly used to cook all the time, when I lived with Daisy and her mom they would try to get me to cook but I was too heartbroken from my parent's death to feel motivated enough to do it. So I was pretty excited to get back into it.

Once we had everything we made our way back to the house. "We bought way too much stuff." Kat said as we pulled everything out of the car.

"We can never have too much Christmas spirit, Katrina!" Tara said with a laugh as I grabbed the groceries. "You're right." Kat said as we went inside.

"The girls are coming over before everyone else to help." Kat said as we put all of the stuff on the kitchen island. "Sounds good, I have to start cooking though so we can actually eat today." I said as washed my hands.

"Okay! Tara and I are gonna start setting up the decorations then we can come help you." Kat said as I smiled and nodded. "Perfect." I said then started unpacking the ingredients.

I found myself getting lost in the cooking, picking it up as if I was 16 years old again. Memories of my dad teaching me filled my brain as my heart warmed up.

The girls had turned on Christmas music so I was dancing and singing along as I chopped vegetables and made a roux for the macaroni and cheese.

I was so lost in the cooking I didn't even realize Colby and Corey had come into the kitchen. I had my hands covered in stuffing as I turned around to see Colby standing right in front of me.

"Oh my god! You scared me!" I said with a laugh as I walked over to the sink to wash my hands. "Sorry, what the hell are you cooking? It smells amazing." Colby said as I smiled and looked at him.

"Christmas dinner. Can you stir that pot for me?" I asked and pointed to the pot I was making the cheese in for the Mac and cheese.

"Yeah, oh my god this looks so good." Colby said as he walked over to stir the pot. "Where did you learn to cook?" Corey asked as he lurked around the kitchen to see what I was making.

"My dad taught me. I haven't cooked since I was sixteen though." I said as Corey laughed. "Your dad must be an amazing chef then, damn." He said in amazement as I walked up to Colby.

"Yeah...he was. Here, try some." I said as I grabbed the wooden spoon from him and blew on the cheese so I could feed it to him.

"Holy shit, Vi. This is amazing." Colby said with wide eyes as I smiled, "It doesn't need anything?" I asked as he shook his head. "No, this is perfect." He said then leaned down and kissed me.

I smiled then looked around, taking in my surroundings. I couldn't help but feel a certain warmth in my chest knowing that I was getting to share my dad's talent with my boyfriend and all of my new friends.

It felt good that I was doing something in his honor.