"I'm going to be an elf for Christmas." I state, picking up the outfit. "Because this is on sale." I grin.

"You look like an elf already, shortie." Matt snorts as I turn around.

"Hey!" I whack him with the hanger and he groans, rubbing his arm as he glares at me while I search the rack again.

"Heres your size. We can both be it." I put them into the basket.

He scoffs. "This is so childish." He rolls his eyes.

"So what? It's just me, you and Luca. Wait what size is he?" I turn, looking through the outfits again.

"Bruh."

Few hours of Christmas shopping later, we leave with the outfits and different coloured tinsels, baubles and a bunch of other decorations along with some food.

"We need a tree." I state, as we drive off.

"Pretty sure dad has an old one in his garage." Matt responds.

Matt's dad is always away at work so he has the house all to himself pretty much all the time, so that's why he's spending Christmas with us.

Once we arrive at his garage, Matt heads inside and walks to the corner, me following him.

"Is it a white one?" I ask, as he begins to pulls something out of the triangular slot in the wall.

"Nah, this is a real tree." He pulls again and I jump when it lands in front of my feet.

It was discoloured with some areas turning black, a stench coming from it.

"It's so rotten!" I exclaim, taking a step back, wrinkling my nose.

"Nah, it just needs a wash and some spray paint." He pulls his shirt up, blocking his nose.

"And perfume." I take another step back.

"Help me pick it up and put it into the trunk." He says, bending down as he grasps the front.

I groan, as I go to the end, lifting it up, as we begin to head out with it.

"Shall we just buy a new tree?" I grimace, as we finally dump it into the trunk.

"Nah, no point, this will do." He rubs his hands together as we then enter the car again.

"Where can we get spray paint?" I ask as he drives off.

"Walmart, of course."

~~~~~~

"No, it needs to have a snowy look." I shake my head as Matt picks up a blue can, while I'm holding a white one.

"That's boring."

"We bought some blue baubles, it won't stand out." I roll my eyes. "Put that down."

"No." He scowls. "Blue paint or no paint."

I cross my arms, glaring and after ten more minutes of arguing, he then makes a suggestion.

"Let's just make it rainbowy, that'll be sick, we can add extra colours and that. A bit like the LGBT flag." He says, excitedly.

"Oh, that's actually a good idea." I nod with a grin. "Like do it in strips, and put different coloured baubles and tinsels around a contrastive colour and then--"

"Yeah yeah, that's it." He cuts off my blabber. As he begins to throw in different coloured cans.

I then make my way to the end of the aisle, as I look around the christmas sale.

After a couple of minutes I say. "Matt do you want this sock thing--" when I turn I see him kissing the shit out of a girl and my eyes bulge out.

Wow. I leave him for a few minutes and he's already on a snogging fest. Typical.

My mind drifts off to Killian and I sigh. It's been two weeks since I last saw him, I wonder what he's up to now.

I just feel sorry for what he's going through with all the business stuff he has to do, it's bound to have a tol on him. I just wish he would realise he's better doing something else, something he loves. But he's too stubborn.

"Yo, BG!" Matt pulls me out of dreamland as he makes his way to me. The girl following him from behind.

"Uh, Matt. You kinda smell like BO." I say, as a weird smell enters my nose.

Perks on being bestfriends with a guy. He's smelly almost all the time. Sometimes mild, sometimes extreme.

"It's cuz of all the gym sessions I go to." Matt says loudly, glancing back at the girl, clearly trying to impress her.

Heard of a shower?

"That's sexy." She flirts, twirling her hair around as she give him a seductive smile.

"Thanks babe." He throws his arm around her, his smelly fiss touching her shoulder.

"Hey." I smile up at her, politely.

She glances down at me, looking me up and down. "How old are you?" She asks, bluntly.

"...I'm eighteen, why'd you ask?" I raise a brow.

"No way!" She exclaims with a smirk. "You're like, way too short to be eighteen."

Okay, I've decided. I dislike people like her.

"Well I am, deal with it." I give her a fake smile, before looking at the shelf again.

"I was the same height as you when I was like ten, I swear." She says after some awkward silence.

God, her voice was starting to piss me the frick off already.

"Do you want a medal for that?" I state back, sarcastically and she releases a fake laugh, turning her head to Matt.

"Is this british midget on her period or something?" But he was too busy checking out another woman across the aisle. Huh.

I wasn't going to be petty and call her a lanky plank of wood, so I keep my mouth shut.

When she notices his act, she gives him a nudge, her face souring up.

"Matt, wanna come over mine today?" She nudges him again and he turns his gaze back to her.

"Nah, I'm busy. I'll call you some other time." He waves her off, as he steps forward, looking back at me, lazily.

"Anything else we need?"

I look back at the aisle. "We could put some secrets gifts into these socks for eachother." I shrug, picking them up. "They're fifty cents each."

He nods, and I chuck them into the trolley.

The woman next to us kept staring at Matt, her eyes a little hurt.

"Fine." She snaps and Matt turns his head to her, only just noticing she's still here.

The woman then walks off and I suddenly feel kinda bad for her.

"Matt you shouldn't play with peoples emotions like that." I shake my head.

I feel like there's a lot of girls like her in this world, simply trying to fit into things that don't suit them.

And sometimes when someones trying to force things, they end up doing the last resort by picking on someone to try to make themselves look funny, but in reality it's just plain cringy.

Another example of this is the majority of the populars and wannabe populars in my old high school.

They are truly the lost ones and need help. Smh.

"I told her a million times I don't do relationships, but she keeps coming back." He groans.

"You literally just kissed her five minutes ago." I deadpan, rolling my eyes.

"She started it." He shrugs.

I sigh. "Whatever, let's go." We then head to the till.

~~~~~~~

After bathing the christmas tree and drying it with my hair dryer, we begin to spray the shit out of it, with different coloured streaks, dropping the cans when we're done as we analyse our beautiful work.

"Sweet!" Matt exclaims. "Totally orginal, and unique. People would kill to have this tree."

I wipe the paint from my hands onto my old joggers, a wide smile on my face. As I pull out my phone.

"Lets take pics with it and then when it's dry we'll decorate." I take a step back, making sure my back doesn't touch it.

Matt moves over and stands next to me, and my nose wrinkles up when his stench enters my nose.

I take a quick shot, before pushing him away. "God, Matt. You fricking reak." I gag, and he roles his eyes.

"You love it."

"That's why I'm on the verge of puking. Go. Have. A. Bath."

"I will but first..." he trails off, his eyes dropping to the paint cans and my eyes widen.

"PAINT FIGHT!"

~~~~~~

After the paint fight we're all cleaned up, with the christmas tree also now complete.

The room and upstairs was also full of decorations, with the three socks hung up near the fireplace.

Christmas is still weeks away but there's no harm in early preparations.

"Finally." Matt slumps onto the couch, while I continue to stare up at the rainbow tree in awe.

I pull out my phone taking a picture of it, then taking one with me next to it, pouting.

"Are we having a christmas party?" Matt asks, as I take a seat next to him, going onto instagram.

"No way." I respond, with a roll of my eyes. "Peaceful Christmas is what we need."

"Fair enough." Matt shrugs. "What about for New Years?"

"No."

"What? Please!" He moans.

I turn my face to him, raising my brows. "No, Matt."

"There needs to be a party for one, at least, please!" He begs, now shaking my arm.

"No!"

"Please, please, with a cherry on top!" He shakes me again.

"Get off!" I push his arm away. "And FYI I don't like cherries."

"Please, please, with a Ferrari on top!" He continues to beg and I snort.

"Like your broke ass can afford that." I mutter and he pinches me.

"Ow, bitch!" I elbow his thigh, hard, and he screams loud.

"Bruh, what the fuck!" He shouts, rubbing his thigh with a pained expression. "That shit hurt!"

"Sorry, but you started it." I smirk, bringing my legs up so he can't do the same.

After a glaring session, he stands up, abruptly.

"Man, I'm leaving." He grumbles as he grabs his leather jacket and slips it on, and I throw my head back, laughing.

He scoffs, giving me the middle finger.

"Adios, bitch." He then storms to the door, opening it and slamming it shut, as I continue to laugh my butt off.

That's the norm. He'll be back tomorrow.

I look at the clock, and yawn. It's nearly 10 anyway.

I then lift myself up and head upstairs to bed.

~~~~~

So New Years party or what?

I wake up to Matt's text and roll my eyes.

You know wha, just ask Luca, it's his house anyway.

I respond and then pull the duvet off, as I head to the bathroom.

After I'm done, I go downstairs and find Luca sat on the couch with his hand running over his face, stressfully and I frown.

"Luca, what's wrong?" I take a seat next to him and his eyes snap over to me as he forces a smile.

"The usual." He just says, and I nod. His eyes then move to the tree and his eyes fill with amusement.

"That's... interesting." He lets out a chuckle. And I grin.

"It was Matt's idea." I say and then we begin to talk some more.

"So anyway, I didn't see you yesterday. Where were you?" I ask.

"With Killian." He responds, running his hand through his hair.

"Oh." Theres a pause before I say. "How is he?"

"The usual." He rolls his eyes and I laugh.

"So grumpy then."

"Like hell." He smiles. "Just like his father, stubborn too."

"Oh." My smile falters, my next question coming out, warily.

"So, uh... how did he take his parents death?"

Luca sighs.

"I guess not too great." His voice is laced with pity and sadness.

"He's been pretty closed off since, he got in trouble with school a lot and his temper shortened." He purses his lips.

My eyes widen. "Oh.."

He nods, sighing. "John signed him up for therapy in his early teenage years, it was obvious he wasn't okay. But it didnt change anything."

Shit.. he had therapy?

"Killian gave it a chance but after two sessions he decided he hated them, said it was too invading and wasn't helping at all and so he began skipping them." He shakes his head, disappointedly.

"Of course, it only worsened from there. What with all the intense training he had to go through and joining the gang at such a young age. All the stress was bound to have a tol on him."

My mouth was now dry. I had no idea Killian had gone through so much.

"...I-I don't understand. Why doesn't he just leave it? He has outstanding grades! He can easily get a well-paid job." I exclaim in confusion.

"It's not as easy as that, tesoro." He shakes his head.

"The gang runs through the family, as the oldest child, it is his responsibility now, and turning away from it won't make anything better, but worse rather." He sighs.

"It's in his father's will, and not only that, like I said, the process of training took Killian years to accomplish, it took him so much to get to where he is now."

I think about his words and release a deep sigh. Finally understanding why Killian didn't want to leave.

It was in favour of his beloved father and if he left now, it would supposedly betray him, along with everything coming to waste with all the training and hard work he had to do and all.

So I guess I can understand why his life is the way it is, and why he chooses to still remain, even if he doesn't enjoy it.

If only I had known just how much he had been- and is still going through, back when we were together, so I could've offered much support and understanding as he did with me, even in his state. Now that was a true man right there. Regardless of what wrongs he did, it wasn't his fault. Hell, he's been through shit way more than I ever did.

He was born into the ganglife, in which he joined at such young, vulnerable age. I understood now, how it would be extrememly difficult for him to leave without causing problems. It clarified his actions the last time I met him and tried to get him out of it.

...I was just wondering, what exactly would happen, if he did leave this toxic ganglife? Would he get killed? Or would he--

"Tesoro, are you alright?" Luca cuts me out of my thoughts, and I jump, blinking a couple of times.

"Uh, yeah. Just thinking." I nod, running my hand against my face. "I'll go make breakfast."

~~~~~~

The next week I spent on shopping for Christmas presents for Matt and Luca. Along with some small gifts to put into their socks.

When I got home I wrappd them up, and put them under the tree, same with the small gifts into the socks.

My phone begins to ring, and I pull it out accepting Matt's call.

"Hey, BG. Wanna pub tonight?"

I snort in response. "No. Lets go to the Cinema. I really wanna watch incredibles 2."

"Haha, if we're watching something it's horror, not some bullshit cartoon that's for kids."

I gasp. "It's not for kids--Well it is, but I know lots of grown people who still watch it!"

"Nah, you can watch it all you want with your future kids. But tonight we're watching horror!" He hollars out.

"No! We're not watching horror." I scowl.

He grunts in response. "Marvel Endgame?" He then asks, plainly.

I think about it and nod. "Sure!"

"Great." And then he hangs up.

I haven't even watched the previous Marvels, but hey-ho. We'll see how it goes. The trailer seems pretty interesting.

I then get ready.

We watched the movie and it was actually really great. I got emotional a few times and there were plenty of jump scares that drove me insane.

After that we had went home and just made christmas cards.

Weeks pass by and now it's Christmas day. I was currently dressing up in my elf costume while Matt was changing in the bathroom. Once he comes out, I turn to him and burst out laughing.

"Lanky elf!" I snort and he scoffs with a smirk.

"You look like a real elf yourself mate." He comments and then Luca comes inside.

"Tesoro, I can't wear this." Hs says and when my eyes land on him I burst into laughter again, Matt joining me.

"Shut it or I'll change." He rolls his eyes, his lips tugged up in amusement, as he shakes his head.

Once I've calmed myself down, I wipe off the tears. "You look fantastic!" I exclaims and he scoffs as he looks down at his outfit. He even had his hat on!

"Right, lets head down." He then says turning and we follow him to our christmas breakfast.

After some hours of watching movies, dancing to music, and laughing together we then open our christmas presents.

After that we move onto our socks. I put my hand into mine excitedly but when I see what I pull out I immediately drop it onto the ground.

"A condom, Matt? Really!?" He bursts into laughter as my cheeks bloom red.

He then puts his hand into his sock and pulls out his gift.

"Gift card. Nice." He grins, slipping it casually into his elfy sweats, while I growl at him.

"You're a bull-shit gifter." I then turn away from him, as he laughs again.

"Nah, c'mon. You're being harsh."

"You gave me crocs for my birthday Matt. And now these." I point at the condom and then at the pot of green slime that layed on the floor, while Matt begins to cackle. I roll my eyes, my lips twitching up.

"Such a joke, honestly." I shake my head as I then head to the kitchen to have our chicken dinner. Would've been the traditional turkey, but nobody likes that.

"Nah c'mon, the slimes pretty cool, admit it." Matt follows me still laughing his butt off and I roll my eyes.

Guys these days.

~~~~~~~~~

"Have you got your gun with you?" I turn to Kian, as I place one into the waist band of my trousers.

"Yup." He responds as he makes a sharp turn to the left, through the now deserted streets. We had been driving for hours and now the sky was pitch black with lights coming from the posts.

I check my phone and see that it's almost 11pm.

Right now we were heading to Vinnie's private place, turns out it was him who was messing around and hacking into our files, presuming as revenge for sedating him and stealing 'his' drugs years back.

Once we arrive at the destination, I turn my gaze to Kian. "Stay here and take a look out." I state and relief floods through his eyes.

"Of course." He nods, and I push the car door open, landing my feet onto the concrete.

My eyes swarm around the area, memorising it, as I begin to approach the gates where I could see Vinnie's dark figure.

A few minutes later, I stop a foot away from him, now having a clear view of his face.

When his eyes meet mine, a twisted smirk appears on his face.

"Ah, Killian." He leans off the wall, blunting his cigarette as he drops it to the ground, releasing a chuckle. "What brings you here in this fine Christmas day."

I scoff in response. "I think you know why I'm here, Vin." I respond, calmly.

"Enlighten me, why don't you?" He crosses his arms, leaning back against the wall, with a smug look.

I curl my lips upwards, letting out a dry chuckle. "Guess the last knocking out, didn't really put some sense into you." I take a step forward and he stands up straighter.

"You also stole my drugs. Thought I'd let it go that easily, huh?"

I raise a questioning brow as I let out a laugh. "You mean the ones that weren't even yours to begin with?" I shake my head as I speak again.

"They're gone now, anyway. There's nothing you can do about it, so it's time to quit playing around, you got it?" I take another step forward and he laughs.

"What you gonna do about it, huh?" He narrows his eyes at me as I smirk.

"Me and you both know just how quick I can destroy you. I'm being lenient here, by giving you a face-to-face warning. I'll trust you to do well with it." I speak out calmly, giving him one last look before turning around.

"Not so fast there, Killian." He calls out and I place my hand against my gun as I turn to him again.

"Don't test me, Vin. I don't make empty promises." I grit out, and his eyes drop to the gun at my hand.