"Did you hear?" two girls entered the elevator as you headed home. "Kuroo and Oikawa might be looking for assistants."

"I'd drop my job in a heartbeat for them," the other girl squealed. "Especially Oikawa. He's so cute!"

"Really? I think Kuroo's better. He's so tall too! I'd kill for him to notice me."

You stood in the back corner of the elevator listening to what they said. You'd overheard this conversation a dozen times around the office but this time it angered you. Who was Kuroo to worry about you flirting around while every other girl was pining for him.

"I think I messed up," Kuroo said as he entered Oikawa's office.

"You think?" Oikawa slapped him across the face. "You're an idiot. Kyoka, come here!" he called, opening the door.

"I told you I don't want to be involved."

"You're the first person who got involved!" Oikawa whined.

"Yeah, with Y/N. I don't see how I'm supposed to help your two's combined one brain cell."

"Ignoring what you just said," Oikawa scoffed, "I won't force you to but don't you want your friend to be happy?"

"I guess you're right," she sighed, sitting down on the couch next to Kuroo.

"She's not going to break up with me, is she?"

"She's about this close," Kyoka put her thumb and index finger centimeters apart.

"C'mon you gotta tell me how to fix this. Where did I go wrong?"

"Oh no," Kyoka sighed, looking to Oikawa. "He doesn't even realize. This might take a while."

"It might take a while to what?" Kuroo asked.

"For her to knock some sense into you on how to treat a woman," Oikawa and smacked his friend's head.

"Ow!" he rubbed his head, turning to Kyoka. "I didn't mean to hurt Y/N. Seriously. I just didn't want to lose her. I'll do anything to make her happy again. Please tell me how to fix things."

That day you went grocery shopping to prepare food for Christmas Day. As for who you'd be spending the day with, your parents were gone and you had no siblings. The only person you shared a bond with was your downstairs neighbor who was like a grandma to everyone. You told her everything as if she was your mother and helped around her place when things got tough. You were eating sugar cookies and watching a movie with her late at night when the bell rang.

"I'll tell you if it's important," you told her, walking over to the door. You turned the knob and saw Kuroo standing with chocolates and a teddy bear in hand.

"How did you find me?" you asked.

"I waited upstairs for a while," he scratched his head. "Then a little boy came out and told me you'd be here."

"Oh."

"I'm sorry for earlier," he said. "I'm new to this and didn't know what I was doing." He looked exhausted, his hair and trench coat covered in snow from outside.

"You can't keep using that as an excuse. You've been with countless other girls, how have you not learned?"

"Y/N, you're diff—"

"You were so good to me before," you continued, lowering your voice to a whisper. "But you scared me today. Yeah, I'm yours. But I'm not yours to control."

"I'm learning from my mistakes," he put the stuff in his hand down and tilted your chin up. You gently pushed his hand away. "Don't end things without giving me a second chance."

"I'm not breaking up with you. I just need some time for myself," you looked him in the eye. "Goodnight, Kuroo," you closed the door and leaned back against it, sinking to the floor.

You knew you were being unreasonable: he'd come all the way to apologize yet you'd brushed him off.

But the way Kuroo acted earlier reminded you of men in your past who'd taken advantage of you. You were so afraid of being used again you didn't even hear his full apology.

On the other side of the door, Kuroo slumped down too. He looked down at the chocolates and teddy bear you didn't take. He knew it was cheesy but he himself was a sucker for these things. He took out a pen and notepad from his pocket and wrote something down.

I'm really sorry. I know you're mad, I don't blame you. I'll try my best to become better while you take a break. I'd hate for these chocolates to go waste though. They're dark, your favorite. Plus look how cute the teddy bear is. It's soft too. Maybe you can pretend these aren't from me for a bit and take them in?

He left the note on the ground along with the chocolates and teddy bear, walking out with his head down back to his car. Kuroo wasn't exactly expecting a Christmas miracle, but deep in his mind he'd hoped you two could make up one way or the other.

"Who was that?" your grandma asked.

"No one important," you lied, sitting back down to watch the movie.

Later that night you went back to your apartment, picking up the chocolates and teddy bear outside the door. You got inside and read the note, placing it on your nightstand and wiping a tear.

Emotions took the better of you and you began dialing Kuroo's number.

909-998-97....

Your phone had died with two digits left to dial.

You laid down, defeated, and quickly fell asleep from exhaustion. You could've been in Kuroo's warm arms right now had you not been so impulsive.