And then I heard the door.

I could hear them all before they even made their way inside, laughing amongst each other, too many voices to keep track of who was who.

"Well, what do we have here?" Sam asked, leading the rest of them into the kitchen. Leah trailed close behind, followed by Jake and, of course.. Jasmine.

"Just making cookies." Josh said simply, sneaking a peek down at me, I'm sure wondering how I was dealing with having to be in the same room as Jake again.

But surprisingly.. I was okay.

I reached out for him again, wrapping my arms around him and leaning my head against his chest, flashing Sam a wide grin.

"They should be ready in a little bit if you guys want some." I said. He nodded, smirking back at me, his eyes moving up to Josh who I then felt grab me a little tighter, holding me a little closer.

"Awesome. Thanks." Sam said with a wink, leading the rest of them out back.

I kept my eyes down, wanting to avoid Jake's stare as he made his way past us with Jasmine trailing closely behind, trying her best to keep up. As the back door finally shut behind them, I could feel Josh sigh, his grip on me loosening.

"Was that.. I mean, well.. are you.. okay?" He finally asked. I nodded, looking back up at him to see he was already staring back nervously. I hated seeing him like this, now wondering if at any moment Jake could just pop back into the picture, and suddenly our moments would be rendered meaningless.

But that just wasn't the case this time.

It was like a switch had finally gone off; you can miss the past, but that doesn't mean you're not absolutely head over heels in love with the present.

"I'm okay." I said, pulling him into a quick kiss. "But we should probably get these done before it gets too late." His smile grew as he reached up, pulling me back into a long, tender kiss. The sweet sugar still lingering on his lips, making it harder to pull away, but the last thing I wanted to do was pull away from him.

I slowly moved my hands up, tangling my fingers in his hair, kissing him back harder until his lips curled into a smile, unable to contain his giddy laughter again.

"So, for Christmas.." He said, grabbing clumps of the raw dough and squishing them into little balls and placing them on the tray. I shook my head, smirking back up again.

"Don't you start with that now too." I muttered, despite wanting nothing more than a gift from him, just another thing I could hold onto forever.

"I know, I know, you don't want to ask for anything, and that's fine. I like to think I know you well enough where I don't even have to ask, I was just.. feeling it out, wondering.. where we stood, I guess. So.. I knew.. what kind of gift I could get you." My heart jumped.

He wanted to know where we stood?

"In.. what way?" I asked, avoiding his eyes as I felt my heart beat faster. I reached into the bowl of dough, tightly squishing one into a ball and pressing it onto the tray. He was quiet for a moment, now reaching in, his hand brushing up against mine as it lingered in the bowl. He shyly pulled it away.

"Well.." He started. I could hear the smile in his voice. I peeked up at him to already see him looking back down at me. "Are we.. the kind of.. friends.. to get each other.. gift cards?" I couldn't help but laugh, holding my stare on him, shaking my head.

"I think we've always been closer than that, Josh." I said. He nodded, biting down on his lip.

"How about.. a sweater?" He asked. I shook my head.

"I think we're more than that."

"Well, what else is there after that?" He joked. I shrugged, holding my stare on him.

"How about those.. little coupons?" He asked. "Like.. a date of your choice, or.. one free back rub." I shook my head, unable to contain my laughter, moving closer to him.

"You don't need coupons for that." I said softly. His eyes instantly lit up as he tried his best to contain his flustered grin.

"Really?" He asked. I nodded. He sighed, turning to face me as he rubbed his chocolate coated finger across my lip before leaning in and gently kissing it off.

"What about.. jewelry?" He asked.

"You've already given me jewelry." I said. He shrugged.

"Well, you deserve more." He said softly, turning back towards the bowl, grabbing another giant clump of dough.

"You have to make that smaller." I muttered. He playfully rolled his eyes, taking off a tiny bit and tossing it back into the bowl.

"So, what about-"

"We're more." I said, cutting him off. He peeked back over at me, giving me questioning eyes, but I stayed quiet, holding my captivated gaze on him. How easy it was to get lost in the little world we've created together.

"But what about-"

"More." I said. He nodded, finally understanding.

"Okay."

I reached over for him as he leaned into a kiss, his hand slowly making his way up, caressing my face and pulling me in closer. I kissed him back harder as his hands gradually made their way down my body, embracing my every curve until he effortlessly lifted me up onto the counter, grabbing my hips and pulling me up against him. I tightly tangled my fingers into his hair, leaning my forehead against his as he let out a deep sigh.

But I should've known that our moment of bliss was short lived when I heard the back door open again.

"Am I interrupting something?" Sam laughed, making his way into the kitchen. Josh backed away in a fluster, his cheeks now burning bright red.

"N-no." He said, avoiding his eyes. "They're.. they're almost ready to go in." Sam nodded, his eyes jumping back and forth between the both of us.

"Okay.." He sang, playing along as he made his way down the hall and into the bathroom.

Josh waited until he heard the door close before finally turning back to me with an embarrassed smile.

"You know he's gonna ask me about this later, right?" He said. I nodded, giggling to myself.

"Yeah.." I sighed. "But he's harmless."

Because I don't think anyone wanted this to happen more than him.

Except for maybe me.

"So.. what should I tell him?" He asked. I hopped down from the counter, going over to the sink to wash my hands of what remained of the sticky cookie dough. He followed me across the kitchen, leaning up against the counter, watching silently, waiting for an answer.

"You.. don't have to tell him anything." I laughed. "This is.. our business." He nodded, gently hooking one of his fingers into the waistband of my jeans, pulling me in closer. I couldn't help but laugh, turning to face him.

"Jaime.." He whined. I reached up, gently pinching his cheek.

"Josh.." I mocked. He sighed, giving me a lovesick grin.

"Fine, but then.. answer me about your Christmas gift."

"Okay." I finally agreed. "What do you want to know?"

"Where are we?" He asked.

"We are.. where we are." I joked. He scrunched up his face, trying to hide his grin.

"So.. would me.. maybe.. making you something be.. too personal?" I shook my head.

"That would be the best thing you could ever give me."

"Okay." He finally sighed. "Perfect."

"Why?" He shook his head, his eyes instantly lighting up as he made his way down the hall. I hesitated for a moment before following him, to see him pulling on his coat.

"Where are you going?" I laughed. "I thought we were making cookies?" He nodded, grabbing my jacket from the coat hanger and holding it out to me. I made my way over, holding out my arms as he slipped it on, zipping it up for me.

"We were.." He said, making his way down the hall, knocking on the bathroom door. "Jaime and I are going out, make sure you don't burn the house down."

"Got it!" I heard Sam yell.

He then quickly made his way over to me, taking my hand and leading me outside.