As Josh made his way over, he flashed me a tired grin, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me up against him, suddenly with no regard for anyone else around us.

Specifically Jake.

Who thankfully took that as his cue to leave.

"Everything okay?" I asked, wrapping my arms around his neck as he leaned into a gentle kiss. He nodded, slowly swaying us back and forth.

"Yeah, she's okay." He said. I believed him.

"Do you wanna.." I said, my voice trailing off as I motioned upstairs. He bit down on his lip, holding his stare on me for a moment. His hesitance was making me nervous.

Was he already having second thoughts?

"Why don't we.. spend the night at your house tonight?" He asked.

"My house?" He nodded, his smile growing.

"Mine is a bit.. crowded." He muttered, motioning back into the kitchen.

"You want to wake up at my house on Christmas?" I asked. He nodded, his smile growing.

"Yeah." He said simply. "I do." I tried my best to contain my giddy grin, reaching down for one of his hands, and guiding him back down the hall.

Before grabbing his coat, he went over to their tree, gathering all of my gifts and bringing them over to me.

"Well, look at you." He laughed. "Are you gonna show me what you got?" I playfully rolled my eyes, taking them from his hands.

"Maybe." I said, placing them down on the stairs as I grabbed my coat, wrapping it around me. He let them be, respecting my privacy as he helped me with my coat, wrapping one of his scarves around my neck, grabbing on and pulling me into a quick kiss.

"Do I really need to be this bundled up?" I giggled, pulling him into one more. "My house is just a few steps away." He smirked back at me, shrugging his shoulders as he held my gifts for me again.

"Yeah, well. I was just outside and it's freezing so.." He joked, sticking out his arm for me to grab onto.

"Whatever you say." I sighed, holding on tight, leaning my head on his shoulder as he guided us back across the yard and up my front steps.

As I went to grab my keys from my pocket, he moved in front of me, turning the knob and pushing the door open.

"You left it unlocked?" I laughed, following him inside. He smirked back at me, shaking his head.

"Don't worry, I knew we were coming back here." My heart jumped.

I loved how he knew me better than I knew myself.

I watched him as he made his way inside, looking around at what little Christmas decorations we had up compared to his house. I always wished we could do more, but with just the two of us, I guess it didn't really make sense for us to splurge so much.

"I love your tree." He said, going into the living room and placing my gifts down underneath it.

"It's a lot smaller than yours." I muttered, following him and sitting down on the floor next to it. He shook his head, admiring it as he sat down next to me.

"I don't think so." He said softly. "I think it's the perfect size." I peeked over at him.

"You're sweet."

I lost track of time as he crawled around, admiring every ornament and piece of tinsel.

"Oh my goodness, look at this one." He said, leaning in close. I went over to him, my cheeks burning when I saw which one he had found.

"Oh no, don't look at that one." I laughed, trying to cover it. He shook his head, laughing to himself as he gently moved me out of the way, taking it off of the tree to get a better look.

"Oh, Jaime, look at you.." He sighed, his smile growing into a toothy grin as he sat mesmerized by one of my old photos with a macaroni and glitter glue border and neon pipe cleaners, hanging on for dear life.

"You are so adorable." He whispered, just loud enough for me to hear. I couldn't help but smile, despite just how embarrassing it was, I really didn't mind sharing these with him.

"So this is what our daughter would look like, huh?" He asked, keeping his eyes glued to the photo. My heart jumped, an excited grin escaping my lips. I tried my best not to react too much, never wanting to deter him from saying anything else like that again.

"Maybe." I said, moving in closer, leaning my head on his shoulder. "Or maybe she'll look like you." He shook his head.

"Oh, I hope not." He laughed. "That wouldn't be fair at all."

"She would be beautiful." I sighed. I felt him nod.

"They'll all be beautiful." I peeked up at him.

"All?" I asked. He nodded.

"You said we were having 'lots,' remember?" I nodded, biting down on my lip.

"Mhm.."

I could feel my heart beating faster as he held his stare on me, his eyes moving down to my lips as he moved in closer, reaching up and now tenderly caressing my face. I leaned in, my lips just brushing up against his when I finally felt him kiss me. His hands, slowly moving into my hair, gently tangling his fingers within, pulling me into a deeper kiss. I didn't hesitate to climb into his lap, kissing him back harder as my hands slowly made their way up his chest.

It all felt like a dream; a dream I had imagined, year after year, how the perfect Christmas Eve would end, and every time it was like this. It was with him. Every year we'd exchange our "friend" gifts, and every year I'd be disappointed when there wasn't a letter from him, confessing his love for me, despite the fact that I had never written one for him either. But now here we were, finally together, ending the night by the tree, talking about how beautiful our children together would be one day.

It was the best gift he could have ever given me.

"W-what, are we starting right now?" He asked. I shrugged, giggling to myself.

"We could." I joked, pulling him into another kiss. I felt him smile, making my heart beat that much faster.

"I think we should get through school without having to look for an apartment with room for a nursery." He laughed. I nodded, leaning my forehead against his.

"Okay, but then after.."

"We can talk about it after." He teased, gently rubbing his nose against mine.

"Okay." I said, pulling him into another long kiss.

Even though we were just joking right now, a tiny part of me was excited to maybe have that conversation once we graduated, even if it wasn't entirely real. But maybe by the time it came around.. it would be.

I don't know what it was about him, how suddenly this huge life decision felt like something that came so easy to me; like it made sense, like.. of course we would. Why wouldn't we? And that sense of safety, that security he gave me, was priceless. And it was all I've ever wanted.

I felt his kisses get harder, his hands slowly moving up my body until they caressed my face again, his fingers finding their way into my hair as his lips moved down to my neck, kissing every inch of exposed skin, making me wish that there was so much more.

"Josh.." I sighed, grabbing onto his shirt, pulling him in closer.

"Mhm.." He managed his lips moving across my neck to the other side.

"C-can we.. go upstairs?" He let out a deep sigh before looking back up at me, nodding.

"Okay, I just.. before we do, I.. I don't want.. I mean, what happened last time-"

"Jaime, it's okay, I-"

"I just don't want you to feel.. pressured, if this isn't something you want."

"It is what I want." He whispered.

"Okay, because.. I don't want you doing anything just for me if you-" He cut me off, pulling me into another passionate kiss until his lips curled into another smile.

"Jaime, I.. I really want to." He said, more sure than I had ever heard him.

"Okay." I sighed, kissing him one last time before taking his hand and quickly leading him upstairs.