woman like me - j.f✔️

L

It was finally Christmas Eve, and Justin had just arrived at Love's home. He'd be here for a few days, spending time with Love and her family. Love hadn't stopped talking about it until he arrived.

"We're gonna have the best time!" She enthused, leading him up to the spare room. It was quite spacious; nicer than any hotel or home he'd stayed in before. He placed his bag in the corner of the room, sitting on the freshly made bed beside Love. He thought the holidays would've been hard for her, with both Kenny and her dad gone, but she was as bubbly as ever.

"Do you find the holidays hard?" He questioned, regretting it the second it left his lips. She just turned to him, not even dazed by how he reacted to himself.

"Sometimes," She confessed. "We used to do everything together, we'd always make the desserts together, and fight over who opened the first present or who put the star on the tree." She laughed at the memories forming in her brain. "Sometimes I wish he was hogging the bathroom before school again, I'd do anything to have him back."

Justin slid his hand into hers, gripping it tightly. "I'm so proud of you, Love. I don't think I could do what you do." The conversation ended there, as Love left Justin to shower.

Their Christmas Eve tradition was to watch movies, and enjoy the cookies that her mom had made. Their tree was up, their decorations covered the house and the garden, all three loved Christmas more than anything.

Justin showered and returned downstairs, sitting beside Love at the dining room table in time for dinner. He thanked Love's mom and tucked in.

"Love told me you got a great report card, I'm happy for you, Justin." Her mom congratulated him. He just smiled and felt his cheeks heat up. Kindness really ran in the family. "So we usually wake up quite early, and open some gifts. Watch movies, Love makes dessert, and I begin cooking the meal. And eventually, we eat and that's Christmas done!"

"Thank you for having me here for Christmas, it means a lot to spend it with someone." Justin replied. He was genuinely grateful for Love and her family for even thinking about him.

"You're always welcome here, Justin."

That night, the four of them sat on the two loveseats, watching Christmas movies. The first to go to bed was Margot, who was so excited yet ready to pass out of the floor. Shortly followed by her, was their mom. She wanted to take advantage of the time she had away from work and sleep it off. And now only Love and Justin were left.

Midway through a random Netflix Christmas movie, Love had fallen asleep. Justin only realised this when he had tried to talk about the movie, only for it to have fallen upon deaf ears. He chuckled, turning the movie off and scooping her up. He didn't want to leave her on the couch, so he'd taken her to her room. He tucked her into the neatly folded blanket, brushing hair from her face. Quickly admiring her features, he smiled once more and left, unable to wait for tomorrow.

The first to wake up was Margot, who immediately darted into Love's room. Bouncing on her bed with glee, she finally startled Love out of her slumber. "Love, wake up! It's Christmas!"

"Jeez, Mar." Love groaned, sitting up and checking the time. "It's almost 6am! Why are you awake?" There was no way Love would be able to sleep again, so she'd gotten up and pulled a hoodie on. Margot was almost fidgeting with excitement. And Love needed to calm her down somehow.

"How about we make everyone breakfast? But we have to be quiet." Love suggested. The pair tiptoed downstairs, grabbing ingredients for pancakes. As Margot stirred the batter, Love laid the table with Christmas decorations and some pancake toppings. As well as plates.

"Mar," Love whispered. "The mix is done, let's fry them." Margot stood back as her older sister fried the delicious breakfast. The smell was easily floating around the house, and had woken up Justin. This was easily the best he'd woken up. A delicious smell, and the gorgeous sight of a messy-haired Love smiling at him.

"Justin! It's Christmas!" Margot cheered loudly, tugging at Justin's arm. Love placed the large stack of pancakes onto the table, hearing the last set of footsteps down the stairs.

"Morning, kiddos." Their mom tiredly spoke, sitting at the table. "Thank you for doing breakfast, Love. I finally had a longer sleep." It was the least her mom deserved, after everything she'd gone through. The four of them tucked into their pancakes. After breakfast, Love and Justin washed the dishes in time to open gifts.

Love's mom sat beside the tree, whilst the other three sat spread out beside the couch. She handed each of them a gift, watching as they opened it. Margot has gotten the new soccer cleats she wanted, Love had received a coffee machine that she wanted in her room, and Justin had been gifted a video game (courtesy of Love).

After an hour of opening gifts, and giving gifts to each other, they were finished. Now Love's mom began to prepare their early dinner, and everyone was getting showered and dressed. Love had quickly showered first, finding an outfit that matched the warm weather. As she was doing her hair, she heard a knock on her door.

"Come in." She mumbled, straightening the last piece of hair and standing up. Justin had walked in, smiling at her attire, causing her to blush.

"You look really nice, Love." He complimented, brushing a loose set of hair from her shoulder. The pair sat on the bed, Justin pulling a box from his hoodie pocket.

"I wanted to give this to you in private," Justin mentioned. "I've wanted to get this for you a while ago, but I thought to wait until Christmas." He handed her the small, navy blue box. She opened it up to reveal a thin, silver necklace. The initial 'J' on it. A small heart was connected to the top of the letter. It was so dainty and beautiful, Love could barely contain her excitement.

"Justin, it's..." Love was at a loss for words, taken aback by this amazing gesture. "Beautiful." She took it out of the box ever so carefully, lifting her hair up. Justin slid it and clasped it round her neck, looking at it on her. "Thank you, J."

He grazed his thumb over her cheek, watching her lips curve into a smile. She took a big leap and kissed him. It felt like she'd returned home, to be met with such familiarity and warmth.