WRITER IN THE DARK , neil perry

25

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amélie and neil silently agreed not to tell the poets anything. nothing about his attempt, nothing about his parents. eventually they'd find out, but it wasn't something they had to know right now. amélie's house was decked out in christmas decorations. charlie, knox and marianne had come over to help earlier. amélie was hosting a christmas party for all of her friends. her dad had reluctantly agreed, and left the house to her and her friends for the night.

she'd been baking all sorts of christmas treats all day, she almost forgot to get herself ready. she grabbed herself a dark red long sleeve dress, and put on black sheer tights underneath. she wore her mothers necklace, and a dark wine lip. it was 6:54, so it wouldn't be long until people started arriving.

neil was first, of course. he smiled, two gifts in his hands. they were both small. he kissed his girlfriend tenderly, hugging her tightly for an extra second so he could inhale the perfume on her neck.

amélie pulled away from him so she could point to a wooden coffee table in the living room. there was nothing on it except for a tacky christmas table cloth draped over top of it. "you can put the gifts on the table."

"this one is for you." neil chuckled, holding up a small blue box. "i know we weren't supposed to get anything other than our secret santa gifts, but-" it wasn't wrapped.

"neil!" amé groaned. she hadn't thought to get him anything, and immediately felt bad.

neil shoved the box into her hands. "i couldn't resist. open it, please."

"fine." she sighed, opening the top. inside was a pair of silver dangly earrings with a green jewel. "they're beautiful." she exhaled.

"i love you." it was the second time she had said those three sacred words, but they still sent a rush of adrenaline through neil's veins.

"i love you too." he managed. he helped her put the earrings in.

"you look beautiful, very festive." he complimented her. she did a plié, holding the bottom of her dress.

"thank you." she blushed, throwing her arms around neil and kissing him with passion. before things could go any further, charlie and marianne came bursting through the door.

"getting a bit frisky are we?" charlie smirked, causing amé and neil to scramble away from eachother.

"charlie, that's not a way to greet your hosts." neil rolled his eyes, hiding the smile he had. if he was being honest, he wasn't embarrassed. he was proud of his girlfriend.

"sorry. happy holidays you two." charlie snickered. marianne was on his arm, nodding and smiling.

"happy holidays marianne!" amélie grinned, going in for a hug.

"it feels like it's been ages. the cold makes time feel slower, i suppose." marianne kissed both of amélie's cheeks. she wore a red santa hat.

"nice hat."

"it's mine, thank you very much." charlie groaned, taking the hat from right off her head.

"the table for gifts is in the living room." amélie pointed.

"hi, are we late?" meeks interrupted. pitts was at his side.

"not at all." amé shook her head. she accepted her role as a door greeting person.

"i'm happy to see you guys." neil smiled, hugging both of his friends.

"we're happy to see you neil! you need to tell us about the play." pitts smiled, meeks nodding quickly in agreement.