Sequel (Advent Calendar 2016)

THE 20TH OF DECEMBER

The 20th of December

...

Walking into the kitchen while rubbing his eyes, Rob is instantly met with the smell of scrambled eggs and bacon. As his stomach rumbles quite loudly, he spots the plate of food on the table, as Kristen tucks into her own breakfast.

"Before you ask, it's for you. I woke up early," Kristen tells him as he sits down opposite her. "It's just, uh, like a... a thank you, for the blanket and the pillow, last night."

As Rob smiles at her, he thinks of all the things he wants to say to her, but can't get the words out of his mouth. I wanted to look after you. I couldn't leave you sleeping unless I knew you were warm.

Instead, he whispers a 'no problem' to her and starts to eat his breakfast. To his surprise, Kristen doesn't leave the table while he's eating.

"Is it still snowing outside?" She asks, taking a sip of her orange juice as Rob looks up and nods. "Shit, I wonder what they'll do about filming. I'll phone Steph."

Taking one last bite of her toast, Kristen stands up and tucks the chair in, grabbing her plate and placing it in the sink. With a smile in Rob's direction, she leaves the room, allowing Rob to sigh happily for the first time in a few days.

...

As Kristen sneezes for the fifth time, interrupting the scene they're trying to rehearse, Rob stands up, putting his script on the coffee table and walking towards the kitchen.

"I'm going to make you a drink, you're struggling."

He doesn't get where his sudden need to take care of her is coming from. He is pissed, but he's growing tired of their little game. He's tired of ignoring her, and he's tired of being mad at her. As long as she's coughing and sneezing, he will forget he's pissed, and take care of her.

"Rob, I'm fine, I..."

Before she can finish her sentence, she starts to cough, much worse than before. Rob raises an eyebrow, silently questioning her. Kristen waves him away, still coughing, as Rob laughs and boils some water to make her a hot drink.

Adding some honey to the mug of hot water and walking back into the living room, he places the mug in her hands and notices how cold she is.

"Kristen, you're freezing, you should have told me, I would have put another log on the fire."

"I'm fi..."

"Do not say you're fine. You always say you're fine when you're not, I know you," he tells her, a small, sheepish smile appearing on his face. At least I used to. She gives him the same kind of smile, before looking down in her lap.

As Rob places another log on the fire and makes sure the fire won't go out. He goes to the cupboard in the hallway and pulls out a warm blanket, similar to the one on the end of their beds. Unfolding the blanket and sitting down beside Kristen, he drapes it over them both and grabs his script from the table, placing it on both of their laps so that Kristen can continue to hold her hot drink.

"You okay to continue?" Rob asks quietly, making sure his hands are above the blanket as he feels Kristen's cold feet tuck underneath her legs and accidentally press onto Rob's warm legs. "You're still freezing."

"It'll add to the authenticity of the scene. I'm fi- it's okay, Rob, really," she tells him, putting her mug on the table, so she can hold the script.

He looks at her warily. When he doesn't see any signs of her freezing, he looks down in his script, saying his first line.

They go over the scene, easily slipping into Daniel and Chloe. They're deep into their characters, when Kristen's toe suddenly brushes against Rob's bare calf.