Love You Till The End (Robert Zussman x Reader)

45 - Y/N L/N

"That reminds me of how I used to beg to place the star on top of our Christmas tree. My father would have to lift me up and I would feel so proud of myself afterward even though there were a few times where I did almost knock over the tree." I let out a chuckle.

"You ain't alone there. I almost knocked over the menorah a few times. It's no wonder my Ma' didn't trust me with fire," he said as we both stood up. He went back to looking at the Christmas tree before asking, "So, how do you usually spend your Christmas?"

"Most of the time, it's just my parents, my brother, and I together, but we have had family from Wisconsin come and visit us. That doesn't happen very often though. Now that I'm older, I like to help my mother bring my brother's gifts down from the attic. I also like to help her in the kitchen on Christmas day. After we watch my brother open his gifts, her and I spend most of the morning and afternoon in the kitchen preparing our meal.

"I think the way we spend Christmas is rather simple; We eat a nice meal together, enjoy each other's company, and we always finish our night with coffee and homemade apple pie which I make now since my mother taught me how to."

"That sounds like a nice time. I sure would love to see you workin' your magic in the kitchen someday. I can already picture myself tryin' to help you and you scoldin' me after I screw up," he said and we both laughed.

"I might not be the best teacher, but since you did promise to show me around Chicago if we get back to the states, I promise to teach you some skills in the kitchen. How does that sound?" I asked.

"That sounds like a great time to me. One question: Will there be dessert too?" He winked at me.

"Yeah, I can teach you some baking skills too," I said, acting as if I didn't know what he was referring to.

"No, I meant-"

"You finish that sentence and there won't be any dessert." I interrupted. I looked over at him to see him pretending to lock his lips with a key and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Okay, gross," someone said from behind us. We turned around to see Stiles scratching the back of his neck uncomfortably. "I'm now regretting coming over here to tell you two to join us by the fire. Just please leave the flirting over here if you do."

"What's the problem, college? Did you not get much dessert back home?" Zussman asked.

"I'm gonna walk away now." Stiles turned around and took a few steps before stopping in his tracks. "And that's none of your business."

"I'm gonna take that as a no," Zuss whispered to me as we began following Stiles to the fire.

The walk to the fire wasn't a long one. There were five crates placed around the fire that we had put there earlier and Aiello was already sitting on one. Stiles sat on the crate near Aiello, but it was spaced out enough to where he wasn't sitting shoulder to shoulder next to him, otherwise, he probably wouldn't have sat near him. Zussman took the crate near Stiles which left two crates for me to choose from. I could've chosen to sit near Zuss, but I instead chose to sit near Aiello since I figured Daniels would rather sit next to Zussman.

As I sat there, I watched as every breath I released turned into a cloud of smoke. It felt so damn good to be by the fire again. I hadn't even been away from the fire for very long when I was admiring the Christmas tree, yet the cold was quick to attack my face; the only part of my body that was exposed. It was a tingly sort of feeling, almost as if I was being poked in the face with pins and needles. Now that I was by the fire, the tingly feeling had gone away.

We said nothing to each other as we sat there. I figured the boys were probably just enjoying the warmth of the fire like I was. Or maybe they were thinking about home. Like I said before, tonight is one of those nights where the thought of being with your family doesn't leave you alone. I'm sure a lot of soldiers are feeling a little extra homesick tonight.