Linked (James Graham/Reece Bibby)

Chapter Nineteen

It had been just under two months since I’d met James’ family. I’d found a job with flexible hours and everything was going a lot better than I thought it would. It was the week of the X Factor semi-final and the lads were working their butts off. I had kept my distance from Reece for a few weeks but now we were really good friends. I could happily say that I had earned all of James’ trust. And I was so in love with him.

“Guys!” I shouted as I ran downstairs, almost tripping on the bottom step. I ran into the living room where most of the lads were sat, discussing their performance for this weekend. They all looked up at me in surprise. “It’s fifteen days until Christmas!” I shouted. They stared at me for a moment before bursting into laughter. “Please can we build a snowman now?” I begged. They had promised we could build a snowman soon and I was desperate. I loved Christmas!

James laughed and took my hand, pulling me onto his lap. “Of course we can,” he said and kissed me. “We need to get some mistletoe put up for you two,” Jake laughed. I stuck my tongue out at him before jumping up from James’ lap and jumping up and down. “Come on! Let’s go and build a snowman,” I told the lads before rushing upstairs. I pulled my hat on then put my scarf on before grabbing my gloves and coat and running back down the stairs. I pulled my boots on then put on the coat that Barclay, Jake and Chris had bought me a while ago.

I waited ten minutes for the boys to get ready before I dragged them all into the garden and put my gloves on. “Half of us can start with the body and the other half can do the head,” I told everyone before a snowball flew past my face and hit James. He wiped the snow off his arm before shouting, “It’s war!”

James lifted me up and threw me over his shoulder then ran to the other end of the garden. When he put me down I looked back to the top of the garden to see the boys throwing snowballs at each other. I laughed and kissed James. He pulled me closer to him and deepened the kiss. But I pulled away when a snowball hit us both.

“There’s no time for kissing! We’re meant to be building a snowman,” Tom shouted. I grinned and ran back towards the other lads who had now stopped throwing snowballs at each other. “Right, snowman time!”

About twenty minutes later we’d built our snowman. We all stood and admired our work and took pictures to put on various social networking sites. “Can we name it?” I asked causing James to laugh. “Nigel,” Reece replied. “Nigel the Snowman,” I said.

We went inside and I made us all hot chocolates because the boys had become obsessed with them. “How are you feeling about this weekend?” I asked them all as I sat down on the sofa with my hot chocolate. “Well, of course we’re really nervous but excited,” Casey told me and I nodded. “I know you’ll kill it,” I said. James took a sip of his hot chocolate and I laughed at the cream moustache it left. “Super sexy,” I laughed. I wiped it off with my thumb and James licked it off. “Ew!” Charlie shouted and James laughed.

When we’d finished our hot chocolates, Barclay and Reece took all the mugs into the kitchen and I snuggled up to James. I kissed James and rested my head on his chest. “I love you,” he whispered then kissed my hair. “I love you too,” I replied. I could hear James’ heart beating beneath me.

“Aw, look! Christmas cuddles,” Jake said as he saw the two of us. I smiled at him before closing my eyes. My eyes flashed open a few minutes later when I heard a crash in the kitchen. I got up from the sofa, leaving James and running into the kitchen. Reece, Jake, Chris and Charlie were stood by the counter which was covered in various bits of ingredients. There were a few oven trays on the kitchen floor which I assumed is what made the crashing sound.

“What are you doing?” I asked, looking at all of them. “We were going to make a gingerbread house,” Reece told me making me smile. “Would you like some help?” I questioned and they all nodded. I walked over to the counter and looked over all the ingredients. “You need some butter,” I told Charlie who then went to get some out of the fridge.

It took longer than it should have taken to make the gingerbread house but after a lot of teamwork and care it looked quite good. The boys all took pictures of their masterpiece and uploaded them onto Twitter.

“Jasmine! The Grinch or The Polar Express?” James shouted. It was a tough decision. “The Grinch,” I answered as I went back into the living room. James put the film on and all the lads flooded into the room. I sat down on the sofa and was joined by James who put his arm around me and kissed my cheek.

“I’m glad you’re here,” James whispered just as the film started. “Me too,” I replied and kissed him. “I love you.” James kissed me again then said, “I love you too.”