The Known (On Hold)

51

Charlotte walks behind Mal with her arms full of bags containing Christmas presents.

"Mally, please, can we go home now? My arms are hurting and I might strangle the next person who says Merry Christmas or jingles one of their bells towards me."

Mal laughs at her, "C'mon, Scrooge, I just need to get one more present and then we can go home and decorate our tree."

"Babe, our tree is like two feet tall, it's not going to take that long to decorate and I'm not a Scrooge; I'm just tired and still have to study for my finals."

"C.J. you're like a genius, I'm fairly certain you could walk into your finals without even having cracked open a book and still pass with flying colours."

"I probably could, doesn't mean that I should."

"Just because you're extremely cute when you pout I'll make it quick, okay?"

Charlotte nods and follows behind her girlfriend into what she hopes is the last store they will visit on the day.

Mal kisses her on the cheek, "Thank you for coming with me today and carrying my bags."

"Uh-huh, you owe me a massage because my arms and shoulders hurt."

"My poor baby, I'll give you a massage and then some." Mal smiles and winks at her before turning to walk towards where the car is.

Charlotte smiles and shakes her head in acknowledgement of how whipped she is, before following in Mal's footsteps.

After loading all of the packages in the back of Mal's car they make the drive back to the apartment and then make a couple of trips back and forth to bring them inside.

Charlotte drops on the couch and looks at the mess of bags and wrapping paper around her, "I can't believe you bought that much stuff today, how are you planning on getting it all back to Denver?"

"A lot of it is for Marley, and I'll pay for another suitcase to bring it with me on the plane, also, there may be a few things for you in those bags as well."

Charlotte looks at her and gives her a smile, "What did you get me?"

Mal shakes her head, "You're going to have to wait to find out just like everyone else and if I find you digging around looking for stuff I'm going to send you back to the dorm."

"Um, you do realize that technically I'm paying for this apartment, right?"

"I do, but your Mom already told me about your tendency to get into your presents ahead of time."

"That was once, okay, maybe twice, but it was Kenz's fault she told me to do it!"

"Baby, just promise me that you will stay out of stuff, okay?"

"I promise, Captain Mally."

Mal laughs, "Alright, now are you helping me wrap or decorating the tree?"

"I'll take tree duty and then supper duty for 1000, Alex!"

Mal shakes her head, "I knew that I shouldn't have introduced you to the game show channel."

They spend the next while listening to music, decorating their little tree and the apartment, as well as Mal, getting some wrapping done while Charlotte tackles supper duty.

Charlotte feels arms wrap around her as Mal lays her head on her back. "Smells amazing, how long until it's ready?"

"15 minutes."

"Perfect, come and snuggle with me on the couch."

"Fine, just let me set the timer."

They make their way over to the couch and share a couple of kisses before Mal snuggles into Charlotte's side.