+pov-Ariana Grande+
MALIA
Christmas morning starts at ten o'clock for my house. That seems late but me and Joon spent a lot of time out yesterday. We went to the mall and he helped me pick out scents for my dad at Bath and Body Works.
We went into Foot Locker and I got them sneakers. I got my dad some sweatsuits. He lives in them. That's where I get it from. But they're comfortable. Why wouldn't I wear them constantly? I bought my mother some acrylic paints and thick poster boards for her to use.
She really enjoys painting in her free time. It's her emotional outlet when she doesn't feel like talking or doing much else.
I shower and get dressed, in more pajamas because that's how we spend Christmas over here. My mom and I are in onesies and my father is in a two piece PJ set. He wanted a Rick and Morty one so bad so we got him one. He watched one episode with me and now he's an addict.
"Lia, come on down. The Kims are here."
My eyes widen as I brush my teeth. She didn't tell me they were coming. Neither did Namjoon. Maybe he didn't know. My mother is always doing some shit.
"I'll be down in a second." I say as I rinse my mouth out. He's going to see me in a onesie. I look like a kid. A big ass kid. I roll my eyes at myself in the mirror. "This is ridiculous."
I open the bathroom door and walk downstairs. I peek around the corner and he looks in my direction. His brows furrow in confusion as he cocks his head. He's not in Christmas pajamas. He's in what he usually wears to bed before he strips.
Sweatpants and a t shirt.
It's so simple but he's so damn cute in it.
His subtle action alerts my mother of my presence. She turns around and waves me on. "Come on so we can eat, girl. You're holding us up."
I put my head back and groan before stepping out. Namjoon bites his lip as he holds back his laugh.
"Merry Christmas, Malia." His mother speaks to me.
"Merry Christmas, Mrs. Kim."
I glare at Namjoon as he snickers and my dad starts laughing.
"Y'all get on my nerves."
"I'm sorry." Joon says as he holds his arms out.
I walk to hug him and he squeezes me. When I open my eyes, my mom is looking at us. My dad has a slight smile on his face before clapping.
"Alright. Let's get to eating so we can open the gifts. I'm hungry and I don't want the food to get cold." We sit at the table to eat and the doorbell rings. I hop up to open it.
"It's Janae. I wasn't sure what time she was coming." I open the door and she hugs me as soon as she's in the house. "I missed you, girl!"
"You just talked to me last night and we call each other twice a week."
"So? That's not the same thing as seeing you!" She flicks my neck and I rub it. "Your lil boyfriend here?" She whispers and my eyes widen.
"He is not my boyfriend. Shut up. Yes, he's here." I shush her as we walk to the table. I sit next to Joon. My dad sits at the head of the table next to me and Joon's mom across from him. My mom sits next to my dad across from me. Janae sits on the other side of Joon's mom.
They all say hi and Merry Christmas to her and she returns it.
Namjoon puts two waffles on my plate as my mom hands me the bacon. "Namu, can you pass me the syrup please?" He hands it to me and I thank him.
"So how has college been for you guys? Midterms, sports?" My mother asks.
"I think I failed one honestly. My mind kept blanking and I wasn't thinking straight. I know the material but every time the question for it came up, I couldn't think." Janae admits.
"You're one of the smartest people I know other than Lia. Physics is not easy." He screws his face up. "You probably passed. You might've just been overwhelmed. We all were." Namjoon tells her. "Malia was worried too but I know she did great."
He puts a piece of bacon in his mouth. Janae and his mom eye him and he's oblivious to it. She looks at me and I shrug before I start eating again. When everyone finishes, Namjoon and his mom do the dishes for my mom.
They insist that because we cooked, they'll clean up. Janae comes to sit on the couch with me in the living room.
"That's the same Namjoon Kim? You sure he ain't a clone or something? What they feeding y'all? Why is he so big?"
She question before turning around. She looks at him and then back to me.
"All he does is eat, work out, play basketball and study. He's the same."
"Yeah but... what the hell. Girl..." she looks me up and down before leaning in to whisper. "You sure you wanna do that?" I smack her shoulder and look around the room.
"Shut the hell up. My momma got super hearing. Tryna get me beat up on Christmas."
"She is not gonna beat you up. She think y'all did it already." She waves me off and I look at her.
"What? How you know? Why y'all always talking about me?"
"I don't know. I heard her talking to my mom yesterday. She approves of him. She was saying that you stayed the night at his house when y'all got back home and during the Thanksgiving break. That he was touchy with you and you seem relaxed around him."
I think back on Thanksgiving break. I didn't think that he was that touchy at the time. But now that I think about, he was always holding my hand in his or playing with my fingers.
"What the hell does that have to do with losing my virginity? They just be saying anything."
"People are usually touchier when they have sex. I don't know. Like, there's no barrier for physical touch after that. They're not shy about it anymore. That and she knows how much y'all like each other. You ain't gonna let just anybody touch you."
She says it nonchalantly but it hits me more than she intended it to. She's not wrong. I would never have sex with somebody or be intimate at all with somebody that I don't like.
No matter how hard I try to mold myself to do it or be something that I'm not, I can't. And maybe that's why going further with Xavier was never a thought in my mind. Not even kissing him crossed it.
I don't know him well enough. I don't like him that way.
He's not Namjoon.
++++++
"This one from Joon." My father hold the box up. "Can I shake it?"
"I wouldn't." Namjoon answers and my father laughs as he carefully takes the wrapping paper off. He opens the box up to reveal two gardening pots. Nice ones. They're hand painted with designs on them.
"Oh wow. These are wonderful." My father says as he looks at them. He turns them around to see the full thing. My mother takes them from him so she can look too.
"These are beautiful. You painted them?" She asks as she inspects them.
Namjoon nods shyly as he looks at my mom. His cheeks blush and he grabs my hand, rubbing against my fingers.
"Thank you, Namjoon. I love them. Oh wait. There's more in here." He pulls out flower seeds and grins from ear to ear. "Does this mean you're gonna help me in my garden when the weather breaks?"
"Yes, sir." He says and they laugh together. My mother and Mrs. Kim give each other a look that I don't miss.
I didn't think that Namjoon had gotten my parents anything. I don't know when he did it either. The flower pots and seeds make my father happy. And he hand painted them? That was very sweet of him.
He got my mother two new smocks for when she paints. They're from by a black owned company in the city. Made with eco sustainable material. Namjoon really outdid himself with those.
The day goes on and dinner goes by. Janae goes back home to eat with her family, taking the giant teddy bear that I bought with her. All of our parents end up going out together, meeting the Jungs at what they call 'an adult restaurant'.
Whatever the hell that means.
When my house is empty and I'm alone, I go upstairs to my room and watch Bob's Burgers. Two episodes later and I think I'm trippin.
I turn the volume down on the TV and hear Mariah Carey playing outside. It's kinda loud. What the hell. I get up out of bed and look out my window. I roll my eyes and laugh as I open the window.
Outside with his phone held above his head is Namjoon.
"What are you doing?" I yell to him as I laugh.
"It's not the 20s or 80s but it's close enough, right?" He shouts back and I smile. "Come out with me."
"Right now? It's almost ten o'clock."
He rolls his eyes. "So what? What are you, a toddler? Come on, pussy."
"Aht. Don't do that."
"Come on, Lia. I didn't walk all the way over here for you to fake debate with yourself. Bring yo ass outside."
"Where are we going?"
"You're always asking questions. Just come on." He stomps his foot and screws his face up.
"Because I don't want to be kidnapped."
"But I'll make it fun. You'll never want to leave."
"Is that a promise?"
"Yes." He smiles at me and I shake my head.
"Alright. I'm coming down."
"Bring an overnight bag."
He turns the music on his phone off and walks to my car. I pack a bag and put my coat and shoes on before jogging down the stairs. I grab my keys off the kitchen counter and text my mom to let her know I'm staying with Namjoon.
She tells me to 'have fun' and I stare at the text for a few seconds before walking out the door.
I toss him my keys and he unlocks the doors for us to get in. "Are you still not going to tell me where we're going?"
"Do I ever?"
"No." I pout and he turns to me.
"Gimmie a kiss."
"Do you deserve a kiss?"
"Yes."
"Mmmm I don't know about that." I say, teasing him. He smacks his teeth and pulls out of the driveway.
"Remember that." He says as he drives. He pulls into a dessert restaurant and parks. We get out and he holds his hand out for me. I grab it as we walk inside.
They have every kind of dessert you can think of on the menu. "I want a churro."
"That's it? They got your ice cream but in those sandwich wheels."
"Oohhh. Okay, wait. Let me think. Because I don't think that goes together."
We study the menu for a few more minutes before deciding on things together. We're shown to our table and order a double cup of cookie dough ice cream and three churros. They have a crazy amount of toppings to choose from.
We settle on chocolate chips, chocolate and caramel syrup and sprinkles (rainbow and chocolate).
As we wait for the ice cream, I take pictures of him as he tries to hide his face. "Look at your dimples. They're so cute."
I snap more pictures as the ice cream comes out. The waitress gives us two spoons and we thank her.
We put the toppings on and it looks sweet enough to give us diabetes in one go. We eat it anyway. Namjoon takes pictures of me with ice cream on my face.
"Stop. Don't post those." I laugh as he smirks at his phone.
"Why not? I think you look good. It's cute." I watch as he send them to the group chat with the basketball team and the dancers.
Both of our phones start blowing up after that. I glare at him and he laughs. "Jay said you look like a lil ass girl."
I smack my teeth and look at the chat. "Kaia said I look cute so I don't care."
"You always look cute." He says seriously. My eyes slide over to him and he's dragging the spoon out of his mouth.
My eyes drop to his lips as he licks them.
"My eyes are up here, Lia."
"I know." I say quietly as I meet his gaze.
We look at each other for a few seconds before he feeds me more ice cream. My thighs squeeze together as he continues to look at me, giving direct eye contact as he pulls the spoon out of my mouth.
I don't how much longer I can take this. This boy is making me crazy and I just might let him.