(Val's POV)
Today is finally happening. The holiday gift swap has begun. I walk with Poppy around Pop Village, watching as every troll exchanges presents with one another.
"This is probably the best holiday I have ever seen in my entire life!" Poppy beams out.
As I walk beside her with a smile, I say, "You said that about last year's gift swap."
"What can I say?! I love every holiday!" Poppy says with a shrug.
I look up at the stars as they twinkle in the night sky. "Hey, uh, I should probably start heading over to the bunker and...exchange my present with Floyd." The nervous feeling returns when I look back at Poppy.
Poppy seems to have noticed because she immediately grabs my face and stares directly into my eyes. "You got this, Val. I know you got this. And you wanna know why I know that?"
"Why?" I ask.
"Because you are one of the most bravest friends I know." With that said, Poppy lets go of my face.
I give Poppy a small wave before running to the bunker. I go down the platform and see Floyd sitting on the couch.
I step off the platform and walk over to him. "Hi, Floyd. Are you ready to exchange gifts?"
Floyd smiles and nods his head. "Yeah, I'll go get mine." He gets up from the couch and goes to his room.
I do the same and enter my room. I pull the present out from under my bed and carry it out to the couch. Once I sit down, Floyd walks over holding a present wrapped in red wrapping paper and a green bow.
Floyd looks down at the box next to me in surprise. I'm guessing it's because my present for him is bigger than the one in his hands. He glances down at his present for me before looking up at me with a nervous chuckle.
I smile at him in reassurance. "Hey, the size of a present doesn't matter. It's the thought that counts."
That calms him down a bit, and he sits down on the couch next to me. "Well, here," Floyd says, extending the gift to me.
I take the gift from him and say, "Thanks." Before I open mine, I give him the one I got him. Now looking down at the box in my hands, I untie the bow and open the top.
Inside is a flower pot with a purple orchid growing from it. "Wow, this is amazing," I say in awe. "Who told you I love orchids?"
Floyd scratches the back of his head. "Oh, Branch did. I asked him what kind of flowers you like."
I take the flower pot out of the box and look at it. "These things are difficult to find. I'm surprised you were able to find one...Thank you, Floyd." I say the last part while looking back at him.
A small blush spreads across Floyd's face as he mutters, "You're welcome." He looks down at his gift before opening it. His eyes land on the guitar and he gasps quietly. It's silent for a few seconds of him just admiring it. "I used to have one exactly like this. Thank you so much."
I nod as I watch him take the guitar out. "John Dory said you used to play guitar. So I decided to get you one. He also said you like star gazing."
Floyd chuckles before pointing at the star stickers. "Is that why you put these here?"
"Yeah. I hope you like it," I say.
"Are you kidding? I love it!" Out of nowhere, Floyd hugs me tightly.
I blush and hug him back. That's when I finally get the courage to say it. "Hey, um...I need to tell you something."
This piques his interest, and he looks up at me. "What is it?"
Our arms haven't let go from the hug yet and I start to get nervous again. Not only that, my heart feels like it's going to burst out of my chest. "I've...had this crush on you for a while. It's been bothering me, and I kept trying to find ways to tell you. But I get so nervous just thinking about it. So I didn't say anything, thinking it would go away...but it hasn't. And here I am now telling you how I feel." I hesitate to look him in the eyes, but I do so eventually.
Floyd's eyes are wide after hearing my confession. But his expression changes to a soft smile before saying, "I've liked you too. Ever since I first met you."
"You have?" I ask as my smile brightens.
"Yeah," Floyd answers with a nod.
I sigh and look up at the ceiling. "Poppy was right when she said I could do it," I mutter. But as I look up, I notice something dangling above the both of us...A mistletoe. "Uh, was that always there?"
Floyd looks up as well and blushes. "...I don't know."
We stare at each other, unsure of what to say or do. I eventually take the initiative to say, "Do you want to..."
I don't even get a chance to say anything else, because Floyd looks me straight in the eyes with his face close to mine. His eyes soften and his smile grows.
And it's at that moment when the two of us lean in and kiss.
It takes a few seconds for us to pull away. And once we do, I can't seem to stop myself from smiling.
All of a sudden, a flashing light almost blinds us. We stare at the corner of the room and see Poppy holding a camera. Branch is there too.
"Poppy?!" I shout in surprise.
"Branch?!" Floyd says as well.
Poppy squeals while holding the camera up in the air. "That was so cute! Does that mean you two are dating now?"
I look at Floyd, who looks back at me. We smile at each other before nodding at Poppy. "Yeah, it does," I say.
Thinking that she couldn't get any more excited, she grabs Branch by the shoulders and shakes him. "Yes!" she screams. Poppy lets go and heads over to the platform in a hurry. "I gotta frame this picture! It's going to be amazing!" she says as she ascends up to the exit.
Branch chuckles and walks toward his room. "Well, I'll let you two be."
Now silent once again, I say, "Do you want to go out and watch the stars."
Floyd's face brightens up and he nods. "Yeah, let's go." He grabs my arm and we step onto the platform once it comes back down.
We make it outside and sit down on the grass. The stars shine brightly from above, which makes the night even more beautiful.
Floyd leans his head against my shoulder and holds my hand. Looking up, I feel a warm, and calm feeling.
This has been a great holiday so far, and I hope it gets even better throughout the day.
The End
(Thank you all for reading this small Christmas special. This has been a pretty busy week for me, and I'm glad I was able to post this before Christmas. Also, I did another drawing, so here it is...)
(And I decided to do a face reveal. I couldn't really find any other good pictures of just myself besides this one.)
(That's going to be it for now. Thank you once again for reading. I will continue with my Veneer x reader story and hopefully post another chapter on that son. Merry Christmas to you all!!!)