Tallie skipped down the stairs the next morning, her steps feeling lighter than they had in a while. "Morning!" she sang to her parents as they greeted her from the kitchen table.
She grabbed a cup of coffee and was joining them at the table when their doorbell rang. Her parents looked at her curiously. She knew it must be Case and for a weird moment, she froze, realizing that she was still in her pajamas and her hair was a messy pile on the top of her head.
But the moment passed quickly when she reminded herself that Case had seen her looking a mess in her pajamas throughout high school.
"I'll get it," she said, and sure enough it was Case standing on their doorstep, looking way more put together than she did. He was wearing an old sweater and his favorite beanie.
"Hey," she said, nervous butterflies swooping through her stomach at the sight of him. The feeling was strange and she couldn't help but laugh. "This is weird right?"
"But in a good way?" he hoped, rocking nervously on his heels.
"Yes! Definitely good," she rushed to clarify, "it's just you're still you and I'm..."
"Looking fabulous in your pajamas as always," he teased. She reached out to slap him but he caught her arm and pulled her into a hug. She didn't fight it as she wrapped her arms around him.
She looked up at him, for the first time realizing how much taller he was than her. Even with him looking down at her, their faces were still inches away from each other. "
Hey," he said softly.
"Hey," she said back, the nerves in her stomach settling into a peaceful, happy feeling.
"Is that Case?" her dad called from the kitchen.
They jumped apart like two guilty teenagers then laughed at their reaction. "Come on," she said, leading the way into her house.
"Good morning Case," her mom said as they entered the kitchen. "Would like some breakfast?"
"Good morning," he said, hugging her mom. "I just ate at my house."
"I made fresh scones," her mom added.
"Breakfast sounds great," he said, taking a seat next to her dad.
Tallie laughed and shook her head. There was an Irish scone recipe that had been passed down in her family for generations and they always made the scones around Christmas. No matter how full Case was he always had room for a scone. As Tallie's mom gave Case a fresh, warm scone Tallie slipped upstairs to get dressed.
The irrational part of her brain was telling her to search through her closet for her cutest sweater which would need the right shoes and a cute hairstyle. But the rational part of her brain reminded her it was Case she would be trying to impress.
He had already seen her at her worst and at her best. He knew what he was getting, so she pulled on a comfy sweater, her favorite pair of jeans, and threw her hair into a ponytail, barely looking in the mirror.
When she entered the kitchen, her parents were sitting at the table with Case discussing some legal case they had seen on TV. Case looked up when she entered and smiled. Tallie smiled back until she remembered they had two extra pairs of eyes watching them. She moved to refill her coffee, and grab a scone, but saw Case already had a scone waiting for her on the table.
"Thanks," she said, taking the last chair at the table.
Tallie could tell her parents would be happy to spend a while at the table talking with them but once the scones were gone Case was up. He cleared the dishes and pulled Tallie up from the table.
"What are you kids up to today?" her dad asked. Tallie looked at Case, wondering the same thing.
"Ice skating," he said. He looked at her, "I managed to find my old pair of skates. Do you have yours?"
She had to think about it for a moment before she nodded. "I think I know where they are. I'll be right back." She dashed upstairs and was relieved to find her skates in the first closet she looked in. She hadn't been ice skating in years.
When she came back down Case had moved everyone towards the door. He already had his coat and beanie on, and he was holding her coat in his hands. He was clearly eager to get going.
"Found them," she said, holding up her skates.
"Great." He held her coat out for her and she put her skates down and slipped her arms in. She pulled her hat on and found her gloves.
"You two have fun," her dad said with a playful smile. Something in his tone made Tallie think somehow he was aware of the shift between her and Case. She avoided his gaze, worried he could confirm his suspicion just by looking at her. She hid her face by giving her parents quick hugs then led the way outside. Case grabbed his skates from their porch and they were off.
They both knew her parents would watching them from the front window and they turned to wave.
"Your dad..." Case started to say through a smile.
"Totally knows something is up," Tallie finished.
"How?" he asked as they started down the sidewalk.
Tallie shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't think we were acting any different." But then she thought about how quick Case was to leave. Was that what had clued her dad in? She started to say so to Case but became aware that they were alone and suddenly it didn't matter what her dad did or did not suspect. She quickly glanced back to make sure they were out of sight of her house before she moved closer to him as they walked.
"Hey," she said.
Feeling the shift instantly, he reached for her hand. "Hey," he said back. "Are you ready for..."
But he let his sentence drop off as he dropped her hand and put a foot between them. Tallie looked around and saw Mrs. Ellis and Mrs. Joseph heading towards them. They were moving briskly out for their morning walk.
She heard Case let out a frustrated sigh just as they neared the two women.
"Good morning!" Mrs. Ellis called out.
"Good morning," Tallie said. "It's a beautiful morning for a walk."
"It is," Mrs. Joseph agreed. "Where are you two heading?"
"Skating," they both said, holding up their skates.
"My kids are doing the same thing. Have fun," Mrs. Joseph said as they passed each other.
Case didn't try to reach for her hand until they had turned the corner, but he dropped it just as quickly when a family came pouring out of their house, the parents waving to Tallie and Case.
Tallie and Case both smiled and waved. Case tried to hold her hand a third time but dropped it and laughed sardonically when someone else they knew drove by.
"I'm not dropping your hand because..." he started to say, but Tallie cut him.
"I don't want the whole town to know either. We just figured this out last night. No one needs to know except us."
"Exactly," he said with a sigh of relief.
He looked around and she could see his brain working. "This way," he said, taking her hand and quickly leading her across the road and down a back street. He kept them moving at a quick pace as he twisted and turned through the streets. Tallie felt like a secret agent evading bad guys and happily followed until she noticed the direction they were heading in.
"I thought we were going ice skating," she said.
"We are," he said.
"But the ice rink is on the other side of town."
"I know," he said, coming to a stop. "But I want to hold your hand without anyone getting excited, so we are taking the long way around. Is that okay?"
She grinned at his admittance. Going around would add an extra twenty minutes, but she didn't care if they got to hold hands in peace.
"Definitely okay," she said.
He kept them moving quickly until they reached the outskirts of Holly Oaks that was mostly open space and roads leading to other towns. Then they walked at a leisurely pace and Case took the time to tell her more about his life in New York.
She loved hearing about the firm he was interning at and his co-workers, his tiny apartment, where he explored in his free time, and all the little shops and restaurants he had become a regular at.
The more she listened the more it became clear that, although Case was living in a big city he had sought out things that reminded him of Holly Oaks. Like the corner deli where he knew the owner's name and they exchanged stories while he ate late lunches. Or the coffee shop down his street where the barista knew his name, just like they did at Oaks. It helped make his life in New York not feel so distant.
When they made it to the other side of Holly Oaks they found the ice rink packed. It seemed like almost everyone who lived in Holly Oaks was there. They stayed on the sidelines for a moment, observing the crowd.
"It should be fine, right?" Tallie said quietly. "I mean we have been hanging out nonstop since you got home before last night."
"Right," Case agreed.
They started towards the ticket window and it was like everyone had a sixth sense about the shift in their relationship. As they were getting in line four people stopped to say hi and each one of them asked if they were there together. Tallie couldn't tell if they simply meant that Tallie and Case were physically there together, or something more.
They joined the line and the person in front of them turned around and they smiled at an old high school friend Andy. They started exchanging Christmas day stories but when Case started to talk about the end of his day he stumbled over his words. Andy looked between them suspiciously and the next time he turned around Case pulled Tallie out of line and away from the ice rink, towards the main square.
"I'm sorry," he said as they walked through the main square. "I just felt like the whole town was watching us."
"Don't apologize," Tallie said. "I felt the same way. Different plan?"
He started to nod his head yes but stopped and after a moment shook his head, his eyes brightening.
"No. Same plan, just different ice."
She looked at him questioning but he only gave her a mischievous smile and shook his head.
"I need to grab something from my house. Want to grab us some coffee from Oaks?"
"What are we doing?" she asked.
"Get coffee and meet me at the corner of Holly and Main." He took off in the direction of his house. Tallie smiled as she watched him go then headed into Oaks.
The coffee shop was brimming with everyone enjoying their holiday and in need of a hot drink. Tallie knew with a crowd that size there was no way her coffee run would be quick.
Between the line and people stopping to talk to her, it took her twenty minutes to get their coffee and make it to the corner of Holly Street and Main. Case was waiting for her, leaning against a fence with a backpack and snowshoes hooked over his shoulder. She eyed the snowshoes curiously as she handed him his coffee.
"We're going snowshoeing?" she asked.
His gaze was brimming with joy as he nodded. "Remember that pond we found winter break of our sophomore year?"
It took her a moment to remember, but then it came back to her. During their sophomore year of high school, they had discovered a frozen pond just outside of Holly Oaks and had spent the whole winter break with friends playing hockey and skating on it.
"I thought that would be a better place for us to skate," he said.
"Let's go," she said, taking a pair of snowshoes from him.
It was a hike out to the pond and they were both hot by the time they got there, their jackets open and their hat tucked into pockets, but it was worth the trip.
It felt like stepping into a winter wonderland as they crested the small hill and saw the frozen pond before them. As Case had hoped, no one else was there and they spent the rest of the day skating and catching each other up on everything they had missed the last two years.
On Case's trip back to his house for the snowshoes, he had packed a lunch and brought a thermos of his mom's apple cider. The sun was getting low by the time they started back and when they reached Holly Oaks, the town was alight with Christmas lights.
Case's mom had invited Tallie to join the family in making gingerbread houses, so they stopped to check in on her parents then headed to his house.
Case's older sister had arrived that morning and Tallie got a chance to meet the infamous niece, Janie.
Case could joke all he wanted about how Janie was taking his place in the family, but all the complaints turned to nothing when Tallie saw him hold Janie. He was even more wrapped around her finger than her parents.
At one and a half, Janie had figured out who was going to sneak her the most treats and sat on Case's lap as they worked on the gingerbread houses. Every few minutes Case's sister would stop him from sneaking Janie treats, reminding him Janie bad barely had any sugar. By the end of the night, everyone had gingerbread houses but Case, who had given up and let Janie crumble his gingerbread house into pieces.
When Case walked Tallie home later that night, his parents invited him in for hot chocolate. When they found out that Tallie had built gingerbread houses with his family they pretended to feel left out until Case promised to decorate sugar cookies with them the next day.
Tallie didn't miss her dad's curious gaze as he and her mom said goodnight, but he didn't say anything. Case wasn't going anywhere until Tallie told him he had to and she didn't want him to go. Case put a new log on the fire as Tallie grabbed them a second dinner out of the leftovers in her fridge.
They ate and talked in front of the fire, and found their conversations building and growing beyond just catching each other up on the last two years.
He stayed so late that when he showed up for breakfast the next morning it felt like he hadn't even left. He didn't give a reason for being at their house but her parents didn't ask once he brought out his guitar and started playing Christmas carols.
After a while, Tallie and Case moved to the backroom to jam and give her parents a break. He walked with Tallie to pick up soup from Soup on the Square and once they had all eaten it was time to make cookies.
Unlike the day before, they were perfectly content to be around her parents. At the pond, they had been able to be more affectionate without having anyone watching, but a huge part of why they liked each other was their families. Tallie got the hint that her parents didn't mind having Case around when her mom set a place for him at the table without asking if he would be joining them.
After dinner, Tallie's mom pulled out a puzzle and gave Case a questioning look. He shot Tallie a knowing smile before agreeing. He did his usual routine of pretending to help for the beginning but halfway through he got into a deep conversation with her dad and they both stopped puzzling.
When her parents went to bed, Case didn't let Tallie plop down on the couch but pulled her towards the door.
"How about a late walk?"
"It's cold," she said.
He shrugged. "It's not that cold. And I can keep one of your hands warm. But the other is on its own."
"You know how to make a girl an offer she can't refuse," she joked, but she reached for her jacket. They pulled on coats, hats, and scarves. Case put her hat on for her, making sure to pull it low over her ears.
When they stepped outside there was a bite to the air, but all the layers kept them warm enough, and true to his word Case held her hand and kept it warm.
Once they started walking Tallie understood why he had suggested it. At this time of night, the streets were empty and they could hold hands without the worry of anyone seeing them. Even if they did run into someone, it was dark enough no one noticed their clasped hands.
At first, Tallie wondered if Case had a destination in mind, but once they had walked up and down a couple of blocks she knew they were just wandering but was happy to do so.
They did eventually make it to the main square. It was almost midnight and there wasn't a chance they would see anyone else out. They sat on one of the benches. Tallie loved seeing the lights of the Christmas tree reflected in the store windows and turning the walls of the buildings into faint colors. It made it feel like the Christmas tree was all around them instead of just in the center.
Tallie had stayed warm enough walking but it only took a few minutes of sitting for her to feel cold. Case noticed when she shivered.
"Come here," he said, pulling her snug against him and wrapping an arm around her. She rested her head against his chest and tucked her hands in to keep them warm. It felt so natural being cuddled up against him it almost didn't make sense.
"It's a little weird, isn't it?" she said.
"What?" he asked slowly, his voice relaxed.
"This," she said, motioning between them. "I mean..."
"I think it's great," he cut in.
"I do too," she agreed.
"Then why did you say it was weird?"
She chuckled as he talked too much to let her finish her thought. "Are you going to let me finish?" When he didn't say anything, she took that as a yes. "It does feel great and that's why I was thinking it was so weird. We seamlessly shifted from being friends to being more which wasn't something I hadn't been thinking about until a few days ago."
"Speak for yourself," he said. "I've been wanting this since freshman year of high school." They laughed quietly, then he gave her a little squeeze. "I will admit it is reassuring that it feels so natural for you because it still feels like I'm in a dream and I will eventually have to wake up."
She reached out and pinched his arm and he gave a small yelp as he looked at her in shock.
"What was that for?" he asked indignantly.
"You aren't dreaming," she reassured him.
"Oh, thanks a lot," he said, this time squeezing her with a tickle.
Once he stopped and she calmed down she did give him a serious look. "Don't worry. It's not a dream."
"Okay," he said.
He pulled her back to him so she could rest her head against him as they looked at the tree.