The Holly and the Ivy

Get to Know You Better

Holly was mistaken when she assumed that no one was watching her with Adam.

When she finally worked up the strength to walk into her apartment-only after several people passed her sitting in the stairwell and gave her weird looks-Mistletoe practically tackled her.

"You kissed him!!!" she shouted for the whole floor to hear.

"Can you quiet down?" Holly pleaded.

"Was it amazing? Was it magical? Were there fireworks?" Mistletoe asked dreamily, twirling around the living room.

"It was...good," Holly replied.

Mistletoe's swirling stopped immediately.

"Good?"

"Yeah?" Holly replied hesitantly. "Is that not an acceptable reaction?"

Mistletoe scoffed. "Good is what your dad said when Dancer decided to stop listening and I succesfully retrained him. 'Good job, Mistletoe.' Good is not the reaction you're supposed to have when kissing your soulmate."

"He invited you to a Gingerbread baking competition at his place with his family," Holly said, using the one thing that she was sure would distract the elf.

Sure enough, her best friend took the bait instantly.

"What?!" Mistletoe exclaimed excitedly. "I finally get to get out of here? And meet his family? And bake gingerbread? This is amazing!"

Mistletoe flung her arms wide for emphasis, then collapsed on the couch, closing her eyes with satisfaction. In under a second, they shot open again.

"Holly, I'm a disaster when it comes to baking."

"It's a team thing," Holly explained, taking a seat on the couch next to her. "Just let your teammate do the baking, and you can focus on the decorating."

Mistletoe nodded. Then...

"Holly, I can't decorate either."

"What kind of an elf are you?" Holly asked with a smile.

Mistletoe replied with a scowl.

"Listen, if you don't want to come-"

"No, no, no!" the elf exclaimed immediately. "I want to come! Oh crumbs, what am I going to wear?"

Mistletoe rushed to the drawers and began tearing through them, almost certainly looking for an outfit for the upcoming event. Holly grabbed her pajamas and headed to the bathroom. 

"I'm going to change and go to bed," she told the frantic elf. "It's been a long night."

"Absolutely not, Ms. Kringle!" Mistletoe said sharply, stopping her search. "You haven't told me anything! How was his family?"

Holly sighed. She just wanted to go to sleep. But the elf's determined expression made it clear she would be kept awake until she gave enough details to satisfy her friend's curiosity. So she decided to give her a quick summary.

"Adam's mother is lovely. She's a great cook and really sweet. His father is a bit more serious, but still really personable. And his sister is..." Holly paused, trying to come up with the right adjective.

Smart?

Beautiful?

An asshole?

All of the above?

"A lot," Holly finished finally.

"What does that mean?"

"She asked me if my pimp knew I was there and then fed me a super spicy pepper to watch me suffer," Holly replied.

A look of confusion passed across Mistletoe's face. "Why?"