love like fools ➙ glee

fifty-three ; blue christmas.

"I don't want a lot for Christmas, this is all I'm asking for."

The glee club was dancing and laughing, tossing presents around. It vaguely reminded Alicia of the prior year, but something was different this time. Last year, she had been drowning in uncertainty and internalized conflict over the Finn Hudson situation. Now, well. It was resolved. She felt a weight lifted from her chest that she hadn't fully recognized last year. She could finally  breathe.

For the most part, anyway, in between the seemingly endless stream of giggles that Finn was eliciting from her. He tickled her sides and she threw her head back, long hair flying, as Mercedes flitted through the choir room. 

Kurt shot them a look of disgust, but there was affection, too.

From her blurry peripheral vision, she noticed Rachel and Quinn dancing with each other. Quinn twirled the shorter girl under her arm as she planted a particularly shiny gold ornament on the Christmas tree. Upon second glance, Alicia saw it was a gold star.

Finn pulled Alicia into his letterman's jacket-clad arms just in time for Mercedes to belt out the final part of the song. "All I want for Christmas is you." As she sang the closing harmony, Finn made a show out of leaning down to reach Alicia before pressing his lips against hers -- firm, but chaste. Every nerve in her body exploded at once.

Across the room, pulling back from kissing Quinn on the cheek, Rachel shared the same sentiment as Alicia. "Best. Christmas. Ever," Rachel squealed.

Let the holiday season begin.

. . . 

"I got you something."

Alicia glanced over from her locker, only to blink curiously at Finn. 

She'd been rummaging through it for the past ten minutes. Mostly, she was looking for a way to release tension. She'd agreed with Sam that Artie's directorial decisions for the televised Christmas special weren't the most earnest, and she had left alongside Sam when he stormed out of the auditorium. Artie was one of her first friends from the New Directions and she wanted to support him, but not like this.

The rest of the club, other than Sam, didn't share her concerns.

"You didn't have to do that," Alicia said. Something twisted in the pit of her stomach. It almost felt like anxiety.

But that was insane. She hadn't felt anxious around Finn in ages. Not in a bad way, at least. It wouldn't make sense.

When Finn broke out his usual half-smirk, Alicia was already lost on him. Slowly, he revealed a red envelope that he was concealing behind his back. It had a massive green bow on it and a tiny white card with her name, followed by a string of messily drawn hearts. 

Hesitantly, Alicia accepted the envelope. They hadn't done Christmas presents for each other last year, considering all the chaos going on in their "friendship." She didn't know what to expect, or how to react. She'd never been able to grasp basic social norms while accepting gifts. Which was why she preferred purchasing or making gifts for others instead.

Finn cleared his throat as she began to untie the flimsy ribbon. "Uh, I thought maybe giving it to you early might ease some of the tension between us. I figured you might be a little upset that I didn't leave with you and Sam earlier."

Alicia knew she needed to respond to that, perhaps assuage his worries, but she was distracted. Upon pulling the card out of the envelope, she was confronted with an enormous pig. Tentatively, she met Finn's eager gaze.

"I saw this commercial for these African sow pigs you can adopt. You pay, like, two bucks a month to fatten them up for a whole year, then they feed a family for, like, a month.  And you-- you care so much about people, I really thought you'd like it." A beat. Finn's grin grew slightly nervous. "So-- so do you?"