Bitter (wlw) (teacherxstudent)

eighty-five

"I hadn't enjoyed Christmas day so much in a lot of years" I told Sam as we were snuggled on the couch, sharing a blanket and in front of the lit up fireplace.

"Yeah?" she smiled.

"Definitely. I feel like I've thanked you way too many times already, but thank you for doing this for me" I rested my head on her shoulder.

"And I've already told you this too many times, but you don't need to thank me another time" she said as she kissed the top of my head. "I'm really really glad you enjoyed the day. I've always liked Christmas here, and you being with me made it even better"

I'd kind of forgotten how not having to deal with stressful events and pretending to be someone I'm not on Christmas day felt like, but it really did feel great. I couldn't honestly even remember when the last time I felt so serene and peaceful during the holidays was, so I was really grateful for Sam.

We'd arrived two days before, and the atmosphere both in the town and in Sam's house had been amazing, and extremely comforting. Maybe the fact that it had snowed a few days earlier made it even better, but just the decorations were better than anything I'd seen in my hometown. And Sam's parents' Christmas tree was impressively decorated.

Some family friends had joined the previous day's dinner, and some aunts and cousins joined for Christmas lunch. Which I admit, was something that gave me a slight amount of anxiety at first. But everyone seemed to treat me as if they'd known me for ages and I was just a member of the family, so I really stopped worrying about it very soon.

"I can't believe you didn't put one single decoration in the apartment last year when your house here has such a Christmassy atmosphere" I added after a while of silence.

"My family does love their decorations" she chuckled. "But I didn't feel the need to do any of this if it was just me"

"It's 'cause you're boring"

"Maybe I just couldn't be bothered" she said. "But last year was a very weird year, not coming home for Christmas was strange enough. Luckily my sister came along. But if we're ever in New York for Christmas, we can get a tree or something"

"Absolutely" I said, hearing her talk about our future years together making me feel all warm inside.

"This feels peaceful. I was hoping mom and dad would take a long time to say goodbye to everyone so we could have this room for us and us only"

"Everyone in your family is all so nice, though"

"They are when we're all together. A lot of talking behind each other's back goes on. You'll hear what my parents have to say later"

"Oh. I can't wait" I laughed. "Speaking of, where's your sister?"

"I don't know, probably in her room feeling antisocial. She's unpredictable. Maybe she just wanted to leave us alone her-" Sam said before a voice interrupted her.

"Hello, lovebirds" Lauren said as she walked into the room.

"Nevermind" Sam grumbled. "Hello sister"

"Hey" I said, sitting upright.

"Oh, no need to pretend you weren't being cute and all before I walked in" she said as she sat cross-legged on the armchair next to me. "So, how was your first English Christmas, El?"

"It was great! I'm having a really good time"

"Really? Despite how loud and vaguely fake everyone in the family is?"

"Yeah" I laughed. "I'm used to just having lunch with four boring adults so all of this feels refreshing"

"Oh wow, okay, I get it then. What about your opinion on English food?"