Christmas Kisses

Bonus: Matthew - December 21st

BONUS CHAPTER [SPOILERS]

At the grand age of thirty-one, it wasn't often Matthew Wood felt the all too familiar feeling of complete terror seizing his heart in it's unrelenting grasp, especially while stationed at home. Yet as he was loading his mother's car with a never-ending pile of gifts - with his chin buried deep in a thick, woolly scarf to fight off the frosty temperatures - Matthew's heart was bursting through his chest and his stomach was sinking past his knees. The thought of today's events had him sick with nerve-wracking anticipation.

Matthew had returned home from deployment a week earlier than he had been expected - as a result of an injury. This left him with an extra week to prepare for the annual Christmas festivities with the Denson's, a family his mother had been friends with ever since they had first moved into the town when Matthew was only two years old. Due to his early arrival however his mother had immediately snapped at the chance to drag him over as soon as physically possible to the Denson household.

Philip Denson, the man of the house was very much his substitute father growing up; and his wife, Charlotte Denson acted like a second mother. As a child he'd spent as much time at their house, if not more, than his own. Every weekend or special occasion the two families spent together and truthfully if it were not for Philip's influence on him as he grew up, Matthew wasn't sure he'd be the same person he was today. He liked to think he was a very calm man when he was at home - an attitude he adopted from Philip's own personality - and Matthew had only ever acted out of impulse once, a situation that had been a long time coming in his opinion.

Megan Denson. She was the youngest daughter of Philip and Charlotte, a great five years younger than him. She had an older sister, Alice, who although cute and much closer to his own age at twenty-nine hadn't intrigued him the way Megan had.

Megan had always been a quiet child and honestly Matthew hadn't taken much notice of her in her earlier years, being too focused with the struggles of high school and girls his own age, and it wasn't until she was around the age of eighteen/nineteen that a crush had developed. That was all it had been for quite some time, just small glances here and there, making sure to sit next to her at meals and trying his best to speak to her whenever he could - which was rare. Honestly he felt too nervous to ever make a move, not knowing how a newly graduated teenager would respond to a twenty-four year old man's advances, no matter how close he was to the family. He recognised how creepy he could come across.

It wasn't until the beginning of this year, a day before he had to head back with his unit in preparation for their deployment, when they were having one last farewell with some friends, that Matthew had stumbled upon Megan at a bar. Like himself, Megan had been drinking and on a whim Matthew had taken his chance and gone for it. By far it had been one of the best nights of his life and the strength it had taken him the next morning to leave her alone in bed had almost killed him. He desperately wanted to wake her up and yet he couldn't stop the selfish part of him that knew he couldn't withstand the goodbye.

Today would be the first time Matthew would see her again.

Eight months was a long time to be away and much like every time he returned home he dreaded the update on everyone's lives. He hated to see how much things had changed while he had been away, terrified to find out that Megan had found someone to care for her like he hadn't been able to before.

That had changed now, Matthew's career had altered and now he knew he could be there for Megan like she deserved. He could finally confess how he felt, push past the fear, and hope that she felt the same way for him as he did for her.

But only if she hadn't moved on and forgotten about their brief affair.

"Matthew, honey, you ready to get going?" His mother called from the doorway just as he was loading the last of the gifts into the boot of the car. Judy Wood was beaming brightly, her silver hair tied up away from her face though a few rogue strands still tickled her rosy cheeks in the wind. His mother seemed to be glowing and though he had no idea why, he was just happy that she was in such a good mood.