Harrison Avenue // H.S.

Bah Humbug it's Christmas

[Ellison]

On my way home I was feeling stressed out and cold. Final projects are swamping me at school and the snow on the ground, thanks to the especially cold weather this last week, has made my daily commute a little harder to feel enthused about. Both of these feelings quickly fade out the moment I walk down the hallway of my new apartment though.

With snow still stuck to my boots and my coat and hat on, my view is Harry in the kitchen where he's wearing an apron and a Christmas sweater, stirring in a bowl as he shakes his hips to music playing throughout our place. There are sheets of cookies surrounding him and he has a little bit of flour stuck in his hair as he sings along to the tunes in a funny voice, still oblivious to me.

My bag just drops to the ground, falling from my shoulder as the biggest smile spreads across my face. Harry's called me a Grinch because I don't have the most Christmas spirit but my heart has certainly just grown at least three sizes witnessing this and of course he's the one responsible for it.

The noise of my bag hitting the ground is loud enough for Harry to notice I'm here. He looks up from his place behind the counter, still stirring in the bowl and his eyebrows raise a little in surprise. Then he smiles even bigger than me.

"Hi, baby," he continues to grin, talking loud enough so it's easier to hear him over the music. "How was your day?"

He's so nonchalant about it or maybe he's just unaware of how adorable he is, which somehow makes it even more endearing. I can't say I ever imagined myself to be with someone who baked cookies while wearing a pink apron and sang to cheesy Christmas songs, but I'm so, so happy that I am.

"Exhausting," I tell him as I walk closer and join him on the other side of counter. I worked a morning shift, almost having to wake up the same time as Harry's early start and then I've been at school since then, feeling the pressure of finals week that's approaching. "Are you pretending to be in a Christmas movie?" I joke, wrapping my arms around him as I snake my way under his hands that are still busy making cookies.

"Ooh," he shivers, feeling the wetness of my coat. "You're cold," he drops the spoon in his hand to rest on the bowl and instead hugs me back, squishing my face into him and his messy apron. "And I just figured it's about time we fully embraced everything Christmas has to offer. I got us a tree too."

My eyes move past the counter and cookies and forward to the living room. Once past the original hallway of our apartment, everything is pretty open. The kitchen isn't closed off and it sort of just transitions to the rest of the general living area. It's similar to the open layout of my old studio apartment, except it's larger and more purposely made this way. Because of this the tree Harry is talking about is in clear view, sitting in the corner near the window.

It's small and a bit sparse, certainly not the type of tree someone put on the front of a Christmas card but I can imagine that Harry spent a lot time carefully picking out this exact one.

"Here," one of his hands reaches forward while he keeps the other tight on my shoulder so I can't move away from him. "Have some cookie dough," I hear him chuckle a little as he grabs a small piece, bringing it closer to my mouth.

Harry struggles for a moment as I refuse to open my mouth, but it doesn't take more than a few seconds until we're both laughing because he manages to smear cookie dough on my lips. It tastes sweet and I take an extra moment to suck the last of it off his finger, moving my eyes to look up at him as I do. He bites his bottom lip when I do this, his eyes watching me carefully as he tries not to groan.

"Well," I smile, giving him is hand back. "I think I'll go change then," I hold onto my smile as I back away from Harry, noticing him sort of fall forward into the counter, needing a little support with my sly move.