knj imagines

caroling || d. garcia

"Hello friends, who's home to entertain me?" I dropped my stuff at the door and Nezza ran over to give me a hug.

"Oh thank God you're here! I have been watching the boys play ping pong for the last hour and I feel like I'm going to go insane!" I followed her back over to the table where Crawford and Danny were in an intense match.

Danny's tongue was poking out of his mouth in concentration and I leaned against the doorframe with a smile. Crawford missed the ball, signaling the end of the game and Danny raised both hands up in victory. He was doing a happy dance when he noticed me giggling at him, and he immediately got flustered. "Oh, hey! How long have you been here?"

Our friends were always trying to make me go out on a date with him because they insisted he had a crush on me. Most of the time I thought they were just saying that, but the adorable blush creeping up his cheeks was making me think twice. "Long enough to witness that amazing little dance you did," I said, making the blush turn a deeper shade of red. "Where are the rest of the guys?"

"Will and Dylan are filming a video, Jc is taking promo pictures for Tixxo, and Oscar is who knows where. Why?" Nezza took Danny's paddle and they switched places, him leaning against the opposite side of the doorframe from me.

"I just have a proposition for my best friends in the whole world," I said, using my most charming smile. They glanced between each other with nervous expressions which made me giggle. "It's nothing bad, don't worry. In fact, I think it's going to be pretty fun."

I eventually got bored watching them play and walked into the living room, motioning for Danny to follow me. I stretched out on the couch and gestured out to where Nezza and Crawford were now arguing over whether he cheated or not. "Is that all you guys have been doing?"

"Pretty much. I bet you had a more exciting day than me," he said, scooting closer to look at my phone over my shoulder. "Do you have any pictures of dogs for me today?" I nodded and began scrolling through pictures of the dogs at the shelter I volunteered, smiling at Danny's pure joy from just looking at pictures.

"You should've come with me! We always need more help," I said, elbowing his side. He shrugged and reached around me to scroll back through all of them. "How about next time?"

"It's a date," he said absently as he focused on my phone. I raised my eyebrows at the word choice and he began stuttering when he realized what he had said. "Oh, but not like a date date, like a friend date or like a different kind of date or,"

"Take a breath Danny," I said, patting his arm and smirking which made him squirm, his blush from earlier reappearing. "So that means you're coming Christmas caroling with me tonight?"

He frowned and shook his head. "What?"

"Yeah, we just agreed you would come with me next time and it just so happens that the shelter is taking the dogs Christmas caroling tonight!"

The confused look deepened the more I talked and he shook his head. "You tricked me! I never agreed to Christmas caroling with you!"

"Who's going Christmas caroling?" Nezza and Crawford, who had finally stopped arguing, joined us on the couch and Danny looked at them quickly for help.

"Danny and I. And maybe you guys and Oscar and Jc?" They both rolled their eyes and Nezza was already shaking her head before I could finish my sentence. I clasped my hands together and practically began begging. "Please? None of the other volunteers can come and I don't want to go alone. You know how weird it would be to open your door to me and a bunch of dogs?"

Crawford looked down to avoid my puppy eyes and pretended to be interested with a thread on his pants. "You're not going to be able to convince Oscar and Jc to come."

"If I look at them like this then yes I can. It seems to be working well on you," I said. I focused my attention back on Danny since I knew he would be the easiest to break. "Please Danny? I don't want to walk alone at night by myself."

"You'll have the dogs to protect you." He smiled at his joke and I frowned in response.

"The holidays are about giving and you guys are acting pretty selfish." I pouted and crossed my arms for emphasis.

He shrugged in defeat and mimicked my pose. "Okay, fine! I'll go with you if everyone else goes."

I gave the other two a pointed look and they finally agreed although not very happily. Jc was surprisingly easy to get on board but Oscar was more difficult than I expected. I had to turn on some extra charm, but I eventually got him to agree.

I dragged Danny along with me that night to help me dress the dogs in their festive attire, and any annoyance he had for me was left at the door when he saw the dogs. I could see the love in his eyes as soon as they began jumping at his legs and he knelt down to let them give him kisses.

"See, this is going to be fun," I pointed out, but he was too distracted by his new friends to care about me. I let him play with them while I got their leashes and costumes together, handing a pair of antlers to him. "Here, these are for Muffin," I said, pointing to the cocker spaniel he was currently petting.

He happily fastened it under her chin and gave it a loving scratch. "Muffin, you are just the cutest reindeer I have ever seen." I was too busy watching Danny being cute that I didn't notice he was looking at me with a smug smile. "Do you have a staring problem?"

"You wish, you're 16," I mumbled with an embarrassed smile and he rolled his eyes at the joke. Although it was probably getting really old to him, I still found it very funny and it always seemed to shut him up when I needed him too.

Once all the dogs were dressed in their holiday best, I split them up so Danny and I each could take some and we walked to the parking lot where the others were waiting. Upon seeing the dogs they all perked up and I could tell they were happy that they came.

If the dogs weren't enough to make them happy, the people that came to the door when we knocked were sure to make them smile. They loved the carols, even if we didn't sound that good and even when the dogs decided to join in with their own howls.

After we had finished our route and we were on our way back to the shelter, Danny and I ended up at the back of the group by ourselves. I bumped my shoulder into him and he looked down with a smile. "What was that for?"

"Thanks for coming. I really appreciate it."

"You literally forced us," Oscar threw over his shoulder but he looked pretty happy with the puppy he was currently snuggling to be complaining at all.

Danny ignored him and put his arm not holding leashes around my shoulder. "Anything to make you happy."

"So this was a friend date?" He gave me an embarrassed smile thinking about our conversation earlier and shrugged. "Well, maybe we could do a date date sometime. If you want."

He looked shocked but nodded but Crawford pushed his way between us, ultimately ruining the moment. "Hey! Danny is 16, he's not allowed to date!"

Danny groaned and shoved him out of the way but his smile was still there; nothing was going to crush his mood now that he got want he wanted.