𝐆𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐇 // 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭

CONNOR NARROWED HIS EYES as he looked at the stack of DVDs placed on Eila's coffee table, a stack she was still piling new movies on top of. "No, there's got to be something wrong here — where is Die Hard?" He raised an eyebrow, looking at her. "Sure, I don't know a lot about Christmas, and there's a lot of traditions and all that that I don't have any connection to whatsoever, but even I agree that there can't be a December-month without watching the Die Hard-movies."

"I'm sorry, Connor, but I don't own them," Eila shrugged, shooting him an apologetical look as she placed another movie — Love Actually — on the top of the DVD-stack, closing the door to her cupboard of DVDs. "Personally, I can actually go the whole month of December without watching Die Hard, but I suppose that just shows how influential my mother has been when it comes to my genre of movies."

Connor felt speechless; for the first ( well, actually second time ) he had come with a minor request, and though he knew it wasn't a big one, he felt disappointed to see Eila turning down his movie request without any issues. "But Eila — please, can we at least find a way to watch one of them? These romantic comedies," Connor sighed, picking up a handful of her movies to make an example. "They're not really my kind of movies. I like the movies where guns are pointed at the bad guys, and people can wish each other a Merry Christmas by shouting Fucker in their face."

"The closes thing I can come, would have to be the Home Alone-movies, though I'm quite sure that is not the action you aimed and hoped for," Eila offered, one eyebrow slightly raised as she waited for Connor's reaction.

Quite frankly, she has seen it all before; the wishes and requests, that would sooner or later turn into demands, and heavy sighs and huffs, that would sooner or later turn into slamming curled fists into tables and walls. However, Connor wasn't like that. Of course, he was human — he had a pattern of reactions that could be compared to no one else, but he was different. Instead of standing on his request, pushing to see the Die Hard-movies, the heart surgeon let out a sigh.

"I've heard Love Actually should be a good movie," he shrugged, placing the other DVDs down, as he moved towards her technical part of the T.V-corner. "How about you fetch the snacks and the drinks, and I'll fix the movie for us?"

"Did you—," Eila paused, watching as Connor took a few steps towards the couch, before turning back to look at her. "What about Die Hard?"

"I don't want to push you into watching a movie you're not in the mood for. Besides, I can watch them on my own at a later point," he smiled, a small, but genuine smile, that immediately made Eila seem more relaxed. "If you're taking snack-requests, however, I wouldn't mind some popcorn." Connor's smile remained on his lips as he looked at her, before returning to preparing the movie.

                Shortly after, the two of them had crashed on Eila's couches — one for each of them. Eila was as far underneath a soft, woollen blanket as she could get, a cup of tea in her hand. Connor found himself on the other couch, sinking deeply into the soft cushions as the movie started. Connor had never seen Love Actually before; it was one of the many Christmas movies he had avoided, preferring to not watch T.V, or even stay at work ahead of sitting down to watch it. Yet, it was different watching it with Eila. He could tell this was a movie that truly meant something to her, simply by how she reacted to the movie's opening.

Eila's gaze was locked on the screen, and she did not notice how Connor was unable to take his eyes off of her, the words of Hugh Grant's monologue making his heart feel heavy. "Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that," the monologue went, as Connor found himself not being able to take his eyes off Eila. He wasn't sure if it was love; to be honest, the only time Connor had felt a true love, it was to Robin Charles — the woman with the brain tumor, who ended up moving back to Minneapolis. "It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it's not particularily dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there — fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phonecalls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge — they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling love, actually ... is all around."

Connor couldn't help but smile as he noticed Eila lift a hand, using the sleeve of her sweater to wipe what he suspected to be a tear coming from her eye. Every inch of him wanted to join her on the other couch, wrap his arms around her. He wanted to hold her close, hug her, feel the scent of her perfume as he could feel her body against his, but he remained seated, teeth gritted as he turned his gaze back to the T.V.

The two of them had met the very first time when Connor moved into the apartment building, and he wasn'g going to lie; Connor Rhodes had found Eila Chapman attractive since the very first time he laid eyes on her. However, back then, he had never imagined he would be spending a whole month with her, let alone get to know her favorite Christmas songs and her favorite Christmas movies.

"Do you like the movie so far?" Eila spoke up, pulling Connor out of his thoughts. "I mean, I won't get mad if—,"

"It's great," Connor smiled, feeling a warmth and happiness spread as he watched the happy smile spread on Eila's face. "Sure, it's the first Christmas movie I'm watching that is not Die Hard or, well Home Alone, but I like it."

Not as much as I like you, though.