A Yuletide Affection
It was Christmas Eve in Station Square. Everything in the heart of the city was garnished with festive ornaments from sacred to secular. The sun was just now breaking through the silver colored wintry clouds that prepared to gather later on to slam the city limits with a snow agglomeration of up to five inches. In the heart of the city was an old brick apartment that incorporated five floors, and on the third floor in the fifteenth room was a young female feline with cyan fur, navy bangs, and chocolate brown eyes. This happened to be me, Alice the Cat. I lived alone in my apartment, which most of the time I preferred. I tried to escape the bustling swarm of the city dwellers, not just during the holidays but all year. But occasionally I did get lonely, where I would go visit one of my friends, which I could hardly call them friends since we don't spend time together much, and the top three were Amy Rose, a grapefruit pink hedgehog with lots of energy; Cream the Rabbit, a cream colored kid rabbit who got along with just about everybody, and of course Lightning the Hedgehog, a lemon yellow British hedgehog whom I happened to be in a sturdy romantic relationship with; he didn't live in Station Square but oftentimes he would get a ride here in a small vintage biplane piloted by the city's best young fox pilot, Miles Prower, whom everybody just called Tails. Tails won second place last fall in an aviation contest, beaten only by a mere point from graceful landing, so ever since he's been practicing extra hard for the next competition next spring.

I relaxed on my firm bed in the bedroom of my apartment, typing the next message to Lightning on my iPhone. Internet was our remedy for communication. And as I typed up the message I knew Tails was currently flying over to pick him up. When I sent the message I sighed and set my iPhone down on the oak bedside table and traded it with a can of cool Coke and took a swig of the  sweet, effervescent, refreshing beverage. I set it back down beside my iPhone and continued to relax. I thought about tuning into my iPhone but what if I missed Tails knocking on the door announcing Lightning's debut. It was my first Christmas with Lightning, and our relationship stood in at a solid five months, with a few rocky moments in between.

I was not your average older teen girl. I did not start drama and I knew that when a teenage boy has sex with you it does NOT mean he loves you. It means that he finally has a real story to tell his other drooling, horny mates. Which is why I loved Lightning because he's one of the rare ones who wanted to be chaste. Not only this but he respects women and has a good head on his shoulders. While thinking about this I realized my Coke was now empty. Crestfallen by this, I chucked it into a nearby trash can and stood up. I was a bit jittery because it was my first Christmas with Lightning and I wanted this to be perfect. I had cleaned the house harder than usual, making sure that not a speck of dust were to greet Lightning at the front door.

I glanced at the festive party invitation I had received by snail mail yesterday. It was to a Christmas Eve party hosted by a laid back maroon chameleon by the name of Espio. Everybody was going: Knuckles the Echidna, Tails, Sonic the Hedgehog, Cream, Rouge the Bat, Shadow the Hedgehog, E-123 Omega, Blaze the Cat, Silver the Hedgehog, Big the Cat, Charmy the Bee, Vector the Crocodile, and to my dismay, Sally Acorn. Sally hasn't been the same ever since her crush Sonic started dating Blaze. To justify her distress, after Amy found out she was upset for a long time but then went with Shadow. Sally is still upset, one year later, and tried hooking up with all the boys she knew but to no avail. While all the boys drooled over Sally's hot, skinny body, her attitude turned them off. Now Sally was after Lightning, and has been ever since he first came to Station Square. Sally couldn't seem to fathom the reality that Lightning and I were dating. But I wanted to go to this party with Lightning, and I wouldn't let not even five Sallys ruin it.

Since Tails left early this morning I knew he wouldn't be back for another hour or two, so I grabbed my iPod and pulled the Otter Box off of it. Then I plugged the bare iPod onto a huge external speaker set and turned it on shuffle and just danced and sang to the songs on there. Since I looked and felt like a complete retard in always did this when nobody else could see me. I never even did this at parties or around friends. It was just a simple way to exercise and kill time. After I was done I shut everything off and right as I slipped the Otter Box back into my iPod there was a knock. TAILS!!! Excitedly I flung open the door. Nope, it was Amy. She stood there wearing a festive, fluffy cuffed green elf shirt with tight green pants and cute ebony suede boots that went up midway to her calves.
"Oh hey Alice. I brought you a present to put under your tr--oh that's so sad, it's bare!" Amy moaned, pointing at my two foot tall fake Christmas tree, which stood on a small table by an amber couch. Amy was right, there was nothing under the tree except its own stand and a reindeer skirt. "Well, we'll fix that," said Amy happily, going to the tree and placing her present for me under it.

"Amy, you don't have to do that," I told her solemnly.

"I know but I want to!! You're my friend, silly!" Amy giggled, strutting back to me gracefully. I just looked at her skeptically. "So, when's Lightnin' coming?" Amy asked me.

"In a bit," I responded slowly.

"Ooooh how exciting!!! You two are such a cute couple!!! See you at the party tonight!!" Amy cried, waving as she ran out, shutting the door behind her with a small click.

As another hour passed, I wasn't immediately worried about why Lightning wasn't here yet but I didn't know if my stomach could take another hour of fluttering as if I'd swallowed live butterflies. Then right as I made some finishing touches on the apartment, there was a knock on the door and before I could answer I was seized into a hug by strong, warm arms. It was Lightning, and immediately I melted in the hug. "I missed you sweetheart," his voice whispered softly into my left ear and immediately a smile broke my face as I rested my head on his shoulder and breathed the crisp scent of his cologne.

"I missed you too," I responded happily, my heart feeling full again now that his warm body was in my arms again.

"I'll leave you two alone; but remember Espio's party is in an hour," Tails' sharp voice came from behind us, but with the sound of shutting doors, he'd left. Lightning pulled away only to look into my eyes and I looked into his in return, and I could see the happiness and intense affection in them. All the affection he'd been wanting to give me was still inside, I could see it in his eyes. We were silent but it wasn't because we couldn't think of anything to say, it was because we had so much to say we didn't know when to say it. It was almost awkward. How have you been? I missed you! I love you! It's so good to see you again! and other statements and questions filled our minds. Then Lightning pressed his lips onto mine, and I felt sparks go through me. But not because he'd shocked me, but because all the affection and happiness came flowing into me like electricity, tasting his sweet, soft, succulent lips was ten times better than the Coke I drank three hours ago. And of course I kissed back, which triggered him to wrap his arms around my neck and pull me closer and I felt so happy I wanted to smile, but if I did that it would break the kiss. I wrapped my arms around his neck as well and welcomed his warmth, his sweet lips, and his strong arms around me. The kiss was so nostalgically intoxicating that I probably wouldn't have felt this dizzyingly affectionate if I drank twelve beers, not that I like to drink beer in the first place. Sadly the kiss broke, but this allowed me to look into his eyes, which were chocolate brown just like mine.
"Are you goin to speak or am I going to have to spend another minute of this reunion without hearing your lovely voice?" He teased lovingly, but I just giggled and went red, and he chuckled at my shyness. "You're so cute," he chuckled happily.

"I know," I giggled, equally as happy.

"THERE'S your voice!" Lightning chuckled again. And I just giggled in response, and at this he kissed my left ear. "I'm sorry to say that I have nothing for you for Christmas as of now," he announced somewhat unhappily.

"What're you talkin about? YOU'RE my Christmas present," I assured him lovingly.

"I know, but..." Lightning began.

"If it's any consolation I don't have anything for you."

"You don't have to get anything for me sweetheart."

"I know, but I WANT to."

Lightning paused here, unable to think of a response to this so he shrugged and stated, "Whatever you want to do Alice."
I couldn't help but press my lips onto his again, craving the taste and feeling of his warm, soft, sweet lips again. And he was not hesitant to kiss back. We were hesitant about deepening the kiss though, but later on once we've been around each other long enough we can get to that point. He moved his hand up to my hair and ran it through my soft, thick, flowing navy hair. I liked the feeling of the cafuné., so in response I ran my fingers through his soft quills. We kissed until our lips were raw and then I pulled away, giggling.
"See Alice, you've only got one gift. Now I'm REALLY guilty I didn't get you anything," Lightning sighed, but I kissed his ear.

"If it's really troubling you, you can get me something while I'm sleeping," I assured him.

"I guess I could," he responded, kissing my cheek. I smiled again, and went pink. "I can't get over how cute you are."

"Yeah," I giggled shyly. And he chuckled at this.

"You're a cute kitten," he complimented.

"Oh stop it!" I giggled modestly, blushing again, but he just laughed and brushed a few strands of hair out of my face.

"Want to listen to my iPod? I've added more songs since I was here last," Lightning suggested.

"Sounds good sweetheart," I replied happily, and he smiled as I lead him to my bed and we both collapsed on it on our backs and he pulled out his iPod as well as some Skull Candy headphones and plugged the right earbud into his left ear and the left one into my right ear. He unlocked his iPod and turned the music on and just relaxed while listening to Hardline, Axel Rudi Pell, Crush 40, Ted Poley, Tony Harnell, and lots of others. We didn't speak or anything we just held hands and listened to the music. Then when a quarter til seven rolled around, Lightning pulled out the headphones and stuffed his iPod into his pocket.
"Best it's time we head over to Espio's party?" He suggested as he got up.

"Yep," I replied happily, getting up too, looking into his soft brown eyes. He looked back at me lovingly.

"I love you Alice," he told me softly and my heart fluttered and I blushed at this.

"I love you too my British boyfriend," I giggled, and he chuckled again at my red face and his soft right hand found my left one, and we left my apartment building, and when we stepped outside, the air was filled with white, transparent, flakes.

"I'll be damned, it's snowing. It never snows where I live," Lightning remarked in awe.

"I know," I told him simply.

"You ok angel?" He asked me with gentle concern.

"Of course I am okay, I'm high on happiness," I told him happily. We headed to Espio's then in silence, just enjoying each other's company, Lightning looking at the snow happily and catching some flakes on his tongue.

Espio's lair was a small abandoned house deep in Emerald Forest away from the city, and when we got to it, it was bustling with all of our friends. As soon as we stepped inside, everybody started to greet Lightning and shake his hand excitedly as if he were famous. I spotted Sally sniffing a streusel, and I immediately frowned and let go of Lightning's hand. Sally was displeased; she put the streusel down with a look of disgust.
"Those streusel cakes must be eight hundred calories!!" I heard her tell Rouge with disgust, and Rouge nodded at this. She spotted Lightning and I and immediately went to us. "Hey, look, it's Miss Fatso," Sally leered. Lightning immediately pushed through and separated me from Sally, wanting to defend me from her. "Hey Light, havin a good Christmas week so far?" Sally flirted.

"Yeah, without you bothering Alice. So sod off," he warned sternly.

"Uh! I wasn't bothering Alice. I was just leaving. This party is lame, the only festive food it has is fruitcake, which Rouge told me was two hundred calories and eggnog which one cup is a hundred forty calories. And that's in LIGHT eggnog!!" Sally moaned.

"Don't care, just leave Alice alone you posh hag," Lightning hissed. Sally flung her hair and walked away, but unfortunately did not leave. "You ok sweetheart?" Lightning asked with concern, turning to me.

"Yeah," I assured him happily.

"Light!! Ya made it!!" Sonic cried happily, holding his hand out, and Lightning slapped it.

"Of course I made it, I wouldn't miss it for the world," Lightning told Sonic happily, pulling me and holding me against his side.

"Sweet," Sonic responded with a quick wink.

"Where's Blaze?" Lightning asked quickly.

"She's not here yet," Sonic replied as his smile faltered.

"She'll be here," Lightning assured him.
At that point I noticed Cream waving me over and I went to her and she held up an oval container. "Mom made Christmas cookies for everybody. Here you go," Cream cried happily, handing the container to me.

"Awesome, thanks!" I shrieked, taking the container. That was a weakness of mine: impossible to pass up junk food.

"Testing!! Testing!!" Espio's voice rang over speakers. I looked and saw him standing on a table with a microphone in hand. "Cool! Cool! Everybody, welcome to the Christmas party, sponsored by yours truly!" Espio announced, putting a hand on his chest. "Now, donations are accepted for poor kids to get them toys for Christmas. Toys and money are accepted," Espio declared, holding up a glass jar. "And help yourself to refreshments! Please excuse the crispy Santa cookies...Charmy didn't set a timer so they were in the oven to long..."

"HEY!!" Charmy's voice rang through the crowd.

"...and just chill and bang while listening to Christmas music," Espio said as if not having heard Charmy, and immediately everyone looked at each other with horrified looks on their faces. "Heh heh! Just kidding, just kidding. I mean chill and HANG!" Espio leered.

"UGH!! Men are disgusting!" Sally growled, rolling her eyes.

"Amen!!" Moaned Rouge.

"Women are emotional," Knuckles cut in defensively.

"Men are nonchalant, selfish retards," Rouge leered at him, but she was looking at Shadow, who was glaring at the floor, obviously opposed to being here.

"C'mon you two, there's no need for a sex war (that's what she said)," Espio remarked.

"Seriously Espio? Grow up!" Vector hissed.

"I'm just trying to lighten the mood!!" Espio cried.

"You're doin a bad job at it. Here give me the microphone!" Vector hissed, seizing the microphone, but Espio held onto it and refused to give it up and they ended up playing tug-of-war with it. While this was happening Rouge, Sally, and Knuckles had a Battle of the Sexes. I was getting uncomfortable as Silver accidentally stepped on my foot. I was claustrophobic and despising this crowd. I watched Shadow disappeared in thin air and I knew I didn't want to leave but I needed to get away from the crowd. I looked at Lightning but he was too busy conversing with Sonic. I quickly slipped past Big's outstretched arms as he reached for a burnt Santa cookie and I headed out back. The snow was accumulating quickly, it was now an inch deep, but the crisp air felt fresh and clean compared to the warm, recycled air inside from everybody's tense breathing. I just stood out on the back porch watching the snow falling and blanketing the trees.


"Alice, you ok?" His concerned voice asked from behind me.

"Yeah, just needed to get away from the people," I sighed without turning around, allowing him to wrap his arms around my sides so that his hands rested on my belly. He placed his head on my shoulder and nuzzled my neck.

"I understand honey, things were getting a bit shambolic in there," Lightning whispered into my ear. I giggled and turned around go kiss his lips lovingly and he wrapped his arms around my neck again.

"The snow is pretty isn't it?" I asked.

"Yes but not as pretty as you Alice," Lightning replied affectionately.

"I knew you were gonna say that," I smiled sweetly.

"Alice, you are the only woman I want to be with. You've rescued me from my despair.  Never have I felt so in love with anything before and I will never fall as hard for anything ever again cause only you could have comforted me and fixed a heart that I thought would never be healed again, you made me see the light of the sun when I felt like I was surrounded by the darkest of storm clouds, you brought my heart back to what it was saving it from turning into stone and helping me remembering what I thought was forgotten; the goodness of love and kindness. You are forever in my life and I want to forever be with you both in your heart and in your service because there is nothing I will not do for my true love who I see as an honest gift to God, a gift I swear to never take for granted, a gift I promise to cherish every moment of everyday that passes and I will be forever grateful for the sweet angel that stands before me with soft and loving eyes despite how silly this mortal must look in her eyes.
But I am far too in love with you to resist or breakaway from you because without you I would no longer be truly happy and I know I will never find anyone like you ever again, you are 1 in a hundred trillion million and I am the luckiest guy because I have received a heavenly blessing and I feel honored that she chooses to love me. In short I love you Alice, now and forever as God as my witness to these words I speak, I promise that I will never leave you and I will forever love you and I will always hold you in my heart. I truly, madly, deeply love you with all my heart and nothing can ever change that, and I hope God slaps me straight if I ever second guess that because I never want to leave your side; I love you and I want to be with you forever," he recited.

"I know," I blushed. I shivered then, and he took off his jacket and placed it on my shoulders and got closer to me to try and warm me.

"And I hate that I didn't get you anything for Christmas," he sighed.

"Your affection. You gave me your affection," I told him, putting my hands on his hips.

"I...I still...I dunno."

I rolled my eyes and pulled away and bent over to pick a handful of snow and chucked it at him and it hit him square in the face. He chuckled and wiped it off, only to be hit in the face by a snowball again. "I want you to be happy. Otherwise I will keep throwing snowballs at you!!!!!" I squealed as I scooped up more snow.

"No!!" Lightning laughed, scooping up snow himself and throwing it but I managed to duck. I stuck my tongue out at him. "You cheeky..." Lightning began teasingly but as he scooped up more snow I had thrown another snowball at him and it hit him in his hair. I hooted at this, but this allowed one of his snowballs to hit my chest. And Lightning laughed at this but I just rolled my eyes. He approached me and put his hands on my shoulders and pressed his amazing lips onto mine again. And while I kissed back I brushed the melting snow out of his hair and he pulled me closer to me because he wanted me to be warm. He ran his hands through my hair again. I pulled away, unable to resist his soft eyes.

"Te amo, mi novio. Tú eres romántico, guapo, y simpático!" I giggled.

"Come again?" Lightning asked, befuddled.

"I love you, my l boyfriend. You are romantic, handsome, and nice. Spanish one," I giggled.

"Oh," Lightning replied, still baffled. I kissed his nose as the snow fell in fluffy flakes around us as we looked at each other's eyes. He smiled at me and I returned it, shivering again. "I think we should go back inside. I don't want my lovely angel to be cold," Lightning noted with concern.

"Yeah," I moaned. He gently touched my arm and walked with me back into the hectic party. Everything was doing better now though, Rouge was as far away from Knuckles as possible. Blaze was here and Sonic was leaning against a nearby wall and she was almost nose-to-nose with him, and he had his hands on her hips and she was holding onto her elbows. Sally was admiring herself in a mirror. Vector was trying to sing The 12 Days Of Christmas but he was just making a few people plug their ears. Amy and Cream ran to me happily.

"So!! How are you and Mr Lightning?" Cream asked quickly.

"We're good," I responded.

"You guys are cute. I wish I had a boyfriend!!!" Cream moaned.

"Cream, you're a bit young for a boyfriend," Amy told her calmly.

"Oh!!" Cream wept.

"So Alice, we were wondering if you'd like to eat Christmas dinner with us tomorrow night. Vanilla will be making a juicy turkey!" Amy shrieked.

"Sure!" I replied happily.

"Cool!! Be at Vanilla's house at 6:00pm," Amy instructed.

"Everyone!! Who wants to play Christmas games?" Espio's voice cracked through the microphone.

"I do!!!" Cream and Charmy shrieked, but everybody else just looked at him.

"Um...okay. Then...who wants to play Secret Santa!?" Espio asked anxiously.

"How do you play that??" Cream wanted to know.

"Erm..." Espio began.

"We should sing a Christmas carol!" Vector cut in, trying to lean in to speak into the microphone. "We wish you a merry Christm-('NO!!' some people begged.)"

"Okay everybody. Just carry on. Just trying to find something for you guys to do," Espio sighed.

"We could go ice skating!!" Cream implied.

"At night?" Knuckles asked her.

"Or ice fishing?" Big implied.

"I'm goin home. See y'all!!" Rouge cooed, blowing kisses to everybody before shutting the door behind her.

"Bitch," Knuckles grumbled.

"HE SAID A NAUGHTY WORD!!! He's on Santa's naughty list!!" Cream screamed.

"AGH!! Your voice sounds like banshees!" Knuckles wept.

"Hey!!" Cream moaned.

"I'm outta here. I bet Rouge left to go snatch my Emerald. Peace homies," Knuckles grumbled, and with that he left.

"What's his problem?" Amy questioned loudly.

"He's probably angry because this party has no alcohol," Sonic grumbled, rolling his eyes.



An hour later, Espio's party was over, and Lightning and I headed back to our apartment, our hearing buzzing from the loud music. It was no longer snowing, but the blanket of snow on the ground was powdery and ankle deep. "Alice, I can't think of anything that'll make this Christmas any better than having you by my side," Lightning breathed joyfully. I didn't respond to this because I didn't know how to. "Alice, you ok?" Lightning asked with worry.

"Yeah," I responded calmly.

"You seem nonchalant," Lightning noted.

"I'm happy, I'm happy being with you," I assured him, putting my hand on his hip. But he looked skeptical at this.

"Are you sure sweetheart?"

"Yeah."

The rest of the way to my apartment was in silence but I knew he was still disquieted. When we got there, I yawned already as the warm scents of my apartment filled my nose. "You're knackered," he chuckled.

"Yeah," I sighed.

"Go to sleep sweetheart, I want to get your present," Lightning suggested hastily.

"Go ahead and go, I love you," I told him softly, kissing his cheek. Then I could shower and have time to myself. Lightning kissed my lips once and left the apartment in one swift moment.




Lightning's POV
Alice was not okay, and Lightning suspected it was most likely because she wanted time alone. This was beneficiary because now he could focus on getting her something. But...what should he get her? Was she a jewelry person? He pictured her beautiful body in his head from where he last left her but remember she had not been wearing any jewelry then. Maybe clothes? He didn't know her size really and he sure as hell wasn't going to ask. Makeup? No she didn't wear it much. Flowers? No she didn't seem like a flower person. This would be harder than he thought. He almost wanted to go back and ask her what she wanted but that'd give it away; not to mention he knew she wanted to be left alone, because she was getting moody. Typical girl. Maybe, but, he smiled; he loved her in spite of it. He trudged on through the crispy, fluffy snow and watched it sparkling in the moonlight. He was getting pretty knackered himself; it would be around four in the morning or so where he lived, and he wasn't used to the huge time difference.  As he got to downtown Station Square, many stores were closing early or already closed. Even if he thought of something really special, it was too late. Everything was closed. Except for a nearby jewelry store, which was closing in just an hour. It was his only hope, but he felt saddened that he couldn't get her something original. He walked into the store and a loud bell greeted him as he opened the door. The jeweler was a big fat man with a curly black mustache.
"Ahhh!! Last minute shoppin for a sister, eh?" The jeweler asked.

"No...it's for my girlfriend," Lightning responded sheepishly.

"Ohhh. You should've shopped for her weeks ago. Last minute jewel shopping is usually for sisters; I apologize, we are out of the good jewels a girlfriend would like," the jeweler responded compassionately. Now Lightning felt even more shameful at his words.
"What do you have?" He asked despondently.

"Just these cheap nickel earrings and a few diamond necklaces, but the diamond necklaces are fake," the jeweler answered, his voice still soft with concern.

"Well, Alice is allergic to nickel earrings so I can't get her those," Lightning insisted.

"Lots of people are. Nickel makes my aunt's ears swell up like a balloon!" The jeweler guffawed. But Lightning didn't want to get personal with this guy because he wasn't helping with the situation, he was just making it worse.

"Just get me a necklace then," Lightning moaned. The jeweler held out five shiny necklaces. One with six fake diamonds and a small slot where the seventh one should've been, one with the words "Sister" written in fake diamond in all caps, one with a curled heart embroidered with diamonds, one with a broken clasp, and one with diamonds that were glued into slots that stuck out at weird angles and could scratch the skin. Alice deserved better than all of this, he knew. But the best one was the one with the heart. It was the best bet now, and he was certain the jewels in the heart would eventually fall out because one jewel in the heart did look questionable; it seemed more precarious than the others.
"This one," Lightning chose hopelessly, pointing at the heart necklace.

"Fifteen bucks," the jeweler ordered. Not fully accustomed to the monetary system of this country he pulled out a couple bits of cash, hoping they would be enough. "That's only twelve," the jeweler stated.

"C'mon! Alice deserves better than THIS!!" Lightning moaned, now completely dishonored.

"I'll tell you what, since you are a desperate lover and it's Christmas Eve, I'll knock off three bucks," the jeweler sighed.

"Thank you. Soooo much," Lightning cheered with relief.

"No prob kid, but remember, buy a lady friend jewelry at least four weeks in advance."

Feeling a little more elated, Lightning stepped out into the snowy night. But when he looked at the cheap knock-off of a necklace the dishonor came back. Alice deserved more than this. Actually she deserved more than anything money could buy. He just hope she'd like this necklace anyway. It's the thought that counted, right?

"Hello Lighty," Sally came over, wearing a green loose turtleneck, a purple scarf, tight black pants, and gray boots.

"Sally? Green and purple? They don't match," Lightning leered, surprised someone like her would make a fashion statement. Though he could be wrong, women seemed to change clothes fashion everyday.

"Purple and green are complementary colors," Sally insisted. Lightning wanted to point out that it was actually yellow and purple that were complementary but didn't. "You look so handsome in the snow...hey, um, I just want to say you'd have a better chance at love with me," said Sally gently.

"No bloody way, Alice is the only one for me," Lightning insisted harshly.

"Alice's body is icky. She's got stretch marks. Have you seen them? They're ghastly, they look like somebody abided her too much with a knife!" Sally cried.

"Physical looks aren't important to me," Lightning retorted, his tone as cold as the snowy air outside.

"I'm prettier and better at stuff than Alice. Look, I heard Alice talking yesterday, and she said she's sick of you."

Though not believing her, his heart skipped a beater hearing those horrible words in the same sentence. "Rubbish!" he snarled.

"I heard her tell Amy she's tired of being around you, she's lost love for you. She's only pretending to love you," Sally leered.
Lightning didn't want to believe her, but...that sounds like how his ex felt about him. Was history repeating itself? No. Couldn't be.

"Sod off," Lightning growled.

"But you don't understand!! Alice doesn't love you anymore!! It irritates her that you live in another country and can't really be there for her!"

"You already tried this before, but it's just not going to work."

"When?"

"At the carnival. Boy, you're nutter and just full of rubbish."

"I never told you Alice quit living you then. I was just begging you to be mine."

"Well beg all you want because its not happening."

"Alice!! She HATES you!! She's sick of you!"

"I want to hear it from her!"

Lightning broke off in a run towards Alice's apartment and still felt unhappy. If Sally happened to be right...and Lightning gave Alice this cheap necklace knock off...thinking about it hurt worse so he just decided to ignore Sally, they were lies. So when he stepped into Alice's apartment he saw Alice was asleep on the couch. Carefully, he picked her up and walked to her bedroom and laid her down on her bed and covered her with the blankets. "I don't care what Sally says. I'll always love you," Lightning told her, kissing her fruity hair. But he still felt saddened as he set the necklace down on the bedside table by her iPhone. Her iPhone...it would have truths about him. Should he...? No. He mentally slapped himself for letting that thought enter his mind. Her iPhone contained personal details and he didn't want to break her trust in him. Sighing, he kissed her soft cheek and left her alone to sleep, going to the couch and plopping down on it. He smiled at the warm spot left behind by Alice when she had been laying here. He fell asleep quickly, feeling its warmth.






Alice's POV

I woke up to the sun streaming in. It was Christmas morning. I reached for my iPhone and checked the time. It was 8:00 am. I got about a decent nine hours sleep. Stretching, I unplugged the iPhone and headed back out to the living area. Lightning was still asleep. I smiled lovingly and went to his sleeping body and kissed his ear. "Merry Christmas sweetheart," I whispered to him lovingly. At this, he opened his eyes.

"What a nice way to wake up. Looking right at the love of my life," he whispered sleepily but lovingly.

"Merry Christmas," I repeated happily.

"I got you something...it's on your bedside table..." Lightning told me sleepily. Huh? I must not have seen it. I went back to my room and saw a necklace on the bedside table with a gorgeous heart on it made of diamonds. He came in to join me. "I know, it's a cheap knock off, it's not-" Lightning began.

"I LOVE IT!!" I shrieked, flinging my arms around him.

"R-Really? But it's not real," Lightning sighed.

"So? Your biggest present was already given to me," I whispered lovingly.

"Huh?" Lightning asked with confusion.

"Your presence," I replied lovingly.

"Alice...Sally told me you don't love me..."

"And you believe her?"

"Well..."

"Look, it's mistletoe."

Lightning looked up at the bare ceiling. "Alice, I don't see-?" He began. But I pulled out mistletoe from a nearby drawer and held it above us.

"It's right there," I giggled lovingly.

"Alice...Sally-" Lightning began agitatedly, but I put my finger on his lips.

"Sally is a jealous liar. Who're you gonna believe, her or your girlfriend?" I asked him quizzically. Then I pressed my lips onto his, immediately loving the taste of his sweet lips so early in the morning. I pulled him closer to me, feeling happy, affectionate, and appreciative of his love for me. I ran my fingers through his bangs and he wrapped his arms around my sides. His kisses to me felt light and reluctant. I knew he still felt somewhat troubled and I didn't want him to feel like this today so I immediately deepened the kiss and my tongue met his, and this surprised him immensely but I knew it made him feel better. Our tongues wrestled around a bit and our saliva mixed into a potion of passion. His hand met my hair again and, lo and behold, more capuné ensued. He must really liked my hair; I couldn't blame him. It was soft and irresistible to caress, like a kitten. My tongue tried to overpower his for domination and he fought back with surprising strength. Then he let go, surprised.
"I've never snogged before!" He chuckled modestly.

"Really? Cause you're good at it," I leered and he went scarlet.
"Alice, you love me?" He asked.

"More than fifty million of these necklaces," I told him romantically. "I don't care what Sally or anybody says. They're just lies trying to ruin our relationship. They're jealous cause we're so close. I love you more than there are stars in this world, I could go in a long description but not only am I not very good with words but it wouldn't be quite enough to sum of up."

It was enough to make Lightning smile though; he kissed my cheek. "Merry Christmas Alice. You're my Christmas angel," he told me softly.

"Merry Christmas Lightning. I love you soooooo much," I giggled, squeezing his body as hard as I could.

"I love you too!" He gasped and choked, but chuckled when I released him. And I laughed in response.

"I didn't get you anything," I admitted.

"You snogged me. Nobody's ever snogged me. That's a new present in itself," Lightning assured me with a bright blush, and I giggled at how cute he looked with his red cheeks.

"Well, you know the mistletoe is still above us," I chuckled.

"Yeah, isn't your arm getting tired?" Lightning asked me with slight worry.

"A little. But I'm keeping it there so I have an excuse to kiss you," I answered.

"You don't need an excuse sweetheart," Lightning told me firmly, knocking the mistletoe out of my hands and grabbing my hands and putting them on his shoulders and pressing his lips onto mine again. And as I, once again, savored his sweet lips, knew that this first Christmas with him was the best ever. And I certainly hoped there would be more after this.

End