Snow lightly falls outside my window. I look up from up from my computer screen and smile. "I can't believe my parents are letting Aelita come stay with us for the vacation!" i say excitedly to myself.

There's a knock on my door. I stand and quickly shuffle to answer. I see Aelita standing there in a nice light pink dress. I blush brightly, just like i normally do when i see her. She smiles as she enters the room. Down the hall, Odd and Ulrich can be heard cheering about some nonsensical event that just recently occurred. Either way, my attention belongs solely to Aelita in this moment. She seems to be blushing as well. "Jeremy, are you all packed?" she asks.

I look at my bag and nod. She smiles and gently takes my hand. We look into each other's eyes for a moment and i slowly lean in and kiss her. She pauses momentarily then kisses back, blushing bright as she does. We hold each other's hands until i receive a phone call.

On the other end of the line is my father. He says that he and my mother are waiting for us out front of the school. After we get off the phone, i stand up and offer my hand to Aelita. She takes it and i help her stand up. I pick up my bag and put it on my back, then pick up her things and carry them for her out to the car.

I set her bag down and open the door for her. "She giggles and says,"such a kind gentlemen you raised, mr. and mrs. Belpois. How are you both?"

I close the door behind her. As i quickly put our things in the trunk of the car, i hear a muffled conversation. I think to myself, "please don't let my parents be telling embarrassing stories of my childhood. Anything but that."

I get in the car and buckle up. To my surprise, my parents are actually asking Aelita questions about her. The question i walked into was from my father,"are you and our son dating?"

Aelita looks at me as if to ask me for the answer. I gently take her hand in my own and nod. She smiles and nods at my father, who smiles. The car ride is quiet, and my new girlfriend and i just look into each other's eyes. Only two things were ever said the entire time in the car. The first was from me. I whispered softly on her ear, "Aelita, there's something i've meant to tell you since we first met. I love you. I love you with all my heart, and i always will."

She blushes bright as i tell her i love her. The second thing comes from her. She struggles to speak, but eventually finds words. She stammers, "J-Jeremy, I-I l-love y-you t-too. I-I've never f-felt this w-way b-before. I-I'm scared, but I-I know you won't hurt me."

We hold hands the entire car ride, and as we finally arrive at the house, i quickly get out of the car and open Aelita's door for her. She smiles and kisses my cheek. She starts to go grab her bag but i tell her to just head in, and that i would grab it. She nods and smiles, then walks to the front door with my parents. I grab our bags and head inside.

Inside, the christmas tree is already set up, and there are presents under it. I take a small box out of my bag and put it with the other gifts. The tag on it says 'to Aelita, from Jeremy'. I see that Aelita is doing the same with a slightly larger box. We smile at one another and kiss softly.