She couldn't deny that she was a little bit let down by the way the day had gone. Sure, she had waved him off when he had asked what she wanted for Christmas and told him that the best gift was such wonderful friends, but no matter how true that was, she thought he would be able to take a hint. They hadn't been married for twenty years - didn't he know about social convention? After all, everyone else had gotten her presents. Even if she doubted she would ever use half of them.

If you had wanted a gift, you should have made it more clear, she chastised herself, turning up the volume on her headphones so she didn't have to hear the springs creak as Nora jumped on the bed, You know how thick he is. The boy's never taken a hint in his life. You can't expect anything of him.

You have no right to be upset.

But she still couldn't swallow the lump in her throat. Ren was trying to catch her eye, but Pyrrha only stared at her notebook more intensely. This was really her fault. She knew Jaune was incapable of taking hints. She had no one to blame but herself, but that didn't make it any easier to accept.

He'd been ducking in and out of the room for the past two hours, grabbing odds and ends and humming carols to himself, which did absolutely nothing to improve her mood.

Her scroll buzzed, making her jump. A message.

From Jaune.

Could you come to the roof? I need your opinion.

She sighed and snapped it closed, biting her lip. She shouldn't be mad at him. He was a bumbling, idiotic dork, and she couldn't fault him for not understanding when she meant the opposite of what she said, but she really didn't want to go.

It buzzed again.

Please.

She was too soft. She gave up on her essay and pushed off the blanket that had been covering her, grabbing the nearest pair of shoes and tossing her hair hair behind her shoulders. She wasn't sure what she had been thinking when she let Nora convince her to leave it down for the day. It was nothing but trouble.

"Are you going?"

She nodded, still avoiding Ren's eye. He knew something she didn't. Nora, for once, was silent, bouncing more softly as she watched Pyrrha leave the room.

The walk to the roof was entirely too short for her taste. Too short to put on a cheerful facade, too short to excuse taking her time. The staircase curved near the top, so she couldn't even see the rooftop until it was too late to turn back. Each step on the staircase seemed to echo more loudly than usual, weighing her down as she tried to reach the top.

Her breath caught in her throat. She wasn't exactly sure what she was seeing when she did turn the corner. Through the open doorway, she could see dozens of tiny lights. She was probably dreaming again. Maybe this was one of his attempts to woo Weiss and he wanted to know what she thought. She had thought he was over Weiss - it had been months since he had talked about her. Obviously, she realized with a sinking feeling in her stomach, she had been mistaken.

That didn't explain the bouquet in his hand entirely (Surely, he didn't need her opinion on the flowers he was going to give her, for God's sake), but it didn't come close to making sense any other way.

It didn't explain why he looked so nervous to see her, either, though the shadows that danced on his face as the candlelight flickered made it difficult to tell his exact emotion. He cleared his throat, tugging on his shirt collar, "You, uh, said you didn't want anything for Christmas, but I thought you might want to dance instead. You know, since there was no dance this year. And this time I could ask you. Like I should have last year."

She couldn't move. It was like she had forgotten how to speak, mouth opening and closing without sound, stomach tied into more knots than she thought possible. She was definitely dreaming. A gentle waltz played somewhere in the background, but she couldn't pinpoint the source.

"You don't like it," Jaune said, more quietly this time as the arm holding the bouquet dropped to his side. He started to stammer, "Sorry. This was a dumb idea. I-I can get you a present, I promise. Just forget about this."

"No, no, I love it," she protested, taking a few steps toward him, "This is wonderful, Jaune."

He scratched the back of his head, grabbing at his blonde hair and letting it slip out through his fingers. It was ruining the gel he and Nora had worked on for half an hour earlier that day, but it was too cute to stop. "You can be honest, Pyrrha. You don't have to b-"

It didn't matter what she did. It had to be a dream. Jaune had called her his eighth sister just a couple weeks ago. Sisters didn't get candlelit dances on rooftops with flowers and hair gel. Cheeks flushed pink, Pyrrha leaned in and kissed him, cutting him off with a peck so fast she wasn't even sure she made contact with his lips at all.

She began to worry that she was actually awake when he froze up. He didn't do this in dreams.

Oh god, now she was the idiot. The idiot who couldn't keep her feelings in check for one lousy Christmas present. If he liked her, he would have said something, but instead he was standing there, completely still, mouth hanging open and eyes wide as saucers. She had kissed her best friend. She had ruined everything.

"Sorry," she whispered, blinking back the tears that had welled up in her eyes, "I-I don't know what came over me, I'm sorry."

He grabbed the sleeve of her sweater as she started to turn away and pulled her towards him, dropping the flowers as he did so that both hands could wrap around her waist as he leaned in. Pyrrha didn't try to move away, wiping away the tears that had been bold enough to fall onto her cheek.

Then he was kissing her, rough lips against her own in a way that made her knees buckle. The knots in her stomach turned to butterflies. Her hands looped around his neck, drawing him closer and deepening the kiss. She didn't know if it was possible to stop time, but it sure felt like the rest of the world slowed down.

Eventually they broke apart, breathing hard and blushing harder.

"You… You like it then?" he asked, the right side of his mouth tugging up into a lopsided grin, "I can get you a real present."

She shook her head, smiling back and hoping her heart didn't explode out of her chest, "This is perfect."

He stepped back and cleared his throat, extending a hand, trying to swallow his grin and failing miserably as he stammered through the next few words.

"Uh, then, would you like to dance, Miss Nikos?"

He wasn't wearing a dress this year, which she thought was both a disappointment and a relief (Nora had been furious that he had not let her do his makeup), and she took his hand again, giggling like she was a first-year again.

She couldn't have asked for a better gift.

Merry Christmas to sharpdressedzac/Daniel on tumblr! I hope you like your gifts!