A/N So I'm in the writing mood and I decided to be nice. So here's a Christmas one-shot.

She loved him, of course she did. There was no doubt in here mind. But things build up. People get busy. And one thing led to another, and now, he's gone. She should have fought. Well she sort of did. She told him not to leave She said she loved him. But he said that wasn't what he wanted to hear. He said that he knew she loved him, he just needed time off, he needed a break. She begged and pleaded, but nothing worked. He grabbed his suitcase and walked out the door.

Well that was almost two years ago. At first it seemed like a joke. He'd walk back through that door, open the suit case to show her there was nothing in there, and she'd hit him, and then they'd laugh. But after a month, she realized that may not happen. She hoped that soon he'd be back. He did this sometimes, left for a month to get away. He always invited her, but she would always reply, 'I'm too busy.'

After about six months, she began to realize that she needed to move on. Get on with her life. She decided that moving would be her best bet. She searched and searched. She found a nice apartment in Florida. The perfect place to relax and work to pursue her dream. Since she was a little girl, she had always wanted to work with sea animals. The way they moved had always fascinated her. After high school, she decided to go to college to become a marine biologist. She had found a great job in her small town in Arizona. She had planned to move to Florida after a year of work. This way she'd have more experience. That had changed when she met him.

Flash Back

Getting up early was never her favorite thing. And unfortunately for her, she had to do this everyday. Wake up early, get in her car, and drive to work. But she loved her job, on most days. Though she didn't enjoy the days she got stuck cleaning the tanks, but today was different. Today she got to give a tour to the second grade class from the local school. The thing she loved about giving tours to young kids was how open they were to learning. Somewhere between the age of ten and thirteen, you loose that enthusiasm, so she always savored it.

She got to work at around seven in the morning. She keyed in and headed to the back, swiping her card at the door. Luckily she didn't over sleep, so she had enough time to make breakfast in the lounge. After getting breakfast, she headed to the back changing rooms. She changed into her uniform, which consisted of navy blue jeans and a light blue button up. Her name tag swung at her side, hitting her leg every so often. She walked back towards the lobby. She saw the buses out front and smiled. Grabbing a clipboard off the table, she made her way through the small crowd. She looked down at the clipboard, class 2-R. She walked past her coworkers and to the end of the line. She held up the paper that said 2-R on it. She smiled as the kids made a line in front of her.

When everyone was in line, she began to talk. "Hello kids, I'm Miss Martinez, your tour guide today. Today will be lots of fun. Follow me and we'll go pick up our name tags." She walked the class over to the desk and handed everyone a black nametag. It stated their name, age, and what group they're in. She walked them around the building, answering their questions and showing them everything. At about twelve o'clock, the headed into the dining area to get lunch. She showed them to their table. She walked away and sat at the adult table.

"You really do love animals, don't you?" She jumped, a little startled. She turned and saw the teacher that had been in her group. Mr. Ride, if she recalled right.

"Well yes," she answered as if it were a stupid question to ask.

"Is this set taken?" She shook her head. He sat down a crossed from her. They opened their sandwiches and began to eat.

"So how long have you been working here?"

"A little over six months."

"I'm guessing you're fresh out of college then?"

"Yes, is there something wrong with that?"

"Nothing at all, I happen to be fresh out of college too." She nodded and took a bite out of her sandwich. She could tell he was fresh out of college the moment he walked in. He looked rather young and he had this glow to him that only new teachers had. De to the fact that they weren't yet ruined by the job of being a teacher. They continued talking until it was time to get back to the tour.

They walked side by side as the tour continued. Talking to each other every time they stopped at one of the tanks. The tour continued on like this for the rest of the day. When it was time to go, they said their goodbyes. She walked back over to the table to return the clipboard. Looking down, she noticed a small piece of paper that hadn't been there before. She took it off and unfolded it. It read: 'This was a lot of fun. Maybe we could hang out and get to know each other more. Here's my number.' She smiled to herself.

After that day, the hung out frequently. They later started dating and soon fell in love. They moved in together and he had proposed. But sadly, all good things must end. She started working to hard, never having time for him. And because of this, he would get grumpy and choose to not come home. They would yell and argue, until one day, he left.

She now sit on her couch, remembering what it was like to have someone. To be able to tell them 'I love you' and to hear it back. The sad thing was, she ruined it. She knew that she didn't have to work overtime, it wasn't required. All she had to do was work her normal shift of eight o'clock in the morning to six o'clock at night. But of course, she stayed late, till at least ten at night, helping with whatever she could.

The truth is, she was scared. Se was scared that it was all fake, that one day he'd leave her. She had never had anything like this, and it terrified her. Well, her fear came true, but honestly, she made it come true.

She held a picture in one hand and a shirt in the other The picture as them. They were in the water, he had his arms wrapped around her waist, she had hers around his neck. And they were kissing. She laughed at the memory. She had been showing him the tricks she had taught to the dolphins. He had been really impressed. They were walking along the edge. He had made a comment about always wanting to swim with dolphins. She had an idea, and in an instant, he was in the water. She had started to laugh hysterically. He resurfaced and pulled her in with him. When she resurfaced, thy laughed, and somehow ended up kissing. Someone had snapped the photo.

The shirt was one of his favorites. It was a plain black t-shirt that said 'tag you're it' with a picture of It from the Addams Family on the back. It still smelled like him.

Some days were easier than others, but sitting in the living room, with a Christmas tree decorated nicely, and no one to share it with, that was hard. After about an hour of sitting, she decided to get up and make dinner, after all, dinner for one was always the best. She really didn't try, she wasn't the best cook and she wasn't that hungry. So she made a bowl of ramen. She went back to the living room and sat down to watch 'A Charlie Brown Christmas'. They would always sit together and watch it.

It was Christmas eve and she was alone. It's sad to think that it had been five years since they met. And even weirder to think that three out of five of them, they were a couple, they had been in love. But it's even sadder to think that two out of those five, they weren't. And the worse part, the two out of five was the one that was still counting.

After she finished her soup, she turned off the TV, too sad to finish the movie. She deposited her bowl in the sink, not even bothering to wash it, and headed upstairs for a sleepless night.

She woke up with a start. It wasn't a normal thing to hear a loud nock on your door at three in the morning. She jumped out of bed and walked into the hallway. She walked up to the door, grabbing an umbrella for safety. She looked out her peep hole, but couldn't see anything, it was too dark. She carefully unlocked the door, hoping to not make a sound. She half expected to see her mother. She was supposed to visit but the flight got delayed. She was excited to see her mom and younger sister, but of course, that didn't work. She figured maybe they found a flight, and since they were planning on staying in her apartment, she figured it made sense.

But as she opened the door to see a tall figure, that looked nothing like her mother, standing there, she grew scared. She raised the umbrella in hope to scare off the person. But instead, the person just walked in, grabbed her face, and kissed her. She pulled away, still not knowing who it was, cause it was still too dark. "Just because I have a mistletoe up doesn't mean I'll go around kissing people. It's meant to spread holiday spirit."

"Still the same old Max, I see." Her heart stopped beating and her eyes grew wide. She shook her head and backed away into the living room. He followed, shutting the door behind him. She turned on the light, finally getting a good look at him. He was the same man she remembered. He had his black hair and black eyes. Olive skin. Just how she remembered him. Though he looked more tired. He had heavy bags under his eyes. He looked a little thinner than he should. And his eyes didn't have that same shine she remembered. "Nice place."

"You left."

"You look nice Max."

"You left."

"The tree looks nice. Did you decorate it yourself, or did you have help?"

"YOU LEFT," she finally shouted. "FOR TWO YEARS!"

"Max, I tried to come back..."

"No you didn't, I waited, hoping, day after day, month after month. But you never came back."

"Max, I went back, I was away for six months, but I went back. I went to your house, but someone else was there. They said you had moved. I searched, I called your mom, but she said she didn't know where you were..."

"Because I hadn't told her till this year."

"So I tried your sister," he continued, as if she hadn't spoken at all. "I called everywhere. I looked you up at least a thousand times." He stopped and looked at her. Looking her up and down. Then his gaze shifted back to the tree. "I had given up, I didn't know what to do. I knew it was my fault, I shouldn't have left. I shouldn't have been gone for so long. Then I got this call, about a month ago. It was from your mom. She said she knew where you were. That you had finally called her and told her. She said you didn't talk to anyone, and that was the first time she heard your voice. She told me that you moved to Florida to pursue your dream. asked for your address, and she gave it to me. I booked a flight as soon as I could. The cheapest one was yesterday, and it didn't come in till today at one in the morning. As soon as I landed, I found a rent-a-car and drove around till I found your house. I looked at the list of names and found yours. I rang but you never answered. Finally someone was coming out and let me in. I thanked them and ran up here." He stopped again, His gaze returning to look at her. "I'm so sorry Max. I should've never left. Those two years were the worst years of my life."

She stared at him, not knowing what to do. "I shouldn't have worked so late."

"Wha..."

"I shouldn't have worked so late, every night. That's why you left. I should have just told you the truth. I should have just told you that I was scared. I was scared of what we had. I thought you would find someone better and leave me. So I worked hard every night, so that I didn't have to face you. I'm sorry." He looked at her, studying her. He walked towards her, wrapping his arms around her small frame.

"So we were both idiots, we both screwed up. But now, lets focus on today. Lets focus on now." She nodded into his chest. They pulled apart after what seemed like forever. "You know I love you right?" She nodded her head.

"And I love you. I love you more than anything that it scares me."

"Don't be scared. You're mine, and I'm yours." He held up her left hand that still had the ring on it. "You still wear it?"

"Only on days like this, Christmas, Valentines day, our anniversary... It reminds me of what we had."

"What we still have." He looked at her face, really looked at her. He notice the bags under her eyes, similar to his. He noticed how much weight she had lost. How pale her skin looked. He finally leaned down and captured her lips. They kissed for a while, till they needed to breathe. Then, they kissed some more. More hungrily. She reached out her small hands and tugged on the hem of his shirt. She pulled it up trying to get it off. He decided to help her out, only breaking the kiss to pull the shirt over his head. He reached down removing her shirt. Smiling when he noticed that it was his tag shirt. He lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist. They moved back to her bedroom and shut the door, closing off any trace of the outside world.

She looked up at him, and smiled. No, that wasn't their first time, I mean, they were engaged for over a year. He looked down at her with love in his eyes. "I love you," he said in a soft voice.

"I love you too," she replied.

"So did you like your gift." She furrowed her brows in confusion. He gave her a cheeky grin and pointed at himself.

"I loved it. Best Christmas gift ever."

"Merry Christmas Max."

"Marry Christmas Fang."

A/N So it's a little sappy but I like it. I think it's cute and sweet. Merry Christmas and R and R. Love you guys.