Disclaimer: Do you really think I would be writing fanfic for free if I owned the fricking Lunar Chronicles? Exactly.

"Christmas? I think I've read about that."

"It's a second-era thing, but we still do it in America."

Cress looked at him, "And it's when?"

"Two weeks." He smiled at her, "What d'ya say? Spend it with me?"

She chewed on her lip, "I'm not sure if I have a choice. What even is it?"

He sat against the couch, his arms draped casually across the back of it, "It's just a day where you spend time with the people you care about." His smile widened, "And since you're my girlfriend, I think you fit in that category."

She reddened.

"Gifts are involved, also," he added. "And I already have one planned out for you!"

"We're not in the American Republic," she reminded him. True, they were actually in the Commonwealth visiting the emperor and the new empress, their closest friends, Kai and Cinder.

His smile grew impossibly bigger, "We can still totally do it, though! It'll be our own little thing. A new tradition, so to speak."

Cress clenched her jaw. The war ended how long ago? A year? They'd been together almost as long, but she wasn't yet accustomed to his sporadic ideas. "What do you do to celebrate it?"

"Well first, we need a tree!"

"A tree?"

"A tree. And then, we need decorations."

"Decorations!" She threw her arms up in mock excitement.

"And gifts."

"Gifts…"

"And each other," he leaned over and kissed the top of her head. "I doubt we'll find too many Christmas themed things here - you should see the US when November hits! - and we'll have to improvise on the tree, but it'll be great!"

It absolutely was not great.

Okay, it probably would be, but Cress was a bundle of stress and nerves and hair that was still too short to take out her frustrations on. And besides, she'd just finished styling it.

She placed his gift under the "tree", a miniature, fake cherry blossom - the closest they could find at the market, which Thorne had decorated with lights and makeshift bulb… things. She didn't bother trying to learn how to wrap presents and opted instead for a silver gift bag, with red and green tissue paper sticking up out of it.

She hoped he would like it. It took her an hour and 24 minutes to finish.

He would be in the room in fifteen minutes, according to the comm he'd sent, and then they'd start their celebrations.

When she'd told Cinder about it, the empress had only laughed, and said that she was surprised that Thorne was a fan of such frivolous celebrations, but it clearly wasn't too far-fetched. Cress just hoped that her gift would be enough.

She sat back on the couch that was placed five feet from the foot of their bed, positioned in front of a net screen. She shut her eyes and waited for him in silence, taking in the serene calm of the palace's guest wing.

It didn't feel like fifteen minutes had passed when she heard the door open.

"Honey, I'm home!" He announced.

She sat up and smiled at him, noticing a thin, long… thing in his hand. It was like a box, but there was some sort of paper wrapped shoddily around it. But it's the thought that counts.

He joined her on the couch, pressing a hand to her knee as he bent to kiss her. "Merry Christmas, Cress."

"Merry Christmas," the words sounded too foreign, though she'd downloaded a few second-era films for them to watch that were based on the holiday. There had to have been hundreds.

"So," he gave her one of his charming, signature smiles. "What've you got for me?"

Cress giggled anxiously and reached beneath the tree for the gift bag, handing it to him. He pretended to shake it by his ear before reaching in and pulling out a slender rectangle of plastic.

"It's the newest prototype of portscreen. Work sent it to me for free," She explained. "I've already downloaded all of your favorite channels and apps and information onto it. I also made it untraceable, even with net access. It's also impossible to hack it. Well, I mean, I can hack it, but that's only because I designed the security system myself." She wrung her hands together, waiting for a reaction.

"You designed an entire security system for it?" She shrugged. Technically, it was an assignment she was given, but she'd decided to test it out on him. Thorne lifted the screen and turned it over in his hands. It was pretty large for a port, and it was certainly fancy. The background of the main screen was a picture they'd taken together at a park in the fall, when they were in America. He beamed, "This is the best, Crescent. How will you possibly outdo yourself for my birthday?" He laughed at her nervous expression, leaning over to kiss her. He set the port beside him and picked up the small, sloppily-wrapped box he'd brought.

She opened the paper cautiously, despite Thorne having explained that people usually ripped the wrapping off so quickly that it was almost pointless to do it in the first place. The white box inside of it was coated in velvet. Her heart rate quickened. She lifted the top of it.

The chain of the necklace glistened in the light of their improv Christmas tree, the dazzling diamonds that outlined a crescent moon at the center of it sparkling like the stars. It was-

"Gorgeous." She pulled the necklace delicately from its place and held it in front of her. "I've never- it's so- thank you, Thorne."

He took it from her, gesturing for her to turn so he could latch it for her. The cold metal sat gingerly against her collarbones, and she turned back to hug him.

He pulled away just a bit, brushing his fingers through her hair, before placing his palms against her face, "I'm glad you like it."

"I love it."

"I love you."

Cress had heard those words from him before. Said on accident, said while he was sleeping, said when he thought she was asleep. But she'd never told him, not even unintentionally.

He waited patiently for any response from the frozen girl. She assessed him, from his blond hair to his bright eyes to the curve of his nose. Cress had always been terrified of love, not knowing if she knew how it truly felt, if she ever would.

But looking at him now, she was sure. She pushed forward to kiss him, her thumbs tracing circles into his wrists.

"And I love you."

Author's Note: Because I love cute Christmas-themed otp drabbles. *heart eyes* I hope it's not too early! Also, I call it a drabble because that's how I justify it being so short and Not That Great, honestly. I originally wrote this for the TLCshipweeks thing (which you should TOTALLY check out, they have a tumblr that goes by that same url, because I'm participating!) but the Thress/Cresswell week isn't until after Christmas, soooooo. Anyway, 'tis the season! Happy holidays, my loves!