Author's Note: This is my first very tentative shot at writing Near. God, I hope I did ok lol. There is a little bit of fluff ahead. Review if you wish.
Wammy's House always put up a big Christmas tree in the lunch hall one week before Christmas. Currently, the children were scurrying around decorating the Christmas tree. Long blonde lock dipped into Near's line of vision as he reached in a box of ornaments. He looked up to see Acey of Spades standing across from him. He took in her delighted smile and shining hazel eyes.
Near knew that Acey detested Christmas, but she absolutely loved helping decorate the Christmas tree every year. Near saw a hint of wistful disappointment in her eyes, though. Every year she begged Roger to let her decorate the tree with a little bit of a gothic touch, but he'd refused her just as he had every year.
Near curled a strand of hair around his finger, walking over to put the red bulb on a branch. He heard Acey sigh happily next to him. Turning to look at her, he watched her jump up to reach a branch higher up on the tree. Mello came up behind her and picked her up bridal style to help her reach it. Near felt a funny feeling in his stomach when she kissed Mello on the cheek in thanks.
"What are you looking at, sheep?" Mello demanded as he set Acey back down.
Near simply ignored him, and reach for a strand of green garland to wrap around the tree. He heard Acey shriek when Matt tossed a handful of tinsel in Acey's hair.
"You are going to get it, Matt," Acey said, smiling impishly at Matt. She removed the tinsel from her hair, chasing Matt around the lunch hall. Matt tackled her gently to the ground when she jumped up to throw the tinsel at him. Near noticed that Acey had quite the smile for Matt, looking up at him as he pinned her to the ground.
He felt that funny feeling in his stomach again. Jealousy?
He shoved away such feelings as he continued to decorate the Christmas tree. Within the hour, the tree was completely decorated. As he surveyed it, Near had to admit that the tree did look beautiful.
"It looks beautiful, doesn't it? Acey said as he sat down beside him.
"Yes, it does," Near replied quietly, curling his hair around his finger. He watched the lights reflect in her hazel eyes.
Near sat with her to look at the tree after everyone else had left the lunch hall.
"I've always loved decorating the Christmas tree," Acey said, turning to lie on her stomach, watching the lights dance and flicker through different patterns. "It always made me sad when my mother never put up a Christmas tree."
Near nodded, putting the last piece of his puzzle into place. Instead of turning to puzzle upside down to start it over, he turned to Acey. "Would you care to take a walk with me?" He asked.
"Sure," She replied. Getting up, she followed Near out of the lunch hall. When they reached the hallway, Near suddenly placed one hand over her eye. "Near, what are you doing?" She asked.
"I'm sorry, but this is necessary," Near replied, curling his hair around his finger as he walked, keeping his hand placed firmly over her eyes.
"Why?" Acey asked as Near opened the door to the stairwell. "Where are we going?"
"You'll see," Near replied as he guided her through the door.
Acey bit her lip as she tentatively stepped down the first step. She quickly grabbed Near's hand, holding it tightly when she missed the first stair.
Her small hand felt warm in his. Near continued to hold her hand to prevent her from tripping lest she miss a stair.
"Eepp!" He heard Acey yelped when, not to his surprise, missed the third stair from the bottom. She squeezed Near's hand as she slipped. Near had to uncover her eyes for a moment, catching her with an arm around her waist. He could feel Acey quivering as she steadied herself.
"Thanks Near," She breathed, rubbing her arms up and down her shoulders. Near maybe kept his arm around her long than he should've, but he considered it a comforting gesture. Once she'd stopped quivering, Near covered her eyes with her hand.
"Ugh, couldn't you at least waited until I got all the way down the stairs," She protested. Near knew she was narrowed her eyes in a glare underneath his hand.
"I'm sorry, but as I said, this is necessary," Near replied, reaching for her hand again. It hurt him a little when he felt Acey squeeze his hand tightly as he guided her down the rest of the stairs. It wasn't because of how hard she was squeezing his hand, it was because she clearly didn't trust him enough.
Near was thankful that there wasn't anybody in the library corridor to see them holding hands. He knew rumors would've spread like wildfire, ranging from they were involved to they were fucking in the library. No such thought had crossed his mind of the latter. Still though…
Near guided her through the library door when he opened it. "Almost there," He said.
After they walked five paces or so, he stopped, uncovering her eyes. He found that hadn't chosen to remove his hand from hers. Acey's face lit up when she saw a bare Christmas tree in the corner of the library, a box of black garland and orange ornaments in front of it.
"Near?" She breathed, "What is this? I mean what did you..?" She trailed off, turning to look at him.
"I suggested to Roger that we should have a Christmas tree in the library as well. It's yours to decorate. Think of it a Christmas present," He replied.
"Ahh Near, I love it!" She cried. His hand suddenly felt cold when she let go of it to throw her arms around him. Near stood there awkwardly before he gently embraced her back. They stood there for a moment, before she bounded over to the tree to start decorating it. He would've been content just sitting on the floor watching her, but she turned to him saying, "Help me?" He complied with her request.
The next hour or so was spent hooking ornaments on branches and wrapping garland and lights around it. He heard her gasp, laughing in delight when looked at the bottom of the box to find a Grim Reaper tree topper instead of a star.
Roger was going to absolutely hate this.
As Acey stood on a chair to put the Grim Reaper at the top of the tree, Near studied her with a hand on the side of her thigh; he was completely aware of where his hand was.
"There, it's perfect!" She exclaimed, jumping down from the chair. After surveying the tree with her hands on her hips, Acey sat down next to Near on the floor. "This was sweet of you, Near. Thank you," She said, smiling at him.
"You're welcome," Near said, curling a strand of hair around his finger.
"What do you want for Christmas?" Acey asked after a moment of silence.
'Well," Near thought, chancing a glance up a ceiling. Unbeknownst to him until now, there was a piece of mistletoe hanging below their heads. "You don't have to get me anything, really," He finished, looking back down at her.
Acey cocked her head at him before she moved closer to him.
'Oh no, she misunderstood me when I looked up at the mistletoe,' Near thought when Acey started to lean in. Near's eyes drifted to closed whenever their lips meant in a chaste kiss. Her lips felt warm and soft against his. This kiss ended a few seconds after it began.
"Let's keep that between us," Acey said, tapping his nose with her finger.
Near nodded, cursing the flush that had flooded his cheeks. Wammy's resident, pretty medium had just given him his first kiss. She sat next to him for a moment longer before she glanced at the clock.
"Ten minutes till curfew. We'd better get up to our rooms before Roger chases us out," Acey said.
Near sat there for a minute after she'd left, being thankful that'd she'd left before Mello and Matt came looking for her. He found himself admitting that he really didn't want to see the smile she seemed to have reserved just for Matt light up her face.