"Come in, you must be freezing!"
Katarina smiled appreciatively at her beautiful cousin, as she walked down the cosy, familiar insider of Uncle Eddie's house.
"How come you're late?" Gabrielle demanded of Kat once her coat was hung up and the snow shaken out of her hair.
Kat simply shrugged. "Finalising some plans."
Gabrielle barely refrained from rolling her outlined eyes as she replied, "It's Christmas, Kat! You can't have a job."
Ignoring her cousin, Kat walked down the hall, to the room from which the most noise was emanating.
A smile lit her face when she saw it was crowded with all the people she cared for most.
The room was lit by a rosy, festive glow – the large, lit fireplace was responsible – and happy chatter buzzed. An almost-blinding Christmas tree graced the farthest left-hand corner of the room, surrounded by stacks of presents (some of which, she'd put money on were stolen or 'borrowed').
Hamish and Angus were discussing something – and Kat got the feeling it hadn't much to do with Christmas – in the squashy armchairs over by the frosted window. Simon, for once, wasn't accompanied by a laptop, or some sort of device, and, instead, was talking – almost awkwardly – to Uncle Eddie and Kat's father.
Gabrielle had slipped past Kat and was trying to strike up a conversation with a vague-looking Hale, who sat in the most secluded, shadowed part of the room.
Biting back her smile, Kat stepped further into the room, and then walked over to her father.
He looked up and grinned when he saw who it was, before greeting her with a warm, "Kat!" and a hug.
Kat pulled away and gave Bobby Bishop a stern, yet playful, stare. "Really, Dad? Senator Marc Phillips's most prized Shamley Brothers painting?"
Her father simply grinned even wider. "It's all in the thrill of the job."
Kat laughed and turned to greet Uncle Eddie. She wasn't sure if he was still mad at her for almost being caught a few weeks ago on a risky heist, but he seemed cheerful enough – although, that may have been the beer.
Once all – or nearly all – greeting were over and done with, Kat picked up a mince pie from a tray Marcus had just set down on the coffee table and feel backwards into a cushioned chair, which sat beside the Christmas tree.
She closed her eyes, exhausted from the four hours travel she had endured to reach the small Christmas gathering Gabrielle had taken much pleasure in organising.
Perhaps because of this exhaustion – or maybe she was getting rusty – Kat didn't hear Hale walk over to where she sat, and only realised his presence when he sad, "Hey," and waved a glass of lemonade in front of her, which Kat took gratefully.
"How are you, Hale?" she asked, looking him in the eyes.
Hale shrugged, and Kat wondered if he could have possibly gotten any handsomer since she'd last seen him.
"Fine, I haven't seen you in months, though. I was half beginning to think you'd deserted us – me – again."
Kat flinched a little at his words, but recovered and looked at her toes. "Yeah? I thought, after the Henley, you would have gotten the picture. I'm not leaving any of you. I've just been busy."
Hale shuffled on the spot, before dragging a chair next to Kat's and plonking himself down on it. "Oh, busy?"
Feeling slightly uncomfortable, Kat replied, "Uh… Nick… well we've been on a few 'dates'. Arturo Taccone had a few people after me, but I got rid of them. I've done a few jobs – I'm sure you know about – since I saw you last."
But, out of all the things Kate told Hale, it seemed as if he only heard one. "You and Nick are dating?"
Kat coughed gently. "Uh, not really, nothing concrete, anyway."
Nodding absent-mindedly, Hale sipped his drink and sighed.
And, before Kat could say anything else, Angus sprang over to her and dragged her to her feet, insisting they dance to the Christmas Carol blaring from the radio.
Once Hamish had been involved, Kat knew she had no hope of getting out of it, so she danced with the Bagshaw brothers, relatively unselfconsciously.
When one of Uncle Eddie's favourite figurines had almost smashed to smithereens, the brothers decided to give up on 'boogying', and went back to pulling pranks on Simon.
Gabrielle hauled Kat out of the room and pulled her into the guest room, then forcing her into a chair.
In response to Kat's questioning look, Gabrielle said, "Your clothes aren't that great, plus you could do with some make-up, just this once. Those dark circles are dragging you down, Kat."
Trying not to feel resentful, Kat allowed Gabrielle to pick out a 'decent' outfit (one that didn't reveal so much unnecessary skin to the world). But once it came to make-up, Kat refused point-blank to let her cousin do anything.
Just as she lunged forward with the mascara wand, Kat made a dash for the door. Before her glamorous cousin could tug her back, she slipped into the kitchen, wanting to take off the boiling jumper which wasn't exactly needed – what, with the stuffiness and all.
However, as Kat lifted up the thick, red, knitted thing, her top came up too, revealing her stomach and bra to the kitchen utensils.
Before Kat could right anything, warm, strong hands were pulling down her shirt, allowing the jumper to be discarded.
As Kat turned around, she flushed, seeing Hale against the kitchen's island, arms crossed.
He didn't mention the rather awkward – well, awkward for Kat – situation which had occurred not moments before, he simply looked at Kat, expression unreadable.
"Oh, hey Hale," Kat tried to say casually.
Hale didn't reply, he just uncrossed his arms and stuck his hands in the pockets of his jeans.
"You gonna say something?" teased Kat, trying to disperse the thickness in the air.
Yet, there was still no reply from W.W. Hale the fifth.
"Jeez, Hale, you're quiet toni—"
Kat was cut short by Hale's lips pressing against her own. She stiffened for a brief second, but then relaxed as he ran his hands through her hair.
Kat wrapped her arms around Hale's neck, not breaking the kiss as he pulled her closer.
She didn't realise that they'd been moving until her back bumped into the kitchen bench. She then broke away from Hale.
With no words – no useful words – coming to her mind, Kat pulled him in again and kissed him deeply. Her brain was completely addled and dysfunctional as she lived her deepest dreams, right there in the kitchen of Uncle Eddie's house.
Neither Hale not Kat broke apart when the door to the kitchen opened and a girly giggle sounded. But were relieved when the 'intruder' left, shutting the door again and leaving them in peace.
When Hale did finally pull back from Kat, they rested their foreheads against each others, smiling.
"Merry Christmas, Hale," she whispered, happiness flooding her.
"Merry Christmas, Kitty Kat."
Okay, so I wrote this just as a Chrissy one-shot, cause I felt like it :P
Hope you liked it! Review and tell me everything you hated/loved/liked/loathed.
:D Please?
Oh, yeah, review if you're a fan of Hale/Kat! (I know I am!)
~Jen