Christmas Eve had been eventful, but an overall success. The little boy that Walter had saved from drowning was reunited safely with his parents and from the looks of things, he was going to be fine.
The cyclone had returned to the warehouse for a dinner that Paige had prepared. Everyone had laughed and stomachs were crammed full. After everything was cleared away, everyone had gone back to their other projects, whilst the 'normals' relaxed and chatted away. Toby was engrossed in his reading when his desk received a swift kick unexpectedly. His head shot up at the sound, to find Happy standing on the other side, her name contradicting her features. Her father had left about an hour ago, not wanting to intrude on the day any further.
"What is this?" she hissed. He could hear her foot tapping against the floor. After a few moments of silence on Toby's part, she began brandishing the offending article in front of his face. "Well...?"
"Well, it looks like mistletoe to me." Toby rose from his seat, gently took it from her hands and seemed to be examining it, grinning the entire time he did so. "You know, if you wanted a christmas kiss, all you had to do was ask", he whispered, getting ever so slightly closer. He knew he was pushing his luck, but he wanted to see how she'd react.
She just stared at him wide-eyed, like a deer caught in the headlights. "I..." she faltered before regaining her composure, "I know it's mistletoe, numbnuts! What was it doing hung up in my garage?"
"I honestly have no clue."
A flash of disappointment crossed her face so quickly he wondered whether he was just seeing what he wanted to see.
Toby elected to ignore it, he didn't want to get his hopes up and make her more annoyed all in one moment. He continued, "Look, I can understand why you would think it was me, but do you really believe that I would risk getting dismembered?" He chuckled a little as he finished and she let out a hum of amusement before he carried on. "I mean, I'm sure it would be worth it, but I wouldn't want to make you feel like you had to just because of some stupid tradition." While he'd been speaking, Toby had made his way round to the side of the desk where she was standing.
The world carried on spinning on its axis a few more seconds while they stared at each other and he touched her shoulder lightly.
"I appreciate that." She broke the spell they both seemed to be under.
"Anytime." _
A short while later and the mystery of the mistletoe had been solved. Megan had owned up to hanging it up in various places throughout the warehouse, all in the name of christmas spirit. Everyone had laughed and all was forgotten.
It was only on the way home that Toby realised Happy hadn't actually said she didn't want to kiss him. _
"What the fuck?" Toby grabbed the clock, turning it so the numbers were facing him. "It's 3am. What the fuck?" he repeated, rubbing his eyes.
There had been a faint knocking at his door and being the light sleeper that he was, he'd heard it from the first knock.
The person knocked again.
"I'm comin', I'm comin..." he muttered, walking through the apartment. Toby rubbed his eyes again before he opened the door.
"Happy..." He was kinda stunned if he admitted it to himself. She'd only been to his apartment a handful of times, and even then, it had been with the rest of the team. "What are you doing here?"
In his dazed state, the words came out of kind of harsh and Toby could see the wheels begin to turn in her head. She was regretting coming already.
"I don't know. It was dumb. I'm sorry I woke you. I should go." Happy quickly averted her eyes from his, spun to walk away, but Toby was quickly following her out the door and he lightly grasped her arm, making her face him. He'd never seen her like this before. She was nervous and a little shy. He noticed she'd taken the band out of her hair, so it was loose around her face and shoulders.
"No, I'm sorry, I'm just surprised, that's all. Please come in." He let her go in first, and he offered to take her jacket. When she declined, he tried to regain eye contact. "Well, do you want something to drink? It's cold out there, it might warm you up." He ended the question with a smile, hoping to put her somewhat at ease.
It didn't seem to do much good. "I'm fine, Doc." She was surveying the apartment, like it was the first time she'd seen it.
Toby realised it was because she didn't want to look at him. If he were anything but a genius, he would question why she wasn't able to let him all the way in. But he liked to think he knew her pretty well despite all the walls she put up around her heart. God, or whatever cruel entity was up there, knew that he was a patient man.
Walking towards her, he sighed. In the middle of apartment, the spell they were under earlier seemed to have been recast and the entire universe was just theirs for the moment. Toby was scared that if she touched him, she'd be able to feel his heart pounding in his chest.
"Why are you here?" he whispered, his voice on the verge of cracking. He didn't want to startle her, but he never broke eye contact.
She looked like she needed some dutch courage to get the words out, it seemed to take her a while to answer his question. "Maybe I... I wanted it to be you." Happy breathed out the last part, like it had been causing her physical pain.
As soon as the words left her mouth, the world no longer seemed to be spinning on it's axis. Instead, it was rocking back and forth, out of control.
"...What?" he breathed. It was all he could manage to say.
She started to pace around the room. "I know it's stupid and a load of EQ bull, but when you said it wasn't you who hung up that mistletoe, my heart didn't feel... right... and that's when I knew. That maybe you're the only one who can bring out that side of me. And maybe that I like that you can." Happy had returned facing him on the other side of the room and now it was her turn not to break eye contact. "Toby, please say something, I don't think you've ever gone this long without talking and it's making me even more nervous."
Before she had rerun all the potential answers through in her head, he was on the other side of the room, lips on hers.
To Toby, it was the only appropriate response and now it was actually happening, it seemed more natural than breathing. A million scenarios (maybe even more) of how they'd first kiss had run through his head since the first second he'd met her, but try as he might, he couldn't remember any of them being like this. His arms encircled her, hands on her back, bringing her closer.
Happy's arms were around his neck, pulling him deeper into the kiss. Her heartbeat was pulsating in her ears. Combined with his scent and she was pretty close to what other people would call 'weak in the knees'. She lowered her arms and tugged lightly on his shirt, gripping his hips, just above the waistband of his pajama pants. That was sure to leave a mark. The thought made her huff out a slight laugh.
"What?" Toby had stopped kissing her and followed her eyes, lowering his head to make eye contact. Once he did, he stared right into her eyes, his own glinting and he was grinning from ear to ear.
"Nothing, I just... That was very well said." If he wasn't already looking at her, he knew he would be able to hear her smile.
"I'm glad you think so."
"Why did we wait so long to do this?" She gestured between them both on her last words.
"Oh, I don't know. I guess some things are just worth the wait."
Happy rolled her eyes but a small smile graced her lips. "I think that's the cheesiest thing I've ever heard."
Toby hummed. "But would it really be me if there wasn't some chessiness involved?"
"I guess not. Maybe I like that, too."
A/N: Hey guys, Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays! Hope you're having a great time, whatever you're doing. I've had this story in my head for a while, just had to do some editing after Dominoes and then rewrote the ending. All the mistakes are mine. I hope you enjoy! Reviews are love.