Disclaimer:

*singing off-key*

I do not own Total Drama!

Fa la la la la, la la la la!


The last time Heather had set foot in the mall, it had been decked out for Halloween; everywhere she looked (or tried not to look) there had been black and orange garlands, and tacky plastic ghosts and pumpkins leered out from almost every shop window that she passed. Now, the decor had almost magically transformed. The black and orange hues had been replaced with shades of deep red, forest green and a few glittering touches of silver, gold and white. Christmas trees towered proudly over shoppers, and the false cobwebs in the windows had been swapped for dashes of fake snow. The moment they entered the mall, Heather could see just how much Alejandro loved the festive decorations, stopping to admire every extravagantly decorated window with an almost childlike appreciation.

Heather did not share this appreciation.

"Last year, I believe they decorated with pale blue and silver, but I much prefer the red and gold theme this year," Alejandro commented, studying the giant Christmas tree that had been set up near the escalators in the mall. Heather just sipped at the latté she'd purchased from one of the cafés nearby, staring dully up at the tree. There may have been a small part of her that liked it, but most of her still stubbornly found the whole idea stupid. What, she thought snidely, was the point of setting up a Christmas tree, anyway? It had always seemed ridiculous to her- who on earth had come up with the idea of sticking a fat tree that shed pine needles everywhere in their home and decorating it with glass balls? It was absurd...

"I think we should decorate our apartment with a colour theme, Heather," Alejandro decided, turning to grin at his girlfirned. "What do you think, mi amor?"

Heather just gave an unenthusiastic huff. "Do we even need to decorate our apartment? It's not like it's the law..."

However, she fell silent at the melodramatic look Alejandro was giving her.

"Are you suggesting, Chica, that we do not decorate our apartment?" he gasped in mock horror, but she could see the clear amusement in his eyes. Still, Heather nodded coldly.

"Uh, yeah." she sniffed, folding her arms. "There really is no point..."

"There is a point," Alejandro countered with a smirk. "It would make me happy."

Heather couldn't help cocking an eyebrow at his answer. "Then I definitely don't want to decorate the apartment..."

Alejandro just laughed, before slipping his arm through hers and leading her in the direction of the department store anyway. Heather may not have wanted to decorate the apartment, but that wasn't going to stop him from doing so. Since he had the higher paying job, he was the one who paid the mortgage and bills (most of the money Heather earned went on getting her hair or nails done, or a weekly new pair of shoes) and therefore, he felt he had every right to decorate the apartment for the holiday season, even if it annoyed Heather- in fact, especially if it annoyed Heather.

"I do not understand the aversion you have to Christmas, Heather," Alejandro tutted as he pulled her along, and Heather rolled her eyes.

"I don't know- I just think it's really lame that you're getting really psyched about it when it's so early," she muttered. "I mean, it's still early November! Do we really need to get decorations now?"

"If we do not get them now, then the only ones that will be left are the broken decorations or the ugly ones no one wants to buy," Alejandro pointed out, before stopping outside the department store. Heather stifled a groan; she may have thought the rest of the mall was festive, but this store was the epitome of Christmas cheer. The windows were decorated with several elaborate, moving displays that families were crowded outside to watch, and when they stepped inside a chipper instrumental carol was playing. Heather gritted her teeth.

"Oh, come ON!" she complained, folding her arms in frustration. "Carols already? It. Is. NOVEMBER! Why the hell would anyone want to listen to Christmas carols in November? "

Alejandro chuckled at Heather's frustration, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"So?" he smirked. "Most people- well, people other than you- are eager to embrace the Christmas season as soon as possible. Not everyone is a Scrooge like you..."

Heather frowned. "A what?" she scoffed, and Alejandro blinked.

"Do you mean to tell me that you have not read 'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens?" he asked in disbelief, and Heather shook her head.

"Well, I've heard of it..." she shrugged nonchalantly, and Alejandro clicked his tongue slowly.

"I will have to make you read it. I read it when I was five years old- I was always an exceptional reader, and my mother used to say my reading abilities exceeded that of an adult at just age five..."

Heather elbowed him sharply to shut him up, almost accidentally knocking him into the perfume counter.

"Okay, I don't want another pathetic lecture on how great you think you are," she told him drily. "Just find the stupid decorations section already..."

The Christmas section wasn't difficult to find: it took up almost the entire top floor of the store, standing out like a beacon. Heather had, in previous years, steered clear of the whole maze of ornaments and trees for sale, and it was the first time that she had ever actually set foot in the Christmas department. Alejandro browsed through the aisles of decorations, pointing things out to an unenthusiastic Heather who responded with eye rolls, sarcastic comments or flipping her hair. A majority of people would have been aggravated, but Alejandro just found her attitude endearing.

"Can't we just get one of those bulk packs of baubles and be done with it?" Heather complained. "I never thought I'd say this, but I'm actually sick of shopping."

"But this is fun, Heather," Alejandro grinned at her. "Do you know what I think we should do?"

"I don't care," Heather muttered in response, and was ignored.

"We should get personalised glass balls for the tree," Alejandro smirked, folding his arms. "We could get one made that says Handsome Prodigy, and the other reading Mi amor..."

Heather narrowed her eyes- it was bad enough that Alejandro was going to shove a tree in their home, but if he actually did get a bauble reading Mi Amor for her, then she resolved to spend Christmas somewhere far away, like another continent.

"Uh, I don't think so," she snorted. "How about a bauble that says Handsome jerk on it instead?"

Naturally, Alejandro had to pick up on the one complement in what she'd said and ignore the insult.

"So... You think I'm handsome, do you?" he smirked, eyes gleaming at her. Heather's face flushed.

"I- didn't-" she stumbled on her words, before settling for a groan. "UGH!"

Irritably, Heather stalked off down the endless aisles of Christmas decorations, trying to avert her face from Alejandro to hide her reddened face. Alejandro just followed her, chuckling at how flustered she was.

"Heather, you should just lighten up and enjoy the holiday," he smirked at her, before gesturing to the decorations around them. "You usually like picking out clothes and furniture, why should decorations be any different?"

"Because," Heather huffed, staring in disdain at the items glaring out at her. "They're just stupid! If someone said "I like to hang glass balls and strings of plastic around my house" people would think they were an idiot, but when they're Christmas decorations it's 'beautiful'..."

Alejandro couldn'g help laughing at this.

"Ah, mi àngel, you are always muy entertaining," he told her, before turning and scouring the racks of decorations to find something tasteful.

"What about this?" Alejandro suggested after a moment, pointing out a large string of glittering crystal icicles. "That would look nice draped around one of the door frames, would it not?" He paused, looking at the garland. "Perhaps we could buy all white and silver decorations, and decorate our house with a snowy theme. I think it would look lovely, especially since most of our furniture is dark, and it would contrast..." He looked at Heather, who was busily scrutinising her reflection in a glass case. "Do you agree?"

"Of course not," Heather scorned, as he'd half-expected her to. "I mean, we go inside to get out of the snow. Why the hell would we want to decorate our apartment to look like we're still in it?"

Alejandro rolled his eyes. "Well, what do you suggest, Heather?" he demanded. Heather, still staring into a glass case at her reflection as she applied another layer of her favourite cold-proof lipstick, shrugged nonchalantly.

"I honestly don't care," she flipped her hair one-dimensionally at her boyfriend. "You want to decorate the apartment like a doll's house? Fine. Go ahead. But don't expect me to be enthusiastic."

Alejandro leaned in closer to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"But I value your input," he told her silkily. "You always have a strong opinion on everything- you must have some idea what you think would look good in our apartment, Chica."

Heather turned to face him. "I do have an opinion," she announced, and Alejandro smiled for a moment. "My opinion is that Christmas decorations are stupid. Period."

Alejandro sighed at her stubborn attitude towards the whole situation. "So, you are saying you think I should choose every single decoration we purchase for the apartment?" he clarified, and Heather nodded smugly. However, a mischievous smile that she immediately didn't like spread across Alejandro's tanned face.

"Perfect," he told her, grinning. "Then for the Christmas tree, I think we should have twelve personalised balls that read 'Heather loves Alejandro', and another twelve that say 'Mi Amor' on them..."

Heather blanched for a moment, before quickly whirling around to look at the decorations.

"You know, I think this ornament is actually not as ugly as the others..." she said frantically, and Alejandro smirked to himself. No matter how hard Heather tried, he would always get his own way.


After a few hours of lighthearted arguments- most of which Alejandro managed to win- the couple returned to their large apartment, carrying bags bulging full of Christmas decorations. After threatening her with ridiculous or deliberately irritating decorations a few times, Alejandro had managed to drum up a few begrduging opinions from Heather. They had eventually settled on a gold and silver colour scheme for their decorations (or, rather, Alejandro had chosen the theme and Heather had muttered that it sounded bearable) and spent the better part of the afternoon picking out ornaments, something Alejandro did happily while almost ceaseless complaints issued from her mouth.

"I can not wait until we decorate our home," Alejandro grinned at her as he stashed away their purchases in the hall cupboards. Heather wrinkled her nose.

"Ugh. I can. We'll have a bunch of stupid things getting in our way all the time. It'll be annoying."

"In a few weeks, can go out and choose a proper Chrismas tree," Alejandro continued emphatically, very pointedly ignoring Heather's last comment. "It is something I have excelled at ever since I was a young- I always manage to pick the perfect tree, and I am always easily strong enough to carry it..."

"Just make sure you don't accidentally stab your overly inflated head with a pine needle," Heather retorted. Alejandro just laughed at this.

"Are you implying I'm arrogant?" He gasped, acting mock-offended. Heather shook her head.

"Of course not," she sniffed, tossing her hair. "I wasn't implying it, I was saying it straight-out."

Alejandro smirked, before pulling an irritated Heather closer, wrapping his armairtight ly around her from behind.

"You are so beautiful when you try to insult me, señorita," he told her enthusiastically. Heather rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah." she said, though she looked away to hide her slightly flushed cheeks. "Can you let go of me, now?"

"Hmm..." Alejandro pretended to consider this, before grinning at her. "No." Instead of letting her go as she had requested, his arms just tightened closer around her. "You may not be looking forward to this, but I certainly am. I am definitely pleased to be spending a Christmas with you. I have big plans for ways we can celebrate this holiday, together..."

"Oh, God." Heather muttered, and Alejandro laughed again.

"I still do not understand what your issue is. You usually love it when I spend time and money on you..." he paused. "Speaking of which, is there any particular thing you would like to receive for Christmas?" He gave her a sly smile. "Maybe a certain ring to go on your left hand..."

He was just teasing her, but Heather elbowed him in the ribs.

"There is one thing I would like for Chrsitmas," she sighed, and Alejandro raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue. Heather smirked at him.

"I'd like a less annoying boyfriend." she announced, and Alejandro rolled his eyes.

"When am I ever annoying?" he asked her dramatically. Heather cocked an eyebrow at him in disbelief.

"Are you seriously asking me this?" she scoffed, but a slight smile played across her lips. "Is there anything I can get you for Christmas? Like- oh, let's say, a reality check that you aren't God's gift to women?"

"I will have to decline that offer," Alejandro grinned at her. "The only thing I want is right here with me..."

"You are so sappy." Heather muttered drily. "Anyway, let's get these stupid decorations put away already. I don't want to have to see them until we put them up in a month or so-"

"A month?" Alejsndro shook his head. "No, Heather. I like to enjoy seeing my decorations for as long as I can. I want to put these up in two weeks at the most, maybe even less..."

Heather groaned loudly. She wasn't exactly sure how she was going to survive a whole two months or so of this- Alejandro's Christmas spirit was already overwhelming her.


Eh, probably a stupid ending but whatever. :P

I'm admittedly on Alejandro's side in this fic; I'm a huge Christmas person and I love getting into the spirit, hence why I've bought roughly 90% of my Christmas gifts already (but hey, it means no last minute shopping...) and why I've started a Christmas fic in November.

Oh, and thanks for all the reviews, guys :)