A/N: I am so sorry it's taken so long to get this posted! I was in a car accident last week, and typing has been very painful (physically) until just the past day or two. So I apologize to those who were waiting for this or for an update to my other stories. A five car accident was definitely not in my plans!

This chapter is a little shorter than I'd planned, but I wanted to get it out now in the hopes that I will have time to post the next chapter before Christmas. I hope you enjoy!

It's the most wonderful time of the year…la de dah de de dah la de dah de de dah…and be of good cheer…

Abby grinned as she hung an ornament on the knee-high tree she'd set up on Brody's coffee table and took a step back. "Almost," she muttered, reaching into the brown paper bag she'd brought and rummaging for another ornament. "There we are."

Taking two steps back, Abby put her hands on her hips and looked around the apartment. By the time she'd gone back to her place to get the decorations she'd need and then stopped at the Christmas tree seller down the block, she'd known she wouldn't have much time in the apartment before Brody came home from his shift. Still, she thought she'd done a pretty good job. Tiny white lights twinkled as they hung from push pins she'd stuck in the walls, a fresh wreath hung over the couch, and a perfect miniature Christmas tree sat on the coffee table, missing only the star she planned for them to place on it together.

"Nobody hates Christmas," she repeated with a satisfied smile. Hearing a key in the lock, she turned around expectantly and waited nervously as Brody stepped into his apartment and looked around.

"What the hell?" he muttered in shock, paling as he took in the Christmas decorations.

"Surprise!" Abby said with a grin. "Merry Christmas."

Abby frowned when Brody didn't respond. She noticed that he seemed to have lost all color in his face and his expression had gone blank as he continued to look around.

"I just thought the place could use a little Christmas spirit," she said quickly. "I figured you probably hadn't had time to decorate, so…"

"I don't celebrate Christmas," Brody said quietly, a sharp edge to his voice. "Take it down."

"What do you mean, you don't celebrate Christmas?" Abby asked in confusion.

"I don't celebrate Christmas," Brody repeated impatiently, walking past Abby to set his things down on his bed.

"Well, that's just ridiculous. Have you ever had a real Christmas?"

Brody gritted his teeth and took a deep breath. "We've never talked about this, so I'm trying very hard not to yell at you right now, Abby. Let me make this very clear…I don't want decorations in my apartment. I don't want to be reminded that it's Christmas. I don't do Christmas trees or lights or wreaths. If I could, I'd skip the entire month of December. Got it?"

Abby frowned. "No, I don't get it. It's Christmas, Brody. It's a time to be happy and to celebrate and to have fun. I mean, come on, it's Christmas!"

"So you've said. And as I've said, I hate Christmas, so get this stuff out of here."

"No." Abby shook her head defiantly. "Come on, you can't just say something like that and expect me to accept it. I'm your girlfriend, the least you can do is give me an explanation. Why do you hate Christmas? Did your parents forget to buy presents one year when you were a kid?"

"Leave my parents out of this," Brody snapped angrily, causing Abby to take a step back in shock. "I don't celebrate Christmas, and I don't have to justify that to you or to anyone else. So take your decorations and get them out of here. Now."

"No." Abby shook her head as she stared at him, tears in her eyes. "I was just trying to do something nice for you. There's no need to bite my head off for it. You want this stuff out of here? Get rid of it yourself."

Abby quickly grabbed her purse and turned her back on him, slamming the door behind her as she hurried out of his apartment. She made it all the way down the hall before she felt the tears start to stream down her face.