Along Came the Holidays
By Saltwater Romance
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Countdown #23: Holly Jolly Christmas
Ho ho the mistletoe
Hung where you can see
Somebody waits for you
Kiss her once for me
- Alan Jackson
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Dedicated: To Kylee-Cat for being reviewing me the most, being my partner-in-crime, and simply because I was too lazy to reply to her awesome comments that sent my heart soaring! (:
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"Seriously," she hissed into the phone with her finger in her other ear, trying to block out the throbbing chattering of the coffee shop, otherwise known as Starbucks. Everyone from her high school went there after school, and today she was able to secure a table for her and her closest friend, "Why are you calling me?"
"Cause I feel bad," he replied back lamely, "Sorry I ditched our first date…"
"You know," she began to accuse, "you told me that already. And again. And again... And again! Now it's becoming really redundant. Good-bye."
"Wait!" he added in hastily, "I just wanted to know if you would give out a second chance."
"Not likely."
"Please," when the foreign word left the tip of his tongue, a bad aftertaste followed, "At least do me one last request and I swear I'll leave you alone if you do this one last thing."
"And what do I owe you for?" her eyebrow arched, her friend sizzled in front of her and sat down with a cup of white hot chocolate in one hand and no words in her mouth.
"The cinnabon," he replied simply, "Seriously. Drop by my house around 4:30. It's 278 Rosemary Ave."
He brought up a good point, she bit her lip. As he realized her hesitation, "I promise I won't rape you. But I need you to drop by. For the love of cinnabons… You owe me that much."
"Fine," she conceded, "I'll think about it."
Relief washed over him, "See you."
"Maybe," she warned as she shut her phone.
"Who was that?" her violet eyed friend examined her closely.
"That idiot who stood me up last Saturday," she sighed, "He called me ten minutes after I got my ticket to see Harry Potter and told me that he couldn't make it! He made up some lame excuse of family problems, but I highly doubt it. In the background, I heard a distinctive girl talking to him. Plus, he was in a hurry to hang up on me. So today he called to say sorry for flaking, and wanted to see if he'd get a second chance."
"And you said yes," her friend remarked with a scorching look, "Guys like that… You shouldn't trust them."
"I know," she rubbed her temples in a circular motion, "But he did bring up a good point of cinnabons… I do owe him a favor for what he did on Black Friday."
"So?" Hotaru bit out a bit cruelly, "It was his fault for trying to win you over with it. You owe him nothing."
"Unlike you," Mikan laughed good-naturedly, "I have a heart… So I'm going to grab a parfait and go walk to his house."
"Do you even know where it is?" Hotaru called after her.
"Nope," she shrugged, "But I got internet on my phone… Might actually use it for once."
"Good luck," Hotaru mumbled.
"I'll need it," Mikan called back cheerfully poking fun at herself and her friend, "And do me a favor… tell Ruka how grateful I am for you to have him. No. Compassion. That's what you are gifted with."
"Thanks."
"Anytime."
"Hello?" Mikan rapped the door and pressed the doorbell impatiently. Not like it's her fault… Even bundled up with a scarf and a thick wool coat, she was no competition for the strong wind. She bounced on the balls of her feet as a middle-aged person peered at her. Mikan fell deep in the pools of her orbs of crimson that she'd seen on Natsume.
"Yes?"
"I'm here for Natsume Hyuuga?" she asked, suddenly self-consciously, "Or did I get the wrong address?"
"You got the right one," the woman widened the door, "Come in, come in! It must be freezing for you! My, my, my. Natsume is definitely growing up, bringing girls home to meet his mother. Not to mention, very pretty ones!"
"Thanks," Mikan blushed.
"Ma?" Natsume skidded into Mikan's view with his little brother that was tugging on his raven locks with one hand and the other one held a pair of scissors in his arms, "Who's at the door?"
"Your girl-friend," she sang, "Why didn't you tell me that you were seeing someone? I feed you. I cloth you. I put a roof over your head! And what kind of thanks do I get for giving birth to you? Nothing. Absolutely nothing!"
"It would help if you were here at home for more than an hour or two," he grumbled moodily.
His mother pressed a hand to her cheek, not even fazed by her son's words, "Yeah… That's very true, honey. You see…"
"Mikan," Mikan supplied amused.
"Mikan," his mother flashed her a warm smile, "His father and I are always on tours. Have you ever read our books? It's the Gakuen Alice series. Mighty popular, I do say so myself."
Her jaw dropped to the ground with her hazel eyes bulging out. She was addicted to that series! Ever since the first word, she was hooked! For some reason, she felt a close connection to the violet-eyed inventor. She had a feeling that if she was a character in that book, it would definitely be replacing the spot of the inventor. But Natsume's mother paid no heed, "So Natsume here is forever taking care of his baby sister and brother… I swear, by the time he was two, he knew how to put on Aoi's diaper. Anyway, his father and I just came back home yesterday after our four day book tour in Europe… It was short-lived, but you know… Keep the public in suspense."
There was a blush on Natsume's cheeks. There was a pang in Mikan's heart as it skipped a beat. The return of puppy love was evident in her eyes as his mother rattled on about her book tour.
"Ma," a girl appeared next to Natsume's shoulder with a large pout on her face, "I'm not a baby anymore. I'm fifteen!"
"Sure sweetie," the mother smiled absentmindedly, "I'll go start making dinner. We have a guest."
"But-" Mikan began to protest.
"You are staying," Natsume's little sister growled ferociously, "It's the least you can do for reducing my older brother into a muddle of hopeless sighs and moping around when he thought that I was in school and Youichi was asleep."
"Gee," Natsume rolled his eyes, "Thanks for de-masculining me."
"It's what I do," Aoi chirped cheerfully as she grabbed the youngest brother away from Natsume, "C'mon Youichi! It's time to help sissy set fire to Akira's things."
"Yay! Burn. Burn. Burn! I wanna make him bleed!" Youichi clapped happily, "Just like Natsume yesterday!"
Mikan raised her eyebrow.
"Long story," Natsume shrugged helplessly.
"I'm willing to hear it," Mikan smiled toothily.
"It's because you heard about what my mum and dad do for a living right?" Natsume shifted his hair with his fingers, "Trust me. I've got my share of millions of fake friends thanks to them."
"Maybe," she approached closer to the boy, "But there's also a boy behind his parents' fame that I'd like to apologize to."
"Oh?" it was his turn to quirk up an eyebrow.
"Yeah," she took an agonizingly slow step toward him, "I want to tell him that I'm sorry for not believing him. And to tell him that he's sweet to take care of his siblings… Even if one of them gave him a lopsided haircut with a pair of safety scissors."
Natsume's eyes widened as she was head to chest with him, "And I want to ask him if he'd be interested in going on a date with me after our last disaster."
"I'll pass the message," he replied huskily with a swallow. Mesmerized by each other, they got closer and closer until their lips meet into the softest kiss ever. It was innocent and sweet. It made their toes curl and butterflies dance in their stomachs.
"Momma! Natsume is kissing a girl!" Youichi cried out, startled as Aoi belted out I Kissed a Girl by Katy Perry. The magic woven between Natsume and Mikan dispelled as quickly as it hit them.
"Remember our sex talk young man!" his mother admonished from the kitchen, "If you ever have a relationship, and it starts to become physical… Remember to treat her as you'd like other boys to treat your little sister!"
"MA!"
"Natsume has cooties!" Youichi shrieked with laughter, "I wanna sit with mommy and sissy instead of bruther."
"If you get too close to mommy and sissy, you'll get cooties too," Natsume warned.
"Nuh uhh," Youichi proclaimed proudly, "Sissy told me that family doesn't count.
Natsume kissed a girl and now he's going to diiiieeeeee."
"Bad Natsume," Aoi tsked.
"Yeah," Mikan laughed, "Bad Natsume. Bad kisser too."
"Bull," Natsume growled.
Mikan winked, "Wait. Kiss me again if want me to change my mind."
"Ma!" Aoi yelped, "They're kissing again!"
"NATSUME HYUUGA!" his mother bellowed, "In this house, you will not tamper with the innocence of a young lady!"
"Daddah!" Youichi cried out when the front door opened to reveal a green-eyed father with a tall frame and bags of groceries in both hands, "Daddah! Bruther kissed a girl! He's going to diiiiiiieeeeeee."
"Youichi, shut up," Natsume glared. Mikan never felt so at home before.
Fin.
Author's Sidenote: Hyuuga household + Mikan = Good idea or bad?
Review s'il vous plait!
P.S Get ready for the non-Natsume-or-Mikan chapter of tomorrow.
