A/N: Alrighty peeps. Thank you for all of the pm and notes in your reviews. Once we get to the Hawtness, this story will change from a T rating to an M. Round of applause? *grin* Look for that soon, but not too soon. Oooooo the suspense.

I stood outside by the Extended Stay sign waiting for Maggie to show up. The parking lot was practically deserted so it's not like she would have any trouble finding me but I figured a red leather jacket would be easy to spot through a few snowflakes. I looked at my watch for the fifth time. It's not like she was late but after getting into the habit of being around so many people at work each week, spending Christmas Eve by myself bummed me out. I was looking forward to some company. There was only so much tv a person could take in one day.

About that time, a rusted out red Jeep put its blinker on and I knew that had to be Maggie. She pulled up to the curb and motioned for me to go around and hop in the passenger seat. By the time I got in, what little bit of heat coming from the small vents was a blessing.

"Heya Maggie. Thanks for picking me up. Standing out there, I felt like that donkey in Shrek singing 'I'm allll alooooooone'."

As the slender, lanky brunette pulled away from the curb and headed down the highway towards Granny's, she started singing with me. We spent the next few minutes belting out what parts of the song we could remember and were practically doubled over in laughter as we pulled into the driveway.

We sat in the Jeep trying to catch our breath before heading in. As we walked to the front door, I tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey, I been meanin' to ask you something. Why do we have old people names?"

She snapped her gum and just went "Huh?"

I waved my arms around trying to explain, "I'm obviously named after someone's Grandma. I mean, what kind of name is 'Emma' anyway? I'm guessing you got the same short end of the stick with 'Maggie'. What gives?"

"Eh, sooooo not important right now, Ems. Let's go eat!" With that, she managed to brush my question off and unlock the front door all at the same time.

A guy who looked barely familiar took one look at us trying to take our snow-covered coats off and yelled out, "Well, look at what the cat dragged in. Granny! Maggie and Emma are here. Can we eat NOW?"

Granny came rushing into the living room that had been set up with extra tables and chairs to give us both a hug. "Good gracious, Jeffrey, the baby Jesus just woke up and started hollerin' at your impatience. Now, scoot on into the kitchen and bring out the ham while I grab the rolls."

"You two, sit, and stay put."

I looked at Maggie and whispered, "I think she was talking to us."

The meal that Granny had prepared turned out to to be one of the simplest but most delicious meal I could've ever dreamed of. She had pineapple and brown sugar baked ham, homemade mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, yeast rolls, cranberry sauce from a can because nobody wanted the real stuff, and a seven layer chocolate cake that made your tongue wanna slap your brain. It was all sooooooo good.

After dinner, we all cleared away the tables and chairs because it was time for Dance Dance Revolution. I had never even heard of this game much less knew how to play it. Jeffrey, who I later found out worked in the flooring department, brought his game station and all the things that went with this game so he was in charge of setting it up.

I made it perfectly clear to everyone there that I was not a dancer. But even lil ol' Granny said she always got into the spirit and gave it her best try so I had to suck it up and go balls to the wall. At that, the entire room went quiet until you could hear a pin drop. Everyone just stopped and stared at me before busting out laughing at the expression on my face. Apparently even Granny had a wicked sense of humor.

As the night wore on, I got better at this dancing game. We started dancing in pairs and Maggie and I started finding our groove and winning a few competitions. I hadn't had this much fun in a long time. Well, dancing fun anyway.

We were halfway into a particularly complicated dance routine on the Spaceborn level when Jeffrey starts clapping and yelling out a chant, "Go Magenta. Go Magenta. You got this. You got this!"

I'm trying to breathe through my nose while bustin' a move calling over my shoulder, "Who the hell is 'Magenta'?"

About that time our song ended and my dance partner goes into an impromptu split. "Yah, that'd be me."

I put my hands up in front of me and start shaking me head, "Magenta? Whoa. What? Maggie is short for Magenta? So, what, your parents named you after a paint swatch?"

The entire room starts howling at that little crack but Maggie isn't laughing just yet. Instead, she's still laid out on the floor in her impromptu split but she's looking up at me with this cringe-worthy expression as she whispers, "Umm...not exactly?"

"Not exactly. What does that even mea...oh HELL to the no! You're...nawwww."

She's biting her lip and wincing.

"Are you serious? They named you after a freaking crayon?" I wasn't even going to try to control the volume of my voice. This was too good. The next thing I knew, I was helping her up from the floor trying to stop the tears that were streaming down my face as I laughed.

Eventually she started laughing with us and the game just kindof stayed on pause for a second as we all shared laughter and tears.

I pulled her into a quick hug and then made an announcement. "Wellppp, Magenta is too weird. Maggie is too old for a fox like you. So, henceforth you shall forever be known as Red."

Everyone around us starting whistling and cat calling out her new nickname. She was grinning from ear to ear trying not to let the blush she had on her neck creep up to her face. After everything settled down, we went back to our dance-off.

Towards the end of the night, Granny and Jeffrey had fallen behind in our little competition and the winning title was either going to go to me and Maggie AKA Red or Dave, the loader, and this girl Maria who worked in Tool World.

Dave and Maria had finished their last song and it was up to me and Red to beat their score. Victory was just within reach. I didn't hear the doorbell but as we completed a rather complicated maneuver that had Red behind me with her hands on my hips as we bunny hopped, I looked up to see Regina glaring over at me.

I immediately stopped and Red bumped into me and started asking what the hell was wrong with me. She looked up to see Regina watching us and moved one of her hands up to wave hello. I stepped away from where we were pressed tightly together and shoved her other hand off of my hip before I went to catch up with Regina who was heading through the kitchen to the back door.

I was half jogging and out of breath once I caught up to her, "Hey. Whoa. What are you doing here? I thought you were at your parents vacation house."

She kept her back to me as she answered through gritted teeth, "I felt bad about not inviting you so I have been calling and texting all evening. We were making plans for my Mother's formal dinner party tomorrow night when I decided to come and invite you in person."

Then she whirled around, "Excuse me for interrupting your little soiree. I didn't realize you'd rather play bump n' grind with that little floozy instead of answering your phone!"

I stood there a little dumbfounded. "Ok, first of all, I didn't hear my phone. If I did, I would I have answered it. I always answer it when it's you. Second, I don't know what you think you saw in there but I'm getting the vibe that you're jealous."

I couldn't help but grin at her indignant response.

"I don't get jealous, Ms Swan. Even if I did, it would most certainly not be of you. Need I remind you that I am engaged?"

"Oh, no need to remind me of that. I see that damned rock on your hand every day."

I sighed, "Every single day."

We stood there with the snow falling around us while I watched her clench and unclench her fists that were hanging by her side. I approached her slowly while softly asking her why she was so worked up at seeing me dancing with Maggie.

She looked up at me with these big, beautiful sad eyes and shook her head telling me she honestly didn't know. I wanted to point out that if she was so happily engaged then the sight of me with someone else's arms holding onto my body wouldn't have affected her in the slightest but I could tell she wasn't quite ready to admit that conclusion was the correct one.

I walked up to her, wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her close to me. She closed her eyes briefly before placing her shaking hands on the lapels on my shirt and started fiddling with them and brushing the light snowfall off before clearing her throat and asking me if I still wanted to leave with her.

I gently rubbed my thumbs over her hips through her jacket and grinned, "Always, Regina. You should know this by now. Always."

We walked back inside to grab my jacket and I hugged Granny. As I did, she pointed up to the sky. We were under the mistletoe. I laughed and kissed her on the cheek thanking her for a memorable Christmas Day.

As we walked outside, I could hear everyone calling out Merry Christmas and telling us to be careful. I opened Regina's car door for her and as she slid inside, our eyes met for a brief moment and it was then I truly felt like Christmas had came for me.

We pulled out of Granny's driveway waving goodbye to everyone and telling them we'd see them next year. An old joke but a good one. The night sky was black as tar but if you squinted you could see a star or two peeking through the snow flurries. I shut my eyes and made a wish on the one I could see the clearest. It wasn't a wish. No. It was a breath of thanks. I only had to turn my head to the left to see what had me communicating such a prayer.

Reviews, people. See what they get you? Another chapter to give you something to read during the weekend :)