Beth was baking pastries when Ciel came over again. He said that Sebastian was doing the same thing as she, so he came to play games. Beth just sent him to the living room and gave him some pieces of already made pastries to eat and coke to drink. 'It's like I'm having a dog.' She thought while watching him playing Halo 4 like a child while eating and soiling his shirt with chocolate.
"How come you didn't decorate your tree already?" he asked after an hour of playing. "I have to finish this first.", "Huh… okay. And by the way, pastries are great.", "Thank you. Do you want more?" He nodded his head while smiling happily and went to play games after Beth gave him more pastries to eat.
"Beth…" Ciel suddenly appeared behind her and put his head on her shoulder. "Oh, my God, what now?" Beth asked, almost yelling, and moved his head away. "Do you have any movies to watch?" After a long sigh she walked to the living room and opened a drawer under the TV and told Ciel to choose. Then she continued to decorate her cake.

After the whole day of working on food and sweets, cleaning the apartment and dealing with Ciel, Beth could finally decorate her tree. As she entered the living room, she found Ciel sleeping on the couch, snoring and drooling. "For fuck's sake Ciel, wake up." Beth stood in front of him, holding hands on her hips. Ciel didn't seem to flinch. "Wake up." She continued and poked him in the ribs. "Wake up…" After that failed try, she knocked him on the floor, but he was still sleeping. 'That's it.' She thought and grabbed his clothes on his nape and started dragging him through the apartment to Sebastian's door where she rang, still holding Ciel. "I told you to stop ringing, it's open." Beth heard him saying. 'I guess he's thinking it's Ciel.' She rang once again and waited. Finally, he opened the door. A wonderful smell of food reached Beth's nostrils and she almost forgot why she was there. "Yeah, hi. Sorry for the intrusion, but here's Ciel. He fell asleep and I couldn't wake him up. But I'm 80% sure he's alive." She said and put Ciel on the floor. "You gave him sweets, right?" Sebastian asked and grinned. Beth looked from Sebastian to Ciel and then again to Sebastian. "Yeah. Why?", "Well, he kind of falls into a coma after eating too many sweets, but he's alright the next day.", "Really?", "Yes, it's been like that since the early days.", "Huh… good to know.", "Mhm. Well, thank you for babysitting him. I think I should start paying you." He jokingly said while putting Ciel onto his shoulder. Beth snorted at his statement. "Oh, and, the phone's not at my place." Sebastian looked at her with a confused face, but then understood what she was talking about. "Oh, that. It's alright, I already bought him a new one.", "Okay then. Happy holidays.", "Thanks, to you, too." Beth smiled and nodded her head and quickly went to her home. 'Happy holidays? You're an idiot, Beth.'

Now that Beth finally had some peace, she could decorate her tree. It was settled in the corner of the living room, between the couch and armchair, almost reaching the ceiling. When it was done, decorated with colorful lamps and ornaments, Beth put the presents under it and went to take a bath.

The next day when Beth was watching TV, someone rang and she presumed it was Ciel. But when she opened the door there was only Sebastian, with no Ciel around. "Oh, hi." Beth said, sounding dumbfounded, but he didn't say anything, he was just looking at her. Just when Beth was about to say something, he slowly moved forward to her. She didn't even realize that she was getting into her apartment until her back met the wall. Sebastian was still looking at her and locked the door without moving his eyes from Beth.
She started to get little anxious, it got really weird. He was getting closer to her and Beth didn't move anymore. Then he took her wrists and gently placed them on the wall next to her. Beth tried to release them from his grip, but it was tight. "What are…" she started talking, but his lips on hers stopped her. She widened her eyes and tried harder to release herself, but gave up when his tongue met hers. Her knees became weak because of the warm and wet feeling. She felt he let go of her hand and slowly started touching her back and waist, little by little lifting her shirt and finally taking it off and tossing somewhere. Beth felt he was pushing her to walk and soon after they were lying on her bed which seemed to appear out of nowhere.
He started kissing her delicate neck as she was pulling his shirt to come off. Their pants were next, as same as their underwear. He was above her again and Beth felt him adjusting his erection. After a second of not moving, he entered her slowly and she moaned and grabbed her sheets while shutting her eyes. It was a weird feeling to have something inside you. Sebastian started moving and thrusting while Beth's hand was going over his defined muscles on his arm and back, feeling as they were straining by every thrust he made.
He was moving faster and Beth put her legs around his hips to get him closer. He raised her hips to make it easier to thrust in while Beth was moaning and gasping. "Se…"

Beth suddenly woke up and sat in her tub while breathing rapidly. "What the fuck?" she asked after calming down a little. "Oh, my God. What the actual fuck?"

After she woke up from that dream, Beth showered with a cold water to clear her thoughts and dried with the towels. When she put on her pajamas and lay in her bed, she couldn't sleep. The dream had a big effect on her psyche, so she made a cup of cocoa and ate her pastries while watching a Christmas movie on the TV. She wasn't sleepy even after 3 hours. Luckily, Netflix was there to keep her company. Beth slowly met the light of the next day, sitting on the couch, surrounded by the light of the TV and Christmas tree.

"Merry Christmas." Beth wished to Deb's parents when she came to the lunch and handed them a bag with their presents. "Beth, dear, you really didn't have to." Deb's mom, Diane, told her after hugging her. Deb's parents were typical American family. Wealthy and pleasant to hang out with. Beth never actually heard Deb complaining or talking bad about them. They were a perfect family idyll.
Beth and Deb sat at the table in the dining room while Deb's dad, Peter, was helping his wife in the kitchen. "So, did you solve problems with Claude?" Beth asked in a quieter tone.
"Ah… kind of." Deb simply said and Beth had to force her to talk. "He called me and I didn't answer at the moment, just as you said, but after 4 or 5 ringing. He asked me where was I for so long and I said I had more important things to do than hang around my phone and answer his calls." After Beth nodded her head, Deb continued. "He went quiet and seemed astonished, but cleared his throat and asked me if I was free that night. I said no because I really wasn't and he said never mind then. I coldly asked if he needed anything else on which he said he was totally free and really bored. 'And?' I asked and calmly waited for his answer. 'I just thought you could come over and…yeah.' He said and it was really hard for me not to smile. I had to refuse him and I hung up. Can you imagine? I hung up."
Deb happily said while smiling like an idiot. "Is that it?", "No, listen to this. The next day he called me again and, of course, I didn't answer immediately. He seemed a little happier, but didn't ask me where was I. The first question was how was I. Then what am I doing and the rest was a little of chit-chat and the last one was if I was free. I said no, just to torture him. He sounded disappointed, but still continued to talk with me. Somewhere in the middle I told him that I needed to go and greeted him, hanging up first.", "Well, aren't you advancing?", "I know, right? Oh, and, he called me this morning to wish me Merry Christmas. Since I was still in bed, my voice was hoarse. And then, listen to this, he told me my voice sounds very hot and that he'd like to hear it every morning." Deb finished and almost yelped from happiness. "Okay, wow, that escalated quickly." Beth jokingly said and laughed at Deb's happy state.

They couldn't talk about Claude at the table because her parents still didn't know about him, but Deb said they'll soon find out. The lunch went well with a lot of talking and laughing. After lunch they drank coffee and ate Diane's cakes.
Just when the night came, Beth went home, holding a present bag that Diane gave her. The snow was slowly falling, staying on Beth's woolen cap and hair which reached all the way to her waist. She decided to take the longer way home, through the center, to see bright lights of New York. Actually, Christmas bright lights. New York is famous as the city that never sleeps. She loved to see benches and roads covered in snow and the lamps with yellow lights gave that tiny warm feeling in your heart. All the way home, Beth sang 'Let it snow' by Dean Martin. For that little time, she was happy and forgot everything else.

When she got to her floor, she started sneezing like crazy. Her keys and the bag fell down, but she was still sneezing. 'This is getting ridiculous.' She thought and leaned on the wall, to 'take a breath' from all the effort she made. That is why she hated cold and winter.
After she blew out her nose, she picked her stuff and unlocked her apartment. Just when she warmed up a little, her guests arrived. Well, Ciel and Sebastian, she guessed. 'Oh, God… I can't do this.' She thought while dragging her feet to the door. "Merry Christmas!" Ciel yelled and practically jumped on her, hugging her and almost knocking her down. "Merry Christmas to you, too. Now get off." She said and pushed him from her, feeling a new wave of sneezing coming. Sebastian was calmly waiting his turn on the door. She got a little upset, but they shook hands. And it started. 3 times in a row, she sneezed intensely and loudly. "Come in." she managed to say in the breaks. They seemed to hesitate. "You don't look quite…", "Nah, I just got back from outside. It's got to be the cold and snow." They insecurely nodded their heads and got in.
Beth put the pastries and drinks on the table and went to make coffee. "We thought we heard you sneezing, but it sounded more like an old man, so we crossed that thought. But now…", "Yeah, I know. I sound like a monster. It's always been like that." She told them from the kitchen. After she poured the coffee into the cups and put them on the plate, she carried it to the table. First one got to Ciel and the other halfway to Sebastian because it started shaking on the plate. Beth's eyes closed instinctively because of the upcoming sneeze. She thought it was going to spill, but then felt warm hands holding the plate. "Thank you." She quickly said to Sebastian and turned to side to sneeze. "Excuse me."
Beth said and rushed to bathroom to wash her face with hot water and blow her nose again. After drying her face, she went back to the table and sighed. Ciel was eating cake and Sebastian was drinking coffee. Maybe she should avoid looking at him today. "Do you need sugar?" she asked and looked at them. 'God dammit, stop looking at him.', "No, it's good." They said in unison. 'Brothers.' She thought and smiled.
"Oh, my God. Beth." Ciel suddenly said. "What?", "Do you have monopoly? I haven't played it in ages.", "Me neither." She said and thought about where she put it. "Everyone okay with it?" she asked, but it was mostly addressed to Sebastian. "Sure.", "But this is an older one, with no credit cards. Deal with it." She said and went to the closet in the hall and dug up the box. "Here it is."
They agreed they'd play on the floor, because it's more spacious than the table. "Ciel, don't cry if you lose." Beth sarcastically said and laughed at her own statement. "The last time he cried was 5 years ago." Sebastian said and Beth stopped laughing. "Seriously? I was only joking.", "They were mean and I didn't like it." Ciel defended himself while pouting. "You were the one that suggested it.", "Let's just play."

I'm just gonna leave this here...
Sorry for not updating yesterday, I was really busy and all.

This is the longest one yet. Woo!