12.
I've been lucky. Opportunities don't often come along. So, when they do, you have to grab them.
-Audrey Hepburn
Christmas Eve came fast around the corner and I knew that it was my day with Naminé. I worried that she would know of my seeing Riku and finding out what I knew. After knowing that she was hiding the secret of being an heiress, I wondered more and more what it was that the blonde mystery had hidden away. Imagining her adorably angry face when she discovered what I knew, worried me more at the thought of once again losing contact with her. Now that I knew I was falling in love there was only one solution to that problem- tell her. We were close enough and I figured that even if I was rejected she wouldn't be able to completely leave me. Of course I needed the whole truth about her before I devoted to telling her of my affections.
"Hello?" a knock at my door.
"Nam?" I pulled of my apron from the meal I had just finished preparing, "I'm coming!"
There was a small pine tree on the coffee table that I had quickly decorated with the few ornaments I had snuck away from home. Axel came over and helped put of garland and such around the halls, and since he was hell bent on making me throw a New Years party, the living room and kitchen were full of holiday joy. Opening the door I saw the goddess that stood before me wearing a short dress completely covered in sparkles and her heels bumped her up.
"Hello handsome," she wrapped her arms around me, "Axel put that up didn't he?"
"Wha...?" I looked up with her and saw a strand of mistletoe.
"He is the tallest man I know," she bounced on her toes and kissed my noes much to my disappointment, "What's for dinner?"
"Nothing special, honey ham with mashed potatoes and veggies," my hand rubbed the back of my head, "I'm kinda used to cooking like a bachelor, ya know?"
"Mhm," her smile was shallower and I wondered what she was thinking.
"Let's eat and then I have a surprise for you," I led her to the small wire table I had dug out of storage (I was so accustomed to eating just about anywhere but a table).
I pulled out a mismatched chair and she sat down gracefully, then I noticed how nervous I was. It felt like my first date in high school, taking a girl to a restaurant and trying to be a gentleman. Moving into the kitchen I grabbed the plates and placed them on the tiny table before sitting down myself. The meal was mediocre but it flew by with little talk, avoiding the topic of our making out a few days ago. She patted her lips with a napkin and smiled at me.
"Okay so I have a little surprise for you," I ran to my bedroom and went into my locked side table (knowing that was the one place Naminé couldn't sneak into) pulling out a box, "I hope you like it."
"You didn't have to get me anything Roxas," she sounded concered.
"Oh but I had to get something for someone who's helped me adapted to city life so well," reaching her I sat back down on the cleared table, noting she cleaned up while I was in there, "I know how much you love Tifa & Co. and I wanted to leave you with this."
"Wha...?" she opened the box and saw a silver white snowflake charm with diamonds on a white gold chain, "Oh Roxas! This had to be super expensive!"
"Err... I haven't eaten big meals lately but that's besides the point," I pulled it from the box, "Someone as beautiful as yourself deserves something beautiful like this."
My hands pushed back her hair and I clipped it around her neck with ease.
"Roxas..." her eyes began to well with tears, "I can't... I-I don't know what to say."
"Say...," this was my moment and I knelt beside her like I had a few nights before, "No tell me, how you feel about me. For real, I want to know if you feel the same as I do for you."
"I do though," her hands were on my cheeks wiping tears that I didn't know had fallen, "You're the sweetest, kindest, most gentle man I've ever had the pleasure of knowing but you don't know me."
"I do know you," my hands held hers to my face, "You're my friend, you're the best kiss I've ever had, you're the cutest frazzle of a person. I'd never thought I'd be the guy using the word frazzle and yet here I am saying frazzle like it's a word that all straight men use."
"No you don't know me," her hands fell, "I lied to you about me and I don't think I could forgive myself for it."
"I can! I love you Naminé Hina!" I kissed her but she did not reciprocate.
Instead, she pushed me away with tears in her eyes. Mumbling a 'Merry Christmas' she was out the door and I heard her stumble down the stairs one or two times. I knew I should have asked her about what Riku told me but I fell too fast. When I went to knock on the door, all I heard was barking and a crash here or there. I sat outside her door dialing her number and leaving messages until I began to fall asleep at midnight. My last message was left minutes before I fell asleep.
"Goodnight my Naminé, Merry Christmas," and with that I was alone and asleep on Christmas outside her door.
