Disclaimer: Me no ownie.

Yeah, it's been a month. I'm on winter break now, and I swear, the workload is INSANE. But I decided to write and not do my work. What can I say? I'm a super procrastinator! To those of you who were with me during the summertime, you remember my crises with all that summer homework. ;D

Emmett's POV

December 6

Saturday morning started off with Esme dragging the family to her car without leaving us a single clue as to where we were going to go. It didn't take long for us to find out, however. We found ourselves traveling through a very familiar, very green path…one that we took annually.

"Christmas tree shopping!" Alice squealed exultantly. I grinned. Just like every year, Alice and Esme were probably going to be the ones to choose the tree. Carlisle and I were there to approve. Even so, nature was nature; I still enjoyed the sight of every tree.

As soon as Esme parked we all scampered out of the car. We had barely set a foot onto the lot of trees before an employee appeared and asked if he could be of any assistance. We politely "put him on hold".

We wandered around for about five minutes before I heard a shout, surprisingly, from Carlisle.

"Found one!"

Alice sped over, with Esme hot on her heels, to our father.

"It's so perfectly symmetrical! Can we get this one?" Alice said happily, while Carlisle beamed proudly.

"Can do!" Esme answered amicably. As soon as she said that the very same worker popped out from behind a tree. He must've been stalking us.

"All ready, folks?" he asked.

"Yes," Esme said, hiding her surprise well. Alice was simply giving the man one of her eyebrow looks.

When the tree was strapped to our car and we were driving home, Alice muttered, "Weirdo stalker."

I burst out in laughter.

"Kids, be nice," Esme scolded from the wheel although she, too, was grinning.

"Yes Mom," we chorused.

Christmas day

We had had a wild time decorating the tree and the house, both the interior and the exterior. I also hung mistletoe on every doorframe as well as all over the living room and on the veranda. Ha. Let's see you try getting away from that, Alice and Jasper…it's all around you.

Yeah, Jasper. The Hales and the Masens were coming over.

Rosalie, Jasper, and Edward came at around ten in the morning. Their parents were going to come later to help with dinner.

As soon as the doorbell rang, Alice and I both raced to the door. I was eager because I was not going to miss my chance to make fun of my sister and her complementary lovebird. As for Alice, I think she just couldn't wait to see Jasper again.

Sure enough, she jumped into his arms once she caught sight of him.

"Merry Christmas!" I greeted Rosalie and Edward. I pulled Rosalie into a hug, simply because it was Christmas…and the fact that I hadn't hugged her for two months. I was glad to feel her arms wrapped tightly around me. Over her shoulder I saw Edward roll his eyes at the "couple status" we all displayed, then walked off.

Rosalie released me to pull her fur-lined boots off. Alice and Jasper were nowhere to be found.

"So," I said, taking advantage of our rare moments of privacy. She looked up, smiling. I immediately forgot what I was going to say.

"I uh…" I took a step closer to her.

"Ahem," someone coughed. I turned around. The two lovebirds were standing in the foyer. I glared at them.

I hate you guys.

Alice, on the other hand, smiled angelically and pointed at something over our heads. We all looked up at the chandelier that hung there. There were several sprigs of mistletoe dangling from it.

Jasper chuckled and pulled Alice back, but it was clear they had no intention of moving away.

I sought for ways to delay the inevitable. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to kiss Rosalie, but I still was oblivious to what she wanted with me. I wouldn't be able to stand it if our friendship got ruined for any reason.

I thought frantically. And there, I saw it. My own ingeniousness. I smirked.

"Ahem," I mocked Alice. I pointed at the entryway they were standing under. More mistletoe, of course.

"Oh dang," Jasper said, although he didn't look the least nervous. "I am so scared, you know?" he added with a smug grin.

"That's 'cause you guys are together!" I said, at the same time Rosalie said "Do it, then!"

"Okay," Jasper said, and he pulled Alice to him and kissed her.

"Awww," Rosalie cooed. I simply stood there staring—quite rudely, I think.

"They make such a perfect couple, don't you think?" Rosalie murmured in my ear. I nodded mutely, stunned at her sudden closeness and at her heavenly scent.

My sister and Jasper broke apart and stared at us expectantly.

"Wait, wait, wait," I said, clearly delaying again. "When did this happen?"

"When did what happen?" Alice asked.

"When did you guys get together?"

"End of November. Hey, you never asked," she said in response to my raised eyebrows. I turned to Rosalie.

"Did you know about this?"

She smiled. "Of course I did. Jasper wouldn't stop talking about it."

I was about to ask why no one told me, but Alice snapped her fingers.

"Ahh, zip it! Mistletoe above!" She pointed at the chandelier again.

"Uh…" I turned to Rosalie. Her smile from before was definitely gone. She now looked unsettled but stepped closer.

And closer…oh God…

And closer…I could feel the heat radiating from her…or something…

And closer…our faces were now dangerously close. I closed my eyes and started to lean in a little myself.

She gave me a quick peck on the lips and she was already running off when I opened my eyes. I stood there, frozen. Not only did I feel something resembling an electric current flow through me the second our lips came in contact, but I wasn't sure why I was so shell-shocked. It wasn't like I had never imagined the scene before.

Alice and Jasper groaned. "Run after her!" they urged.

"I uh…right." Operation Pursue-the-Girl-I-Like was now in progress.

Rosalie's POV

That was so embarrassing. If we had been in private, maybe it wouldn't have been like that, but I just couldn't do it properly with the eyes of my brother and Alice on us. And I still wasn't even sure if he liked me or not. If I kissed him for too long that would have been…wrong.

I didn't even know where I was fleeing to right now. I was simply running around the house.

"Wait, Rosalie!" His voice. I instinctively ran faster. I barreled up the stairs and launched myself into his room and locked the door after hastily throwing it closed. The adrenaline that had fueled me was slowing ebbing away. I slowly sank onto his bed.

I knew I was being irrational, but still. I felt like I had to do this. He had called me back…that meant that he didn't mind, right? Of course. So then why was I so scared? Even as I asked myself that, I already knew the answer.

It was because he was different. I had never before liked anyone the way I liked him. True, I had kissed someone before, but never had I expected the sudden tingle of shock. I was always looking for ways to impress him—something I had never done before—and his opinions actually mattered to me. Whatever he thought was bad, I would not do. If he didn't approve of anything I was doing, I would quit it. Just for him.

Why was I feeling so confused about this kiss? I no longer understood my emotions. I lay down on my stomach and buried my face in his pillow. His scent was so…him. It felt comforting, although it could not compare to the feeling I had whenever he wrapped his arms around me.

"Rosalie!" Emmett called.

"Not right now," I said to him.

I closed my eyes and let my thoughts take over. I felt myself drifting off to sleep…

Emmett's POV

How pathetic was I. I couldn't even chase after a girl. And I got locked out of my own room.

"I'm really sorry," Alice whispered sadly.

"It's not your fault," I told her hollowly.

"Don't worry about her," Jasper said calmly. "She was just scared of your reaction."

"What?" I questioned, turning to him.

"Well, whenever a girl likes a guy, she usually panics right after she just did something that would expose her feelings to him."

"She likes me?" I asked excitedly. I felt my heart jump at the thought of that.

"Well, it really is sad that you two have been missing the obvious the entire time, because it has been quite evident from a spectator's point of view. Even an outsider would have been able to tell," Alice added. Her words made me feel like a complete dimwit.

"I would suggest you go talk to her before dinner," Jasper said with a laugh.

She likes me? Yes!

A lot of the day was dedicated to talking, since my relatives—well, my parents'—arrived in the afternoon. They found Alice and Jasper to be "simply adorable" and wouldn't leave them alone. I could tell Jasper was really embarrassed because he was as quiet as a mouse.

"Hey, Emmett." It was Edward.

"Yeah?"

"I've been thinking…"

I rolled my eyes. "Don't you always?"

"Well yeah. But it's about girls this time." This was something new.

"What? Am I hearing right?" I pretended to plug a finger into my ear and swiveled it around furiously. Edward punched my shoulder.

"I've been thinking…maybe some of the girls aren't so bad after all. I mean, look at whom you and Jasper have found."

"So you have someone in mind?"

"Actually…yeah. You know Isabella Swan?"

Completely unexpected. "Err yeah." I wasn't going to risk offending him by commenting on her fashion sense.

"Yeah…" he repeated. Was he insane?

"You do know she's taken by Demetri, right?" I asked him.

"Not yet. He hasn't asked her yet."

"Yeah, well they're pretty much an item already," I argued back.

"Well, I've been talking to her a lot since she has a few classes with me, and I think I like her…"

"Okay…" I said, at a loss for words. "Well, if there's anything you need help on just be sure to ask." I hurriedly changed the subject.

It was five o'clock now, and the Masen and Hale parents came. It was going to be quite chaotic in the kitchen for the next two hours or so.

Sure enough, thirty minutes later you could hear the adults having their own fun in there.

"Whoop! Watch the flour!" one of the ladies cried.

6:45 p.m.

Jasper and Alice's advice from before had calmed me down earlier, but now that I had to actually do it, I was all worked up again.

I rapped on my bedroom door gently. It felt strange, having to knock on my own door. "Rosalie?"

"Yes?" Her voice came out small and timid.

"May I come in?" Once again, I wasn't used to having to ask for permission to go into my own room.

I heard the lock click, and my sweet Rosalie pulled the door open. She looked at me from under her eyelashes, something that made her look even more beautiful than she already was. I entered the room, and she closed it after me.

I decided to get straight to the point before I chickened out. "Rosalie, why did you run away right after the kiss?" I was perfectly aware the question made me sound dense, but a simple question demanded a simple answer.

"Be-because," she stuttered nervously, "it was instinctive."

That wasn't going to get us anywhere. And it was turning awkward very rapidly.

Oh, what the hell. I might as well go for it. I had her feelings on my side, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to say something hurtful in her defense.

"Rosalie-did-you-like-the-kiss?" I asked her all in a rush. I hoped she heard that. I didn't think I would be able to repeat it.

She stared at me for what seemed like the longest time, and I felt my insides start to fidget, if that were possible. I started to think that she was going to say something cutting.

She finally sighed, and I anxiously sat there awaiting her answer.

"Did you?" she asked me instead.

I decided I should just answer her rather than skirting around the topic. It would be kinder that way. And I was supposed to be the braver one; I'm a freaking guy, for God's sake.

"Yeah, I did." Any softer and it would have been a squeak.

She looked completely shocked. "You did?"

"Yeah." Please don't ask me again, so that I don't have to say it again.

"Yes!" she squealed, and attacked me in a fierce hug.

"It's your turn to answer," I reminded her. She was suddenly nervous again.

"Well, yeah, I did, but I wasn't prepared for it…" If she was referring to the shock that I had felt, then we were perfectly in sync with each other.

"It's okay," I said, revealing one branch of mistletoe that I had hidden behind me. "What happened then doesn't matter, because we're going to do it right this time…"

Dinnertime

Kissing Rosalie was far, far better than what I had ever imagined. It tasted so exquisite, so unique to her. I couldn't get enough of it either.

She was simply amazing. Everything about her affected me. I was drawn in way too deeply, but I was fine with it.

"Emmett? Emmett!" someone called.

"What?" I asked, startled out of my daydream. Edward's mother was looking at me concernedly. My sister, Jasper, and Edward all had knowing smirks on their faces. Rosalie looked shy.

"Could you please pass the gravy?"

"Oh. Right. Sorry, Mrs. Masen." I handed the boat to her. I would have to stop with the replays until bedtime. I turned to Alice, who was next to me, and became engaged in a conversation with her and Jasper. I occasionally sneaked peeks at Rosalie. She and Edward were immersed with constructing mashed potato mountains. I think she was glowing more than she ever had. My heart swelled at the thought that it was because of the amazing kiss we had shared that caused her to be like that.

"Presents time!" Esme called enthusiastically. Sometimes, she and Carlisle could be teens again. They made their way over to our huge, merrily sparkling tree while the rest of us arranged ourselves around the space of the living room.

Jasper and Alice hogged one loveseat. I sat on the ground next to them, and Rosalie sat down next to me. There was barely any space between our bodies. She looked nervous again. I gave her a reassuring smile and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She returned her million-dollar smile and leaned into me.

"First…is Alice." Carlisle grinned and lifted up what looked like a heavy object, then walked over and set it down in front of her. She ripped the wrapping paper off like there was no tomorrow.

"HOLY SHRINE!" Alice screamed. I think she was so excited she was just blurting out words off the top of her head.

"What is it?" we all asked, except for Carlisle and Esme.

"IT'S A SEWING MACHINE! AHHH! I LOVE YOU MOMMY AND DADDY!" She started doing a jig.

"It's for your own experiments," Esme explained quite unnecessarily. We already knew Alice was into clothing designing.

Turns out, the rest of our relatives splurged on her also. And when my turn came, they did the same for me. And especially Alice. She bought me several presents.

I was pretty touched with some of the things I received. For example, Alice gave me the picture that she took of Rosalie and me on that eventful evening after the trial, and it was beautifully framed, with a three-dimensional rose as part of the frame. It might have been slightly girlish, but that was Alice for you.

I got some very random and hilarious ones though. For example, Edward gave me Playdoh as well as a stuffed Aflac duck. I had no clue what I was going to do with those.

Rosalie gave me a mat for the Dance Dance Revolution game. It was seriously crazy when the five of us played it. She smiled shyly after I opened it and told her that I was going to really enjoy it.

Jasper gave me a massaging seat cushion, because I was "going to die without it", as he oh-so-kindly put it. I was getting some pretty strange gifts this year.

Esme and Carlisle bought me a laptop. I was stunned into silence after that.

I received more presents than I could count, and overall, the atmosphere was a very happy one. We got quite loud, and we just couldn't stop laughing and enjoying each other's company as the heat radiating from the fireplace kept us toasty. We also sang all the traditional Christmas carols and holiday songs and consumed eggnog.

Rosalie snuggled up to me and we had a few words of our own—we were finally able to have a conversation just for the two of us. I looked over and saw Jasper and Alice doing the same. Edward was smiling to himself—he was probably thinking about Isabella. I then turned to our tree, whose lights and decorations were still glowing and sparkling as brightly as ever, and to our fire, which was still crackling strongly and merrily.

It was a merry Christmas indeed.

A/N: Uhmm. It is now 5:10 a.m. and way past Christmas. I can't believe I couldn't get this chapter out in time. Oh well. Did you like it?

Review, please! You will get a preview of the next chapter if you do! Love you all!

Merry Christmas everybody! (Even though I'm about 5 hours overdue.) :P

I love my beta! Fun times on Facebook. They will never get old. :O

Pictures of presents on my Freewebs site. It is listed as my homepage on my profile.