Yeah, so I just realized I spelled Anton as "Antone" in the last chapter. My bad.

Christmas break had approached again, as had Christmas Eve. Anna was sitting in her living room surrounded by Henry, Velma, John, Minnie, A-Rab, Action, and Tony. Since Thanksgiving Tony had been coming over a lot more whenever he wasn't working, which wasn't too often, but it always managed to brighten Anna's day. Action, at first, was upset about Tony always coming over, but eventually began warming up to the Jets co-founder.

Her dad was working, of course, but that was so he could get New Year's Eve off instead. Anna was excited to spend New Year's Eve with her father, since she hadn't done so since she was ten.

Everyone was sitting around the living room, talking to one another as music played. John had just burned his tongue on hot chocolate, and was trying to find an ice cube as everyone laughed at his predicament. Anna was the one who got up and led him to the kitchen, where she grabbed an ice cube and told him to put it on his tongue. She then put one in his hot chocolate to cool it down.

They sat in the kitchen for a few minutes until the ice melted, not speaking. Anna had begun to feel a little awkward towards John ever since Action and Tony had said those things during Thanksgiving. Anna also thought about how Action had thought she and John had been dating at the beginning of the summer.

She knew it wasn't true. She had never actually felt that way about John. She had only ever considered the possibility of being with him. But since she had Action and John had Minnie, she never stopped to think about it. Until now.

"John?"

"Yeah, Anna?"

"I don't really know how to ask this. So I'm just gonna' be blunt. Have you ever liked me… as in wanted to date me?"

John looked at her thoughtfully for a moment before answering.

"Well gee, Anna. I don't really know. I guess… maybe for a little I thought about bein' with you. You're my best friend and all, so I can't say I never thought about it. But I don't think I ever really wanted you in that way."

Anna let out a sigh of relief at this.

"Oh thank God!"

John laughed at this.

"Why were you wonderin'?"

"It's nothing really. It's just that on Thanksgiving, Action and Tony were saying stuff about me and you, and I didn't really believe them, but it got me thinking."

"What kind of stuff were they saying?"

"Not much. Tony said you liked me for a while before you were with Minnie. And Action thought that we were dating before the summer. Oh, and he thought I was two-timing him with you or Tony."

She and John let out a slight chortle at this.

"Well, then," John said, "we better get back before Action thinks we're kissin' or somethin'."

When they got back to the party, everyone was handing out gifts to the people there. And Riff had arrived wearing a Santa hat with Graziella tucked under his arm. Anna sat next to Action again and placed her hand on his knee before whispering "Merry Christmas" to him.

He smiled at her and was about to kiss her before someone shoved a present between their faces. Anna looked up to see Riff grinning at them.

"I got ya' somethin', Action buddy."

Action suppressed a groan and opened it. Inside was a little toy gun. Action pulled it out and pulled the trigger which went off with a little "Pop!" Action looked at Riff in disbelief.

"Gee thanks, Daddy-O," Action said with sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Riff patted him on the back, ignoring the sarcasm, and said, "No problem, Action buddy."

Graziella and Velma then came up and placed something over Anna's and Action's heads.

"Merry Christmas, you two," they both said.

Anna and Action looked up and saw mistletoe. They looked at each other and grinned before leaning in towards each other. Once their lips touched, everyone in the room began whooping and hollering things. Anna pulled away right away and buried her face in his shoulder, embarrassed.

Another present was passed to them, which was from Tony. They opened it and found picture frames in it.

"Thanks Tony," Anna said, "but I don't have any pictures to put in them."

Tony smiled at her as another gift was passed around that was simply given to her. She noticed the gift was from Action, Henry, John, and her father. All the most important guys in her life, she realized. She opened it and pulled out a camera.

Letting out a squeal of delight, Anna's hands enclosed the camera and she peered through the lens and set her sight on Action. He was smiling at her. She set it down and wrapped her arms around him and whispered "Thank You," before saying the same to Henry and John.

"Where did you guys even get the money?"

"Don't worry about it, Anna," Henry said smiling.

Anna shrugged and picked her camera up.

"Okay, everyone. Gather around. I'm going to take a picture!"

Minnie immediately tried to get out of the shot, insisting that Anna be in the photograph. But Anna shook her head and pushed Minnie onto John's lap. John kissed her cheek and scooted back on the couch.

"Everyone smile!"

Everyone did. Anna held up the camera and took the picture. Once the picture was taken, everyone resumed what they were doing and Tony went up to Anna and hugged her.

"Hope you'll save that picture for your frame."

Anna smiled up at Tony and said "Of course."

They went back to sit down, and Action pulled Anna into his side.

"So, you like it?"

"Well, it's not a puppy…"

"Anna…"

"I'm kidding. You know I love it."

"Good," Action said before stroking her shoulder with his thumb.

"I have to get your gift."

"Anna, you don't have to get me nothing'."

"Too bad. But I can't give it to you till everyone else leaves."

"Why?"

"I don't want anyone to be jealous of your gift. It is pretty amazing."

"Uh huh. Sure."

Anna rolled her eyes at Action's disbelief and kissed his cheek.

Within the hour, almost everyone had left except Action and Velma. Velma volunteered herself and Henry to do the cleaning since Anna and Minnie had set everything up. So Action began to take Anna to the living room with him, but Anna shook her head.

"Your present is upstairs," she said quietly, and she sounded pretty nervous.

When they got up to Action's front door, Anna told him to close his eyes. She opened the door and pulled him inside.

The first thing Action noticed before opening his eyes was the smell of peppermint and vanilla. He inhaled deeply before Anna told him to open his eyes.

In Action's living room was a small Christmas tree full of ornaments that Action hadn't seen since he was young. It was lit up and had a gold colored star on top of it. Under it were a few small presents wrapped in a different assortment of wrapping papers. There were candy canes and stockings hanging up by his window. He inhaled again and noticed that sugar cookies sat on the dining room table.

Action looked over to Anna, who had a nervous smile on her face.

"I spoke with your mom last week and asked what I could get you for Christmas, since I knew you wouldn't tell me. She invited me to come over so we could do something special for you. She knows that she's been busy lately, so she asked me to help her with this. She made the cookies and set up the stockings, and I did the tree. And…well, is it okay?"

Action was speechless as he gazed around his home. He hadn't seen his house look like this since his brother had been there, which was three years ago. He looked at Anna, whose eyes seemed to light up as she observed her work proudly.

Not wanting to say anything, Action just took Anna's hands and put them on his face as his hands went to her waist. He pulled her towards him and put his forehead against hers.

"I love you," he said quietly, before wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder.

Anna rubbed his back and said, "Merry Christmas, Arthur."

Action chuckled before saying, "Merry Christmas, Johanna."

They stayed like that for a while, before the front door opened and the light was turned on. They pulled away from one another and looked at the tired face of Action's mother. Her eyes were somewhat droopy, but she had a smile on her face that looked as if she had won a million dollars.

She looked at Action and went to hug him. "Merry Christmas, Arthur." She pulled away from him and went to Anna to pull her into a hug. "And thank you, Anna," she said quietly.

Action looked dumbfounded as he watched the girls hug one another. He had no idea what happened between Anna and his mother, but he was suddenly a little scared at what the two of them could do together.

"Well, I'm gonna' be goin' to bed now, so you two have a good night." This was clearly a sign that Anna should leave. So she said good night to Action's mother and went to the door.

Once she and Action were in the hallway, Action wrapped his arms around Anna and lifted her off the ground, placing small pecks around her face and neck.

"Action," Anna sighed.

He pulled away and kissed her full on the lips. Her tongue slipped into his mouth, and he answered with his own. Action walked forward while still holding Anna until her back was to the wall. Anna lifted her legs until they were wrapped around his waist lightly and pulled onto hi tighter.

They did this for about a minute before pulling away from one another, both breathless and smiling. Anna slid down till her feet touched the ground, but she still held onto Action tightly. Anna began to plant little pecks over Action's neck as soon as she had her breath back. Action responded by bringing his lips back down to hers.

They didn't know how long they stayed out there, but by the time they were done, their hair was sticking up and their lips were slightly swollen. Anna pecked Action on his lips one more time before pulling out of his grip and going up to her room.

When she got inside her room, Anna slipped into her night gown and curled up into her bed. She lay there for what seemed like forever before concluding that she just was not tired.

She rose from her bed, pulled on her robe, and went outside onto the fire escape. When she looked around, she saw the snow that fell the day before melting into the pavement, making way for the snow that was falling at that moment.

She thought back to her and Action back in the hallway, how they couldn't seem to keep their hands and lips off of one another. Anna had never felt that kind of need before, and she had surprised herself when her legs had wrapped around him. When Action had told her he loved her that night, and when he had told her on Thanksgiving, Anna felt heavy flutters in her stomach and she always felt the need to let out a cry of joy. He hadn't said it more than three times to her, and she realized that she had only said it once to him.

She knew that she had been in love with him for a while, and she knew that Action knew that she loved him, but she couldn't help but feel guilty that she had only told him so once. And she hadn't even meant to tell him, which made her feel even worse. She ran back to her house and propped her window with a small jewelry box so there wouldn't be chilly winds going into her room. She went up the stairs of the fire escape and found Action's room. She noticed he was sleeping, and was about to turn around, but figured that he wouldn't be upset to be woken up by her.

She tapped lightly on the window a few times before he heard her. When he saw her, he went to the window and opened it. Then he grabbed her and placed her on the ground wordlessly. She went to sit on his bed and he went next to her. When she lay down, she took him by his shoulders and brought him down so he was almost on top of her.

She kissed him slowly and rubbed the back of his neck as she did. Action had his hands on both sides of her body, and he was propping himself up so that he was not laying on her.

He was the one to pull away first. He lay on his side with his head propped up by his elbow. She did the same thing and faced him. They looked at each other for a few seconds before he spoke

"I didn't thank you."

"Good. I don't want you to."

"Okay," he said before stroking her face with his thumb. Her eyes closed and she pressed herself against his body.

Anna kissed him again before pulling away and taking his jaw in her hand.

"I love you. Okay?'

Action smirked at this and nodded.

"Good," Anna said before getting up and kissing Action on his forehead.

When she got back to her room, she went to bed and was finally able to sleep, knowing she had said all she needed to Action for that day.

Quick chapter and update! Yay! So, hope you enjoyed it. I tried to put a little extra "fluff" into it, and I hope it was successful.