As is my custom, I'm taking advantage of a current ship obsession and writing this story… in July. Heh.
But as of July, these two are sending me. Cannot get enough. So let's give them a super cute fluffy mistletoe fic, and maybe by the time I post in December it will be a common occurrence for me to write Portwell :))
(Future WTY, rereading this author's note penned in July, is absolutely loving the way it aged XD)
If someone had asked Gina how she predicted Carlos' Christmas party would go, she would have guessed that she'd show up with Ashlyn only to drift over to the corner, sipping on a fizzy drink and trying not to get caught staring at EJ like a lovesick puppy while she worked up the courage to talk to him.
Instead, EJ had come up to her after rehearsal about a week and a half before the party and asked if she'd like to go with him as an unofficial date. Gina had been a bit hazy on what the 'unofficial' bit included, but apparently it meant that they coordinated outfits and that EJ brought her poinsettias when he picked her up and took her coat and got her a drink when they got to Carlos'.
Gina was… overwhelmed, to be honest. In a good way, sure, but still overwhelmed. She wasn't used to being doted on. She should have known that EJ would be the type to be super attentive when he was with his-
His what? His girlfriend? They weren't dating. This was an 'unofficial' date, which meant they weren't dating and she wasn't his girlfriend and he was just being a good friend.
"Hey," EJ said with a grin, dipping his head slightly like he did whenever he was talking to her and wanted to look her in the eyes. He passed her a cup filled with fizzy soda. "You like ginger ale, right?"
"Mhm," Gina murmured, taking a sip from her cup. "Thanks."
"Yeah, of course." EJ tucked a hand into his pocket and shifted his weight to his toes, still grinning. "Did I, um… did I forget to say you look really nice tonight? Because you do. You look really nice, Gina."
"Thanks," Gina repeated, smiling awkwardly. "I mean you basically picked my outfit so I'd kind of hope you'd think so."
EJ laughed. It was true that he'd spent a good fifteen minutes peering at her closet through FaceTime to see if they had any Christmasy outfits that would remotely match. They'd settled on her wearing a green sweater with silver snowflakes and him wearing a red pullover and grey pants. Gina was somewhat relieved they weren't matching, matching. That would have been a bit too 'cringy couple' even if they were dating.
"So…" Gina began after a moment of them standing around in silence. "Some party, huh?"
EJ winced, looking around at the deserted room. In Carlos' defense, the duo had arrived a little too early and most of their friends weren't there. Ashlyn was helping Carlos finish up with the snacks in the kitchen, so it was just EJ and Gina standing in Carlos' living room, alone.
The doorbell rang and Carlos went to answer it. Gina let out a sigh of relief before frowning at herself. Shouldn't a girl be elated to spend quality alone time with the guy she liked?
Perhaps she would be, if she and EJ were in a different setting. Having never been to a friend's Christmas party, she was out of her element. Maybe if she and EJ were alone at a restaurant, or on the couch in Ashlyn's living room, or in the theatre before rehearsal; maybe then the conversation would come easier. She could ask how his weekend had been, what shows he was watching lately, or how his family usually celebrated Christmas. Here, it just felt a bit odd to start talking about something like that.
"Heyo!" Big Red cried, walking into the living room. "How's it going, you two?"
"Hey man," EJ replied, reaching out to clap hands with Big Red.
"Ashlyn's in the kitchen," Gina told him teasingly, then laughed as Big Red grinned at her and skirted in that direction.
Ashlyn was just finishing up dumping tortilla chips into a bowl and she smiled widely when her boyfriend walked in. "How's it going out there?" she asked, lowering her voice so as not to be overheard by Gina and EJ.
Big Red cringed. "It was stifling," he said. "They were just standing there. Silently. You could slice that tension with a pizza cutter."
"It's worse than I feared," Ashlyn sighed. She grabbed a few stray chips that had fallen on the table and popped them into her mouth. "Those two are in desperate need of an intervention. Can't they see how perfect they are for each other?"
"I think they do see it," Big Red mused, grabbing a couple of bowls that were already filled with snacks and preparing to bring them to the living room. "I just think that they don't think that the other person sees it, and they're scared of being rejected. So instead, they stand. Silently."
He shuddered, and Ashlyn patted him on the shoulder. "It's okay," she assured him. "I have a plan. By the end of tonight, all the will-they-wont-they tension between EJ and Gina will be gone."
Big Red gave her a curious look as he backed out of the kitchen, but Ashlyn just smiled mysteriously and went to go find Carlos.
About twenty minutes later, the rest of the drama club had arrived and the party was in full swing. Gina had managed to escape her early awkwardness by falling into conversation with both EJ and Big Red, which was considerably easier. Carlos was playing his part of host to a T, and there had already been three impromptu Christmas sing alongs courtesy of Seb, Ashlyn, Nini, and Carlos' piano.
"Can I get you a refill?" EJ asked, laying a hand on Gina's cup and looking at her quizzically.
"Thanks, that'd be great," Gina replied with a smile, her eyes following him out of the room.
Big Red raised his eyebrows in her direction. "EJ is certainly being… gentlemanly tonight."
"What're you implying, Big Red?" Gina challenged, fighting not to get flustered. "EJ is always a gentleman."
Big Red gave her a knowing look. "Yeah," he said casually. "Of course."
There was a sudden crash from the kitchen, followed by a groan that sounded distinctly like Ashlyn. Gina winced and jumped up. "That didn't sound good," she said, glancing at Big Red only to find him looking studiedly unconcerned. She gave him a weird look and hurried towards the kitchen doorway.
A second later, she smashed headfirst into someone coming out of kitchen. EJ caught her arm to keep her from falling, cringing and laughing at the same time. "Whoa, sorry," he said. "I just spilled ginger ale all over Ash and she said to come grab you, but apparently you have a sixth sense and didn't need me for that."
Gina laughed, trying to move around him, but a voice quickly stopped her in her tracks. "Whoa whoa whoa!" Ashlyn cried from inside the kitchen. Her shirt was soaked with ginger ale but instead of looking annoyed she was grinning maniacally. "Look up."
Gina slowly turned her gaze from her roommate to the ceiling. There, as she had suspected the moment Ashlyn spoke, was a ball of mistletoe.
"Oh," EJ gulped. "Um…"
"Ash," Gina hissed, looking back at her roommate while studiously avoiding catching EJ's eye. "Did you put that up there?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Ashlyn huffed innocently. "When would I have had time to put up mistletoe? Don't answer that. It doesn't matter. What matters is that it's there and you two are there and now it's time for you to kiss and for Big Red to definitely not catch it on camera."
Big Red, iPhone raised and ready, offered them a grin and a thumbs up from the living room. Gina started to blush, realizing the rest of the cast had stopped what they were doing and turned to watch the action in the kitchen doorway.
"Look," EJ said seriously, finally managing to twist his head enough to catch Gina's evasive eye contact. "If you aren't comfortable with this, we can just walk away and forget this ever happened, okay? I'm not going to let a Christmas tradition force me into making you uncomfortable."
Gina practically melted. "No," she said, straightening her spine. "It's fine. I don't mind, really."
EJ smiled brightly and cupped her face. "Well here goes nothing," he said, and kissed her.
The living room erupted into cheers and Gina and EJ quickly broke apart, flustered and laughing. EJ wrapped his arm around Gina's shoulders and led her into the kitchen, which Ashlyn quickly evacuated to give them a little privacy.
"So," EJ said, nudging Gina with his shoulder. "How about we upgrade this 'unofficial' date to an 'official' one?"
Gina beamed. "I thought you'd never ask."
Author's Note: MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! Portwell was such an amazing ship/fandom for me to find this year so I wanted to end with them :) Thanks for tuning in this year; I hope you had as much fun as I did!