The gentle sounds of waves crashing against the shore were the first things Billie heard that Christmas morning, followed by the scent of the sea as it filtered through the open window somewhere in the room. As soft sigh escaped her lips as she stretched out, feeling the sun's rays warming the exposed flesh of her arms. Slowly, she opened her eyes, her head beginning to swim as the light hit them full force. This was definitely not the feeling she's expected to have this morning. But then again, almost every Christmas felt this way. It was just part of the package she called her life.

Billie decided it was best to lay there for a while with her eyes closed, the hangover slowly filtering out of her system. How much did she have to drink the night before? What had she done to prompt the alcohol binge in the first place? Then it hit her; the bet. "Shit," Billie mumbled, placing her hand over her eyes as she opened them again, this time shielded from the sunlight. What had she revealed last night?

Looking around to try and figure out her surroundings, Billie knew she wasn't in her own bed. This one was too low. Besides, the room was sparsely decorated, with only a surfboard propped up against the wall to her left and a couple of posters plastered on the one to the right and in front of her. She rolled on her back, wondering how she'd gotten here.

Feeling the strange sensation of the fabric against her skin, Billie immediately lifted up the comforter to reveal her nakedness. She gasped before realizing exactly what had happened the night before. "Oh, my God!" she groaned, covering her face with her hand. But for some odd reason, there was no feeling of regret coursing through her veins like she expected there to be. What she'd done with Van had been amazing; there was no doubt in her mind of that. A smile crept over her lips as she remembered every little detail of what he had done to her, and how incredible it felt to be touched by another human being. It was so wrong, but felt oh so right. She whimpered, now faced with a whole new dilemma. What was Van going to think about this?

'Speaking of the devil,' Billie thought as he snuck back into the room wearing a pair of loose fitting navy blue track pants and nothing else.

Van glanced at the bed, finding his lover awake and staring back at him with those fiery sapphire eyes. A smile appeared on his lips as he softly said, "Good morning… I mean afternoon," correcting himself as he looked down at his watch.

Billie didn't say anything for a couple of moments, just stared at him with those intense eyes, wondering what was going on in his mind. Van knew what that look meant. He'd seen it on the faces of so many of the women he'd slept with. He was about to get one of those heart breaking lines that made him grow a little colder every time he heard one and made him wonder if there was such a thing as love. His face went slack as he started, "About last night…"

"Please don't tell me you thought it was a mistake," Billie interrupted, getting the same idea. She might have felt the need to tell him that it possibly was, but watching his heart break before she could even say one word for either case made her realize just how much of an impact last night had been on both of them.

Van couldn't believe what he was hearing. For a moment, he thought he'd heard Billie wrong. This wasn't a mistake? He asked himself. "Ah… Wa… No," he finally mumbled, looking down at his bare feet as he raked his hand through his messy hair.

"I needed last night," Billie confessed taking a sudden interest in a frayed edge of the comforter, her eyes unable to look in his direction. "I didn't think I'd ever have another wonderful Christmas, but you proved me wrong." She looked up at him, tears threatening to fall down those beautiful cheeks. "I've been alone for so long that even if you'd just asked me to spend Christmas with you, I would have come. There really was no need for the bet. I thought that was just going to be a perk. But now that everything's been said and done, and you know all that I've been trying to hide, I can't believe you're still here talking to me. I thought you would have just kicked me out and told me to go home, but you didn't. You did the exact opposite. You made love to me. You made me feel wanted again. You gave me the one present I've been waiting for all my life; someone who actually cared about me." It was then that the tears began to fall from her eyes again. She wanted to hide beneath the comforter, but Van had crossed the room so quickly and wrapped his arms around her that she never got the chance.

"I've always cared about you," he whispered into her ear as he stroked her hair. "Last night I just wanted to prove how much. All that you told me, it made me care about you even more. Ever since the first day we met, I knew you were something special, and last night proved it." Van paused for a moment, trying to think of what else to say to make her believe his feelings towards her were genuine. "Billie, you're one of the most incredible people I've ever met, and I'd be lying to you if I said I didn't have feelings for you, because I do. Deep ones… I don't know how deep just yet, but I was hoping to figure it out, because now that I have you, I don't want to lose you."

Billie looked up at him thinking her ears were deceiving her. "You… What?" She was having a hard time formulating sentences. "Could you say that… again?" she asked, wanting to make sure she'd heard him correctly.

"I have feelings for you, Billie," Van said as he wiped her tears away with his fingertips. "I don't know if its love, but I know that there's something drawing me to you, and that I want to explore it, but only if you'll let me."

A smile crept onto Billie's pale pink lips as her hand fell against the back of his neck and pulled him in for a simple, sweet kiss. "Should I take that as a yes?" he asked, somewhat surprised by the move.

Billie chuckled, "Yes."

"Good," Van replied, kissing her again. His hand snaked beneath the comforter, finding warm, naked flesh.

Billie smiled against his lips, quickly pulling away and shaking a finger at him. "Ah, ah!" she scolded, wrapping the comforter tightly against her body. Van gave her a puzzled look. "I think I won the bet," Billie finally said as she gave him a sly grin.

"How did you win the bet?" he playfully whined.

"I'd think losing your parents on Christmas is much worse than having one arrested," she replied.

"Point taken," Van said as he sat back and glared at her.

"And my first order for you…" Billie paused, placing her well manicured finger to her chin as she pretended to think of what she wanted Van to do for her. "My first order is for you to take off those pants, get under the covers with me, and do what you did to me last night over and over again for the rest of the week."

A cocky grin crept onto Van's face as he answered, "Your wish is my command."

Fin!

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