Hi! I'm so happy, I finally got my laptop back, fixed and working! Woo! That means I'll be able to write more, hence the recent fast updates (: Yayy Christmas! I can smell dinner cooking, mmm… Anyway, on with Chapter 4!

As usual, please review ^^ It motivates me :D

And thanks to everyone that has so far they really made me smile guys! Xx

By the way, sorry this chapter is so long… xD

And I still don't know whether to make this story a long one or just focus it on Christmas? Please give me your ideas! =]

SayoChan x

Disclaimer: I don't own Shugo Chara, unfortunately… One day Ikuto, one day…

The Perfect Christmas

Chapter 4

Instead of my younger sister standing in the doorway, my mother was.

Shit.

"M-Mama!" I stuttered, stumbling clumsily forward. Her lips were pressed together tightly, causing her mouth to create a perfect line, her arms were folded and she was looking coldly at me through angry eyes.

"What's the, the um, matter Mama?" I asked nervously, hoping she hadn't seen Ikuto.

She ignored me and pushed the door open. Ikuto was sitting on the edge of my bed looking innocent and surprisingly cute… My mother pointed to the bed and I obediently sat down. She closed the door behind her and stood looking from me, to Ikuto and then back again.

"Would you like to introduce me, Amu?" she said, her voice completely lacking emotion. I gulped, loudly, which made my cheeks flush.

"This is Ikuto, Ikuto, this is my Mama" I said shyly, dreading his reaction… In my mind, boys meeting my parents never went well…

"Hi Mrs Hinamori, nice to meet you" he said politely, offering to shake her hand.

I was rather taken aback, I never expected him to be so polite. My mother smiled, a genuine smile, and shook his hand. Wow, it really was impossible to get mad at Ikuto with those eyes and that smile and…

"Amu, could I speak to you on your own please." Mama said, her expression had slightly softened, but I knew that was only because we had a guest.

I nodded and was about to get up, but Ikuto interrupted.

"Mrs Hinamori, may I just say, Amu didn't invite me, I came here this morning to give her a Christmas present. I hope I didn't wake you when I rang the doorbell."

My mother looked a little surprised, but smiled, she seemed relieved.

"Oh don't worry Ikuto-chan I didn't even hear it."

My heart beat calmed down as I realised what Ikuto had done. He was a good liar… I should probably take note of that. I'm not really sure why he did it though, why did he care what my parents thought of him?

"Anyway Amu, I hope you like you're present, I should get going." said Ikuto. I felt my heart sink. I didn't want him to leave.

"Wait, Ikuto, sorry about the short notice, but if you'd like, you could stay and have Christmas dinner with us? That's if you haven't any plans of course." said my Mama, which completely shocked me. So I wasn't the only one that could be won over by his charm…

"I'd love to, that's if Amu doesn't mind." replied Ikuto with a warm smile.

I eagerly agreed and Mama left the room to tend to Ami, who was sulking again.

"Amu lied to me!" she sobbed but my mother mumbled something and ignored her.

I sat there staring at Ikuto, completely dumbstruck. Ikuto got up and closed the door and calmly returned to my bed, sitting beside me.

"Think I fooled her?" he whispered with a smirk. I nodded, still unaware of what to say.

"I don't get it, why did you..?" I said, trailing off as I played the situation back in my mind.

"Hey, I might be a tease, a sexy, tease," began Ikuto, whispering as he ran his hand up the inside of my thigh, a smirk now obvious on his perfect face, "but I do have manners too"

I giggled nervously and stopped his hand when it reached the bottom of my skirt. He pouted a little.

"Aw, you're no fun." he said in a sulky voice. I rolled my eyes and playfully pushed him making him laugh.

"Idiot…" I mumbled, crossing my arms in a huff. Ikuto smiled and brushed a strand of hair from my eyes. I couldn't help but smile, his touch made me weak.

"I-Ikuto…" I started as a light blush crept across my cheeks.

"Mm?" was his response.

"Thank you… I, I don't know why you did it, but"

"I did it coz I don't want to see you get in trouble when it isn't your fault." said Ikuto, cutting me off mid-sentence. I looked into his beautiful eyes and felt myself melt as he smiled at me.

"Don't get too caught up in the moment Amu" he said with a grin. I blushed hard and looked at the floor.

"You should get dressed before your mother realises you're in the same clothes as yesterday and gets suspicious." said Ikuto calmly.

"Hm? I'll just say I fell asleep in them last night coz I felt ill. Besides, if you'd come in last night, she would have heard you knock at the door which backs up your story. Its hard to believe you managed to get onto my balcony." I replied.

"I guess, but still, you should get dressed, its Christmas after all." he said as he lay back on the bed and rested his head on his hands.

"Yeah yeah, I know, I was going to get dressed you idiot, what do you take me for?" I said with a cheeky smile.

"Do you really want me to answer that?" asked Ikuto with his eyebrows raised.

"Hey!" I cried in frustration, throwing a pillow at him. He laughed at me and got up, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me onto the bed.

"So, I get to spend Christmas with you" he said quietly, gazing into my eyes.

"Mm" I replied shyly as I noticed how close his lips were to mine. I blushed and stood up. I wondered why he didn't spend Christmas with his family, but from what I'd heard; his family life wasn't exactly a good one, so I didn't ask.

"Anyway, go away for a bit, I need to get dressed." I said folding my arms. He pouted playfully and hung his head. Just when I thought he couldn't get any cuter too…

"Where will I go? You're gonna throw me out into the open where that strange child could pounce at me at any moment?" he said sulkily. I laughed. Fair point, plus, if my dad was now up, he would most likely get all protective and ask awkward questions…

"Fine, but… but turn around!" I said, thinking of him seeing me change embarrassed me to no end.

"Sure" he replied with a smirk. I knew what that meant.

"Iikutooo!" I cried angrily and hit him with the pillow again.

"What?" he asked innocently, "I'll turn around!"

I glared at him.

"You're planning something…" I said quietly, placing my hands on my hips.

"Nah…" he said, but his serious expression faded as his lips twisted into a smile and he began to laugh.

"What?!" I asked angrily.

"You didn't tell me what direction to turn in…" he said, raising an eyebrow. I narrowed my eyes.

"Face the wall!" I cried out in frustration.

"You didn't tell me which wall" he said calmly, still smirking.

"THAT ONE." I said and pointed to the one facing the opposite direction to me. I became more frustrated as he laughed at my anger. I sat down on the bed and crossed my arms, glaring at the boy in front of me.

"You're adorable when you're mad" he said softly, moving himself closer to me. I sighed, I just couldn't stay angry. Damn him!

My lips formed a smile against my will and I gave in.

"Whatever" I mumbled making the older teen chuckle again. I rolled my eyes and got up.

"Let me change under the covers then" I said lazily as I began rooting through my draws for some underwear.

"Mm" came his response. As I pulled out a bra I felt his arms pull me toward him and to my surprise he grabbed both my arms with one hand and took the garment from me with the other.

"Oi! Give that back!!" I yelled, my face turning bright red. Ikuto grinned sexily when I couldn't escape his grip. I was so embarrassed!!

"Shh…" whispered Ikuto, placing it on the bed. He didn't let go of my hands, and his right hand trailed up my back and under my shirt. I couldn't get away, but even worse, I couldn't concentrate. His eyes were locked on mine and silently controlled me. I was brought back to reality when I felt him undo my bra easily with one hand. He grinned at me as I felt my face get even hotter, struggling against him.

"Ikuto you-you pervert!" I cried shyly as his hand slowly moved down my back, making me shiver. He stopped his hand when he reached the top of my skirt, and lightly brushed my skin as he moved his hand to my stomach. He looked at me and grinned, knowing he had utter control over me, again.

He then slowly, teasingly slowly, moved his hand upward. It slid under my shirt and continued going. I gasped, but he stopped his hand before it, went any… further. He then let go of my hands and removed his other from under my shirt.

I was kind of disappointed… I'd sort of, wanted his hand to go further… Thinking this made me blush even harder. I was tempted to hit him for being such a perv, but I knew he would have stopped if I really wanted him to, so I let it go.

"You're so, you're just so" I started after doing up my bra, but I didn't know how to finish my sentence. Sexy, hot, cute, adorable, teasing, unique, loving…

I could have chosen about a thousand different ways to describe Ikuto, but I was too shy to go on.

"Idiot" I murmured. He laughed at me and softly pressed his fingers to my cheek, brushing against it slowly. My lips parted as I felt my heart beat increase. I didn't really understand this feeling. His every touch made me want to cry out, the way he teased me was driving me crazy. I wanted to know how he felt about me so badly, but I'd never be confident enough to ask. Would he ever tell me? Does he know I like him?

It was weird thinking these things about Ikuto. After all, I'd always pretended I found him annoying, a nuisance, but surely he knew that was all my outside character. It was very obvious. Ikuto could read me like a book, so he of all people could surely tell I liked him, no matter how hard I tried to hide it. Tadase knew, Utau knew, hell; even Yaya had picked up on it, so clearly I was more obvious than I wanted to be. Of course, if any of them mentioned it I would deny it over and over, but I'm pretty sure I'm not very convincing.

If that was true, then Ikuto must know how I feel. If he does know how I feel, why won't he tell me how he feels?! Maybe he doesn't want to hurt me because he doesn't share the feelings I have for him, but surely he wouldn't tease me the way he did if that was true.

So then, he did like me? Or was he teasing me on purpose? Did he like leading me on? Maybe he was teasing me by accident? Is that even possible?! Perhaps this was just his nature, perhaps he felt pity for me and felt bad that he didn't like me back, so he flirted with me to ease his conscience?

Maybe he was just shy? Was this his way of letting me know that he liked me?! Wait, wait, Ikuto, shy? Those words just didn't fit together. Ridiculous. Ikuto was never, ever shy, he was always calm or serious about everything.

Ugh, he confused me so much and thinking about all this was making me feel dizzy. I wanted him so much, but I couldn't make the first move… No way could I. Would I have to wait forever?

I was pulled from my day dream when I felt Ikuto lightly tap me on the head.

"Anyone home Amu?" he asked with a grin. I giggled, embarrassed. I then realised he had my bra in his hand again… I narrowed my eyes and turned a dark shade of pink.

"Give it!" I pleaded with wide, sad eyes, but before I could convince him, I laughed. I never was a good actor…

Ikuto tilted his head to the left and smiled.

"Kay" he said simply. He then placed the bra on my head and laughed at my expression. I was surprised, what the hell was wrong with him??

I ended up in a fit of giggles, removing it from my head and hitting him with it.

"Idiot!" I said, placing it on top of my chest of draws and getting the rest of my outfit together. He smiled and watched me closely.

I had finally put together a cute outfit and placed the pile of clothing on the edge of my bed.

"Move" I said, shoving him off the bed with a giggle. Ikuto gently, yet purposely fell to the floor, sitting with his legs crossed and pouting. I rolled my eyes at the sulking boy and got under my bed covers. He stood up and flattened his clothing, standing with his arms by his sides as he watched me fiddle about under the covers. He looked amused.

"Stop looking!!" I cried, my face turning pink. He couldn't see anything, but as he stood there watching me, I still felt embarrassed. He was so aggravating sometimes!

"Why? What could you possibly be shy about now when you're completely covered?" replied Ikuto, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know… Why are you smiling at me like that?" I asked, ignoring the blush now painted across my features. Ikuto shrugged.

"Well, in my head. There aren't any sheets covering you. In fact, in my head, there aren't any clothes under there either." replied the blue haired boy with a smirk. My eyes widened as my face turned darker, if that were possible. Ikuto started laughing.

"Y-you are such a pervert!!" I hissed. I then pulled the covers over my head and got the rest of my clothes on, ignoring him.

When I was fully dressed, I emerged from the duvet and scooped up my dirty clothes. I then placed them in the small washing basket in the corner of my room and made my bed. With a tired sigh, I sat down and stretched my arms out.

"You look pretty in that." Ikuto said coolly. I smiled sweetly and thanked him.

I was wearing a pair of tight fitting denim shorts and a red blouse. I wore long, red and black striped socks and a black belt with a silver, heart shaped buckle.

"I reckon you look better without it though" said Ikuto with a wink. I bit my lip and turned away from him shyly. God he was hot… I heard him laugh and walk over to me. I felt the bed covers tighten underneath me as he sat beside me and I turned to face him.

My mind began wandering again. I was still a little worried about my mother finding him in my room… I hoped they hadn't heard anything last night or earlier this morning. I mean, I quite often make little noises that could be interpreted…other ways. I didn't mean to! They just slip out. If they had heard that, or, heard us talking…they might think things that should not be thought. Try saying that three times fast. Also, if they had indeed heard us the night before, they'd know we were lying but surely Mama would have said something when Ikuto told her he arrived this morning.

I knew my mother would have words with me later about this, and I'd find out what she thought about us. Ikuto looked a lot older than me, even if we were only three years apart, so she'd have something to say about that, also, he was in my room without permission. This surely wouldn't go down well. I was really dreading my dad's reaction, he was always so protective, and he'd either get mad at me or embarrass me. Well, he'd most likely do both…

Now that Ikuto was staying for dinner, which wouldn't be ready till about one, meant that we would have to face my parents at some point. Oh dear.

I was sure that he and my parents would get along, but afterwards, they would ask me embarrassing questions! I was dreading that part the most. What if they wanted to have, the talk with me?? Oh god!!

"Amu, come back to me?" said Ikuto, clicking his fingers in front of my face to wake me up from yet another daydream.

"Hm? Oh right, right." I said with an innocent smile. I got up and sat at my desk, staring into the mirror that was hung on the wall in front of me. My hair was everywhere. I reluctantly pulled out a brush from a draw and began lazily dragging it through my pink hair. I sighed as I tugged at a knot. I hated my hair in the mornings. It was alive! Alive I tell you! As if it were mocking me, a strand kept interfering with my fringe. Every five minutes, I would remove it and attempt to put it in its rightful place on the left side of my parting, but after a few moments it would spring back into my view again. I hissed at it and began mumbling to myself. I must've looked like a lunatic.

Ikuto laughed at me and crept up behind me, making me jump as he took the brush from my hand. I was slightly fascinated as he began gently brushing my hair, holding my locks at the top so they didn't hurt me as the brush pulled at the knots. He continued this until my hair was neatly hanging down by my shoulders, knot-free.

"Thanks" I said with a kind smile. I then took the savage beast in my hand, by savage beast I meant the strand of hair that wouldn't leave my fringe, and clipped it in place with a red, cross shaped clip. Satisfied, and attempting to restrain my giggling at the phrase "savage beast", I got up and faced Ikuto.

"What do you think?" I asked.

"Beautiful, as per usual." he replied calmly, ignoring the fact that I was laughing like a maniac just moments before at what he could only assume was my own reflection... I blushed and grinned at his response, again, holding back a fit of giggles as I realised how insane I must have seemed when clipping that damned hair away from my fringe. Yet another way to taunt me huh? Evil bastard… Yeah. I have hair issues.

I shrugged it off and sat back down on my bed.

"So…" I said, trying to think of a conversation starter but I was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Yes?" I asked in a polite voice.

"Amu-chan, come downstairs please. Ami is waiting to open her presents" said my mother, still sounding a little nervous about me having a boy in my room. It probably didn't help that I'd relocked my door.

"Okay" I called back. It suddenly hit me again, it's Christmas! I was slightly excited about opening my presents, but my outside character obviously didn't show this.

"C'mon" I said happily as I opened my door and walked out into the hallway, closely followed by Ikuto. We made our way downstairs and opened the living room door.

Ami was sitting by a small pile of presents and looked like she was ready to explode as she saw us enter the room.

"Hurry up Onee-chan!!! Hurry!!" she said excitedly. I laughed and grinned as my gaze met with another small pile of presents, on top of which sat a card with the name 'Amu' written on it.

I took a card from the top of the cabinet; the one Ami couldn't reach, and walked over to my younger sister.

"Here Ami-chan" I said with a smile as I handed her a pink envelope. My Mama and Papa were sitting on the couch drinking tea and welcomed us with a warm smile. I I offered Ikuto a seat by the window, close to the couch that my parents were sitting on. My Papa was watching Ikuto intensely as he sat down; I don't think he knew what his opinion of Ikuto was yet, so I assumed Mama had said kind words about him, as usually, Papa would have started questioning the boy by now.

"Ikuto this is my Papa, Papa, this is my friend Ikuto" I said as casually as I could. Ikuto greeted my father politely but I noticed he frowned slightly as I said the word 'friend'. I put this down to my imagination and sat beside my pile of presents on the carpet.

"Can we open them now?!?!" Ami said, practically bouncing off the walls. Stupid sugared breakfast cereals…

My mother nodded and Ami and I opened our presents, gleaming with delight as we uncovered each item. We thanked our parents and I happily put on the pair of earrings I had asked for. I looked at my presents with a smile; I had got the clothes I asked for, the jewellery, some new makeup, a new CD and some sweets. My mother was now in the kitchen preparing a turkey for our Christmas dinner and my father was helping Ami set up some random luxury doll house…

Ikuto got up and sat beside me on the floor, watching me with a smile as I held up a T-shirt to my chest.

"Cute huh?" I said happily.

"You're cuter." he replied. I blushed and rolled my eyes, folding the T-shirt up and putting it back on top of the other clothes.

"I haven't given you a Christmas present have I?" Ikuto said, deep in thought.

"Hm? Oh you don't have to," I said with a shy giggle, "I haven't got you anything, so really, don't worry"

That sounded less harsh in my head… Ikuto chuckled.

"N-no, I didn't mean it like that. I haven't got anyone presents this year, I didn't save up because… well because I'm lazy I guess." I said, frowning as I realised this.

This made Ikuto laugh harder.

"You're great at the whole, Christmas cheer and spirit and all that crap" he said with a grin. I giggled. I really wasn't very festive this year.

Ikuto placed his hands at the back of his neck, fiddling with something.

"Ikuto? What are you-?" I said, trailing off as he smiled at me. He had taken off the chain he always wore around his neck, the one with the gothic cross on it. I was a little confused.

"Present or not, I want you to have this Amu" he said quietly, brushing my hair away and placing the chain around my neck. He fastened it and I looked down at it. It really blended in with my usual "cool and spicy" style, and it was so fairytale 'lovey-dovey' for a boy to give the girl a treasured item. Okay, so I had no idea if he treasured it, but he always wore it, so I assumed he did. I loved it, it gave me something to remember him by, when he left, I could hold it in my hand and think about him.

"Th-That's so sweet!" I squealed, quietly of course, I didn't think my dad needed to hear our conversation as he may have taken it the wrong way. Or was it the right way? Were me and Ikuto dating?! I was so confused…

"Thank you Ikuto" I said. He grinned.

"Tis kay, it looks good on you. I thought it would" he said. I blushed. It was weird, how all my worries, all those miserable feelings just disappeared when Ikuto was around.

"NO PAPA!! If she slept in the pink room, her dress wouldn't match!!" screamed Ami as she and Papa continued setting up the doll house.

"Sorry sorry!" cried Papa, quickly removing the doll from the pink room. I laughed, my Papa always gave in so easily. He then whipped out his camera and took a picture of 'his little angel' and her doll house.

Same old, same old.

Tada! I must thank every one for all the reviews! Every single one makes me smile and causes me to write more, so review this one too! :D *bats eyelids*

Anyway, the next chapter should be up soon. Providing my internet doesn't turn against me, AGAIN. *gives laptop evils*

Oh, and yes. I have had too much sugar. Huh? You didn't ask? *shifty eyes*

I gotta stop doing the *blablabla* thing haven't I?

Anywayyy! I think I'll put some other characters in the next chappy. Expect some Tadase vs Ikuto. Fun fun fun!

Also, Thanks to 'sweettara10' for the review, you see, I'm reading her story, "The Setup" and I'm really getting into it so I highly recommend it :D

Also, the whole "savage beast" and hair thing had me in fits of laughter!! That's most likely due to my unhealthy intake of cocacola though… :/ I bet it's actually really lame, meh…

Right, so I'll stop my rambling now. Please review peeps! …Did I just use the word "peeps"?!? o.O

SayoChan x