Hello everyone! I wrote the next part over Christmas break but never posted it for whatever reason. So here it is. Hope you enjoy it and as usual reviews are always welcome! :)

The snow was falling hard; the air was filled with the scent of cookies and pine, and there was something in the air that felt different. There was a feeling of joy accompanied by pangs of melancholy.

Christmas was here.

The holiday season meant that people would attempt to do things they hadn't done for a while, often resulting in injuries. And not to mention all the family togetherness that brought out the ulcers, panic attacks and severe alcoholism. All of this meant that the hospital staffs were overworked and much too busy to take out the time to enjoy the holidays.

Which was perfectly all right with Cristina and most of the other residents, except for Izzie. She had been wanting to turn Meredith's house into Santa's Village again. Not that Cristina had seen Meredith's house recently. She and Meredith had barely spoken to each other since their fight. Of course everyone else had hoped they would thaw out by now, but no. They were both as wintry with each other as the weather they encountered when they left their houses at the crack of dawn.

Everyone in the surgical unit seemed determined not to take sides. Everyone was friendly and cordial to both Cristina and Meredith. The rest of the residents expected everything to blow over soon as it always did. But they both had stood firm in themselves and had barely spoken to each other.

Until the other day when Meredith walked up to Cristina, with a determined look in her eyes.

Cristina was at the nurse's station looking through a patient's test in desperate hope of them being surgical.

Cristina looked up at Meredith as she stood in front of her and said, "So we are having a Christmas thing at the house."

Cristina was immediately taken aback. Christmas thing? The only person who hated the holidays more than Cristina was Meredith. This couldn't have been her idea. So maybe it was Derek's. Now had Cristina been in a better mood she would not have said what came flying out of her mouth next.

"You mean Derek is making you do a Christmas thing?" She said, hoping she would push the right buttons.

"Derek isn't making me do anything." Meredith replied, her eyes like daggers.

"So this was your idea?"

"No, of course not."

"So it was Derek's idea then." Cristina said, very aware of the fact that she was gloating.

"Look, I am trying here. It's Christmas. Everyone wants to do Christmas this year. There will be drinks and dinner and carols and all that. You spend time with your family on Christmas. Derek is family too now. And I just thought you would want to come. It's just that you…" Meredith stopped and sighed. "Christmas is a time for family or whatever so."

When Cristina didn't say anything, Meredith turned her heel and walked away. Before Cristina had any time to process Meredith's speech, her pager beeped. Incoming trauma.

She took a deep breath and snapped back into action.

Five hours later, she found herself next to Shepherd scrubbing themselves after a successful surgery.

"That was good." Shepherd said, his voice sounding annoyingly cheerful.

"Mmhmm." She hummed in agreement, afraid that if she talked Shepherd was going to talk to her more.

"I meant you." He said, giving her one of his charming smiles.

"What?"

"I meant you did well. Good job in there."

"Thanks." She said still not looking at him.

"You joining us tomorrow?"

"I don't know yet."

"Cristina?"

She sighed and turned herself to him "Derek?"

He smiled wider now, and said "I hope you come tomorrow night. There will be good food. And Izzie is making dessert."

'Look, I'm not big on the holidays. I don't celebrate them." Cristina said.

"Hmmm." He nodded. "Come anyway. Everyone will be there. It'll be strange if you didn't come."

She sighed knowing that there was no way out of this.

"She doesn't like the holidays either, Derek." Cristina said.

"I know. But she's learning to. And to be honest she needs you there. Even if she doesn't say it or realize it."

"Ok." Cristina replied.

"Drinks at 6:30." Derek said, as he left the scrub room. Cristina watched him leave as she had his girlfriend a few hours ago.

"So Shepherd gets to take you out before I do?"

Cristina smiled a secret smile as she heard that voice, sounding huskier than usual. She could feel his presence behind her and she turned around to look at him.

"You finished in there?" She asked, nodding her head towards the OR.

"You didn't answer my question." Owen replied, as he washed his hands.

"You didn't answer mine."

"Yes, we are finished in there." He chuckled, reaching for a towel to wipe him. "Now, you answer mine."

He was suddenly a lot closer to her, barely an inch between them.

"I don't remember your question."

"How come" Owen's voice seemed to have dropped an octave. "Shepherd gets to buy you drinks before I can?"

"He's not buying me anything." Cristina replied, looking up at him. He reached for her wrist, just a slight touch. Barely anything.

Enough to drive her mad.

"The point still stands." He said. "We kissed on three different occasions and yet you won't even let me buy you coffee. And don't tell me it was just that one time. "

He was right. He had asked her, nearly every morning since that time in the vent. And Cristina had, without fail, turned him down every time. She had been graceful about it. She had come up with relatively legitimate excuses too. It's not her fault that she worked in a hospital where she was needed to answer her pages at lightning speed.

But all of this reasoning hadn't stopped her from feeling guilty. She wanted so very badly to say yes to Owen. But at the same time, the urge to run in a different direction every time he came around was also very strong. She felt like she had led him on and as much as she was attracted to him, she would not compromise her position again. The old Cristina would have said 'Fuck it' to all her feelings and might even have jumped into bed with him. But the present Cristina was older, wiser and had the benefit of hindsight. The meaningless sex with an attending was not happening. In fact, the meaningless sex with anyone was not happening. She didn't want a relationship either. Or more like didn't have the time or energy for one. So that left her in a safe, secure and lonely place.

She hadn't been lonely for the longest time. She was relishing her independence and enjoying the lack of male company until the first night she met Owen. Every night since then on had been lonely. She barely felt it at first. But then it got bigger, deeper and just painful. But there was surgery and there was Meredith to keep her occupied. But lately she didn't have either. She didn't have Meredith and the surgeries she had scrubbed in on were not of much interest to her. Like right now, scrubbing in with Shepherd on neuro. She hadn't really felt like herself since the solo surgery was taken away from her.

The thought of which brought her back to that night, and to the man standing in front of her.

"Look, I've been busy. There is no convoluted agenda here."

"Are you free right now?" Owen asked.

"Free?" Cristina asked, sounding confused. "I guess, for a little while I am."

"What do you do when you are free?"

"Sleep. Eat. Study for surgeries."

"And drink coffee?" Owen asked, a smile reappearing on his face.

Wow, Cristina thought. Did he just outwit me?

"Dr. Hunt," Cristina said, watching something change in his eyes as she used his formal name. "Wouldn't that be inappropriate?"

He laughed as he remembered their conversation. "I was an idiot back then."

She chuckled and walked away, happy to have gotten out of that situation once again without having to explain anything.

Meredith's house looked beautiful, festive and all together unrecognizable. Everyone was there. The Chief, a few attendings, residents (the one's they liked, that is), some idiot interns. There was food, ample wine, and a 7-foot Christmas tree twinkling with lights and ornaments. This wasn't the Santa's village Izzie had set up a few years ago. Oh no, this was very much Meredith and Derek. Most people couldn't tell the difference, but as soon as Cristina stepped through the front doors, she knew. The bar cart was Derek's; the way he had set up the drinks seemed different and fashionable. There were touches of Meredith everywhere too. She used her mother's china and the decorations were tasteful and timeless.

But what struck Cristina the most was the fact that Meredith's house now looked like a home. And all of a sudden, she could see something she hadn't seen before. And that was family. Derek was Meredith's family.

"Um Cristina, do you maybe want to move inside?" Owen asked, standing behind her as she had paused in the doorway to take everything in.

"Sure," She said, moving aside and taking off her coat. Meredith walked in at the same time.

"You came." She said, surprise evident in her voice. Her eyes traveled past Cristina to Owen. "And you brought Dr. Hunt?"

"Yes, well. " Cristina cleared her throat. "I need a drink."

She hadn't meant to flee the scene but the interrogatory look on Meredith's face was something she wanted to avoid. She did not want to answer questions simply because she did not have answers. She did not even know how she ended up in the ER hoping to see Owen, earlier this afternoon. He was in one of the trauma rooms all by himself.

"Hi." She said. He turned around and looked at her with something of a surprised look.

"I wanted to ask you something." She continued, knowing very well that if she stopped at any moment, she would back down. "Meredith's having this Christmas thing and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me."

"Oh." Owen said, a bit confused as to why she was asking him come to her best friends dinner party with her. "Well, Shepherd invited me too."

"Great! So you were planning on going anyway, so now we can go together."

Of course, now would have been a great time to tell her that he wasn't planning on going to the dinner party. But Owen was tempted with the idea of spending some time with her. However, he wasn't going to let her get what she wanted so easily. He had teased her yesterday and now he wanted to dig a little deeper.

"Why aren't you just going by yourself? I mean, you know everyone who is going to be there."

"I won't go otherwise." She said simply. "This way I at least have a reason and I won't back out."

"Ok." He replied, smiling. "I'll pick you up."

"Ok." She replied, turning away. When she got to the door she turned around and said "This is not a date, by the way."

"Oh, it's not?" Owen asked. "It sure feels like it could be." She was just so easy to wind up.

"No!" Cristina exclaimed. "It's not a date. Definitely not a date. Pick me up around 6:30 please."

This was how she ended up at Meredith's house with Owen in tow. She poured herself some white wine and turned around to survey the crowd. Meredith appeared next to her with a bucket of ice in her hands.

"You brought a date?" Meredith asked her, placing the bucket on the bar cart and arranging some bottles around it.

"No." Cristina replied. Meredith raised an eyebrow to which Cristina replied. "Derek invited him. He just gave me a ride. I didn't want to drive my motorcycle or hire a cab."

"Why didn't you ask Callie?"

"So you celebrate Christmas now?" Cristina asked, changing the subject. Meredith sighed and walked away.

Dinner was delicious, and probably the first proper meal Cristina had eaten in a few days. She basically lived off of cafeteria food or cold cuts so the holiday feast was very much welcome. She had gobbled everything on her plate and even had seconds. Karev had made some comment about stuffing her face too much but she didn't care. She especially didn't care that Owen was sitting next to her and watching her closely, because she was not trying to impress him.

Not one bit.

Dessert was served and then everyone waddled back to the living room with drinks in hand. There was a great deal of laughter and of course talking about surgeries. But what else could be expected when a bunch of surgeons gathered together around a fire? Cristina was more than fine with that. Of course she cared more about cardio surgeries that say peds or neuro. But it was nice to be surrounded by people who were just as driven as her. This was much different than the holidays at her mother's house.

She was certain she preferred this.

She wandered back towards the kitchen, hoping to see Meredith. Cristina was in a forgiving mood, no doubt due to all the food and wine she had consumed. But as she walked into the kitchen it was not Meredith she saw, but Derek.

"Cristina, I'm glad you came." He said, giving her a classic McDreamy smile. "I'm surprised Hunt came. I guess you got to him, huh?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he told me he wouldn't be coming." Derek replied. "But I'm glad he did. Are you guys….?" He asked, a teasing smile appearing on his face.

"No. We're just… you know. We're nothing really." Cristina concluded. "Do you know where he is?"

"Ah, yes." Derek said, taking a swig of his drink. "The hospital paged him, so he just stepped out to check."

"Ok." Cristina turned around to make her way to the front porch when Derek stopped her. She turned around to look at him. He closed the small distance between them and gave her a hug. An unwanted hug to be precise.

"Thanks for coming, Cristina." He whispered. "Merry Christmas."

Cristina gave a slight nod and broke free from him and left without turning back. She saw Owen on the front porch, drink in hand.

"Hey." She said, making her way towards him. She should have grabbed her coat. Seattle was always so cold.

"Cold?" Owen asked her as she rubbed her arms to generate some heat.

"Yeah. You think I'd be used to the weather in this place by now but no." She said, standing next to him. The night was dark and cloudy. It was definitely going to snow.

"You're not from Seattle?" He asked. There was so much he didn't know about her yet. I've barely scratched the surface, he thought.

"No, Beverly Hills." She replied, and smirked when she saw the look on his face. She always enjoyed telling people that.

"I can go grab your coat if you want. You're not wearing all that much." Owen said, gesturing to her tight short sleeved sweater. She looked different than she did in her usual scrubs. She looked feminine and sexy.

Cristina saw the way his eyes traveled over her body. She felt warm suddenly and a bit tingly. Maybe that was too much wine for one night, she thought.

"How come you're not inside?" She asked, hoping to break the sexual tension between them.

"Its just…" Owen sighed. "Being around this many people sometimes is a bit much for me."

Cristina nodded not knowing what to say. There was so much about his life she didn't know. She was just about to ask him about the page he got when he said, "Thanks for asking me to come with you."

"Yeah."

"Why did you ask me?" He turned towards her, looking right at her. He looked very much like the honest and honorable man that he was.

"I didn't want to come alone. And you were the only person I really wanted to come with." She replied, looking past him. She allowed herself this one moment of honesty. Just once.

"Cristina?"

She looked up at him. He was closer than before.

"You have been avoiding me." Owen said. "And don't say that you haven't been, because you have."

Cristina sighed and looked away from him. It had started snowing. She looked back at him and simply said, "Yes, I have been avoiding you."

They both looked at each other not missing a beat, until Owen said, "I'm going to kiss you now."

"Why?" Cristina asked, her breath catching already. He moved closer to her.

"Because its Christmas."

"Then you should know that I'm Jewish." Cristina replied, with a hint of a smile.

Owen chuckled and said. "Well, I'm going to kiss you anyway."

And he did.