Words cannot express how sorry I am for the wait on this chapter, but I got writer's block like crazy at the end, and I just felt like I hit a wall. Hopefully this is worth the wait.
Also I want to thank all of the people who sent wonderful reviews for this story! I literally do a little dance when I see that I have a new review. (Dear Lord I'm a dork.)
Natalia's eyelids drooped and her head lulled to the side, resting on Alfred's shoulder. She felt sleep tugging at her subconscious, and it didn't take long for her to give in. Not ten seconds after she drifted off, though, she startled herself awake and took a sip of coffee from the travel mug that had been resting on the ground near her feet. She needed to stay awake.
Alfred turned his head and looked at her. "You gonna fall sleep on me?" he asked with a smile. Natalia shook her head, her mouth full of coffee so she couldn't answer. "Good, cause I don't want to have to drag your unconscious body through the mall. That would slow us down, and we wouldn't be able to get as many sweet deals!"
Natalia, in response to Alfred's smart-ass answer, punched him in the shoulder.
"Ow! Kidding! I was kidding!" he said defensively, raising his hands up in surrender. Natalia rolled her eyes.
"You're taking this thing too seriously." she stated simply. Waiting in line for hours in the cold just to shop at a God-forsaken time? Ridiculous.
"You really have never been Black Friday shopping, huh?" Alfred asked, cocking his head to one side as he looked at Natalia. She shook her head.
"Never, and for good reason. This," she gestured to the many people who were waiting outside the mall with them, "is ridiculous. I can't believe you dragged me with you."
Alfred smiled and nudged her slightly. "I used my charm; no one can resist my charm!" Natalia raised her fist threateningly. "Hey! Calm down! Joking again, okay?" He placed his arm around Natalia's shoulders and pulled her closer. "Plus, I bet you'll change your mind by the time we're done. No one forgets their first time Black Friday shopping!"
Natalia leaned against Alfred's car, weighed down by bags upon bags of sale-items. "That was a hell-hole!" she shouted.
Alfred laughed. "Oh, come on, it wasn't that bad!"
Natalia gave Alfred a disbelieving look. "'Wasn't that bad'?! I was knocked around by complete strangers, practically trampled over, and at one point shoved into a whole other section of the mall than you! I had to ask a woman at the security office to call your name over the mall's intercom, remember?!"
Alfred's smile dampened a little. "Um, yeah, sorry that I couldn't hear my phone...You didn't have fun at any point in the night?"
Natalia looked Alfred square in the eye. "No. It was one of the worst experiences of my life! Now, Alfred, I'm tired, and just want to go home!"
Alfred flinched visibly at Natalia's scolding. If she weren't so tired and pissed, Natalia might have felt bad.
"Okay, I get it. Not everyone's built for Black Friday. We'll head home, now." He opened up the car door and stepped inside. Natalia did the same.
"Thank you," she huffed. Then she turned to Alfred. "Frankly, I don't know how you still have so much energy! You've been up literally all night and morning!"
Alfred smirked as he put the key in the ignition. "Staying up all night is easy! I just drank, like, fifty cups of coffee!"
About a month or so later it was Christmas Eve, and Alfred and Natalia were sitting around and watching Christmas movies, while eating the popcorn out of one of those big holiday tins. Right now they were watching Elf.
"This movie is stupid," Natalia said, grabbing a handful of caramel corn out of the tin.
Alfred laughed. "Yeah, but that's what makes it funny! It's so stupid it's funny!" He pulled out a handful of cheddar popcorn and threw a piece of it into the air, only to catch it in his mouth. After his little trick, he smirked at Natalia proudly.
Natalia rolled her eyes. "You are an overgrown child."
Alfred laughed at her comment. "Yea, but you love me for it!" he said, hugging Natalia closer to him. Natalia smirked and played with his hair, trying to get his one stubborn cowlick to stay down.
"Yes, I do, and I question my sanity every day because of it."
Alfred's breath got stuck in his throat and his eyes widened slightly. "Natalia, did you just say that you love me?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
Natalia, just now realizing what she had said, also widened her eyes. "I...I guess I did."
After a moment if shocked silence, Alfred leaned forward slowly and cupped Natalia's chin in his hand, tilting her head slightly up. He then kissed her softly, his lips barely touching Natalia's. Natalia's was too surprised to do anything at first, but the shock quickly wore off, and soon enough she was kissing Alfred back just as softly. When they parted, she whispered, "I love you, Alfred Jones."
Alfred smiled, and whispered, "And I love you, Natalia Arlovskaya."
That night Natalia and Alfred had fallen asleep on the couch, cuddled together so that Natalia was resting her head on Alfred's chest. She awoke in the morning to find the TV still on and the DVD menu for the movie still going on repeat. Frankly, Natalia was still tired, and she wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep, so she snuggled up closer to Alfred and closed her eyes. She only lasted five minutes though before the music coming from the TV annoyed her so much that she had to get up to turn it off. By getting up she woke Alfred, who mumbled a tired "Good morning."
"Good morning," she responded, removing the DVD from the tray. "And merry Christmas."
Alfred smiled as he sat up so that he was no longer lying down. "Oh, yea, that's right, it is Christmas! Merry Christmas, Natalia!"
He got up off of the couch and crossed over into the kitchen. "I'm going to make pancakes for breakfast, do you want any coffee to go along with them?" he asked from the other room.
Natalia shrugged slightly, although Alfred couldn't see her. "Sure, if you're making some."
A few minutes later Natalia and Alfred sat on high stools at the island bar that stood in the middle of the kitchen. It was smaller than the table, and more practical to use for just two people. In front of them was a big stack of pancakes sitting on a plate precariously, standing so tall that it seemed likely that they would topple over, and a bottle of maple syrup sitting right next to the plate.
While they were eating their breakfast, Alfred had popped a Christmas CD into the player for them to listen to. Natalia raised an eyebrow at his choice. "The Charlie Brown Christmas album?" she questioned. Alfred laughed.
"What? It's a classic! I used to listen to it every Christmas when I was a kid!" he defended himself.
Natalia shrugged. "I don't know, I just sort of pegged you as being the kind of guy who would listen to more new-age Christmas songs."
Alfred smirked. "Well, I do have a couple of CDs like that, but I also appreciate the old stuff, too. I'm pretty sentimental, actually."
Natalia offered him one of her small smiles. "That's good. People should be somewhat sentimental in life. Otherwise, we'd have nothing to remind us of the past."
Alfred nodded a bit before his face lit up suddenly. "I have to give you your Christmas present!" he exclaimed before pushing himself up out of his chair and tearing out of the kitchen.
Natalia was surprised by his sudden outburst, but she quickly recovered to ask, "Where are you going?"
"To the closet I hid your present in!" Alfred shouted from another part of the house. About 45 seconds later he was back in the kitchen, holding a box out to Natalia. "Merry Christmas, Nat," he said.
The box was wrapped prettily in an indigo paper with a pure white satin bow tied around it. The edges were crisp, and it looked like a lot of effort had gone into the wrapping of the gift.
"Did you wrap this yourself?" she asked.
Alfred smiled meekly. "Yeah...I was in the store when I saw that color of wrapping paper, and I bought it to wrap your gift in because it reminded me if your eyes. By the way, we have nearly a whole roll of that we have to use, now."
Natalia blinked in surprise at Alfred's comment. "You really bought this paper because it's color reminded you of my eyes?" she questioned, looking up at him.
Alfred nodded slightly. "Yep! Do you like it?"
Natalia nodded, but commented, "You didn't have to do that. It's just going to get ripped up, anyways."
Alfred laughed lightly. "Don't tell me how I can and can't spoil you! Now, are you going to stand there admiring the box, or are you going to open it?" Natalia rolled her eyes at Alfred and flicked his forehead before starting to rip the paper off of the box.
When she had finally gotten the box open (Alfred had used an inhuman amount of tape, and she ended up having to use her pocket knife*) she was met with a brand new, hard-cover copy of Pride and Prejudice. At first Natalia was unsure as to why Alfred bought her a book for Christmas when she worked in a bookstore, but soon after the confusion came a flood of memories. Memories of an air-headed blonde boy entering the shop and pestering her one day a few months back. Of that same boy walking her home and saving her life. And a memory of that boy needing help finding a copy of Pride and Prejudice.
Natalia's breath caught in her throat and she was suddenly lost for words. "Oh, Alfred..." she began, but she didn't know how to finish her sentence. The thoughtfulness of this gift was overwhelming to her, as Natalia wasn't used to people paying her this much mind, even her brother and sister.
Alfred smiled sweetly at Natalia, and he tucked a tuft of her hair behind her ear lovingly. "I take it you like it?" he asked.
Natalia looked up at him, her eyes seemingly sparkling with unshed tears that threatened to stain her cheeks. "I love it!" she said, and then she embraced Alfred tightly, book still in her hand. "It's the most thoughtful thing anyone's ever done for me!"
Alfred happily returned the hug, as it wasn't every day that Natalia willingly initiated contact. "I'm glad you like it," he said running his fingers through Natalia's platinum-colored hair. "Merry Christmas, Natalia."
"Merry Christmas, Alfred." Natalia sighed, resting her head on Alfred's shoulder comfortably. She wished that this moment would never end.
*I don't know about you guys, but we always have to have a pocket knife on-hand when opening Christmas presents for exactly this reason.
HOLY MOTHERFUCKIN' SHIT. That love confession came out of NO WHERE. I did not plan on writing that. It just sort of happened.
I don't like the end. It feels rushed, and OOC, and just...ugh. But I wrote it up this morning on the bus when I was only about half-awake, so...whatch'ya gonna do? I just hated how long this chapter was taking me, and I had no idea how to end it. I'd had the gift planned for a while, but I had no clue how to have Natalia react to it. *sigh* Oh well, they say that you are your worst critic, so I hope in this case that's true.
***So as far as ideas go I think I might have one, but the reservoir isn't very full, so if anyone has any ideas for this fic I'm all ears!***
Also I'm going to be writing another fic that's an AmeBel Ghost Whisperer AU, but for reasons to be explained it will only be updated once a month. So keep your eyes peeled for that!
((I'm dead-fucking serious, though, if you have ideas please put them in a review of a PM or something.))