"Best-Christmas-Ever," Chloe said amusedly, heaving a deep sigh that evening as she studied the tree in the dimmed lights.

Oliver chuckled behind her.

"Something you want to share?" she asked, raising a challenging eyebrow.

"Nothing," he said defensively. "You're just easily pleased."

She snorted. "How's that?"

"It's a tree," he said, rising from the bar-stool he'd been perched on and coming to join her. "It's not that special."

But Chloe shook her head. "I could argue with that, but either way I wasn't talking about the tree." She seemed to remember something and turned away from him, heading over to the kitchen, where there was a smaller, unopened box from the bakery. "That reminds me..." she trailed off.

"What's in there?" he asked as he watched her get out a plate and a glass.

"Cookies," she said.

"Sweet," he said, grinning boyishly.

Chloe chuckled, pouring a glass of milk. "Not for you. You've already been fed, remember?"

"So you're keeping them for yourself? I never thought you didn't like sharing," he teased.

"Not for me, either," she said, now placing a few large, frosted cookies on the plate. She grabbed a sheet of scratch paper and scribbled something on it.

Oliver watched her curiously as she carried over the platter, note, and glass of milk and set it on a table near the tree. Then he caught on.

"Santa?" he asked with a laugh.

Chloe just shrugged, a mysterious look in her eyes. "There are some things I'm not willing to quit believing in," she told him.

Oliver's mind drifted to thoughts of the strange gifts he'd been receiving. Maybe she had a point. Chloe pushed him out of his reverie by offering him a cookie decorated with red and green icing like a wreath.

"I thought they weren't for me," he mocked, accepting it from her anyway and taking a generous bite.

"Those weren't," she clarified, indicating the plate before taking a bite of another wreath for herself. "That one is."

He shook his head at her. "You're something else."

"Something else amazing," she retorted, drawling out the word. "So what do you want to do?" she asked, unsure as to whether or not he planned to stay there all night.

He shrugged, looking at the tree again, then around the room. "Okay, it is a crime against humanity if these screens are never used for movie-watching," he said with an impish grin.

"Chloe," Oliver whispered. "Chloe, wake up."

Somewhere in the midst of Miracle on 34th Street, their second movie, Chloe had fallen asleep on the couch. Oliver, somewhere in the midst of his noble intentions to move her somewhere more comfortable, had drifted off as well.

He spared a small smile at her wrist, where she was wearing the bracelet he'd given her. He, in turn, was wearing the wool socks she'd given him with a laugh to accompany them.

"Chloe," he nudged her again, and this time she stirred slightly in her sleep, giving a cute little moan and burying her nose in the quilt from Mrs. Kent. "Come on, Chloe," he prodded her.

"Come back tomorrow," she mumbled tiredly.

"Chloe, it's snowing."

"It always snows."

"But this is Christmas snow," he told her, unable to smother his grin.

Chloe just moaned and tried to turn away from him, but Oliver wasn't having it.

"Come on, Sidekick, you're going to see the Christmas snow whether you like it or not," he informed her, lifting her body in his, throwing her protesting arms around his neck.

"Oliver! Put me down!" Chloe laughed, awake now.

"If I put you down, will you go back to bed?'

"Possibly," she said, pressing her lips together.

He chuckled. "Spoil sport."

"Fine, fine, I'll go look at the dumb snow," she said, smiling anyway.

He set her down with a stern look, but Chloe could see the twinkle in his eyes as he allowed her to put on boots and wrap a scarf around her neck.

"Come on," he rushed her, grabbing her hand. "It's almost midnight."

"Ollie!" she exclaimed as he half dragged her out of the building.

It turned out to be worth it, though, when they were on the street outside. The whole city was hushed with a blanket of soft silence, almost every light turned out.

And a gentle snow was falling carelessly to the ground, getting caught in their hair and on their clothes.

Only in her sweater, Chloe promptly began to shiver, and Oliver took off his coat and draped it over her shoulders, watching her as she spun around in the middle of the street.

"It's perfect," she whispered.

He couldn't help but agree, although he suspected they were talking about two different things.

"I'm freezing," she told him finally. "Let's have hot chocolate upstairs," she suggested, walking back over to him, her cheeks aglow with the cold, her hair gleaming with a frosting of snow.

He wanted to say something to her...to do something, but he wasn't sure she was ready. Either way, the moment past, and he found himself turning to take her inside again.

To their surprise a small white box with a green ribbon tied around it in a neat bow was sitting at the entrance of the building.

Oliver picked it up, opening the tag. "It's for both of us," he said in surprise, eyes lifting to hers.

She leaned closed to him so they could both read it.

To Chloe and Oliver:

For The Practical Couple: Something That's Not Just For Decoration

Merry Christmas,

Santa

P.S. Thanks for the cookies, Chloe.

Holding his breath, Oliver pulled the ribbon away and lifted the lid to the box, setting it underneath the box. Inside the box, nestled in white tissue paper was a sprig of mistletoe.

Chloe, shaking from something other than the cold, turned to look at Oliver, only to find he was already looking at her, eyes searching hers.

Within seconds, the box was at their feet as Oliver's arms wrapped around Chloe, pulling her as close to him as he possibly could, his jacket sliding from her shoulders to the snow at their feet, Chloe's fingers tangling in his hair holding him to her while their lips met for the first time, moving against each other like they had never been meant to do anything else.

"Inside," Oliver breathed into her mouth eventually, and Chloe nodded breathlessly, her lips not releasing his for long.

There had never been a more agonizing trip through Watchtower's entrance security, but Chloe and Oliver somehow ended up in the middle of the room, Chloe trembling beneath Oliver's kiss as he peeled her shirt off. She shivered as his cool, coarse fingertips skimmed along the warm skin of her back. She returned the favor, fumbling with the buttons on his shirt until she could shove it down his arms and toss it to the floor. He lifted away his T-shirt next and Chloe closed her eyes when his bare skin met hers, head tilting back in exultation. Oliver brushed her hair behind her neck and trailed his lips down her throat and back up before finding her lips again, his tongue tangling with hers.

Chloe moaned into his mouth and he nearly lost his mind, fingers immediately seeking the clasp of her bra and unhooking it deftly. She let it slide down her arms and drop to their feet to mingle with her blouse. As his mouth traced a path down her body from her lips toward her breast, Chloe silently prayed that her mind didn't catch up with her body any time soon. She wanted this. She knew she did. And she wanted to enjoy it without over-thinking it.

She gasped, head rolling back as his hot mouth closed over her breast, and she grasped his head, fingers tangling in his hair, all fears suddenly and effectively banished.

Oliver's knees hit the floor gently and as he caressed the bud of her breast with his tongue, his strong hands raked lustfully down her waist. He traded breasts with his lips, and his hands met the hem of her jeans, first undoing the button, then, slowly, dragged the zipper down. He felt her hips buck ever so slightly, as if in encouragement, and he grasped the fabric of both denim and silk and tugged them down, his mouth moving to her stomach as she stepped out of them.

Hands wrapping around her thighs firmly, he spread them and forced her knees to bend slightly. Chloe found herself dependent entirely on him for balance, her hands dropping from his hair to his shoulders just in time for his head to dip down and his lips to close over her clit.

"Oh, G-AH!" her cry turned promptly to a scream as she clutched him, knees buckling. His hot, wet tongue pressed against her core, alternating circles, flattened and sharp and she swore she saw stars.

But she wanted him. All of him. She wanted to not be alone anymore.

"Oliver," the sharp, pleading whisper came forward, and it was all she could manage as his tongue darted inside of her, tasting her wetness.

Heart throbbing at the sound of his name, Oliver realized he couldn't wait any longer. He kissed her clit tenderly before slowly rising up her body, trailing agonizing, open-mouthed kissed across her stomach, between the valley of her breasts, and up her throat until his lips found hers again.

She was putty. Melted butter. Chloe wasn't sure she was capable of any remotely coherent action, but she kissed him back, arms constricting around him as if she would never let his body have so much as a breath of distance from hers.

Oliver made quick work of his jeans and shorts, in spite of his hands, which had become to fumble for the first time in their anxiousness.

Before he had an opportunity for anything else, her small hand wrapped around his erection, grasping it firmly and pumping slowly up and down.

"God, Chloe," he breathed, his face dropping to the crook of her neck as she rendered him nearly helpless. Nearly.

He grasped her thighs and lifted her up, wrapping her legs around his waist, and eliciting a bubbling of laughter from her at his eagerness, head tilting back. He bit her collar bone playfully, moving in the direction of the couch, wishing there were a bed to take her to.

She brought her eyes back down to meet his and they were sparkling with adoration and affection and yes, desire as she smirked at him.

He shook his head slightly, closing his eyes momentarily before looking back into hers.

"You're beautiful," he told her, planting a kiss on her lips, biting down gently on her bottom lip.

She gave another sparkling, gorgeous laugh and turned her cheek to him, but then he felt her lips next to his ear as she told him seductively, "And you're wonderful."

He laid her gently on the couch, remaining cradled between her thighs. Her head fell gently back on the pillows and his hands slid up her arms until they found hers, intertwining with them and planting them just above her head before he simultaneously plunged inside of her and brought his lips crashing down on hers, swallowing with relish her cry of ecstasy.

His tongue caressed hers wantonly as he thrust himself into her repeatedly, their hips meeting with increasing desperation until finally pure, unrestricted pleasure coursed first through her body in a tidal wave that left her breathless, and then spread through his body like an electric pulse that wired him head to toe.

His lips fell from hers and instead placed gentle, worshipping kisses over her eyes, her nose, her forehead, her ear, her neck...everywhere he could find as he hovered over her.

Chloe's eyes were closed and her breath came in long, shuddering pants, her body now slick with a sheen of sweat. She wasn't sure how he could keep moving.

When her eyes finally opened, the first thing they met was the star on top of the tree and she let out a breathy chuckle, a small smile dancing across her lips.

Oliver paused in his exploration of her collar bone and looked up at her with a smirk.

"What?" he asked.

Her smile widened slightly as she turned to him. "I like the star," she told him.

He smirked, moving back up to place yet another kiss on her lips. "I like you," he told her in reply.

She smiled in earnest now. "Mmm, that's a nice coincidence."

After a while, Oliver rolled them both over, dragging a blanket over them, allowing Chloe to snuggle beneath it and into his chest. His fingers stroked her hair tenderly as he watched the crown of her head lying against his chest.

"Merry Christmas," he said after a while, and she turned her head slightly so she could see his face without lifting it.

"Merry Christmas," she told him.

"Did you get everything you wanted?" he asked with a smirk.

She snorted, rolling her eyes, but still smirked back and nodded. "Think so. You?"

"Definitely