Drabble:135

It was Christmastime, and normally Rose would've been ecstatic over the fact that she had an entire week off-no classes, no duties and ample free time to spend with her loved ones. But her best friend's gloominess was putting quite a damper on her happiness. And why may you ask was Lissa moping? You guessed it-Christian.

Two nights ago, Lissa had basically blackmailed Christian into attending a dinner hosted by the Badica prince. He'd gone, and had the lousiest time there, watching Lissa dance with man after man while he was stuck between two batty old ladies, who chatted indecipherably. To top that off, when they'd gone home, Lissa had the nerve to tell him that she'd really appreciate it if he could make an effort to be there for her.

Now don't get me wrong, the duo were crazy in love, but they were both tired and cranky, so a lot of uncalled-for slights had been hurled between them, which had resulted in Christian relocating to the guest-room in their suite and the duo doing their best to avoid each other while making longing glances at one another. They both were moping and it ticked Rose to see them behaving like such idiots. After two days of doing nothing, Rose could not take it anymore…

So, she threw a little party and invited a lot of her friends and colleagues and then schemed with Mia for half the night in an effort to bring Liss and Christian together. It wasn't easy because they spent most of the night ignoring one another, standing in opposite ends of the room, making everyone slightly uncomfortable by the pining looks they continuously threw one another when the other wasn't looking.

But Rose had her mind set on it…and she made her move during dinner. She sought out Christian and asked him to sample some of her home-made food and took him to the kitchen, ignoring Lissa's confused look and Dimitri's 'are you sure, Roza' look.

As soon as they were alone, Christian spoke. "Look Rose, I know you want to fix things, but leave this alone."

"Leave what alone?", Rose asked, pretending to be confused. "I just want you to taste some of this soup, because you know….I'm not exactly great at cooking edible stuffs. What are you talking about?"

Christian scowled at her, wondering whether to buy her act before opening one of her cabinets and reaching for a ladle. He tasted her soup, balanced the seasoning and added some garnishes and when all was to his liking, Christian closed the pot and nodded his approval at her.

"Great", Rose pronounced cheerily, glad that she had him fooled. "Can you pour the soup into a serving pot while I get the wontons ready?"

As Christian immersed himself in his task, Rose 'accidentally' bumped him, causing his hand to submerge in the pot of boiling soup. Immediately she let out a scream that had people running to her kitchen in alarm. Christian swore for good measure while she blabbered an apology and it was just seconds before Lissa tore herself from the crowd and rushed to Christian's side. "Are you okay?", she asked in a panic, healing his hand. "Does it hurt a lot?"

"No", Christian reassured, surprised by the tears in her eyes. He couldn't help but squeeze her shoulder comfortingly. "I'm okay Liss. Really." She hugged him tightly and sobbed, and he caressed her back, trying to calm her down.

"Okay, people! Show's over!", Rose announced to her guests. "We got some chips-and-dips on the table and more on the way. Let's give the lovebirds some privacy!"

"You played me!", Christian accused, narrowing his eyes.

"I played both of you", Rose announced cheerily, herding her guests out of her kitchen. "You guys were being idiots and I needed to do something before your Dementor-like doom-and-gloom destroyed the Court's festivities."

"Oh, and by the way, you're standing under a mistletoe.", Rose pointed to the ornament she'd strategically hung over the stove earlier. "It'd be a shame to not uphold our traditions, you know".

With that, she left, chuckling to herself, not a bit shocked when Mia went in to get wontons 15 minutes later and came out screaming 'My eyes!'. And she wasn't surprised when Christian and Lissa walked in hand-in-hand a few minutes later, wearing dopey smiles, and announced they had to bail on dinner, and returned to their apartment...

Needless to say, after that, Rose's holiday was fan-freaking-tastic!

Thanks for reading.
Do review!
Cheers!
PS-Sorry for disappearing, but I'm afraid more of that is to come ahead :/