Disclaimer: All stories are individuals of themselves and are unrelated to each other.

Gale loved living up North. He really, truly did.

But with Christmas three days away and all future flights in or out of the state cancelled, he was starting to hate it.

Gale had never missed a Christmas home. It was his absolute favorite time of the year. He got to be with his siblings, his mom. He got to eat home cooking that wasn't made by himself and still tasted delicious. He got to be pretend Santa and eat the cookies and help his mother carry out the presents from her bedroom (even though Posy was the only one who still believed).

He got to be home. And he couldn't go this year.

"We'll call you with the video," Posy said into the phone. He was FaceTime-ing Rory currently and they were passing the phone back and forth. "And maybe you can come up for the New Year!"

"Maybe, Pose," Gale said with a sigh. There was suddenly a loud knock on his apartment door and he looked down to the phone. "Gotta go. Send my love, okay? I love you all."

Posy kissed the screen before hanging up and Gale felt slightly better than he did before telling his family he wouldn't be home for the holiday. He set his phone down and marched over to the door, pulling it open at once.

On the other side was Madge Undersee, his neighbor from down the hall. She looked tired but her eyes were bright, and there was a smidge of flour on her cheek. "Hi," she said. They were friendly, but maybe not let's hang out friendly. "I made a lot of cookies," she said, extending a plate wrapped in saran wrap in his direction. "I thought you could have some."

Gale accepted the plate a little hesitantly. "Thanks," he murmured.

"Wait, you're not allergic to peanuts, right?"

"Nope."

She smiled again and Gale felt that normal warmth in his chest that he experienced every time she did. They might not be let's hang out friendly, but more than once he'd wished they could be. Madge was sweet and always running late and just breathtakingly beautiful at all times. It had to be her smile that did it. Her entire face lit up.

"Well, Merry–"

"Do you want to come in?" he asked at the same time she spoke. "Oh, if you–"

"No, I mean–" Madge and Gale both stopped talking and she stood up straight, smiling again, though this time it wasn't as bright. "I have to–I have to clean my kitchen," she said. "It's a mess, I mean, I used to bake cookies with my aunt every year but I never realized how much cleaning there was after, and…"

"No, yeah," Gale said, shaking his head. "I get it." He held up the plate. "Thanks for the cookies." She nodded her head and took a step backwards and Gale sighed before letting the door click shut.

Gale was thrilled that the cookies Madge had made were delicious. However, he hadn't expected to eat all two dozen of them in one night. Moping about Christmas seemed to turn him into someone who ate his feelings.

So, after washing the plate in his sink, Gale decided he should return it to her.

He lumbered down the hallway to her apartment and knocked twice before he heard her shoutcoming! and pull the door open. Her hair was tied up in an adorably messy bun, golden curls that had fallen from the tie were framing her face. She blinked a few times when she saw him before that brilliant smile filled her face.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi," he said back. Gale held up the plate. "I figured I'd–"

"You ate them all already?" she asked. Gale lowered the plate awkwardly, shuffling slightly on his feet. "I mean–right, okay." Madge reached out and accepted the plate. "Were they okay?"

"They were great," he said. "Or I wouldn't have eaten them all overnight."

Again she was smiling. Gale's eyes dropped to her lips for just a moment too long. She held the plate to her chest and looked over her shoulder. "I'm, um–I'm setting up my Christmas tree," she said. "Do you want to come in?"

Gale arched an eyebrow at her. "Christmas is in two days, Undersee. You're a little late to the party."

"Obviously I'm not late if Christmas isn't for another two days," she countered. "Come on." Madge opened her door a little wider and motioned for him to enter, and because he had nothing better to do, he did.

Their apartments were set up exactly the same with the kitchen on the right when they walked in that opened into a larger living room area. On the kitchen counter he noticed at least five tubs filled with cookies – she hadn't been kidding about making them all. He looked toward the living room where she was, in fact, setting up her Christmas tree.

"I've never set up a tree on my own before," Madge said over her shoulder, dropping to her knees to open up a few store-bought packages of multicolored lights. Gale dropped down onto her couch. "What about you?"

"Nah, I usually go home."

She looked up from where she was untangling the string. "Not this year, though?"

"Flights are indefinitely cancelled until further notice due to the snow," Gale muttered.

Madge looked down at her hands, then back up at him. "I'm sorry," she said. He shrugged. "Must be nice, though, having a place to go," she continued as she turned her back to him. Madge stretched out, making sure her lights could reach the socket, before starting to wind the lights around the the branches. "My mom passed a few years ago," she told him as though it was an easy conversation topic, "and my dad basically banned holidays from happening after that. He's kind of a Grinch."

"I'm sorry." He knew what it was like to lose a parent. It was part of the reason he liked being home for the holidays so much - so his siblings didn't have to feel that absence so much. "That… sounds rough."

"I make do."

Gale stretched backwards, quite enjoying watching her twist and twirl around the tree. "By making eight thousand cookies and decorating your tree a few days before?"

Madge peered out from behind the branches. "Exactly," she said.

She ended up at his apartment on Christmas Eve.

Madge brought over a bottle of wine and two glasses, looking slightly mischievous with that brilliant smile of hers on her face. "Lonely?" she asked as he pulled open the door.

He couldn't help but laugh, opening the door more for her to enter.

He'd spent most of the afternoon before at her apartment, eventually helping her decorate the tree instead of just watching her get frustrated that she wasn't tall enough to get the star on the top. They'd spent a lot of time sitting on her couch talking about their lives, and Gale was happy he'd finally gotten to know the pretty girl down the hall rather than feeling like an idiot when some stranger smiled at him.

His living room was set up a little differently than hers and they settled on the couch as she poured them hearty glasses of wine.

The two of them sat together, again discussing their families and their lives while drinking wine. He sort of wished that they were in her apartment with the Christmas tree, it would make things feel more cozy and more Christmas-like.

Before he knew it the bottle was empty, and Madge was a lot closer than they'd started out. Soon her hand was on his knee and Gale could easily bend down and press his lips to hers. But he hesitated. Instead he studied her mouth, warm and pink and just a few inches from his.

"What?" she asked quietly. Gale lifted his heavy eyes to hers. "Something wrong?"

"You are so fucking beautiful," he murmured, reveling in the way her eyes grew dark.

"And that's a problem?"

Gale covered her hand with his. "No."

Madge licked her lips, and again Gale dropped his gaze to watch. "Then what's the problem?" When he didn't have an answer Madge arched forward, tilting her chin forward so her mouth was just out of reach.

Gale couldn't handle it a moment longer. He dipped down, kissing her sweetly. She tasted like wine, like sugar cookies, and the way she sighed into his mouth made him melt. He pulled her onto his lap easily enough and groaned when her fingers teased the ends of his hair. After a bit of kissing Madge rocked her hips against his and he groaned another time. They parted for a brief moment and Madge tore her shirt from her body, tossing it to his floor.

He wondered if she'd planned this or if she wore Christmas bras just for fun.

"Wait," he peeled back, constantly looking between her chest and her mouth and her eyes. "I don't…" Gale trailed off, his eye flickering to her warm lips just inches from his. "I don't want to do this if it's because you're lonely," Gale murmured.

Madge peeled back, her eyebrows shooting to her forehead. "I'm not lonely," she said simply.

"You made enough cookies to feed all of New Hampshire," he murmured. "And you set up your Christmas tree–"

"I'm used to spending holidays alone, Gale," she said. "Doesn't make me lonely." Madge released her hands from his shirt and rocked backwards, her shoulders slumping slightly. "Areyou lonely?"

Was he?

Without an answer he arched to steal another kiss, quickly pulling his own shirt off. That seemed to be enough of an answer for her because she helped him pull it up and over his head before tossing it to the side.

After Madge had wound her legs around his hips Gale had moved them to his bedroom, and when all was done and they were both laying there, sweating, Madge turned to look at him.

"Should I leave?" she asked.

Gale shook his head at once. "No. Stay." It was more of a plea than an order, and soon she was nuzzled back into his side. Gale toyed with the ends of her hair and she traced patterns on his stomach. "I might be a little lonely," he murmured.

She laughed into his side. "I figured. After you brought it up."

"But that's separate from what just happened," he said, needing her to know that. She pressed a warm kissed to his side, confirming for him that she knew that. "It's just my first time not being home…"

"You don't have to explain yourself to me," Madge said. "I don't mind keeping you company. Today. Or… ever."

Gale fell asleep that night with a smile on his face. There were worse ways to spend his holiday.