Merry Christmas! This is a continuation of last year's Christmas special, so go read that first.

Thanks for reading!

-CL

I wake up slowly, realizing I finally slept peacefully, which I haven't done in a while. What's the special occasion? I think. I let my eyelids flutter open and glance around. And I realize where I am and with who. "Shit," I whisper. I didn't mean to fall asleep with Maxon. I assess my situation but realize there is no way I'm getting out of Maxon's arms without waking him up. I decide to get out of his arms slowly. I try my best, but I end up waking Maxon up. "Hmm…Bella? Are you ok?"

I leap out of Maxon's arms, realizing how awkward this is, me being in the fucking prince of Illéa arms, sleeping. "Oh…umm…I'm fine…" I say, flustered. I adjust my dress so I don't have to look at Maxon's face.

"Bella…?" I hear the unspoken question: are you sure?

"Is there a mirror in here?" I ask, changing the subject. I realize I probably look like a mess and I quickly duck my head so Maxon can't see my face.

"Yes, in the corner there," he says. I can see him gesturing to the corner near my flute area.

I rush away to check my reflection. "Oh my-" I start. My mascara is rubbed off and is beneath my eyes. My concealer is gone, showing all of the little acne scars I have. My eyeliner is smudged, making me look crazed. …And is that a pimple on my forehead? "Fuck," I whisper under my breath. How the fuck am I going to get out of this room without him looking at me? "Umm…Maxon…I…"

He heaves a deep sigh. "Of course, I know you didn't really want to stay with me last night. I understand if you want to leave. I promise I'll leave you alone."

"Maxon…what? No! I enjoyed last night. That was probably the most fun I've had ever! I just…I need…I need to fix…" I glance at myself in the mirror and see my hair. "Holy shit," I mumble under my breath. My hair has mostly escaped my chignon, making a frizzy half-up half-down hairstyle. The pieces of holly are hanging from limp strands of hair. I quickly take out the holly and take out the chignon. My hair falls to my waist in frizzy curls–my natural hair. At least I can duck my head and the hair will cover my atrocious makeup.

I glance around and see a bowl with water and a washcloth. I quickly walk over and bring the bowl and washcloth to the mirror. I wipe all of my makeup off, thank God I didn't put on waterproof and look at myself in the mirror. Without my makeup on I'm just so…plain. I mean, my makeup is natural, but I wear a lot of it. Just because it looks natural doesn't mean that it's simple. There's no way I can let Maxon see me like this or otherwise he'll never be interested in me.

"Bella, are you ok over there?" Maxon asks. I hear him walk over to me. I duck my head and pretend to look busy with my flute stuff. He places his hand on my shoulders. "You ok?" He starts to play with my rat's nest of hair, playing with the flattened curls.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine…It's just…I need to fix something. I'll be right back." I start to walk towards the door, but Maxon gently grabs my arm, forcing me to stay. "Maxon?"

"Bella, what's wrong? Why are you being so…evasive? Did I do something wrong?" He sounds so concerned, almost scared that he hurt me.

"Maxon, you didn't do anything. It's me. I promise it's me that's the problem," I say, trying to get to the door. Maxon gently reaches for my chin. "Maxon, I don't recommend that-" I start, but it's too late. He gently lifts my head so now he sees my bare face. "Maxon, I'm so sorry you have to see me like this-"

"Oh, Bella, is this what you were afraid of? Me seeing you without makeup on?"

I blush, knowing that it sounds stupid to him. "Yes. I understand if you don't-"

"Bella, stop. I think you're beautiful without makeup on," Maxon says, tracing his fingers down my jaw.

"Maxon, I know-wait, what?"

"I said you're beautiful without makeup on."

"Maxon-but-I-" I sputter, shocked.

"Don't be so shocked. You aren't like the other girls. They put this mask on with their makeup-you only to enhance your natural features. I appreciate that not lying about what you truly look like."

"Maxon, I do though. You don't know how much makeup I put on daily. I just can't imagine myself not wearing it-I'm too scared people will judge me. So, if you would please, I would like to fix it, and then we can head to breakfast," I say, gently prying my arm from Maxon's hand.

"Bella–can I come with you at least?" Maxon says, rubbing his face with his hands.

"Maxon–yes, of course," I say. "Follow me." I open the door and glance around. Once I see that it's clear, I duck my head, having my face covered by my hair. I don't look back to see if Maxon's following–I'm too scared that someone will see my bare face.

I arrive at my bedroom door. I glance up and see Maxon down the hall. I open my door and rush to my bed, seeing eleven other presents for Maxon sitting on it. I quickly grab all of them, besides one, and place them in the closet, behind some poofy dresses. I close the closet and rush into my bathroom with Maxon's second present.

"Bella! Are you in here?" Maxon says from the door.

"Yes! I'm in the bathroom! Make sure to close the door behind you!" I hear the door close.

"Bella?" Maxon says, walking into my bathroom.

"Yes?" I ask slyly, hiding the present behind my dress.

"What do you have, Bella?" Maxon asks, walking towards me.

"Here! Merry Christmas!" I say, handing him the present.

"Bella…Christmas was yesterday. Are you sure you're ok?" Maxon takes the present hesitantly.

"Yes, I'm fine. My religion celebrates Christmas until January sixth, so there are twelve days of Christmas for me. Which means you'll get a small present every day," I say with a grin. "Here's today's! Open it!"

Maxon rips the wrapping paper off of the box. He opens it and smiles. "Thanks, Bella. How did you know?"

I smile. "I overheard you talking about it." He was saying all he has are Illéan cuff links, mostly Illéan flags. He wanted something different but still wanted to stick to his royal roots.

Maxon takes out the golden crown cuff links and inspects them. "Do you like them?" I ask, a bit nervous that he didn't. "If not I can try to get something different…" I say, although I know I can't return them. Not to mention it took two paychecks from the Selection to buy them.

"Bella, I love them! Thank you," he says, coming over to hug me. Phew, at least he didn't try to kiss me. I don't want to explain why I can't yet, I think. I hug him back.

"Ok, let me fix my makeup and then we can go get breakfast," I say, turning to the mirror.

"Sounds good. I'm going to go change and grab something. I'll meet you here and take you to breakfast. Meet you in 20?"

"Yep, that should work. See you soon," I say. I peck Maxon on his cheek. He blushes and walks out of the room quickly. I smirk. "You in a rush? Or do you just not want me to see that blush?" I clamp my mouth shut. What the fuck is wrong with me? DO NOT act like that around the prince!

"See you in 20," is the only response I get from Maxon. I shrug and turn to the mirror.

I cleanse my face, making sure all of the makeup is off. I apply some acne medication and moisturize. I move to my makeup products. I start with primer, applying it all over my face. I add foundation and make sure my face is covered. I move to my brows and just use a simple brow gel. I add concealer to my forehead, under my eyes, on my nose, and on my chin. I blend it in with a beauty blender and brush powder on to make sure everything is set. I grab my liquid blush and apply it to my nose and the apples of my cheeks. I blend it in with my beauty blender and move to my eyes.

Oh shit, I should probably do something with my hair. I check the time. It's been five minutes since Maxon left so I grab my curling iron and plug it in. I look at my eyes, deciding what I want to do with them. I decide to go with a natural pink smokey eye. I apply the eyeshadow and then do my eyeliner. I finish my eyes with mascara. I use an eyelash curler and mascara. I don't like false lashes, so I use a lot of mascara. I do my bottom lashes and then grab my highlighter and contour. I finish and look at my options for my lips. I decide to do a light rose gloss because I did somewhat heavy eyes. I apply the glass and grab my setting spray. I finish and glance at my face. Perfect. I clean up my makeup supplies.

I glance at my dress and decide to change. I rush to my closet, realizing I'm running out of time. I have ten minutes left to curl my hair and change my dress. I open my closet and look. I find a white maxi dress with red roses and green leaves and long sleeves. Perfect. I pair it with simple white kitten heels with a little jewel pattern at the toe. I quickly change and rush to the bathroom. I grab my heat protectant spray and curl my hair quickly but carefully. I finish and put argan oil as a finishing product. I decide to not wear jewelry because I have less than a minute left.

I walk out into my room and glance in the floor-length mirror. My outfit is simple but pretty. Just what I wanted. I hear a knock on my door and I open it. "Bella, dear, you look beautiful," Maxon says, walking into the room. He kisses my hair and I blush. "Gotcha," he whispers.

I laugh and notice he's holding his hands behind his back. "What do you have there?" I ask cheekily, trying to look behind him.

"Oh, nothing. Just a little Christmas gift," he says with a grin.

"Really?" I ask, a little ashamed at how excited I am.

"Yes," he says, handing me the gift.

I eagerly open it. It's a jewelry box, soon I slowly lift the lid. I gasp when I see what's inside. It's a three-piece jewelry that consists of a choker, a bracelet, and a ring. All of them have one big rose gold rose on them. "Oh, Maxon. I love it," I say in awe. "Can you put it on?" I ask, gesturing to the necklace. Maxon grabs the whole box. "Wait, let me get it for you–"

Maxon grabs the choker out of the box and places the box on a table near us. "Lift your hair," he says. I do as I'm told and Maxon lays the choker against my neck. His fingers tickle my neck as he makes his way to the clasp. I take a deep breath, trying not to show how much his touching me affects me. He clasps the choker and then grabs the bracelet. He brings it to my right hand, look at him knowing which hand I put my jewelry on, and lays it against my wrist. He clasps it and grabs the ring. "Bella, give me your hand," he asks kindly. I do, trying to breathe normally. He lifts my right hand to his lips and kisses it lightly. He then gently slides the ring on my finger.

Maxon steps back and surveys his work. I hope he doesn't notice that I'm struggling to breathe and sweaty. "Bella, I was going to give this to you later in our relationship, but I realized this would be the perfect gift. This set has run in the family and symbolizes that the prince is interested in whoever is wearing it. And I am interested in you, Bella. Really interested. I hope you feel the same way as me."

"Maxon…I feel attracted to you, that's for sure. I would say I'm interested, but please know that you'll probably still have to entertain the idea of other girls."

"Yes, I know, Bella. But will you accept my gift?"

"Yes, Maxon. I will. Thank you," I say. I pull Maxon to the bed and we sit together, holding each other close.