Hello :P It is Wednesday and I am back with my first Christmas themed chapter. This one isn't technically festive though. It's set in December but it's the December where Misty is in hospital after Ash runs off, leaving her slipping in and out of consciousness. I'm a little nervous about uploading this one but I worked really hard on it. It's definitely more adult than I've ever written but still pretty innocent and hopefully tasteful. This is the moment leading up to where, James and Lynne, after years of getting close and realising their feelings for each other, have a very special intimate moment. So I hope you enjoy :3

Disclaimer: I own the story and Jordan, Lynne and Rey!

I continued listening to Misty's heart rate monitor bleeping solemnly every few minutes. I let out yet another weary and deep sigh. I couldn't help it. Though no one else could really hear it, I knew it was annoying. It was annoying to me. I was usually so bright eyed and bushy tailed like my best friend. But when he left, if I was honest, it was like he took those traits we shared away with him. It hurt to breathe. So I found myself doing it less. And that's why I sighed so often. I got so caught up in my worries and anxious thoughts, that I wasn't even aware I was taking breaths. I sighed to put more air in and out of my lungs. But in the end, it just reminded me how miserable that everybody truly was.

I didn't imagine the holiday season would be like that. I thought it would get better by the time that the tinsel was hung on the hospital doors and lights lit up every corner. But it didn't. I felt deceived. I felt betrayed. I felt deceived and betrayed by life. I knew that was stupid. But I knew I wasn't alone in those feelings.

I glanced at Jordan who had fallen asleep in the chair next to his daughter's bed, his head resting on her unmoving leg and his hand clutching hers. That sight broke my heart. He hadn't let go of her hand in hours. Perhaps even that whole day. Yes, now that I thought about it, I hadn't seen his digits away from hers.

He had been strong and brave from her on the outside. He hummed along to the radio to try and wake her from yet another of her phases of fatigue. He told her all about his grandchildren and her children that she was missing out on seeing. He promised her that he'd try and help paint her nails red and green if she woke up. He said all the right things and smiled just for her. But the way he didn't let go of her hand proved it all. He was terrified that if he let go, she'd let go and it'd all be over.

My blurry with numbness eyes moved to the open door where James had trudged through towards the other segment of our private hospital apartment some time ago. I let out another sigh. I considered. I knew that I should check on him. I knew that he was probably driving himself insane with the same thoughts as Jordan and I. I wanted to show that he wasn't alone. But I just couldn't. Like Jordan, I couldn't leave Misty's side.

I felt like I couldn't. I had every bone in my body telling me that I couldn't. That something would go wrong if I moved. But I forced these anxieties out of my brain despite the fact they were determined to stay. One by one, I woke each of my limbs up and proceeded to quietly jump down from the bed. I padded towards the door that joined Misty's hospital bed room and the tiny living area. I peeked through the opening and felt my heart crack all over again.

Like I knew to be true, James was indeed sitting there. His back was pressed against the wall behind him and his legs were pulled to his chest. He was just staring at the wall opposite and his longer than normal hair tousled and stuck around his face. The lavender locks were shielding his eyes but I just knew they were pooling with tears. His green orbs were filled to the brim with water. But like how I sometimes didn't have the energy to breathe, his eyes didn't have the energy to drip down his cheeks. His eyes just stayed drowning like his emotions.

I swallowed and it was in that moment that I knew I had to try and at least offer comfort. But I was too late. The door that led to the halls of the hospital opened and Lynne crept back into the tiny apartment, returning from a little break. It had all been too much for her and I didn't blame her.

I watched her enter. She shut the door behind her almost without making a sound while her head was lowered. That was unusual for her but I wasn't surprised given the situation. Her daughter was in real danger. The person she had been taken away from so prematurely was almost being taken away from the earth herself. It was crushing her. But in the day time, she kept her cheery persona. But it was the middle of the night. And she was alone. So her face was showing her true pain.

She was on her way to check on little baby Rey at Misty's bed side when she suddenly stopped, turning on her heel. He hadn't made a sound, but she knew James was there. She just knew. He didn't have to make any noise. She could almost hear his heart pounding in his chest.

For once, he hadn't even noticed her presence. But as his thoughts raced in his mind yet filled with blankness at the same time, Lynne's eyes moved down to where he was on the floor. And it was this moment that his breathing began to quicken. His tears still didn't spill but his breathing showed how het up he was getting. His face was blank but his chest was near to gasping for air.

The orange haired female let out her own gasp – but it was that of worry unlike James' who was full of despair – and she didn't hesitate to sit down at his side and reach her hand to his shoulder.

"Oh, James…" she whispered sadly to him but he still barely reacted to her so she moved nearer to him. One of her hands remained on his shoulder and the other gently reached for his hand. She swallowed. "You have to breathe, James, it's okay."

Though it was far from okay and they both knew it, the lavender haired male's head slowly turned to look at her. When he did so, I knew she felt her own heart breaking in two. He looked like he hadn't slept in months. The sparkle in his eyes that he normally had for her and so many people was gone. He had been broken. And she desperately wanted to fix him.

"Oh, James…" she repeated when he almost looked right through her and his chest continued to miserably gasp for air, her hand moving from his shoulder to gently rub his back instead. Though we both wondered whether his eyes would focus on her, Lynne looked right at him anyway with knowing eyes. She pushed past all her own emotions to look at him softly. "You don't have to be brave all the time. And you don't have to pretend with me."

This was all it took for James to make a quiet gasp as his chest inhaled and the tears that had been flooding his eyes to drip down his cheeks. Her words were all it took. His face crumpled and the tears flowed but he still shook his head.

"I… I have to be..." he muttered but the crack in his voice and the way he was gripping onto Lynne's hand proved that he was already letting himself feel the things he had tried to hide. He shook his head again but this time, I believed, it was at himself. "I have way too many people to be strong for. I have to be strong."

The orange haired female continued to shake her head sadly at him, her blue orbs filled with emotion. She was intuitive and she was empathetic. I could tell she was feeling every inch of his pain simply because he was feeling it too.

She carefully wiped as many tears away as she could for him before reaching for both of his hands. Her eyes didn't leave his despite the fact his pained expression was making her ache.

"You can be strong and still cry, James." She mumbled truthfully to him and when he looked doubtfully at her back, she continued nodding her head. She went back to wiping his eyes and her hands lingered on his face for a while. "Yes you can. You don't have to pretend."

I didn't know whether it was her words or her touch or simply him finally letting out all the sobs and to someone, but James' mouth quirked into a tiny and brave smile as he glanced back at her. He let a few seconds pass before he spoke and he breathed out shakily. He looked at her back with the same level of honesty.

"Says you." He began; his own fingers can't helping but move to hers on his face before his hand rested on her cheek to feel closer to her. He shook his head knowingly at her. "You're the one being the mother hen and looking after everyone. You're the one putting on a brave face. Telling yourself that the positivity will pay off. You're pretending too."

The angel female from above found herself blushing gently at being observed correctly by the lavender haired woman but she just shrugged, looking away. Her hand moved away from his cheek but played with his fingers. James persisted.

"You know why I can see it…?" he said to her, his own hand breaking away from her cheek to wipe away a tear that was blurring his eye before absentmindedly moving closer to her. Before she could shake her head and look at him curiously, he continued. "Because you're right. I'm pretending too. So I can see when you're doing it. We're both pretenders."

I found myself oddly smiling to myself upon James' words, my head leaning against the door frame. Yes, they had certainly found some sort of connection within each other. But for once, Lynne didn't smile at her daughter's best friend. She looked away from him and she sighed, her hand moving to tuck her own hair behind her ear.

James' green orbs moved past me to where he could see Jordan still sleeping near Misty through the doorway. He glanced back at Lynne and nodded understandingly. He bit his lip for a moment and believed that his words would be of no help but he tried anyway.

He innocently lifted her chin up with his fingers before both of his hands moved to cup the one of hers softly. He didn't let her go and his eyes didn't leave hers.

"I'm sorry about Jordan." He breathed out sadly for her and his brow furrowed gently when she just sighed quietly and shook her head. He didn't blush for once as her hand reached out to stroke his bare chest that was showing in his button down shirt for comfort. "I really am. He's being unnecessary."

My head turned to look behind me and I bit my lip along with James as I looked over at the sleeping yellow haired male. I knew it was wrong of him but I didn't exactly blame him for breaking up with Lynne as a result of all the pain. He knew it was selfish but he just had to focus on his daughter. It was consuming him. He needed to know that he was giving her his all. While I looked at Jordan with sympathy, James looked over and briefly shook his head. It was Lynne's turn to be sympathetic over his look.

Though she didn't say anything about her own break up, she looked sadly at James and her hand didn't leave the warmth of his chest. It stopped heaving for good at the feeling of her soft hand. She looked up at him with sincere eyes as her other hand moved to his cheek.

"I'm sorry too." She mumbled, not doing anything else other than looking into his eyes. She swallowed. "About Jessie. The last thing you need right now is your own break up, even if it is temporary like we all know it will be. Your kids don't need that either."

Despite everything, James found himself defending his magenta haired wife when he saw Lynne's brow furrow. He shrugged, his hand moving to rub his own forehead at the reminder.

"I don't really blame her." He admitted before his head sunk back to lean against the wall behind him thoughtfully. He shrugged again. "I can't blame her. She's just protecting herself the way she knows how just like how I am by stopping myself from crying all the time. It's awful for us all and we're all going to be selfish at times because of it."

Lynne found herself shaking her head in disbelief at her daughter's best friend's level of understanding and acceptance in such a hard time. Though he was looking back at the wall distantly for a moment again, she was looking right back at him. Her eyes were studying him. And she almost smiled.

But before I could think to myself any further or Lynne's head could lean closer to his to look at him even more, his head didn't move but his eyes did. They suddenly looked at her and despite how broken they were both feeling before, she blushed gently.

James didn't notice but I did. But even though he didn't notice, I also could tell that he was beginning to have the same feelings as her. He looked away from her but he blushed gently. His legs moved away from his chest and they almost rested on either side of her as he was sitting down. His fingers rubbed his forehead. She found herself intrigued by his face almost softening. She moved nearer to him again and didn't hide her smile.

"What are you thinking about…?" she asked him curiously, this time her own legs moving to her chest and resting her head on her hand as she looked at him.

James shrugged and he opened his mouth to say 'nothing' but for some reason, he abruptly stopped himself. His tears had gushed out before but now truth was oozing out of him. He shook his head almost as if he couldn't believe he was admitting it to her. He scratched his cheek shyly.

"I can't stop thinking about the way you kissed me last." He told her, his voice lowering but in a way that showed that the conversation was just for them rather than that he was embarrassed by his words. He was being honest.

I could tell by Lynne's expression that this was the last thing she'd expect to be on his mind considering the time that had befallen our group. I was bewildered by this too. I hadn't been aware that they had shared a kiss since she had come down after Rey was born. But it was a possibility that he was thinking about an event from months ago. And he still hadn't forgotten it. Which was sweet.

James hadn't forgotten it and after her initial surprise, it was clear that Lynne hadn't forgotten it either. Innocently and almost shyly, her fingers moved away from being balled under her chin and reached out to stroke his lips.

The lavender haired male looked back somewhat intimately after admitting the truth to her but he edged closer to her, letting her fingers trace over where he was freshly shaven. His skin blushed and glowed at her touch. He found himself admitting more with a slight charming laugh.

"You didn't kiss me there…" he mumbled with innocent truthfulness, his eyes still not leaving hers as he watched her hand move back to his cheek. He added, causing her to blush. "It wasn't there either."

Lynne bit her lip softly at the more intense attention from James than normal but she smiled, her nose wrinkling as she too remembered the kiss in greater detail while I blinked. I definitely didn't know anything about a kiss that was not on the lips. I gave them the benefit of the doubt that it was innocent but I knew of their feelings for each other. And I could see they were moving towards each other.

I thought that it would be James to speak again judging by the rosiness of his cheeks and the fact that he was the one moving closer. But Lynne's hand moved to the back of his neck while her other hand traced her own lips.

His complete truthfulness with her allowed her to do the same with him.

"Can… Can I kiss you like that again…?" she found herself asking him, her own cheeks glowing the same way as his. After her fingers touched her mouth, they moved to the side of her neck while she kept the other hand on his. It was obvious that that was the body part in question. I continued watching.

James' breath hitched slightly in his throat at the thought but he nodded, his eyes moving back to hers after they spent some time gazing down to her hand. His head continued to nod slowly as his hand reached to hold hers in his. He mumbled, again with the same honesty.

"It's all I've been thinking about…" he told her and he took a bold move by suddenly pulling her onto his lap. She blushed and he continued looking at her face, in a mixture of not wanting to look away from her and also making sure she was okay with it. She was more than okay with it.

One hand moved to stroke further down his chest after she gently undid one more button and her lips moved to kiss up his neck before crashing her lips to his. I wanted to look away and walk away when they began to kiss each other lovingly and passionately but I didn't. Again, I almost couldn't.

It felt so real yet unreal. It was real because I could see the love that they had for each other but it was unreal because it felt like a TV show. I didn't leave. Even though I knew that I should.

After quite a few minutes of holding each other and kissing and their hands moving to various parts of each other - Face. Hair. Shoulders. Hands – James' lips almost hesitantly broke away from hers.

The orange haired female looked disappointed at first but she soon gave him a smile, deciding instead to be happy that it happened. She let out a contented sigh as her head moved to bury against his neck that she had just been kissing. Her fingers walked up his arm.

I expected him to share her contentment and look down at her and smile but he didn't. He looked slightly different than before. Not in an unpleasant way but in a way that was hard to fathom. He was biting his lip and he breathed out. He looked nervous. His fingers moved to meet hers as they moved to walk along his palm.

"You know…" he began in a low tone that was just for her and she instantly smiled more and wrinkled her nose at the sound of his voice. He breathed out somewhat shakily but continued. "This time is different. You don't have to stop there."

James was referring to how they both no longer had other partners but Lynne didn't catch on. But she didn't move her head away from his neck to look at him. She instead just blinked and waited for him to explain. It took a few moments for him to do so. He was being bold.

Eventually he knew what to do. Instead of explaining to her right away, his fingers entwined with hers and he looked down at her. He mumbled simply.

"Kiss me again, Lynne…" he breathed out, his eyes meeting hers again when she looked up at him. I knew that I was right but I didn't know about what at that moment in time. I knew it was different.

I knew that they both enjoyed hearing each other say each other's names in the innocent way that they often did and Lynne didn't hesitate to oblige. She stopped nuzzling into his neck and her hand cupped his cheek as she kissed him again.

Once again, their lips remained together for quite some time with their hands moving around each other's bodies. It remained mostly innocent but James was definitely getting bolder. His fingers went from the back of her neck to her waist and eventually her thigh.

When she giggled and hesitantly pulled away from his lips upon feeling where his hand was, James suddenly decided it was time for him to say the words he had thought about a few moments ago. He was thinking about saying them all throughout their second kiss. So he finally did.

"You don't have to stop there." He repeated and he knew that she'd blink at him again. He was prepared. He looked at her shakily but surely as her hand curiously reached to stroke his cheek as he spoke to her. "Let's do this. You and me. We can go to my hotel room across the street. Let's be together."

My mouth hung open upon hearing these words and my ears seemed to buzz with shock. But I couldn't do anything but watch. I knew Lynne had always been a naïve woman but this time, she knew exactly what he was talking about. Her hand remained on his cheek and her legs tightened around his waist with shock. She breathed out.

"You… You mean…?" she asked him quietly, her eyes honing even further into his and looking at him almost with hope. She blushed. And I could tell she was thinking she'd got it wrong. But I knew she was hoping she hadn't.

James was nervous. I could tell that too. But he was natural with her and he loved her. He smiled at her and nodded his head. His face leaned forward and he tenderly nuzzled his nose against hers. She could feel the love. She could feel the respect. She could feel her heart thudding with love for him. He continued nodding as he spoke softly to her.

"I want to feel this with you…" he mumbled to her truthfully, his own eyes filled with hope and lighting up way more than any of the Christmas lights that could be seen in the hospital. He held her hands in his. "Let's feel this together."

Lynne breathed out with disbelief but she didn't even need to answer with words. The way she looked at him and the way their eyes never left each other's as he picked her up and began to carry her out said it all.

They were going to experience something amazing together. Such dark times had befallen our group but somehow, a miracle was going to happen out of it. I was left stunned as nurses and doctors checked Misty as she slept while James and Lynne headed out and the door shut behind them.

I was frozen. I was bewildered. But I didn't want to stop it. They had both admitted themselves how much they were suffering. So they were going to heal each other together while they were entwined. I knew they were in love and I knew it was right for them. I couldn't judge. I didn't judge. So instead I thought to myself. And I found myself smiling.

It was true. Lightness can come out of the dark. Your angel doesn't have to be on your Christmas tree. If you were like James, you would wake up with her ear listening to your beating heart.

The End.

There you go! Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed :3 So yeah, this is probably the most intense I've written James and Lynne before. This is the night that they first are intimate with each other but they properly begin dating when Lynne comes down from up there the following summer after this event. They are broken up temporarily in this moment but end back up with Jessie and Jordan respectively and go back to their usual occasional kiss and moment with their other partners permission. But after Jessie and Jordan learn that they slept with each other, it becomes a conversation point that maybe they should let them be a couple when they are on the same place. Maybe I'll write about that one day :P Thanks again for reading and I will be back next Wednesday with another Christmas based chapter so see you then!

AmyBieberKetchum signing out :3