"Am I fired?"

That was the first thing that came to your mind and therefore, the first thing you said. Peros and Katakuri stood in your doorway, looking about as confused as you felt. They'd never come to your house before and you hadn't invited them over. They just kinda showed up and seeing them outside of the workplace threw you in enough of a loop to make you blurt out stupid things.

"Why...would we fire you?" Peros asked slowly, the first to recover from your strange question.

You opened your mouth and closed it a couple times, trying to formulate a response before you finally shook your head. "It's been a crazy few days and I've been kinda out of it lately. Can we ignore that?"

"Sure." Katakuri grunted. You could hear the hint of amusement in his voice.

"Oh! Why don't you guys come in?" You stepped to the side so they could shoulder through the doorway that was almost too small for them.

It was snowing heavily outside and you didn't want them staying out in the cold like that. At least now that you knew your job was still secure. You were silently thanking yourself for having the forethought to clean the apartment on your day off and replace all the fall decor for Christmas themed stuff instead. After Thanksgiving, you were always pretty quick on keeping up with the changing seasons and holidays.

The house was bright with lights lining all the spots you had strings of leaves not long ago, snowman themed kitchenware were all over the kitchen, fall blankets were replaced with ones covered in snowy scenes and reindeer. Your favorite part was the modestly sized tree in the corner of your living room, covered in an array of colorful lights and decorations.

"Our mother would love your taste in decor." Peros noted as he made himself comfortable in your couch.

Katakuri did the same, taking up the opposite end while nodding in agreement with his brother. You took your usual spot, refusing to be sandwiched between the two giants. When you'd managed to tuck your legs under you and face them, the air seemed to turn a little more serious. Of course they'd come to talk about something important. As much as Cracker's brothers liked you, they never visited for the sake of socializing. Or at all for that matter.

"Soooo......" You trailed off uncomfortably, waiting for one of them to get the hint and bring up why they were here.

Peros looked to Katakuri, raising an eyebrow and motioning towards you. It was nice to see you weren't the only one unsure on how things were supposed to go. Katakuri cleared his throat loudly and glared at his brother before fixing his eyes on you, returning to his usual neutral expression quickly.

"You and Cracker have been....off lately." He noted.

"Um, yeah. We had an argument and it didn't turn out well. But we're figuring it out."

"Are you getting along?"

"Of course. We don't always agree, on a lot of stuff actually, but that doesn't mean we don't get along."

"So will we be seeing you for Christmas?"

You paused, unsure about it yourself. Cracker had started coming over again and things were back to normal, but the holidays hadn't been mentioned yet.

"We haven't actually talked about that yet but if you guys are still cool with me after that big, uh, mess, then I'd like to spend it with you guys."

After you ran out on Cracker, he'd informed you that his family really lit into him, assuming he'd done something wrong to make you so upset. In a way, he did but it wasn't like the damage was intentional. You couldn't bring yourself to stay angry with him over something he was completely ignorant about. He'd bothered you on more than one occasion the past couple days about what exactly he'd done and you had yet to tell him the truth. You were hoping you'd gather the courage for that soon.

"Of course we're still 'cool' with you." Peros scoffed. "I'm sure whatever happened was Cracker's fault."

You fought hard to not grimace at his statement. Literally no one blamed you for how that evening went and it made you cringe, it was crazy how they sided with you before their own brother so fast.

"Well I'd have to talk with him." You said quickly, wanting to move on before they started reaming into Cracker without him even being present. You didn't like it when someone talked bad about him, even if it was somewhat earned on his part. "We haven't figured anything out for Christmas."

The front door opened and you suddenly felt like you were the star of a bad sitcom. The man in question walked in, peeking over his shoulder at the multiple cars lining the street.

"Hey (Y/n), are my brothers....oh, well that answers that." He blinked his surprise away as he saw the two men occupying your couch. He slipped out of his jacket and draped it across the banister to your stairs as he made his way in. "So what's going on here?"

"We haven't heard what your plans are for Christmas so we thought we'd talk with you and (Y/n) about it." Peros answered, motioning for him to sit by you.

Cracker practically fell into the chase, pressing you between him and the headrest. You could feel the blush creeping up your face from how close he was but made yourself focus on his brothers.

"Yeah we hadn't gotten around to discussing it yet."

"What's there to discuss?" Katakuri grumbled. "You're still a couple and besides, (Y/n) just said she'd like to be included."

"You did?" Cracker looked down at you and your face felt like it was burning with embarrassment. Being the center of attention right now wasn't helping any.

You nodded. "If it's not a bother...."

"A bother?" Peros glared at Cracker. "Are you telling her it's a hassle to have her around? It's no wonder she stormed out on you last time!"

"No! I'm not–" Cracker groaned. "(Y/n), I'd love for you to be there and Peros I've never suggested so much to her even once. I'm assuming you're here because we're meeting up this evening?"

"Yes." Katakuri answered for his brother who looked about ready to start an argument. "We'll see you then, I think we have to remind a few of the others beforehand so we'll be heading out."

"So soon?" You asked as they stood to leave. "You just got here."

"We're just doing rounds. Not all of our family is good about answering texts and calls so it's easier to go see them."

"It takes too long if you ask me." Peros huffed at the inconvenience. "But yes, we'll see you this evening (Y/n)."

They didn't even say goodbye to Cracker, just you.

"I don't know why they jump to conclusions so much." Cracker sighed. He didn't move from his spot even though the couch was now open for him to take. "Why would you think it'd be an issue for you to be a part of the family for Christmas?"

"We're not actually dating." You couldn't look at him as you spoke. "And if we aren't a couple and I'm not technically family, I didn't want to just assume it was okay to include myself in your plans."

"There's no way any of us would rather you spend the day here alone. Look, I know there's been something else bothering you for a while. It's been making you act funny and I really want to know what it is. Have I done something?"

This was it. Your golden opportunity to come out and say what's been on your mind. The problem was, your heart was suddenly beating like crazy and you couldn't keep the nervous expression from invading your features. Maybe you could stall until you found your courage.

"Cracker, you've been nothing but good to me. I mean, look at this." You motioned to your surroundings. "I was worried I couldn't keep my job with everything going on and you, a complete stranger at the time, stepped in and made it possible for me to stay. You're always around when I need someone to talk to, you've introduced me to your family and that's been amazing...."

"I hear a but coming on." He watched you carefully, unsure of what would come out of your mouth next.

"But I don't understand why you keep helping me. I've made this whole ordeal harder than it needs to be for you. Hell, I think I somehow managed to make your entire family angry with you for absolutely no reason. I feel like I keep messing things up for you and I don't understand why you haven't given up on me."

He scratched his jaw thoughtfully and swung an arm behind you to rest on the head of the chase. "(Y/n), you've told me a lot about yourself. A lot of personal stuff. Your mom's gone, your dad couldn't stick around, you moved away from your friends all for the sake of your dream job, and then your dad walks in and out of your life a second time. I don't know what kind of prick pulls that kind of move but there's a special place in hell for people like him. But that's beside the point. What I'm saying is, don't you think you've had enough uncertainties in your life? If I can be one thing that's consistent, in a good way, then I'm happy with how everything has played out. Things have been challenging but not impossible. My family may be annoyed at me but it'll pass. And eventually, this rough patch of yours will pass too."

"You're literally the nicest person ever." You wiped at a few tears that threatened to spill from your eyes.

Things have been tough lately, good, but tough. And he understood that in a way no one else had been able to.

"I try." He hummed. "So that's what's been gnawing away at you?"

"Um, well......"

"No? Seriously? That sounded pretty important." His eyes went wide, not expecting something else to be weighing even heavier on you.

You held your breath for a moment and clasped your hands together in an attempt to keep them from shaking so bad. Why did you have to feel like a school girl with her first crush?

"The truth is..." You let your breath out with your words, almost in a hurry like you'd chicken out right as you were trying to say them. "You've been great and I really like you."

God. You sounded like a school girl too.

"Well yeah, I like you too...." Cracker's response died halfway past his lips when he took a second to really examine your appearance.

The way you looked at him through your lashes only to look away just as quickly. The slight different in color of your face as you blushed. The way you couldn't stop fidgeting beside him, nervous and antsy. And it finally dawned on him.

His hesitation was too much for you.

"Nevermind. Forget I said anything, it's not–"

You tried to get up but a firm but careful grasp on your arm kept you from doing so while a set of warm lips against your own effectively cut you off. The intensity and eagerness from him startled you. You thought his pause meant he wasn't interested, not just that he was caught off guard.

You had twisted around and leaned back against the chase to face him while he hovered over you. A hand crawled up to cradle your jaw and your arms wrapped around his neck like there was nothing more natural. You tried to breathe but he took that as a chance to slip his tongue in your mouth, swirling it around yours in a sudden fight for dominance.

When he did pull away, he kept you pinned, forcing you to lock eyes. "I am so sorry for not seeing all the signs. I thought when you were willing to help me find a partner that you did it because you weren't interested. I didn't want to try suggesting a relationship if you only wanted to be friends. And I'm sorry you were hurting the entire time. If I wasn't so dense, none of that would've happened."

"I-I don't get it, I seriously thought you didn't like me like that. When....?"

"Since day one. I heard about you from Peros and then when I met you.....as cheesy as it is, it was love at first sight. When you were struggling, it took all I had to just offer up a place for you to stay and nothing else. I didn't want you to think I was your boss's creepy brother."

You let out a short, airy laugh. "I mean, most people would find it creepy for someone to offer them a nice place to stay, rent free, either way."

"Was I creepy?" He frowned slightly but the expression didn't reach his eyes. They were bright, happy, and flicking around to catch every movement and look you made.

"Intimidating, maybe a little strange, but I don't think I found you creepy."

"So can we drop this game then?" He lowered himself again until his breath mixed with yours. "Can we stop pretending?"

"I'd like that." You murmured right before closing the distance once again.

In that moment, everything felt perfect. All the struggling you did internally and all the times your emotions got the better of you no longer mattered. Your worries melted away with this one victory and you didn't even care about your dead beat dad.

"Wait." You broke apart and furrowed your brows. "Why are we supposed to be hanging out with your family today?"

Cracker chuckled. "I can explain on the way there but first, I want more kisses."