YOU'LL BE DOING ALRIGHT
WITH YOUR CHRISTMAS OF WHITE,
BUT I'LL HAVE A BLUE, BLUE, BLUE, CHRISTMAS.

_________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐

None of us say anything until one of us grows balls and decides to say something. "Maybe you should call your brother," Holly, the one with the balls, suggests, "and invite him and Olga over."

I tap my foot on the floor. Gradually pulling my bottom lip between my teeth, tempted to listen to the blond haired woman. "What if he asks why?"

"Ottie..." Holly clicks her tongue and throws her curly locks behind her shoulder before puckering her red lips at me. "What like, you're not his sister? Tell him you wanna get to know his girlfriend!"

I nod, "You're right." And reach in my back pocket. The only way to know if Austin's really the father, is to know if Olga's the mother. I message Hugo, deleting, writing, deleting, writing, deleting again. It's like my fingers forgot how to type, or do anything, really.

"Ottilie, darling!" Maria rolls her eyes and snatches the phone out of my hands. Her red nails click against the screen quickly, and whatever she's typed in, she must be confident because she presses send without hesitation. "There." She hands me my phone back.

'Hugo darling, I was wondering if you could bring Olga over today? I want to get to know her! Love you x'

My tired eyes open wide as I read the message over and over. "Hugo darling?" Maria's unbothered face makes it that much more crazy to me. "I never call Hugo 'darling'! Who texts like this?!"

She shrugs, "Not you, apparently."

A grunt bubbles up in my throat, but is held back by a notification from Hugo.

'Wtf? Did maria steal ur phone or sum?'

I smack my forehead, briefly glaring at Maria before subconciously typing: 'Yeah, she's being weird. Anyways, are you gonna bring Olga?'

'Sure! I was thinking ab it too!'

'Ok! See you!'

A sigh of relief later, a knock on the door is heard. In between whispers, franctic hand gestures, and faltering eyes, Oliver manages to hide sleeping Priscilla in her usual hiding spot. Under the table.

I open the door to the employee's room and am met with an unusually joyful Damian standing with a single rose.

"Oh, darling!" Maria stands up from her seat, fixing her hair as she swiftly pushes me out of the way. "You did not have to!" Her slim fingers eerily wrap around the stem of the rose, pulling it out of Damian's hands, and landing a cheeky kiss on his lips.

I'm usually in agreement with the mantra "Anything is possible." But I did not think it'd ever be possible to see my maneater step-mother kiss my boss of five years on the lips. I guess anything is possible.

The two leave Andromeda without a word to us. They float above the ground, they're on cloud nine, they're in love and hypnotized. The things love makes you do.

I force my self-pitying thoughts away and avert my attention to Holly and Oliver carefully taking the maxi-cosi back out from under the table. Little Priscilla still sleeps peacefully. She has not a care in the world. They play with her small hands, having loads of fun quietly laughing at her squishy sleeping face when-

Another knock.

I turn to them, pointing under the table again, which Holly and Oliver roll their eyes at. They shove the maxi-cosi back under the table, and I open the door.

"Kevin?" He stands with a smug smile, pointing over his shoulder, in the direction of a man I'm supposed to be hiding from.

"He's been waiting there for about fifteen minutes. I think you should ask him what he's waiting for." Kevin shrugs, the corner of his mouth lifting.

I roll my eyes and push the kid to the side, trying to be gentle, and close the door to the employee's room.

There it is. That stomach dropping feeling again. The butterflies must be dead by now, from all the earthquakes my body's been through.

"Ottie." Austin stands tall with his hands buried deep into the pockets of his dress pants. A strand of his silky hair falls in front of his forehead, and I fall for him. All over again. "I wanna talk to you. Really talk to you."

I clear my throat and try to stand as tall as him, but my shoulders aren't as confident as his broad ones. Nor is my spine cooperating with me at all. "M-Mister Butler?" I raise a brows, and see Austin's drop. "How can I help you?"

"Really?" He sighs, "You're still not gonna call me by my name?" His left hand reaches to his chin, rubbing the skin, all hot and bothered. "Ottie, what did I do?"

"Mister Butler I-"

"Seriously." He cuts me off but not with a stern voice. In fact, everything about him is calm and collected, except for his eyes. Those goddamn eyes. They tell me everything. Everything is hidden in those glistening and curious eyes of his. Too bad he can't look in them himself, mirrors are often deceiving, and taking selfies to see yourself only creates more insecurities. "I'm- I'm lost. I really am. I mean, I-I just think over and over and over about why you could possibly be giving me attitude, but I don't know. I just don't."

The muscles in my face tense up. "Attitude?" My back tingles, starting from my neck, all the way down to my heels. I feel my hair's standing up, and goosebumps appearing. "You think I'm giving you attitude? You think this is attitude?" I frown.

He presses his lips together, nodding as if to tell me he's expected me to lash out. "Yeah. I do."

"You're so-"

"Uhm, excuse me?" Kevin interrupts with his blond head poking over the reception counter. "How is it that as an eight year old little boy," he lifts his pointer finger in the air, "I can see the love better than two adults?"

I gasp quietly, my fluttering eyes bouncing back and forth between Austin's equally flustered face, and Kevin's sheepishly cocky one. "W-What?" I'm not quite sure how my sentence will end. "What does that- what do you mean? Like- w-what?!" I end it with an artificial chuckle for good measure.

"Yeah..." Austin chuckles along, "Like, what does that even mean?"

I see Kevin give him the side-eye, "We've talked about this before. Love is in the air!" He makes sure to emphasize each word clearly.

This small moment of silence obviously doesn't last long, as Ariana Grande's voice gently erupts from the speaker. Santa tell me, if you're really there~

Santa, do tell me if you're really there. Am I on the naughty or nice list? These thoughts I've been having, away from Austin, are they naughty or nice? Tell me, because I'm losing my mind over the eyes he's giving me.

The jingle tune of the song is like a bucket of water splashed against the burning flesh of my chest, though it doesn't last for too long. Austin breaks the silence-

"Love?" He blows raspberries, "There's no- there's no love in the air." He dismisses it with the sway of his hand in the air, frowning disapprovingly.

Wow.

Once again, I realize I'm at the right place. Heartbreak Hotel. This is where I'm supposed to be, accompanying the millions of pieces my heart shattered in.

Kevin and I watch Austin chuckle nervously, making various faces that, simply put, tell me 'no.' He eventually finds himself back by the elevators, having Kevin follow him in once the doors open.

My eyes sparkle with sadness, or maybe those sparkles are just the chandelier lights reflecting on to the tears oozing from my bottom lash line. No love?

-

"Why didn't you give her the turtle dove?" Kevin follows Austin into the messy bathroom. It's a gloomy and dimmed atmosphere, with the only source of light being the yellow bulbs around the mirror.

Austin doesn't reply. He grips the side of the porcelain sink while his free hand rushes for the tap. Relieved sighs escape his mouth with each splash of cold water against his heated face. He shuts his eyes tight and lets the luke-warm drip down the tip of his nose.

Clicking his tongue, "This is ridiculous!" Kevin exclaims, his little fingers brushing through his blond hair. "Only a wimp would be hiding from a girl, and you can't be a wimp! You're the man of the hotel!"

The stream of water is cut off by Austin, making it silent. He dries his face off, throwing the towel on the floor before shoving Kevin aside to hurl himself on his bed.

Kevin uses that time to snoop around Austin's bathroom. To see clearly into the cupboards around the mirror, he pulls out the stool under the sink, standing taller on it. He finds a black bottle with the picture of a freshly shaven, blinging man.

His brows raise in amusement, "After shave?" He reads the bold letters, and his smile tugs at the corners.

Looking at his reflection in the mirror, he decides he has shaving to do. Using Austin's razor on the side of the sink, he goes in dry. Something he must learn. The razor cuts off his peach fuzz, not really changing anything, but Kevin likes how much smoother is feels.

Eventually going back to the after shave, he pops the cap off and dribbles some of the liquid into his hand, before rubbing his palms together and slapping both of his cheeks.

"Aaaaaahhhhh!!!"

His mouth opens wide to let out the most agonizingly afwul scream. His eyes widen, and he continues to scream at the top of his longs until Austin runs in concerned.

"What's going on?!" He approaches Kevin with worried arms and holds him by his shoulders. "Kevin?"

Kevin faces him, his red cheeks matching his red sweater.

-

"Hugo!" Oliver spreads his arms, greeting Hugo into Andromeda. Of course, awkwardly, because it's an Oliver special to be absurdly awkward.

Hugo smiles brightly and bumps Oliver's fist. "Bellboy! How are you?" Behind him, a tall woman follows. Olga looks like she put a lot more effort in her outfit today, not that the last time wasn't impressive. The black dress just seems more of a night-out dress, but she pulls it off.

"You must be Olga!" Oliver shakes her hand, leading her to the reception, where Holly and I stand. This is it. This is the moment we find out if Austin is a dad.

Olga giggles, her dimples showing on either side of her face, and her eyes immediately land on me. "Ottie." She shakes my cold hand, her pupils shrinking immensily.

"Olga." I greet her back. "I asked Hugo if he could bring you here," I explain as Holly greets the two, "because I wanted to get to know you!"

She nods. Something about her smile. It seems to almost be a mockery of my wide one. "Yes. I'd love to get to know you." She hums.

-

Once Austin's done laughing at kevin, he helps him rub burn relief cream from the ER kit in the cupboard.

"It's not that funny." The little boy rolls his eyes, but Austin begs to differ, he cackles with his head thrown back while Kevin scorns annoyed. "Stop laughing!"

"I'm sorry!" Coughing, Austin giggles. His deep voice being the only thing echoing in the room. "It's just- your face! It's completely red! You look like a tomato!"

"You looked like a tomato when you were talking to Ottie." Boom. Roasted. Austin's chuckles immediately simmer down, and once again, he's reminded of her.

He clears his throat and plops himself back on the bed, lying on his back with throaty grunts.

Kevin does the same, only on the other side of the bed.

"I want to talk to her-" breathing in and out softly, Austin mumbles with his hands on his chest, waiting for advice from the eight year old, "but she doesn't."

"Maybe it's because you never surprised her with mac and cheese." Kevin shrugs, followed by a long silence.

Moments like these make Austin realize that's about all the advice an eight year old can give him. Mac and cheese... If only everything was so simple.

"Or I should just do what I've been wanting to do." He whispers, loud enough for Kevin to hear, and stands up to leave the room.

Kevin watches confused, "Which is?" The door to 225 closes, and Austin joins a group in the elevator making their way down to the reception hall.

The doors roll open, and in between unfamiliar faces, I see one a bit too familiar. Austin takes steps of dominance to approach me by the counter, before reaching over and leading me out by my wrist.

"M-Mister Butler?" I gasp.

Hugo, Holly, and Oliver snap their brows together, while Olga raises a brow. She chews on the inside of her cheek, suddenly tapping her foot on the ground, and tightly crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Come with me." Is all Austin tells me as he drags me back to the elevator.

Jutting my chin at Olga, I gesture to Holly and Oliver to figure it out on their own. They're way better at interrogating than I am, anyway.

-

225.

Here I am again.

"Give us a minute." Austin tells Kevin, who's still lying across the queen sized bed. "Please."

Half-lidded, sleepy eyes open wide, he rubs them tiredly while nodding at the two of us. I notice his red face as he walks out, but am distracted by Austin's arm sneaking around my waist and pulling me in.

"Ottie." He whispers, "For fuck's sake. Talk to me."

. . .

A single minute can quickly turn into a painfully lengthy hour of him sitting in front of the door to prevent me from walking out. Austin leans the back of his head against the door, perching his feet on the floor and resting his arms on his knees. He sighs and slouches while I try my hardest to keep myself together.

I, with my arms crossed in front of my chest, look down at him with the same eyes I had when he locked the door on us. "Austin."

Yes... I've given in. His hands held me captive until I called him by his name, and my body was overwhelmed by the mere inches between the two of us.

He hums.

I hum back, mocking him, "Please. Open the door."

He shakes his head.

This has been on repeat for the last hour. I roll my eyes and a long, deep, and pent up sigh leaves my lips. I could rip all my hair out. The inside of my bottom lip stings from all the chewing and nervous munching.

"Please."

He clicks his tongue and briefly raises his brows. "Not until you talk to me."

"There's nothing to talk about." I say and rub my temples to soothe the immense ache that's squeezing my head. "I'm just doing my job."

"You're ignoring me." There's no sense of tone to his voice. He sounds exhausted. He sounds like he's been talking for decades, and now wants to take a break. "We had sex, and now you're ignoring."

I take these few seconds in between each comment very seriously, using them wisely to gather my wild thoughts. "I'm not ignoring you-"

"You are. I'm not dumb, I can tell."

My shoulders shrug almost subconciously as I'm pressing my lips together to show him how boring and dull the atmosphere is, but along the way, I forget that he has to share the same feelings with me. We're together in this situation. Both as tired, both as desperate. "Well, if you're not dumb, I'd assume you know why I'm ignoring you."

Wow. I'll be honest, I never expected to start this conversation. Something took me over.

The ceiling lights shine on his face, and his sky blue eyes pierce through my tree trunk brown ones. His forehead creases in baffling confusion. I can't believe he shows genuine astonishment.

"I clearly don't." He says. His grazing teeth pull his bottom lip, almost drawing blood, while the veins around his neck pepper his skin with various blues and purples. "Why don't you just tell me?"

My brain tells me to fuck it, and lately I've been listening to everything my brain tells me. "Okay." I take in a deep breath, "When I told you I loved you... You didn't even try to think about it."

I feel the tears welling up in the corners of my eyes already, but I sniffle and bite my teeth.

Austin's leather shoes squeak against the tile flooring as he gets up with a deep grunt, he kisses his teeth and cracks his knuckles. I know he wants to intimidate me, and it's working, but it's nothing new to me.

"How can you be so sure?" He squints, tilting his head to the side, and uses a voice I'm not quiet familiar with. It's not raspy, but it isn't smooth. It definitely bubbles in his throat, but sort of just rolls off his tongue.

I gulp, "Well, did you?"

Ottilie Crawford, when did you grow these massive balls?

His hand finds his chin, rubbing at the chestnut stubble. "I have, and if you'd just talked to me, you would've known."

This isn't happening, is it? I always knew Austin was the kind to be afraid to say the four letter word, but I also knew he'd manage to cut through the rope if he ever had to. Is this it? A confession in the place it all started? 225. Is this our lucky number? Our lucky door? Our lucky room?

"Ottie, look-" he starts scratching the back of his neck, and I can tell he's digging his nails well in his flesh. Somehow he's red around the collar, but fine in the face."I've been thinking about it ever since you told me, and to be honest, I've been thinking about it all."

My heartbeat matches the cumbersome steps he takes towards me. His hands immediately meet my wrists, pulling them close to his beating chest. "Ottie."

"Austin." I whisper back.

"Ottie." He repeats, searching for the right words.

My lips have a mind of their own, and decide to grow into a subtle smile when Austin presses his forehead against mine. He moves from left to right, completely surrounding me with his brawny arms.

My hands stay against his chest, and his stay against my back. This warmth, I realize I've never found this warmth anywhere else. Just here. His arms.

"Austin." I whisper again, this time with a soft chuckle.

"Ottie I-" one arm lets me go, but I almost don't feel a lack of warmth thanks to his other arm caressing me like he's planning to hold me forever. He reaches into his backpocket, pulling out something white, "I-"

"Ottie!"

Fuck.

Oliver and Holly knock on the door. Really? Right now? Right here? They couldn't wait a second more?

As these complaints run free in my mind, I remember why they might be knocking so franctically. I panic. Whatever it was Austin had in his pocket, he shoves in back in and sighs. His glare falls towards the door.

Maybe Olga confessed?

"Uhm-" I scratch the skin above my brow and look up at the -now uninterested- Austin. It doesn't seem like he'll be confessing, so I clear my throat and walk to open the door.

"Oh thank god!" Oliver's out of breath state, and Holly's franctic arms tell me something's not good.

"Ottie!" Holly presses her hand against the door frame, catchinger her breath to yell: "Olga's not the mom!"

My eyes open wide.

"So that means Austin's probably not the father!" Oliver follows it up, loud and clear, making me shut my eyes tight.

I tilt my head to the 225 written on the door, and Oliver immediately slaps his hand over his mouth, regretting his volume when Austin appears behind me.

"I'm sorry?" His deep voice, now mixed with confusion, which is also written all over his face, rings through my eardrums.

Fuck.

_________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐

➦ IN THE NEXT CHAPTER

It's Christmas day!

Ottie is gifted the same thing twice,
and Kevin has a surprise for Julian.

The big Christmas tree falls,
and an ever bigger fight occurs.

Please don't forget to vote<3