Christmas with Steven, Warren, Jess, and Ty was worth remembering, though that's not very surprising. Well, I guess it was in a way. I didn't think Steven and Warren were the type of people to celebrate christmas, and definately to the extent that they did, specially because Steven came from a jewish family. However, when I was woken up on the first day of december by Steven requesting that I come help everyone decorate the house, I realised I was definitely in for an adventure. 

I did realise how warm and homey Steven's giant house could feel when it was covered in lights, garland, ribbons, and the occasional mistletoe that I more often than not chose to ignore. Steven went all out for christmas, including buying everyone oversized, baggy, ugly christmas sweaters that I just didn't have the heart to deny wearing, despite the fact that my skin ran hot, and I would have to take the sweater off before too long. 

I made sure to wear the sweater when it was actually christmas though, and Steven seemed to appreciate that. On christmas eve, all five of us slept in the library, where the tree was set up, and we all cuddled with each other, and used as many blankets and pillows as possible to sleep in a mess on the floor. I was always more than happy to cuddle with anyone at night, but when I got to be trapped in a warm cuddle puddle with everyone in the house, I was able to sleep easily through the night. 

Christmas morning started with Steven giving me hot chocolate with a huge grin on his face, and making me sit practically in his lap to open presents, not that I was complaining. Steven, Warren, and Jess had gotten everyone one present each, while Ty and I did the best we could to find gifts for everyone, but it wasn't easy when Ty wasn't able to go out in public, and I wasn't aloud to go out in public alone. Not to mention, neither one of us had money. 

Ty had drawn pictures for everyone, and each one of them was detailed, and clearly took a lot of time. The drawings were all each of us in elegant, grand, and heroic forms. Warren had gotten Ty some art supplies, me a cool shirt with the solar system on it, Steven a new leather journal, since he never got his original one back, and Jess a set of book he thought she would like. While Jess had given everyone a different form of baked good that Steven had taught her how to make, which was really nice of her to do. 

I really appreciated everyone's gifts, but I had to admit that Steven's was probably my favorite. Steven had thought through his gifts for everyone a lot, and it showed, but for a long time, he had no idea what to get anyone. He settled for getting Ty a couple binders since he didn't have any anymore, Warren some art supplies of his own, which I found a bit confusing, Jess a really fancy necklace, Button a new bed and some toys, which meant a lot to me, and me a leather bound notebook of my own.

"You spend a lot of time with me in the lab, helping me with experiments and stuff, so I figured we can log everything together." Steven explained with an excited smile. 

"Thank you Steven. I really appreciate it." I said honestly, smiling thankfully at Steven. 

***

Going back to school after winter break was the first time that Mike and Bell were going to get to see my new leg. I had texted Mike, letting him know that I could walk again, but I hadn't seen him since he met Ty, and I was looking forward to walking up to him again for the first time in a long time. 

Soon after walking into the school, I found myself tackled into a tight group hug, with both Mike and Bell holding onto me tightly. I hugged them both back happily, having missed them a lot of the break. When Mike and Bell eventually pulled away from the hug, Mike kept a hold on both of my arms, and beamed up at me happily. 

"Look at you! You're standing!" Mike exclaimed happily, shaking me a bit. 

"Yeah I am." I responded, smiling back at Mike. 

"How does it feel?"

"A bit weird. I know that I'm moving my leg, but I can't really feel it."

"Are you happy with it."

"Of course. I like walking."

Mike was incredibly supportive of me, as per usual, and he understood when I wasn't able to walk an excessive amount, or when I would stumble, or something like that. He didn't treat me any differently, which I really appreciated, and he was just so good to me. I was so lucky to have a boyfriend like Mike. 

Soon after school started again, Mike invited me over to his house to hang out with him, and I was only all too happy to accept. Steven was a bit nervous, and insisted on triple checking that I had my bracelet on, so that I could push the button on it to alert Steven that I was in trouble if something happened, but he let me go nonetheless. 

When I got to Mike's house, he quickly pulled me into his room, and shut the door behind him, explaining that he didn't want Bell to bother us, because she had been annoying him that day. Mike and I just played video games, while sitting on his bed, on the tv he had in his room for a while, and it was really fun. Mike was really good at all the games we played, and I was terrible at them, but I think that just made it better. We were laughing and joking, and it was fantastic, but then the mood of the room changed dramatically. 

Mike had beaten me in the game we were playing once again, and I was chuckling lightly when Mike all of a sudden pulled me into a passionate kiss. I hummed in surprise at first, but kissed back right away. Mike licked his way into my mouth and ran his hands down my sides, while I hooked my arms around Mike's neck, pulling him closer to me. 

As we pulled away from the kiss, both of us breathing heavily, I stared up at Mike happily. Mike shifted so that we were laying on his bed. My head was resting on Mike's pillows and he was practically stradling me while keeping his body close to mine. I cupped Mike's cheek in one of my hands, rubbing my thumb over his cheek bone, and running my other hand through Mike's soft blonde hair. 

Mike learned down and kissed me again, which I was more than happy with, and I kissed back with vigor. I was really enjoying making out with Mike, and wrapping my legs around his waist when he moved so that he wasn't straddling me anymore. However, things soon took a turn for the worst, and I found myself fighting back tears. Mike had had his hands on my sides, but had moved one down to the small of my back, which was completely fine until he let that hand move lower down. 

Now don't get me wrong, I liked making out with Mike, and it wasn't the fact that he was the one grabbing my butt that made me freak out. If things had turned out differently for me after I got my powers, I wouldn't have minded Mike grabbing my butt at all, and probably would have actually encouraged it. However, the last time someone touched my butt at all, it was the man who had kidnapped and raped me, and so when Mike reached his hand down and squeezed my butt, even through my pants, I let out a whimper, and pushed Mike gently away from me while scooting up the bed. 

Mike was forced to let go of me completely, which he would have done even if I didn't scoot away because Mike was a kind and considerate person, which only made me feel bad. Making out was fine, but the second Mike touched my butt, all I could think about was the man who raped me, but I knew that Mike was very different from that man. Mike would never hurt me, or do anything that I wasn't comfortable with, or anything like that, and I knew that, but it didn't stop me from getting scared. But it's not like Mike knew any of this. 

I had never told him about being raped, because I didn't want him to know about that. I knew it would upset him, and I was worried that everything that happened the second time I was kidnapped would just be too much for him, and he would decide that he didn't want to be part of my life anymore, so I just didn't tell him. But I didn't really have much of a choice anymore. 

"Gill? Is everything ok? I didn't hurt you did I?" Mike asked, obviously more concerned than angry. I shook my head, trying to push down the tears that were welling up in my eyes. 

"No, you didn't hurt me. I'm sorry, I just freaked out." I responded, not looking at Mike. 

"Do you want to tell me why?" Mike scooted backwards a little bit, giving me space and sitting down, clearly ready to listen. 

"I didn't mean to freak out like that, it's just, no one's touched my butt since the last time I was kidnapped, and I guess I couldn't handle it." I explained, not really wanting to go into much detail, but I knew that I would probably have to anyway. 

"Gill? What happened the last time you were kidnapped?" Mike asked seriously, and this is when I let my tears fall, concentrating my power so they didn't burn me. 

"I woke up to a man raping me." I whispered. 

"Oh Gill. I'm sorry that I scared you, I promise I didn't mean to. I would never do that to you, but I understand that you got scared, and that's ok because we don't have to do anything that you're not comfortable with, and we can even just find something else to do if you would rather do that." 

"It's ok Mike. I know that you didn't know, and I know that you would never do that to me. You care about me, and are a really nice person, and would never do anything to hurt me. I just got scared because I just started thinking about what that man did to me, but it's not because of you." I rushed to reassure Mike, crawling closer to him, and grabbing onto one of his hands in an effort to let him know that I wasn't afraid of him. 

"That's completely understandable, Gill. Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I was worried about what you would think of me if I did." 

"I don't think any less of you, Gill. It's not your fault, and I would never dislike you for something like that. I love you no matter what, and you can't change that." Mike pulled me in for a hug, holding me closely and making me feel overwhelmingly safe. 

"Mike I think we need to talk." I said quietly, not pulling away from the hug. 

"About what?"

"About sex. If we're nearing that point in our relationship, then I think we definitely need to talk about it to make sure that we're both on the same page and know what's going on."

"I think that's a good idea." Mike pulled away from the hug, but kept me close to him and looked me in the eyes with a soft smile. "What were you thinking?"

"Well, I think it's important to establish that there are certain things I can't do for you since Peter had me fixed." I began. The first time I was kidnapped, a man named Peter treated me like a dog, and had me fixed so that I couldn't reproduce. "I don't have a penis, and that alone is bad for my prostate, so I definitely can't do certain things as far as sex goes."

"I know, and I would never ask you to. I want you to be happy and healthy, and I wouldn't ever knowingly do something to jeopardize that." Mike told me. 

"I know you wouldn't Mike. I just want to make sure that that's clear."

"I understand Gill. I think we should also agree to always use protection. Obviously neither one of us can get pregnant, but using protection is just safer, and cleaner anyway."

"Of course. I agree one hundred percent. I also think we should make sure that we have both given our explicit consent before doing anything, and that we both be completely honest with each other, to make sure that we're both comfortable." 

"Well of course. I never would have done anything without your consent anyway. I would never want to make you uncomfortable, or make you do something you don't want to."

"I know you wouldn't, and I wouldn't ever do that to you either. I just think the discussion of consent is important."

"It is, and we can absolutely do that. The last thing that I was thinking is that we make sure to talk to each other. If there's something we've been thinking about, or that's bothering us, I think we should talk about it. You don't have to tell me everything if you don't want to, but I think that if one of us is thinking about something a lot, we should tell the other about it."

"I think that makes a lot of sense, and I promise to do my best to make sure that I talk to you about whatever I'm thinking, even if it's a little hard to do."

"Thank you."

"I'm lucky to have you as my boyfriend. I love you Mike."

"I love you too Gill."