A day passed, then another, and a third one right after, but Stevie didn't know about Xenja's whereabouts. Her texts didn't go through and the luxury apartment stood empty - neither the disturbed woman nor her daughter had appeared since.

It was late in the afternoon of the fourth day of waiting when a single text reached Stevie's phone, but one long enough to fill a novel. Xenja had written about how she was sorry for not responding earlier, how she was fine but things got complicated, how her mother got locked away for the time being.

The text - which was filled with cute written emoji that Xenja liked to use - contained answers to all the worries Stevie had had, taking them away one by one, tears of relief welling up in the blonde's eyes. But the last line was the most important one, making the girl jump up and sprint outside in a hurry she had not had before.

[I want to see you. Now.] was all that the blonde needed to read to make her leave immediately, not even noticing her grandma when she asked what had happened.

She skipped down the stairs, messily putting on her coat, no time to tie her shoelaces which were now audibly hitting against the concrete stairs. It was only 3 days and some hours since they had seen each other, but Stevie couldn't believe how much she missed that girl - even though they had only known each other for some weeks.

Stevie barely reached the first floor when she could already see the short shape of her lover through the glass in the door. She ripped it open and the girls immediately threw their arms against each other, crashing their lips together as if they hadn't seen their faces in months.

When they finally managed to break their contact - both having tears of relief on their cheeks - Xenja motioned that Stevie should follow her, then took her hand and guided it along the road which was decorated with various colorful lights. In the distance, they could hear many people laughing and enjoying their Christmas Eve, mostly families and loved ones having a good time.

Stevie didn't know where they were walking but was happy to feel Xenja's hand in her own, not minding the long walk at all. It was cold and snow was slowly falling from the sky in big flakes, but being next to her special someone was enough to warm her up inside - at least that's what her head was thinking.

While the apartment of Stevie's grandma was on the outskirts of Florida, the place they went to now led them further and further away from the city, the piles of snow they had to fight through getting deeper as time passed.

When the buildings started to get less and their height had changed from apartment buildings to family homes, Xenja turned a corner, pulling Stevie along. They entered a rather small alley with not many homes adjacent to it. At a particularly oldish but homely looking one, Xenja suddenly entered the driveway and climbed the fence that was between the driveway and the garden of the house - not a very high fence at that, climbing it was easy even for the short girl.

Stevie was left standing there stunned from this random action. The shy and mute girl that she had been going out with just led her out of the city and up to some random building before breaking into the garden.

Xenja, on the other hand, was looking rather happy and motioned for the blonde to follow her. Hesitantly Stevie followed her and noticed the sign that said that there was a dog watching the property, which made her nervousness rise even more.

Once on the other side of the wooden fence, Xenja took her hand again and led her through the garden. Stevie wanted to ask what they were doing and where exactly they were, but she noticed that Xenja didn't have her board on her anyway, so she couldn't expect an answer either way. Their journey had come to an end then and there - luckily, was Stevie starting to feel cold - as Xenja opened the door of a small shed in the garden.

The small girl had to stretch quite a bit to the ceiling to reach the string that turned on the small lamp inside the hut, but once the light illuminated all the old things before the girls, Stevie got to see a beautiful old piano, its wood showing the decades it had lived.

Xenja motioned to Stevie to sit and sat down herself the way she always did in their lessons. She opened the lid of the piano and brushed off some dust before starting to play a song that the two girls had started learning together for the past weeks.

Stevie got the hint and started playing her part, an easier version of the same song with a higher pitch. They kept playing for a few minutes, repeating the same pleasant tunes until Stevie's fingers felt like cramping up. Xenja noticed and got to the end of the song, before turning to face Stevie. The girls were looking directly at each other's eyes, not breaking eye contact.

"Xenja, I-" started Stevie after a short moment of silence but was cut off by Xenja who put her finger on her lover's lips and smiled.

She took a deep breath, seemingly trying to calm herself from nervousness. With her mouth still open her lower lip started shaking which she tried to suppress by closing her mouth again. She slowly opened it again and in a very quiet voice spoke the first words that Stevie would ever hear from her, "I love you."

The blonde was moved to tears by hearing her lover's voice speak those words, and replied, sobbing, "I love you too, more than anything."

The girls kiss passionately and follow it up with a tight embrace, one that wouldn't break for a solid minute until the door of the shed opened behind them and made Stevie jump.

In came a black dog that started barking and had Stevie scared, but jumped up to Xenja and demanded cuddles. After the dog followed an elderly woman with a smile on her face that spoke, "Merry Christmas... so you must be Stevie. Xenja told me all about her girlfriend and how she wanted me to meet her."

The woman held her hand out for Stevie to shake, but the surprised girl was just stunned and utterly confused by what was happening.

"My, my, did she not even explain the situation to you? Xenja is my granddaughter, I'm her late father's mother. Her mother forbade me to see her after the accident back then, calling my family cursed and whatnot. But after recent events Xenja will be living here until her eighteenth birthday in two years," explained the woman, making Stevie notice that unlike Xenja, her granny liked to talk. A lot.

"I see, nice to meet you," stuttered Stevie and finally shook the hand offered to her.

"I understand that your religious grandmother might not like the idea of you having a girlfriend either, so you are invited to stay with us as long as you want. Tracy and I have been lonely for the past years, hadn't we?" continued the woman, referring to the dog.

"Thank you very much," responded Stevie taken aback, before all four started walking in the direction of the house.

Xenja and Stevie held hands as the walked through the garden, looking up as the sun was setting, drowning the sky in the deep blue of a starry night, by far not as emotionless as it had been just a few weeks ago.