Grian's POV

I can't remember the last time I felt this peaceful. Just lying in bed beside Ezra, with his head on my shoulder as he sleeps, snoring softly. No chaos, nothing to be scared of or worried about, and nothing to disturb us...

"GRIAN! EZRA! WAKE UP!"

I jump up with a scream as 22 Hermits in pyjamas come crashing through the door. As you can expect with a large group of people running into a room at once, arms and legs get tripped over, which results in a pile of Hermits in the middle of the floor.

Sometimes I regret letting them stay at the Mansion while everything gets sorted out.

"Uhh... Merry Christmas?" Scar says awkwardly

"IT'S CHRISTMAS?!" I gasp, having totally lost track of what day it was. Getting excited, I vigorously shake my boyfriend awake. "EZRA GET UP ALREADY!"

"Huh?" Ezra mumbles "Oh, morning Gri."

He's about to roll back over, when he notices the pile of Hermits. His face goes as white as a sheet, and then as red as his eyes.

"G-GET OUT!!!"

"Calm down!" I giggle

"I will! WHEN THESE GODDAMN HERMITS GET OUT!"

"Merry Christmas to you too." I snicker, kissing him on the cheek.

"Wait, what."

Ezra pauses, clearly very confused, and starts counting on his fingers. After he gets to about 14, he turns to me.

"You could've told me Christmas was today."

"I found out about 20 seconds ago." I tell him, shrugging. "Thankfully I bought gifts 6 weeks in advance."

"I don't have gifts."

"That's fine, you don't need to." Iskall tells him, while squashed beneath Zedaph, Cub and BDubs. "Tango hasn't gotten me a Christmas present since... well...ever."

"My appreciation and approval as your friend is enough of a gift." The demon responds jokingly "What else do you demand of me?!"

"..."

"I was kidding."

Ezra ignores the other's shenanigans, clearly more distracted by something else.

"Um... where's Xisuma?"

"Oh, we were gonna wake him up too..." Impulse starts

"...But he's actually asleep for once..." Wels continues

"...So we didn't want to bother him." Stress finishes

"That's... reasonable." My boyfriend admits 

While the conversation continues, I'm busy panicking because I have absolutely nothing for Ezra. I didn't even know he was alive until 3 weeks ago, and Christmas presents haven't really been a concern of mine since.

That's when I remember something that might work, and awkwardly climb out of the bed.

"Um... I'll be right back, you guys go down without me."

And without a word I ignore the stares of confusion and leave to find my last minute 'gift'.

Ezra's POV

I've never celebrated Christmas with more than 3 people. And I've certainly never celebrated it... this much I guess. My mum would tell me some old man dressed in red would break into our house to give us presents once a year, and apparently you're supposed to be happy about it?

I never understood it, but I just accepted the gifts and didn't really question it.

But with this many people, and all these beautiful decorations... I really understand why my mum would say Christmas is so amazing.

 I'm staring at the giant tree in the middle of the room, a look of pure awe on my face, when I feel someone take my hand.

"Pretty amazing, isn't it?" Xisuma asks, laughing a little.

"Yeah... I love it."

"That's not even the best bit, come on!"

Seeing as nobody really KNOWS me that well, and I only turned up a week ago, nobody really has a present for me. Not that I mind, it makes me really happy just to see the Hermits opening theirs and looking so happy.

Xisuma hands me a present with red wrapping, to my surprise.

"I... I got it when I was at Main World looking for Cleo." He tells me

I take a moment to stare at it, and smile, seeing as it's my first Christmas present in 14 years. Then I carefully open it, and see the matching hat, scarf and gloves. 

"Sorry, it's not really that grea-"

I cut Xisuma off by hugging him tightly, trying really, really hard not to cry.

"Thank you... you really have no idea how much it means to me."

"EEEEEEEZZZZZRRRRRRAAAAAAAAA!!!"

Like some mad little hurricane, Grian comes dashing down the stairs at a concerning speed, a messily and quite obviously hastily wrapped present in his hands. As he runs towards me, he trips over an unopened gift, crashing to the floor right in front of me.

"Hello Grian." I say calmly.

"Hi. Merry Christmas." He giggles, handing me the gift.

"You know you didn't need to get me anything."

"I do. And this wasn't supposed to be a Christmas present anyway."

Frowning in confusion at those words, I tear the wrapping off to see a small black box. Even more curious, I open the box to find a beautiful necklace with a ruby on it.

"Um, I saw it 4 years ago in a shop, and it reminded me of your eyes. So I got it, and it kind of ended up being a gift."

"Oh my god... Grian I..."

I'm at a total loss for words, so Grian just kisses my cheek with a slight giggle.

"I'll take it you like it?"

I love it."

"YOU DUDES!" One of the Hermits yell, the one who I'm pretty sure is named Ben. 

Or was it something else?

 It might've been Ken. 

"ITS SNOWING!"

All the others get really exited, while I try to pretend I know what the heck 'snowing' means. I follow the Hermits to the window, where I look outside and my jaw drops. There's loads of white stuff falling from the sky, little tiny bits of it. 

"What's that?" I ask, the question slipping out before I can stop it.

24 shocked faces turn to me, staring at me like I'm an alien.

"You don't know what SNOW is?!" Grian gasps

"No." I admit, my cheeks bright red from embarrassment.

"Ezra Void, you are getting dressed, going outside and having the experience of a life time!" Joe demands, pushing me back towards the stairs.

Grian takes my hand, leading me back up the stairs and into his room.

"Ok, so you're probably very confused." He begins

"Yes? Why is there white powder falling from the sky?!" 

"It's... a winter thing that happens in the Overworld. It's called snow!" He tells me, smiling as he rummages through his wardrobe.

"I happen to have a spare coat that's too big for me, you can borrow it if you want!" He offers, holding up a black coat that looks to be my size. "You're gonna need lots of warm clothes!"

"I don't do well in heat." I remind him. "My body was built to live in the End, not here."

"Well unless you want to freeze I recommend you put it on." Grian argues, turning around to let me get changed.

"Well then good thing Xisuma got me a new hat, gloves and a scarf." I mumble, pulling a thick sweater on. "Also, what's the big deal about 'snow' anyways?"

"Well... it's just fun to play in." Grian explains. "It's hard to try and describe, you're better off just going out there and experiencing it."

"If you say so." I shrug, putting the coat on. "You can turn around now."

"Hmm, it looks like it fits well."

"It- it's a little tight around my..."

I trail off, just awkwardly motioning to my chest and avoiding eye contact with him. 

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't think about that." Grian apologises. "If it helps, maybe Cleo might have one you could bo-"

"It's fine." I interrupt, feeling embarrassed and upset. "I-I'll just wear this one."

My boyfriend gives me a sympathetic look, taking my hands in his.

"You don't have to be uncomfortable around my friends, it's alright. And you definitely don't need to be uncomfortable around me. I love you, ok?"

Then Grian hands me my hat.

"Now come on, this is gonna be great."

When I step through the doors of the Mansion, I'm hit with a sudden cold breeze that reminds me a little of the End. Everyone else runs ahead into the 'snow' which has covered the whole ground by now, but I hesitate.

"Trust me?" Xisuma asks me, taking my hand.  I nod, letting him lead me outside. 

The snow is soft, but my boots squish it down when I walk on it, making footprints. Little bits of it are still falling from the sky, and stick to my hat and land in my hair. I stand still for a moment, taking all of this in. I can't believe it, it's so unlike anything I've ever seen before.

I'm suddenly hit from behind, and almost scream before I pull myself together. The last thing I want is to draw attention at myself because of some stupid jump-scare. So, turning around as calmly as possible, I see Grian holding some snow with a guilty look on his face.

"I was aiming for Joe." He immediately tells me, pointing at the American a good few blocks away from me. 

"Suuuuure." I snicker, grabbing a fistful of snow and hurling it at him.

But the snow just falls to the ground in front of me, not even going a block away. Grian bursts out laughing, and despite the intense cold, I feel my cheeks burning with embarrassment.

"THAT WAS ADORABLE!" My boyfriend wheezes.

I look down at the remaining snow in my hand, very confused as to why that didn't work like I saw the Hermits do. 

"Why didn't it work?" I ask, making Gri laugh even more.

"H-here, I'll show you." He giggles, coming over. "You get some snow, and make it into a ball. Then you throw it!"

"Oh." I mumble as he hands me the snow-ball.

"Ok, then pick someone, literally anyone, and throw it at them." Grian tells me, standing behind me. "Maybe try Joe, because he isn't too far away."

Joe, unfortunately, can't hear a word of what we're saying, and gets a bit of a surprise when a cold, hard ball of snow hits the back of his neck. Turning around with a look of pure shock on his face, that look quickly becomes a grin as he grabs a snowball and aims for me.

Grian's eyes widen.

"Umm... this is the part where we run!"

False's POV

"Um... Merry Christmas."

I'm sitting on a stone, snow covered bench, alone and watching the others, when Cleo comes over. I'm hesitant to talk to her at first, but when she sits next to me it's kind of hard to avoid the conversation that comes up after a couple minutes.

"You're confusing False, you know that?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask bitterly

"Well I guess...Sometimes it feels like you're my friend, sometimes I think you hate me, and sometimes you feel like a total stranger. I don't get it."

"Maybe it's because I'm confused." I admit

"By what?"

"By you."

"Why do I confuse you?"

"It's not... you necessarily." I continue. "It's the way I feel about you. I was made think I hated you."

Then I look up at Cleo.

"But for some reason, despite all I've done... I still care about you."

She doesn't speak, and silence kills me.

Each second feels like a stab through the heart.

I shouldn't have opened my mouth to begin with.

She probably hates me now.

Then Cleo smiles.

A sad yet happy smile that confuses me even more.

"I still care about you too False... I don't think anything can change that."

And then she pulls me into a close, tight hug, burying her face in my hair. And she hugs me for what feels like hours, until I hear someone coming over.

"Hi X."

I don't look up, not wanting to have to talk to Xisuma. I get a surprise, however, when the Admin sits to my left, so I'm between Cleo and him.

"You doing ok False?"

I nod hesitantly, wondering why he's asking that.

"I'm sorry about what happened a few days back... in the graveyard. I should've understood that you didn't actually have a choice over what you did. It's the same with my brother... None of us really wanted to hurt each other."

He kicks at a bit of snow, staring at his boots.

"I guess not everyone is like that though. There are some people who truly want to cause pain and damage for others... and that's why people like us have to stick together. The people who want to stop them. And that's also why I decided to let you stay here, and completely forgive you for what you were forced to do."

 "Thank you, that... that really means a lot to me."

I don't really know what else to say, but that seems to be enough for Xisuma, who smiles.

"I think there's a snowball fight about to start over there... race you over?"

"You're on." Cleo declares, and I bolt ahead of her. "Hey, wait! Falsie come back!"

Emmett's POV

"Should we leave?"

My question seems to catch Vali off guard, and he turns to me, looking confused.

"What?"

"Should we leave this place and finally get out of the Hermits' hair?" I elaborate "We can't stay here forever."

"Well... I actually like the idea of leaving." My boyfriend admits. "But Wels is here, you wouldn't want to leave him, would you?"

"No, but if I miss him, it's not too hard to get in here, is it?"

"Fair..."

"So why don't we just go? We can find a place in the middle of nowhere, where nobody can ever bother us... and just be alone together. That's what you wanted, isn't it?"

"Yes, but what about what you want?" Vali asks me

"I'm happy if we're together."

My boyfriend smiles.

"Then let's go."

Then he stops.

"Should we leave like... a note or something?" 

"No." I tell him, grinning. "Let's leave it for them to figure it out by themselves."

"So... we just go?" Vali asks, once we have everything packed up.

"Yeah."

"Where?"

"Anywhere. Just... be careful to keep us together this time?"

My boyfriend turns red at the memory, when he was once severely sleep deprived and teleported the two of us to completely different locations.

"I won't, ok?" He giggles, taking my hand.

"Love you."

"Love you too."

And then we're gone.

Super long chapter this time, I think the longest so far. It's also unfortunately one of the last, as this book is coming to an end pretty soon! 

Don't worry though, there's still a little ways to go ;)

-Xan