"I'm not wearing that dress" I protested, staring at the dark red skater dress Eliza held up to me.

"You can't meet his family wearing all black, they'll think you just broke out of prison or something" she responded, giving me a pleading smile. "You'll look great, please."

"Eliza I want to wear black" I whined.

"Juliette" she groaned "it's a Christmas party not a funeral"

"Eliza" I sighed.

"Please" she begged "just for today."

"You say that" I started, brushing the lace of the dress with my fingertips "but soon you'll be replacing all of my clothes with yours."

She groaned, putting the dress down "please" she began "please, please, please, please, please" she begged repeatedly as I rolled my eyes.

"Shut up Eliza" I whined.

"Please, please, please, please" She continued.

"Okay fine!" I finally gave in, "only because you're so fucking annoying" I muttered.

I went into the bathroom, pulling on a pair of tights considering it was pretty much freezing outside, and slipping on the dress over my head. I took a glance at the mirror and realised that I hadn't worn a dress of colour in four years. It was so strange to be staring at my appearance. Who knew a change in colour would make me look like a completely different person?

I walked out the bathroom, crossing my arms over my chest as I stared at Eliza expectantly "well?" I questioned impatiently.

"You look amazing" She gushed "well almost" she corrected, walking towards me and pulling my hairband down, allowing my hair to cascade past my shoulders.

"I don't like my hair down" I whined slightly.

"Shut up" she instructed "Levi's gonna be here in less than an hour, which means I have that much time to make your hair look nice."

I glared "thanks"

She sent me a wide innocent smile "It's no problem at all, dearest cousin" she began, walking out of the room, presumably to get something for my hair.

She came back into my bedroom with a curling iron in her left hand and her hairbrush in her right. "Sit" she demanded as she grinned in success.

"You're so demanding" I muttered before sitting in front of her.

She started by parting my hair, considering it was so thick. She spent around half an hour doing three quarters of it, and it was almost time for Levi to arrive.

"Eliza!" I whined "how long will if take?"

"Five more minutes, chill please" she replied.

"I will not chill! He's gonna be here soo-" before I could even finish my sentence I heard a knock at the door.

"Aunt Jen! Tell Eliza that Levi's going to be here any minute and she's not doing my hair quick enough!" I screamed to aunt Jen who was probably knocking through the door.

"Mom! Tell her that she needs to look nice for her boyfriend and his family!" Eliza retaliated

"He's not my boyfriend!" I answered, pouting.

"Just one last strand I swear" she said, bringing the curling iron near my ear and curling the last strand of hair. "Done!" She smiled.

"Come in aunt Jen!" I shouted, allowing her to open the door.

"I don't recall changing my name to Jen, but I think it suits me" Levi grinned, as he opened the door.

I laughed "sorry Levi" I apologised. "I didn't realise you would be here right now"

"According to Eliza, I am your boyfriend" he smirked.

"According to Eliza, Justin and Selena are still together. Moral of the story, she gets things wrong" I shrugged, getting up from the bed and walking towards my wardrobe to get a pair of shoes.

"You're not wearing converses with that beautiful dress" Eliza interrupted.

"Eliza shut up" I begged.

"Here you go" she smiled, pulling out a pair of black heels from under the bed.

Where the hell did she get them?

"Eliza I will kick you" I muttered.

"Please, please please, please, please" she begged repeatedly.

"Oh for fucks sake Eliza, hand me those damn heels" I muttered.

She grinned, handing those shoes to me. "I love you"

"Shut the fuck up" I muttered. I quickly slipped on the shoes, wobbling the slightest bit, before walking towards Levi.

"You ready?" He questioned, walking out of the room and down the stairs.

"Yeah, sorry about the delay" I answered, slowly walking down the stairs, my hand leaning against the railing.

"No problem" he shrugged "it was extremely entertaining"

"I live to serve" I muttered sarcastically, struggling to not tumble down the stairs.

"You look beautiful by the way" he said to me.

I bit my lip "thank you"

As soon as we got downstairs I grabbed the present I got Levi and stuffed it in my handbag. He took me out to his car, opening the door for me and allowing me to sit down.

"Are we going to get lost this time?" I teased.

He chuckled "let's hope you don't give me directions"

"Hilarious" I dead-panned.

"You started it" he replied childishly.

"Anyway" I began "what did you get for Christmas?" I asked him.

"I don't know, in our family we don't open presents until night time because that's when we all gather around" he shrugged "it's tradition."

I smiled "that's cute"

"What about you guys?" He questioned.

"The normal" I answered "Eliza wakes me up at six, we exchange gifts, we go to winter wonderland and then we come home and help aunt Jen cook, and takes up until around six which is when the Harry Potter movies start"

"Winter wonderland seems fun" he justified.

"Winter wonderland is the place to look a Christmas trees and watch children on rides whilst drinking really good hot chocolate" I replied.

"Well my house is always full of people and children and it's loud and my cousins who hit on anything that breathes" He answered.

"Are they hot?" I asked jokingly.

He rolled eyes "as ice"

"I think I want a big family, the reason why I forgot about Christmas is because I don't look forward to Christmas. It's like every other day except more food" I answered grudgingly.

"Which is exactly why, you are spending Christmas with me" he smirked.

I nodded "tell me about all of them"

He chuckled "Well there's my mom who's probably in the kitchen right now.  Then there's my grandma, you will love her, she's a sweetheart. And then my older sister Poppy who will do anything to embarrass me so please stay away from her, my younger sister Ruby who is a little brat, she's seven but she thinks she's sixteen, don't talk to her. Then my baby sister Rosie who's my favourite, she's three. Next, the cousins. There's Eli and Jacob who are twins and will no doubt hit on you, both seventeen. Luke who's twelve and thinks he's sixteen. Oh and aunt Nina" he finished off.

"What about your dad?" I asked, fumbling with my fingers out of nervousness.

"He-um, he left our family when my mom was pregnant with Rosie, I haven't seen him in over three years" he shrugged.

"I'm so sorry" I muttered, feeling extremely guilty for bringing it up on Christmas Day.

"Don't be" he dismissed, shaking his head "it happens I guess, anyway tell me about your family" he instructed.

"Okay," I began "There's my cousins Isla and Emma. Isla is the one who is getting married next month and Emma is the younger sister. She's about eighteen too, but she hates me. I don't know why" I answered.

"Nobody could hate you" he replied.

"Debatable" I stated.

He laughed before pulling over "We're here" he said.

No joke, I literally felt my stomach flip when he had said those words. "Why am I so nervous?" I asked him.

He smiled, getting out of his car as I mimicked his actions and did the same. Once we were out, he began walking towards the house as he reassured me. "You'll do fine, I promise"

He knocked on the door, waiting for someone to open it from him. I could hear the loud chatter and music play even from the other side of the door, which was a foreign concept to me considering our house was always so silent.

"Guys shush shush shush!" I heard from the other side of the door, I raised a eyebrow and just turned to Levi who shrugged. The house suddenly went from loud and upbeat to deadly silent.

Was nobody going to open the door for us or...?

"Levi and his girlfriend are here" I heard once again. My cheeks flamed red and turning to my side, I could see how flushed Levi was as well.

"It's already started" he muttered in disbelief.

"Wait what?" I questioned.

The door swung open, revealing about six people standing in the doorway. There was a woman who looked as if she were in her early thirties. She was beautiful with Levi's black hair and blue eyes, and looking at her wide grin I realised that she even had his dimples. She looked like his mother but way too young to be his mother. Then there was the woman standing next to her, she looked around forty, I could see the resemblance between her and the first lady, except her hair was a much lighter brown colour and she had Hazel eyes. Then there was a girl who looked around our age, if not slightly older. She was gorgeous, with long black hair and dark blue eyes. Then there were the twins Levi had mentioned and finally there was the cutest little girl on earth. She was stood directly in front of everybody, her hair tied up in pigtails with a bar of chocolate in her hands.

They all had one thing in common.

They were staring at me.

Before I could even think about saying something, possibly along the lines of "hello" the chatter erupted one again.

I could somewhat pick up the phrases that were used.

"She's so pretty"

"She's so little, does nobody feed her?"

"Shut up mom, leave the poor girl alone"

"She's too hot for Levi"

"I can't open my chocolate wrapper!"

"How did Levi even get her?"

"Is she smart?"

"Do you think she's a bitch like Katherine?"

"Katherine was hot"

"She's hotter than Katherine"

"Shut up Jacob!"

"I'm Eli!"

"Well nobody gives a shit"

"Guys!" Levi said loudly, shutting them all up; causing them to, once again, face us. "Juliette and I are just friends"

"If you were 'just friends'" the younger girl began, using her fingers to quote 'just friends', "you wouldn't always be talking abou-"

"Are we going to stand in the doorway forever, or will you let us in?" Levi interrupted as the girl, who was presumably Poppy, spoke. As soon as Levi had said that, they all stepped back, allowing both of us to come in. By then, the two older women had dispersed, along with Rosie.

"I'm Poppy, Levi's older sister" she said, holding out a hand for me to shake. Hesitantly, I extended my arm and shook her hand, not for too long as I already began finding goosebumps scattered across my arms.

"Juliette" I responded.

"I know, I've heard a lot about you" she began as I smiled.

"Really?"

"Yeah, Levi won't shut up abou-" she began before once again getting interrupted by Levi.

"Why don't we introduce her to the twins?" He questioned nervously.

She smirked slightly. "You do that, I'm gonna go help mom in the kitchen" she said before disappearing.

"Hey Juliette, are you looking for a Romeo?" One of the twins said before lifting my hand and kissing the top of it. "Because unfortunately my name is Eli, but I could still be everything you need"

I laughed "it's nice to meet you Eli"

"Let me talk to her, let me talk to her" the other twin said, before pushing Eli out of my way.

"I'm Jacob, and how did Levi get a girl as beautiful as you?" He questioned, smirking slightly.

"Shut up" Levi muttered from besides me.

I laughed "I'm not with Levi"

"So what I'm hearing is, your single?" He asked

"Um- I guess so" I smiled.

"Great" he smirked.

"Okay" Levi interrupted for the third time "I'm taking Juliette up to my room before any of you can embarrass me further"

"Keep the door open!" Poppy called as I laughed.

Turning to Levi I noticed that the tips of his ears were red "how does it feel to be on the receiving side?" I asked.

"Just great" he muttered.

Written: 18/11/15
Posted: 23/12/15