On the eleventh day of Christmas, it was alright to hope.

Christmas party and Christmas cheers. What a wonderful time of the year, and yet, I'm stuck here with a beer in my hand as I listened to a man who I know is only trying to talk me up into having sex with him.

Nothing like a good shag during the festive season... not.

"Have I mentioned you look great in that dress?" the man said.

"Three times and counting," I replied, giving him the side eye.

Alright, I've had enough of this.

Pushing myself off of the wall, I started to walk away without even a hint of goodbye to him. Honestly, this is so annoying.

I paused in my steps when I saw Luke come in with none other than his little girlfriend, Rose Brooks. If you don't know her then I can safely say you've been living under a rock because he's one of the biggest stars in this generation. How could I compete for Luke's affections when I'm up against her?

You see, this is the golden-haired girl that have her face plastered on billboards. This is the blue-eyed starlet that could be seen on the movie screen. She could have anyone, why can't she give me Luke?

They quickly gathered everyone's attention, causing the lot to rush over to greet them. Rose meekly hid behind Luke, causing my anger to spike. She's not as perfect as everyone thinks, under that layer makeup is surely an ugly face.

But though I hate to admit, even the light freckles decorating her nose and cheeks still made her look incredibly charming.

If he sees me here spending Christmas all alone, this would certainly make me look like a complete fool. He rejected me without a second thought and although he shot me an apologetic look, it still didn't take away the fact that I lost. Pretty sure he wouldn't even notice me now though, he'll be too busy sharing those disgusting looks with his girlfriend.

Somebody who was zooming to get a better look of the celebrity accidentally bumped into my shoulder, causing the cup in my hand to slightly shake which allowed an amount of my beer to splash out and spill on my shoes. Perhaps I was just in a moody disposition because this small incident made me explode, "What where you're going, will you?!"

He froze and slowly turned to me, rubbing the back of his head while shooting me an remorseful glance, "Sorry."

Rolling my eyes, I placed down the cup on one of the free surface and walked away with a huff. I planned to retreat to the backyard to clear my head, but before I could reach the damn opened glass door, an arm looped against mine and pulled me away, "Hannah, it's been so long."

I blinked at the person who pulled me away and my eyes widened when I recognized that it was one of the girls I knew in school who transferred a few months ago due to her father's job, "What are you doing here?"

"I came back for the holidays," she grinned, practically dragging me with her, "So where's this handsome boyfriend of yours?"

"What?" I questioned, dumbfounded by her words.

"You know, that guy you've been bragging to me," she reminded, "Unless, he dumped you or worse, you never had a boyfriend in the first place."

The smirk she was showing was making me fume. Whenever we would have a conversation, she would always steer it to a direction where she could openly gush about her love and this irritated the earth out of me. So to retort, I started telling her about Luke because I thought that the two of us really had a chance, but that was before he told it to me straight that he was already in a relationship.

It was his fault for being too overly nice to the point that I got the wrong idea.

Back to the main problem, there was no way was I going to allow myself get upped by this one. Before her move, we were in a constant battle on who was better and even if I knew this was going to bite me in the arse soon enough, I can't find it in myself to think about the consequences.

"He's just getting me a drink," I lied, ripping my arm away from her grasp, "I'll even introduce you to him later."

She looked taken aback, but her smirk never even faltered, "Can't wait, darling."

Well, crap.

When she gave me a small wave and slowly walked away, I frantically looked around for a solution to my problem. I shoved people away, trying to find anything or anyone who can pull me out of this problem because hell, my pride was going to be the death of me.

Luke was out of the picture, there must be another way.

As I was running around, I came to a quick halt when I walked straight into somebody's sturdy back. I groaned, taking a step back before gazing at the wall of a human being that blocked my path.

"You again," the voice said and I looked up to see the person's face, his expression hostile.

You guessed it, it was the guy who spilled my drink.

"Sorry," I mumbled. I may be annoyed ninety-percent of the time, but I still know my manners.

He hummed, before offering me a smile, "It's alright."

I was slightly taken aback by his sudden shift of attitude but with his light chuckle, I was assured that I was forgiven. My shoulders slumped at the thought, I was completely rude to him earlier when did such a minor thing. When he apologized, I snubbed him instead of accepting it like he did.

If only a guy like this would be the one to talk to me instead of those horny idiots.

Suddenly, it felt like a lightbulb went off in my head. I've just got a brilliant idea that will surely make that girl eat her words.

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and ask you for a favor," I requested, attempting to flash him a bright smile.

Not a single man has turned down this smile – well, obviously except for Luke.

He shrugged nonchalantly as he answered, "Depends on what do you need me to do."

"I need you to pretend that you're in love with me," I said in a quick fire of words, "I have this friend who I kind of blurted out to that I have a boyfriend and..."

"You currently don't have one but you don't want to admit that to her," he finished for me while crossing his arms over his chest.

At least we got the briefing done.

I gave him a hopeful look, practically pleading him with my stare. He took a good look at me before releasing a sigh though his kind smile was still apparent, "How can I refuse a request from a beautiful girl?"

If only I was still affected by flattery, I would have been blushing madly at his statement. Sadly, I've gotten numb from the amounts of men who tried to give me lip service.

"You're a real savior," I told him, "I swear that I would pay you back somehow."

He nodded again before reaching out a hand, causing me to scrunch my eyebrows in confusion at his gesture, "Come on," he urged for me to take it, "We're supposed to be a couple right now."

When placed mine in his, he squeezed it lightly before allowing our clasped hands to fall between us. I gave it one last fleeting look and willed myself not to get affected too much before I took a deep breath, tugging him to wherever my friend was.

Eat your heart out, bitch.

"Darling," I called out in a fake sugary sweet tone, practically skipping to where she was standing. I watched in complete satisfaction as her jaw slowly slacked open at the sight of the man walking right beside me, "This is him."

Before I could celebrate in successful triumph though, I froze when I realized one minor detail; I forgot to ask for his name.

But he was a literal gift when he reached out and shook her hand, flashing a charming smile, "Eric, pleasure to meet you."

Just from his smooth voice and mere contact of their skin from their handshake, I could see her ears turning red and a mad blush creeping onto her cheeks.

Thank you, universe, for giving me the opportunity to get my drink spilled by this man.

"P-pleasure is all mine," she stammered, "I never knew Hannah was able to get such a wonderful guy."

He grinned before wrapping an arm around my shoulder, pulling my body closer to his, "I believe that I'm the lucky one to have her by my side."

I could practically see the gears in her head turning and this time, it was my turn to smirk. Never doubt me, I love to prove people wrong.

Even though we were just pretending.

"Well, we better get going," I winked towards her, my hand still safely grasped in his, "Enjoy the rest of the night."

I guided Eric away and once we were at a safe distance away from both her eye and earshot, I pulled my hand away before giving him a grateful smile, "Thank you so much, how can I repay you?"

"How about this," he spoke, jamming his hands into his pockets, "Spend the night with me."

So much for being a gentleman. Even this guy wants one thing and one thing only.

He saw the bitter look on my face and quickly explained himself with a laugh, "I didn't mean it that way, I'm thinking more of just talking, dancing, and things like that."

Even that has yet to convince me so he reached out and lightly squeezed my cheeks in an affectionate manner, "Besides, your friend might get suspicious if we're not together during the night."

Lifting a brow, his cheeky expression didn't change and finally, I agreed. It might repel other boys from talking to me and besides, spending time with someone this cute and nice might not be so bad, "Okay."

And that simple word was what started our night together.

"Now how about I get us some drinks?" he suggested, gesturing towards the snack table. Nodding, I waved for him to go while I tried to search for a place to sit. Predictably, the second he was gone, another man found his spot next to me, giving me a smirk that he thought was alluring but it only make him look like he was trying to get rid of a stain on his teeth.

Only proves that not everyone can be as good looking as my current pretend boyfriend.

"You alone?" he questioned.

And also, proves that not everyone can be as charming as him.

When I didn't reply, he stupidly took it as a sign to continue with his pathetic attempts of picking up a girl who was clearly not interested, "How about spending the night with me?"

Unlike Eric who said those words with the purest intent, it was obvious that this guy had other plans.

"Do you need something from my girlfriend?"

Ah speak of the devil.

As kind as his smile was towards me, that was the extent of the menacing look he was shooting the boy. It was like he was staring down on some useless piece of gum that latched onto the sole of his favorite shoe and let me tell you, it was far from welcoming.

I resisted the urge to laugh as I saw the man's face morph into a one of fear. He quickly excused himself, practically sprinting away from us.

Eric turned back to me, his expression softening while he offered me one of the cups he was holding, "You alright?"

"Because of a certain knight in shining armor, I'm good," I answered cheerily, taking the drink.

A nice beer always hits the spot.

With one hand pressed to his back and the other open for me, he gave a slight tilt of the head, "May I ask the lady for a dance?"

He looked like he was asking for a dance during a classy ball or a fancy prom, but right now, we were in the middle of a rowdy house party. I couldn't help but feel amused, gladly accepting his offer and allowing him to lead me to the middle area where a bunch of teenagers were jumping and dancing around to the fast-paced rhythm.

I grinned when he started twirling me around, our hands remained intertwined as we did the most ridiculous movements. We were completely out of synch with the music, but strangely enough, our bodies were moving perfectly together.

It was like we had our own song that we were dancing to.

And in one of the corniest moments known to man, our eyes met and everything stilled. The whole room mean nothing, there was only him and me. Our movements slowed until we were standing there in the middle of the makeshift dance floor, our hands still together as we stared at one another.

He blinked before taking a step back but our hold of each other didn't slip, he tried to recover by flashing me that same good-natured smile, "Want to step outside?"

"Yeah," I answered lowly, letting him tug my hand as we walked out of the front door.

What just happened?

We slowly strolled down the neighborhood where the house that hosted the party was situated in. we stayed in silence as we continued with our position, our hands never letting go of each other. Even if the cold was biting our skins and creating frosts from our breaths, we managed to ignore it.

Can I hope just for a bit?

"So tell me something about yourself," he said in an attempt to occupy the quiet night, "How did you get into that predicament with your friend?"

I didn't even want to think about it since it will just bring back the thoughts about Luke that I have managed to push back since he agreed to become my pretend boyfriend. Still, he deserved an explanation, no matter how ridiculous it sounded.

"There was this guy who was really nice to me," I explained, gazing up ahead, "I really thought we were going to get together and when the girl was bragging to me about her boyfriend, I told myself that sine we were heading there already, there was no harm in telling her that I had a special someone like her."

I paused for a moment to let out a bitter chuckle, "Stupid me."

His grip on me tightened and I knew it was his way of showing comfort, "Not actually, the one who's stupid here is him."

No, because you know who that guy was? It was the person who brought his celebrity girlfriend with him earlier.

"I thought that I might still have a chance with him, but I learned the other day that it was completely impossible," I muttered.

Because when I saw them walking by the sidewalk, I realized who my competition was. Not only was she perfection in every way that I hated to admit, she was bloody Rose Brooks, but I could remember the way he looked at her when they walked away. It was obvious that he would never turn his head for any other girl, he was completely hers.

"I'm kind of glad that you didn't get a chance with him," he admitted quietly, slowly releasing my hand, "I wouldn't be in this position with you if you did."

I gulped audibly when he leaned down and pressed a kiss on my cheek, staring at me the same way when he pinched it, "Well, I'll see you again someday then."

Figuring out that he was about to walk away, I reached out and latched onto his arm, "Stay."

"What?"

"You promised to spend the night with me, didn't you?" I reminded, feeling my cheeks flaming with both embarrassment and this feeling that I don't entirely know how to describe yet.

The corners of his lips tugged into a smile, wrapping his arm around my waist and nodded, "I did."

I bit my lip and rested my forehead on his shoulder, trying to hide my blush and also to stop myself from grinning too much.

Maybe it was alright to hope just a bit.

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Happy Christmas Eve everybody!