A little late for Christmas Eve Eve, but I have fun writing this one!! It's for @Hopelessangelxxx who requested some Lino and Angela!

Happy Holidays everyone!
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~'~'~'~

Since he wasn't old enough to drive, Lino walked the three blocks from his house to Angela's, enjoying the Christmas decorations as he went. There was a chill in the air, but it felt good on his skin after running around all day at soccer practice. He still had his ball under his arm, though he'd showered and changed. He wondered if Ang would be down for a game.

There was one dark house in the middle of the decorated ones; Angela's. He headed up the walk, knocking on the door in aa specific pattern they'd agreed to a long ago before letting himself in. It was Christmas Eve Eve and Angela had promised to help him wrap presents since he was really, really bad at it.

"Ang?" he shouted, kicking off his sneakers by the door and setting his ball down. He walked to the living room and found her on the ground with wrapping paper tubes and scraps around her. Several perfectly wrapped presents were beside her. She was leaning her back against the couch, her knees pulled up to her chest. There was an unwrapped box in front of her that she was staring at with a sad look on her face. He set his present-filled backpack down on the ground and sat beside her. It was then he saw the tears on her face. Reaching out, he wiped one away. "What's going on?"

She shrugged a shoulder, sighing heavily. "Was wrapping presents, and I got one for Hap," she explained softly. "And I realized he's not going to be here this Christmas or for any Christmases for a long time."

Lino's heart sunk; Happy had been indicted just a few months before, and she was struggling with not having him around. They'd both lost their father's when they were kids. In fact, their mothers had met at a grief meeting. Hap was the only father figure she had left in her life, and now he was locked up with a ten year sentence. He knew her whole world felt like it'd been knocked off its axis. "Can't you give it to him anyway?"

Angela held up a wicked looking knife with a happy face etched into the handle. "Pretty sure they wouldn't let me bring this into prison."

"Yeah, no," Lino said around a laugh. "Maybe if you bake it into a cake?"

She laughed at him, shaking her head and elbowing his side. "Stupid," she muttered, rolling her eyes as she wiped her cheeks. "You bring your presents?"

He nodded grabbing his backpack. He set out the little boxes, knowing the one he had for her was already poorly wrapped at the bottom of his bag. "Didn't know what to get Nessa," he said, handing her the little box with the present inside.

"First Christmases are hard," she commented, taking the box from him and opening it. She grinned at the silver necklace with the pretty red gem inside. "This is so pretty, Lee."

"Ruby's her gemstone," he explained with a little blush. "I um...was gonna get her the astrology sign shit, but she's a cancer and...."

"It looks like a 69," Angela finished, smirking at the naughty connotation.

Lino nodded emphatically. "Yeah, didn't feel right givin' her somethin' that could be seen as...sexual when we just got together, and we haven't gotten...there yet."

"Fair enough," she said on a chuckle as she started wrapping the little box.

"Heard you and Esai have been getting pretty close," he stated, elbowing her lightly. Her cheeks turned a little pink, and he couldn't help but grin. "Everyone's talkin' about it."

Angela scowled at him, measuring out gold ribbon as she did so. "Dunno why. We've only been out on one date, and he didn't even kiss me after it. Just walked me home and said good night."

"That's kinda sweet. Surprised he didn't go in for the kill."

"Me too," she said, dragging her scissors along the ribbon to curl it. "But it kinda makes me like him more in a way. Like he's respectful of boundaries or somethin'."

Lino knew Esai's reputation, and the last thing he expected was for the Mayan prince to be respectful of boundaries with girls. He wasn't going to bring that up to Angela though. Not yet. "That's good. Like to hear that. What's your cousin think about it?"

"Do you honestly think I told my cousin about dating someone from a rival club while he's in prison? How stupid do you think I am?" she asked, incredulously.

He chuckled and shrugged a shoulder. "He's gonna find out."

Angela shook her head slowly, her smile fading. "Nah, it's not gonna get very far, Lee. He'll get bored of me and that'll be that. He'll move on to more advanced girls and it'll be done. No use starting drama."

Lino hated how little she thought of herself. She was a smart girl, pretty in her own right, but she and Rosa tended to fly under the radar since they spent most of their time attached at the hip. Boys were intimidated by Rosa, and Angela by proxy. Angela was quiet for the most part, and just a little shy. She relied on Rosa to make friends for the most part. "Stop. You're being stupid. Can he get other girls? Yeah. Are they you? No. You're probably the smartest girl he's ever talked to in his life, and that's why he's attracted to you."

"You called me stupid then smart in the same thought."

"You're acting stupid, but you are smart. You know what I meant," he clarified with a roll of his eyes. He grabbed a gift tag and wrote a note to Vanessa on it before taping it to the front of the perfectly wrapped gift. "Do you like him?"

Angela took the next gift box from him; it was one of the ones he'd gotten for his Ma. A new sweater he knew she'd been eyeing at Macy's. "Yeah, actually. He's really sweet in a weird way. Makes me feel safe. Cared for. I like that." 

Lino wondered if things would stay that way. If Esai would treat her right. He hoped so; it broke his heart to see her sad. "Good, good. If you're happy, I'm happy."

She leaned in and kissed his cheek. "Thanks, bro."

He shrugged a shoulder as he scrawled out a note to his Mom. "Don't mention it," he said, grabbing his poorly wrapped present. "This is for you, by the way. Wrapped it myself."

"I can tell," she said on an amused laugh. She grabbed a nearby present and handed it to him. "For you." 

"Same time?"

Angela nodded, and they counted down from three before tearing open the packages at the same time. He heard her gasp and grinned, knowing he'd gotten the right thing. To his surprise, she'd gotten him almost the same thing. Official soccer jerseys. His was for the Mexican team, hers for Argentina. She wasn't Argentinean, not even a little, but she'd always been a fan for some reason. She claimed it was because she liked the light blue and white jerseys, but he had a feeling it was because her dad was a fan, and it made her feel closer to him.  "This is amazing, Lee!" she exclaimed, hugging the jersey to her chest. "Thank you!"

"Likewise! Thank you!" he exclaimed, hugging her tightly. His love for the Mexican futbol team came from his father as well. They both were very aware of the meaning of the jerseys. Of the loss they both shared. He could see her eyes go a little misty and felt his eyes do the same. He grabbed his soccer ball as he got to his feet. "How about a game?"

She wiped at her eyes and nodded, accepting the hand he offered her and letting him pull her to her feet. She pulled the jersey on over her shirt, and he did the same. "You're on."

They put on sneakers and set up the backyard goals consisting of two patio chairs and two clay pots, the same goals they had as when they were kids. Many of Elena's planting pots had been sacrificed to soccer games throughout the years. It'd rained the night before, so the backyard was muddy and uneven as it usually was, but they knew what spots to avoid. "Ready, Ruiz?" he asked, positioning the ball in the center. 

"Let's see what you got, Zavala," she shot back.

He wasn't sure how long they were playing for when her aunt poked her head out the sliding door. "You two better not break another of my pots!" she shouted at them.

It was at that exact moment Angela attempted a goal, missing the space and breaking one of the terra cotta pots. Both of them stopped playing, doubling over with laughter at the timing of it all.  They were covered in sweat and mud, both breathing hard as they leaned on each other. "Too late!" Angela managed to shout back. She shoved Lino lightly, still laughing. "You're helping me pay for half!"

"Fuck no! Not my fault you're a bad shot!" he exclaimed, shoving her back.

"Not my fault you're a bad goalie!" she said, going to inspect how badly the pot had cracked.

"Basta! Both of you come inside! Dinner's ready!" Elena shouted, leaving the back door open. (Enough!)

Lino move an arm around her neck, pulling her into a headlock and he rubbed his knuckles into her scalp. She struggled against him, slapping at his arm as he pulled her towards the back door. He let her go, smiling as she smoothed out her hair. She was still laughing though.

He appreciated her friendship so much. Appreciated how easy it was just to be himself with her without having to try too hard. She just understood him in ways other people didn't. He loved her for that. She was his sister in every way but blood, and he knew that would never change. "Love you, Ang," he told her, his arm draped over her shoulders. "Merry Christmas Eve eve."

She grinned at him, moving her arm around his waist and squeezing his side. "Love you too, Lee. Merry Christmas, dude."

~'~'~'~

Love writing these two! Thanks to @Hopelessangelxxx for the request!!

Please let me know if there's anything you guys would like to read!! Again, writing these helps inspire me to write more and helps round out these characters, so I love doing it!

As always, please let me know what you think!
❤️💚❤️