"So how are you guys doing?" Chan asked me as I came out on the porch. Tonight was a rare night when Ember was working late and I wouldn't see her. I sat down next to Chan and took a deep breath.

"The best." I answered smiling over at him.

"You guys seem really happy." He said pulling his hood up over his head. The weather had gotten colder seeing as how it was late November.

"We are. She's coming home with me for Christmas." I mentioned staring out at the city below.

"Has she met your parents before?" Chan asked looking over at me.

"Yeah, a couple times." I nodded, "I told my mom I was bringing a girl home and she almost died of excitement. I didn't tell her it was Ember." I laughed. I'd never brought a girl home, for anything. So my mom knew it was a serious relationship from that alone. So for the first time in a very long time the whole family would be together. Usually, I had to work or didn't have time to drive home, but this year I made time. Chan, Bin, and I have been working overtime in the studio to get absolutely everything done before Christmas.

"At least you get to go home." Chan said, usually he was ok with spending Christmas in Korea. This year though he seemed homesick. He hadn't been home in about three years and I could tell it was wearing on him.

"You have time to go home, ya know." I mentioned, "That's why we've been working like crazy. To have time to go home."

"Yeah, I know." He said looking sad, "I just....I haven't told my parents that I broke up with her."

"It's been almost a year, Chan! What the heck have you even been telling them?" I said shocked.

"I know. Look, my mom had my entire life planned. She'd almost named her grandchildren. How do I take that from her?"

"Um....tell her the truth?" I said looking at him like he'd lost his mind.

"Yeah, we'll see." He said standing up, "I'm off to bed. I'll see you tomorrow." He shoved his hands in the pocket of his hoodie and went inside.

I leaned back into the chair and let my mind wander. I'd never thought I'd be brining home a girl for the holidays, not to mention that it would be Ember. It's been two months together and sometimes it still didn't feel real to me. I had convinced myself that I'd never tell her how I felt. That I would forever be silently in love with her. As much as I hated the fact that the members took bets on when I'd tell her, something about it pushed me to tell her. Now she was all mine and we both were incredibly happy.

***
DECEMBER

Driving to my parents house, I could tell she was nervous. I didn't know why, my parents already loved her.

"You're more quiet then usual." I mentioned glancing over at her.

"Not really" she mumbled wrining her hands in her lap.

"You're really that nervous?" I asked.

"Yes?" She said still looking a little off.

"My parents love you. It's not like you need to impress them." I said grabbing on of her hands and holding it.

"I know, but it's different now that we're dating. That's all. What if they liked me as your friend but not as your girlfriend?"

"They love you. Stop worrying, baby" She glanced over at me and nodded, still unsure.

Pulling up to the house, I opened up her door and she got out smoothing her skirt and pulling her sweater down making sure she looked okay.

"You look beautiful, stop worrying." I whispered in her ear as I kissed her on the cheek. She smiled nervously and looked up at me. I smiled back and grabbed her hand as we walked towards the door. I was nervous too, I didn't know why. My parents have always loved her, I couldn't think of a reason they'd not want us together.

My mom flung open the door before we even got down the walkway. "Oh I was hoping it was you, Ember! I knew when Jisung didn't tell me your name that it had to be you!"

I laughed at her as she wrapped Ember in the tightest hug on the planet. Ember let out a nervous laugh as she hugged my mom back, never once letting go of my hand. "Come inside! It's freezing out here!" She said happily as we followed her into the house.

My dad was sitting in the living room as we came inside. He stood up instantly and gave us both a big hug. "I thought you were bringing your girlfriend?" He asked confused.

"I did." I laughed at him and pointed at Ember.

"Jisung, finally!" He said laughing.

"Why does everyone say that?!" I replied rolling my eyes. Ember was starting to loosen up and let go of my hand while she was talking with my mom.

A little while later in our room I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her in towards me. "I love you." I said kissing her on the forehead.

"Mmm, love you too" She said wrapping her arms around my waist and laying her head on my chest. "I'm happy" she mumbled in a cute little voice muffled by my shirt.

"Me too" I answered as she pulled away.

"A Christmas without my mom around to make me feel bad. It's been years." She sighed happily as she put her suitcase on the bed and started unpacking a few things.

"I really don't understand why she does that to you. She doesn't treat your sister like that." I said laying back on the bed with my legs stretched out in front of me.

"Because to her Ash is the perfect daughter. She's super skinny, she wants to be an engineer, she does everything she's told, she is my mom's carbon copy. I'm the one that's too much like my dad. I wanted something different for myself. I'm not all about pleasing my mom."

"C'mere" I said holding my arms out to her.

She put her suitcase back on the floor and crawled onto the bed and put her head on my shoulder. "Here's to a Christmas without your mom!" I joked as I hugged her to me.

She stuck a fist up in the air, "YAY!" she said smiling.

***
A couple days later it was Christmas. I had been looking for one of her gifts for months even before we were dating. I had finally found it at a tiny little book store in the middle of New York city when we'd been there on tour over the summer.

"I would like to say, presents are not the most important part of Christmas, family is. BUT. Let's open some presents!" My mom stated as she passed out the presents under the tree.

"Nope, you're opening that one last." I said smiling at her, taking the present from her hands. She pouted and looked at me with the best puppy eyes she could muster.

"Oh fine." She said, "Am I allowed to open this one then?" She joked taking another present from her small pile of gifts.

"Yep." I said smiling shoving the book between my leg and the couch.

She'd given me a silver bracelet with a small 'e' engraved on it, and a new pair of studio headphones I'd been drooling over for at least a year, but my favorite was the new pair of converse I'd been wanting for a while. I mean they glow in the dark, who doesn't want that?!

Finally after she opened the other gifts, I pulled the book out and handed it to her. She slowly started to tear off the paper as she looked at me with a suspicious look on her face, but when she realized what it was she paused and she started to cry. "Oh my god, Hannie" she mumbled quietly.

See when Ember was a little kid her dad read the same book to her every single night before bed. When she was older and didn't need bedtime stories anymore, she read it to herself. A collection of short stories by Roald Dahl. When her dad passed her mom went on a cleaning spree and managed to throw her copy of the book away. So, in the middle of New York City in a tiny little book store I found a copy of the book that matched the exact one she'd had, except this one was signed by the author himself.

"I wanted you to have it back." I said as she wrapped her arms around my neck and cried into my shoulder. "You have no idea what I went through to find that." I joked. She pulled away from me and laughed holding the book in her hands like it was a precious treasure.

"This is the best gift of my life." She said holding it up to her chest. "You have no idea what you just gave back to me, Hannie"

"I've got an idea." I said kissing the top of her head.

We spent the rest of the day with my family. Eating food, exchanging gifts, and watching a couple movies, followed by more eating. Later that night, she crawled into bed and grabbed the book of the nightstand. She carefully opened it like it was going to break if she wasn't gentle with it and started to read. She had herself propped up in a sitting position so I leaned over and put my head on her shoulder. I tried to read the book with her. While I could speak English ok, reading it was still a bit difficult. Small words and small sentences were fine, but something like this was a little hard to understand.

"What's it about?" I asked as she read.

"It's just a bunch of short stories by this author. You know Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?" She asked glancing down at me. I nodded looking up at her. "It was originally written by this guy before it was a movie. He wrote James and the Giant Peach, and one called Matilda. He's really famous in the US for children's stories."

I had no idea what some of those stories were, but just seeing her face light up made me happy. "You gave me back a piece of my dad, Jisung. I'm going to be forever grateful to you for this." She said happily. "Wanna hear a story?" She laughed. I nodded my head and snuggled up to her as she started to read.

Slowly my eyes started to close and before I knew it I was out.

***

A few days later and it was already New Year's. We were having a small party at the dorms to ring in the new year together. A couple friends and and a few dates. It actually turned out to be a bit bigger then we intended, but that's part of the fun of new years. A little beer, some champagne, and a clock that counts down to a new year of your life.

Everyone even dressed up a bit, and while we all looked good...Ember...wow. She had a short black dress that sparkled just right in the light. Her long hair was pulled up with small bits of hair framing her face, and even the diamond necklace I'd gotten her for Christmas. She was in the kitchen trying to help Felix and Minho get the rest of the snacks together. I walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist, breathing in the perfume she was wearing. It was the same perfume she'd been wearing for years and at this point, I just associated it with her. It was a deep woodsy smell that had little vanilla mixed in. I kissed her neck and put my chin down on her shoulder.

"What'cha doin?" I asked being nosy.

"What're you doing?" She challenged smiling.

"Hanging out with you." I joked, smiling.

She turned around and smiled at me wrapping her arms around my neck. Fortunately, we were alone in the kitchen for the moment. I backed her into the counter and pressed my lips against hers, and without thinking picked her up and sat her down on the counter. Standing in between her legs.

"We're gonna get caught, dude." She joked between kisses. I put my hands on her hips and moved my kisses to her neck.

"And?" I mumbled. She just looked so good it was going to be hard to keep my hands to myself.

"Ahem" I heard from behind us and I backed away slightly. Minho was standing there with his arms crossed shaking his head and laughing. "Can you not do that where we prepare our food please?"

Ember's face turned red as she pulled her dress down a bit and jumped off the counter. "I told him he needs to behave himself. He didn't listen." She shrugged looking at Minho.

"Yeah, I didn't listen." I said trying not to burst out laughing.

"Yeah, he never listens. His ears are broken." Minho joked as he grabbed the bowl of snacks and went back out to the living room.

"I told you" She said swatting me.

"Wanna take a break? Meet me in my room?" I asked, I was desperate at this point. I needed to finish what I started.

"Later" She whispered, "Wait til everyone is a little drunk, then they won't miss us." She said winking at me. Ugh, the look on her face mixed with that wink made it even harder for me to wait. I wanted her now.

"They won't miss us..." I begged.

"Wait." She said knowing what she was doing to me. She was having fun with this. She walked out of the room and I took a minute to calm myself down. Leaning against the counter and closing my eyes for a moment before I felt able to walk out of the kitchen.

"Hey! It's our Hannie" Chan said slapping me on the back. He seemed drunk, but Chan doesn't drink so I wasn't sure what was happening.

"Are you drunk?" I asked him confused.

"Not yet, my friend, not yet." He said with a new can of beer in his hand. Well, Christmas must've been rough if Chan was drinking.

"Chan's drinking?" I asked Hyunjin as I point over my shoulder with a thumb.

"Ah...yeah. The ex girlfriend is getting married to a guy back in Australia. He's not taking it well." I nodded my head taking it in.

"Oh nooo" I said pursing my lips and widening my eyes, "That's not good. We should probably keep an eye on him."

"Oh we are." Felix said walking up to us with his hands in his pockets. "So far, he seems like a happy drunk, but that could change."

"Who gave Chan beer?" Changbin said walking up to us.

"Don't look at me. He was like that when I got here." I said holding up my palms in surrender.

"Blame Minho. He's the one that told him to drink." Suengmin said.

A couple hours later we were all a little buzzed...but Chan. Chan was sitting on the couch talking to Hyunjin's date in tears with a half empty bottle of Jack in his hand. She just sat there pretending to listen to what he was trying to say, saying "you poor baby" every few sentences.

"I think I lost my date." Hyunjin said looking over at the two of them.

"Yeah, I think you did." I said as Ember came over and put a hand on my waist. She leaned up and whispered in my ear. I won't tell you what she said, but I couldn't get out of that apartment fast enough.

"We're gonna go."

"But it's not midnight yet." Jeongin complained.

"We'll be back" I said quickly as we left the apartment I could hear Felix say "They won't be back." and Jeonin asked why as Felix shook his head.

When we got to the empty dorm next door, the second the door closed behind us she instantly pulled me in and kissed me. We kissed across the living room and down the hall to my room where she finished undoing the buttons on my shirt and I got the zipper on the back of her dress undone. We didn't even bother to turn on the lights, that was an extra step we didn't bother with.

Once our clothes were discarded on the floor, she pushed me down on the bed and straddled me. Sitting up I put my hands on her hips and pulled her body in towards me, focusing on her neck and chest. With her hands in my hair she pulled herself up and lowered herself on to me as I let my head fall back. She started slow with her lips on my neck, slowly increasing her speed. I held her hips down as she moved, making sure I could reach as deep as I could. She threw her head back and I started kissing her chest and may have left a bigger purple mark then I meant to. Her breathing got faster, almost matching mine and as she rocked her hips back and forth. She would tell me what to do and I'd do it, I'd tell her I was close and she'd tell me to wait for her, but it was getting to a point where I didn't think I could wait any longer. Finally finishing, I laid back on the  bed and she collapsed on top of me laughing and rolling off of me and catching her breath.

"My god, what got into you?" I asked out of breath.

She just laughed looked at me, "I don't know."

I rolled onto my side and pulled the sheets up over us as she laid down on my chest and wrapped her arms around my waist.

"Best way to start the new year." She said laughing again.

"Yeah, no shit" I joked looking at my phone on the nightstand. "It's almost midnight too."

"How long?" She asked poking her head up and looking.

"Like 30 seconds." I said pulling up a countdown.

"You're gonna kiss me right?" She asked pretending to pout.

"After that, I'll do anything you want." She laughed at me and at exactly midnight I kissed her and then we both cuddled up to each other and talked for another hour before we fell asleep.