Chapter Text
Gina nearly dropped the shopping bags draped over her arm while she tried to help EJ maneuver the giant box containing an artificial Christmas tree into their AirBnB. “Why did we buy a nine foot tree again?”
“Because that’s what Target had left at 730 on Christmas Eve?” EJ said with a laugh. “Come on, let’s make it look like Christmas threw up in here.”
A half hour later, the tree was unpacked and lit, but listing dangerously to the left. “Think it’ll make it?” Gina asked.
“If we put enough ornaments on the other side, maybe it’ll weigh it down?” EJ suggested with a shrug. “The other alternative is to just drink until it looks straight!”
Gina giggled. “Maybe we save the eggnog until after the tree is decorated, just in case?”
“Where’s your sense of adventure?” EJ teased, before reaching into one of the shopping bags to pull out a box of ornaments. “Let’s get to trimming this thing.”
Gina grabbed her phone and put on a random Christmas playlist before they started loading up the branches with the cheap plastic baubles they’d gotten. The huge tree wasn’t nearly filled up with the items they’d grabbed, but the multicolor lights still looked festive. When they were satisfied with their handiwork, Gina did pour them both a glass of eggnog as EJ turned off all the other lights, letting them bask in the glow of their slightly rickety looking tree.
As Gina snuggled up into EJ’s arms with a cozy blanket draped over them, she asked “How are you feeling?”
“Tired” he admitted. “The meds work great, but they kind of knock you on your ass. I’m probably going to sleep like a rock tonight.”
“We should get to bed, then,” Gina said, sitting up. “You need the rest.”
“I need this,” he said, pulling her close. “Just for a few more minutes.”
Gina settled back down onto his chest while Harry Connick Jr’s “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” played in the background. Before he’d crooned his last smooth note, Gina felt EJ’s breath grow steady underneath her, already dropping off to sleep. She knew she should rouse him and make him go to bed, but she didn’t want to break from the cocoon of warmth that they’d created. So after a few minutes, she drifted off as well.
It was deep in the middle of the night when Gina woke up, the tree still glowing. In the perfect stillness, she looked up at EJ’s sleeping face, and smiled. “Eej,” she said softly. “We should go to bed.”
His arms tightened around her as he stirred. “Am I dreaming?” he mumbled.
She leaned up and kissed him. “I promise, I’m real. And you REALLY need to go to bed.”
“Fine,” he said, and let Gina pull him to his feet and lead him to her room. He shucked off his sweater and pants before climbing into bed, where he promptly fell asleep again. It gave Gina a moment to just watch him and appreciate how different the night had ended than it had began. And with that, she changed herself and snuggled in beside him.
EJ was clearly feeling better by morning, because he shook Gina awake when light was just beginning to creep in around the edges of the blinds in their room. “Gina, it’s Christmas!”
She had to laugh at his exuberance. “But what the hell are you waking me up for? I thought we were doing Christmas our way, and I hoped that would include spending the morning in bed.”
“Who said I had any intention of leaving this bed?” he asked, dipping down to kiss her neck.
Gina let out another giggle, but it quickly melted into something like a moan. “I think I like this kind of Christmas morning.”
After they’d thoroughly enjoyed their early wakeup together, Gina laid with her head on EJ’s chest. “Well, that makes up for the fact that we didn’t have time to get each other actual gifts.”
“Says who?” EJ said, getting up and pulling his boxers back on. “I’ll be right back.” He disappeared out of the door of her bedroom, and came back with a small white box.
“Eej, when the hell did you buy this? We’ve been together pretty much constantly since we got here.”
“Guess I didn’t buy it, then,” he said with a shrug. “Open it.”
Gina took the lid off the box, and inside was a house key. “I don’t…”
“It’s a key to my house in Brentwood,” he explained. “I keep an extra in the lining of my suitcase in case anything happens to my keys while I’m traveling. Seemed like the perfect thing to pass on.”
“You’re already giving me a key to your place? Will your landlord be ok with that?”
EJ let out a slight chuckle. “I own my house, Gina.”
Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment, that it hadn’t occurred to her that EJ would own his own home.
“I’m serious about this, Gi,” he continued. “I don’t care that it’s only been a week, I see a future here for us. And I don’t want to waste any time second guessing it or playing games. I’m excited to have you in my life back in LA. If you’re in.”
Gina looked down at the key, and back at EJ. It would have been impossible for her to describe, what it meant to have someone invite them into a permanent home, a place of their own. This wasn’t a random apartment he’d move on from in a year. This was the place he’d put down his roots.
And he wanted to share that with her.
“Thank you,” she said quietly, placing the lid back on the box. “And yeah, I’m in.”
EJ smiled widely and pulled her into his arms. “That’s all I want for Christmas.” He kissed her, and Gina thought she could have done this forever, stayed wrapped in EJ’s embrace.
But they were interrupted when Gina’s phone pinged with an incoming text message. She broke their kiss to check it, wondering if her mother had come around and was asking to see them.
Instead, there was a message from Seb.
So. Many. Screaming. Children.
How soon exactly can we get to your place?
Gina laughed and tipped her screen to show it to EJ. “Looks like we’re not the only ones itching to escape our families.”
“No kidding,” he said, showing her his phone screen, his text chain with Ashlyn open.
Can’t take another question about why i’m single
Pls tell me you have booze
Wtv, i’ll bring more
“Come on,” Gina said, tossing back the covers. “Let’s get ready to host some Christmas misfits.”