Episode 224: O Christmas Tree

She sat defeated. Exhausted. Cold wind whipping at her nose and the tips of her ears.

"Need a hand?"

Now her shoulders shivered as well. Bad enough that Xavier kept referring to his house as ‘our house,’ unknowingly making her cringe over the fact that she couldn’t pay her fair share towards it but now Sebastian was coming to her rescue too! Great. Of all people.

He balanced the tightly bundled Christmas tree on his left shoulder and pulled her to her feet with his right hand. "You’ll get sap on your jacket,"

He glanced at his leather jacket then looked at her with those blue eyes of his more piercing it seemed in the winter freeze. "I don’t care. Lead the way. I’m not exactly Hercules here."

Xavier wasn’t home. Just as well. She unlocked the door and scooped up Shelby, her beloved gift from Sebastian.

Bas propped the tree against a wall in the front hallway. "I’ll leave the fun of shoving that into a stand to your roommate. Hey, Shelby," He moved very near to Ava and stroked her cat. "I hope you’re taking good care of your girl here, somebody needs to." He lifted his chin; their lips lined up perfectly...

Her breath quickened. Why did he still get to her so easily? One of his hands pressed to the wall beside her face. Shelby purred. He surprised her then. He stepped back. Before she even thought to. "Go ahead. Aren’t you dying to comment on my living arrangements?"

"What do you want to hear Avalon, that you have terrible taste in men?"

"That would include you."

"I’m well aware of that."

Episode 225: Toy Soldiers