*Brianna’s POV*

“Ahhh!” I shrieked playfully as Chanyeol chased me around the kitchen, cookies occupying both his hands.

“The Cookie Monster’s gonna get you!!” he threatened, stopping on the opposite side of the kitchen table as me.

“Nooo,” I whined with a laugh, watching to see which way he was going to go.

He suddenly darted to the right, so I involuntarily ran to my right. However, he had only tricked me into thinking he was going that way, and instead came running around the same side of the table as me.

“No! No!” I shouted in laughter.

He trailed close behind me into the living room where I knew my efforts would be no good. Chanyeol finally grabbed me, wrapping his arms around my waist and throwing me onto the couch. His cookie-filled hands immediately went to my ticklish spots which he knew far too well.

“You’re getting crumbs everywhere!” I gasped through tears of amusement. “Channie!!!”

Suddenly he stopped moving around and just held me close. His giant smile lit up the room, and every gasp of air I took was filled with the scent of his comforting cologne.

“Want a cookie?” he titled his head, raising half of a cookie to my lips.

I took the soft cookie with my teeth. We had made them only a little while ago and they were still warm. We called it our “secret recipe,” but really all we did was bake them for half the time directed. That way they tasted like cookie dough, but took the shape of a cookie.

Chanyeol chuckled, nibbling off the end which stuck out of my mouth. My cheeks turned a deep red when his lips brushed past mine, only making him smile wider.

“We should open our own business,” he remarked, sitting back on the couch, and pulling me onto his lap. “We can call it “We Bri Yeol Bakers!”

“That was supposed to be a pun, wasn’t it?” I raised an eyebrow while playing with his dog tag necklace which lay against his strong chest.

“You can’t have the Yeol without a pun,” he winked.

“Aigoo,” I rolled my eyes with a giggle, then sat up to look out the window. “Oh, poo!”

“What is it?” Chanyeol turned to see what I was upset about.

“Look at it! It’s a blizzard out there! Now we can’t go sledding, or building our snowman or make our snow angels,” I crossed my arms with a pout.

“Maybe it’ll stop soon. We can always play outside another day,” he suggested, rocking me back and forth and resting his chin on my shoulder.

“You know that’s not true,” I sighed in annoyance. Chanyeol was on his break and would have to return back to South Korea the following day. He only had a week off for the Christmas holidays, half of which he spent with his family. “Now we can’t have our perfect date! Stupid weather.”

Chanyeol looked at me in worry, then turned to look out the window. I stared straight out in front of me, but noticed his head slowly turning back toward me. Sensing his eyes continuously on me, I finally looked up at him. A giant, mischievous grin covered his face.

“What?”

He only continued to smile.

“Whaaaat?” I asked again, poking his shoulder.

“Maybe we still can have our winter play date,” he smirked.

Slowly, a smile began to spread across my face as well.

“I’ll go get some paper shreddings!” I jumped up off the couch.

“I’ll get some blankets!” he said, hurrying into the other room.

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“Ready?” Chanyeol asked back to me.

“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” I giggle, holding around his waist nervously.

“I think it’s genius!” he exclaimed, inching our sleeping bag sled closer to the edge of the top step.

“Do you think it’ll hurt?”

“There’s only one way to find out!”

Chanyeol and I scooted in the sleeping bag until we finally began to slide down the step. I held onto him tightly with one arm while throwing paper shavings into the air with my free hand.

“Ow!” “Ouch!” “Ugh!” “Uh!” “Gah!” “OOF!”

We tumbled down the steps, collapsing into a pile of tangled limbs and sleeping bag at the bottom of the staircase.

“Ughhh my ,” I groaned, trying to crawl out of the sleeping bag.

“Your foot is in my face,” Chanyeol laughed, grabbing my foot and tickling it.

“Nooooo!” I shouted, flailing around.

He finally let me go and I tried to regain my breath. After lying on the floor in silence for a minute or two, Chanyeol hopped back up and offered me his hand.

“Ready for round two?” he smiled.

“You bet!” I grabbed his hand and got back to my feet.

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“Brrrr,” Chanyeol shivered, stomping his boots on the welcome mat.

“You’re alive,” I took the tub of snow from him, set it down on the table, then helped him out of his jacket.

“Warm my hands,” he stuck his hands out toward me and I took them in my own, using my hot breath to warm them up.

“Now warm my tummy,” he smirked, pulling me in for a hug. I wrapped my arms around him, holding him close.

“Now, warm my lips,” he looked down at me. My cheeks turned red and I stood up on my tip toes to reach him. Just as our lips were about to touch, I put my finger to his.

His eyes flicked open and he tilted his head questioningly.

“There’s no mistletoe,” I looked up at the ceiling and shrugged, “Sorry.”

“Aish,” he shook his head, following me as I took the tub of snow into the bathroom.

“I don’t think you have any mistletoe in your whole hou-,”

Just as he rounded the corner into the bathroom, I whipped a snowball at him, hitting him square in the chest.

“Oh yeah?!” He dove toward the tub, grabbing up a handful of snow.

“Ah!” I shriek-giggled, ducking behind the shower curtain.

I slowly peaked around the curtain, but didn’t see him. Suddenly something cold hit my back.

“Ha!” he laughed, peaking in at the other end of the curtain.

“No!” I hopped out of the shower, grabbing a handful of snow on my way out of the room.

“Ya!” I threw the ball at him as we ran down the hall. He had the whole tub with him now. All I could do was run!

“I’m gonna get you!” he yelled, sliding on the hard kitchen floor in the fuzzy socks I’d bought him for Christmas.

Looking for some place to hide, I quickly dove into the walk-in pantry.

“Hmmm, where’d she go?” Chanyeol’s asked loudly.

I closed my eyes tightly, listening for his silent footsteps. After a few minutes, it seemed as if he really wasn’t going to find me. Getting up my courage, I slowly peaked out of the pantry. There was no one in sight.

“Chanyeol?” I called cautiously, taking a step out. “Where are you- ahhh!”

Suddenly the whole tub of snow was falling down on my head. My clothes absorbed the cold water and my body shook from the cold.

“Th- That’s cold!” I pouted, turning around to face him and crossing my arms in annoyance.

“No, I thought it was going to feel like the sun on a tropical island,” he teased.

I stuck my tongue out at him and he smirked cutely, “I think it’s time for the best part.”

A smile spread across my face and I ducked back into the pantry.

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“Mmmm,” I sighed, enjoying the feel of the warm, chocolaty drink as it slipped down my throat and into my stomach, warming me from the inside out.

The light from the TV screen flickered around the room as “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” rang through its speakers. A blanket covered Chanyeol and me who were snuggled up close on the couch. We each held a warm mug of hot chocolate in our hands. My head rested on his broad chest and his free hand twirled around my dirty blonde locks involuntarily.

“This is my favorite part too,” I smiled up at him, staring into his deep, brown eyes which twinkled in the light from the TV.

“Why is that?” he asked, looking down at me.

“Because I get to snuggle with you,” I replied, stopping his free hand playing with my hair and slipping my fingers between his.

“And do you know why it’s mine?” he asked, setting down his mug on the coffee table, then taking mine from me and doing the same.

“Why?” I smiled happily.

“Because I can do this.”

He slowly lowered his lips down onto mine, pressing them gently and carefully. It only lasted a brief second before he pulled an inch away. We both breathed shakily, neither one of us wanting to break the fragileness of the moment. Finally, I slipped my hands around his neck, sitting up and turning in his lap to face him more comfortably. At the same moment, Chanyeol brought his lips back to mine, being more passionate this time. His arms wrapped around my body, holding me close as we kissed. The warmth of us sharing our affection was more comforting than any mug of hot chocolate.

"There's no mistle toe though," I whispered once we finally broke apart.

"Look again," he grinned, pointing up at the ceiling. I looked above me to see a small clump of mistle toe hanging from the ceiling right above our heads. 

"You're too cute," I smiled, shaking my head, “This was all I wanted for Christmas." 

“That makes me Santa then, right?” he brightened up in excitement.

“Sure,” I laughed, and snuggled up in his arms to enjoy our movie together once again.