Bound To Fall

Christmas With The Tiptons

Isabelle

Sterling held my hand as we entered the mansion. I tried to shake off my nerves a little bit. These family gatherings were something that was going to take time to get used to. Especially these big ones for the holidays, like today's.

"Merry Christmas!" Kaydence smiled as she saw us enter the living room of Martin's home.

"Merry Christmas." I pleasantly smiled back.

Everyone else was already here. Kaydence's mom with her husband, Justin with Victoria alongside their children, and even Killian. Killian preferred spending holidays with the Tipton's as they treated him more like family than his own parents.

"Izzy, hello." Scarlett smiled as Sterling and I took a seat on the couch.

"Hey Scar." I greeted her in return.

"Hello to you too." Sterling sarcastically spoke to his sister.

She glared at him for a moment. "I was getting there. It's not my fault I was more excited to see her than you." Her tone held just as much sarcasm.

Sterling and Scarlett made their little remarks to each other but that's just how they were. It didn't fool anyone though. We all knew they had a close relationship and they loved each other. Sterling would do anything for her and still remained protective over her to this day.

"But I'm your brother." He shot back.

"Even more reason for me to be more excited about her than you." Scarlett responded. "I see you too much as is. Thankfully you had the growth from last year's Christmas removed." It didn't take a rocket scientist to know she meant Elise.

Killian tried to conceal a laugh but it managed to slip out anyway. "Who knew the little girl who used to be so sweet and force us to have tea parties with her would grow up to be such a blunt savage."

"Don't be fooled." Scarlett responded as she slightly batted her eyelashes at him. "I can still be sweet."

Scarlett had a crush on him. I realized it the more I watched her interact with him. Killian was completely oblivious to it or he ignored it on purpose. I can't say I blamed if he was ignoring it. She's still young and well, Killian isn't the type of person to go for jailbait. Besides, if anything ever happened with her in his lifetime Damon and Sterling would both probably kill him and not think twice about it.

"Yeah, sure little Tipton. Whatever you say." Killian chuckled.

"Well now that everyone is here. Why don't we go into the dining room and eat some dinner?" Martin suggested.

"Sounds great to me." Justin responded as he stood up.

We all proceeded to get up and head into the dining room. Martin took his seat at the head of the table and the rest of us sat wherever we felt comfortable. I decided to take a seat next to Sterling but across from Scarlett. She of course made it a point to sit next to Killian.

The meal was served and everyone talked back and forth. I mainly kept to talking to Killian, Scarlett, and Sterling. But then Martin decided to put me on the spot.

"Isabelle." He spoke in a pleasant tone. "I've been hearing good things about your work at the company. Are you planning to stay on full time or is there anything else you're looking to do?"

I shifted uncomfortably as all eyes were now on me. Again, these family dinners were something I was going to have to get used to. I grew up in an orphanage, I never really got to experience these kinds of things. Normally I would be fine but this was Sterling's family and I wanted to impress them and make sure they liked me.

"I don't know yet. I've been trained to do the assistant thing and I'm happy doing it." I finally answered. "I don't know if I see myself doing it for the rest of my life though."

"Nothing wrong with that." Kaydence chimed in. "Honestly if it weren't for Damon I don't know what I'd be doing right now."

"All I did was give you a push in the right direction Love." Damon responded to her. "Amethyst is all you, I haven't made a business decision for the brand in years."

"Kaydence is right, there's nothing wrong with not having it figured out just yet." Martin took back over. "You're still young, many years ahead of you."

"Exactly." I nodded.

The dinner continued on until everyone was finished. I could feel myself relax the more we sat around together. In time I knew that the nerves I felt every time I thought about these gatherings would eventually fade. It definitely helped that all of them were always so welcoming.

We stayed at Martin's a little longer after to make sure we spent a good amount of time with the family. It was almost eight in the evening when we decided to call it a night. Everyone else was preparing to leave as well.

We said our goodbyes and then headed out to the car. Sterling opened my door and then closed it once I was inside. He slipped into the driver's seat and started up the Lamborghini. He glanced over at me as we sat for a moment.

"Did you have a good time?" He asked in a soft tone.

"Yes." I nodded with a small smile. "I had a great time."

"Good." He seemed slightly relieved. "I just know they can be a little much at times. Scarlett especially."

"Oh whatever. She was fine." I reassured him.

He pulled out of the driveway and headed in the direction of his apartment. I had agreed to spend the night with him since I had been busy this morning. I had to make sure I was at the orphanage when the kids opened their gifts. I had used some of the money I was making from this job to help make sure they all had a good Christmas.

After driving through the city we pulled into the parking garage of the complex. Sterling went to his spot and parked the car. He sat silently for a moment. I could tell something seemed to be on his mind.

"What is it?" I asked. Might as well get to the point.

"The visit to my mom's grave this morning kind of has me realizing how short life can be." His eyes met mine. "I know we're supposed to be going slow on this and I'm all for that. I just want you to know I love you Isabelle. I'm falling more and more in love with you as the days go by."

I closed the gap between us and pressed my lips onto his. We moved in sync for a moment before I pulled back a little. "And I love you too."

**Author's Note**

Sorry for missing yesterday guys! I had a rough night with my daughter so I was far from prepared. I'm back now with today's update, just wanted to communicate what had happened!