once bitten (and twice shy)

4. I'm naughty, she's the nice one!

🎄I'M NAUGHTY, SHE'S THE NICE ONE🎄

By the time Lin came back with a steaming mug of hot chocolate in each hand, a movie was playing softly in the background. Gen had found and opened the box with the ornaments for the tree, but instead of beginning to decorate, she was looking somewhat longingly at the tree.

"I haven't decorated one of these in years."

"No trees in California?" he asked, passing her a mug.

"Ha," she dryly said, though she didn't look offended. "Not for me, anyway."

"You never decorated?"

"Not really, no. Some years I didn't really have anyone to celebrate with, so there was no point. And when I did, the tree was already made up for me. More convenient, I suppose," she explained, catching the incredulous look Lin was giving her.

"Yeah, and so much less fun," he scoffed, exchanging his hot chocolate for a string of lights. "You start with the tree, and I'll get these lights on – somewhere."

Gen chuckled lowly at that. "Sounds promising."

Lin felt his hackles raise, but he checked himself. He was getting defensive over nothing. He didn't want to fight Gen anymore.

By the time he managed to hang two strings of lights and was struggling with a garland of tinsel, the two of them were working in companionable quiet. Gen called his name, continuing when he hummed to let her know he was listening.

"I wanted to apologize. For not reaching out, and then implying that you didn't care," she quietly said, the events of yesterday clearly weighing on her mind as much as they had been on his.

"I'm sorry that I agreed with you," Lin offered in return, making sure to look her in the eye as he said it. "I was lying and lashed out, and that was shitty of me."

"We've both been our share of shitty to each other," she pointed out in his defense.

"Well, knowing us, I think we could've done a lot worse."

"You mean Lin Park didn't put his full 100% into something?" she joked, effectively breaking the tension between them. "What a scandal!"

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, mock offended.

She paused her decorating to give him a dirty look. "Oh come on. Acting like a chill, calm, blasé guy who is secretly an overachieving, completely extra, absolute perfectionist is your whole brand."

"And you being an evil, cunning mastermind who covers it with exuberance and confidence is yours," he shot back, smirking at her look of affront.

"I'll have you know that I'm an innocent ray of sunshine."

"I'm not too sure about the innocent bit," he drawled, their eyes locking for a bit too long before she looked away, determinedly hanging an ornament on the tree.

"I think I'm done for now. So, any bets on when the snow stops?" she asked, taking a moment to admire her handiwork.

"I would hate to say and tempt fate. I'd guess we're stuck here together for the foreseeable future though."

"We're probably spending Christmas Eve like this then," she mused, collapsing on the couch in front of the TV. "Want to watch Home Alone?"

He raised an eyebrow at the mention of her favourite Christmas movie. "For what is probably the thousandth time?"

"Yup," she confidently said, because she knew how it was secretly his favourite too.

Lin grinned, taking the seat next to her. "Hell yeah."