Flynn - a kissing booth fan fiction

Keys

"Merry Christmas!!!" Brad's voice echoes through the house, reaching the kitchen where Lee and I are both hovering in the hopes of stealing food from all the dishes Mom's assembling on the island bench.

"Ahh," Dad smiles, heading towards the stairs. "I see the Evanses have arrived."

"Indeed we have," Mike grins, shifting a load of presents from his right arm to his left to shake Dad's offered hand. "Merry Christmas."

"Hey, I already said that," Brad complains, looking annoyed. "You said I could say it."

"And you did a great job, too," Dad smiles at Elle's little brother, putting his hand on the kid's shoulder. "Merry Christmas."

I swear, Dad indulges Brad way more than he ever did me or Lee, but whatever. My pique is short-lived though, because I have to stifle a laugh when I look behind Mike to see Elle following him down the stairs. At least, I assume there's an Elle underneath all those presents she's carrying. And then the shiver of panic sets in, because this is Elle, clumsiest of all humans, and I'm not sure she can even see where she's going. Lee must've had the same thought because we both dash forward at the same time.

Elle's face suddenly appears as we grab the packages off her hands and she giggles, looking back and forth between the two of us.

"Merry Christmas."

Lee starts to move forward, but I bump him out of the way with my shoulder, leaning in to kiss my girl hello. When our lips touch, I get that zap of electricity like always, even more so because I haven't seen her since last night when I dropped her back at her place after movie night. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and all that. Does twelve hours even count as absence? I don't know, but I'm going with it. My musing is interrupted by Elle tapping her index finger on my forehead, a wide grin on her pretty face.

"What's goin' on in there, Harvard? Should I be concerned?"

"Nah," I smirk, dropping a quick wink for good measure. "I'll fill you in later."

The double-entendre has Elle blushing furiously, and I love that I can still manage to make her turn this shade of pink with just a few words. Okay, with a few words and lots of memories... but still. I quickly press my lips against hers again before spinning away to go put the presents under the huge tree that has pride of place in one corner of the living room. I spot my name on a couple of the tags, and I have to admit, I'm curious to see what Elle got me.

She claims to be terrible at gift-giving, but in my experience, she's actually pretty great at it. Her ideas are usually out of left field, but she never fails to find something that ends up being just right. And now I'm hoping she likes the presents I got her, as well. I noticed before that she's wearing the necklace I gave her when I got back, so at least I know she likes that one.

When I turn back around, Lee's releasing her from a hug so that my Mom can wrap her in another one, and I catch a flicker of sadness on Mike's face as he looks on. I guess the holidays are always tough for him, without Joni here to share them with. Brad's busy buzzing around Lee, hitting him up to play video games later, and Dad's gone to get everyone drinks, so I wander over to Mike.

"Merry Christmas, Mr Evans," I say quietly, sticking out my hand.

He grins at me wryly, accepting my handshake firmly before saying, "Merry Christmas, Noah. And for the last time, call me Mike."

Chuckling, I release his hand. "Sorry, force of habit."

"I get it. Speaking of habits," he raises his eyebrows slightly. "You were missed at breakfast this morning."

"Ah," I nod, swallowing. "Well, I figured today of all days, it was probably best to give you guys some space, and for me to be here as well. You know, family time," I add lamely.