Rookie - The Finale | Ethan Ramsey

Chapter 36~ Gift of Noel

Gift Of Noel

"And it is only right I give you a present as or even more special and of honour... Merry Christmas, Ethan."
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🎵 For a more auditory experience, I recommend playing the song in the second slide of the media box when a similar notice like this appears in the later half of this chapter. 🎵

The days before Christmas did not arrive all at once.

They settled.

Softly.

Like something being laid gently over the city — over the hospital, over their home, over the quiet spaces between moments that neither of them had been paying much attention to until now.

It was still early when Blue woke up.

Not from restlessness this time, but from something softer, like her body had simply decided that sleep was no longer necessary.

She stayed where she was, staring at the ceiling for a moment before turning her head slightly. Ethan was still asleep with arm stretched loosely across the bed, his breathing slow, steady. She watched him for a while — longer than usual.

From the way his lashes rested right above his defined cheekbones, eyelids concealing the aquamarines that she loved all too much, a colour she had memorised in every light. From the sharp bridge of his nose that he found himself ever so often pinching.

Blue smiled softly at that.

She shifted closer, slow and careful not to wake him, the sheets whispering faintly beneath her movement. Leaning in, she pressed a soft kiss to the bridge of his nose, then another to his cheek — gentle, lingering just a second longer than necessary.

He did not stir. Just breathed.

It made something in her chest settle.

Funny, she thought, how it was usually the other way around, her bargaining for a few extra minutes of sleep, his quiet persistence eventually pulling her out of it. She could almost hear it now, the low murmur of her name, the steady insistence that always won.

Today, she let him have it.

"Sleep," she whispered softly, more to herself than to him.

She exhaled slowly before slipping out of their bed and padding into the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face.

The kitchen was quiet when she reached it, the early light just beginning to settle through the windows. She reached for a mug, paused, then changed her mind—reaching instead for a different one, like something about the first choice did not sit right.

The kettle clicked on.

Blue leaned against the counter, arms folded loosely as she waited, but halfway through, her expression shifted slightly. A faint crease between her brows. Not discomfort exactly.

Just... something off.

She inhaled slowly through her nose, steadying it, letting the feeling pass like it always did. By the time the kettle clicked off, she had already smoothed it away.

"Rookie."

His voice came from behind her, warm, low.

Blue turned, a small smile already forming before she even fully faced him. "You're up."

Ethan stepped into the kitchen, running a hand through his slightly tousled chocolate locks, pushing them back in a way that only half-worked. His t-shirt sat loose against his frame, sleeves pushed just enough to reveal the beginnings of his strong forearms.