Zylpai Drabble Collection

Miseltoe

The holidays were a wondrous time of year. A time for friends and family to gather, to exchange gifts and be thankful about what was, and what was to come. To make memories, and to enjoy and indulge in each other's company before the year ended.

That's what Vero, and all of her closest friends, had decided to indulge in this year. A holiday party at Muselk's was the plan, and she'd been looking forwards to it as much as she had been to coming to Australia again in the first place.

But there was one little problem: the mistletoe hung above the door to the balcony.

Oh sure, it had caused some moments she'd definitely never forget. Hell, one's she'd make sure to bring up for a long, long time. An awkward Sean and Elliot caught under it when attempting to pass through opposite ways - the awkward silence and eye contact that was held for the following seconds were the tensest Vero had ever felt, but with a "Whoo!" from his wife, Sean apparently went fuck it and given Elliot the sloppiest, wettest kiss Vero had ever seen. Elliot spent the following minutes gagging and desperately rinsing his mouth out with beer while Sean and everyone else roared with laughter in the background

And then there was that embarrassed kiss between Bazza and Dayne. The shorter girl and been going to move out of the way after blushing the "Oooh!"s of everyone else, but didn't account for the leaning-down Bazza to actually be trying to kiss her. Emphasis on try. Being 6'7" could be a disadvantage and it couldn't help but backfire on Bazza now - he'd missed and ended up pecking Dayne's nose. Dayne had stared, red-faced, at a quickly backing-out Bazza who was mumbling about holiday spirit and being drunk and Brad daring him before she'd wrapped her arms around the big lug and buried her face in his chest. Vero had heard her whisper "You idiot." through the muffled material of Bazza's shirt as the taller man wrapped his arms around her.

However, the current predicament was occupying too much of her mind to remember the previous amusing incidents. Mainly, the blushing idiot in front of her, who'd dragged her out onto Elliot's balcony for some "Alone time!" yelled back at the group with a voice crack. She'd glanced up at the doorway, expecting a smooch on the way out - huh, it wasn't there anymore - but was quickly distracted by Brad placing something on her head with a mumbled "Merry Christmas, Vero".

She reached up and felt the edge, and the top.

It was a cowboy hat.

She glanced up at the brim.

In white.

They were matching.

Brad had never seemed like the type to do matching couple's shit, but he kept surprising her, day in and day out; whether it was more ramblings about the weirdest topics or a surprising sweetness and comfort. Part of her had never been more endeared, part of her couldn't believe what he'd done, but she only knew one thing truly:

She was dating the world's biggest fucking dork.

"I, uh, was thinking the other day on what to get you. And y'know, you always said you'd steal my hat and my hoodie and whatever when we went on dates. So now mine's actually safe from you, you dirty hat-thief"

Oh god, he was rambling.

Vero snapped out of her minor daze and looked up at him. He was smiling, but the corners of his eyes were too tight, and his smile had almost too many teeth. His eyes were flickering up and down her face, waiting for a reaction.

Vero still didn't have one.

His face fell, and he reached for the hat again.

"I get it if you don't like it. It was just a stupid joke, I know, it's gone too far at this point but i thought it would be c-cute or whatever, but apparently not -"

Brad was cut off to a crushing hug, the smaller woman fitting herself perfectly beneath his chin.

"I love it." Was what he managed to make out from Vero's crushed face against his hoodie.

"I, heh, heheheheh...." He couldn't help but giggle, wrapping his arms around her in return. "You couldn't have said it sooner, could you? Needed a minute to process how amazing my gift was, hmm?"

"No, I was just realizing how much of a dork I'm dating. I'm dating you. How? All the people in the world, and I'm the one saddled with the world's biggest, stupidest, fucking cutest and sweetest and surprisingly thoughtful dork possible. Why me?"

"You knew you could never resist me, babe." Brad grinned, into her shoulder. "Do you wanna see the best part?"

"Huh?"

Vero pulled back, biting her lip in confusion and looking up at Brad through her lashes. He reached one hand up, and from the rim of her hat, flipped out the sprig of mistletoe - Vero glanced at the doorway and the accursed thing wasn't there any more - to dangle precariously between the two from a piece of duct tape.

Vero stared at it, cross-eyed, before bursting out into laughter and burying her face in Brad's shoulder once more.

"Hey, where'd you go there Vero? I think someone owes me something~" He tittered in a singsong voice, rubbing the girl's back gently as she worked through another fit of her gorgeous laughter.

"Okay, fine, you fucking dork. Just know that I hate you, okay?"

Vero leaned back and tugged on Brad's collar, pulling the smirking Australian down into a warm, heartfelt kiss. One that said quite the opposite of the word Vero had just spoken aloud to the smitten fool.

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A/N: Quick warning: I wrote this at 3 am, so beware any spelling/grammar errors I mad. Lemme know if you spot any. I'm thinking of a follow-up piece or two to this, I have ideas. And don't worry, I'll get a cover soon enough.  Thanks to the 30-some peeps who have taken their previous time outa their days to read my work, and happy holidays to all!