Complicated

Chapter 21: Merry Christmas

Chapter 21

"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" I said enthusiastically as I walked into Oliver's house.

"Scarlett!" Audrey exclaimed, running up to me.

"Hey Princess!" I laughed, bending down to give her a huge hug.

"What time are you and OJ leaving?" Mr. James asked, walking into the kitchen with Brian.

"Whenever he's ready." I replied with a laugh. "Thank you so much for letting him come with us for the holidays."

"We always celebrate a week early anyways, nothing out of the ordinary this year." Mr. James laughed, handing a baseball glove to his youngest son.

I smiled at Brian as he followed his dad out to the front lawn.

Oliver came jogging down the stairs, holding his suitcase.

"Ready." He grinned, walking right up to me to plant a huge kiss on my lips.

Audrey giggled at us, causing Oliver to pull back with wide eyes.

"OJ!" Audrey suddenly gaped. "Will Santa know to find you at Scarlett's castle?"

Oliver bent down to her level.

"Of course." Oliver nodded. "Santa knows everything." Oliver winked.

"Good." Audrey nodded.

Oliver kissed her head before standing up straight.

"Mom I'm leaving!" Oliver called to somewhere else in the house.

"Let me hug you goodbye!" Mrs. James exclaimed, suddenly appearing in front of him.

"Bye." Oliver laughed as she pulled him into a bone crushing hug.

"Merry Christmas, darling, call us tomorrow okay?" Mrs. James said as she hugged him.

"Yeah yeah of course." Oliver nodded, stepping back from her.

Mrs. James suddenly pulled me into a hug too.

"Oh." I laughed.

"Merry Christmas, Scarlett, I'm so glad Oliver's spending it with your family." Mrs. James grinned.

"It's the least we could do, after you had me and Parks over last week." I laughed, giving her a little squeeze.

Mrs. James let out a sigh, stepping back from us.

"Alright alright I won't make you guys miss your flight. Have a save trip, call me when you land, and have fun." Mrs. James said happily.

Oliver said a quick goodbye to his little sister before we headed outside to where the car was waiting.

I waited in the car while he said goodbye to his dad and brother, then we were off to the airport.

Parker and his mom had been in Castello for a while already, just like my dad had been too, and now Oliver and I were meeting them there.

The flight on the private jet was unlike the other flights we'd had.

It wasn't a feverish few hours of hot and heavy making out, we had plenty of time to do that now.

This time, we were just curled up on the couch, tangled up in each other.

"So... Tell me what Christmas in Castello is like." Oliver whispered, smoothing down my hair.

"So much fun." I replied. "We don't get much snow, sometimes there's a little bit on the tops of the mountains but nothing close to us. But still, there are beautiful decorations everywhere. Our country is pretty much all Christian, so Christmas is a massive holiday here. There are lights on every single street of every single neighborhood. The small cities closest to the center are the oldest, but people still put lights up outside of the apartments. The suburban areas farther from the capitol have the most elaborate light decorations. But the castle is where it really gets great. We have a huge christmas tree in the main entrance hall and there are decorations everywhere. On Christmas Eve, everyone who lives in the castle puts their presents underneath the tree for the next morning. Everybody does gift opening things with their families early on in the day, then at noon all the staff and the family opens gifts together because we do like, a sophisticated version of secret santa where everybody gets something. Then the staff gets to work preparing the feast and we get ready."