Oh, Calamity (Alex Gaskarth/ ATL fan-fic)

Merry Christmas, Kiss My Ass

A/N: So I know if I'm going in order this chapter should be called "Break Your Little Heart" but that'll be next chapter because this one's the CHRISTMAS CHAPTER! WOO! Gotta get back in the spirit!

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Alex's POV:

"Snowing? Again?" I complained, staring out the window.

"Don't be such a scrouge." Marina handed me a mug of white hot chocolate.

"Easy for you to say. Your dad had a plow truck when you were growing up." I sipped it. "How do you even make this?"

"It's a family secret." she took a pretty sip. She was in another knit sweater, one of the ones I loved so much. Her nails were painted, which was unusual, a mint blue and cream color, little gems on the pointer fingers. "But you are family, so I'll tell you anyway."

"Am I really family?" I asked.

"Of course you are. You're my family. We may not have kids, and we may not be married, but you're my other half. We share a home and a heart, and that's what a family really is."

I slung an arm around her and kissed her cheek. "Now tell me the recipe."

"Okay. It's really easy. You just combine white chocolate and heavy cream in a saucepan on medium heat, and just keep stirring until the chocolate chips are melted. And then you put in some half-and-half, and vanilla extract, and keep stirring until it's heated through. Then you just pour into mugs and top with whatever. Wallah! You have the most delicious hot chocolate ever."

She wandered around the room, lovingly eyeing all the decorations. I helped, but she did most of it on her own. Christmas wasn't really something I understood, but it was her inner spirit. I wafted in the scent of the holiday yankee candle, mixed with the hot chocolate and baking cookies. She had two batches in the oven; one with chocolate chip (which was our favorite), and one with sugar cookies. I was truly surprised at all the baking skills Marina had, since in all our time together, I'd only ever seen her make stir fry and pasta sauce. Speaking of pasta, that was our dinner tonight. 

Marina was throwing this huge Christmas Eve party with a yankee swap and dinner and everything. She made baked ziti as a side, leaving off the cheese because she knew only certain people liked it. Then she rosemary and garlic roasted drumsticks in the toaster oven. Then came the stir fry. She chopped up a bunch of fresh veggies, like snap peas and zucchini, and fryed them in a pan with olive oil to a perfect texture of not too crunchy but not too soggy.

She went back to the kitchen, grabbing the salad she made and all the dressings, setting them on the table she had made out so nicely, using her fine china that her father had given her when she moved in with me. Damn, she had it all. 

"I feel like I'm forgetting something, Alex." she rubbed her chin in thought. "The oil, right." She took a small thing of oil and set it on the table. "No, there's something else. Dammit, I forgot to make gravy!"

"No you didn't. Emily and Zack are bringing some, remember?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot." she giggled. "And Colby and Kianna are bringing the pies. Okay. Is everything all set?"

Before I could even answer with a yes, the front door opened. Cassadee and Rian entered.

"Cass!" Marina ran and hugged her.

I was still dumbfounded by the situation. When I asked Marina to move in with me, I thought "She's amazing and I love her and I'd love to share a home with her". Not once did it ever cross my mind that she'd be so clean, and decorative, and such a great host for dinner parties. She was brilliant.