She's a Man's World - DISCONTINUED

Christmas with the Barkleys

Warmth fulfilled me as I awoke the next morning. Looking around, my confusion must have been evident as I attempted to recognise my surroundings. I then felt myself relax though as I noticed the rising and falling of Ross's chest against me.

A slight groan slipped from Ross's lips as he began to stir. He tried to stretch but soon realised that I was still curled up with him, and so simply sighed. "Morning", his voice spoke huskily. "Morning, Ross", I replied, my voice a whisper through my current exhaustion. "It's Christmas", our inner child reached out as we both spoke excitedly at the same time, before sharing a laugh at this.

"It's Christmaaaaas!", a young girl's voice suddenly yelled out as feet thundered down the stairs before bursting into the living room. "Sorry", the girl who I suspected to be Ross's sister mumbled as she saw myself and Ross on the sofa still half asleep. "Is this your girlfriend Ross?".

I glanced at Ross who had all of a sudden blushed an extremely bright pink. "Erm, n-no Yasmin, this is Kendall; a friend", Ross stuttered, a sense of sorrow in his voice as he said "friend". "Kendall, this is my sister, Yasmin". "It's nice to meet you", I stifled through a yawn, trying to be as pleasant as possible.

Yasmin smirked at the two of us, almost like she knew something that I didn't. "Nice to meet you too...Yeah...'friend'". It was then that Ross's parents entered the room, looking almost as tired as me and Ross were. "Morning you two", Diane spoke warmly. "Merry Christmas". "Merry Christmas", we replied in sync.

Yasmin couldn't restrain herself for much longer and darted towards the presents under the grand Christmas tree. I pulled myself off Ross's knee so that he could go and sit beside her, before sitting as far back on the sofa as I could. Part of me felt as though I was intruding on this day for their family, so I attempted to distance myself from it as much as possible.

I sat in thought of my own family, who I should have been with right now. Sitting around the tree before indulging in a dinner, then having snowball fights outside etc. It would have been perfect, but I was missing it.

My thoughts were shaken away as Ross's voice floated into my ears. "Earth to Kendall?". "Hmm?", I questioned, unsure of all the stares towards me before they all burst out laughing. "Well Kendall, there's a present here with your name on it...".

Ross stood up before sitting beside me, one hand on my back whilst the other held a scarlet-red box towards me. Taking it from his hands, I opened the box to pull out a necklace: a locket to be more precise.

Diamonds encrusted the chain, whilst the locket itself was in the shape of a sun. Engraved in the back of it were the words, "You are my sunshine, my life source. I need you because I'd die without you. I love you". Opening it, I saw that one half contained a photo of myself and Joe whilst the other half contained one of myself and Ross.

"Thank you, I love it", I squealed, wrapping my arms around Ross and pecking his cheek lightly. "I'm glad", Ross's voice was soft in reply. "Love you Barkley", I spoke genuinely but tried to seem as if I was joking. "Love you too Hart", he replied in the same tone.

...

The rest of the day past by fluently: Christmas dinner, before a snowball fight outside which, with the Barkley family, turned out to be a lot more competitive than I initially suspected. The teams were Diane, Yasmin and I vs Ross and his dad, who I learned to be called Peter.

The Barkley household played host to a large garden outside, which was perfect for our "battle". Throughout the fight, I didn't miss a single shot, earning a stunned look from Yasmin. "How did you get so good at this?!", she whisper-yelled at me. "Years of practice, darling", I shrugged with a laugh, throwing another shot and hitting Ross in his chest. He growled in frustration at me, something which Yasmin and myself found extremely amusing.

"You know he really likes you, right?", she asked as we return to a serious state. "I know", was all I could reply. "He never stops talking about you", Yasmin went on, "saying that he wishes you'd feel the same way he does". I had continued to throw snowballs as Yasmin spoke, but stopped as she said those last words. "I do", I replied in all seriousness, "I do feel the same way". Yasmin couldn't hold back her smile as I said this; a smile I returned as I felt us beginning to bond.

"Watch out!", she shouted all of a sudden. "Huh?..", I asked in confusion but was deprived of an answer as a snowball smacked the side of my face, knocking me over. "Yes!", I heard Ross shout triumphantly, before a weight suddenly sunk me further into the snow.

"Ross, get off me!", I giggled, trying to avoid the snow he was jokingly piling onto my face. "Only if you tell me...", he insisted. "Tell you what?". "Tell me you love me". I laughed at him, but still hadn't replied, resulting in more snow shoved in my face. "Alright, alright!", I eventually caved, "I love you Ross!".

Satisfied, he helped me stand back up, keeping a grip on my hand even after I was stood. Our fingers intertwined perfectly, sparks fluttering in my stomach as the only warmth in me right now burned in my hand. "Alright lovebirds", Peter joked, "Let's all go back inside". Nodding in agreement, Ross led me back inside, the hand-hold still upheld between us.

...

Night soon fell to cap what had been a perfect day, given the circumstances. "Have you had a nice day Kendall?", Diane asked as we all sat in the living room. "Yeah, I have thank you. Thanks for having me here". "It's no problem. I'm just sorry you couldn't spend this day with your family". I smiled but felt tears well in my eyes at the thought of my family. I had longed to spend this day with them, and it saddened me that I couldn't.

"Excuse me". I stood up and left the room, walking outside and into the garden. After shutting the door behind me, I let a tear slip down my cheek before the rest began to flow. I was too busy crying to hear the sound of the door opening and then shutting again.

"Hey, you okay?", Ross spoke concernedly as he came up beside me, wrapping an arm around my back. "I'm fine", I stifled through my tears, "I just wish I could've been with my family today". "I know. I'd hate to have to spend Christmas with someone else's family. I just hoped you'd maybe see us as a second family and that would cheer you up".

"I already do", I sniffed, turning to face Ross. "And it did cheer me up". Without thought, I slid my arms around his neck, leaning in to shoulder. "Awww", Ross spoke as he pulled me tighter to himself. "I love you", he mumbled into my ear. "I love you too", I chuckled in reply.

"No, you don't understand", Ross moaned, lifting my head to face him. "I love you. Like, really, truly love you". "And I love you too Ross!", I exclaimed in slight frustration. "...Ross, I heard what you said in the hospital. When you thought I was still in the coma and you were speaking to me, I heard everything you said. And I'm saying that I feel the exact same way...I love you too".

Ross's eyes lit up as I spoke, before he placed a warm hand on my cheek once I'd stopped. For a few moments he was silent, simply gazing into my eyes as he processed it all. "Then come here...", he eventually spoke, his hand sliding downwards to hold my chin between his thumb and fingers. "...because I've been waiting so long to do this".

Gently he lifted my chin upwards, the gap between our lips inching closer. The soft warmth of his lips eventually met mine, sending a shiver running down my spine. It was at this moment that I realised: this is what I'd been missing; what I'd wanted for so long; what I'd needed. It felt so right.

Pulling away but maintaining a minimal gap between us, we merely stared into each other's eyes, savouring the moment. Finally this was happening; it had taken so long but the timing was perfect.

"Merry Christmas, Kendall", Ross whispered due to the tiny distance between us. I chuckled as it seemed as though he had said that so many times. "Merry Christmas, Ross", my hushed voice spoke before our lips touched again.

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A/N so what do you guys think now that Kendall and Ross are finally together? I made it happen on Christmas since I thought it'd be kinda romantic haha ;) thanks for reading! x