REAL, michael j. fox

Chapter 10: All Shook Up

Song Selection: It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas by Bing Crosby

The streets nowadays were packed with busy shoppers, having me look around in a daze as I stood in the center of all the madness.

The mall.

Megan linked her arm tightly around mine, the two of us trying to ease our way skillfully through the packed building. "C'mon Cat you love Christmas!" She cheered beside me, linking arms with me as she led me up to the escalator.

I sighed deeply and nodded, admiring the ornaments and wreaths that now hung on the bannisters. "Right, I love the holiday, not the shopping. You're the one who loves the Christmas shopping for whatever reason, it's mayhem here."

She chuckled in amusement. "Well what'd you expect? It's sales seasons after all." I eyed the hockey jersey I was getting Michael already, going inside the sports store as Megan trailed behind him. "Things are really getting serious between the two of you if you think about it."

I eyed for a second as I waited in line to pay. "Well that's random of you to say, what do you mean?"

"I mean haven't the two of you said I love you, yet?" Smiling widely at the mere mention of this seemed to satisfy Megan's question enough by the look on her face after I did so. "You've got him wrapped right around your finger then you frisky Cat you, look at you go."

Holding the bags and walking out of the shop, I rolled my eyes at her comments. "I don't have him wrapped around my finger and an I love you is just a phrase after all is said and done. We mean it and we're bonding more and more everyday," I told her, having her lean back and swoon at the very thought, "You honestly make it as if I'm living some romance novel."

She groaned deeply at this. "Because you are and it's totally mind-boggling you're unphased by this, Caitlin. Have you seen your boyfriend for crying out loud?"

"Seeing as he's my boyfriend, yeah. I've seen him alright." Megan gasped at my sly comment as I walked ahead of her to the coffee shop straight ahead. "You make me need caffeine, by the way. I can never keep up with your store hopping or your gossiping sometimes."

Paying for my coffee casually, I sipped the cup in my hand to go back outside to Megan holding up a magazine to my face. I rolled my eyes to her disinterested. "You've got a boyfriend who's on the cover of Teen Beat and being named the heartthrob of '85! And you're over here having him at his knees trying to be impressive and clever and exciting because he thinks you're the best there is." She handed me the magazine, raising a brow to me. "It's a damn good situation if I ever saw one."

I smirked to her confidently. "Trust me, I know."

***

The ornaments were now beginning to make their way onto the tree, Michael putting down the next box with the rest of the decorations. "I know you helped me decorate at my place, but you've got way more decorations than I do," He told me, sighing for a moment.

I smiled, stepping down from my step ladder to kiss him quickly. "It's the best holiday there is. Can you blame me for having so many decorations," I explained to him, having him chuckle at my enthusiasm, "You love to see me like this anyways so it's a win-win for the both of us."

Grabbing some more ornaments I watched Michael begin to eye me placing them onto the tree, thinking of what Megan had said recently. "You know you mean a lot to me, right?" I asked him, still focusing on the task at hand.

He stepped forward to be in my field of view, tilting his head to me confused. "Of course I do? Why?"

I shook my head for him not to start to worry. "Just want to make sure my Fox knows is all, that's it," I explained to have him await for another response, "I swear that's it, don't give me those eyes."

"Do you know you mean a lot to me?"

I sighed in content, knowing the question didn't need to be asked with the way he looked worried about my response. "You remind me constantly without even having to do anything so yes," I told him, shutting the empty box and kicking it aside, "It's hard to keep up."

He chuckled. "Not like it's a competition."

"Could be?"

"Oh you would want it to be wouldn't you."

I smirked over to him, guilty as charged as he laughed at my behavior. Flipping through my Christmas movie VHS tales I looked up to my Fox for a second beginning to open the box for the Gingerbread house the two of us were going to build together.

His ocean eyes were trained on the directions already, having me chuckle under my breath at the obvious concentration being read by the expression on his face. He looked up to catch me doing so, lighting up once the two of us locked eyes with one another. The look alone left me with a sudden realization I didn't have before as Michael urged me back to the kitchen. "This is a team effort, Rudolph can wait." I nodded in agreement, going over to read the directions along with him whilst the thought still remained in my head.

Megan was right. I do have him wrapped around my finger, don't I?

He passed me one of my holiday mugs, already topping off the hot chocolate inside with marshmallows for the two of us. "Only because you don't have as skillful hands as I do."

"Says the surgeon. It's nothing in comparison there, Cat," Michael said, having me chuckle to kiss his cheek as he passed me the frosting and held up the first stages of the house.