12 Days of Christmas.

December 15th

Standing by the back door, shivering as you waited for Tess to come back in from her morning post-breakfast pee-and-sniff, you decided two things. One, you were not going outside today, and two, you were not getting out of bed again unless absolutely necessary.

The second Tessa's tail was over the threshold you slammed the door shut, all but sprinting back to bed. Tom was still in the exact same position you left him in, on his side with his knees bent up, one arm out in front of him where it had flopped onto the mattress after you slipped out from under it. You lifted it to resume your position, scooting back into his arms and pulling the duvet up under your chin. Sighing appreciatively, you pressed as much of your cold body to Tom's warm one as possible. His arm tightened around your middle, soft kisses on your shoulder letting you know he was awake now too.

"It's two degrees outside," you croaked, vocal cords not yet warmed up.

Tom's chest vibrated against your back as he hummed, hooking his chin over your shoulder.

"Good job we're not outside then, isn't it?"

"Feels like it in the kitchen," you huffed. "Dunno about you but I'm staying in bed today."

He just hummed again, tilting his head to press his lips to your neck. A sleepy smile spread across your features, your body relaxing into his as he trailed kisses across your skin, along the apex of your shoulder and up to your jaw. You turned in his arms, wrapping your arms around his neck and hitching your leg up over his hip to keep your bodies pressed together as closely as possible.

His warm breath mingled with yours, nose nudging yours gently as your lips tingled in anticipation. You tilted your head to connect them to his, closing your eyes as you kissed. His arms around your waist held you close, hands splayed across the small of your back, but the kiss remained soft. Waking up together was undoubtedly the best part about living together for both of you, when your love was at its purest. Before life became reality, before there were expectations and deadlines and responsibilities. Minds and bodies supple from sleep, you got to see the other as you truly were, unadulterated and honest. No, it wasn't always pretty, yes there was morning breath and smudged mascara and bedhead beyond belief, but that was all part of the appeal. It was real and it was raw and it was perfectly imperfect.

And though they say all good things must come to an end, every now and again, that isn't so. On days like today, when it's two degrees above freezing and you have nowhere else to be, you can forget to open the curtains, forget to answer the phone, forget to get out of bed, even. And when one of those days just so happens to fall ten days before Christmas, you have little choice but to queue every single Christmas movie on your Plex account, set your phone to do not disturb, and order UberEats for every single meal.

x

Some hours later - what even is time anyway? - you lay on your back with your legs propped up against the headboard, alternating between watching Home Alone upside down and scrolling through your phone. Tom sat propped up by the pillows, one leg bent up and the other straight out in front of him. He was absentmindedly drawing shapes on your stomach with his fingertips, his eyes glazing over as he stared at the TV on the opposite wall.

You tapped through the Cosmopolitan Snapchat story, pausing midway through '18 of the Most Awkward Kardashian Moments of 2018' to glance over at Tom. Judging by the blank expression on his face, he was getting bored of the Christmas Movie Marathon. You returned your attention to your phone, deciding to finish the story before suggesting a change of activity - and as luck would have it, the next article provided a few ideas.

You bit your lip as you scrolled through '9 Oral Sex Positions You Need in Your Life', suddenly extremely aware of Tom's hand tucked under the hem of your t shirt. His middle finger was tracing a figure of eight just above your belly button, his eyes still trained straight ahead, completely unaware of the anticipation building beneath his fingertips. Most of the positions were pretty standard, a couple of variations on a 69, but it was number 6 that piqued your interest.