Logan

49. Christmas, Part 3

*Natalie's POV*

When we were finished with presents, everyone stood around the piano, and it mostly turned into a jam session, Christmas style. Damien was playing around with his new guitar and arguing with Logan about which of the pics he was going to take from Logan's gift box.

Micah turned to us, holding out the song book "Any last requests?"

Kellan flipped through, and landed on 'O Holy Night' and sat it up for Micah. "For Elle," he said, before sitting down next to me.

As Micah played the notes, I could see Kellan's face change. His tears flowed down his cheeks, and his sobs were quiet. His hand clasped around mine, his other covered his face, head down. I pulled him into my embrace, his face buried into my neck. When the song was over, he sniffled a few times before excusing himself to go to the bathroom.

"How about some hot chocolate?" I started to prepare it when Jordana came up next to me. I tried to make small talk.

"So, did you enjoy your christmas?" She didn't say anything at first, but then mumbled a 'mhmm' before attempting to get past me. It was really getting to me so I said something. "Do you have a problem?"

She stopped, sighed and looked back at me. "Yeah, I actually do. Everyone walks around and praises you, what do you do for them?"

I was stunned, "Wow, where is this coming from?"

"Ever since I got here, everyone's been worried about 'how Natalie feels' about everything. Who cares, just live your life."

"Excuse me?"

"No one can tell you how they feel, because you're so sensitive." She pushed past me, walking out of the room.

I won't deny that I felt the sting of her words, and tears made their way down into my eyes. I heard someone come up behind me.

"Hey, is everything okay in here?" It was Micah, his hand rubbed up and down my back, and I stopped stirring the chocolate to stop my tears.

"I'm fine..." I sniffled.

"No, you're not fine, do you want me to get Logan?" He asked, taking the spatula out of my hands. "I can stir this, tell me what happened." I wiped the tears away, clearing my throat before talking.

"Um, Jordana has a problem with me. She says my sensitivity makes me a bad friend, because everyone's always worrying about me. But I don't want to say anything to anyone, it's Christmas and honestly...it will just make things worse. Damien and Scarlet are so happy right now, I'd hate to ruin that."

Micah shook his head, "People say hurtful things when they feel threatened or insecure, maybe Jordana has a wall up. You know that when people endure trauma in their lives, it's easier to put up a wall than to talk about things. I'm sure things will work themselves out."

"Just...don't tell anyone, okay?" I mumbled, "I'm going to go get cleaned up." I walked out into the living room, not making eye contact with anyone so I could get there in peace. When I shut the door, I fought the urge to let everything go, but I held it in. I wouldn't let this get to me. I waited until my eyes weren't puffy anymore and went back into the kitchen to take over.

Logan was stirring the hot chocolate this time, he looked behind him to see me and grinned. "Wow, this smells so good, what's your secret?"

"There is no secret, it's just warm chocolate, but you know the marshmallows really spice things up." He smiled at me, and leaned in for a soft kiss. I melted into his arm, it was placed at the small of my back. I could still smell the hint of pie from earlier, cinnamon and apple. Both of my hands were on his face, one snuck into his hair, teasing the back with my fingers. A small groan escaped his lips, and he pressed me against the counter. He placed the spatula back on the plate before facing me and tracing kisses down my neck.