𝐅𝐀𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 - 𝐆𝐈𝐎𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐈 𝐑𝐄𝐘𝐍𝐀

𝐜𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐮𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟎

[hey everyone! as you can tell, i've missed these guys A LOT (and i mean A WHOOOOLE BUNCH), and since i'm not doing a christmas book this year, i decided to write this chapter for you guys! hope you enjoy it and merry christmas/happy holidays!!]

☆* 𝕜𝕒𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕒 *☆

kat had lived with her three roommates (four, if you counted mad-eye) for maybe a year and a half now, and in that time she'd thought she'd gotten used to the chaos.

she hadn't.

at that exact moment, rose was composing a rap song about roast potatoes while simultaneously eating all the christmas cookies in the apartment, erin was attempting to coax mad-eye out of the frozen canada air by yelling the lyrics to 'baby it's cold outside' at the top of her lungs and kat was doing her best to restrain imogen from getting into a fight with the christmas tree. to be honest, although she'd envisioned a much more relaxed christmas eve than the last one, it wasn't quite going to plan.

'when's gio getting here?' imogen asked, eventually giving up but still giving the tree ominous glances every now and then.

'sometime tonight.' kat smiled, 'i don't know exactly. he texted me about three hours ago saying he thought his plane might be delayed because of the weather but i haven't heard from him since then. i offered to go fetch him but he said he'd get a taxi, he didn't want me driving in the snow.'

'so how late do we need to stay up then?' erin asked, joining the conversation half way through yet already knowing what they were talking about.

'he's only flying up from new york, he was with his family, so the flight's only an hour and a half.'

'we usually only go to bed pretty late on christmas eve anyway so what difference does it make?' rose asked, 'hey, does weathervane rhyme with potato?'

'i think we need to go to bed now if you actually think that is a legitimate question.' erin pointed out.

suddenly there was a knock at the door, and all talking ceased abruptly. the four girls looked at each other, wide-eyed with surprise and anticipation.

'is that...?' kat murmured, after a moment of silence.

'uhh, is anyone going to let me in?' a familiar voice spoke from outside, 'i'm freezing my balls off out here.'

kat leapt up like an electric shock had gone through her. she sprinted to the front door, struggling to undo the latch as her hands shook with excitement. erin took over and a moment later, the front door was flung open and kat leapt into gio's arms.

'hey.' he giggled, pressing his cold face into her shoulder as he wrapped her arms tightly around her.

'i missed you.' she whispered.

'missed you more.' he lifted his head and kissed her. she squealed at how cold he was and swiftly pulled him inside.

gio stepped inside the apartment and was engulfed by the three others. he was vaguely aware of someone taking his coat off, and a mug of hot chocolate had suddenly materialised in his hand, and one of them appeared to have grabbed onto his foot, although on further inspection it proved to be mad-eye (erin slammed the outside door with a yell of triumph).

'good to see you guys again.'

'what's the time anyway?' rose asked, grabbing yet another christmas cookie.

'i think it's like ten thirty or something.' gio looked at his watch, brushing the snow off in order to read it properly.

'odd,' imogen commented, 'i thought it was either going to be six pm or close to midnight. i lose all perception of time on christmas eve.'

gio laughed, 'i've been in a bit of a timewarp as well, it's definitely been a weird day.' he turned to kat, 'carolina says hi by the way. she told me to give you this.' gio grabbed kat in a bear hug.

'aww, i miss her.' kat giggled, 'did she get the letter i sent her?'

'yeah, she wrote a response and everything, but she gave it to me to give to you tomorrow.'

'speaking of which, does anyone want to watch muppet's christmas carol with me?' rose asked. there was a roar of assent and a rush to the kitchen to make snacks (an argument immediately broke out over the popcorn).

'bet you forgot how chaotic it is here.' kat giggled to gio.

christmas morning dawned quiet and peaceful. for approximately ten minutes.

'merry christmas.' gio murmured, rolling over to give kat a hug (the pair were sharing the guest bedroom).

'you too.' kat smiled sleepily, 'ten, nine, eight...'

'why are you counting down?' gio asked.

'...three, two, one-'

'WAKE UP EVERYONE! IT'S CHRISTMAS!!'

[my writing: starts strong, flakes at the end...anyway MERRY CHRISTMAS 🥰❣️]