Time is ticking away and I was on my bed, staring at the ceiling.

It's Friday and Emma was busy packing her suitcase. She sang along to the Christmas Carols that she was playing through her Macbook and I ignored to all that was happening in the room.

Disappointing people was not in my dictionary but to spend a Holiday with strangers was also not on my list.

"Holly, get out of there already and pack your bag!" She pulled my hand and tried to pull me off the bed. "Stop doing that!" I snap her hand and stare at her.

"I will when you stop lying on your bed like a starfish." She stood there with her hands on her hips. "Don't you have a bag to pack?" She asks me.

"What for? An imaginary trip?" I look at her.

"No, you idiot! Jasper's offer. It was really sweet of him to give you such an offer. I would have invited you to my place but you hate my brother and I wouldn't want you two under the same roof." She sat on my bed and looked at me.

Eliot Baker happens to be Emma's twenty-five year old brother who I met with Daniel in California and ever since then, all he does is flirt with me and try and make a move on me.

I did not like him and Emma did not want him anywhere near me.

"It's alright, Em. I'll stay here like how I did last year."

"Oh shut up! Such offers don't come every day, Holly." She snapped at me.

"Why do you think I should accept the offer, Emma? It's Christmas and it is spent with family."

"Friends and Family." She corrects me.

"Whatever, I'm not his friend and it's really not right to go to a stranger's place for Christmas." I tell her.

"There is nothing called strangers for Christmas. It was really sweet of him to invite you and it will be rude to decline the offer." She looks at me.

"Holly, just go for it and if you feel like you shouldn't be there, just come back here." She tells me.

"But-"

"No but's Holly. Just go for it. Change your Winter break for once and not think of Daniel at all." She interrupted me.

I just looked at her and she looked at me and I knew that no matter how much I went against it, she'll bring it back and force me to go.

Besides, there's no harm in going, right?

---

"So what time are you meeting him?" Emma asked me.

"Around two in the afternoon," I reply as I closed my suitcase. "When is your flight?" I ask.

"At noon. I'll be leaving in an hour." I heard her reply. "I know you're going to miss me, Holly." She hugged me from the back. "No." I pull away.

"Tell yourself that, you're going to miss me the minute I leave." I would, she wasn't wrong.

Emma got ready and she and I managed to get the two big suitcases of her's into a cab.

"Don't chicken out, Holly. Have fun this winter because you need one." She told me, I nod and had a smile on my face.

I waved her goodbye and I saw the cab drive away into the road. I climbed back in my room and sat on my chair.

After a lot of battles in my head, I decided to accept an invitation. Jasper was one of that kind that you just couldn't say 'no' to. I called him, more like Emma asking Ryan for Jasper's number.

We were leaving at around later today afternoon and he said he would pick me up. That is all he told me.

I got up after I placed my phone for charging. I went to my bed and lay down, I was ready all I had to wait for was for the call to inform me that it was time to leave.

---

After two to three hours of doing absolutely nothing, Jasper called and told that he would be here in the next thirty minutes.

I settled my hair, grabbed my phone, my bag and my box of clothes and all the necessities. I locked the door once I stepped out and put the key in my bag. One of the building helpers helped me to drag my box down the stairs once I stepped out of the elevator.

I waited behind the glass door till he came.

Emma messaged me an hour ago to say that she had finally reached Washington. I replied to her by saying that I would be leaving soon. It would sound strange if I said that I missed her already but yes, I missed my annoying friend.

A black Nissan four-wheel stop in front of the entrance. I saw Jasper walk into the building.

"Hey." I greet him.

"Hi, you ready to go?" He asks me, I nod my head in response. He took my big box and rolled it out through the entrance and opened the trunk of the black Nissan car and placed it in. I walked behind and I waited till he closed the trunk of the car.

Jasper closed it and walked to where I was standing. He opened the door of the passenger seat. "Go on, take a seat." He looks at me. I slowly walked and seated myself, Jasper closed the door. I placed my bag near my legs and put on my seatbelt. Jasper went to the driver's side, sat down and started the car.

As Carols of the Bells played softly through the speakers, Jasper made a stopover Starbucks.

"Why are we stopping here?" I ask. "Just going to get something warm to drink. Would you like to have one?"

"I'd like one." I say as I began to unlock the seatbelt. "No no no, I'll get it, you stay in." He stops me and closed his door. I looked out from the window and watched all the cars that drove past.

"There we go!" I heard the door open. Jasper handed me a cup, I placed in the cup holder. He gave me the other cup and I placed that beside the other cup. He sat on his seat, secured himself and started driving.

"You never asked me which drink I wanted." I look at him as I picked a cup up. "Well, both of the cups have the same drink and I sort of overheard you order the other day." He smiles.

Was I that loud? Probably because there was hardly anybody near the counter.

I took a sip of the drink and I enjoyed the chestnuts of my drink.

"So, where are we going?" I asked him when he stopped at a signal. He looked at me and said nothing.

"What are you looking at me for?" I frown.

"You accepted my offer and you're sitting in an almost stranger's car and you know nothing about where you are going?" He asked me.

"Uh.. No?"

"Pennsylvania. A place a little after Philadelphia." He answers. "Mom is making my favourite grill chicken and I could not miss it." He continues to say.

Pennsylvania, that's a two to three hours drive.

"I have a question." He nods his head. "Why did you invite me to your place? As per your words, we're almost strangers." He chuckles.

"Indeed we are but we're partners for an assignment. The reason for inviting you home is so that we find a good theme to write on." He replies.

"To be honest, I felt you would decline it."

"What made you think of that? I mean yes we do not know each other but your offer was not deniable" I tell him.

"Probably we'll get to know each other along the way."

"Maybe." I smile and took another sip of my coffee.

He drove out of the city and now we were on the highway towards Pennsylvania. I've never gone to any place California and New York, this was a kind of an adventure. Jasper had a cd that had Christmas Carols and he played that throughout the drive. He did ask me if I wanted to have that changed but I told him that this was fine.

"I haven't told my mother that we have a guest for Christmas." I heard him say.

"Why not?" That's not a good thing, I mean it's not right to go when the family has no idea of a guest staying over for Christmas, plus it's not a week of stay.

"Don't worry, it's not like she's going to not allow you in the house. My older sister would bring one of her friends every Christmas and I find it fair to have you as a guest at our home. Plus, it is my duty that you have an amazing Christmas this year."

"It is not your duty." I tell him

"Technically it is because we need a theme and you will probably come up with some sad ones. All that I am going to do it give you a good memory for Christmas." he smiles and continues to drive.

A person who I do not know much about is willing to invite me to his home to celebrate Christmas and there are people who I knew all my life who never bothered to give me one good memory. It is not that I haven't celebrated Christmas with Christmas trees and presents but that was when I was innocent and I believed that my parents left me with my grandparents for a genuine reason. My every Christmas wish back then was to have my parents join us for Christmas. When they did, My grandparents and my parents fought for a reason I never wanted to know.

"You alright?" I came back to reality when I heard him.

"Yeah, so how many siblings do you have?" I ask him.

"I have an older sister, Juliet, she's engaged to be married, her fiancé maybe home." I nod. "I have a twin brother and sister Jesse and Jessica, who are about ten years old and a brother James, who is four," he tells me.

"Wow, you're lucky to have a big family Jasper." I smile and look at him. He wasn't looking at me because he had to concentrate on his driving.

"Why would you say that?" he asks me.

"Well, not everybody is lucky to have a big family." I lower my voice. "There are advantages and disadvantages to everything, Holly. Not everything is perfect." Yeah, I know that.

----

Two and a half hours of our road trip had come to an end when Jasper pulled into a driveway. He parked the car behind another car and switched off the engine.

We both got out of the car and walked to the back of the car to get our boxes out. Once Jasper pulled both boxes out and locked the car, we walked towards his house.

Jasper's house wasn't very big like a mansion; it was pretty good for a family of seven. We walked down the shovelled path in between the snow. We stood on the porch and Jasper rang the doorbell. We waited till someone to answer the door.

The door opened and a lady who was about as old as my mother opened the door. Her face had happiness written all over it and she must have waited for Jasper's arrival because she came forward and welcomed Jasper with a warm hug.

"Oh, Jasper! It's so good to see you!" I heard her say. "It's good to see you too, mom." he replies.

"Come on in before you freeze." she tells him after they hug and walks into the house. He turned to me and he had a big smile on his face.

"Welcome to my home, Holly Anne," he tells me as he gestured to me to step into the house. I smile and took in a deep breath, I walk into the house and for some reason, I felt like home but I was nervous because I haven't met his family yet.

"Relax a little, Holly. Nobody here bites." I chuckle at his whisper. I looked up and I found the entire family stand before me.

This is where your Holiday officially starts, Holly.

---