Chapter Ten

Christmas eve was here! You wanted to wrap your presents personally, so you spent most of the day wrapping. In the end, you thought it was best to stay simple with gift-picking. You got everyone a book or a movie that you liked that you thought they might like. After stacking the neat boxes under the beautiful tree, you smiled and joined the others in the kitchen. They were eating the cookies from yesterday and laughing at each other. This is nice, you thought. This is happy.

The day passed on. You took a moment to yourself in your room. Being around people so much is really hard. In life, you dreamed of something like this; a house full of people you could relate to and bond with. It's still hard, though. You still feel lonely. It'll get easier. We'll all become such close friends and I'll be happy forever, you keep telling yourself. You were still sad. Tears burned in your eyes, and you missed your life. It was much harder, but at least you had a cat. At least in life, you already had people you felt close with. You decided to ignore the fact that even during life you felt this loneliness. It's almost impossible to imagine an existence without it. You want to let it go and be happy, but it's hard to convince yourself. It's overwhelming. The farther you get from childhood, the less Christmas seems to shine. You still get excited and gift-giving is exhilarating and there's still so much you love about it! But the magic of it is different. You can't escape in this fantasy like you used to.

You took a deep breath in. Nothing will change if you just sit here in your room and let your thoughts race. Christmas eve is almost over, and you want to go be with everyone else. You made your way to the living room. Inside was nearly everyone, which surprised you. The only person not present was Jenna. Strange...

"Hi (y/n)!" Suki waved you over. You smiled, she was seated on the floor across from Jason. It looked like they were sorting stockings. "Which one do you want?"

You looked at them, they were almost exactly the same. You laughed at her silliness, "I'll just take whichever one is left." You sat on your knees next to her and looked around the rest of the room. Dianna was reading a book with Quince with Don napping next to them (all of them sat on the couch). Ryo sat in one of the chairs across the room from you. He seemed to just be thinking and staring at nothing, which was a little weird. You didn't want to be caught staring, so you brought your attention back to Jason and Suki.

"Have you been good this year, (y/n)?" Jason grinned teasingly at you. Your cheeks felt a little warmer as you smiled back.

"I can't be too sure," you tilted your head, "Have you?" Neither of them expected you to tease back, and the three of you to snickered to yourselves. Quince noticed the commotion and decided to join the three of you and leave Dianna to her book.

"Hello, you three. It's almost bedtime, you know," He sat next to you on the floor.

"Bedtime? I feel like a child," you replied.

"If you're a child, does that make me your daddy?" He leaned towards you.

"No way, that's gross!" You pushed him away while laughing.

"What's so gross about fatherhood, (y/n)?" Jason pretended to be oblivious. "I didn't know you had so much disrespect for your own dad."

"Yeah! You have to be nice to your dad!" Suki joined in.

"Oh my god, guys. Stop being weird!" You laughed. "We should just go to bed so that tomorrow morning can come faster!"

"Would you like to be tucked in?" Dianna spoke from the couch.

"Or would you like a new dad?" Jason questioned further. Ryo pulled his usual move and grumpily exited the room now that everyone was chattering. You expected him to leave without a word, but he surprised you.

"(y/n), come on."

You were stunned for a moment and stared at him, "Why?" was all you could offer in response. He refused to reply and just waited for you. Does he seriously expect me to go with him?

"You can't keep taking her away from me!" Suki latched onto your arm. You sent her a grateful glance. He said nothing and just walked away.

"Does anyone know what his deal is?" You asked the group.

"He may have had something to say to you," Dianna offered. She keeps taking his side.

"I actually agree with her, Ryo tends to have some trouble communicating well," Quince surprised you and looked your way. You sighed.

"Still, he could explain himself. He seems to really dislike me," You contemplated. You felt a little guilty now, "I guess I'll go check on him. Can I count on you guys to leave cookies out for Santa?"

"Don't go," Jason pouted. You laughed at Suki and His pouty faces and gave them both hugs.

"I'll see you tomorrow!!" You leaped up and chased after Ryo.

You jogged towards his room. Hopefully, you would catch him before he made it and you wouldn't have to go in his room. You saw him, his blond ponytail swished as he walked. "Hey!" your voice cut through the air and he stopped.

"Hey," you said softer now that you caught up. "What did you want me for?" He stared at you before putting a hand around your arm and leading you. You wanted to pull away, but Dianna and Quince's words rang in your ears. You spoke again, "You could use your words, you know." A lecherous grin crawled on his face.

"I'm surprised you came after me."

"Dianna told me you might have something to say to me," you explained.

"Did she?" He thought for a moment, the smile never leaving his face. "She's a good friend, always helping me get what I want." At this, you dug your heels in and pulled at your arm.

"Can you just tell me what's going on?" you frowned.

"I just want to have you to myself for a little bit. Don't you want to be friends with everyone here?"

"Yes, I just don't appreciate being dragged around for no reason."

"I was just bringing you to your room," He turned you to the door next to you. Oh, I didn't even realize. Now I feel dumb, you thought. "Merry Christmas (y/n)," He released your arm and looked down at you.

"Merry Christmas, Ryo," You met his gaze, but you couldn't smile. He's just too confusing. You walked into your room and he shut the door behind you causing you to jump a little. You walked to your alarm clock and set the timer for Eight in the morning. Excitement bubbled in your chest, all the weirdness of the day disappeared from your mind. It was time to sleep.

-:x x x x x :-

"(y/n) wake up wake up!" You were shaken awake by Suki, "It's time for Christmas!" You grumbled and rolled over. Suki had different plans, however, as she lifted your body into her arms and ran to the living room. She placed your tired form on the couch, "Wait here! I'll go get Jason and then we'll all be here."

Without even thinking about it, you leaned your tired head on the body next to you. Whoever you leaned on was kind enough to wrap their arm around your shoulder as you snuggled into them and napped.

"You're cute when you're sleepy," came Quince's voice. So, it's Quince. That's fine. You thought as you drifted off into sleep.

"Thanks," you murmured.

"Stop cuddling!" Suki said loudly as she dragged a very tired Jason into the room.

"Suki, what time is it anyway?" Jenna groaned from the floor.

"Six," Suki shrugged before dropping Jason to be on the other side of you on the couch. "Stop cuddling! You're making me jealous. I'll get presents started!" How on earth can she have this much energy? You thought while ignoring her requests for no cuddling. A brightly wrapped box was dropped in your lap and you decided that maybe, maybe, you could appease the excited girl. You groaned as you separated yourself from Quince. Everyone else began tiredly ripping into packages, so you followed suit. This one is from Suki, you smiled gently.

After a few rounds of presents, everyone was livelier. The coffee Jason made helped, too. Soon, the presents under the tree dwindled down to nothing and everyone was sitting contentedly with their gifts. You got some clothes from Suki, homemade chocolates from Jason, a book of poetry from Quince (this one surprised you a little), a deck of tarot cards from Jenna (also a little weird—plus you didn't know how to use them), a pair of cute bunny slippers from Don, and a stationary set from Dianna. All of these were simple and lovely. Ryo got everyone the same gift, a hardback book about art history (that was definitely the least expected and the most boring. When asked why he chose that, he shrugged and said he thought we all needed it. It sounds like he was just lazy, though).

"What else are we supposed to do for Christmas?" Jason asked without sitting up.

"If only we could call other houses and sing Christmas songs to them," Suki pouted.

"That sounds awful," Ryo grimaced. Instead of replying, Suki just threw a pillow at him. You laughed at her antics and ate more of the candy from your stocking.

"We could play some games," Quince suggested. He was wearing a hideous sweater from Suki and a Santa hat.

"Hide and seek!" Suki shouted while jumping up, "Not it!"

"I swear you're such a child sometimes," Dianna commented.

"party pooper gets to be 'it'" Suki declares. Most everyone agreed to this idea.

"Jokes on you, I love being the hunter," Dianna grinned. She's really competitive.

"Whatever! You're weird. Everyone has to play, or I'll dump water in their bed. Dianna, you have to count to a hundred no cheating! Also, no locking doors, and no bedrooms," Suki spoke excitedly. Dianna began counting and everyone moved. Almost everyone, Ryo stayed seated in his chair, staring at the group. Suki wordlessly picked up a glass of water and maintained threatening eye contact with him until he sighed and walked out of the room as well.

You dashed down the hallway into one of the bathrooms. Hopefully, no one tried to hide with you. The door shut behind you and you tried to fit yourself into one of the cupboards. Just barely you fit. The nerves in your body were jittery and excited. Footsteps walked by the bathroom and you held your breath. They didn't pause at the bathroom yet and you released the air with a giggle. You were calm for a moment until you noticed the doors of the cupboard melting into each other and sealing, locking you in. What the hell? You began to panic. Suddenly the cupboard seemed much more cramped, almost like it was sinking in on you. You banged your fists on what used to be the doors and cried out. You felt the room getting hotter as you ran out of fresh air. It was hot and sticky, almost as if the whole cupboard was turning into a thick liquid that was surrounding you and drowning you. You couldn't cry out anymore, the air wouldn't enter your throat. Oh my god, you thought. I'm going to die for real.

You couldn't move anymore, your muscles locked up. How did this happen? What was happening? Just as you were about to close your eyes and let yourself melt into nothingness, the "melted" cupboard disappeared and you were pulled out of the box.

"What happened?" Quince held your shoulders and looked into your eyes. You looked back at him for a few very still moments as you panted to regain your breath. The words were trapped your throat, so you just held onto him and cried. He spoke soft comforting words to you and let you stain his shirt with your tears.

"I- I think I was hallucinating," you managed to sputter out. "The cupboard was closing in on me and I couldn't breathe." Quince looked worryingly to you.

"A couple of us hallucinated for the first while. It'll go away eventually, but if this persists, talk to me again. Are you ok?" He offered. You nodded and leaned back into him.

"Did anyone else hear me?"

"If they did, they're huge assholes for not checking on you," he answered. You laughed softly at his response and pulled yourself away.

"Can we wait for the others in the living room?"

"Certainly," Quince stood and offered you a hand.

Eventually the group returned. Jason looked very triumphant, and Suki looked very disappointed.

"How did you find me first! This blows," Suki sighed. "Where were you two?" The group's attention turned to you and Quince.

"(y/n) and I got claustrophobic in a closet and decided to duck out for this round," Quince fibbed. Suki seemed disappointed, but she still nodded and accepted the answer.

"Why don't (y/n) and I go whip up something from the kitchen?" Jason suggested. Suki seemed even more dejected at the idea (although you didn't know why), but everyone else seemed to think it was a good idea. You followed him there and hummed to yourself quietly. The two of you decided on something savory to contrast with all the sweets you have all had. The two of you walked back to the living room with an assortment of sandwiches and other appetizers, but you didn't see Suki anywhere in here. That's weird, I'd expect Ryo to be the one to disappear.

"Where did Suki go?" Jason asked before you could.

"She walked out and said she might be back later," Jenna replied.

"Did she say why?" Jason pushed.

"No," Jenna shrugged. Jason repeated the gesture and sat down. Something didn't seem right, though. She had seemed kind of bummed out every now and then for the past few days.

"I think I'll go check on her," you offered. No one protested, so you left and headed towards her room. You knocked on her door and called her name, but she didn't answer. Suspense crawled in your mind as you pushed the door open. Empty... There was another place you thought she might be, but you were sure you'd have some trouble finding it...

You walked along the hallways looking for any random latch on the ground that would open up the wall and reveal Suki's special room. The halls were endless. It was too bad you couldn't ask anyone for help, either. After what had to be at least fifteen minutes of searching, you found it. You didn't know if it was appropriate to knock on the wall, so you just decided to open it. The room was quiet, and too still. You took a step in, but you didn't see her anywhere. You called her name gently, hoping that she was under the blankets on her couch. To your luck, she was, and she quickly threw the covers off of her and stared at you, wide-eyed, as if you were some kind of ethereal being. Her gaze was far too full of adoration and surprise.

"Suki? Is everything ok?" you stepped closer. A grin quickly overtook her face and sat up straighter.

"(y/n), you came to find me. You're always going off with the others instead of me."

"What are you talking about?" You furrowed your brows. "Why don't we get you back to the living room and we can all hang out like you planned." You smiled as you got close to her in an effort to get her to accompany you.

"No way," she groaned. "Stay with me, (y/n). Just me" She's acting strange, you thought to yourself as you began to walk towards the exit, hoping she would follow. She halted your steps by latching onto your arm, which only made you more confused.

"Suki, come on, the others—"

"Always with the others, don't you know how that breaks my heart?" Suki tsked at you. You struggled to rip your arm from her grasp, but she wasn't ready to let you go. Without any warning, she pulled you to the floor and towered her form over yours, your wrists pinned to the side of your head. Your eyes widened, and you froze in your fear and confusion.

"Listen, I'm sorry, I'll try to spend more time with you, ok?" you bargained. She only chuckled at your response and tightened her grip a little more, causing you to wince.

"I told you that you were cute when you were scared, didn't I, princess?" She leaned forward with her nose brushing against yours. "That's hardly enough, though. You need to make up for the lost time." Before you could process anything, Suki's soft lips pressed against yours. You were too shocked to react when she pulled away with a satisfied smirk. "You should belong to me." She nuzzled into your neck and pressed kisses along your collarbone. That woke you up as you managed to throw her off your body with a force you didn't know you were capable of.

"What's gotten into you?" You spat at her as you scrambled away from her. She stared at you pitifully from the floor without saying anything before you dashed out of the room.

-:x x x x x:-

Suki, alone in her secret room, stayed on the floor she held you to only moments ago. Feelings of disgust and shame coursed through her. She felt conflicted, part of her couldn't believe she had disrespected you in such a way, and you had looked so hurt... but her heartbeat quickened at the memory of your expression and the feeling of your lips against hers. She almost grinned despite herself, but her shame kept her expression neutral. Her internal struggle between self-hate and desire occupied her mind as she eventually came to nap on the floor.

Maybe tomorrow she could fix things.

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