I couldn't help the groan that came out of my mouth as I woke up this morning. I had dreamed of Chris last night and I couldn't believe that I had to wake up right before he kissed me. Realizing that my feelings for him have only been getting stronger, I realized that we probably needed to have another talk about what we are and where this is going. But first, I need to know that he can trust me, and as of right now, he is still avoiding whatever it is that I'd bothering him, so I'll wait until he is ready. By now, we've settled into our morning routine so over breakfast I asked, “Do you want to join me while I go grab some last minute gifts? I need to get a few more things for a couple family members.”

“Sure,” he said.

After we get ready we get into the car and head into town to do some shopping. I go from store to store grabbing various presents for my aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. I buy Christmas pajamas and fuzzy socks in various styles and colors according to what my family members like. I also get books, board games, toys and candy for some of the younger cousins. And finally grabbing an assortment of gift cards and Christmas cards, I finish up shopping for the majority of my family. 

While looking through the stores, I couldn't help but notice several things that I thought would suit Chris, so I quickly put everything I liked in my cart, guessing his sizes. Fortunately for me, he had stopped asking who the gifts were for around 2 or 3 stores ago, so I was able to buy them without him suspecting anything..

As we entered a cute clothing shop, I noticed the most adorable couples sets of matching Christmas sweaters and as I searched through the store to find Chris, I found him holding matching Christmas pajamas. “Look at how cute this is!”, I exclaim as I hold out the sweater so he can see.

At the same time, he says, “We should get these, it'll make us look more like a real couple.”

As we both start laughing, I say, “Let's get both of them, the pajamas for Christmas Eve and the sweaters for Christmas day.”

Smiling, he says, “Okay, but I'm paying.”

Deciding to let him pay for this, but resolving to find a way to repay him later, I simply nod.

After we finish our shopping, we go out for lunch before we head back home. Pulling into the driveway, I noticed that our snowmen were starting to melt. Seeing where I was looking, Chris says, “Don't worry, it's going to snow again in a few days. We can just make new snowmen. I was thinking we should give them hats and mittens this time too.”

With a smile, I said, “That would be even better, and maybe add a scarf too.” Feeling much better, we walked inside together and immediately dropped the bags at the door and sat down on the soda. Although I enjoy shopping, even I was exhausted after going into so many stores. Looking over at Chris, I noticed that his eye bags were even bigger today. Knowing that he wouldn’t tell me anything until he was ready I simply said, “Why don’t you take a nap? Being a pack mule for the day is exhausting.”

“I told you I would help you wrap everything,” he said with a sigh as he reached up to cover his eyes. “Although I’m not going to lie, a nap sounds fantastic.”

“Okay then, how about this? I’ll get dinner in the crockpot and then we can both nap for a bit before we start wrapping everything.” I responded. 

“Why don’t I help you with dinner? That way we’ll be done faster plus we’ll have more time to nap.” he said as he got up and started towards the kitchen.

Following him and realizing that he would be helping whether or not I wanted him to, I replied, “Sure, it’s not like I can convince you otherwise.”

Throwing a crooked smile over his shoulder, he pulls some ingredients out of the refrigerator and says, “Finally, you seem to be catching on. Now, come over here and help me chop up these vegetables.” 

Falling back into routine, we quickly prep everything and as he turns the crockpot on, he turns to me. “No pressure, but would you like to take a nap together. We can stay on the couch if you’d like or use one of our beds.” he said with uncertainty in his voice. 

Internally screaming in excitement, I spend a few seconds trying to come up with a casual response and failing. Finally we are making progress in our relationship. After telling him I liked him, he seemed to pull back a bit but I can’t believe he asked me to nap with him. Realizing I had gotten lost in my thoughts and still hadn’t given him a response, I looked up to find his face full of slightly veiled disappointment. As I could see him open his mouth, probably to retract his offer, I blurted, “Of course, I want to sleep with you!”

His face immediately brightened and he laughed before saying, “Are you sure?”

Realizing that what I had said could be misinterpreted, I felt a blush creep up onto my cheeks. Deciding to correct my statement I said, “Yes, I want to take a nap with you. Although do you think we even have enough space on the couch?”

With a teasing grin still plastered on his face from earlier, his face immediately turned serious as he looked at the couch and then back at us. “You know what, I don’t think that is going to be an option after all. Would you prefer going to the bed in the guestroom or to yours?”

“Let’s just go to mine, I have way more pillows than the guest room.” I reply as I grab his hand and head to my room. As I pulled him into the doorway and noticed him looking around, I realized that he hadn’t seen my room yet. In contrast to the guest room which is plain and lacks a lot of color, my room has white walls with a green accent wall. Natural wood makes up the majority of the furniture and I have a variety of different houseplants strewn throughout the room on shelves, windowsills, and even on top of my dresser. 

“Wow, your room is really nice,” he says as he continues to look around. 

“Thanks,” I reply, going over to the bed and sitting down. “Don’t forget that we are here to nap though.”

As he comes over to join me on the bed, I lay back and get comfortable. “Is it okay if we cuddle?” he asks as he lays back. Once again I could hear an unsteadiness in his voice that is unsettling considering his normally confident and cocky demeanor.

Turning towards him I said with a teasing smile, “What is the point of taking a nap together if I can’t even hold you while we sleep?” Within a few minutes we got comfortable and I listened to the sound of his breathing until I fell asleep. 

I woke up to the sound of the alarm that we set. The annoying ringing signaled that we had been asleep for 2 hours. I could feel him move as he reached over to the nightstand. After turning off the alarm, he wrapped both of his arms around me again and I couldn’t help but think that I would love to be able to wake up like this everyday in his arms. “Can we just stay like this for 5 more minutes?” he asks in a sleepy voice. 

“Yes,” I responded. More than 10 minutes later, we finally get out of bed and make our way to the pile of presents in the doorway. “Why don’t you bring all of that over here and then I’ll help sort them into piles in the living room. That way we can get everything organized before we wrap it.”

“Okay,” he responded as he began to carry all of the gifts. As I look at him, I can tell that he looks much better after a nap, but it was evident that one nap wouldn’t be a solution for the tired look on his face when he thought I wasn’t looking. Deciding to focus on the presents, we organized everything and we began the process of wrapping. 

As I began wrapping I chose boxes, so that we could work with something easy. I cut the wrapping paper to fit the box, and neatly wrapped the entire gift before I looked to see his progress. Holding in a laugh, I said, “Is everything okay over there?”

Looking up at me with frustration evident on his face he said, “Is it supposed to be this hard to wrap a present?”

Realizing that he had no idea of what he was doing, I decided to tease him, “Haven’t you ever wrapped a gift before? A box is the easiest.”

“No, I’ve always been really bad at it. Plus, most places offer to wrap in for a fee. If I couldn’t do that, then I just bought a gift bag.” he said looking down in embarrassment.

Surprised to see him embarrassed and spilling his secrets about his weakness, I just barely held in a giggle at the sight of him staring down at the little box in his hand with various pieces of wrapping paper around him. “Don’t worry about it, I can teach you.” was what I said 2 hours ago. Unfortunately, the best he was able to do was a piece of paper barely concealing the gift that it was covering. Ultimately, we both decided that it would be best if I wrapped the gifts instead or else we would be here all night. However, seeing as he wanted to make himself useful, I had him place the gifts into boxes based on who the gifts were for in preparation to put in my care when we visit my parent’s house. With this system we finish up wrapping and organizing all of the gifts within another hour. 

As soon as we finish wrapping the gifts, we go into the kitchen to eat and after cleaning up a bit in the kitchen, I decide to go to bed early in the hopes that he may actually get a bit more sleep tonight. Besides, after the long day we had, I couldn’t help but fall asleep shortly after getting into bed.