Last Christmas

It was Christmas Eve, and John O'Callaghan had a lot of things. He had a plan. He had an amazing band. He had a girlfriend to die for.

And did I meantion his plan?

Well, he had a pretty decent plan. It involved Heather, his beloved, his one and only. He was going to do the unthinkable for the two 18-year-olds.

He was going to (hopefully, if all went well) take her hand in engagement.

John wasn't in denial that his plan wouldn't work. I mean, he loved her and she loved him, that's pretty much how it goes, right?

And he was going to be her secret Santa.

She just didn't know that.

[Heather's POV]

"Oh, but Manda, I'm hanging out with John on Christmas though..." I sighed into the phone. I love Manda and all, but she's asked a few hundred times if I wanted to do something on Christmas with her, and I've told her every time that I was gonna be with John.

Every. Single. Time.

She's hard-headed though, so I can see why. But today's Christmas and I just wanted to be with him and no one else.

"Mkay, fiiiine. I swear, if I get pushed under mistletoe 57 times like I did last year..." Manda whined, bringing back the memories of last Christmas to her tiny mind; one of the few things she hated to talk about.

"Manda, that wouldn't happen if you didn't hang out with some many boys on Christmas Eve!" I reminded her. It was the truth and Manda knew it.

"HAH! Man, that was super funny. Someone sent me a pic of me making out with Santa!" Manda squealed, and Heather figured her troubles had gone away for now.

"I've always wondered what that'd be like..."

"Are you serious? It'd be like making out with my dog!" Manda exclaimed, trying to hold her laughter back.

She thinks of the most random things sometimes...

"Yeah..." I said, gasping as her doorbell rang. "Um, John's here, gotta go!"

"Peace out Heather!" Manda said into the dead reciever as I scrambled to get myself together. John nearly knocked over the door as I scrambled down the stairs.

"You're gonna break that someday," I sighed, looking into his hazel eyes, softened just by the fact that I was standing next to him.

"Yeah, I know. Whatever," John whispered, kissing my cheek and watching the color drain into them. "Ready?"

"Yeah, lets go."

Oh, if he only knew what I knew...

I mean, I only wished I could tell him. I had the juiciest of secrets, and if I told him, I was at least half-way sure he wouldn't believe me.

You see, the thing is, I cheated on John with an unlikely candidate. Not Pat Kirch, the boy Manda had her eye on for the longest time now, not Garrett Nickelson, the boy with the cute face that got on everyone elses last nerve ("He's prettier than me!" Manda had said once), not Kennedy Brock, the other boy Manda liked, but...

Santa Claus.

Yep, that's right, I cheated on my boyfriend with the oldest man in exsistance only just a few hours ago.

Bad thing is, I don't feel bad about it at all. But John needs to know.

Flashback: Nobody's POV

"Aw, it's still 3 hours!" Heather sighed as the clock in her room read 5:30. John wouldn't be here for about that long, and Heather hated to be by herself. She sat patiently, watching Spongebob, until she heard a rattle coming from her chimney.

"What the heck..." Heather muttered as she turned down the television and pushed her redish-brown hair behind her ears. The rattle continued, and she was getting more annoyed by the minute.

"Okay, if you don't get your ass out of my chimney, I'm calling the police!" Heather screamed, grabbing for the umbrella closest to her while inching closer to the source of racket. But, of course, with her clumsiness, she tripped over the various items that already flowed out from her Christmas tree.

'I really hope that cracking wasn't my new camera...' Heather thought, then brought her thoughts back to the situation at hand. She slid closer to the chimney...

and got a merry "Ho ho ho!" in response.

"Okay, Santa, I don't know who you think you are, but you need to get out of here before I get my boyfriend involved!" Heather said, stabbing the umbrella up the chimney only to find that there was nothing there.

He had moved himself directly behind Heather and tied his arms around her, Heather squirming the whole time. "Let me go!" She would shriek, but he just adjusted himself in front of her. He was very tall, in a Santa suit and not very chubby at all. He smelt delicious to Heather, and she couldn't help but sniff the amazingly familiar scent.

"Santa" shook something delicate out of his pocket, and, leaning down to Heather's height, whispered softly, "Mistletoe."

They kissed, and Heather had to admit, it was nice. His lips felt shockingly familiar, as did anything else he did.

But what shocked Heather was how he left.

Through the front door, and out of her life.

[Heather's POV]

"So, John, how's your Christmas been so far?" I asked shakily, gripping his soft, warm hand tighter.

"Better than last year, thats for sure." He sauntered in the rememberance of his last Christmas where his ex-girlfriend, Katherine, cheated on him after he had basically given her his heart. But he stared back at me and smiled like he had a very childish secret, and I knew it after he said, "Bet you don't know how much I love you!"

"Oh really," I giggled. "Probably not as much as I do..."

"No way! I love you more than..." He laughed, staring into space, trying to find the correct ending to his sentence. "Oh! More than you'll ever imagine, and if you image it, its a million times more than that."

"Awww," I laughed with him, kissing his lips, guilty. "That's just about how much I love you, too."

"Well, I have a question to ask you, my lovely."

"Ask away." I asked, staring at the sky.

"Did you kiss the Santa at your house earlier today?" John asked me, barely containing his laughter.

"Uh... yeah," I said, my face going as red as my hair. "Was I supposed to?"

"Yeah, I guess... Did he remind you of anyone?"

"He did, actually. He reminded me a lot of you," I said, staring at him as he smiled.

"Well, in case you wondering why he wasn't like you thought he was, it was me. So, as I can see the trouble in your eyes, you cheated on me with me, and you have nothing to worry about."

"Oh my God, you don't know how releaved I am right now!" I shrieked at him. But it was his turn to be embarassed as he fumbled through his pocket again.

"Um, Heather..." He shivered, looking at the ground.

"Yes dear?" I replied, shaking like he was.

"Since I love you more than the universe, and I wanna be with you forever, I have another question to ask."

"Ask!" I shouted, making John blush more than he already was.

"I love you more than anything, I need you more than life itself," he bowed on one knee as he said this, "I'm berzerkly obsessive over you... Heather... will you marry me?"

I looked down at his face. He was crying, making his hazel eyes go liquid and melt me. I placed my hand down to where he held the golden ring and whispered, "Yes."

He slid the ring on my finger. "I love you, Heather."

"I love you too, John. Now and forever."