Holidays in the Hood

Leon huffed, tucking back another disobedient strand of hair and continuing to roll the dough. Matt and Dillon sat with her in the kitchen, watching her bake and eating her scraps.

They were like dogs, really.

“Fuck!”

She scowled at the mess that now covered the kitchen. She had knocked the bag of flour off of the counter in her rush, and it had gone everywhere. This included covering Leon so she now looked like a ghost, and covering Dillon and Matt as well.

Dillon tried to wipe some of the flour out of his eyes, “Smooth, Lee.”

She flipped him off, “I don’t see you helping!”

“You’re so stressed,” Matt said, swishing his curly mop of hair around to try to get some of the powdery substance off, “you should just chill out.”

“But nothing’s done! And it’s Christmas Eve and-”

Matt laughed, “See? Nothing needs to be done! None of us care.”

Leon looked slightly offended, though she knew Matt didn’t mean it that way, “I know, but I care! Christmas only comes once a year and this is our first Christmas with you guys and I wanted it to be special.”

Dillon chuckled and got up to put an arm around the pouting Leon, “You don’t need to do all this, Lee. We’re simple people. We don’t need fancy cookies or pie or a fancy tree. We just need you and your sister’s company.”

Leon sighed, “I know but…we never had nice Christmases at home…it’s the first time it’s been more than just the two of us.”

“And we’re grateful to have you,” Matt said, putting his arm around the other side of Leon.

Jay walked into the kitchen and stopped. He looked curiously at Leon, who had an innocent look on her face.

“Why is there white stuff all over my kitchen?” he asked, genuinely confused.

“Well, you see Jay, me and the pussy snake got a little carried away with Lee here and-”

Dillon stopped and started laughing when he saw the disapproving, nearly angry, face of Jay. He was purposely messing with him to see his reaction.

Leon laughed and shoved Dillon and Matt away, “I spilled flour everywhere. Sorry, Jay.”

Jay shrugged, though he continued to eye Dillon suspiciously, “It’s fine. And you look like a ghost, by the way. Wrong holiday, Leon.”

She rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless, “Fine, then. Clean up your own kitchen!”

Still covered in flour and wearing her apron, Leon walked out of the kitchen and into the small living room, where she found Charlie rummaging through a box, Johnny sleeping with his head on the back of the couch, and Ellie clearly checking out Charlie’s ass.

What a sister.

Charlie turned around when he heard Leon enter the room, “Why are you covered in white stuff?”

Ellie winked at her sister, “She’s been gettin’ busy in the kitchen!”

“Oh?” Charlie said, playing along, “so cookies weren’t the only thing you were making then, hmm?”

Leon laughed and shook her head disbelievingly, “You two are something else.”

She took off her apron and tossed it on Johnny, who didn’t even twitch despite the powder floating around in the air everywhere.

“Found it!” Charlie cheered, holding something behind his back and approaching Ellie, who was sitting on the end of the couch.

She looked at him curiously, “What are you doing?”

Charlie revealed what was behind his back: mistletoe.

Leon giggled and Ellie’s eyes widened as he held the mistletoe over her head.

“I think that means you owe me a kiss,” Charlie said smoothly.

Ellie sighed dramatically, “Must I?”

Charlie nodded, closing in on her, “You must.”

Ellie smiled and put her hands on each side of Charlie’s face, pressing her lips to his gently. He looked displeased when she pulled away and pouted.

“Can I have another?”

Ellie giggled at his puppy dog look but shook her head, “Maybe later, Jor.”

He grinned at her using her old nickname for him and walked away, pleased with her answer. He still kept the mistletoe hidden behind him, though, and Leon knew he was up to something.

She shrugged it off and focused on brushing the flour off herself, which only made a mess on the floor she knew she would have to clean up later. Deciding that it was Christmas and she should stop cleaning and just relax, she sat down in the old, beat up rocking chair by the tree and propped her feet up on the stool.

She turned to Charlie, “So is my sister a better kisser than George?”

Charlie looked over at the still sleeping Johnny and smirked, “Oh yeah. And that’s saying something since Johnny is just amazing.”

Johnny jolted awake at the mention of his name and looked around sleepily.

“What?” he asked groggily.

Leon chuckled, “Jordy here thinks you’re an amazing kisser.”

“But I’m better!” Ellie stated proudly, winking at Charlie.

Johnny looked hurt, “I am so much better than Ellie, Charlie! How dare you!”

“I’m sorry, but she’s got boobs. You don’t,” Charlie said honestly, yet still joking around.

Ellie smiled down at her chest and stuck her tongue out at Johnny, who suddenly found interest in staring at the top of her low cut red sweater, similar to Leon’s green one from the night before.

Leon and Charlie both slapped Johnny upside the head, “Stop that!”

Johnny’s gaze flickered between the two of them, alarmed, “The fuck was that psychic shit?”

Leon and Charlie simply laughed at each other, used to sharing thoughts like that all the time. It wasn’t uncommon for them.

Dillon and Matt, both still covered in flour like Leon, entered the room followed by Jay. Leon smiled at each of them in greeting, though her gaze lingered on Jay for a bit longer.

She approached him, “Sorry about your kitchen. I’ll clean it up later, if that’s alright.”

Jay shook his head, “Don’t. I got those two dickheads to help me a little bit. It’s fine.”

Leon shrugged, still feeling bad for making a mess in his house. She knew there was a reason she didn’t cook anywhere but her own home.

“Oh, would you look at that?” Charlie said, suddenly appearing behind Leon.

She jumped, not expecting him to be so close, and looked at Jay, confused. He was grinning at something above her head. She spotted something green, and it looked an awful lot like…

Oh, no.

“Charlie!” she half-screeched, trying to turn around but Jay held her in place, both of his hands holding her shoulders.

Leon watched him, slightly afraid of what he would do. Obviously, she knew what he was supposed to do, but would he really do it?

“Come on, Jay, we don’t have all night. My arm is getting sore,” Charlie complained, pouting as he held the mistletoe above the two.

Jay grinned at Leon, “You know what that means.”

She smiled shyly at him as he leaned in closer to her. He placed his lips on hers in a sweet, almost caring, manner. She swore she melted as she kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck as his hands traveled down to her waist.

Spending Christmas with the boys might not have been such a bad idea, after all.