She's Glitter and Gold

The interview went well... As well as it could go with my heart pounding a million miles per second. Jack had done little to help my nervousness when he kissed me. He kissed me. Again .
I walk through the main lobby of the hospital, smiling in the direction of a receptionist who wishes me a good day as I walk out of the doors.
I feel the cold air hit me and I pull out my phone and start texting Jack, but am interrupted when said person walks up to me, two coffees in hand.
"How'd it go?" he asks as he hands me one of the cups.
"Good, I think," I say uncertainly. "I mean, she told me she'd be contacting me very soon."
He smiles widely and gives me a half hug. "That's awesome, Ri."
His smile is a little contagious, so I return it before taking a sip of my coffee. "Fuck, this is amazing," I exclaim as I take in the taste of hazelnut.
He smiles a little sheepishly, "I called your mom to ask her what you like in your coffee," he admits as we start walking in the opposite direction of the hotel.
"She still remembers?" I ask, a little surprised.
"Skim milk, two Splenda's and hazelnut," he recites before drinking some of his own coffee.
I nod my approval, and smile. "Thank you."
He shrugs his shoulders and I feel his fingers casually tangle with mine, and I try to act like it's not a big deal since he seems unconcerned by our holding hand-ness. "So where do you wanna go Christmas shopping?" he asks as we turn onto a busier street.
"Hmm, where do they sell purity rings?" I ask teasingly.
"I'm guessing not at the same place they sell dildos."

"Ri, you can't be serious," Jack whispers in my ear as we watch the petite, middle-aged saleswoman pull out a tray of rings.
I giggle, and turn to face him. "What's wrong?" I ask with a smirk.
He looks from me to the saleswoman who seems oblivious to us currently. "I can't get a purity ring!" he shout whispers. "I don't want God to like... zap me with a lightning bolt for sinning!"
I laugh a little louder at this, "Jack, you do realize that fornication is technically a sin, so you'd be zapped already if he wanted to."
He starts to say something else, but the woman interrupts him by saying, "Here are the male purity rings."
I turn away from Jack and start looking through them, until I find one I like. "Try this on," I say as I hold the simple, silver ring out to him,
He pouts at me, but puts it on, and I swear I see his eyes flicker up to the ceiling, as if he's expecting a giant hand to smash through the ceiling to squash him. "It fits," he says with a small sigh.
I grin at him, then turn to the lady. "We'll get it," I say as I pull out my wallet.

We get back to the hotel with an hour left before we have to check out, so I set all of my bags with the day's purchases on my bed and say, "Pack up your stuff, I'm taking a shower and then we're going."
"How about we shower together, and then we can pack together?" he suggests hopefully.
I ignore him and grab my clothes before going into the bathroom.
I'm in the middle of conditioning my hair when Jack knocks on the door and says, "I'm all packed. I'm gonna go get your present, I'll be back in like, fifteen minutes."
"If it's a dildo I'm gonna shove it up your ass," I threaten.
When I get out of the shower I change into a pair of jeans and Jack's Ravens hoodie that remained stolen, and start packing my belongings as I wait for his return.
When he finally comes back he's holding a medium sized, hot pink gift bag, and he has the hugest grin on his face. I try taking it from him, but he pulls it away from me. "Nope, you'll get it tomorrow."
I frown at him and cross my arms. "I gave you yours today."
He considers this, then shakes his head "Nope. Tomorrow. Unless you promise to use it tonight."
I look at him warily, knowing from the way he's smiling that I probably wont like whatever he got me, so I shake my head and say, "We need to go, housekeeping's gonna be here soon."
He grabs some of my bags from me and walks to the door. "Nice hoodie," he comments sarcastically.
"You're never getting it back," I inform him as I walk out of the room and towards the stairs.
"Bitch," he mumbles under his breath.
When we get to the main entrance we both stop and look outside at the snow that's started falling. "It's so pretty," I comment, and am about to step out into the wintry weather when someone behind us clears their throat.
We both turn to see the girl behind the desk grinning at us. "Look up," she says as she points to just above our heads.
We both do as we're told, and I see a small cluster of green leaves and red berries. "What?" I ask, a little confused as to why we should be interested in a decoration.
"It's mistletoe," she says in a 'duh' voice.
I frown and look from her, to the decoration, to a grinning Jack. "They still have that?" I ask as I look back up at the piece of greenery.
"Are you gonna kiss me?" Jack asks with a smirk.
I narrow my eyes at him. "No."
"You have to," the girl says. "It's like, the rules of Christmas."
"I'm Jewish," I lie as I start walking out the door.
Jack laughs and grabs my wrist, pulling me back in front of him. "It's the rules of Christmas," he informs me, like I hadn't just heard the girl say so.
I roll my eyes and mutter, "Oh what the fuck," before standing on my tip-toes and planting a quick kiss on his lips.
When I try to pull away he puts his hands on the small of my back, and dips me backwards, making for an overly dramatic kiss and I'm vaguely aware of the girl applauding and giggling, but I'm more focused on the warm lips that are kissing mine. He eventually straightens us and pulls away, grinning like a little boy. "You ready to go?" he asks as he picks up the bags he'd dropped.
I blink once, and try to sort out my muddled thoughts, then give him a forced dirty look and walk out of the hotel, speeding my pace up so he can't see the smile on my face.

Since Jack wanted to stop and get food every thirty minutes, we don't get back into Baltimore until nighttime, and when I walk into my house my mom and sister are already asleep.
After wrapping their gifts and placing them under the tree I lay in bed for what feels like years, unable to quiet my mind.
We kissed. Again. And we held hands .
My mind races, trying to figure out why I'd let him kiss me. We're friends. Friends don't kiss.
There was mistletoe. It doesn't mean anything , I try telling myself, but what about before the interview? Why had he kissed me then?
I eventually doze off, but am soon woken up by Bonnie jumping on my bed.
"GOOD MORNING STARSHINE, THE EARTH SAYS HELLO!" she yells when I open my eyes a crack.
"Get out," I groan as I close my eyes and try to reclaim sleep.
She doesn't listen, and starts pulling my blankets off of me. "It's mother fucking Christmas," she says as she tries yanking me out of bed.
"What time is it?" I ask as I grab my blankets back.
"Six," she replies as she goes for my pillows and throws them to the other side of the room. "And we're gonna go open presents. I already woke mom up."
I bury myself under the warm, fleece blanket and mumble, "Too early. Goodnight."
I hear her let out a sigh, then I feel her tugging on the blanket. "Come on. Alex and Jack are gonna be here in a few minutes and-"
"Jack's coming?" I perk up, and I hate myself for the enthusiasm in my voice.
She pulls the blanket off of my face and grins down at me. "You gotta look cute for your boyfriend," she teases.
I roll my eyes and push her off my bed. "He's not my boyfriend," I say as I climb out of bed and start searching for something to wear.
"Uh huh," she sounds completely unbelieving. "You guys just went on an overnight getaway together because you're friends ."
"I didn't have anyone else to go with," I say defensively as I op for red skinny jeans and a black pullover.
She just smirks at me, then skips out of the room.
I sigh and quickly get ready, and try my best to disguise my deep dark circles with concealer and eyeliner.
Once I'm satisfied I walk downstairs where Jack and Alex are just walking in. "Don't you guys have your own families?" I tease as I claim the biggest couch for myself.
"They wont wake up before nine," Jack says with a pout as he pushes my legs over and lays down on the opposite end of the couch.
"Oh, you mean like normal people?" I ask as I shoot my sister a glare.
She sticks her tongue out at me, and my mom bustles in and starts dispersing gifts in front of the recipients.
After a mini argument between Jack and Alex over who got to open their presents first, Jack wins and rips open the packaging, and literally squeals with delight when he pulls out the video game my mom had bought him.
We take turns opening gifts, and I'm more than content with the clothes and gift cards I received.
I'm lugging my haul into my room, when Jack pops up next to me. "Are you ready for your present?" he asks excitedly as he sits on my bed and holds out the pink gift bag.
I put away my presents and look at the bag suspiciously. "Why couldn't I open it down there?" I ask as I cross my arms.
"Just open it," he says with a smirk.
I hesitantly take the bag and pull out the tissue paper, letting it fall onto the floor. I spot some red at the bottom of the bag and pull it out. I stare at the 'Santa's Helper' outfit for a minute, then look past it at the grinning boy on my bed. "Really?!"
"It seemed... festive," he says innocently.
I roll my eyes and shove the lingerie back in the bag. "You are moron," I inform him and set the bag on my dresser.
He sticks out his lower lip in a familiar pout and asks, "You're not gonna try it on?"
"Nah, I didn't want to make you think about violating your purity ring," I tease as I start making my way to the door.
He quickly jumps up and digs into the bag. "At least wear the hat," he pleads as he pulls out the red and white Santa hat.
I laugh and grab the hat from him and pull it over the top of my head. "Happy?" I ask as I stare up at him.
He grins and straightens the hat a little. "I'd be happier if you were in the full outfit, but..." I roll my eyes again and grab his wrist, pulling him out of the room, but he stops me. "We need a Christmas picture," he announces as he pulls out his phone.
"Why?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.
"Because my hair looks amazing right now," he says with a shrug. I roll my eyes and he puts his arm around my waist and holds out the phone. "Say cheese," he instructs, and I smile, subconsciously leaning my body into his.
We snap a couple pictures, doing different poses, until finally I grab the phone from him and delete all of the awful ones. "Okay, I'm hungry," I announce as I set his phone down and skip out of the room, him following close behind.

"So what did Jack get you?" Bonnie asks excitedly.
"Nothing," I lie as I roll over on my bed and close my eyes. "Can I sleep now?"
"He did too," she ignores my plea, and I feel her get off the bed. "Is this it?" she asks.
I open my tired eyes to see her advancing towards the hot pink bag. "No," I lie again as I quickly jump out of bed and snatch the bag away before she can get to it.
She smiles widely and wiggles her eyebrows up and down. "What'd he get you?" she asks as she pulls the bag out of my grip.
"Bon-"
She bursts into laughter as she pulls out the lingerie. "I knew you guys were doing it!" she says between giggles.
"We are not!" I grab the 'outfit' away from her.
"And that's why he bought you lingerie..." she says with a smug smile on her face.
"It was a joke," I say defensively. "I bought him a purity ring, he bought me lingerie."
"How'd he know what size you are then?" she asks, and the stupid smirk wont leave her face.
I shrug my shoulders. "It's in my size?"
She laughs at me and sits back on my bed. "Try it on," she orders.
I shake my head, feeling my cheeks heat up a little. "No," I say as I shove it back in the bag.
"Oh, stop being such a prude," she says with an eye roll. "Try it on."
"Why?" I whine as I look down at the rumpled, sheer fabric.
"Because, he took the time and money to buy it, you could at least try it on."
I let out a frustrated sigh, but I'm a little curious to see if it actually fits, so I strip out of my clothes and slide on the little outfit. "It fits," I say, sounding surprised. I study myself in the mirror and I look... hot.
"Turn around," she orders, and I do a quick pirouette, and she wolf whistles. "Fuck, you look freaking hot!," she exclaims, and I feel sort of awkward about my little sister telling me this.
"Thanks?" I say, before turning to look in the mirror again.
I jump at the sound of a knock on the door, and before I can tell whoever it is not to come in, the door opens and Jack walks in. "Hey I left my ph-" he freezes, his eyes widening, and I practically dive for my bed.
"Ever hear of knocking?!" I ask as I try to pull the blanket out from under my sister so I can shield my nearly naked body.
"Damn," is all he says and his eyes trail up and down my body until I finally get the blanket and wrap around myself.
"Get out," I order as I point to the door, unable to control the heat flooding my cheeks.
A smile spreads across from his face as he looks from me to my sister. "What, your sister can see you in lingerie, but I can't?" he asks, sounding a little offended. "I didn't realize you guys were into incest..."
I roll my eyes at him, then glare at my sister who seems to be dying from laughter. "Just get out," I say with a sigh.
He smirks and leans against the doorway. "Why? I bought it for you."
"Yeah," Bonnie agrees between giggles. "I'll just uh, leave you two alone," she says before jumping off of my bed and running past Jack.
"Bonnie!" I yell after her, but she doesn't come back. I turn to glare at Jack before sitting down on my bed, pulling the blanket more around me.
He continues grinning at me, and it's a little unnerving. "So," he says as he moves further into my room, shutting the door behind him. "We're alone... and you're in lingerie..."
"And if you don't leave I'm going to punch you..."
He laughs and I almost wish he'll insist on staying. What is wrong with you ?! "I left my phone," he says as he grabs said device off of my nightstand.
"Okay," I awkwardly stare at him, waiting for his exit.
He smiles again, and he apparently wont give up, because he plops down on my bed, and lays on his side. "So, you like the, er... outfit?" he asks and his eyes sparkle with humor.
I roll my eyes and pull my legs up to my chest underneath the blanket. "Get out, Jack."
He ignores me, and turns his focus to his phone and starts giggling. "Everyone thinks you're my girlfriend."
"What...?" I ask as I lean over to see what he's looking at. He's on Instagram, scrolling through the hundreds of comments on a picture. "You posted that?!" I ask when I recognize it to be of us.
"The majority thinks we look cute together," he informs me before exiting out of the app and smiling up at me.
"What do you mean the majority ?"
"The rest hate you," he shrugs, and an arrogant smirk plays across his face as he puts his hands under his head and lays on his back. "They can get a bit jealous when someone as sexy as me has a girlfriend."
I roll my eyes and sit up straight. "Not your girlfriend," I remind him.
"We went on an overnight together, and kissed a few times," he reminds me teasingly. "Either you're my girlfriend, or you're a bit of a skank."
I smack his arm and lean against my wall. "If I recall correctly, you're the one who kissed me and held my hand. So technically you're the skank."
"You kissed me first," he scoffs. "Remember the whole cookie incident?"
"That was because you had something that I wanted," I say matter-of-factly. "It wasn't a girlfriend or a skank kiss."
"It was a skank kiss!" he insists as he sits up. "Skanks kiss because they want something."
"It was a friend kiss," I argue. "It was neither romantic, or lustful. It was friendly."
A line forms in between his eyebrows and in a pout-y voice he asks, "You didn't like it?"
"No, no. It was... great," I stammer out, and I feel my face heat up as he starts smiling. "But that's not the point. I'm not your girlfriend, and I'm not a skank."
"You could be my girlfriend..." his voice is a little softer, and his eyes are locked with mine, making it hard to think straight. "...or my skank."
I roll my eyes again. "Right. Can I get dressed now?" I ask, trying my best to ignore what he'd just said. He's not serious. He can't be
"I'm not stopping you," he makes a 'go ahead' motion with his hands.
I let out a huff, then lay down, curling my body up into a fetal position. "Whatever. I'm going to sleep."
He laughs and lies a few inches away from me. "It's eleven thirty in the morning," he points out as my heavy eyelids close.
"I'm sleepy," I say in a quiet, slightly whine-y voice.
I feel his warm fingers brush against my cheek as he tucks some of my hair behind my ears, and I'm so exhausted that I don't know whether I'm imagining his lips pressing against mine briefly before he whispers, "Sweet dreams, skank."