Burn

When I woke up, I knew it was still way too early because the house was way too quiet for all of the people that slept in it last night to be awake. I rolled over to face John, who was on his back with his hands propped behind his head staring at the ceiling--in nothing but a pair of briefs.

I discreetly pulled the comforter around my body a little more as I realized how exposed I was also. He looked down at me, a brief smile crossing his features as he croaked, "Good morning, darling."

"Good morning." I answered shyly, lowering my eyes. Scenes from last night flashed through my mind and made my cheeks burn hotly as I looked down at the comforter. John, realizing the expression on my face, chuckled lowly.

"Don't go all shy on me now, Viola Grey." he murmured, pulling me to him so that my head was resting on his bare chest. We laid like that for a while--me listening to the sounds of his breathing as he continued to look up at the ceiling. The sun hadn't risen yet so the room glowed lightly with the cloudy blue tones of the morning sky.

I looked back at him, concentrating on the small smile his mouth was set in. "What are you thinking about so hard?"

I felt his shoulders move as he shrugged. "You. Me. Last night. Everything."

"Well that narrows it down a lot." I mumbled, making his chest rumble with laughter. A few more minutes passed by before he said quietly, "Hey. Merry Christmas, Viola Grey."

"Merry Christmas, John."

He rolled over so that he was hovering over me, putting his hand on the bed beside my head to hold himself up. The change in his demeanor was instant, and his eyes burned with intensity into mine that made my stomach do flips.

"Do I get my presents now?" he murmured, dipping his head down and dragging the tip of his nose down my jawline. I let out a sigh as his mouth connected with the side of my neck, leaving a slow, torturous trail of kisses down to my collarbone and chest and stopping where the blanket was wrapped tightly around my body.

It was no use fighting him, but I decided to just for the hell of it. "Nope. You have to find them in the house just like everyone else." I replied stubbornly, trying to dodge his hands as he tried pulling the comforter away from me.

"Violaaaa." he groaned, dragging out my name and making me giggled. "Yes Johno?" I replied innocently, raising my eyebrows at him.

He grinned, resting his head on my stomach playfully and batting his eyelashes at me. "I love you." he cooed.

I snorted. "Nice try, you're not winning that easily."

His smile turned devious as he grabbed my sides, tickling me mercilessly until he was able to snatch the blanket away from me and replace it with his body. Putting his full weight on me, he placed both of his hands beside my head so that I was trapped in his presence. Sighing, I narrowed my eyes at him. "How come you always end up on top?"

"Because I always win." he replied, grinning down at me with that stupid John O'Callaghan mega-watt smile. He leaned down and pressed his lips softly to mine, kissing me slow and passionate. I melted into him, bringing my arms up and wrapping them around him so that his entire body was pressed on top of mine. I brought my hands from the top of his back and slid them down, feeling the strong muscles of his shoulders flex as he pulled away from me, grinning.

He started a trail of open-mouthed kisses from my neck, making my back arch pleasurably. While his mouth worked, he took one hand from beside my head and slid it down my body, over my stomach, down my thigh and worked back up, coming around to grip my bare behind tightly. I gasped, pulling away from him as he looked down at me playfully, grinning from ear to ear.

"John!" I exclaimed as my cheeks tinged pink. Before he could say anything there were three rapid bangs at the door as Joel's voice came through. "Hey! I don't know what the hell is going on in there--but we're starting the hunt for presents in ten minutes!"

"Busted once again, Viola Grey." John said, chuckling as he leaned down to kiss my cheek before rolling off of me. I watched him as he grabbed a pair of pajama pants and yanked a shirt over his head. He glanced over at me, still in the bed. "Aren't you coming? Don't you want to find your present?"

I raised an eyebrow at him. "You got me something?"

He grinned. "Of course I did! What kind of person do you think I am?"



Thirty minutes later, everyone was back in the living room, unwrapping the gifts they'd found for themselves. Rose and Callie were delighted with their sweaters, as were Alex and Joel with theirs presents. It was so warming to see a smile on everyone's face as they opened and thanked the one who gave them gifts.

I turned to John, motioning for him to start unwrapping his. "It's your turn."

He picked up a small box, reading the gift tag that read 'From Joel--use them well, my man!'. "Joel?" he questioned, and Joel looked at him with a devious smile on his face. "Oh yeah! You're welcome."

John tore a corner off of the wrapping paper cautiously, peeking in it before cracking up. "What is it?" I asked, snatching it from him and tearing the paper off completely.

"JOEL!" I exclaimed, holding up a box of condoms for everyone to see. The entire room cracked up along with Joel and John, whose shoulders were shaking with laughter beside me. "You're joking right?"

"Sorry man, but me and Viola don't have much use for these." John snickered, tossing them to Garrett who was beside him on the couch. "John!" I smacked him on the arm, causing him to throw a shameless grin my way. My cheeks burned intensely as Callie raised her eyebrows at the two of us. "What? We don't. Oh--you know what I mean! Garrett might could use them though."

"Oh, definitely." he winked at Rose, who bit her lip to keep herself from grinning.

"Be careful, Johnny Boy." Joel warned, still grinning. "You wouldn't want little Violas running around so soon, would you?"

John chuckled, taking the box back from Garrett. "You're right. Maybe I'll keep 'em just in case."

He tucked the box behind him on the couch and moved to opening his next presents, which was the t-shirt I'd picked up for him and his watch. He grinned as he held it up against his body for sizing, then leaned over to give me a swift kiss on the cheek. "Thanks, sweetheart."

"No problem." I replied, grinning.

I started opening my presents then, revealing a new chunky scarf from Rose, a Lily Pulitzer phone case from Callie, and a gift card to my favorite clothing store as a joint gift from Alex and Joel. I went around the room, giving hugs to them all as a thank you. When I got to Rose, she whispered quietly in my ear, "You and John really don't use anything?" I frowned and yanked on her ponytail hard before releasing her, causing her to yelp.

I sat back down and admired my gifts as the room filled with loud chatter about who was going to make breakfast. I realized suddenly there was no gift from John. My brow furrowed as I looked at him, but he was already staring at me, smirking. "Looking for something?"

"Nope." I replied, setting all my things in a neat pile on the table. John nudged me with his elbow. "Maybe you didn't look hard enough for your gift from me...maybe it's in the house but it's on something--or maybe someone." he grinned wickedly.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You have my gift in your pocket?"

He shrugged innocently. "Maybe, Viola Grey."

I lunged for him, battling for the present until I was able to get my hands in his pocket and pulling out a long, slim black box. John watched me cautiously as I turned the box over in my hands.

"Oh my god, jewelry?" I questioned quietly, looking at him. My stomach bubbled with anticipation as I slowly lifted the lid off and revealed a spherical pendant on a slim silver chain. I picked it up, examining it further to see encased inside was a small purple and white flower.

"Violas." I murmured in awe. "I'm speechless. John this is absolutely beautiful."

"Just like you." he replied, smiling at me. "Let's put it on."

He took it out of my hands and I turned around, pulling all my hair up as John clasped it together around my neck. His fingers ever so lightly touched my skin as he did so, making goosebumps break out. When I turned around, it was settled nicely on the front of the hoodie I was wearing and I grinned. "How does it look?"

"Beautiful."

I leaned in, connecting his lips to mine for a chaste kiss. "Thank you. I love it--and you." I murmured quietly, making him smile.

"If you guys are done making the rest of us want to throw up, we've voted that the girls should be the ones who make breakfast." Joel announced to John and I, earning a few snickers from the boys.

"Why can't you guys make breakfast?" Callie questioned, turning to look at Alex beside her. He grabbed her chin, pulling her lips to his for a playful kiss. "Because you make the best pancakes ever, baby."

"Mmm, pancakes." Pat murmured, rubbing his stomach.

"How come no one gets weird when Alex and Callie act mushy?!" I exclaimed, crossing my arms. John laughed beside me, kissing my temple. "Will you please make breakfast?"

"Fine." I caved, getting off the couch as Rose and Callie followed me into the kitchen. The boys erupted back into talking as we all got started, and I heard the sounds of video games on the TV after a few moments.

"This is so much better than Christmas morning at my parents house." Rose commented, laughing.

I grabbed packs of bacon and sausage out of the refrigerator and handed them to her, grabbing the eggs for myself. Callie began mixing ingredients in a bowl for the pancakes on the counter top.

"How did everyone sleep last night?" I asked nonchalantly, glancing at Rose. I hadn't forgotten about her being missing from her spot in the living room. "Sorry about having to sleep on the couches, but we're kinda running low on space in the house right now."

"Alex and I slept fine." Callie smiled. "What about you, Rose?"

The innocent tone in her voice threw me off. I glanced up and we met eyes--I knew instantly that she and I had both seen the same thing last night. Rose slowly stopped separating strips of bacon and looked up at us both. Her eyes narrowed immediately as she caught on to our game. "I slept great." she shrugged. "Well...until I got woken up by John and Viola sneaking around the house."

"I saw you two outside...and then I heard you two upstairs." she smiled sweetly. "Wanna tell us what kinda rendezvous you two got into in the bedroom last night?"

"Did you and Garrett have sex last night?"

"Did you and Alex?"

"NO!"

"John and I did." I blurted out, covering my mouth. "Oh my god, I didn't mean to say that."

All three of us stared wide-eyed at each other before I was the first one to cave and crack up. Callie began giggling after me and it wasn't before long all of us were filling the kitchen with gut-busting laughter. I wiped at my eyes, trying to regain my composure.

"Phew, that was well, unexpected." I said, still slightly giggling. Callie and I returned to our cooking duties but Rose went into interrogation mode. "You and John really did it?"

"Um, is that proper Christmas morning kitchen topics?" I questioned nervously, feeling my face heat up.

"Oh my god. YOU DID!" she squealed happily, clapping her hands. "It's about time!"

"What do you mean it's about time?" I asked furiously, narrowing my eyes at her. She grinned. "Oh please. You've been giving him bedroom eyes since day one."

Callie cackled at this and I punched her arm, making her yelp. "I have not! What about you and Garrett, huh?"

"What about who and Garrett?" John asked, strolling into the kitchen and grabbing a piece of cooked bacon off the place beside Rose. "Ohhhh no." she said, snatching it away from him and shooing John out of her space. "You wanted us to cook and now we're cooking. Out!"

John pouted, looking over at me. "Viola Grey, your friends are being mean to me."

"Aw, I know baby." I cooed playfully, poking my bottom lip out before pointing to the door. "Now get out."

"Fine." he sulked out of the kitchen and back into the living room with the boys. Rose smiled at his back, then turned her attention to me. "So how was he?"

"ROSE!" I yelled threateningly.

"I'm interested to hear this also." Callie mumbled quietly as she flipped a pancake over on the griddle. I stared at her baffled until she looked up. "What? I'm curious, is all."

I groaned. "Okay, so maybe it was the tiniest bit extremely amazing. Geez."

"I knew it!" Rose squealed once more and Callie joined in, making me cover my ears.

"What the hell are you guys doing in here?" Garrett asked, poking his head around the corner. He was followed by Pat and Kennedy. "Can you guys hurry up? We're hungry!"

"OUT!" Rose ordered, stomping her foot and waving her spatula at him. He snickered, disappearing and replying lowly, "Love you too, honey."

I looked at Rose, surprised. "The L-word, huh?"

"He was joking." she replied, rolling her eyes. "But back to you and John. I knew that skinny, bag of bones had to be good at something other than singing."

I covered my ears again. "Lalalala we're not talking about this!"

Callie laughed at my childishness. "Really though, Rose. Did something happen between you and G last night?"

"Yes." she mumbled quietly. I uncovered one ear and cupped my hand around it. "I'm sorry, what was that? A yes?" I grinned.

"YES." she said sternly, narrowing her eyes at me as I watched the tips of her ears turned pink. I cooed playfully at her, "Aw, Rosie. How cute!"

"Shut up." she mumbled, turning her back to us and concentrating on cooking while Callie and I exchanged glances behind her back. "You're not the only one allowed to have fun around here!"