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Adora struggles to get into her apartment, pine needles sticking to her hair and clothes, as she drags the tree along. It’s the same height as the doorway—and if the damn door would just stay open!—she could get it through. Huffing, Adora yanks with all her might. Pine needles scatter all over the floor, but the tree is finally inside.
“Welcome back, babe!”
Adora looks over her shoulder, sliding off her coat. Catra is laying on the sofa, under the blankets, watching TV. She’s got a bowl of chips and the eggnog on the coffee table.
Adora puts a hand on her hip, levelling Catra with a very unimpressed look.
Catra stares back, arching an eyebrow. “What?”
“Where are the ornaments?” Adora demands.
Catra averts her eyes. “Oh, uh...”
Adora sighs and starts dragging the tree to the middle of the living room. “I asked you to get them out before I left!”she says.
“I was going to!” snaps Catra. “But I was comfy.” Is her excuse. She sits up and pours some more eggnog in her favourite mug.
“Quit drinking all the eggnog!” Adora exclaims. They just bought that carton yesterday.
“No!” Catra sticks her tongue out.
Adora finishes setting up the tree and carefully backs up to make sure it’ll stand up straight. “I haven’t even had any yet,” she pouts.
Catra just shrugs, curling up in a ball in her corner of the couch. “Then have some before I drink the rest of it,” she replies.
“Okay,” Adora says with a grin. She plucks the mug out of Catra’s hands and downs the last of her eggnog.
“Hey!”
“You said I should have some!”
“Get your own!” Catra snatches her mug back.
Adora giggles. “I will next time, kitty.” She puts her hands on her hips. “If there’s any left.”
“I highly doubt it.” Catra puts her mug back down on the coffee table. Then she stands up and looks Adora up and down. She chuckles.
“What?” Adora asks, unable to help the upturn of her lips.
“They’re all over you!” Catra tells her, brushing pine needles off of her fuzzy holiday sweater. She reaches up and picks a few out of Adora’s blond hair, smiling all the while.
Adora’s heart pinches just a little. She clears her throat. “Will you get the ornaments now?” she asks, fluttering her eyelashes at Catra.
Catra rolls her eyes, but she’s still smiling. “Alright, alright! I’ll get them,” she says, then turns and leaves the room to get their box of decorations from the closet.
“You’re doing the star!” Adora calls.
“What?! Why?!” Catra shouts back, making Adora grin.
“Because I went and got the tree!” she says simply.
“Oh yeah? Well I sat at home and didn’t drink all the eggnog! Just for you!”
“Wow, I’m so touched.”
“You better be!”
“You’re still doing the star.”
“I can’t even reach the top!” Catra argues, as she rounds the corner with the decoration box. “You’re taller. You’re supposed to do it!”
“I’m not that tall, Catra,” Adora says with a shake of her head. She looks up at the tree. She doesn’t think she can reach the top either. Maybe she should’ve just bought one of those mini Christmas trees, like Grandma Razz has. That would’ve been much easier to stuff in the car.
Catra drops the box on the floor, ignoring Adora’s, “hey, don’t break those!”
“Okay, so what’s our theme this year?” she asks. They take turns every year picking a colour or two for decorating the tree. Last year, Catra picked blue. It’s Adora’s turn this year.
Adora grins. “Red and green.”
“...Really?” Catra raises her eyebrow, unimpressed. Adora gawks at her. She just sighs and shakes her head. “Lame.”
“It’s not lame, it’s traditional!” Adora exclaims, throwing her arms up in the air. “Red and green are, like, the ultimate Christmas colour combination!”
“Exactly, everyone expects to see them!” Catra says, crossing her arms. “Do you really want us to be exactly like the neighbours? Do you really want us to be exactly like everyone else in the entire city—”
“Fine, fine! I’ll pick something else!” Adora huffs. She thinks for a moment. “White.”
“The snow is white, so we’ve already got that.”
Adora glares. Catra smiles sweetly.
Adora sighs. “Gold and silver?”
“Don’t know if we’ve got anything gold or silver, baby angel.”
“...Blue?”
Catra beams, lighting up like those pretty, little tea candles. “That sounds wonderful. Blue is wonderful.”
Adora throws her arms up again. “We did blue last year!”
Catra shrugs, bending down and going through their ornaments. “Well, that’s not my fault. You picked, remember, sweetheart?” she mocks, giving Adora a shit-eating smirk.
Adora groans.
Catra takes a glittering blue ball from the case of glittering blue balls, handling it delicately (Adora will kill her if she breaks anything). She carefully puts the hook through the tiny ring on the top, then goes to hang it on the half-decorated tree.
“Almost got it...” mutters Adora.
Catra looks to where Adora’s messing with their very old, very beat up stereo. It’s behind the TV—since they don’t use it a lot—so Adora has to awkwardly maneuver her body to reach it. She’s in a weird position right now, knees bent, face and arm shoved between the wall and the TV.
Catra smiles amusedly. “Adora, what are you doing?” she asks with a quiet chuckle.
“Got it!” Adora suddenly blurts, lighting up. She jumps to her feet and grins at Catra, pink lips glossy with that raspberry lip balm she uses.
Nothing happens at first.
Then ‘Jingle Bells’ starts playing, and Adora’s beautiful, joyous blue eyes shine even brighter than the Christmas lights on their balcony.
“Oh my gosh,” Catra says, shaking her head as festive music fills their apartment. “You’re such a dork!” she exclaims, throwing a pine needle at Adora and missing by a mile.
Adora laughs, smiling so wide, it looks like her pretty face might break. Catra can’t help but watch, heart warming at the sight.
Then Adora starts singing along, purposefully bad, giggling profusely at the same time.
“Turn it down!” Catra shouts at her, unable to stop herself from laughing with her. “The whole city can hear us!”
“I don’t know how!” Adora replies cheerfully, dancing around the coffee table, singing and giggling.
“Oh my gosh,” Catra chuckles, turning back to putting blue tinsel around the tree. “Dork.”
Adora finishes up the last of the decorations around the apartment. The gingerbread set’s in the kitchen, sitting on the counter. The snowflake rug is in their room beside their bed. And now, the garland and holly are neatly hanging on the walls in the hallway. Adora admires her work, checking to make sure nothing needs to be fixed. It looks perfect, and Adora feels quite proud of herself.
“I’m done!” she calls, heading back into the living room.
The tree is bright blue with ornaments, tinsel, and lights, and Catra’s standing there with a frown on her face.
“That looks beautiful,” Adora says, and she means it. Maybe they should just do blue every year from now on. She goes to stand behind Catra, wrapping her arms around her waist and dipping to lay her chin on her shoulder. “Not as beautiful as you though,” she murmurs, rubbing her nose on Catra’s cheek.
Catra rolls her eyes at her, giving her a weak shove. “Shut up,” she says, tone playful. Then she turns to the tree again and sighs.
“What’s wrong?” Adora asks.
Catra slips out of her embrace and reaches into the box. She pulls out the star, huge, blindingly white, and covered in sparkles.
“Oh.” Adora sags, looking up at the tree. What are they going to do?
“...I could grab a chair,” Catra suggests.
“You broke the chair the last time you tried that.”
“No, I didn’t—oh wait, yes I did.”
Adora shakes her head.
“Well, it was a stupid chair.”
“Well, now we have a chair that doesn’t match the table because of you!”
“I thought you liked the chair I bought!”
“I would, if it matched the table!”
Catra huffs. Then snaps her fingers, a light bulb going off above her head. “Call Mara,” she says.
“What? Why?” asks Adora, confused by the sudden subject change.
“She’s super tall. She can put the star up for us!” Catra explains with bright brown eyes.
That’s actually a good idea. Unfortunately...
“I can’t. Mom’s at work today,” Adora says sadly.
Catra deflates. “Oh...” She snaps her fingers again, lighting up with another idea. “Call Bow. He can do it for us.”
“No, I’m sure he and Glimmer are busy,” Adora protests, not wanting to bother their friends.
Catra groans, frustrated. “Fine! We’ll just do it ourselves,” she says, “Give me a boost.”
Adora blinks in surprise. “Wha—are you sure?”
“I said, give me a boost!” Catra demands.
Something tells Adora this isn’t a good idea. Reluctantly, she locks her fingers together and lets Catra put her foot in her hands. She lifts her up slowly, gasping in alarm when Catra wobbles.
“Hold still,” Catra tells her, supporting herself on Adora’s shoulder.
Adora stills, holding her breath, watching her girlfriend worriedly.
Catra blows a lock of dark hair out of her eyes. She grits her teeth and stretches out her arm, reaching for the top of the tree with the star grasped in her hand. She lets go of Adora’s shoulder, but this proves to be a mistake. She wobbles and falls toward the tree, shrieking.
“Catra!” Adora cries and tries to catch her, only to trip over the lights cord.
They both fall into the tree, knocking the whole thing over. They and the tree collapse to the floor.
“Catra, are you okay?” Adora asks immediately, grabbing Catra’s wrist. They’ve got pine needles and wisps of tinsel all over them.
“I’m fine,” Catra responds.
They sit up on the floor, maybe a little bruised, but okay.
Catra looks over at the tree. Nearly everything has fallen off of it, scattering all over the room. “Well, at least nothing broke,” she mumbles. But now they have to start all over. Catra groans.
“Hey, Catra,” Adora then says with a smile in her voice.
Catra turns to her. Adora is holding her arm up. Catra frowns, then looks up. Mistletoe.
“Where did you get that?!” Catra blurts indignantly.
Adora flushes and giggles like a baby. She giggles even harder when Catra rolls her eyes. But then, Catra smiles at her softly. She places her hand on Adora’s cheek, and Adora’s heart skips a beat when Catra pulls her down. Their lips meet in a kiss. Adora melts.
When their lips part, somebody rests their foreheads together—Adora’s not exactly sure which one of them.
“Can we just call Bow?” Catra asks quietly.
Adora can’t help a giggle. “Yes.”
“Thanks,” Adora says with a grateful smile, as she sees Bow out the door.
“Anytime,” he tells her, pulling her in for a hug before he goes.
“Have a good night.”
“You too.”
With that, Bow leaves. Adora shuts the door behind her, then turns and looks at the tree. They had put it back up, picked the ornaments off the floor, and hung them again. Now, the star is also shimmering proudly on the highest branch. Adora sighs happily. It’s been a good day.
“Hey Catra, do you want some eggnog?” she calls.
“I’ve almost got it... ugh, stupid thing!”
Adora blinks and spots Catra, wedged between the wall and the TV, fiddling with the stereo.
“What are you doing?” she asks.
“Got it!” Catra woots in victory, and squeezes out from behind the TV. ‘I’ll be home for Christmas’ starts playing, filling the apartment with gentle music.
Adora grins so big, it hurts. “And you said I was a dork!” she laughs.
“Shut up!” Catra says, jumping over the coffee table. Then she holds out her hand, smiling beautifully. “Dance with me.”
Adora’s chest flutters, as she takes Catra’s hand. Catra pulls her close and they begin to sway in slow circles. Catra’s face is so close to hers, her scent flooding Adora’s mind. Adora is utterly mesmerized; she could stay like this, with Catra, forever.
“Hey, Adora,” Catra suddenly says.
“What?”
Catra smirks and holds something over their heads. Mistletoe.
Adora gapes. “Where did you get that?”
Catra just laughs. And Adora dives in for the kiss.