You don't have to ship Redlyn to read this also it isn't spell-checked because I ran out of time sorry.

After the play there had been a party but between the play and the party there had been a kiss. It wasn't exactly like either of them had forgotten the kiss. In the heat of the moment, with the bubbly, warm, lovely way they felt about each other, the kiss just made sense. It was quick, and it was, at the risk of sounding cliche, magical, and then it was over and done. And then break happened, and they didn't really see each other. Didn't really get the chance to talk things over.

When they texted, they tried to keep it light. They sent memes back and forth, dumb jokes, predictions for the spring musical, and a never ending stream of Big Red guessing what EJ stood for and Ashlyn trying to guess his real name. Neither of them had come close.

They didn't talk about their relationship, or lack thereof. They didn't make plans to meet up, though they could've, they didn't discuss Christmas, though, on their own, they each came to the conclusion that they were going to get the other a gift. Neither of them really had any idea what to do, unfortunately, their friends weren't much help either.

"You're going to have to think big, Ash. He got you that crazy thing of flowers. Who knows what he'll do for you for Christmas."

"You're not helping, EJ, what if he's expecting something big? I don't know what to get him!"

"I doubt he's even expecting anything, Ash. It's not like you two are dating. Don't get him anything if you don't want to."

"But I want to! And…"

"And you want to date him?" EJ smirked.

"I don't know."

"You don't know? Didn't you kiss him?"

"Well, yeah."

"I've found that you don't necessarily kiss people that you don't like."

"Obviously I like him. I just don't know if we're like soulmates. I don't want to get him something that leads him on if I don't even know how I feel yet. I'm just not sure."

"Why don't you write him a song? You're good at that."

"That is such a Ricky and Nini thing to do. He and I are not Ricky and Nini. We don't know what we are. I'm not going to do anything too… Forward. I just want to get him something that shows him that he's an important person in my life without him getting the wrong idea about us."

"You're making these things so complicated. Just get a cute outfit and some mistletoe and try to repeat that first magical kiss."

"Why don't you get out of my house?" Ashlyn suggested, crossing her arms at EJ.

"Ouch, cuz."

"I can't do something like that because I don't know if the kiss was as magical as I want to believe. I don't know how I feel about him, I don't know how I feel about myself or other people. 2020 is going to be my year, I'm going to figure those things out, I just haven't yet."

"Suit yourself. If you're not going to listen to any of my other advice remember this, you mean a lot to him, so anything you give him that's meaningful to you will be meaningful to him."

"Thanks, EJ. That was actually almost helpful."

"You're welcome. Keep me in the loop, this whole thing is better than any Hallmark movies that have been playing recently."

"Oh, sure, I'd love to be entertainment for you." She kicked EJ out and sat down by the piano to play as she pondered, finally settling on a present for Big Red.

Big Red wasn't having much better luck at first.

"Oh my gosh, what are you getting Ashlyn for Christmas?" Nini sat next to Ricky as they took turns playing video games in Big Red's basement.

He was about to answer when Ricky interjected, "why does he need to get her anything? They're not dating."

Big Red opened his mouth once more, but the couple wasn't done yet, "Yeah, but they're friends! Plus, everyone knows they like each other."

"Listen, liking someone doesn't always mean… Well, just, look at them! They've made no move this whole break to establish anything post-kiss so clearly there isn't a lot going on behind the scenes-"

"Hey! While I really appreciate you guys' deep dive into my personal private relationship with Ashlyn but could you not? I don't know what I'm getting her for Christmas. I know that if she gets me anything it'll be adorable and amazing because that's just the kind of person she is but she doesn't need to get me anything and I don't want her to think that I'm getting her a present to be, like, transactional."

"Wow, okay, bud, she's really got your head all muddled, hasn't she? I don't think Ashlyn would see you getting her a Christmas present as transactional."

"I don't know, Nini, help me out, I got her flowers and then she kissed me and I'm worried she felt like she, I don't know, owed me a kiss, because I got her a present and I don't want her to think that because I don't want her to do anything she doesn't want to do because ultimately I just want her to be happy even if that isn't with me."

"Okay, first of all, Big Red, all of that is adorable and very heartfelt."

"Second of all?" He asked nervously.

"Second of all, you're definitely overthinking this. She kissed you because she likes you in some kind of way. You guys need to actually talk about how you feel about each other, maybe you can even bring up your insecurities and that you want to make sure she knows she doesn't owe you anything. And you don't owe her anything either, you don't have to get her a present if you don't want to."

"I do want to get her something, I just haven't figured it out. Thanks, Nini." He turned to Ricky, "Nini is my new player two now, you can give the controller to her." Ricky kissed her cheek as he passed over the controller.

"I'm her player two, not yours."

"Yeah, well, just know that I'm going to her for advice, not you."

"That's fair. She's definitely smarter than both of us."

A few days before Christmas, they met up for coffee, hiding wrapped packages behind their backs and looking nervous and excited.

"Hey," Ashlyn said, sitting down across from him.

"Hey, it's crazy that we haven't met up all of break until now."

"Yeah, I kind of feel bad about that. I didn't… It was just…" Ashlyn trailed off, staring at her coffee.

"We left things on a confusing note, I don't blame you for needing time to think."

"Yeah, um, do you want to talk about that?"

"...Yes…?"

"We don't have to if you don't want to."

"No, I want to," Big Red said with confidence, "I kind of wanted to make sure that what happened after the play wasn't because I got you the flowers, that you didn't think you owed me anything."

"It was partially because of the flowers," Ashlyn said, "but not because I thought I owed you anything. No one has ever treated me the way you do, or noticed me the way you do. The flowers were just one more thing to show me how nice you are, how lovely you are, and I kissed you because I really like you, not because you got me flowers."

Big Red blushed, flustered.

"Um… Do… Do you know how you like me? It's okay if you don't."

"I don't, I'm sorry, um, here. This is your present." Ashlyn passed the wrapped present and Big Red opened up to a gorgeously bound book.

"It's Shakespeare," Ashlyn explained, "I know you didn't have the most fun experience reading the stage directions aloud but, well… I think you have a lot of talent, Big Red, I think you're an amazing person and that the whole world deserves to see what you can do. I'd love to be in the Spring Musical with you, and I thought, well… I've always practiced with Shakespeare. His plays and his poems are so beautiful and the make you think and feel, kind of like how you make me think and feel. And I don't know how I think and feel about you but I know that you're amazing and I want to see where this goes, whether or not we're ever anything more than friends, because I want to keep you in my life."

"You're so good with words, and I'm really not, and my present is dumb compared to yours because this, this is amazing and I'll cherish it. But, well… I hope you like this." Big Red pulled out her present and she unwrapped a very cute little journal.

"It's not as nice as what you got me, but you're such a good writer, I figured you'd need a place to write all those amazing thoughts of yours down. And uh… I wrote a few notes in there, if you ever need encouragement. Because I think that you're just as amazing, and I hope that the whole world gets to see how you shine, how we shine. Maybe the world hasn't seen the best parts of us yet and I think that we can show them together. But we don't have to be together to be together. I just want you to be happy. I just want everyone to know that you're amazing, and that someone as amazing as you is my friend."

"It's perfect. Thank… Thank you. Thank you for letting me take my time. I need to figure myself out first before I figure out us, and it means a lot to me that you get it and aren't trying to rush anything."

"I'd never want anything to happen if it wouldn't make both of us happy. We had a magical moment after the play, but that was just one moment, and if it can't be anything more than that, that's okay. Merry Christmas, Ashlyn."

"Merry Christmas, Ryland."

"That's not my real name."

"Is one of the nice notes you left me your real name?"

"Well maybe you'll have to read and find out."