AN: here you go, a festive one shot from me. This is your christmas present. I hope you all had/have a lovely day. You're all amazing. Merry Christmas ~Love, Erin :3 xx

I roll over slightly, burying myself deeper into my warm duvet as I attempt to get back to sleep.

"Mara, Mara!" A voice calls, shaking my shoulder.

"Wha?" I mumble, my eyes opening quickly to see Joy leaning over me.

"It's Christmas!" she shouts excitably, as I blink quickly to wake myself up. I sit up and wrap my arms around her, smiling into her shoulder as my heart buzzes.

"It's Christmas!" I repeat happily, pulling away from the hug and slipping my fluffy dressing gown on. I slide my feet into my slippers and bend down, scrabbling around under my bed for a couple of last minute presents that I need to put under the tree.

"Have you checked your stocking?" Jot asks, untying hers from the end of her bed and rooting through it eagerly. I copy her and pull out three small packages, wrapped in sparkly paper. Every year, Trudy buys all of us that stay for Christmas a few little presents to put in a stocking so that we have something to wake up to straight away.

I pull out the first present and unwrap it to reveal little chocolate reindeer. It is placed carefully on my pillow and my nimble fingers open the next one. It's a my favourite turquoise nail polish that I ran out a few weeks ago. I grin to myself and open the third parcel that is slightly bigger than the others, it's a fountain pen and a reporters notebook. I quickly open the cap and flip to the first page of the notebook, writing Mara Jaffray in the top corner. I smile happily and look over at Joy who is just opening her third present.

"What did you get?" I ask, placing my presents on my bedside table and walking over to sit on the floor beside Joy.

"I got a chocolate snow man, a mascara and a twilight poster." She replies with a wide smile, "What about you?"

"I got a fountain pen with a reporters notebook, a chocolate reindeer and turquoise nail polish." I answer with a grin.

"Ooh, that sounds so nice! Hey, we should call Patricia and wish her a Merry Christmas. What time is it?"

I quickly glance over at the clock,

"It's nearly quarter past ten."

"She should be awake by now. It was nice of her parents to let her take Eddie to Spain with them." Joy says, grabbing her phone out of her pocket and quickly dialling Patricia's number.

"Should we call her later?" I suggest, "So that everyone can speak to her and Eddie."

"Oh yeah, that's a better idea." Joy replies, locking her phone and sliding it back into her pocket.

The two of us stand and walk out of our bedroom, knocking on Amber's door as we pass it. She flings her door open and screeches, "Merry Christmas!" before wrapping the two of us in a tight hug.

"Merry Christmas Amber." we chorus together, laughing quietly and pulling away from the hug. The three of us walk down the stairs, laughing and chatting happily.

"Morning girls!" Trudy coos from inside the kitchen as she dices potatoes eagerly.

"Merry Christmas!" Amber replies, grinning with happiness.

"Morning Ambs." comes a voice from the living room.

"Boo!" Amber squeals, running into the room and flinging herself at Alfie, pressing a kiss on his lips as he spins her around.

"Merry Christmas!" He says happily as he places her on the floor, wrapping his arms around her and burying his face in her shoulder.

"Morning." Says Fabian, coming up behind the two of us and waving happily.

"Happy Christmas Fabian!" Joy gushes, hugging him and pressing a quick kiss on his cheek.

"Merry Christmas." I say, hugging Joy and Fabian simultaneously.

"Mara dearie, could you wake Jerome up please, then we can start opening presents." Trudy asks, wiping her hands on a tea towel as she enters the living room.

"Of course." I reply, jogging down the hallway to Jerome and Alfie's room.

I knock twice before entering and find Jerome still asleep, snuggled up under his duvet.

"Jerome, wake up.." I whisper, tiptoeing towards him and reaching down to shake him. His duvet slips and I notice that he is shirtless. I feel a light blush rise on my cheeks as I attempt to avoid looking at his bare chest.

"Wake up." I say, shaking him again. His eyelids flutter twice before opening and he sucks in a deep, scared breath before realising that it's me.

"You scared me Jaffray." he whispers, sitting up and letting the duvet drop as he kisses my lips gently. He pulls away with a slight smirk and whispers in my ear, "Merry Christmas."

I feel a tingle run up my spine and kiss him again, running my hands through his thick, voluminous hair. I scramble closer to him on the bed, our bodies touching, only my t-shirt between our skin.

"Is he awake?" Trudy yells, causing me to pull away from Jerome with a suitably flustered expression on my face. He picks up a t-shirt from the floor and slides it on, standing up and entwining his fingers with mine as we stroll out of the room. We quickly wander down the hallway and walk into the living room to find Amber and Alfie curled up together on the sofa with Fabian sitting next to them. Joy is on the floor by the sofa and is leaning back against Fabian's knees. I sit on the floor next to Joy and grin at her as Jerome drapes an arm over my shoulder, sliding down onto the floor next to me.

Trudy picks up the first present from under the tree and checks the tag, handing it to Joy.

"Dear Joy, happy Christmas, love Patricia." She says, peeling off the label and opening the present quickly. It's a fluffy green jumper that Joy puts on immediately, snuggling into it's warmth.

The next parcel is handed to Amber. "Amber, happy Christmas, love from daddy." She reads happily, ripping open the purple sparkly paper and pulling out a delicate looking, pale pink dress along with 5 £20 notes. She grins excitedly and cradles the dress in her arms, whispering happily that the colour will suit her so well.

Alfie and Fabian are handed parcels, both of them from one another.

"Thanks Fabian." Alfie says happily, holding his new alien identification hardback book.

"You're welcome.. Thank you!" Fabian replies, slipping the electronic guitar tuner into his pocket.

"Here Mara." Trudy says, handing a present to me. I hold it gently for a few moments, feeling the weight of it and admiring the well wrapped pink package. 'Love Amber' the tag reads, causing me to smile happily. I rip open the paper and find an undecorated white box. I quickly open that box and find a string of multicoloured fairy lights inside.

"Thank you Amber!" I say cheerfully, hugging her legs because they're the only part of her that I can reach.

Trudy hands a parcel wrapped in brown paper to Jerome and he takes it almost warily. His nimble fingers unlace the string and he pulls the paper off delicately, finding a book and an envelope inside. The boom is hardback and looks like kind of diary and even I can recognise his mother's loopy cursive on the front of the letter. Jerome shoves the letter in his pocket and gestures for the next present to be given out as he flips through the empty book pages.

Trudy passes presents to me, Joy and Alfie. Each of them from Eddie. We open them quickly and I find a set of highlighters inside. I smile at the thoughtful gift and hand out some presents to people.

Within half an hour, all of the presents are open and I've pulled a brand new Christmas jumper over my pyjamas. I quickly send a quick text to my mum and dad wishing them a merry christmas. Joy insists that we should ring Patricia so she pulls out her phone and dials the number quickly, pressing speakerphone.

"Joy?" Patricia says.

"Merry Christmas!" we all cheer into the phone.

"Hey guys, are you all having fun?" Patricia replies cheerfully.

"I know we are." Eddie adds in. I can almost imagine his cheeky wink as we hear the sound of a muffled punch, Patricia whacking Eddie on the arm probably.

"Yeah, we are." Joy answers, linking fingers with Fabian.

"We miss you!" Amber says, pouting unhappily as we all stare at the phone.

"We'll be back in a week." Patricia reassures us."

"How's your Christmas been?" Alfie asks, leaning closer to the phone in anticipation.

I allow the conversation to become babbling background noise and close my eyes slightly, only interjecting with my thoughts once or twice.

"Jaffray." Jerome says, tapping me on the shoulder and pulling me back to attentiveness.

"Yes?"

"Can I talk to you.. For a minute, outside."

"Of course." I reply happily, standing up and stepping out of the room, shutting the door behind me.

"I didn't give you this last present. So here." He says, handing me a small bag. I pull it open gently and dig my fingers inside, gripping onto a slim silver chain with an M hanging from it.

"Oh Jerome thank you.." I gush, "Its perfect." He unclasps it and I turn so that he can fasten it gently. I turn back to face him and pull him down by his collar, pressing my lips against his in a soft, short kiss.

"I love you." I whisper.

"And I love you," he replies softly, "Merry Christmas Jaffray."