Holidays are always hectic. Without fail, it winds up being stressful. What presents get bought for what person? I'm sorry, how much did you say that costs? Did I run out of Scotch tape again? Does this bow match this wrapping paper? Does anyone except me care if this bow matches this wrapping paper? Is someone throwing a Christmas party? Do I have to buy a dress for that party? Are we doing a Secret Santa? A grab bag? Is there a price limit on that? It just goes on and on and on and on.

Sure it's tiring. Exhausting, even. But Christmas-stress was actually something I was revving to get my hands on. I'd much rather be stressing about gifts and ribbons than werewolves and kanimas and darachs out to kill my friends. The last few months had been hard—hell, the whole year had been hard—but if this extra bit of craziness was all it took to get my friends and family the happiness they deserved after the end of a long year, than I was willing to stand it.

Most people voted for a quiet Christmas. Maybe we could just call each other and use the holiday to sleep in for once. Unfortunately for them, they were out-voted. Not so much by numbers, but by sheer force of will. An easy, laid back Christmas was not something Lydia Martin knew how to do, and for once, I was right along with her. I wasn't going to let the holidays pass by quietly. We needed a bang, a celebration, some time together to appreciate the sheer fact that being together was something we could still do. We needed to take some time out of our lives to remember everything we'd lost, and everything that we still had. We needed some normality in our lives again. We needed a little Christmas.

Lydia and I spent the early weeks in December working relentlessly. We were going to have Christmas at our house, throw a huge pack party. Everyone was going to come or be dragged in by the scruffs of their neck. Derek and Cora, Isaac and Allison, Scott, Stiles, Danny. Even the twins were going to show up. And one of the best parts was that we didn't have to do it in secret. Now that all of our parents were finally clued into the wild side of Beacon Hills, we were free to talk about our problems openly. There was no more lying, no more secrets. For the first time in a really long time, things actually started to feel like they could be good again. And I was enjoying every second of it.

The house had been completely decked out from top to bottom. Miss Eleanor had hired someone to do the Christmas lights outside, lining bright white bulbs alone the roof in perfectly straight rows. There was a sleigh and reindeer statues on the lawn, and fake snow sprinkled on all of the windowsills. The place was picture perfect.

Inside there was just as much cheer. There were fake boughs of holly along the bannister, decorating tables, lining doorways. We'd managed to get what was probably the largest Christmas tree in a thirty mile radius and squeeze it into the living room. It looked like something out of a magazine, all color coordinated with red and gold ornaments, ribbons and lights snaking through the branches and bunching together at the huge star on top of the tree. The tree matched the five wreaths we had around the house, and those matches literally all of the other decorations we had decided to put up. There wasn't a room untouched. The entire house was literally bursting with Christmas spirit.

On the twenty-third, we decided to do our huge trip to the supermarket. Lydia, our mothers and I all went to the supermarket and picked up all of the things we were going to need for Christmas dinner. We walked out with about twice as much as we had originally intended, but that was for the better. We were feeding a small army, and about half of them were shapeshifters who could do with a little extra food and extra energy. Also, there was the feeling that we had to make it super special for guests like Derek, Cora, Isaac and the twins. No one wanted to ask, but it was probably a long time since any of them had had a decent Christmas.

"Seriously, can you go like a day without seeing your boyfriend?" Lydia asked as we pulled into the driveway with the groceries.

I smirked at the blue Jeep sitting in front of the house. Stiles and I had been dating for nearly a year now. It was crazy to think about, but I honestly couldn't have been happier. He jumped out and waved as Mom threw the van into park, and I couldn't help the smile that split over my face.

"Hey, don't look at me. I didn't invite him."

I jumped out of the car, skipping over to him and throwing my arms around his neck. I cut off his greeting by pulling him into a kiss. I felt him smirk against my lips before he kissed back, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me to his chest.

"Hello to you too," he chuckled when we finally pulled away.

"You," I said, and paused to kiss the tip of his nose, "are just in time to help bring the food in."

"Hey, that's why I'm here."

I giggled a little bit and pulled him back to the car, handing him some of the heavier packages to bring inside. With the five of us it didn't take too long to bring the bags inside. It was trying to put them away that was a hassle. Mom and Miss Eleanor promptly kicked us out of the kitchen, deciding that it was too crowded and they'd probably get more put away if they just did it by themselves.

We didn't need to be told twice. Lydia promptly scurried upstairs to finish wrapping her gifts, leaving Stiles with a smack on the head and throwing me a wink before she disappeared. I laughed as Stiles rubbed his head with a reproachful look. They still bickered like they always had, but for the most part Lydia and Stiles got along really well. Stiles still admired Lydia for everything that she was—smart, pretty, and spunky—and Lydia had eventually grown to respect him too. She'd started just being cordial because she knew he was important to me, but once she got to see how smart he really was, the jabs and smacks became more playful. They actually had real conversation now, and sometimes I just sat back and watched them with a smirk, wondering how I'd gotten so lucky to have two best friends who got along so well.

Stiles cleared his throat behind me, and I turned around to find him less than a foot away. He smirked and looked pointedly toward the ceiling. I followed his gaze and chuckled when I noticed the bunches of leaves he had held in his hand, holding it above our heads. He leaned forward victoriously, dipping his head to kiss me, but at the last second I reached up and covered his face, bringing him to a halt.

"Um, Stiles?"

"Yes?" he asked, voice muffled from my hand.

"That's holly."

"What?"

I lifted my hand, gesturing towards the pointy leaves he had pinched between his fingers. "Red berries. That's holly, not mistletoe."

Stiles sighed and rolled his eyes. "You think I don't know that?"

"Then, what are you doing?"

"You said you didn't want mistletoe in the house," he explained, eyes wide as if this should have been obvious. "Which I still don't understand, by the way."

"After everything that stupid plant's done this year?" I snorted and shook my head. "Every time I look at it I just think of Miss Blake. Jennifer, Julia, whatever. She poisoned Danny, she almost killed Cora. This is supposed to be a normal holiday, so…"

"…so you don't want to be reminded of it," Stiles finished for me, nodding his head solemnly. "Okay. I get it now." I smiled at him and went to take a step back, but he quickly snatched up my waist, pulling me back to his chest. "But, if you're not gonna let me have mistletoe, then I'm gonna have to improvise."

He ducked his head once more, and I quickly lifted my head to avoid his lips. Unfortunately for me, Stiles's lips landed on the underside of my chin instead, and he didn't seem all that upset that he'd missed his mark. He hummed against my skin, quickly tilting his head and letting his tongue dart out as he began to nip at my neck. I bit my lip hard, trying to suppress a moan. It took all of my strength to slide my hands down to his chest to gently push him away.

"I don't think so, tiger."

I felt him pout against my skin. "Mm, why not?" He sucked hard on a spot on my jaw, and my legs shook slightly, threatening to send me collapsing into Stiles's chest.

I huffed, firmly shoving him back, though his hands remained on my hips. "One of the things that bothers me most about Christmas is the number of people who can't tell the difference between holly and mistletoe. It's always annoyed me, and it always will. And I refuse to buy into that ignorant tradition."

"Yes, b-but—but, but, but we're not ignorant," Stiles argued, raising his eyebrows pleadingly. "We're not ignorant, we're just ignoring it as a means to an end. A very, very happy end."

I grabbed his chin to stop his head as he tried to kiss me again. "Ignoring your knowledge on purpose is almost as bad as not knowing it at all."

"Does it have to be?" he asked in despair.

I smirked, leaning in to kiss his cheek and then poke his nose. "Find a new compromise. In the meantime, you can be a good little elf and help me with wrapping."

"How do elves get paid?"

"Stiles…"

"Alright, alright. It was worth a shot."

The next two days were crazy as anything. Last minute wrapping, writing out cards, hanging up cards, prepping outfits, cleaning, confirming the time everyone would arrive for dinner. The only respite we got was waking up Christmas morning. It was like being a kid again. Lydia and I woke up in excitement, ran to wake up our respective parents, and sprinted downstairs. We made hot chocolate, opened presents, had a fire and ate breakfast. Everything was completely normal, and I loved it.

People started showing up around three o'clock. Everyone sat in the living room, picking at chips and chatting while the four of us ducked in and out of the kitchen. Lydia had to snap me back into motion now and then, but I couldn't help it. I kept getting distracted. It was just so weird to see everyone together. Weird and wonderful. Ethan and Danny were cuddling on the couch, chatting with Stiles and Scott. Derek, Aiden and Cora were all talking around the Christmas tree, seemingly answering all of Mr. Stilinski's questions about what had been going on in town, and the details of being a werewolf. Isaac and Allison were timidly flirting with each other by the fireplace, under the close eye of Mr. Argent, who was attempting to hold up a conversation with Mrs. McCall while in overprotective parent mode. Everyone was together, and in a way that just blew my mind. Talk about the true meaning of Christmas.

Dinner was delicious and loud, everyone yelling and laughing at each other from opposite ends of the table. I sat myself firmly between Stiles and Scott, bouncing back and forth between conversations at the speed of light. The one constant was my right hand, which remained locked with Stiles's left one for most of the meal.

He wrapped an arm around me between dinner and dessert, taking advantage of the chaos of changing plates to pull me closer and murmur in my ear. "Hey, can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Hm, apparently," I whispered, face breaking into a smirk.

He rolled his eyes, sliding his hand down from my shoulder to pinch my side. I jumped slightly and tried to suppress a giggle, making him smirk. "No, seriously, I gotta show you something."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Stiles, we're in the middle of Christmas dinner. Keep it in your pants."

Scott snorted next to me, reminding us that every werewolf in the room had the ability to listen in on our conversation.

Stiles glared at his best friend. "And that's a prime example of why I wouldn't even try it." I gave him a skeptical look, making him sigh. "Come on, Sadie. Dessert's not gonna be up for a little while. Two minutes."

I pursed my lips, debating whether or not to trust him. But a few seconds later he turned on the puppy dog eyes, batting his eyelashes and pouting. I groaned internally, mentally cursing Scott for teaching him so much.

"Fine, fine. Lead the way."

He beamed in victory, twirling me out of my seat and tugging me out of the room. For some reason, I expected our destination to be the living room, something else he wanted to give me from under the Christmas tree. But instead he dragged me over to the staircase, towing me upstairs.

I rolled my eyes as he pulled me into my bedroom, closing the door behind us. He threw his arms out to the side, a smug smile on his face.

"I thought I told you to keep it in your pants, Stilinski."

He chuckled, walking over to me with a level of confidence he wouldn't even have dreamed of having a year ago. "Well, Bennet, you can blame your roommate. That dress she picked out for you isn't making it easy." I blushed as his eyes raked over the red dress Lydia had demanded I wear for dinner, the flirty edge reaching about half down my thigh.

I bit my lip as he wandered closer, now less than a foot away. "Eyes up here, big guy."

He let out a breathy chuckle. "Sorry. You're right. As much as I would like to, and…I would really like to…"

"Stiles…"

"No, no, no. That's not why I brought you up here." He placed his hands on my shoulders, walking me backwards and away from the bed. "Remember what you were saying about making compromises?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm compromising."

We finally came to a stop, and he looked up towards the ceiling, indicating that I should do the same. I tilted my head back, and my face immediately broke into a large grin.

On the ceiling of my room there was a large piece of poster board. I had no idea how Stiles had snuck it in, let alone stole upstairs to tape it up in my room. But there it was. A big, white piece of poster board on which he had scrawled his message in big block letters of red and green.

"CAN YOU PLEASE JUST PRETEND THIS IS MISTLETOE?!"

"I was thinking about printing a picture," he offered, one hand reaching back to scratch at the back of his neck. "But then I remembered you said that you thought about everything every time you saw it, so I figured I'd just…"

I grabbed his face with both hands, silencing the rest of his sentence and slamming my lips against his. It took him a few seconds to catch up, but eventually his mouth began to move against mine. He grabbed my hips to pull me closer, and I pushed myself onto my tiptoes to get a little height advantage. It lasted for a few more seconds before I slowly pulled away, resting my forehead against his as my lips peeled off his own.

"I like this compromise," I whispered, running a thumb over his cheek.

"Yeah?" he breathed as his eyes fluttered open.

"Yeah."

Stiles grinned and claimed my mouth once more. He ran his tongue over my lips, prying them apart and tilting my head to deepen the kiss. His fingers dug into my hips and I gasped against his mouth. He pulled back just slightly, his nose still rubbing mine.

"Are…?" he panted. "Are you sure you don't wanna…?"

"Stilinski! Dessert!"

Stiles groaned as Derek's irritated voice floated up the stairs, making me giggle.

"Busted. I swear…"

"Oh, come on," I consoled, running my fingers through his hair. "He wasn't listening in. He knows you too well to risk it." Stiles nodded slightly, letting his eyes fall shut so he could enjoy the feeling of my hands on his head. I smirked. "It was probably just Cora or Scott who then proceeded to tell him what you were saying."

"Not helping." He grabbed my wrist, slowly pulling my hand from his head. "And neither is that."

"Come on," I coaxed, grabbing his hands and walking backwards for the door. "We've got fruit tart for dessert."

But stiles tugged back on my hands slamming me into his chest. "Mm, I have dessert already." He lowered his head again, tugging on my lower lip as he sucked it into his mouth. This time I wasn't able to suppress my quiet noise of appreciation.

"Stilinski!"

"Oh my God! Fine! Yes! Derek! We're coming!" Stiles wiped a hand across his head, squeezing his eyes shut in frustration.

I smirked leaving one last kiss on his lips. "Merry Christmas, Stiles."

Stiles smiled, leaning his forehead against mine as he stared down at me. "Merry Christmas, Sadie."

A/N: So I was originally only going to post it on my tumblr page, but I really liked it and it came out to be five pages instead of like two, so I thought, why not publish it anyway? Obviously this takes place after season three, and you can count on this never happening. But it fir what I wanted to do, so think of it as a little AU for you to enjoy. Christmas is today and my birthday is tomorrow, so reviews would be a lovely gift, haha.

Happy Holidays from all of us here!

-Brittney