Harry's POV

"I can't believe you guys decorated the tree without me."

"You expected us to wait until three days before Christmas?" I ask, sitting on the couch as Gemma places a bunch of gifts under the tree.

"Yes. Yes I did."

"It's fine, Lana took your place."

"That must have been adorable."

"It was," mum says, walking in and putting the last of her boxes under the tree. There is a massive pile of presents. "Harry couldn't keep his hands off her for more than two minutes."

"That is not true!" I defend.

"Yes, darling, it is. It's fine. I wasn't bothered. It was nice to watch."

"How do you mean?"

"I'm not going to lie, Harry, I thought it would be a long time before you settled down with one girl. I could not be happier."

I smile and take a sip of my hot chocolate. Gemma sits beside me and takes hers from the coffee table. "What did you get for Lana, anyway?"

"Well, Gem, why don't you just wait til she opens it?" Mum asks, sitting on the recliner.

"We're exchanging gifts at her house tonight, Mum."

"Oh, alright. She's opening gifts with us in the morning, right?"

I shake my head. "I thought you guys would want it to just be the four of us."

Gemma rolls her eyes at me. "Harry, please tell me you didn't tell her that."

"Why? What's the problem?"

"You are an idiot."

"What!"

"Harry, I assumed you would want her here. I honestly didn't think I would like her. I assumed she'd be all high maintenance and stuff, but she's not. She's great. I like her. You should invite her she probably thinks you don't love her anymore."

My eyes go wide and she smiles deviously at me. I hit her leg lightly and she smacks my chest. "Are you guys seriously okay with this?" I ask, looking at my mum and back to my sister.

"For goodness sake, Harry, we already thought she was coming! We love that girl, just invite her. Make sure she knows she has to wear pyjamas to open gifts and for breakfast," my mum says, getting up and going to the kitchen.

"But not your boxers. Something a little more G-rated," Gem teases, elbowing me. I smile and take out my phone to call her. She picks up quickly.

"Why hello."

"Hey, Lana, it's me."

"This is the 21st century, my dear. I know."

"Keep up that attitude and I'll rescind my invitation."

"That would be a lot more threatening if I knew what you're talking about."

"Opening gifts with my family."

She doesn't say anything for a few seconds. "I thought you said-"

"I know what I said. I changed my mind."

She laughs. "Okay, I'll be there. I wanna be there when your mom opens her gift anyway."

"Oh yeah, I should probably wrap that."

"Carter wrapped it for us, remember? Wait. Have you wrapped any of your gifts, Harry?" I smile but don't say anything. "Wow," she laughs. "You are such a fail sometimes."

"That's mean."

"You'll be okay. Come over anytime after dinner, by the way."

"Okay. What did you and your dad do today?"

"We finally decorated the tree." That tree was sitting bare for almost two weeks. It was driving me crazy. "Then I taught him how to bake christmas cookies."

"That's cute."

"Shush. It was fun. He wore an apron, it was so funny."

I laugh at the mental image. "I'm sure it was. I'll see you in a few hours."

"Yes you will." She hangs up and I turn to see Gemma smirking at me.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Gemma."

She laughs. "Nothing! You're just such a softy lately."

"I am not."

"Yes, you are. She's taming you, Harry." I narrow my eyes at her. "It's not a bad thing. You are much more enjoyable to be around now. You seem happier."

"I am happier."

"Good. What did you get mum?"

"Lana and I got her a necklace to go with those earrings she has. And she helped me pick out a purse for her. And I got her an ugly christmas hat, as usual. What did you get her?"

"Not telling."

"Gemma I just told you everything I got her."

"No one forced you."

"You suck."

She laughs and turns on the TV. There's an corny old Christmas movie on so we watch it together. She falls asleep with her head on my shoulder. She may be older than me, but sometimes I feel like the older sibling; I'm very protective of her. I sit there for a while and let her sleep.

- - - - - - -

"Harry." I feel a hand brush against my cheek and I open my eyes.

"Lana?"

She smiles and sits on the armrest beside me. "Do you still want to come over?"

"Of course. Wait, what time is it?"

"Almost 9."

"Shit, sorry. I guess I fell asleep."

She laughs and puts her hand on my shoulder. "You two look so cute right now. I already have a picture. I'm sending it to your mom."

I chuckle and put my hand on Gemma's leg. "Gem, wake up."

"What?"

"I have to go."

"What? Oh, sorry," she sits up and lays down on her other side. "See you later."

"I'm sure you'll be asleep when I get back."

"Shhhh. I'm sleeping."

Lana laughs and I stand up. "I like the sweater. It's very Christmas."

"It's comfortable, don't make fun," she says, opening the door while I put my shoes on.

We walk across the street hand in hand. It's snowing and it's cold, so when we get to her driveway I start running, pulling her behind me. We get into the house and I realize I forgot my presents.

"Wow, I'm so dumb. I have to get my gifts. I'll be right back."

"You have to wrap them don't you?"

I smirk and kiss her cheek. "Of course not. I'll just be a minute."

I run back to my house and get the boxes off my bed. I ended up getting a nice leather briefcase for Stanley. I wasn't sure what else to get him. I walk back to Lana's house and walk in to see her and her dad standing in the kitchen laughing hysterically.

"What's so funny?" I put my gifts under the tree with the rest of the presents and walk over to them.

"My dad and I decorated those cookies I told you about and they look so bad!" She holds one up to me and I laugh.

"What is that supposed to be?"

"I was trying to make a Santa hat," her dad says, taking it out of her hand. "It looks so bad, though. Maybe I should just eat it." He sticks the whole thing in his mouth and Lana laughs while he tries to chew it. I watch her and smile. It's amazing the relationship she's made with her dad over the last few weeks. Before her mom left she used to hide from her parents. "Alright, let's open some presents!" He says, mouth still full. I laugh and follow Lana into the living room. She plops herself on the floor in front of the tree like a little kid and I sit on the couch. Her dad pulls a chair up so he can sit next to the tree as well.

"Alright, Lana goes first. Sorry, Harry." He smiles at me and hands a bag to Lana. We all open a bunch of things; little gifts. When there's only a few left Stanley hands Lana a wrapped box. She opens it and her eyes go wide.

"Oh my gosh." She stares at the box incredulously. "Dad, how did you..."

"What is it?" I ask, trying to see what's in the box.

"It's an old copy of The Great Gatsby," she says quietly, running her hand along the front of the box. She sets it down carefully and pulls the lid off.

"Do you like it?" he asks, rubbing his hair. He looks nervous.

"It's amazing, it must be so old. Where did you find this?"

"I had to do some searching. It's one of the copies from the original print run."

I watch as she carefully lifts the book from the box, touching it so delicately. She opens the cover and looks at a few of the pages. Then she looks up at him. Her eyes look glossy. "How did you even know I wanted this?"

"I remember when you read it for the first time. Then you proceeded to read it about a million times after that. I put two and two together and figured it's one of your favourites. I can't remember how many times I've gone into your room to see you asleep with Gatsby beside you somewhere."

"It is my favourite." She stands up and hugs him. "Thank you so much, daddy."

He smiles at her as she pulls back and sits back down. She places the book carefully back in the case and covers it. She wipes under her eye discretely; I can tell she's trying not to cry. She probably didn't realize how well her father actually knows her, how much he's always cared about her.

"Okay, Harry, this one is for you," he says, walking to the back of the tree and pulling out a massive present.

"There's more?" I really didn't expect him to get me anything. Now I've opened the same amount as Lana and I haven't even opened the presents from her. I get up and walk over to it. It's a huge box. I lean down and tear the paper off so I can take the top off it. There's a guitar case. It really is a nice one, too. "Wow, this is great. Thanks, sir."

He laughs and sits back down. "Open it, Harry."

I pull my eyebrows together and look at Lana. She shrugs and gestures to it. I open the case and my mouth drops open a little when I see the guitar that's lying there. It looks refurbished. It's the nicest bloody guitar I've ever seen.

"Wow. This is beautiful." I pick it up carefully and examine it.

"It's vintage. It's been repaired and updated a little, of course, but I got it from this place in London that has had open mic nights since the 40s. They had this guitar for people to use if they didn't have their own. It's always hung on the wall there," he explains.

"Oh my gosh, dad, this is so nice," Lana says, standing and running her hands along the edge of it. "How did you know Harry plays the guitar?"

"You mentioned it once."

She raises an eyebrow and looks at me. I smile at her and look back at the guitar. "This is an amazing guitar, thank you so much. It's definitely getting a spot on the wall." I set it back down in the case and walk over to shake his hand. He smiles and Lana hands him a small box. He opens it and takes out the watch she bought for him.

"Wow, Lana, this is really nice. How did you afford this? Is it a Rolex?"

She rolls her eyes and smiles. "Don't worry about that, dad. Do you like it?"

"I do, it's really nice. Thanks." He stands up leans down to hug her.

"You are very welcome."

"I have something for you as well," I say, getting the box from under the tree. I sit back down as he opens it.

"How did you know mine broke?" he asks, holding up the briefcase.

"I have a gift, apparently." Lana laughs and he smiles at me.

"This is very nice, Harry. Thank you."

"I have one more for you, Lan. Sorry, Harry, that's it for you." He pats my arm and gets up to get Lana's gift. It's in a small bag. She pulls out the tissue and takes out a small box. She eyes him curiously and opens the lid.

"Oh my gosh!" I look at her dad, then back to her. Her hand is over her mouth. "Dad, are you sure about this?"

"Of course I am. Nana would have wanted you to have it."

"I don't know if I can take this." She holds it a little farther from herself and shakes her head.

"What is it, Lan?" I ask, holding my hand out. She hands me the small box and I look at the ring that's inside it. It looks really old.

"This ring was my great-grandmother's. It's been passed through my family since then," her dad explains. "She would have wanted you to have it. I want you to have it."

"I thought you didn't have this anymore? And I thought Aunt Karen wanted to have it?"

"My grandmothermother gave it to me before she died. Karen did want it, but my mom wanted me to give it to you." I hand the box back to Lana and she stares at it for a few minutes. Then she stands and hugs her dad again. She doesn't say anything, she just sits on the couch next to me and stares at the ring. "It's getting late. I know you two want to exchange gifts, so I'll let you do that. Goodnight, guys."

"Goodnight, Dad. I love you."

He kisses the top of her head and heads for the stairs. "I love you too. And Harry?"

"Yes?"

"If you're planning on sneaking in tonight, just use the front door. That fence must be a pain to climb." He smirks at us and goes up the stairs. Lana's head snaps up and she stares at me wide eyed. My mouth drops open and I start laughing when he's up the stairs. She smacks me.

"What was that for!"

"You obviously aren't as ninja as you think, Harry!"

I laugh and put my arm around her. "Why is this my fault?"

"It just is." She smiles and winks at me before looking back at the ring. "I can't believe he gave this to me. His grandmother literally meant the world to him. I can't even explain the relationship they had. He fell apart when she died. I figured he would keep this f he had it, but I didn't even think he did."

"He obviously wants you to have it."

"I guess so." She puts it on the coffee table and sits forward, still staring it.

"What is it, Lan?"

"I just.." she sighs and leans back against the couch. She takes my hand in hers and fiddles with my thumb. "These gifts they're so....thoughtful. My dad knows me a lot better than I thought he did."

"That's good, right?"

"Of course. It's just surprising."

I smile. "I could tell you were trying not to cry when you opened the book."

"Yeah, that was really shocking. I never told my parents about Gatsby." She leans her head against my shoulder and we sit for a few minutes.

"No falling asleep," I say quietly. "We need to open more presents."

"Okay," she breathes, sitting up and putting the rest of the gifts on the ground beside my legs. She sits on the coffee table across from me and hands me a bag.

"Why am I going first?"

"You just are. Open it."

"Someone's bossy," I tease, smirking and taking the tissue out of the bag. She starts giggling when I look into the bag. I laugh and pull out a massive bunch of bananas. "What is this?"

"Pineapples." I roll my eyes. "I know you like bananas, so there you go." She laughs and I shake my head, trying not to laugh as well.

"You would buy me fruit for christmas." I lean down and pick up a box to give to her. She rips the paper off. She opens the box and laughs.

"Love Actually?"

I nod and smile at her. "You always talk about it. I figured it was a hint." She laughs again and sets it down beside her.

"Fair enough. Probably good for us to have our own copies."

"Exactly." She hands me a box. There's a bunch of scary movies in it. She opens another one to reveal a Guess wallet Gemma helped me pick out. She then takes a huge box and hands it to me.

"What the hec is this?"

"Why don;t you open it and find out."

I laugh and open the preset. "So sassy." I look into the box and give her a confused look. I pull out a pillow. "Is this from your bed?"

She smiles and nods. "I have one of yours, now you have one of mine."

I put it to my nose and she rolls her eyes. "Yep, smells like you." She laughs and hands me another box. "It's your turn."

"You only have one left to give me, I have two. Either way you're opening twice in a row so suck tit up. This one is small anyway."

I open it up and pull out a few tacky pairs of Christmas boxers. "Well these are just wonderful."

"I know." She laughs and claps her hands. "Okay, let me have the last one!"

I hand her the long narrow box and she rips the paper off. She raises an eyebrow at me before opening it and looking at the bracelet. She doesn't say anything. Oh no.

"What? Do you not like it?" I ask, reaching to take the box from her. She pulls it away from my reach.

"Are you crazy? Of course I like it. It's beautiful, Harry." She lifts the bracelet out of the case and holds it in front of her face, then lays it on her palm. She gently touches each of the charms. I watch her face while she figures out what they are and what they mean. She raises an eyebrow at me. "A martini glass? Please tell me this is not supposed to symbolize the night I puked in front of you."

I laugh and shake my head. "No, the office party."

"Oh, yeah. I like that better." She looks at it for a few more minutes and sits beside me on the couch. "I love it. It's beautiful. You are so adorable to have thought of this." She kisses my cheek. "Thank you."

"Really? Adorable?"

"Yep." I roll my eyes and take it out of her hand. Her eyes go wide. "I take it back, I'm kidding! Don't take it away!"

"I'm not, babe , I just want to put it on your wrist."

"Oh." I laugh and shake my head and she holds out her wrist so I can clip it on. "That's allowed." I put it on her and she takes it back to look at it again. "I really do love this."

"I'm glad." I put my arm around her and pull her against me. She leans her head against my chest and I kiss the top of her head. She plays with the charms in her fingers a little more, then sits up.

"Okay, my gift for you is going to suck in comparison to this, but it's too late now." She reaches down and hands me a box. "I'll just have to make it up to you somehow."

"I can probably think of a way." I wink and she rolls her eyes at me. I rip off the wrapping paper and open it.

"Do you like it?" she asks, holding her hands together against her mouth.

"Is this a Manchester United jersey?"

"Yeah, it is. One of the official ones. It was an extra or something of ones that they actually gave to the team."

I lift it out and turn in over. On the back there are a bunch of signatures. "It's signed? By the actual players?"

"Yeah, there's only like three of these around. It's not all of them, but I think there's like nine on there."

"Wow, I've asked my mum for this like every year for Christmas and my birthday but she could never find one."

"So you like it?"

"Of course I do, this is fanastic. Thank you," I say, putting my arm around her again. I've literally asked my mum for a jersey every year and she never got me one. I didn't even tell Lana I wanted this. I guess she knows me better than I thought.

"Is this supposed to be Love Actually?" She asks after a while, holding the DVD between her fingers.

"I knew you were going to think that. It's a scary movie. Remember when we watched Nightmare on Elm street?"

"I had finally forgotten."

I laugh and put the shirt back in the box and set it on the floor. "I don't."

"What?"

"I barely watched the movie at all. I don't really even know what it's about."

She sits up and looks at me. "What do you mean?"

"After I told you I wanted to just be friends I literally went crazy. Do you know how hard it is for me not to flirt with you? Impossible. Anyway, you were all cuddled up to me the whole time. I just watched you."

"That sounds creepy."

"No, it's adorable."

She laughs and sits on my lap. "I thought you didn't like it when I called you that?"

"Only in the appropriate situations."

"Oh, I see." She leans down and kisses me. "Would you tease me for being corny if I told you I feel like the luckiest girl in the world right now?"

"Yes. But you can say it anyway," I say, reaching up and brushing my thumb across her cheek. She kisses me again and I lift her up and turn her hips so she's straddling me.

"Shit, sorry." She pulls away suddenly and looks behind me. Yep, that's her dad. I squeeze my eyes shut and she climbs off me. "Goodnight, guys." He goes back upstairs and Lana starts laughing.

"Harry, what are you doing?"

"Trying to wish that didn't happen."

"Now you know how I feel," she teases, poking me. I open my eyes and she lays her head in my lap. I play with her hair for a while.

"I should probably go home," I say quietly.

"My dad basically said you could sleep over."

"I know. But it's Christmas tomorrow, so I should probably be home when my mum wakes up."

"Why?"

"She has this thing where she takes picture of me and Gem while we're still sleeping on Christmas morning."

"That's so cute! Wait, how do you know she does it if you're asleep?"

"I'm never sleeping when she does it. I just pretend because she likes it."

She laughs and sits up. "Alright, then. I guess you should go." We stand and she helps me collect my gifts. "I can bring you the guitar in the morning if you want."

"That would probably be easier," I agree. My hands are full already.

She laughs and stands on her tip toes to kiss me. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight. Oh, by the way there's a dress code for the morning."

"There is?"

I nod. "Pyjamas. For gifts and breakfast."

She laughs. "Okay then. Text me when I should come over."

"I will." I lean down and kiss her agin, then she opens the door for me. "Thanks for tonight. I'll see you in the morning."

"Can't wait."

Notes

yay christmas.