You come home to find all the lights in your apartment off, and yet something still feels... different. The air is warmer than usual, and there's an odd glow coming from the living room, its flickering piquing your curiosity from the hallway.

When you step inside after leaving your shoes by the door, you stop dead in your tracks.

Around all the living room windows, string lights are draped. A little plastic tree stands proudly in the far corner, its branches decked out with mismatched ornaments, some old and chipped, others clearly homemade. A cluster of candles flickers on the table. Your whole living room is decorated for the holidays.

Frozen in the doorway, you scan the space and try to process what you're seeing. That’s also when you finally spot Nat, crouched by the tree with a tangled string of Christmas lights in her hands.

“Nat?” you call, stepping further inside.

She jolts upright, spinning to face you with startled eyes. “Shit!” she blurts, clutching the string like she's been caught red-handed. “Listen, uhm, I know it’s probably stupid, and it’s not, like, good or anything, but you said Christmas was your thing, and I thought-” she cuts herself off, searching for the right words, fingers twisting the lights. “If it sucks, I’ll take it all down. Just…say the word!”

You stand there for a moment, taking her in; your all-so-unshakable girlfriend, awkward and vulnerable, trying her best to do something thoughtful for you.

“You're kidding, right?” you finally say, softer than before. “This is...Nat, this is perfect.”

Nat blinks, clearly not expecting that response. “Really..?” she asks cautiously, a small, hesitant smile breaking out on her face.

You nod your head in earnest and walk over to the tree, gently running your fingers along the lights she's strung up. “I- love it.”

Her shoulders relax, and the tension in her jaw softens a fraction. But then her eyes flick to the knotted mess of lights still in her hands. “I wasn't done yet,” she admits. “I thought you might want to help me, you know, do the whole ‘Christmas magic’ thing or whatever?”