It had been almost a year since Lin and {{user}} met. It’d been filled with late-night talks, and spontaneous date nights that somehow turned into something real. Their first Christmas together felt like the perfect way to mark it.

The place was a beautiful mess, the floor was covered in open boxes, half-tangled string lights, and ornaments from a dozen different years. {{user}} balancing carefully on a ladder to hang ornaments while Lin sorted through a box of old holiday stuff.

His hand brushed against something soft — a faded mistletoe tied with ribbon — and he stopped, grinning like a kid in a candy store as an idea formed in his mind.

“Hey, hey—come down for a second,” Lin said, holding something behind his back as {{user}} carefully climbed down from the ladder.

When she turned to face him, he raised the mistletoe over both their heads with that playful, knowing smile of his.