Joue's POV

I heard a knock on the door, scrambling to answer it. I opened it to a stagnant Aizawa, holding a singular bag in his hand.

"Hi! Come on in!" I called, slipping across the wood floors in my socks. "I've just got one last passenger to rope in. Uno!" I heard a soft mew from the kitchen. "Girl get out here."

"You're taking Uno on the train?"

"No, I have a car here somewhere, Uno hates the subway," I replied. "Uno!" I padded into the kitchen, looking to see her standing rigid in the center of the tile. She was wearing her Christmas sweater, since it was bound to be cold and I deadpanned. "Are you really throwing a fit over the sweater? It's not that warm out diva."

She just mewed at me and I scooped her up. Her legs were straight, refusing my attention because of her condition. I looked to Aizawa who was rather amused by the sight.

"You're going to get cold, just wear it for like 30 minutes," I said and she called out in protest, waving her paws in distress. "Absolute drama queen, I swear."

"I think I have a solution," Aizawa offered taking the stiff lump from my hand. He took her sweater off, letting her settle in the folds of his scarf on his shoulder.

"You're spoiled," I said to her and she glanced up to me sassily. Aizawa scratched between her ears and I sighed, grabbing my own bag. "You absolutely sure you want to come? You can back out now."

"I'm sure, I'd rather not deal with drunk Mic and Midnight for one year," he said.

"Mmm alright. I'll debrief you again in the car. The most drunk you'd have to deal with is my distant relatives and they usually don't stay too long. I don't drink, so you'll be fine."

"You don't?" he asked.

"I don't have caffeine, I think I'd lose it if I had alcohol," I replied. He smiled slightly, picking up his bag again. I glanced over as we headed out, seeing Uno looking at me smugly. She really was spoiled. I lead Aizawa to the small car garage near the school. I pointed out my car, setting my stuff on the floor of the back seats. He did the same, Uno hopping onto the blankets I had set up back there. Aizawa sat in the passenger's seat and I let out a breath outside the car, before seating myself in the driver's seat. I turned it on, forgetting that my phone was connected to the car. All I Want For Christmas is You began playing and quickly turned it down, laughing awkwardly towards Aizawa. "I like English Christmas songs."

"I figured."

"Right," I said, rubbing my gloved hands together. It was frigid in my car as it warmed up, pulling out of the parking space. "You're absolutely sure you want to come along?"

"Yes Joue."

"Okay, just making sure," I replied.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were trying to get rid of me," he said. After a few days ago that was a logical assumption.

"No, I'm just giving you an out," I replied, sighing slightly. "I don't want you to be uncomfortable because of the Christmas party."

"Oh..."

"Aren't we adults? Why are we playing this game?" I asked, glancing to an absolutely blasted Mic. He slung a hand over my shoulder and I caught a whiff of the alcohol breath he was sporting.

"Yes."

"That doesn't answer my question. Do you want water?" I asked.

"Gross, are you like 80?"

"I'm not going to take that to offense," I said.

"Look, whoever gets pick out of the stocking has to go behind the wall and kiss, it's just that simple," he said. I looked to Midnight who was just as drunk, though instead of being overly loud and wobbly, she was loose and sensual...at least more than usual. She was of no help, more than willing to play.

"I'm not even a little tipsy, do I have to play?" I asked.

"YUP!" Mic called and I winced slightly. "It's Christmasy babe."

"Nothing about this is Christmas."

"Mistletoe?" he said, jutting his head forward. Of course it made sense why Aizawa was more willing to accompany me home for Christmas. They were going to do this again?  He dug into the stocking and I winced as he bumped into the counter. "Lucky! It's you babe."

I pressed my lips in a tight line. I just prayed it wasn't All Might, seeing as he particularly scared me and I wasn't about to make a crazy impression on the former top hero. He was all the way across the room.

"And Shouta! Aha you lucky dog," Mic called and I glanced over hesitantly. Aizawa locked eyes with me and I felt my face heat up. Maybe he was really drunk. It honestly would've been better with All Might. I felt hands shove me behind the photo curtain where staff members had been taking Christmas pictures. I stared hard at my shoes, reluctantly looking at Aizawa.

"Mmm," he just hummed. I heard drunk calls to kiss, take a picture of it, etc. Aizawa didn't seem all that drunk, to my disappointment. He had a few, judging by the soft smell but it was more likely some spiked egg nog.

"Yeah..." I hummed. "We...could just do it."

"Hmm," he hummed again, this time in disapproval.

"They're not going to let us go."

"I'm sure I can make them," he said. I felt my stomach drop slightly. He was growing more and more adamant about not kissing me. Figures.

"I don't want you to start anything," I said. "What if we just fake it? Here." I pulled out my phone, turning his head towards me. I put it behind his head so it looked like we were. I sent it to Mic and it quieted down.

"AYO THAT'S FAKE! I need real evidence," he called and I placed a hand over my eyes.

"He's drunk off his ass and he can tell," I scoffed. "Just...do it. Just kiss me."

"What?"

"Just do it."

"No."

"It's not a big deal, just kiss me Aizawa."

"No. Not like--" he stopped and his eyebrows furrowed. He shook his head, pushing past me. I heard Mic whining and Aizawa muttered something but he was too far away to hear. I stayed behind the curtain for a moment, letting out breath.

"I'm not uncomfortable," he said, clearing his throat. "Are you?"

"Me? I'm...I'm like the definition of comfortable," I scoffed, eyeing the road.

"Joue, I don't mean to insult you, but judging by past experience and your general demeanor that statement is probably far from the truth."

"Sure..."

"If you didn't want me to come because you were uncomfortable, then you should've just told me," he said.

"No! I want you to come with, seriously. I love you, I mean, I love being around you, ya know?" I blubbered. "I swear I was just worried you might be uncomfortable."

That was half true, but I also wanted to know why the hell he didn't want to kiss me so bad. Even if it was casual like at the party. That was quite a slap in the face for Christmas. The man I would drop everything for was ready to do anything to not kiss me.

"I'm not imposing on you or your family am I?"

"Oh no, my grandma nearly fell out of her chair when she heard you were coming," I said, embarrassed. As if on cue, my phone started ringing, coming up with her landline. I grimaced, pulling out into the street. The subject matter was dropped. Not like I was expecting anything anyways, I should've been expecting that out of everything. "Hold on, I apologize in advance. Hi Grammy."

"Are you almost here? You'll have to park in your mother's spot, she's at work right now."

"We just left, and I will park in mom's spot," I replied, taking a left.

"You in the car?"

"Yes."

"So I'm on your bluetooth, you'll have to help me, mine's been odd," she sighed and I just pressed my lips into a thin line, glancing for a half second towards Aizawa.

"Sure grammy."

"How come you're just leaving now?"

"I had to wrangle Uno, you know she's a diva," I said.

"Oh well, drive safely, it's supposed to snow later," my grandmother said.

"We'll be there soon," I reassured.

"We?"

"Remember? My coworker Aizawa is coming with me." It was quiet for a moment. "Eraserhead."

"Oh! That handsome hero who teaches 1-A," she said. I felt my face flush.

"Grammy he can hear you, he's in the passenger's seat," I warned.

"Oh that's fine, can't wait to meet you in person."

"You too," he replied.

"See you soon!" I hung up with a quick goodbye, shaking my head. At least she hadn't asked me if we were together.

"She seems nice," Aizawa pointed out and I glanced his way momentarily, looking back to the road.

"She has her moments," I replied, taking another turn. Aizawa settled back into his seat watching the road pass by. I let out a breath, turning the music up a few notches. We drove in the comfortable silence for a few minutes. I took a sharp turn, placing my hand out in front of Aizawa's chest. I glanced in the rearview mirror at Uno who seemed unbothered. I pulled my hand back, spotting Aizawa's gaze on me. "What?"

"Nothing, just sweet you put your hand out like that to brace passengers," he said. I just nodded, taking a right. Not to sound like a pessimist but the incident at the Christmas party seemed to lessen the impact of the things he said and did. I guess I wasn't reading into stuff so hard right now.

"Okay, just a quick debriefing once again," I started. "I'll introduce you to my family and my distant relatives will come for dinner. Usually I get suckered into doing something like fix the lights outside. They're never working. I might need to cook too, so you can stay by me or you can find somewhere in the house to reside. Everyone but my grandma is usually working until 4 or before and then we have dinner at like 5:30 or 6."

"Joue, you do know I'll be fine right?" he asked.

"Well...yeah, I just don't want to leave you defenseless," I replied. He shook his head slightly.

"I may not prefer the party scene, but I can assure you I'll be perfectly fine."

"Okay," I said with a sigh.

"What's the backstory I go with?" he asked and I narrowed my eyes. "We got secretly married or we're engaged?"

"Aizawa..."

"You're right, it's probably not believable because we don't have rings," Aizawa said, scoffing. "I guess just dating is fine."

"How about none?" I requested and he made a face.

"Alright, since you asked nicely," he said.

"Thank you," I replied, though I figured he wouldn't actually stoop to embarrass me like that. The subject matter he had been joking about seemed odd seeing as he wouldn't even kiss me. No kiss but pretend marry, yeah that makes sense. I was fixating again. Things were finally settled after the whole issue between Aizawa and I. At least they were until that damn Christmas party.

We pulled up on the house and Uno perked up, hopping to the front and propping herself on the dashboard. She spotted the familiar place, realizing the dog was here and slouched. She crawled into Aizawa's scarf again, riding along while he retrieved his bag. I let him up the drive, giving him an awkward glance. I opened up the door, greeted by the familiar barking of my family dog. "Hi! How's my little bubs?" I asked, setting my bag aside and picking him up. He squirmed around, trying to lick at my face. I turned to Aizawa who was standing idly by. "This is Chowder."

"Oh...hello."

"It's okay if you don't like him," I said. Aizawa glanced to Uno who was rather avoidant of Chowder. Aizawa placed a hand out to my dog, scratching lightly at his head. He scrambled around in my arms to get at him. "Sorry, he's insane."

"He's very small."

"Yeah," I said, holding him firmly in my arms. I didn't want him jumping all over Aizawa. I glanced in the house, seeing my grandmother come into the foyer.

"Hello!" she called, looking up at Aizawa. Uno hopped down, now that I had Chowder in my grasp. She made herself at home, probably to find a stray cat toy.

"Hi Grammy," I said, giving her a hug with one arm, the other still holding the dog. "This is Aizawa."

"Hello," she said, holding out a hand.

"It's very nice to meet you," Aizawa greeted back, taking her hand and shaking it.

"You're rather tall, I swear I shrink every year," my grandmother said, shaking her head. She started into the kitchen without calling for us to follow. I placed Chowder down and he raced into the kitchen.

"Come on," I said. "This is when she asks me to do something."

"So, your parents are out to lunch right now and your brothers are upstairs," my grandmother said. "We're having dinner early, so you should get settled and then perhaps you can go to the store and get me a few things. Get lunch together, just a little snack."

"Oh..."

"Only a few distant relatives are coming this year," my grandmother continued.

"You don't need me to do something?"

"No, just the store would be perfect," she replied. This was out of the ordinary. "Go get settled, your grandfather is coming later. Once you get back from lunch and the store we can play some board games or something. Scrabble!"

"Alright, we'll be back down," I said and she just nodded, heading into her room on the 1st floor. I looked to Aizawa who had been watching the whole thing. "Well that's not usually how that goes. I'm surprised I don't have to put the Christmas tree together."

"Maybe it's not such a big deal this year," Aizawa suggested. I shrugged.

"Well come on upstairs, I guess if my Grandpa is coming you can sleep in my room," I said, shaking my head. I headed past Chowder who watched us pass. He ended following us up the stairs. He wandered into my room, plopping down on an odd patch of carpet. I set my bag down, seeing that the air mattress was inflated and taking up the majority of my floor. "Great." I picked it up by one side, propping it up against the wall.

"Hmm." I looked to Aizawa who just looked back to me. "Your room is...very similar to your office." I glanced around. It was a pinkish purple color and the walls were still plastered with different art things. All my stuffed animals were still around and the bed was full with pillows. The bookshelf was full, the only thing different was the empty closet.

"Yeah, I like the color purple," I said. "I changed some, but some things are the same."

"I see." He set his stuff down and I pulled the cushy Winnie the Pooh out of my bag, setting it on the bed. I looked to Aizawa who watched, amused.

"You got it for me, I like it," I defended, though Aizawa hadn't said anything. He just shrugged, glancing around again. He picked up stuffed bunny on my desk.

"What's this?"

"Bunny buddy?" I asked, placing a hand over my mouth when I realized I had said it.

"Bunny...buddy?"

"That's....his name."

"That's adorable," he said, handing it to me. I pressed my lips into a thin line, setting the stuffed animal next to the pooh bear.

"That was my first stuffed animal so."

"No, it's really cute," he said, smiling at me. I felt my face go red and he continued to look around. Never mind, he still affected me like crazy.

"Okay so this is my room, obviously," I said, gesturing for him to follow me out the door. "That door there is the bathroom. The other rooms are for my brothers and parents."

"Got it."

"I can show you downstairs later, after we apparently go shopping."

"Deal."

"Grammy? Do you have a list?" I asked. She came into the kitchen, handing me a piece of paper and a card.

"I listed all the sale prices there," she said.

"I'll get your jacket," Aizawa offered, leaving me to look over my grandmother's list. I glance up at her.

"What?" She smiled at me.

"You know, Christmas Eve is a romantic holiday," she said and I deadpanned. "I thought I'd unload your duties so you could spend your afternoon with Aizawa."

"Grammy he's not--"

"I know," she said and I fell silent. She just looked at me with a half knowing-half smug look. I sighed, taking the list and card. I tucked them into my purse, realizing that I hadn't taken off my shoes like I normally do. Aizawa waited by the door, my coat in his hand and Chowder sat at his feet. Aizawa just stared down at the dog, not knowing what he wanted.

"Have fun," my grandmother called. I eyed the kitchen suspiciously, holding out a hand for my coat. He slipped one sleeve on my arm instead, placing the coat on me instead. My eyes were wide, questioning why he was doing anything for me. Maybe it was because I brought up the party. I really had to stop thinking about that. He followed me back to the car, finding it wasn't totally cold inside when we were settled. I pulled from the drive and headed to the familiar grocery store.

This was so weird. Having Aizawa with me. I still wasn't used to us being buddies. I cannot believe I had invited him to my family Christmas, that was so weird.

"So are you hungry? I know a few places we can get little snacks if dinner is going to be early. There are some nice lights in my neighborhood as well, we can walk around after dinner," I stated.

"I'm not hungry."

"You're not hungry? Or you're just forgetting another meal?" I asked.

"Mmm you know me well," he said.

"We can stop for drinks and cakes," I replied and he nodded. The store was only 10 minutes away maximum, so Aizawa just sat idly listening to the Christmas music. As strange as I was feeling from earlier in the week, I felt as though this was my opportunity to get to know Aizawa better. I pulled up to the store. "Careful the parking lot is always icy."

"Even in the Summer?"

"Haha, no," I sassed, shutting off the car. I stepped out, keeping my list in hand. We stepped in and I got a cart, smiling automatically towards the greeter. Aizawa watched the room carefully, following me to the produce section. I picked up a thing of carrots, placing the bag in the cart. I looked to Aizawa. "Are you good?"

"Yes," he replied. "It's been a fair amount of time since I've been in a grocery store."

"Oh, do you online shop?"

"Sometimes," he said. "I'm going to be honest, Mic usually leaves groceries at my door." I looked his direction.

"...why?"

"So I actually make food once in a while," he replied. I glanced around, seeing that people were actually looking our direction.

"I don't mean to alarm you, but I do believe people are looking at you," I pointed out, taking a jar of olives.

"Usually it isn't terrible, but now that I've started teaching the problem class, I've been getting that a lot."

"I guess," I said, grabbing a few more things before heading towards the other aisles. Aizawa followed for a good minute.

"Would you like me to push the cart?"

"You can, yes thank you," I said, passing around the cart to grab a bag of shredded cheese. I walked along side it with my hand on the side of it.

"What do you need next?" he asked.

"Uhhhh chocolate chips," I replied. He pointed towards the labeled aisle and I nodded, leading my way through some people. He followed with the cart and I pulled down some semi-sweet for baking. It seemed obvious that Aizawa wanted to be of use since he was here. "Could you reach that?"

"The small package?" he asked and I nodded, pointing to the top shelf. He grabbed it, though I probably could've stretched to get it myself.

"Thank you," I said and he just nodded, placing it in the cart. We passed by the liquor, turning to get some foil. I grabbed the box, scanning over the list. "That should be it."

"That was fast."

"I'm a notoriously quick shopper," I replied. "I used to want to get out of