Akeena wasted no time snuggling up to his side as they walked. She let out a small laugh at his comment, “honestly I can see why. I’m already so much warmer than I was” she said, “I’ll just start calling you whenever I’m cold I guess” she said as she smiled up at him. “Actually, that’s literally all the time so I guess Gabe and Bellamy are just going to have to deal with me making you my roommate” she said playfully with a small laugh.
“Pants would never protest, or at least if he did I would act like he didn’t” she said with a small laugh before smiling up at him. “But you should talk to Bellamy and let me know. I would really like it if we could all spend Christmas together” she said happily. “and you know, if they’re both busy you’re more than welcome to come spend it with just me. I mean if that isn’t weird of course” she said, her tone growing a bit shy. “We could make sugar cookies together, and put Pants in ridiculous Christmas costumes that I totally didn’t order for him the other day” she said with a small laugh. She then was quiet for a moment before saying, “I just don’t want to be alone again this year so I thought it would be nice” she said softly, her expression falling a little. The last thing she wanted to do was make him feel sorry for her. It hadn’t been anyone’s fault last year, her health just hadn’t been good enough for her to go anywhere is all. “But I also don’t want you to feel obligated, okay?” she told him softly, the small smile returning to her face as she looked up at him. She immediately felt bad for being sad. Of course she knew Romeo didn’t care, but she always felt bad when her mood flipped so suddenly like that. So, to hide the sad expression that was still slightly on her face, she snuggled even more into his side, making sure to not make it difficult for them to walk, “you really are like a personal heater wow” she commented after a moment with a small laugh as she leaned her head against him slightly.
“Oh, man, I wouldn’t want to be there for that conversation,” Romeo let out a bright laugh, shaking his head before adding, “Actually, I’d hope they’d try to fight for me, but they might just be sick of me at this point, so who knows? Maybe they’ll thank you.”
As Akeena spouted off ideas about their potential Christmas, he couldn’t help but smile warmly, imagination roaming along with her words. As they spent more time together and became closer, it was as difficult to imagine not spending the holiday with her as it was to imagine not spending it with his roommates, which was almost a surprise to him. Akeena really was one of his closest friends, he realized, and the thought spread warmth through him as he looked back down at her endearing, shy smile, “We’ll figure it out, but whether they’re busy or not, it’s a date.” After a moment, he offered her a playful grin and his pinky, “Pinky promise.”
At the sudden turn in her mood, though, he squeezed her shoulders gently and tried reassuring her, “Kee, I’m not the kind of person who does things just ‘cause I feel obligated. I hang out with you because I want to, because I like being around you, and that isn’t gonna change. Got it?” He knew she had been through a lot, and even if she hadn’t, he cared a lot about her and would never mind talking her out of her head. He’d done the same for Gabe more times than he could count.