*Bianca*
When I woke, the first thing I took note of was the cool draft in the air. I stuffed the edges of the blankets under as if my goal had been to turn myself into a human burrito. Before I could bring myself to leave the warmth of my bed, I heard a gentle knocking at my door.
“Bianca, are you awake yet, darling?” I heard my mom’s voice through the solid wood.
“You can co in, Mom,” I said, raising my voice just enough for her to hear through the closed door.
The mont she walked into my room, she clapped her hand to her mouth. A small laugh had escaped her.
“Oh, sweetie,” she said, walking towards . “Why don’t you co out into the living room. It’s much warr by the fireplace. Taylor is already out there eating breakfast.”
She sat down on the edge of my bed and brushed the fallen strand of hair behind my ear.
I nodded my head. “Fire sounds good.”
My mom chuckled and stood up. “I made all your favorites for breakfast. Blueberry pancakes. Sausage links. Eggs.”
“Cinnamon sugar muffins?” I asked with raised eyebrows.
My mouth had been watering at just the thought of my mom’s famous cinnamon sugar muffins.
A wide smile spread across my mom’s face. “It wouldn’t be the holidays without them!”
On that note, I jumped out of bed. The bottom of the blanket dragged on the floor as I kept myself wrapped up while I headed into the living room.
“You go sit down, sweetie, I’ll bring you a plate,” she told lovingly.
I nodded my head and went into the living room where I found Taylor stuffing his face.
“Well, there you are sleepy head,” he said with his mouth full.
I picked up a small velvet throw pillow from off the sofa and threw it at him. “Ew. Don’t talk with your mouth full, I can see your chewed up food.”
Just then, I clapped my hand to my mouth. Suddenly, I felt a wave of nausea.
I stood very still hoping the feeling would pass. My mother’s eyes grew wide when she ca into the room and saw .
“Bianca, honey, what’s wrong? You look pale as a ghost,” she said in a concerned tone.
I took a few shallow breaths slowly until finally, the feeling passed.
“I just get nauseous sotis,” I replied, sitting down in the chair closest to the fire.
“Oh, honey,” she said, tilting her head to the side. “I’ll make you so ginger tea.”
“Thank you,” I smiled softly, letting my head fall back against the soft cushion.
“Are you alright?” Taylor asked gently.
I shrugged. “I guess so.”
“That’s very convincing,” he replied.
I took the hot mug from my mother’s hands and sipped on the slightly spiced liquid until it was gone.
“So, what should we do the rest of the day?” Taylor had asked with his back against the couch cushions.
“What is there to do?” I questioned. “It’s a blizzard out there.”
Taylor shrugged his shoulders. “We could always go for a walk. Get so fresh air.”
“It’s so cold out there, though,” I countered. “And it’s so warm in here.”
I put my hands up in front of the fireplace and rubbed them together.
He chuckled. “Co on. We’ll just go for a short walk. Maybe build a snowman.”
“I think that sounds like a lovely idea, sweetie,” I heard my mother chi in from the kitchen.
I looked over at Taylor and saw him smiling as he nodded his head. “See?”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine!”
Taylor clapped his hands together and rubbed them as if he were trying to start a fire. He hopped up off the couch and walked over to get his boots. Slowly, I made my way over to grab my boots, as well.
Once our coats were on, I grabbed a scarf and wrapped it securely around my neck. I shoved a hat over my head and pulled out a pair of gloves to put on from within my coat pockets.
“Alright,” I said, all bundled up. “I’m ready.”
Taylor laughed. “Are you sure you can move?”
I playfully swatted at his chest. “Shut it or I’m going back in front of the fire.”
He put up his hands as if to surrender. Without another word, he opened the front door and we walked out into a snowy Wonderland. I had to admit, the snow-covered town looked beautiful.
Taylor and I walked a short way down the road. We had seen a couple different snown in my neighbor’s yards. One of them had a missing arm, so Taylor searched for a stick to shove in its side.
When we reached the end of my road, I was already ready to turn back and go ho. It may have been beautiful out, but the snow was still coming down and I was freezing.
On our way back, Taylor had tried to fix the scarf on a snowman that had started to fall off. However, instead, he accidentally knocked the head off and it smashed against the snow beneath it.
“Taylor!” I shouted in a hushed tone. “You’ve murdered him!”
I couldn’t help but laugh as we started to walk at a fast pace to escape the scene of the cri.
“Hey, I was trying to help that guy, it’s not my fault his head decided to roll right off his round belly like that,” he joked.
I rolled my eyes and laughed as I shook my head. Before I could say anything, I suddenly heard a loud noise coming from sowhere. I looked over at Taylor and he shrugged.
“You don’t hear that?” I asked, looking every which way.
“It sounds like a horse,” he said. “Maybe it’s Santa in his sleigh! He’s co early to give you your coal.”
“? Coal?” I scoffed, placing my gloved hands on my hips. “I think you an you would be getting coal.”
Before I could respond, I saw a man riding a horse-drawn carriage turn the corner. Sothing about the man looked familiar, but he was too far away for to get a good look at him.
Then, as he got closer, I saw that the man riding the horse was not just a man at all. It was Leo.
“Leo?” I asked out loud.
“What the hell is he doing?” I heard Taylor ask, but was hardly paying attention to him as I stared at Leo in shock.
Leo halted the horse directly in front of us. He looked like a human popsicle.
“Bianca!” he called out before jumping off the horse.
He landed on a pile of snow and imdiately sank down to his knees. I couldn’t help but burst out into laughter.
“Leo,” I finally managed to get out. “What in the world are you doing here? And riding a horse?”
He scrambled to free himself from the pocket of snow. Once he was standing in front of , he began to speak quickly.
“Bianca, I am here to win you back,” he declared. “I got your letter. I am so sorry for everything. I love you so much, Bianca. I couldn’t let you go without fighting for another chance to prove my love for you.”
I listened to his words, but could only focus on how frozen he looked. He wasn’t even wearing a proper winter coat.
“Let’s talk inside,” I suggested. “Before you freeze to death.”
He nodded gratefully. “I wasn’t expecting it to be this cold.”
I chuckled. “I can see that.”
“I find it hard to believe that you ca all the way here just to win her back,” Taylor groaned.
I shot him a glare. “Can we just go inside, please?”
I started walking back towards the house with Leo beside . Taylor followed behind angrily.
I wasn’t sure what was happening. I had never truly believed Leo would show up to win back. With the whole Michael situation, I assud there was no way in hell he would leave LA.
But here he was. Showing up on a horse like a knight in shining armor. I wasn’t sure what to think.
When we reached my house, I felt nervous for Leo to go inside and et my mother. I had hoped no other family mbers showed up yet. It would be a lot better if he could et my mom before my family smothered him.
Unfortunately, during our short ti out, almost all of my family mbers had filled our house. Great.
We walked inside and imdiately stood out like a sore thumb.
“Bianca!” My Aunt Rosa exclaid, rushing over to us. “Ah! This must be the boyfriend.”
I glanced over at Leo and smiled a little awkwardly. “Yep.”
She pulled him into a hug and patted him on the back. “It’s so good to finally et the man who has captivated my niece.”
“It’s nice to et you, as well,” he replied, nodding.
I shed off all the winter wear and pulled him into the living room to sit in front of the fire. One by one, each of my family mbers greeted Leo. He kept a big smile on his face as each one either patted his back or hugged him tightly.
My eyes t my mother’s from across the room and she winked at and mouthed the words, ‘I told you so’.
I gave her a small smile and sat rather quietly while the family gathered around Leo. Everyone seed to take a liking to him. Taylor, however, sat on the couch sulking. He had his arms crossed over his chest and sported a sour face. Taylor was probably the only one who wasn’t happy to see Leo.
Although, I still wasn’t sure if I was happy to see him or not. I appreciated the grand gesture of coming all this way, but I couldn’t just forget everything so easily and go back to him. Right?
Finally, as the day turned to evening, my family slowly started to filter out until it was just us left alone in the living room. My mom had brought us in two mugs of hot cocoa with marshmallows floating on top. Leo and I sat in front of the fire silently for a few monts.
“Bianca,” he began. “I truly am so sorry.”
I nodded my head. “I believe that you are.”
“You know I love you. I never ant to neglect you. I’ve been so caught up in taking Michael down, I failed to take care of your needs. I failed to make sure you were happy and content,” he continued.
“I understand your job is demanding, but there were so many nights you refused to give the ti of day when all I wanted was to talk and be close to you,” I told him.
“I know,” he replied with a heavy expression. “I’m so sorry. I will not let that happen again. You have my word. Just please co back ho with . I can’t lose you, Bianca. You are everything to . You are what is most important to . I’m sorry that it took you leaving for to truly realize that.”
Sitting here, listening to him apologize, I couldn’t help but feel touched. I realized the risks he had taken to co here and I couldn’t ignore that. However, I wasn’t ready to forgive and forget so easily. I definitely wasn’t ready to leave my family.
“I can’t go back with you, Leo,” I told him, softly.
His expression fell even further as his shoulders drooped.
“However, if you want, you can stay here for a little while,” I said, unsure if he would actually stay or not.
He nodded and smiled. “You’ll let stay?”
“Yeah,” I replied with a small smile.
Leo pulled into a gentle hug. “I promise I will win your trust and your love back. I can’t lose you.”
I smiled softly and turned my gaze onto the flas. As I sipped on my hot cocoa, I quietly hoped he could win back my trust and love.
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