Christmas Surprises ((Payton))

[jillian]

Jill flipped the switch and the tree lit up. Swirling colours of red, green, blue, and yellow filled the living room. The star on top lit up in one colour, but the colour changed every thirty seconds or so. There were few gifts underneath it, one of which was the one she had bought for Pyaton. It wasn't anything amazing, but she hoped he liked it. Jill bought gifts for all the cildren she worked with with, Joann, and Payton. The children and Joann were easy, but Payton was a different story. She had to get him soemthing that only the two of them would be able to understand. What she had gotten him made sense to her, but she didn't know if it would to him. Well, she would have to wait to find out.

Sighing, Jill fell onto the couch and looked up at the tree. Every year she got a tree, and every year she decorated it alone. This year had been different thoguh. Payton had helped and together they made a most wonderful tree. It looked like something out of a magazine. Jill was in love with the tree. She ran her fingers through her newly cut hair as her eyes continued to watch the Christmas tree. She knew she should probably start cooking dinner, but Jill didn't particularly like cooking. Payton was better at it than Jill by many moret imes. It was unfair to have Pay cooking all the time, though. Standing, Jill made her way to the closet by her bathroom. She pulled out her aunt's book and lifpped to a recipe. Once she found it, she piled back into the kitchen and took out her wand. "OK. Cook." Nothing happened. "Bah." She muttered ass he looked down at the recipe. What good was magic if it couldn't be used for cooking?

Jill defeatedly put her wand away and began to cook the old fashioned way. Hours passed by and Jill didn't have anything cooked right. The chicken had burnt, the marinara sauce she was going to place on the chicken had bubbled and overflowed the pot. Things were just disasterous. She had pulled her hair up so ti wouldn't get in her way and now she was a sight to see. Flour all over her face and in her hair, sauce on her jeans and staining her blue blouse, and a bit chocolate smear from the pathetic attempt at brownies was across her right cheek. Jill doused the fire that had started on the stove and then let out a long sigh. This was why Payton cooked and she praised.

Leaning against the wall by the fridge, Jill slid to the floor as tears fell from her eyes. All she wanted to do was make a nice dinner for them. That was all. She couldn't even do that right. Jill covered her face.

((This is the night before Christmas Eve. We can play well over into Christmas. )

[payton]

They hadn't been back in the flat for an hour when his boss at the cafe had rung and asked him if he would work Christmas Eve. He thought by now the man should know him well enough to understand that Payton never worked on holidays, but the attempt was made anyway, and finally the compromise of working the day before Christmas eve was reached. It worked out rather well actually, it meant a bit more money for some last minute gift shopping and pick up the dinner he wouldn't be home in time to make. The downside was that Payton worked a full day, and didn't get back to the flat until after seven that evening, which was not exactly as he had intended it to. Somehow after the rush of his seventh year at Hogwarts, he expected his holiday break to have at least some sleeping late and lounging on the couch in pajamas all day with Jill. It seemed those plans would have to wait though.

He unlocked the door to the flat and stepped inside. "Tesoro" he called as he entered, using the pet name he had picked up for Jill over the summer. It took very little looking though to find her, sitting on the floor of the kitchen. That exact second Jill jumped back up to her feet and tried to use the backs of her hands to wipe away the obvious tears that had been falling. The result was an even more dramatic smear of now tear soaked flour and chocolate. He paused for a moment, concern coming across his face and he made a quick line straight for her, dropping his bags onto the counter top before he reached her and one arm wrapped around her shoulders. "Whats wrong, love?" He didn't notice the mess, or Jill's attempt at dinner, all he knew was that something was wrong. Jill wasn't one to cry over nothing.

[jillian]

Jill sat there for moments until she heard the familiar voice of Payton calling out her nickname. She jumped up and started to wipe at her tears, though, all that probably did was make her look ten times worse. She continued to wipe at her face, anyway. When he saw her, she dropped her hands and hung her head. In moments he was by her and had an arm around her as he asked what was wrong. Jill scoffed and motioned to the mess in the kitchen, "This. That. Look at me. I'm a mess." She scrubbed her hands on her jeans and then looked up at Payton, tears coming to her eyes again. She forbade herself to cry and then looked at the kitchen, "The kitchen's a mess, too." Why couldn't she just cook a simple meal?

"I just... I wanted to cook. I wanted to cook some chicken and then perhaps some brownies for desert. But i'm not nearly as good a cook as you are." Jill sighed and moved away from Payton as she started to clean up the kitchen, "Sometimes I wish I didn't feel so useless." Jill muttered as she wet the sponge and started to wash the chocolate and flour off the counters. "We can order in. You should rest, you've been at work all day."

[payton]

As she began to explain the dilemma an easy smile crossed his face. He was afraid that something serious had happened, so much that he had not bothered to noticed that the mess Jill was in was directly related to the state the kitchen was in. As he glanced around he saw that she had attempted to make dinner, something which she did on a rare occasion. He had easily fallen into the position of the cook of the household. It was natural for him, and normally on nights when he was not home in time to cook, normally Jill ordered in. It was an easy routine they had fallen into over the summer. As he looked back a Jill she appeared as if she was going to cry again, and a moment later she pulled away to try and start cleaning. He let her go for a moment before reached a hand out to grab her;s and pull her back towards him. "Your not useless. Your good for many things, helping me to keep my sanity being one of them." He smiled again, that same easy smile he always had when it seemed impossible to smile at all. "But come now, you know cooking is my job around here, and I have to be good for something so you keep me around....Its why I hide the numbers to your favorite take out too...then I'm very needed." His smile quickly turned into a grin and he leaned forward to kiss her forehead. "And....I am one step ahead of ya love. I stopped on the way." He glanced over his shoulder for a fleeting moment at the paper bags he had left on the counter before looking back at Jill. "Now, its no chicken and brownies, but I did stop at that little shop in the market that has your favorite soup...and I bought us garlic bread from work....and my very last Christmas cake. They were very popular today." He fell silent for a moment, watching Jill before he spoke again. "So how about we eat, because I'm bloody starved, and I will help you clean when were done?" He only paused a moment before leaning forward and kissing her forehead again. After another long pause he let his hand slip from hers and carried the bags to the table where he pulled out the neat packages of soup and bread, and began setting them up for their meal.

[jillian]

Jill dropped the sponge when Payton grabbed her hand and pulled her toward him. She didn't struggle, in fact, she was quite glad he was pulling her back to him. When he told her she wasn't useless and that she was good for many things, keeping him sane in particular; Jill laughed lightly. He had that smile on his face, the one that made Jill forget about all her problems or pains. She tucked some hair behind her ear and then cocked her head to the side, just making the hair fall out again. "You're not just needed for food, Pay. No one else could make me feel fine with just a smile. And no one else could put up with my messes and inabilities to cook and do many other things." Jill looked around the kitchen once more, "Therefore, you are needed because you make the perfect flatmate." He had kissed her forehead and Jill smiled at the sentiment.

He said that he was already one step ahead of her and told Jill what he had picked up. She smiled a bright smile and hugged him, "That sounds perfect, well, except the cleaning part. Let me go wash this off my face and I'll be out." She planted a kiss on his cheek and then hurried off to wash the flour off her face. When she was clean, Jill dried her face and then redid her hair. She left the bathroom and then entered the kitchen. She took her seat at the table and smiled at Payton as she stirred her soup with her spoon. "How was work?" Jill asked as she brought a spoonful of soup to her mouth.

[payton]

By the time Jilli returned he had set the table, and had both of their food out and ready for them. He had settle down in his own chair, though was waiting for her to start in on his meal. Once she had settle down in her chair he stirred his soup absently as hes tarted over the table at her, thinking about what she had said earlier about him being the perfect flatmate. He personally though it was far from the truth. He knew that there were of course far worse out there, but he would have called himself far from perfect. For the most part he was a bit messy, he was always up far too early, and had not completely mastered the ability to remain quiet in the mornings. Maybe he did cook, but he wasn't always there to cook, as he often worked late at the cafe. It was funny though, how perfectly their lives had meshed together. It was never a struggle for the, or really any adjustment. it had simply worked, and it was wonderful--enough so that Hogwarts seemed odd and lonely with out the routine they had so easily fallen into.

He had just taken his first sip of soup when Jilli asked him how work had been. He was silent for a moment before shrugging a bit. "It was work" he replied, rather casually. "Baked like the end of the world was coming." He glanced over at her and grinned. "Apparently I'm the only one who can make the Christmas Cakes right." He laughed a bit before taking another sip of his soup and glancing over at the glazed desert which he had displayed on the counter. "Which is why I snagged us the very last one. I wasn't about to let it go to some stranger. After all, you've never tasted it before." Still grinning he took another sip of his soup before reaching forward and breaking off a bit of the bread he had brought from the cafe as well. He looked back over at Jilli as he dipped the hunk of break into his soup and stirred it around so it soaked up the extra broth. "What are our plans for tomorrow anyway? I guessed that we would be going either to my Parent's or to Joann's, then the other on Christmas after we do our thing here...but then that was my thinking. Probably should have brought it up to you a bit earlier." He flashed her again smile before taking a rather large bite of his now dripping hunk of break as he awaited her answer.

[jillian]

Jill listened as Payton talked about work. The café really relied on him an awful lot, and Jill could tell Payton liked to work there. He had a passion, and that was something Jill envied slightly. What was she going to do when she graduated? What did she have? What talents? Jill swirled her soup around with her spoon a bit, her brown eyes focusing on the whirlpool she was making. She loved kids. Could she do something to do with kids? No. Jill couldn’t deal with kids for the rest of her life. Well, unless they were her own, that might be different. But she wasn’t about to think about that. Jill bit her bottom lip as she reached for a piece of bread. Her fingers tore it apart as she continued to think about it. The crumbles fell into her soup, so it wasn’t like she was making a mess. Though this was very un-Jill like behaviour. She shook her head and returned from her reverie just as Payton was talking about Christmas cakes. Grinning, she scooped a piece of bread with her spoon, which proved to be a difficult feat, “Great. We won’t have to eat my… uh… not so amazing brownies.” She cast Payton a look just as she got the bread on her fork. With a triumphant smile, Jill put the spoon her mouth and swallowed the contents.

She continued to do this, getting better at retrieving the bread pieces, as Payton asked what their plans for Christmas was. Biting her lip as he went into an explanation of what he thought they should do, Jill nodded. “I don’t see anything wrong with that plan, except Joann’s in Spain.” She looked up, taking a break from her bread fishing for a moment. “They went there for the holiday, something about.. uh.. not wanting to have to deal with the snow. It doesn’t snow in Spain does it?” Jill shook her head, “No… I didn’t think so. Well… we could go to Spain, but I think it would just be easier to drop by their house at a later date or mail their presents to them or sommem.” She smiled and then reached for her drink. Jill took a small sip before deciding to go back and look for the bread, which was all soggy by now. “However, seeing your parents sounds great."

[payton]

He couldn't help but smile at her comment about the brownies. It was no secret that cooking was not exactly Jilli's strong suit, but it worked out well for them. He liked to cook, and it made her a rather willing victim to try out his new recipe ideas. "I'm sure there not that bad..." he started in an attempt to comfort. Brownies might not be the easiest thing to make, but it was hard to completely screw up anything who's base ingredient was chocolate. "Maybe we shall make a brownie attempt later. New years. We shall eat our way to the new year on brownies and ice cream." He laughed at the idea, seeing them sitting on the couch eating as much as possible. It was either that or he was going to rag her out to the clubs so they could party there way to the new year.

As the conversation changed to holiday plans he nodded when Jilli explained about Joann and her being out of the country for the holidays. He had to admit that spending the winter months in a nice warm climate had its appeal, but then a year from now, that was exactly where he would be. The thought made his stomach knot, both in excitement and dread--the latter of which he never expected to feel, and never had until Jill had come into his life. "Well then, my parents it is. I'm sure they will be rather pleased. Its my first holiday not being there all the time, and knowing Pop's and Mum N, there wanting the whole family together." He paused for a moment, looking over at Jilli with a rather big smile on his face. "And now your part of it as well."

[jillian]

Jill raised an eyebrow skeptically and shook her head, "Ok, sure, they aren't that bad. They're worse! They didn't even solidify! It was just a bunch of goop." She had a slightly frustrated look on her face as she began searching for more bread crumbs. They were all pretty much dissolved by now. Finally deciding just to scoop the soup in her spoon and eat it like a normal person might, Jill brought the soup to her lips and put it in her mouth as Payton said they could eat their way into the New Year with brownies and ice cream. Jill smiled, "Don't forget the popcorn. We can't have ice cream without popcorn." Her smile didn't fade as she looked down at her soup and stirred it with her spoon. The ice cream and the popcorn was an odd mixture, but it was one that Jill had liked. The perfect blend of salty and sweet. She found it kind of amusing that if she hadn't met Payton she wouldn't have experienced popcorn ice cream, or anything fun really. She would still be in her bubble and probably homeless.

Payton had changed her life a lot, and she didn't know how she would ever go on without him there in the flat every morning when they were there. It would be so weird being in the empty flat when he was off in Italy living his dream while she was stuck there trying to find hers. Sadness pushed away her smile and she now had a slight frown on her face as her soup became a whirlpool. Once Payton had started speaking again, she made her smile reappear and she stopped stirring her soup. "It'll be good to see them, and I know they'll be glad to see you. Me, however, I'm not so sure. I think they would rather not have an extra person to keep entertained. Though, that isn't too hard to do with me..." She trailed off when she heard Payton's last words. A bright smile crossed her face at that, "You know, I've always wanted a billion and four brothers and sisters." She teased as she brought her drink to her lips again.

[payton]

A smiled spread across his face when Jilli mentioned the popcorn. "of course, how could I forget..." he started, laughing slightly. It was his thing, one of those odd quirks people seem to have that no one else really understands...well maybe not no one exactly. Jilli understood after all. She stood no chance when he had her taste the interesting combination of an ice cream filled spoon shoved into the born of popcorn so the popped kernels stuck as it started to melt. It was the perfect combination of salty and sweet, creamy and crunchy. Somehow it worked perfectly--but then its funny how sometimes the things you never consider working out somehow go together flawlessly in the end.

Payton was rather focused on his soup for a while, having not realized how hungry he had gotten at work. One would think that working around food all day, he would have eaten his way though every day he was there, but instead it had almost the opposite effect. He rarely ate while he was at work, and it left him starving by the end of the night. He paused in his attempts to empty his soup bowl then Jilli mentioned his family not exactly wanting yet another person at their table, but he flashed her an easy smile and shook his head. "Now you know my Pops, he would take anyone in, reason or no. Your just more welcome because your now somehow attached to me." He grinned again, looking back down at the very little remainder of his dinner. "Besides, Pops and Mum N. think your wonderful. Must be because I keep telling them you are." Still grinning he scooped out the last spoonful of his soup and after one final swallow letting his spoon fall back down into his empty bowl. After pausing for a second he leaned back in his chair stretched his arms out and then clasping them behind his head as he looked over at Jilli, who was just finishing hers as well. "Maybe we should save the cake for tomorrow....etiher that or we will hear Pop's whine about how he didn't get his Christmas Cake." He laughed for a moment, letting his gaze shift back to the cake at the middle of the table before it settled back on Jilli, who had just finished her last bite of soup. He paused for another moment before letting out a long sigh and pushing himself up from his chair and reaching forward to take their bowls. "Have I ever warned about about Holiday's at the Moore flat by the way?"

[jillian]

Jill raised an eyebrow in Payton’s direction, “What do you tell them about me? I’m not sure I’m okay with you saying things about me, regardless if it’s to your family.” She held his gaze a moment and then smiled jokingly. She felt a bit flattered that he had been telling people about her, but Jill had never liked being talked about… especially if she knew they were good things being said. She didn’t know why, but she didn’t like it. With Payton, though, it didn’t bother her nearly as much. Jill stirred her soup and chewed on her bottom lip. Her stomach had closed up and she wasn’t nearly as hungry as she had been earlier. She dropped the spoon gently, letting the handle lean against the rim of the bowl. Payton was leaning back, so Jill leaned forward; resting her arms on the table. She watched Payton a moment, and then dropped her gaze to her glass in front of her. It wasn’t until he asked her if he had ever told her about holidays at the Moore’s that she looked up.

“No,” she said slowly with a shake of her head, “but I have a feeling that you’re going to tell me about it. Should I expect chaos?” she asked as she stood and started gathering the dishes. Jill smiled at Payton before she turned and placed the dishes in the overflowing sink. “I don’t know if I can handle too much chaos, Pay. You know me with new people… or well… yeah, new people.” She had stumbled upon that description because of the fact that she hadn’t been introverted in the slight when Sethia had visited. That had been different, hadn’t it? Yes. Jill had felt threatened by Sethia, not because she liked Payton but because Payton was the best thing to happen to her. At least, she thought that was it. Maybe it was all of it. Jill shook her head. She didn’t need to confuse herself.

She ran the water in the sink a moment and then turned it off once the brownie pan had been filled with hot water. “Alright, what do you say we get this kitchen cleaned up and then we can decide on something to eat for desert since we want to save the cake for tomorrow?” Jill had turned around and was leaning against the counter now, a still smile on her face.

[payton]

He flashed Jilli a grin when she jested about what information he had been sharing with his family exactly. "Oh I tell them horrible details, like the fact you are wonderful and clean up after me and let me test out all my latest recipes on you." He grinned again leaning forward to kiss her forehead before pushing himself up out of his chair and moving to the kitchen along with her sot hey could start their clean up. "Well, the Moore household is always chaos, but that I'm sure you know. Everyone 'll be there...Normally Logan and Caitlin are gone, well, along with Dillion, Rowan and myself, but everyone's there now. No worries though love, you'll do great--its all in your head. People love you." He grinned at her for a moment. "Also its my family...Pop's loves everyone, oh...to warn you though, he'll probably ask you to call him pops, he wants everyone to call him that." Still grinning he gathered up the bowls and pans from the counter top and started putting away the sugar and flour and coco--whatever was left over from Jilli's attempt at cooking. "Thats not exactly what I meant though...you see, holidays are taken very seriously in the Moore household. Everything, and I mean everything shall be as completely Christmas as imaginable. We've all got holiday jumpers, and bedspreads with holly, and the house is decorated from one end to the other. Its all in good fun mind you, I mean imagine a serious Moore...other than Rowan, but in case you not one to get into the holiday spirit....I thought you might need a bit of a warning." He paused for a moment before walking over to the sink with a pile of mixing bowls that needed rinsing and put then into the now warm and soapy water and dove in along side Jilli to help tackle the mess. "Now though, we do have this business of desert. I say...maybe....chocolate chip cookies and hot chocolate....and a movie maybe. Its a Wonderful life, have you ever seen it? Its one of those necessary classics you know."

[jillian]

Jill listened to Payton as she fixed her hair, because it was already falling out of the pony tail she had put it in earlier. It would just get in her way if she let it out and she didn’t need it to get in her way. She needed it to stay out of her way. “People love me? Payton, do you remember who you’re talking to? I’m the cynic. I’m also the pessimist. Nothing is good, bright, or bubbly, and everyone hates me.” She sent him a joking smile as she picked up a sponge and squeezed some of the liquid dish soap on it. She squeezed it in her hand, making it all soapy, and began scrubbing the stove as she listened to him talk about his family and holidays. It must be nice to have a family like that, and of course, Jill felt that familiar pang in her stomach. She had never had that. Distracting herself by picking off a piece of baked on sauce with her fingernail, Jill threw herself into Payton’s words. She didn’t need to think about sad things. She was with Payton. Payton equaled happy things.

“I wouldn’t know,” Jill finally said as she joined Payton by the sink. She sent him a smile with a shrug, “If I’m a holiday person, that is. Never had the chance to really find out how I take the holidays. I never really spent it with family, Joann was always out at parties and the times she was home we didn’t do much. It’ll be a change having a big family to celebrate the holidays with.” As she tried to recall whether or not she had see It’s A Wonderful Life, Jill realized if it were a classic then she probably hadn’t. Jill and classics didn’t mix. She glanced at him from the side as she stopped washing the plate she had been holding. She casually reached for the nozzle and started to rinse off the soap and then with a sly smile raised the nozzle toward Payton. The water squirted out and got him rather wet. Jill giggled as she let the nozzle slide back into it’s slot, “Gosh, Pay, you’re just making a bigger mess playing in the water.”

[payton]

"Just when I was beginning to think I had managed to squeeze all the pessimism out of you. Jilli my love you are a match even for my optimism" His grin never faded as he wiped off the counter around the bowls he had separated out for need of scrubbing. "I do believe I'm up to the challenge though." Having finished the counter, as well as his explanation of his family and their version of every holiday imaginable, he made his way over to the skin and placed the dirtied bowls into the hot soapy water and began scrubbing away as Jill commented on the fact that she had never really been able to figure out what kind of holiday person she was. That was how Pop's always explained it--that there were just different types of holiday people. There were the types who thought it more of a burden than anything, then the types who simply went thought the motions, there were the people who liked the holiday and celebrated it happily, then there were the people like the Moore's, who had Christmas spirit coming from ever crack, scratch and dent in their far to small flat. Seemed to fit them really. The Moore's always were a family that approached everything with far too much enthusiasm. "Well then, we will just figure out if you like the big family holiday thing...that along with Its a Wonderful Life...just to warn you though, its a black and white." He grinned for a moment, looking down at a rather stuck on mess on the bowl he was cleaning when suddenly, water was flying at him. "Parolaccia" he cursed in Italian before sending a glance over at Jilli as she comment about him playing in the water. "Tesoro, tu appena dichiarare guerra¹" With that he reached his hand into the soapy water and sent a spray of it across towards Jilli. He then paused for a moment, before reaching his hand down into the sink again and getting a fistful of the bubbles from the top and taking his fingers to arrange them on Jilli's face. He put a spot on her nose, one on each ear, and the remainder in her hair.




1: (My love, you just declared war)

[jillian]

“Payton, I don’t know if you’ll ever be able to change me. So far you’re doing a bang up job of converting me into that mushy romance adoring girl that every guy seems to like.” Jill said this with so much sarcasm in her voice, she didn’t mean to. When she realized she had, she blanched. “Sorry, defense mechanism. About seventeen years of cynicism in my life to get over, it’ll take some time.” It was a weak excuse, but she couldn’t give him any other one. Payton had been everything that was good and sweet to her, and Jill was giving him nothing in return. She wasn’t throwing him a bone and she often felt guilty for it, but there wasn’t anything she could. Jill’s hands were soaked and working underneath the water. She could have just as easily used magic, but Jill preferred to do things the muggle way. She had always done things the muggle way so it wasn’t too much of an effort or out of the way. “Black and white?” Jill tuned back into what he was saying, “A black and white movie? I don’t know if I can sit through a black and white movie, Payton. Colour is my life,” she paused and sent Payton a joking smile, “even that ghastly orange you have on your walls.”

Jill was still holding back laughter when Payton cursed in Italian and then said something too fast for her to comprehend. She didn’t need to. He had splashed her back and as she gasped from the shock of having water flung on her, she didn’t realize he was putting bubbles on her face. When it hit her, Jill let her jaw drop before she wiped the suds off her face and reached for the nozzle again. With it aimed at Payton she grinned mischievously, “Drop the bubbles, Moore, or I’ll shoot.”

[payton]

His bubble filled hand stopped about an inch from the top of Jilli's head, fractions of a second before rubbing the suds into the hair she had put up into a new pony tail only minutes before. His gaze locked with Jilli's for a moment, much the mischievous grin that seemed only fitting to Dillion's twin remained on his face. "Tesora, I grew up playing pranks with Dillion...my weapon remains engaged until you put yours down as well." His eyebrows raised as the words came out, and if anything his grin widened. It reminded him of the days when he was Dillion's side kick--almost strange to think of since in many ways he was the leader, but Dill always was the brains of the operation when it came to pranks and all that equaled up to no good. He waited for a moment for Jilli's response then slowly moved his hand further away from her head to show that he meant his offer. After a moment his grin faltered, the troublesome look that had been there faded for a moment, and his eyebrows, if possible raised slightly higher. "You know, the longer you drag this on, the longer you are going to have to wait for those cookies."

He was silent for a moment, before slowly reaching his other hand forward towards Jilli's fists, which were tightly wrapped around the sprayer, ready to shoot at any moment. "Come now Jilli...I know you want those cookies...." His grin once again grew wide as he let his free hand wrap around Jilli's, and try to relax her grip. He then eased forward, taking one small steady step to close the distance between them. He then eased his hold on her hand to reached up and wiped the bubbles off her nose before he leaned forward and placed a kiss on her forehead, almost the moment he did lowering the hand he had over her head to fill her hair full of the bubbles he had been threatening her with earlier.

[jillian]

Jill pondered setting the nozzle down. Payton did make a good point, he had grown up with Dillion who was famous for pulling pranks and such. She chewed on her bottom lip as she continued to think about it, or at least pretend to think about it. Her finger started to press on the trigger that made the water squirt out when he pulled his hand away from her head. She released her grip on the trigger, but kept the nozzle in her hand. A sincere smile crossed her face when Payton told her she was postponing the cookies, “I can live without cookies, besides, they’ll taste so much better knowing I held out and soaked you through.” Her lips quirked at the corners as she tried to hold back a laughing smile. She hadn’t imagined she would be getting in any water, or lack of water, fights with anyone and here she was standing in a kitchen with her head being threatened with bubbles.

She watched apprehensively as Payton reached over with his free hand and grabbed hers, trying to loosen her grip on the nozzle. He did somewhat and Jill felt her hands relax. Her eyes locked on his as he took a step forward. He kissed her forehead and as he did this Jill muttered, “Payton Moore, if you-“ Too late. The bubbles were on her head. Pressing the trigger down on the nozzle, water shot out and hit Payton in the stomach causing his shirt to become soaked. Jill ran her hand over her head and swooped up the remaining bubbles. “One day, you’re going to wake up swimming in the ocean, mark my words.” She said with a semi-serious tone as she rubbed the bubbles in his hair. Jill laughed and dropped the nozzle in the sink before she reached over and grabbed a towel from the counter for him to wipe his shirt with.

With a satisfied grin, Jill turned back to the sink to finish off the couple of dishes that were left. Now all that was left to clean was the mess from the floor, which was easily done. “So… about those cookies,” she said when all the cleaning was done, including the floor, “I think it would be smart to shower before the cookies considering I’m wearing flour, chocolate, and now bubbles thanks to you.”

[payton]

He felt the water hit his stomach but all he could do was laugh. As he had said earlier, he had grown up with Dillion, he knew better than to think he could get away with rubbing the bubbles into Jilli's hair with out expecting retaliation. Thankfully though, water dried, and bubbles could be washed out. Things like that were far easier to take care of then trying to get the entire third year girls dormitory to not kill Ribet or Squeak or clean up aver a million yellow fireworks having been set up in the common room. Those were the pranks that Dill pulled--they were far messier in their aftermath. After he stepped back and Jilli started to clean the bubbles from her hair, he laughed again at the statement she made about him walking up one day in the ocean. "Well then, I guess its a good thing I'm a fairly good swimmer" he remarked back with his eyebrows raised just a bit to high for one to fully trust. his words were hardly finished though when the nozzel had been returned to the sink and Jilli began to try off his shirt a bit. As he had thought before though--water would dry.

From there it was smooth sailing as they finished cleaning the dishes from dinner and the bowls and utensils from Jilli's attempt at making them dinner. Jilli even went the extra mile of drying up the floor and making sure all the counter tops were wiped off. When he looked back over at her she was just finished the 'thanks to you' end of her comment, which trigged a rather pleased grin before he replied back "Well, Tesoro, how about you hop into the shower while I fix us up a batch. Should be about perfect timing." Thankfully cookies were a pretty quick fix. He probably needed a bit of a cleaning himself, but he at least was not covered in flour, chocolate and bubbles and Jilli had pointed out only moments earlier. He would just change into something other than his work attire after while the cookies were in the oven.

[jillian]

Jill grinned at Payton as she continued to rub the bubbles from her hair. She would have been rather upset had it been anyone else but Payton. It had been Payton, though, and that was why she didn’t get angry. “I guess so. If I ever find myself in the center of the ocean, I’ll be dead faster than you say ‘Aiuto!’” Jill stuck her tongue out at her use of Italian and stopped trying to dry off his shirt. She looked up at him, a smile on her face, “It’s rather pointless for me to do this, it’ll dry anyway.” She threw the towel at his face and giggled. “You can dry yourself.” Her eyes danced over him and then turned to finish up. A small smile remained on her face as she finished cleaning. She was happier than she had ever been and that solely because of Payton. Jill wondered if he knew how much she enjoyed living in the same flat as him. During the year was near torture because she didn’t get to eat with him or watch corny old movies or do any of the things they did when they were home. Jill missed the small things when they were gone from her life. Suck it up, Jilli, you’re going to have to get used to it when he goes to Italy. She sighed quietly as the last bit of cleaning was done. She would force herself to think of something else, she never did well when she thought about Payton leaving for Italy over the impending summer.

Biting her bottom lip, Jill nodded in agreement with what Payton was saying. One last smile and a quick kiss on Payton’s cheek and Jill made her way into her bathroom. She quickly got into the shower and rid herself of the flour, chocolate, and bubbles. After 15 minutes, Jill stepped out of the shower. When she was dressed, she ran a towel over her head and left the bathroom. The flat smelled like chocolate chip cookies and Jill felt her stomach grumble. “Cookies here I come!” She called as she entered the kitchen after tossing the towel in the laundry basket just inside her bedroom door. She leaned against the wall, her arms crossed, as she watched Payton with a calm smile on her face. “So what’s this classic movie that I must see about?” The cookies smelled really good, but Jill doubted they were ready yet. She smiled at Payton again as she entered the actual kitchen and hopped onto the counter. “Tell me, Mr. Moore, do cookies go well with ice cream, too?”

((Aiuto = help.))

[payton]

He laughed softly at Jill when she commented on being dead faster than you could say help. “Then Tesoro, we shall make sure you don’t end up in the ocean. He laughed again, then returned Jilli’s expression by sticking his own tongue out at her. He had barely returned to his normal easy going expression when Jilli threw the towel at him and said that he could dry himself. He laughed at the statement and tossed the towel back “Or I could just stay wet for the moment.” He laughed again, thinking that he would change his shirt later anyway and he turned his attention back to the sink. It was strange, but show he and Jilli always seemed to work flawlessly together and it seemed he had hardly started cleaning when the kitchen looked as if hurricane Jill had never hit. He looked back over at Jilli, who agreed to his plan of her getting cleaned up while he started the cookies. She smiled at him again and gave him a quick kiss before she was on her way. He watched her for a moment, then gathered himself again and pulled out the flour and sugar and other ingredients he needed for the cookies. It was a recipe he knew by heart now, and in what seemed like no time, a batch of double-dark-chocolate chip cookies were baking in the over and he went to his room to put on a clean, not to mention dry shirt. Once in his room he found a loose comfortable holiday sweater he had for so long he couldn’t remember exactly which December he got it. It was one of those things that reminded him of home and all the holidays he had celebrated there.

He was still in his room when he heard Jilli call out ‘cookies here I come’ and he laughed as he stepped back out into the hall and walked out to the kitchen behind her. Jilli had looked back to watch him come out, and she asked about the movie. “Well, its about the holidays…and realizing how important you are to the people in your life.” He flashed Jill and easy smile as he walked past her and pulled the tray of cookies out of the oven and proceeded to gently place them on the cooling rack. “Mmmm, ice cream and cookies…rather traditional combination, but I think in this circumstance it just might work.” Still grinning he finished with the last cooking and walked over to the freezer to check and see what they had for ice cream. “Lets see…we have….mint chocolate chip…vanilla caramel swirl…and…rocky road.” He looked back over his shoulder at Jilli, “Pick your poison.”