Three Days Before Christmas
St. Albans — December 2024
Leah genuinely believed she'd behave normally picking Elle up from Heathrow.
That lasted approximately eleven seconds.
"You're grinning again," Beth texted her.
Leah immediately locked her phone.
Traitorous teammates.
Outside arrivals, Christmas music played softly through the terminal while people rushed around carrying wrapping paper bags and winter coats.
London glowed gold with December lights.
And Leah still only looked for one person.
Then suddenly—
there she was.
Black wool coat. Travel bag over one shoulder. Cold pink cheeks from the London winter.
Beautiful.
Leah's entire face softened instantly.
Hopeless.
Absolutely hopeless.
Elle spotted her immediately too, smiling before she'd even fully reached her.
"You look emotional," Elle murmured softly the second Leah wrapped both arms around her.
"I'm festive."
"That's not the same thing."
Maybe not.
But Leah kissed her anyway right there in the middle of Heathrow beneath Christmas decorations and exhausted travellers.
And God—
home again.
That feeling still shocked her every time.
—
St. Albans looked unreal at Christmas.
Amanda had decorated Leah's flat while she was training earlier that week because apparently "footballers can't be trusted with fairy lights."
Which honestly?
Fair.
Very fair.
The tree glowed softly beside the windows while Christmas music played quietly through the apartment and London rain tapped against the glass outside.
Elle stood in the doorway taking it all in.
"You decorated."
Leah looked deeply smug.
"My mother supervised."
"Ah. That makes more sense."
Rude.
But accurate.
The next three days passed frighteningly quickly.
Christmas markets.
Arsenal Christmas dinners.
Late-night walks through London freezing to death while Leah insisted winter "wasn't that cold."
Lies.
Absolute lies.
And somehow the apartment felt even more dangerous now.
Not emotionally dangerous.
Domestic dangerous.
The kind where Elle left skincare products beside Leah's sink without thinking.
The kind where Leah automatically bought oat milk because Elle liked it.
Tiny things.
Real things.
The kind that built a life quietly without either of them noticing.
Then came the presents.
And unfortunately—
both women immediately realised they'd escalated too far.
"Oh no," Elle whispered staring at the pile beneath the tree.
Leah looked defensive instantly.
"It's Christmas."
"You bought multiple boxes."
"So did you."
Fair.
Very fair.
Amanda had gone back home that evening specifically "to give you two privacy," which Leah still physically refused to think about too hard.
Instead they sat cross-legged on the floor beside the tree in oversized hoodies while fairy lights reflected softly around the room.
Leah handed Elle the first gift nervously.
"Okay but don't react dramatically."
"That sentence is never reassuring."
Inside the box sat a Cartier bracelet.
Silence.
Elle looked up slowly.
"Leah."
Leah immediately panicked.
"It's too much."
"No," Elle whispered quickly. "It's beautiful."
Leah relaxed approximately three percent.
Then Elle handed over her gift.
Leah opened the box.
And genuinely stopped breathing for a second.
Vintage Omega watch.
Classic. Elegant. Completely her.
"Oh my God."
"You hate it," Elle concluded immediately.
Leah looked horrified.
"Are you insane?"
Elle laughed softly in relief while Leah stared down at the watch like someone emotionally compromised.
"This is ridiculously expensive."
"So is Cartier."
"Fair."
Then quieter—
"You remembered the one I pointed at in Geneva."
The softness in her voice changed the room instantly.
Because that was the thing about love now.
Not grand gestures.
Remembering things.
Elle smiled gently.
"Of course I did."
Silence settled warmly between them while Christmas lights glowed softly around the apartment.
Then Leah suddenly looked thoughtful.
"What?"
Leah smiled faintly.
"I booked us Miami."
Elle blinked once.
"What?"
"Early January. One week."
"Leah."
"We'll stay with Jackson for a few days," Leah continued casually. "Then a hotel."
Elle stared at her in disbelief.
"You planned a holiday?"
Leah looked smug now.
"I'm evolving."
Hopeless.
Absolutely hopeless.
But then Leah's expression softened slightly.
"And after that..."
There it was.
That tiny nervousness again.
Elle watched her carefully.
"What?"
Leah smiled quietly to herself.
"Then you move to London."
And suddenly the room fell silent.
Because for months it had existed like an idea.
A possibility.
Now suddenly it sounded real.
January.
Two months.
London.
Not visits anymore.
Life.
Elle looked around the apartment softly lit by Christmas lights.
At the piano.
At Leah beside her.
At the home they'd accidentally started building together already.
And for the first time—
the future stopped feeling abstract entirely.