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December 1st

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@havesomefaith

Oh don't mind us, just making holiday plans 🎄 💙

• • • •

The first question Faith got when she went into work that day from her best friend was, "So are you guys dating or not?"

As she took out the usual items for the workday ahead, Faith gave her best friend a knowing look, "No, Cass, we are not dating."

"Is that so?" Cass whipped out her phone, seeming intent on proving her wrong—and Faith found herself looking at the tweet she'd sent earlier that afternoon. "Because this absolutely screams domesticity, babe. So, either you're together or you, my dear best friend, are in deep, deep denial."

"Well, we aren't together, so...how am I in denial?"

Cass gestured to the photo once again, this time more pointedly to Chris' face in the corner of the screen. "You're gonna look me in the eyes and tell me that man is not smitten with you? I mean, nobody's that good of an actor."

Faith rolled her eyes in response, but on the inside, she knew Cass was making some good points. There was something she wasn't willing to concede, though. "Smitten? He was just laughing at something I said..."

"So, as I said before, denial," Cass rolled back to her desk, a satisfied smirk on her lips at having won some invisible battle. "It'll click for you someday."

Despite Cass's words, Faith remained unfazed—or at least, she tried to make it appear that way. Maybe she was being deliberately naïve, but the only other alternative was to come to terms with the very real possibility that Chris was not only crushing on her but was also starting to catch feelings.

That was scary enough on its own. What made it worse was that Faith struggling to figure out how she felt herself.

Their heart to heart a few weeks prior had been good for her. She'd never gotten a chance to really tell her side of the story with Derek, even though he'd taken several opportunities to malign her reputation in the weeks following their breakup. It was part of the reason why she and Cass were so close; she'd essentially been the only one to stand up and defend Faith when everything went down. So, getting to hear the words it's not your fault after years of self-loathing and anxiety was balm for her soul. Especially when it was coming from Chris.

It'd felt like they'd known each other for years, and Faith didn't have that experience with just anyone. Yet something was still holding her back, keeping her from putting a definition on what exactly they were. Friends? Of course. Crushes? Maybe.

Faith sighed as she opened up her work email. She wasn't going to worry herself to death about this. Even with Cass's teasing, she knew there was time to figure out where she stood—and more importantly, how she felt.

After clearing away some of the older messages, Faith maneuvered to the top of the inbox to see an email from someone she didn't recognize. Opening it, she almost thought it was a prank...but upon further inspection, she realized it was legitimate.

Ms. Beaumont,

My name is Anna and I work for Good Morning America (GMA), specifically as part of Robin Roberts' press team. Our office has caught wind of your contest win and your Oscars date with Chris Evans and are reaching out to see if you would be willing to do an interview about it for our Pop Culture segment! We'd cover all costs for flight and hotel accommodations.

We know you're a very busy woman, so we would want to conduct this interview a little closer to the Oscars date, likely in the first week of January, as to not disrupt your reporting schedule with The Athletic.

If you are interested, please reply directly to this email so we can go over the details.

Look forward to hearing from you soon,

Anna Goldman

Media Liaison, ABC Studios New York

Needless to say, Faith was shocked—for years she'd been the one to do the interviewing, but now the Robin Roberts wanted to do a story on her? It was almost too good to be true...

No. She wasn't going to start with the self-deprecation—this was a great opportunity, and it was being given because of who she was. And she couldn't wait to tell Chris.

• • • •

December 25th

As the kitchen timer went off, Faith sprang up from the couch. "What time is it?"

Chris leaned over to read the wall clock above the sink. "Uh, 4:30. And that timer was for the ham."

"Got it," She grabbed two oven mitts and went to the oven to check on it. "Who's arriving first and at what time?"

"Scott and Zach are supposed to be here at five, but they may come early. Luckily we have just about everything finished."

After double checking the temperature, Faith pulled the ham out of the oven and set it down on the counter next to the prime rib roast he'd made earlier. After basting it with a brown sugar glaze, she let out a low whistle. "Dang, that looks incredible. I think I outdid myself with this one."

"Gloating already, are we? Where's your Christmas spirit?" He teased.

She rolled her eyes and lightly bumped her hip against his. "Shut up. If it makes you feel any better, we're both knocking it out of the park today. The whole place smells amazing."

"Well, I'm not surprised," He responded, a small smile on his lips. "We make a pretty good team if you ask me."

And there it was. That smile he absolutely loved to see.

Chris was acutely aware that ever since their heart to heart last month, things between he and Faith felt like they were changing. Talking as they had, both getting the opportunity to be vulnerable and open, was like a door being opened. Or like seeing through a new pair of glasses.

Admitting to himself that he was crushing on her was simple enough. But their connection was starting to run deeper, for him at least, and although he was having trouble defining it at this stage, he knew that the word crush—especially after today—wasn't going to cut it anymore.

A knock on the front door brought Chris out of his reverie, and before he could make the move to, Faith had already gone to the front door and looked through the peephole. Dodger got up from his bed and joined her, curious to see who was there.

"It's Scott and Zach," Faith said excitedly before unlocking the door and welcoming them inside. As they exchanged introductions and pleasantries, Chris couldn't help but to smile at the sight. He knew how invested Scott was in his friendship with Faith, although because of it Chris knew they were definitely in for some embarrassing moments as the day wore on.

"Merry Christmas!" Scott exclaimed in a tone that was louder than necessary. "Ho ho ho in this bih!"

Chris laughed at his little brother's antics. "Hey guys, merry Christmas. You're early—not that I was expecting anything else."

"Hey, don't look at me," Zach said after kicking off his shoes. He and Scott had been dating for two years and the Evanses absolutely adored him. "Scott's the one who wanted to hurry and come over so he could meet Faith."

"Stop exposing me!" Scott turned his nose up at Zach playfully, while Faith chuckled in response. Turning to her, he said, "I just wanted to finally meet the woman my brother hasn't been able to stop talking about the past few months, that's all."

"Shut the hell up, Scott," Grabbing a nearby fork sitting on the counter, Chris turned around and pointed it at his brother. "Don't tempt me, I will use this."

"Sureeee you will..." And he simply carried on the conversation with Faith as if Chris hadn't said a word.

Before redirecting his attention back to the dessert he was making, Chris took a moment to silently observe the scene before him. Something that felt a lot like butterflies entered his stomach as he did so.

Faith was getting to know his family, one of the most important things to him. They'd spent the day together making a Christmas dinner with all the trimmings. Couple that with the soft crooning of Frank Sinatra's "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" playing from the Bluetooth speaker in the living room, and the only thought going through Chris' mind in that moment was, I could get used to something like this.

• • • •

Faith couldn't remember the last time she'd had this much fun during the holidays. Of course, time spent with her family was always fun, but getting to know the Evans family felt infinitely more special.

Scott was a joy to be around, and she could tell that she'd made a good impression on both him and Zach. Their sister, Carly, had brought her kids and husband, and after dinner they were having the absolute most fun opening presents and playing with Dodger.

And Mrs. Evans—Lisa, as she'd insisted on Faith to call her even though she wasn't used to something like that given her upbringing—was exactly the kind of woman Faith expected her to be. Warm, kind and inviting.

Dinner had left them all stuffed, but everyone couldn't stop singing she and Chris' praises at how good the food was. Faith was proud of what they'd accomplished, even though Chris had been nervous about his cooking skills, everything turned out amazing.

"So, Faith, you work for the Celtics, right?" Lisa asked as all the adults sat in the living room sipping on hot cocoa. From the window nearest her, snow fell lightly, putting a perfect end to the evening.

"Yep, I write for The Athletic specifically," She answered from her spot near Chris. The couch ended up being a bit crowded, so she'd taken the easy chair while he sat near her feet.

"That's amazing," Lisa responded. "Do you get to meet any of the players?"

"From time to time. I'm not one of the bigger writers out there, but a couple of them know me by name."

"Don't sell yourself short," Chris replied. "She's an incredible writer, Mom. Most of the time I'm too busy to watch the games live, but Faith's recaps make it feel like you were there."

He'd never really praised her writing before. And it must've shown on her face, for Scott looked over at her in the split second of silence and mouthed, he's whipped!

Faith rolled her eyes in response, but the smile on her face was hard to wipe away. "Thanks. I love what I do, so it's really obvious in my writing."

"I'll bet," Carly said warmly. "It's been so nice getting to know you, Faith. Chris has been so much happier since you guys became friends."

Chris leaned his head back to look up at her. "She's a good influence on me."

'Friends?" Lisa raised an eyebrow. "My mistake, I thought you two were dating..."

Chris sat up so fast he almost knocked over her cup of hot chocolate. "What gave you that idea?"

Lisa chuckled, taking a sip from her reindeer mug. "Mother's intuition, as they say. But you're not in high school anymore, son. I'm not going to bug you about the pretty girls you spend your time with."

Everyone laughed at Lisa's response, including Faith, although she felt like it wasn't as genuine as it could've been. Maybe that was because she suddenly found Chris was looking at her, expression unreadable.

She wished she could read his mind. What was he thinking?  Could it be that his Mom's comment had stirred up a realization in him? That even she could sense a connection deeper than either of them were able to put into words?

That maybe, just maybe, although they weren't together...that they wanted to be?

• • • •

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• • • •

beauvans: the CEOs of not being honest about their stupid feelings 💀💀

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