Which Mistletoe?

Thirteen: Reminiscing Burgers

Elara’s POV

I went to the fire station for the first day of gift-wrapping. The donation boxes were already filling up, and a few volunteers had started early. Noah was there, laughing with his team as he wrapped presents. Andrei was across the room with their Chief, both focused and surprisingly neat with their bows.

“Hey, come. You can help me sort here.”

I froze when Lisa hooked her arm around mine and dragged me toward her station. Out of instinct, I glanced back—Noah and Andrei had both lifted their heads, eyes following me.

“Okay,” I murmured, grabbing a stack of gifts. Each one already had a name and a wishlist attached. All we had to do was sort them by street.

Lisa kept sneaking glances at me—like a tea kettle about to whistle.

“So…” There it is. “You and Noah?”

“What about… us?”

“What’s your relationship with him?”

I shrugged. “Nothing. We’re friends. We grew up together.”

She pressed a hand to her chest dramatically. “Oh thank God. I thought you two were a thing. Phew.”

She went back to sorting. “I kinda want to get back together with him. Can you help me with that?”

I stopped mid-read. “Me? Uh…”

“C’mon! You guys are always together, and he’s always at your place. I see his truck.”

I didn’t know what to say. My stomach twisted, my throat suddenly dry. She was asking me to help her get back with the man who literally confessed his feelings for me? Make that make sense.

“Sorry,” I said with a polite smile. “I don’t meddle in other people’s relationships.”

“You’re right, sorry for asking. How about Andrei? What’s your relationship with him?”

Wow. She really won’t shut up.

“This batch is finished. Let me just put this over there.”

Anywhere far away from her invasive questions.

I tried lifting the box. I could do it, but both men rushed over at the same time.

“El, let me.” Noah beat Andrei by a second, lifting the box with no effort.

“You shouldn’t be carrying that,” Andrei added, one hand at the small of my back as he guided me toward his table with the Chief. “Come wrap with us.”

I greeted the Chief. He looked intimidating but smiled warmly. He mentioned he knew my dad before returning to whatever discussion he and Andrei were having.

Andrei kept helping me with little things—passing tape, straightening ribbons—without breaking the flow of his conversation with the Chief. Somehow, he was attentive and engaged at the same time. When I glanced up, Noah was staring at me. Not glancing—staring. Like he’d been doing it for a while. His eyes held questions… and something unspoken.

My shoulders tightened. Stress was starting to wrap around me again.

“Lunch break!” someone shouted. Chairs scraped, people moved. Some headed outside; others pulled out their lunch boxes.

“Come with us, we’ll eat at the diner, Ms. Elara,” the Chief offered.

“Oh, uhm—”

“She’ll eat with me, Chief.” Noah took my hand, quick and sure, and before I knew it we were outside, his grip still firm around mine.

“Let’s eat at The Shack,” he said.

My face lit up. “That place is still open?”

We got into his truck. We used to eat there in high school. The fries were soggy, the milkshakes tasted a little funny—but the burgers? The best. I hoped they hadn’t changed.

Noah ordered for both of us. After all this time, he still knew my exact order. The place looked the same—aged, sure, but the same cozy chaos, the same familiar warmth.

“This is weird,” I said under my breath.

“What is?”

“How something can change and… not change at all? I feel like I’m eighteen all over again.”

Noah smiled. “Some things never change, I guess.”

He said it while looking at me—not the place.

“Do you remember when we snuck out to eat here, and neither of us brought our wallets?” I was already laughing at the memory.

“No way I’ll forget that. I still think Elias sold us out.”

“You’re still salty about that?”

“He could’ve warned us,” he muttered, but he was smiling.

Our food arrived, and for a moment, everything stilled.

Noah watched me take my first bite like he was watching an old habit he’d missed.

And I hated how warm that made my chest feel.

“You okay?” he asked softly.

I nodded. “Just… overwhelmed.”

“By the gifts? Or… something else?”

I met his eyes.

He didn’t look away this time.

And it felt like the kind of moment people in movies ruin by talking too soon.

I swallowed.

I wasn’t ready for this conversation.

Not yet.

“Both,” I said, and he nodded like he knew exactly what I meant.

And maybe he did.

We walked out of The Shack slower than we came in. My stomach was full, but my chest felt tight—like something was waiting to happen, hovering between us.

The cold hit my cheeks, sharp and grounding. Noah opened the passenger door for me, but I paused before getting in, my hand resting on the cold metal.

“Noah?” I said, surprising even myself.

“Yeah?” he asked, leaning his forearm on the truck roof, waiting.

The silence between us stretched—thick, heavy, impossible to ignore.

“I feel like you’re…I don’t know.” I swallowed. “Watching me.”

His jaw tightened—not in anger, but in that way he does when he’s trying to choose his words carefully.

“I am,” he admitted.

I inhaled sharply. He didn’t even hesitate.

“Noah—”

“Let me explain before you panic,” he said softly.

He stepped back, giving me space, hands in his pockets like he didn’t trust himself to reach for me.

“El, we’ve been dancing around this for days. And I get that you have a lot going on, but I’m not going to pretend nothing happened. Not after I—" He paused, searching my face. “Not after I told you how I feel.”

My breath felt stuck in my lungs.

“I’m not ignoring it,” I whispered.

“You are,” he said, but gently. “You’re trying so hard to pretend everything is normal that you’re hurting yourself.”

I looked away, toward the snow-dusted sidewalk, where everything looked simpler.

“Noah… I don’t know what to do.”

“About me,” he said quietly. Not a question.

I closed my eyes.

“About everything,” I admitted. “About you and Andrei, and this whole mess. About why things feel so different but also the same. And I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

He nodded slowly, lips pressed together.

“Can I tell you something without you running away?”

“I’m not running away.”

“No, but you’re… stepping backwards.” His eyes softened. “From me.”

That hit harder than it should’ve.

I finally met his gaze. “Say it.”

He exhaled like he’d been waiting for that.

“El… I’m in love with you. I always have been. Even when I tried not to be. Even when you moved. Even when you forgot to call.”

His voice cracked just slightly. “And seeing you back here, pretending you don’t feel anything—it’s killing me.”

My throat burned.

The cold suddenly felt warmer than his words.

“You don’t know what I feel,” I whispered.

“Then tell me,” he said. “Tell me I’m wrong and I’ll back off. I swear I will.”

He stepped closer—not touching, but close enough that I felt the heat of him.

“Elara… tell me you feel nothing, and I’ll let you go.”

My breath hitched. My fingers felt numb, not from the cold.

Tell him you feel nothing.

Easy. Say it.

Say it and everything goes back to normal.

But when I opened my mouth, nothing came out.

Because lying to him felt like suffocating myself.

“Noah…” My voice trembled. “I’m scared.”

He blinked, something gentle breaking through the pain in his eyes.

“Of what?” he asked.

“Of choosing wrong,” I whispered. “Of hurting you. Of hurting him. Of ruining everything that was good in my life before I even understood it.”

Snowflakes drifted between us, landing on his hair, melting on his jacket.

Noah didn’t move for a moment.

Then:

“You don’t have to choose right now.”

His voice was steady again, solid in the way only he could be. “Just… stop acting like nothing is happening.”

I let out a shaky breath I didn’t know I was holding.

He gave a small, soft smile. “That’s all I’m asking.”

We stood there, suspended in something fragile and unspoken, until he gently opened the door for me again.

“El.”

I looked up.

“Whatever happens,” he said quietly, “I’m not going anywhere.”

And God—

that made my heart ache in ways I wasn’t ready to deal with.