I've got thick skin and an elastic heart

I opened my eyes slowly and closed them again, enjoying a few more seconds in bed before getting up. Aria and I had been in London for almost a month now and we had adjusted quickly. We even had a routine now, I woke up before she did, we made breakfast together before she went to work, then I spent the rest of the day killing time until she was done filming. The city was great, I loved the cold weather, the dark gloomy clouds that often matched my mood, the parks, the alleys, I was even developing a new love for tea. London fit me, that was for sure, the house we lived in had all the comforts, Aria seemed happy...but I still didn't feel completely myself. I was trying to.

Getting out of the bed quietly, I walked towards the kitchen to make coffee, my mind already working fast as I glanced around. It was our first Christmas just us alone and it was our first Christmas as husband and wife too. It was insane.

"Merry Christmas baby." Aria's voice broke the silence as I felt her arms wrap around my waist and I jumped.

"F.uck I didn't hear you." I muttered under my breath and turned around, caging her thin body in my arms as I leaned my forehead against hers. "Merry Christmas babe. No breakfast in bed?" I asked with a vaguely amused tone.

She smirked and shook her head, lifting onto her tiptoes to kiss my lips. "If I go back to bed I'll sleep until tomorrow. But feel free to spoil me like a queen anyway, I'll watch." She made a silly face then pulled away from me to hop on the island in the middle of the kitchen.

"I see no crown on that head." I pointed out and started cutting bread into slices before sliding them into the toaster, "Where's my crown instead?" I retorted.

She faked a serious face, dangling her legs, "Maybe it's in one of those boxes under the Christmas tree."

I raised one eyebrow at her but I couldn't help smirking, "I hope you didn't peek into any or you'll get nothing but spanks."

"Oops," Aria said while forming a perfect O with her mouth, seconds later breaking into a huge smile. She laughed as I stared at her with an eyebrow raised and shook her head, "I'm only joking! I didn't peek. I've been a good girl this year."

My expression softened and I chuckled, focusing on finding the condiments for the toast as I shook my own head, "Anything but a good girl, you mean."

"Hey! I'm not that bad," She retorted with a mischievous grin. "And you like when I'm naughty anyways... I'm pretty sure you encourage it."

"Why would I do such a thing?" I asked, faking a serious expression.

She raised an eyebrow at me, "Because you're even naughtier than me..."

My eyes found hers after I set a few jams and butter on the counter, "Does it mean neither of us will get Christmas presents?"

"They're already under the tree," She let her expression match mine and shrugged her shoulders. "We can't send them back now."

"Why, don't you think Santa would take them back?" I asked as I poured myself a cup of coffee and filled her glass with oj instead, a ridiculous grin on my face while I kept focused on what I was doing. It was weird how during the past months I was sillier, but only when I was with Aria, because I was more serious too at the same time...but that was when I was alone with myself.

She faked a frown and accepted the glass from my hand, "I hate to be the one telling you this...but Santa doesn't exist."

I broke into a laugh before sitting on a stool and reaching for my own cup, "Way to ruin my Christmas." I added finally before sipping my coffee.

She let a smirk play on her lips, looking pleased with herself and her sense of humor, "Don't worry, I can be your Santa baby." She said seriously before attacking her breakfast.

I watched her eat, wishing we could take things this slow everyday because my wife was my only cure to my chronic bad mood. It wasn't healthy though. "I have a feeling you are already."

"You didn't peek, did you?" She asked, giving me a silly grin.

I shook my head, "No." I paused to take a bite of toasted bread, "But I'm already a little disappointed since it's obvious that you didn't get me a baby wolf."

Aria laughed at my response and shook his head, "We travel too much to have any pets. Plus wasn't there a strict no dogs allowed rule in our lease?"

I lifted an eyebrow, knowing that she had a point but I was never the one to admit she was right. And if I wanted something, really wanted something, I didn't care about rules, I just changed them. "I want a wolf, not a dog," I clarified and she laughed again.

"Maybe when we settle down and decide where we'll be living permanently, then we can get you a baby wolf."

I stared at her for a moment then sighed since we were still bouncing back and forth between certain parts of California and even though we'd made a lot of progress, our future living situation still wasn't set in stone. "So what did you get me then?" I asked finally and she grinned.

"I can't spoil any surprises! We'll open presents after we finish eating," She said seriously, even though she was always the curious one, one who hated surprised too unless they came from me. "Or more like, you watch me finish eating," She added.

"I'm surprised you're eating at all." I shot her an amused look as I watched her, thinking about how much we had eaten the night before. On one hand it had been weird, it was just the two of us on a festivity that was supposed to be shared with family, then again, we were our family now and it felt real good too. "Actually, I'm not."

She widened her eyes in mock offence, "Are you saying I eat too much?" She retorted before stuffing her mouth with a piece of toasted bread, her lips pursing together and curving into a silly grin.

"You're still so thin no one could tell you eat like a little animal." I said back and grinned myself, pushing the loose strand of her hair behing her ear.

She swatted my hand away, "Careful with your words Mr Pitt, it's Christmas and you're being very bad."

I let out a sigh, a content one, before finishing my coffee and setting the empty cup into the sink. I swear, sometimes I felt like I was becoming a desperate housewife, then again, I had always liked to have a tidy clean apartment even when I didn't live with Aria...only I paid people to do that. Now, with so much free time in my hands it was one of the things that kept me busy. "I've been good all year, maybe I got tired of it."

"Mhm, I don't know about that." She raised one eyebrow and finished her breakfast, licking her lips before breaking into a wide smile, "Now, presents."

"Already? I thought you were in no hurry." I teased her, getting back an unimpressed face from her as she got up and walked to the other room where the Christmas tree was. I followed her, my eyes dropping a moment on her perfect a.ss before metting her eyes again. I could tell she was excited, curious too, while I, just like always, I had no idea if she would like the presents. The thing with Aria was that she already had everything, and even what she didn't have, she could get by herself since money wasn't a problem. I didn't see the point of getting her things with no meaning so I usually found myself thinking hard to have an idea. This time, it had been harder than usual. In the end I had gotten her a special photo album if you could call it that, where t here were pictures of us through the years, but what made it different and a little silly too was that all the photos were coming from gossip sites and magazines. Erin had helped me with that, of course. In addition to that I had made fake vouchers for things I never wanted to do, like going shopping or spend a whole day in bed, so that she could effectively force me to do any of those whenever she wanted. The last present was a more serious one, just as meaningful as the others, and it was a wedding band that matched mine, since she only had the emerald ring I had given her when I had asked her to marry me, on the inside only one word engraved: mine.

"I'm always in a hurry when presents are involved," Aria grinned.

I raised an eyebrow but my smile was still in place, watching her sit down Indian style on the floor and grab a present that I had wrapped, giving it a little shake. "Are you trying to break your presents now?" I asked in amusement, eyeing her as she handed over one of the presents she had bought me instead. "What is it?" I glanced down at the envelope then back at her. Was that money?

"I can't spoil it for you! Open it," She replied and smiled nervously, which was what always happened when she had to give me presents, she got nervous, but I always loved what she got me eventually.

"You open yours first," I retorted and she shook her head, grinning now because this was getting a little silly. With a sigh, I mumbled "fine" to myself and opened the envelope, taking a moment to read the ticket which was a pass for all of the museums in London. I liked art, history, and exploring...and my wife knew me really well.

"I know that I'm already your muse, but I thought that might get your creativity flowing," She said before I had the chance to speak.

I looked at my wife and felt my lips widen in a big smile. I was...touched, as lame as it sounded. She had to be thinking hard for a present like this and I was really surprised. And it took me a lot to be surprised. I kneeled down next to her, lifting her chin with one finger as I looked into her eyes, "Thank you babe. I couldn't have thought a better present myself." I said and grinned a little before pressing my lips against hers.

She smirked back against her lips, looking satisfied by my reaction, "You're welcome. And I'm happy you finally agree I have better idea than you do."

"Now, my muse is getting a little too cocky." I joked as I sat on the floor, my arm encircling her waist losely and for the first time in years I felt younger than I was instead of feeling older.

"You should've stopped at thank you." She said and faked a serious face which didn't last more than one second before breaking into another grin. "Now you can finally go around and explore more instead of staying home and be my maid."

"Your maid?" I echoed her and laughed, always liking the way she joked. Fuck I was really becoming lame. "You're pushing that now gorgeous."

She kept smirking as she leaned into me, tilting her head back against my shoulder, "My slave, even better."

"I'm so close to spank you until your ass is as red as santa's hat." I whispered, leaning my forehead against hers.

"I hope that's not your present or I warn you, I'll be very disappointed." She said back. My little comedian was in a great shape.

"Only one way to find out." I shrugged, eyeing the presents she still had to unwrap. I was surprised she had let me open mine first, I guessed she had been more nervous than I was.

"True..." Aria trailed off with her silly grin still in place, fetching what looked like the biggest present under the tree. She gave it a little shake and brought her eyes back up to meet mine, "It feels like a book!"

"Yes Ar, I got you a book because I know how much you love reading," I joked back while she shook her head, both of us grinning at each other because every time she tried to read a book? She fell asleep.

"Well now I'm curious," She said while tearing into the paper and finding not a book, but the photo album. She glanced at me once more before turning the pages of the album slowly, finding page after page of our life together throughout the years. "Did you make this??" She asked and looked back up at me.

I shrugged nonchalantly, acting like it wasn't a big deal and while it wouldn't be for most people, it was for me instead. I hated gossip sites and magazines, but my wife always kept an eye on those and she always complained about us not having enough photos together. "Kind of." I said cryptically.

She broke into a grin as she turned another page, "What do you mean kind of?" She asked with curiosity mixed with amusement in her tone.

"I had the idea and Erin helped me." I explained simply, sure she wouldn't be surprised about that. After all my assistent had been the one leaving magazines all around my office with pictures of Aria and me just to annoy me, even if that was when we were barely a couple. Now she just emailed me hilarious articles about how I was terrible to my wife. Of course.

"I bet she had a lot of fun going through all this stuff." She kept her smirk in place before pointing at one photo, "Look at how young we were here!" She explained and widened her eyes a little, them back to mine.

I glanced at the picture briefly, it was as if that wasn't even me anymore. I was so different now from that guy, and not just because I didn't even have facial hair back then. "We were kids." I commented but couldn't help smirking a little myself. We had gone so far together. I tilted my head down and pressed a kiss on her shoulder before nuzzling her neck, the room falling quiet.

"Are you falling asleep on me?" She asked.

"I will if you're so slow with these damn presents." I muttered against her skin, my lips curving into a smirk as I tightened my arms around her waist.

Aria grinned slowly and ran a hand through my hair which was still messy, her hand only making it worse. "I can't open presents when you're cuddling me... and it's your turn," She said quietly.

I pulled my head back and lifted an eyebrow, "I already opened my present."

"I didn't get you just one!" She motioned towards a box that was set beside me.

"You first," I retorted and she sighed, still smiling as she reached for one of her presents and opened it. Her eyebrow lifted as she looked at the vouchers than up at me. She flipped through them slowly and her grin spread instantly, "You're going to take me shopping, give me a massage, and cook me dinner all in one day?"

A laugh escaped me and I shook my head, "Read the fine print. You can only use one per day, can't combine coupons."

She laughed and rolled her eyes then kept reading them, "I wonder which one I'll cash in on today..."

"They can't be used on holidays."

"Seb!" She laughed and stared at me.

"You can use it, but it'd be a waste." I said as I did my best to keep a straight face. Also I wasn't in the mood for giving massages.

She raised one eyebrow slowly, still looked really amused, which was all that mattered to me, "Do you mind tell me why?"

I finally let a smirk curve my lips, poking her side and making her snort like a cute animal before I pulled away just so slightly. "Because I'm already spoiling you enough." I pointed out matter of factly.

"And I'm not spoiling you instead?" She retorted.

"I guess it depends from this present." I shrugged nonchalantly even though it wasn't true. I liked teasing my wife, it was what kept our marriage solid and far from boring. If we turned into those couple who always agreed on everything and took each other too seriously? I would kill myself.

"Lies." She narrowed her eyes on me before watching me unwrap the box.

I did that slowly, taking my time because I knew she was impatient. So I did the opposite, of course. Once I was done, I realized that what I was holding was a brand new camera. An amazing one. "Is this present for me or for you?" I asked and grinned wide, impressed and happy with what I was getting too.

"Maybe I'm getting you too silly, I don't know if I like that." She said back flatly.

I laughed and wrapped my arm around her shoulder to pull her into me, pressing a big kiss on her cheek, "Thanks babe. I can't wait to film you with this." I said honestly.

"Naked." She added.

"See? I knew this was for you." I said again as I turned the camera on and started recording, just in time for her to smack me playfully and laugh.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She retorted but was still grinning, looking far from innocent, "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying my new toy." I smirked and watched her through the lens, admiring her beauty and zooming on her gorgeous smile.

"Stop that!" She protested with a chuckled and set her hand in front of me, forcing me to turn the camera off.

I shook my head and sighed, putting my brand new camera away. "Way to kill my enthusiasm."

She scooped closer to me, cuddling against my side, "I didn't even wash my face, I look like hell."

"Just because hell is where all the fun is." I grinned at my wife before nodding at the small box still sitting under the tree, "You're not done with presents babe."

Aria leaned forward and grabbed the box that was still waiting for her. She gave it a little shake and grinned when I sighed again, my smile not faltering even slightly. "What is it?" She asked with wide eyes, curious of course but still not opening it because, just like I always said, there was pleasure in waiting too. Not that she'd ever admit it.

I shook my head, "I'm not telling."

She sighed but grinned wider and slowly ripped into the paper, unwrapping until she reached the velvet box. She peeked at me once more than opened the box and genuinely widened her eyes in shock, "A ring?"

"A wedding band," I replied, even though it was pretty obvious, it matched my own after all. She slid the ring onto her ring finger, it looking complete beside her emerald ring. "Not so fast," I added and she looked up at me in confusion. "It's engraved..."

"Is it?" She replied and took it off, smiling big when she read the only word engraved inside the band: Mine. "Oh baby," She said quietly before putting the ring back on quickly, fast enough that only second later her arms were wrapped around my neck and she was on my lap. "I love it. All of my gifts! Everything was perfect," She said seriously, smiling up at me so wide.

I grinned back at her, tucking her hair behind her ear, "I think I did good." I said smugly, finally able to relax completely since I never knew how she could react to presents.

"I think I did too." She said back as her smile turned into a smirk and she leaned into me further, only waiting for me to kiss her lips as I did.

I nodded in agreement, since that was obvious. "What do you want to do today?" I asked after a moment, thinking about how different Christmas was when you spent it with your other half only. I wasn't complaining though, actually so far it was pretty good.

She shrugged nonchalantly as she set her head on my chest, cuddling against me and going limp in my hold, "I don't know you're the one who makes plans usually."

"I didn't make any." I retorted and once again I thought about how things had changed from the beginning, where she'd find that almost annoying while now she enjoyed the laziness she could get from me being in control of everything. "We should Skype our families." I added as a second thought.

"They're still sleeping now." She pointed out and of course she was right. "You know we should take a nap too. All this unwrapping presents exhausted me."

I let out a soft laugh, "I'll keep that in mind for next year. Less presents." I said, watching her pull her head back to look at me with a silly but not amused expression on her face.

"Don't you dare." She said seriously before grinning again, "Today I want to nap, make love, eat and watch movies."

"Don't I have a say in that?" I asked even though that sounded perfectly fine for me too. Maybe I'd add a walk to the list too.

She shook her head as she tried keeping a straight face, "No. You had no plans."

I sighed and wrapped my arms tighter around her as I got up, carrying her back to our bedroom, "I do now."

Aria bit down on her lip to keep from laughing, her eyes on my face as she studied it, "Which will you choose first? Nap time or sex?"

"I was planning on putting you down for a nap and going for a walk," I said nonchalantly, setting her down in the center of the bed as her eyebrows knit together. "You don't like the sound of that?"

"Why are you so cruel to me?" She asked but a smile was creeping onto her lips.

"We'd both get what we want. It's a win-win situation," I retorted, still managing a straight face while she reached for my shirt to tug me onto the bed with her. "Are you trying to rip my shirt now??"

She laughed and cuddled up beside me, "You shouldn't be allowed to wear shirts when we're at home and alone."

"You'd never be able to focus if I walked around naked all the time," I said back with a cocky smirk, resting my eyes for a moment.

"That's why I said half naked," She grinned before kissing my cheek.

I peeked one eye open and shot her a look, "What was that?"

She blinked at me instead, looking a little confused. "What was what?"

"The thing on my cheek." I answered with a straight face even though it was hard. The look on her own face was priceless.

As soon as she heard my words she rolled her eyes and wrapped her legs around my waist, pulling me against her and then rolling us over so that she was on top of me now. "Are you going to complain even on Christmas?" She asked back but I could see the hint of amusement into her eyes.

I ran my hand up her back until I reached her nape, cupping it and holding her close to me as a smile curved my lips, "About what? I have everything I want right now."