“How long has this sat here?” Valerie asked, blowing dust off a red and green box.

“Probably years. My parents weren’t big on decorating,” Hayden replied. He and Valerie were getting ready to spend their first holiday season at his parents’ old home. The house was a gift from them to the newlyweds since they had moved south.

Valerie opened it and pulled out a string of Christmas lights. They were tangled, but still intact. “Have you ever strung lights before?” She looked to Hayden.

“No, but how hard can it be?” Valerie rolled her eyes. Hayden had a habit of believing that difficult tasks were simpler than they seemed. This led to a lot of cleaning up for her.

“We’re not even sure if these work yet. Maybe you should look up some tutorials online?”

“I bet they do. I’ll be fine. Let’s test it!” Hayden took them from Valerie, jumbling them. He scrambled for the plug and inserted it into a nearby outlet. The bulbs flickered on, blinking as they did so. “See? They work!”

“I guess. They’re not very bright, though.”

“Do you want to buy new lights?”

“No, it’s fine. We can use these,” Valerie said, an edge in her voice.

“Perfect, let’s get started then!” Hayden sang. Not waiting for Valerie’s reply, he disappeared. She stood in the attic alone, frustrated. Hayden always did things like this, jumping in headfirst without her. After a few moments, she followed him.

By the time Valerie made it outside, Hayden was already up on a ladder with the tangled lights. He hoped he would be fast enough that she wouldn’t have to worry.

“Did you not untangle them first?”

“No, I figured I’d do it as I go!” he shouted.

“Can you just come back down? I’ll help sort them out. You’ll fall trying to do it up there.”

“I’m okay,” Hayden said, wobbling as he spoke. He was balanced on the steps, both hands working on the lights. Valerie rushed to steady it, heart racing.

“Why don’t you ever listen?” she muttered.

“What was that?”

“Nothing, be careful.”

Valerie watched as Hayden continued to struggle. She let him continue for half an hour until she had had enough.

“Hayden, come down. I’m done holding the ladder!”

“It’s okay, honey. Go inside. I’ll grab you when they’re ready.”

“It’s too windy, and they’re still tangled! This is getting ridiculous!”

Hayden looked at Valerie, hurt in his eyes. He continued messing with the them.

“Hayden! Seriously, get down!”

“No, I’ve got it!”

“The wind’s picking up, come down!” Valerie’s grip slipped on the ladder.

“It’s fine,” Hayden tried to yelp, catching onto the roof as it fell. Valerie gasped in horror as he scrambled to balance on the edge.

“Are you okay?” she yelled.

“I’m fine, help me down from here!” Valerie rushed to set the ladder back up, holding it steady as Hayden came down.

“I told you, perfectly fine!” Hayden smiled. He appeared to be unscathed.

“You could have really hurt yourself, Hayden.”

“But I didn’t.”

“If you waited this wouldn’t have happened,” she snapped. Hayden nodded. Valerie struggled with the lights, frustration mounting until she stormed inside.

“Valerie,” Hayden started as he followed.

“Don’t. I’m tired of you thinking you can do everything,” Valerie said, meeting his eyes.

“I wanted to take care of this for you,” he replied. She shook her head. How could he not see how reckless he was?

“How are you going to take care of things for me when you’re putting your life in danger like that? I can’t keep running in and fixing things for you. You need to slow down before you hurt us both.”

“I can’t just slow down. You plan and you think so much that sometimes I think I have to jump in to do things for you. If I don’t, you’ve already got it all figured out, and I’m useless.”

“What do you mean?”

“Sometimes you’ll say that you have a project you want to get done. If I don’t do it right away, you’ve already gone and finished it.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize.”

“It’s just hard, because if I don’t stay on top of things, you’re taking care of it. I want to be the one to do that.”

“Hayden, I know. But you need to let me help.”

“I’m sorry, Valerie.”

“Me too.”

They spent the rest of the day decorating the indoors. At first, tension simmered between them and they worked in silence, still carrying the weight of what had happened. But as they moved together, a rhythm began to form in quiet; a silent understanding grew. They went room by room, Valerie picked out decor and Hayden put things together. Slowly, her heart became lighter, and she forgave him.

“Let’s go outside and get this done,” she said to Hayden.

This time, Valerie carefully untangled the cords. Hayden got back up on the ladder and, with her help, covered the house in the old, twinkling lights. When he came back down, a blanket of snow fell from the sky.

“We did it just in time,” Valerie said as snowflakes flurried.

Hayden turned to Valerie. He took her in his arms and spun her around in the cold. They danced and danced until they couldn’t feel their faces or hands.

“You and me from now on?” he asked.

“That sounds perfect.”

“Merry Christmas, Valerie.”

Editor: Lucy Cafiero