#christmas parties and last minute gift shopping awaits
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#Harry the traitor#King Charles the weak#have a great weekend#christmas parties and last minute gift shopping awaits
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it’s not christmas ‘til you come home
a/n: hello!! please enjoy this piece from my dad!harry universe! (u dont have to read any of them for it to make sense, but it would be cool if u did! loosely based on it’s not christmas ‘til you come home by norah jones <3 hope you enjoy! thank u to @harryysstyless for beta reading for me!! happy holidays everyone :)
warnings: SMUT, a bit of angst <3
word count: ~5.1k
my ko-fi! thank you :)
December 23rd, 2:00 PM
For as long as you and Harry have been in a relationship, you’ve never not spent a Christmas together.
Before expanding your family, you and he used to hop from party to party every Christmas Eve. Both of you would be absolutely trashed by the time Harry’s driver would drop you off at his house in the early hours of the morning. You’d sleep in until approximately noon, willing your hangovers to go away before finally making it down the stairs and into the kitchen to prepare two steaming cups of coffee. The two of you would then make your way into the living room and exchange gifts (where Harry always went way over the budget you’d set).
Once you had your first child, Allison, your yearly tradition of party hopping and getting so drunk you could hardly put one foot in front of the other was no more. Instead, you and Harry opted for calm nights in, watching Christmas movies and drinking hot cocoa until she eventually grew tired and got carried up to bed. You would wait an hour or so before springing into action, playing Santa and setting out all of the gifts she asked for and then some. Harry never forgot to take a big bite out of the cookie and carrot left out for Santa and his reindeer.
This tradition stayed the same once your second baby, Oliver, was born. Even though he was too young to know what was going on, Harry was still excited to spoil him rotten this year as it was his first Christmas. However, given the current state of the world, you were afraid Harry would not be here for the first time ever.
“Mumma, when’s daddy coming home?” your six-year-old, Ally, asked for what had to be the seventh time that afternoon. “I made him a drawing for his gift ‘nd I can’t wait for him to see it!”
“Let me see what you drew for Daddy, love bug,” you say cheerily, purposefully glossing over her question. Ally proudly holds her drawing up next to her face. She looks up at you with wide eyes, awaiting a compliment from you.
“That’s gorgeous, bug! Daddy’s gonna love it,” you inform her. “Maybe you can stick a lil’ bow on it and set it under the tree for him, hmm?”
“Good idea, Mumma!” Ally runs to the box where you kept all the supplies for gift wrapping, digging around for a pink bow to stick on the corner of her drawing.
While she’s preoccupied with finding the perfect bow to place on her drawing for Harry, you take a quick glance at your phone. He still hadn’t gotten back to you since last night’s quick conversation when he very briefly mentioned he didn’t know if he��d be able to make it home.
He was filming in Los Angeles. You shared your uncertainties about him going before he departed but in the end, this was an opportunity you didn’t want him to miss out on. You read the Los Angeles Times free articles on your phone daily, keeping track of the state of the pandemic in Southern California. You knew it was much worse there than it was at home in London. You feared what you were afraid of was sadly bound to happen— Harry may get stuck in LA.
You didn’t want to say anything to your curious daughter because communication with him had been so sparse. You didn’t know anything for certain yet. But what were you supposed to think? You knew flying nationally wasn’t a good idea at the moment, never mind internationally.
“Hey bug, d’ya think you can watch your brother for a moment? Mumma’s gotta go make a phone call.”
You hear your daughter let out a slightly irritated sigh. “I suppose I can, Mumma.” Ally responds with a voice laced with exasperation. You chuckle slightly under your breath at your overly dramatic (much like her dad) six-year-old and head into the kitchen, quickly dialing your husband’s familiar number.
“Hello?”
You let out a sigh of relief upon hearing Harry’s low, hoarse voice.
“Hi, honey. Just checkin’ in to see how things are going…” you hear shuffling on his end. “It’s December 23rd, you know.”
“I know, love.”
“Did I wake you?”
“Six in tha’ mornin’ here.”
“I’m sorry, H. S’just Allison keeps on askin’ when you’ll be home and ‘m just so worried you won’t make it home on time and you’ll miss Oliver’s first Christmas—“
“Darling,” Harry interrupts your anxiety-fueled ramble. “‘M gonna make it home. Have I ever not been there when I said I would?”
“No,” you say quietly. “I’m just worried, Harry. I hear traveling is going to get very strict because they’re trying to prevent people from going anywhere for Christmas…”
“Fine, then I’ll get my own plane with jus’ me and a pilot. Wear a mask the entire time and whatnot. Yanno I can make that happen if it’s necessary, pet.”
Harry’s calm demeanor about the whole situation brings you a bit of peace. Perhaps you were catastrophizing something that wasn’t as big of a deal as you thought it was a mere two minutes ago. If he wasn’t worried about not making it home, you didn’t see any reason to stress about it— not for one second longer.
“Okay then,” you reply, still a bit wary of his travel plans. “What shall I tell your daughter? She’s drivin’ me up the walls asking where you are every twenty minutes.”
Your husband lets out a breathy laugh, causing you to giggle along with him. “Tell her not to eat up all the Christmas cookies before I get a taste of one.”
December 24th, 8:45 AM
Part of you was hoping you’d wake up on Christmas Eve and Harry would be tucked into bed next to you, plump lips parted, the sound of his snores the only noise in the room. However, you were a rational woman, if nothing else. You knew he wouldn’t be by your side when you woke up.
You make your way down the hall and peek inside your son’s room. He was fast asleep, plump thumb in his mouth. You smile at your sleeping baby and gently close the door behind you, deciding to let him sleep in a bit longer before waking him up to feed him.
Next, you walk to your daughter's room, gently pushing open the door in case she was still sleeping. Instead, you find her sat at her desk, deeply focused on what appeared to be another drawing.
“Good morning, lovebug,” you greet your daughter in a sing-songy voice. “You’re up early. What are you working on?”
“Makin’ a letter for Santa,” she replies, not bothering to look up from what she was doing.
“A letter for Santa?” You start racking your brain for anything you and Harry could’ve possibly forgotten to get for Ally, but you finished your Christmas shopping for your children way back in November.
“Yes,” she answers matter-of-factly. “‘M askin’ him to make sure my Daddy is home by tonight so we can eat cookies together and watch Toy Story, Mumma.”
“I’m sure Santa will make that happen for you,” you reassure her. “You’ve been a very good girl this year, been so helpful with Olly and doin’ so well in school. The least Santa can do is get you whatever you want.” You see her smile as she digs around in her crayon box.
“Can we wait ‘til Daddy gets home to make Santa’s cookies, Mumma?”
“Sure we can, bug,” Ally claps her hands together excitedly, bouncing around in her tiny chair. “Gonna go make some pancakes, does that sound yummy?”
“Can we have chocolate chip pancakes please?”
“Are you askin’ me that because your dad isn’t here to throw a fit about it?” You give her a knowing smile, causing her to giggle.
“Maaaaybe…” Your daughter turns to face you, swinging her legs back and forth.
“If I make your chocolate chip pancakes, you can’t tell your dad. Deal?” You hold up your pinky. Ally gets up and runs to you and you bend down slightly so she can link her finger with yours.
“I pinky promise, Mumma!”
“Our little secret, yeah?” she nods. “Keep an ear out for your brother for me, bug. I’ll be downstairs.”
December 24th, 3:00 PM
“Love? ‘M afraid I got some bad news...”
As soon as Harry’s voice comes through on the other line, you can tell whatever news he’s about to share with you won’t be what you’re wanting to hear.
“What is it?”
It’s silent for what feels like entirely too long. You get up from your position on the couch next to Ally, telling her you’ll be right back. After breakfast, she convinced you to watch Toy Story with her, which quickly turned into a whole Disney movie marathon.
“Not so sure I’ll be able to make it home.”
You’re not sure if it’s his calm tone that bothers you, the fact that you didn’t want him to go to Los Angeles in the first place, or simply the fact that you and your children missed him terribly and haven’t seen him in nearly a month–– but your mood changes from relaxed to undeniably outraged in three seconds flat.
“You’re kidding.” Your tone is sharp, venomous. Harry once again takes a moment before responding, knowing that the current tone of your voice means he’d best proceed with caution.
“‘M not, love. I woke up early and everything to try and get this sorted out, it’s 7 AM so I was gonna try and catch an early flight––”
“I told you I didn’t want you going to LA,” you cut him off, voice rising slightly. “You knew how bad the pandemic was getting there. I told you this would happen.”
“What do you suppose I do then, Y/N?” His tone is becoming equally as sharp. “Y’want me to tell ‘em, “Sorry, I don’t give a fuck about the travel restrictions. My wife wants me home so let's make it happen!” ‘S that what you want me to do?”
“Don’t be a smartass, Harry,” you spit. “I’ll give the phone to your daughter and you can tell her you won’t be home in time for Christmas, then.”
“Y/N…” his tone is calm again. Fearful. “Don’t make me do that.”
“She woke up early to write a letter to Santa to tell him she wants you home by tonight, Harry,” your tone softens as well. “Even Olly has been asking for you. Swear his new favorite word is ‘dada’.” He laughs at this as do you, and the shared tension that was present just minutes ago dissipates.
“Just… lemme try a few more things before I tell her, yeah?”
“Harry, it’s already three here,” you gently remind him. “Even if you do make it home today, she’ll be asleep by the time you’re home. I think you just need to tell her.”
Your husband sighs, knowing you were undeniably correct. “Alright. Give Allison the phone, please.”
December 24th, 8 PM
“Almost time for you to head to bed soon, yeah Allybug?” Your daughter lets out a loud sigh in response, not shifting her gaze from the television to you. Ever since Harry told her he wouldn’t be home in time to eat cookies with her, she’s hardly said a word. She’s never experienced a Christmas Eve without her father so understandably, she was missing him tonight.
You shift Olly, who was falling asleep nursing on your lap, into a different position so you could face your daughter directly. From your new position, you can see just how tired she looks.
“‘M not sleepy, Mumma. Gonna stay up and wait for Daddy,” she informs you of her new plans. “When Daddy is home that’s when it’s time for bed.”
“Ally, remember what Daddy told you on the phone earlier? Santa won’t come unless you go to sleep.”
“I don’t wanna sleep,” she’s quickly starting to grow upset. “Not until Daddy tucks me in!”
You purse your lips, not wanting to argue with your headstrong daughter when your son was so close to drifting off into his nightly milk coma. Turning your attention back to the movie that was quietly playing on the television, you decide to drop it for now and try again later.
December 24th, 9:05 PM
Not more than an hour later, Olly is upstairs in his crib fast asleep whilst Ally is still laying on the floor in front of the Christmas tree, fighting sleep. She was determined to stay up until her father walked through the front door, and you knew getting her to agree to go to bed was going to be a battle and a half.
“You’re not ready to go to bed yet, Ally?” Her eyes fly open once she hears you addressing her.
“Not yet, Mumma. ‘M not sleepy yet.” Her words are a little slurred due to the exhausted state she was in. You hum in response.
“Could’ve sworn your eyes just shut for a minute there,” you pause for a second to see if she’ll look your way. “Must’ve just been my old lady eyes playin’ tricks on me, y’think?”
“I wasn’t sleeping!” She immediately defends herself, frown lines indenting her forehead. “Can we drink more hot chocolate?”
You knew if you wanted your daughter to fall asleep within the hour, another sugar rush wasn’t the best idea. You instead offer her a hot cup of sleepytime tea and she excitedly agrees once you tell her it’s her father’s favorite type of tea to drink at bedtime. You place her down on the kitchen counter while you fill the kettle and wait for it to whistle.
“What are you looking forward to the most from Santa, bug?”
Her eyes light up at your question. “Well, I really want a new bike! ‘Member Mumma? How I asked him for a pink bike? And I also want a cool swing set! Since we haven’t been able to go to the park in so long,” her smile falters and she looks down at her dangling feet. “I want Daddy to come home the mostest, though.”
Your heart feels like it’s going to break in two upon hearing your daughter admit that Harry being home would be the greatest gift of all. “So do I, lovebug. He’ll be here in the mornin’ to watch you and your brother open all the gifts Santa got you though, don’t you worry.”
For everyone’s sake, you hoped that was true.
December 24th, 11:50 PM
Sleep wasn’t coming easy.
You finally got your daughter to bed at around ten o’clock and waited thirty minutes before laying out your children’s gifts. It took much longer than it usually did considering you had to do it all on your own. Harry was usually the one to quickly assemble the larger toys while you laid everything out around the living room.
Despite it taking longer than desired, you were proud that you got it all done without waking your children up. Consequently, that meant you were now left all alone with your thoughts considering you had no more tasks to occupy yourself with.
You kept contemplating calling Harry, but you weren’t sure if he was busy on set or not. Surely he was immersing himself in work to distract himself from the fact he would not be spending Christmas with his family.
Deciding you may need a cup of the sleepytime tea you offered Allison earlier, you quietly get out of bed and open your door, sock-clad feet padding softly against the wooden floors. It’s unnervingly silent in your home–– the tea kettle coming to a boil being the only source of noise. You keep unlocking and re-locking your phone, finally deciding to call your husband to see how he’s spending his day. It goes to automatic voicemail.
You assume the reason for this must be that he’s busy filming on set and set your phone down with a sigh, standing on your tiptoes to retrieve a mug from the cabinet. You mutter a slew of curse words under your breath intended for Harry who always puts the mugs up far too high even though you tell him not to.
Right as you begin pouring the now boiling water into your teacup, the faint jingling of your front door causes you to startle so badly that you nearly drop the kettle on the ground. You try to think back to everything Harry ever told you to do in the event of an intruder but your mind goes blank from fright. Deciding to use the scalding water as your weapon, you slowly creep towards the door, your only plan being to fling the water on whoever it was as soon as they got the door open. As soon as you hear the lock click, you flick the lid open that covers the spout and draw your arm back.
“Shit––”
“Harry?”
Your husband jumps slightly, his eyes blinking rapidly in an effort to adjust to the dark living room. You reach beside him and quickly turn on the light, shakily letting out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding. He looks exhausted, his hair is an absolute mess, and his eyes are red from sleep deprivation–– but he’s home. You set the tea kettle down on the coffee table and fling yourself into his arms, breathing in the scent of the man you haven’t seen in a month. He drops his bags at his feet so he can properly embrace you, pulling you into him.
“Merry Christmas, darling,” he presses a kiss to the top of your head and stays like that for a moment saying nothing, just breathing you in. “Missed ya so fuckin’ much.
“How? I thought…” you trail off. “You said that they said…”
Harry laughs quietly. “Remember what I told ya? I said to ‘em, ‘Don’t give a fuck about your travel restrictions! M’wife wants me home.’” You laugh at him, knowing he was far too kind to talk to anyone that way.
“Yeah, okay,” you reply sarcastically. You pull him in for another hug, placing wet kisses along his jawline. “I’m so happy you’re home. The kids are gonna be over the moon, especially Allison.” Harry hums, surveying the room.
“Looks like you did a good job in here, Mrs. Claus. See ya even assembled some toys all by yourself,” he quirks an eyebrow. “Were you jus’ pretendin’ not to know how to do it all these years so I’d be stuck with all the hard labor?”
“Maybe.”
He pulls you back into him, tickling your sides. “My sneaky girl,” he bends down so his lips are level with your neck and sucks gently, causing you to let out a quiet moan. You see his eyes land on the tea kettle that was sitting forgotten on the coffee table. “Making a cuppa? Can I have one? ‘M freezin’.”
“I can think of something else we can do to get you warmed up,” you reach for his hands, interlocking his fingers with yours. “If you know what I’m gettin’ at.”
“Hmm…” Harry releases one of his hands from your grip and taps at his chin, pretending to be deep in thought. “Not too sure I can say I know what you’re sayin’. Maybe you should just tell me?”
You frown. “You’re really gonna make me say it, huh?”
“Y’know I’d give you the entire world if you asked me for it. All you gotta do is tell me what you want from me and it’s yours–– ‘m sure you’ve known that since the first day we met, though.” Harry takes a step back, crossing his arms across his chest. Even in his thick winter coat, you can see the way his biceps flex, and it makes you even more feral for him.
“Fine,” you say quietly, feeling yourself start to grow shy under his intense gaze. “I’m kinda... in the mood.” You say it so softly that it would most likely be inaudible to Harry if he wasn’t standing mere inches away from you. Harry throws his head back in laughter and you quickly shush him, not wanting any of your children to wake up.
“In the mood? C’mon, pet,” he uncrosses his arms and reaches for one of your hands. “Tha’s not tellin’ me what you want from me. Tell me exactly what you want, lovie.”
“You know what I want, H,” you tell him with a hint of annoyance in your voice. “It’s been a month. Yanno I want you to fuck me, why are you makin’ me say it?”
Harry gives you a shit-eating grin. “You jus’ said it. I didn’t make you say anything.”
You roll your eyes at his immaturity, already in the process of lifting your nightshirt (one of his old t-shirts that’s become just a little too tight on him) over your head. “Are we gonna get to it or not? Because if not, I’ll just go back to makin’ myself some tea and call it a night––”
Harry takes half a step towards you and reaches up to cup your face, colliding his lips with yours. His lips are a little chapped and taste of his favorite rose lip balm. You feel your body relaxing into the kiss, knees going weak as he walks you back onto the couch.
“You’ve been eatin’ up all the sugar cookies, haven’t you? Can taste it on ya. Thought those were for Santa,” he’s pulled away from you to examine your face. “A bit naughty of you, wouldn’t ya say?”
“Please stop referring to yourself as Santa when we’re about to have sex, Harry.”
“You’re not bein’ very kind to the person that’s about to go down on you, are you?” He sucks harshly on the valley between your breasts, wanting to be sure a deep-colored bruise will appear on your skin later. “That’s okay. It is Christmas, after all. ‘M in a giving mood.”
“Stop talking and get to it then.”
Harry slides off the couch and onto his knees in between your legs, gently kissing your thighs. “Cute pair of undies–– s’like you knew I was comin’ home tonight.” Before you can respond Harry’s fingers are tugging at the waistband of your underwear, eager to get them off of you. He presses light kisses to your core, mumbling about how much he missed the smell of you and how sweet you tasted.
One hand is resting across your stomach while the other one is in between your folds, spreading you open. You try squeezing your thighs around his head, overwhelmed by the feeling of your husband’s lips around your clit after being away from him for so long, but he removes his hand from your stomach and pushes your thighs back apart.
“Feels so good,” you’re breathless, tangling your fingers in Harry’s hair as his hollowed cheeks begin to suck more roughly on your clit. “Missed you so much. Missed this–– us.”
Harry pauses momentarily to look up at you. “I know, angel. God, do I know.” He attaches his lips back on you, swirling his tongue around your clit as you choke back your moans. The hand that is holding you open moves down to toy at your slit as he wordlessly checks to see if you’re okay with his fingers being in you.
“Please,” you say softly, encouraging his next move. He spits on his index and pointer finger before slowly sliding both of them in you, immediately curling them up. “Oh, Harry. Fuckin’ love when you do tha’...”
“Know you do,” His response is curt, simple. He’s focused on the task at hand–– getting you off. He uses the hand that’s lying across your stomach to rub tight circles on your clit, sensing you’re nearing your orgasm from the way you’re starting to clench around him. “Such a good girl fo’ me, darlin’. Gonna make a mess on my fingers in a second, aren’t you?”
You nod as you try to control your breathing and the loudness of your moans. The last thing you wanted was for your daughter to come down to inspect the source of the noise. “Fuck, Harry.”
“Come on, darlin’,” he gently pinches your clit, causing your body to jolt at the sensation. “Gimme a good one. A lil’ welcome back gift for me, hmm?”
Your hips are bucking up to the rhythm of his fingers slipping in and out of you as your orgasm quickly approaches. “Har, I’m close…” it comes out sounding more like a warning than a statement. He moves the two fingers he has inside of you in a back and forth motion, coaxing your first orgasm out of you.
“Tha’s my girl,” he whispers, not stopping his movements even as your back arches as your first orgasm rolls over you like a giant wave. “Givin’ me a good one jus’ like I knew you would. Jus’ like you always do. M’ sweet girl.” As you’re starting to still, Harry pulls his fingers out of you and holds them up to your mouth, instructing you to suck them clean.
You prop yourself up on your elbows so you can properly lean in to steal a kiss from him and notice a rather sizable tent has formed in his pants. Harry gives you a sheepish grin as he palms himself, hissing from the feel of his palm against his cock.
“Want me to do somethin’ about that?” You scoot over on the couch and pat the spot next to you, signaling for your husband to sit beside you. He lifts himself from his seated position, stretching his legs out a bit before plopping down beside you.
“Are you offerin’ me a blowie?”
“I mean, yeah?”
“Can we skip that an’ you can jus’ ride me instead? Think I’d quite like that.”
“Oh you would, would ya?”
Harry nods and unzips his pants, taking himself out. He licks his hand and gives himself a few pumps. “Still on birth control, I’m assuming?”
You roll your eyes as you move to straddle him. “Only been gone for a month, Harry. Of course ‘m still on it, you goof.”
“Can never be too careful. I don’t think now’s a good time for another lil’ one, do you? Think we should at least celebrate Oliver’s first birthday before we try for another one.” His hands are on his hips as he lines you up over his cock, helping you slowly sink down. You missed the burn of him which was even more intense than it usually was considering it’s been a while since he’s taken you.
“I think you’re right,” you reply. You rest your head on his shoulder while you adjust to the size of him, needing to take a moment to yourself before attempting to move. After a short adjustment period you begin rolling your hips, grinding against him in a way that was also bringing pleasure to your clit, still swollen and sensitive from your last orgasm.
Harry’s eyes are fixated on the way your breasts bounce in front of him, the way your stomach slightly jiggles each time you crash back down onto him. His lips are caught in between his teeth; you’re hoping he doesn’t break any skin so you don’t have to hear him whine about how badly the bruise hurts him later.
“Ridin’ me like your life depends on it,” Harry mutters. “Fuckin’ love takin’ you like this, angel. So fuckin’ deep.”
You simply hum in agreement, brain far too foggy to form a coherent sentence. Harry notices your movements starting to become smaller, lazier, so he puts his hands on your hips and decides to take over. He’s thrusting up into you like you’ll up and run away from him if he doesn’t give it his all. He cups your face with one hand and gently guides you towards him, pressing open-mouthed kisses against your lips.
“Fuck, H,” your eyes are squeezed shut and your wrap your arms around his neck, feeling your second orgasm quickly approaching. “Rub my clit please, almost there.”
Harry’s fingers immediately come down to rub at your slick nub, not faltering his relentless pace in the slightest. “Clench around me again, lovie,” his voice is higher than usual, whiny, and you know your husband is just as close as you are. “Love when you do tha’, jus’ need you to do it one more time.”
You do as he wishes once more, knowing once he cums you’ll be directly behind him. Harry lets out a string of expletives as he releases inside of you, pulling you tightly against his chest as he rides out his orgasm. You continue riding him, not slowly down as you chase your own release next.
“Harry,” you’re in a trance-like state, chanting his name over and over as you bring yourself over the edge. “Harry, fuck!”
“That’s my good girl,” he says quietly, rubbing your back as you rest your head on his shoulder while you catch your breath. You feel him beginning to soften inside of you so you lift yourself off and lay back on the couch, legs still shaking. It’s quiet for a couple of minutes as the two of you reveal in the afterglow of your orgasms, Harry gently running his fingers along your leg.
“Round two in the shower?”
December 25th, 6:42 AM
“Mumma! Santa came and he left lots of toys–– Daddy?”
Harry lets out a dramatic “oof!” as Ally jumps onto him, pulling the covers back. Her eyes are wide and she giggles are Harry pulls her into one of his infamous bear hugs, placing kisses all over his face.
“Mornin’, love bug! What’re you doin’ up so early?”
“It’s Christmas, Daddy! Santa came!” she sits back on her feet, a confused look on her face. “Did Santa bring you on his sleigh last night after me ‘n Olly went to bed?”
“Y’know what? He told me to keep it a secret, but he did,” Allison gasps in response to his news as she processes it, placing a little hand over her mouth. Harry sits up and gets out of bed, scooping her up in the process. “How ‘bout we go make Mum a cuppa before we see what Santa got for you and Olly? Tha’ sound good? Let’s let them sleep for a while longer, hmm?”
As you hear them exit the room you take a second to reflect on how lucky you are to spend another Christmas with you beautiful family before drifting back off into a deep, albeit short, sleep.
#harry styles smut#harry styles fluff#harry styles#harry styles x reader#harry styles x y/n#harry styles imagine#harry styles one shot#harry styles blurb#harry styles fanfiction#its not christmas til you come home#thanks for reading!
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Essays in Existentialism: Plus One, Ch. 2
Previously on Plus One
It oscillated every other minute between being an amazing idea, but also being the worst idea of all time, and Lexa was mostly exhausted of bouncing back and forth. It might be easier, she decided, if she just got herself on board with it being a good idea, but a deep, gnawing hole seemed to manifest itself in her gut at the very thought of seeing her ex.
As she went through the motions of finishing the day, of doing inventory because it was Wednesday, Lexa tried not to distract herself with the thoughts of her impending trip. In just forty-eight hours, she’d be face to face with Costia, who she hadn’t seen in months, who she avoided before occasionally running awkwardly into each other at mutual friends’ events. She’d come face to face with her ex who was getting married.
And she was going to do it with a complete stranger on her arm.
With a heavy sigh, Lexa tossed her clipboard on her tiny desk in the storage closet and plopped down in the squeaky chair, tipping it back with a wail. Her sister was the worst.
It was quiet in the shop, closed for just a handful of hours, Lexa always took a day to inventory and repair the damage of the week. She enjoyed the late evening work, when her workers were gone, and the shop was empty and full of dreams. No one knew how the cabinets stayed so clean, or how the scratches on table tops got sanded and fixed, or how the wobbly table by the window was miraculous cured one day, or how the ceiling fans got dusted, just that it all happened, and Lexa was off, meaning she didn’t come in until at least ten, the following morning.
But Lexa sat in the chair and let her brain do the same mental gymnastics it always seemed to do in the new quiet she found herself craving. She opened her laptop and ignored the awaiting spreadsheet, and instead opted to look over the answer Clarke had given her to the “Know your partner” quiz Clarke googled and made them both do. A mix of basic information and Newlywed Game style innuendos, Lexa filled hers out after a bottle of wine and anxiously waited for Clarke’s.
That was what started the daydreaming. She scrolled through Clarke’s answers and furrowed, doing her best to memorizing all that she could, as if she’d be tested on it all, as if it’d be impossible to believe she could be happy with someone like Clarke.
And when those thoughts started to seep into her brain, Lexa leaned back again and dug the tips of her fingers into her eyes.
In a week it’d be over.
And with that and a deep, heavy sigh, Lexa looked at the screen again and went about learning Clarke.
She started professionally, of course, looking at her corporate page and resume, because this was, if not anything, simply a business transaction and Lexa thought it was easier to parse a person if she didn’t actually have to fall for her.
A graphic designer at Anya’s firm, Clarke held accolades and a long list of references. The link to her work showed a wide range of commercial campaigns and a certain amount of talent evident by her list of upcoming projects. A graduate of a small, private, liberal arts university, her academics leaned heavily scientific, which was a surprise until Lexa read some of the answers in the survey about a degree in physics given up for art.
Lexa promised that she wouldn’t have looked at Clarke’s Instagram if Clarke hadn’t requested her first. She wasn’t someone who lurked, or at least she thought she wasn’t. She didn’t want to be someone who snuck around, digging through someone’s past, analyzing every filter and caption like a private investigator. But then Clarke appeared.
And there were pictures of Clarke with friends getting drinks on a rooftop. And then the one with her laughing and baking. Or the Christmas party where she was on a corporate Santa’s lap, smiling so wide her eyes were shut. Despite herself Lexa found herself smiling along with the girl in the pictures. The one who went hiking with a pack of dogs, and the one who seemed to always be eating something. The one who had a lot of friends and enjoyed making them smile and laugh. The girl who posted storie about her morning run, and the girl who seemed to have a healthy work life balance.
Lexa closed the webpages and stared at her inventory for exactly two seconds before curiosity won again and Lexa started looking at Costia’s account. There were the standard pictures of her pre-wedding planning. There was Costia working out. There was her new bride-to-be, happy and smiling at a gift for her birthday.
And then a throwback that made Lexa’s stomach drop as she stared at a familiar image of Costia smiling in a bikini on a beach. It was from the last trip they took. Lexa was the one behind the camera.
Three weeks after that picture was taken, Lexa walked in on Costia and a girl in the middle of the afternoon. Right in their own bed. Only to then discover it’d been going on for months. And it wasn’t the first. And then, Lexa didn’t remember much except that she moved into the apartment above her coffee shop and woke up one morning alone on sheets that weren’t familiar, in a room full of boxes.
It seemed even more difficult to start inventory after that shot to the gut.
But her phone went off, and Lexa leaned back in her chair after shutting the laptop again, wondering if that sinking feeling ever went away when it came to someone you love, or loved, or once loved, even for a moment. She didn’t have anything to compare it to, and she didn’t have any idea what love really was.
It felt like a deep wound was scratched open, the scab pulled back, and a burning numbness gnawing at the bottom of her spine. It felt like it would swallow her whole, and Lexa hated, more than anything, giving anyone the power to do anything as such over her.
Hey! Do you think this will go with your outfit?
An image came next, of Clarke in a dressing room wearing a very pretty dress, with very messy hair with her tongue sticking out. Lexa didn’t notice the gnawing feeling disappear.
We don’t have to match completely.
We do! Don’t you know how to date?
Not really.
Another picture of another dress came a moment later. Clarke was pretty. She was happy and silly and kind. It felt oddly normal, for as crazy as the whole scheme actually was.
I like that one, Lexa wrote, making sure to add a heart-eyed emoji to emphasize her point. Maybe that was flirting. Maybe she was allowed. She definitely needed more rules.
Good, I do too. It matches your tie, you know? And these heels will still leave you a little taller than me.
Sounds good to me!
Kind of excited. I guess I’ll see you at the airport tomorrow.
I’ll be the one at the bar.
I’ve heard it’s possible to find your soulmate at the airport. Something about the crossing of paths and time and space.
If my soulmate is a bottle of wine, then I reckon I might.
A love story for the ages.
Lexa smiled once more at her phone before tossing it to the side and letting her head drop to the desk. With a groan she growled into her hands and broke it down. She just needed to make it seventy-two hours. That was it. She could sleep for about twenty of those. She could drink for another twenty or more, if she really tried.
But this was it. This was the end.
And regardless of the weight of everything else, there was something satisfying about knowing it was almost over.
XXXXXXXXXX
The airport was absolutely teaming with bodies and people, weaving their way through the swelling crowds, loading and unloading the terminals at a constant, steady thumping rate, so regular one could set a watch to the heartbeat of the building.
Clarke adjusted her bag on her shoulder and tapped the ticket against her thigh as she moved through the security line. The nerves were coming for some reason. That was why she was at the airport three hours before the flight. She was anxious and needed a stiff drink and a few moments to catch her breath. She needed to escape the whirlwind she’d allowed herself to create.
Carefully, she made her way through the airport, checking the boards and finding her way to a seat in the empty waiting room. Not even an attendant waited at the kiosk.
Once again, she let herself awkwardly scroll on her phone, learning everything she could about her future date and weekend plans.
Lexa was nearly non-existent online. She didn’t have any pictures of herself. She rarely posted anything on her personal account, and when she did, it was just a book or a coffee or from a trip. She wasn’t one to enjoy being the center of attention, but when it came to her shop, she made sure to post almost daily, highlighting her employees and their recommendations, she made share to highlight events, she made sure to be as active as possible.
Anya had already warned Clarke that her sister was devoted to her work. She’d poured all of her effort into being successful and part of the community, and Clarke admired it, she just wished that there was more for her to see.
And so, once more, she flipped back to the long line of questions they’d filled out before giving up and gazing out the window at the planes coming and going.
For a moment, she allowed herself to think that she was doing something nice and good. It was an act of charity. It was the shake up Clarke needed and was selfishly trying to package as benevolent.
“You beat me, and I’m usually the first one here for a flight,” Lexa observed, walking up to Clarke, stealing her from her reverie.
“I like airports. Just waiting for true love to stroll up and introduce themselves.”
Lexa shoved her hands in her pockets, her bag balanced on her shoulder as she cautiously looked around, surveying the empty terminal slowly. Clarke watched her look around, smiled at the innocence of it. Enjoyed the way she ran her hand through her hair, mussing it up a bit and tossing it to another side.
“No one likes airports,” Lexa shook her head before taking the seat beside her.
“I do. They’re romantic.”
“Romantic?”
“You can get onto a plane, and a few hours later, you’re hundred of miles away, and it’s different weather, and it’s a different time zone. You can go to sleep in a different state. How can you not be romantic about that.”
“It’s a tin can filled with recycle air.”
“But there are peanuts.”
That did it. Lexa cracked a smile to herself and relaxed a little.
“I was going to be the first one here. Surprise you with coffee, but you beat me to it.”
“You are quite a good girlfriend. Someone clearly trained you well.”
Lexa shook her head, somewhat bashful, somewhat reserved. There was always something right there, just below the surface, obfuscated by a kind of resolve to never give anything away, not at any price. Clarke read it between words in their texts and emails, a glaring finality in the simple pixel of a period.
“Can I get you a coffee? Two creams, two sugar right?”
“You don’t have to--”
“It’s early and I’m trying to be charming. Allow me to somewhat repay you for this whole endeavour.”
“Sounds good. Thanks, darling.”
With the term of endearment, Lexa nodded, grinning into her chest as she stood and made her way across the terminal in search of sustenance. Clarke watched her take out her phone, texting her sister no doubt.
Once more, Clarke resumed the digging on her own, scrolling on her own phone at old pictures on Lexa’s profile. She was ready for fun, and she was ready to crack at that facade.
“I don’t know if this will help,” Lexa sighed as she sat down. “I didn’t sleep a wink last night.”
“Oh this won’t be good for me either,” Clarke said as she took a sip. “I’m a fairly nervous flyer.”
“And yet you let me get us both coffee.”
“You made a good point, and I’m prepared to be paid back all weekend.”
With another grin, Lexa leaned back, her arm going on the back of the chair that Clarke inhabited, naturally, with ease, with a level of comfort.
“Are you ready to tell me the story?”
“Which one is that?” Clarke turned to look at her date, returned from an absent moment.
“How we met.”
“How we met,” she nodded, her smile bordering on mischievous. “That’s simple. Don’t you remember? It was a very blustery Tuesday, and I was trying to escape the wind and rain. I almost tripped coming into your coffee shop, but you happened to be sweeping, and were kind enough to catch me.”
“You’re severely overestimating my reflexes.”
“Fine. I ran you over and we both ended up on our asses in the middle of the coffee shop. Coffee everywhere.”
“Sounds pretty likely.”
“And I knew right there, I was hooked. Those eyes, all angry and annoyed at me for not looking where I was going, despite my persistent defense that I’d been assaulted by the weather.”
“Why do I have to be the angry one?”
“Wouldn’t you be though?” Clarke returned, daring her to be contradicted.
“Maybe,” Lexa agreed over the lid of her cup, fretting with it nervously.
“So I crashed into you, and you bought be a coffee. I turned up every day after that until I finally asked you out. You took longer than I would have liked to answer me, but I accepted it anyway, and we’ve been madly in love ever since.”
“And when was this?”
“About eight months ago.”
“How’s it going so far?”
“Splendidly. I’ve already met your sister, who it happens that I work with, which is super convenient for everyone.”
Quietly, Lexa sat there, going over the story, going over all of the past eight months of apparent bliss in her head. Clarke watched her furrow before softening, her eyes not seeing, but rather looking through the window as a plane took off and another landed. The softening of her features was soon met with a perplexion, a slight, gentle contortion of the brow and the lips, a tightening as a kind of confusion overtook the ease of the entire story.
“Is it that easy?” Lexa asked quietly, turning her head toward her date. Clarke cocked her head, waiting for more. “Is all of it… just… a wind? Waiting for someone to just ask you out? Is it that easy? Does that happen to people?”
“It can. How does anything happen in the world? It just… does. The universe is just a series of things happening, all of the time, right?”
“But is it that easy?”
To her credit, Clarke thought about it. She flexed her jaw and took a deep breath before slowing letting it go as she wondered if it really was.
“I don’t know. Maybe it can be.”
“How?”
“I guess there has to be a balance to making things happen and letting things happen.”
“I don’t know if I’m good at either of those things,” Lexa confessed. She sat up straighter a moment later, afraid of her honesty, and surprised more by how easily it came out.
“I think you can be.”
“That’s probably too kind.”
“We’ll see.”
Clarke rubbed Lexa’s shoulder, rubbed the middle of her back between her shoulder blades until she reached the collar of her shirt, where she massaged her neck. She tensed before relaxing, and Clarke didn’t stop, just rubbed there gently, slowly until she knew it was enough and she trailed her palm back toward the seat.
It was right there, they just didn’t know it.
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First Lines
Tagged by @forbiddenfantasies1 -- Thank you! This was fun!
Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all!). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favorite opening line. Then tag 10 authors!
1) Jaime stood perusing the wide selection of cards in the Harrenhalmark Gift Shop aisle. (Wench You Care Enough to Send the Very Best, Jaime/Brienne, rated G)
2) It had been a relatively slow night so far. (Ladies’ Night at the Lion’s Den, Jaime/Brienne, rated M)
3) The movie theater was quiet. (The Christmas Leap, Katniss/Peeta, rated M)
4) She’d known this would be part of her creative writing class. (Smut Writing for Dummies, Jaime/Brienne, rated E)
5) She only does it because it’s for Sansa’s Psychology Research class and because Sansa promises her anonymity will be kept and because Sansa is her best friend. (It’s Hard To Look Right At Ya, Baby, Jaime/Brienne, rated T)
6) Joanna and Aleysia were as close as sisters, though they shared no blood. (I Don’t Want to Toe the Line, Jaime/Brienne, rated T)
7) Jaime couldn’t believe he was here, actually considering doing this. (A Knight Under the Big Top, Jaime/Brienne, rated T)
8) There she stood in the dark, feeling all the fool she should for letting Renly talk her into coming to this stupid party. (Seven Minutes with the Seven, Jaime/Brienne, rated G)
9) “I was wondering, my queen, if you’d be so kind as to bend the knee for me.” (Bend the Knee, Jon/Daenerys, rated M)
10) She’d been so excited to get to learn from him, the Golden Lion, knighted (by Ser Arthur Dayne no less) when he was just 15, and invited into the Kingsguard that same year. (Gonna give you all my love, boy, Jaime/Brienne, rated E)
11) She sat at the small, round wooden table feeling numb, staring at the faces around her, the faces deciding a fate she had no say in. (Build a Bridge, Katniss/Peeta, rated M - Note: I realized I suck pretty badly on this one because I forgot that I posted it for PiP, so while I’ve had eight chapters drafted for several years, I kind of forgot anyone might be awaiting them. *hangs head in shame* As you can see if you look at my works list, life shit got real around here and I was just rolling into a hiatus at this point, though I didn’t know it at the time. I cannot make any promises, but perhaps I’ll try to finish this one in some way that satisfies me and post it eventually. Probably no one cares at this point, but I still feel bad.)
12) We take our turns in the bathroom getting ready for bed. (In All Moments, Katniss/Peeta, rated M)
13) Dear Dr. Aurelius, You asked me to write a little something about anything "remarkable" about each of the days of this week since it is the anniversary of Prim's death and you want to make sure I don't just get locked up inside myself again. (Prim, Promise, and Progress, Katniss/Peeta, rated T)
14) "That'll be $4.50," she informed the middle-aged man still in his business suit from work apparently, his fresh-faced beauty of a girlfriend (wife? mistress? who knew?) hanging on his arm. (Change at the Fair, Katniss/Peeta, rated G)
15) "I'm in the mood to play tonight. Are you?" (Web Spinner, Katniss/Peeta, rated E)
16) Katniss settled down comfortably onto the thick branch she’d ascended to, resting her back against the dark bark of the tree’s trunk. (Reading Companion, Katniss/Peeta, rated T)
17) I walk back over to where Finnick is keeping watch and sit back down just a couple feet from him, keeping my eyes trained in the directions he is not covering. (It Can Never Be Enough, Katniss/Peeta, rated T)
18) May (Peeta): He was so happy to have gotten the job. (Hot Buns, Honey Buns, Katniss/Peeta, rated E)
19) “Peeta, come on, man, call it a day!” (Beautiful Shield, Katniss/Peeta, rated T)
20) His fair hair and skin stood out here and that, plus how off-key he was as he sat on the sand humming a tune whilst sketching in a notebook, is what caught Katniss Everdeen’s attention as she made her way past him toward her friends. (New Old Friend, Katniss/Peeta, rated T)
Patterns: I guess I typically try to set the scene a little, let you know where the characters are & generally what they’re doing & maybe how they’re feeling about it. Most times, I don’t start with dialogue, though sometimes I do. Lord knows I use enough dialogue after I give you the initial sentences usually, haha!
Favorites: #5 because it amuses me, like I can feel Brienne’s discomfort in the situation..and because I hope it makes people want to learn more about whatever her predicament is. #8 also because I apparently like Brienne’s feelings in different predicaments, lol. #11, which makes me feel even worse, but yeah, I like the somber feeling of it.
Tagging (apologies, I’m sure I’ll repeat tag someone who has already been tagged/done this - feel free to ignore): @writergirl2011 @ilikeblue @angel-deux-writes @theunpaidcritic @twelvemonkeyswere @bussdowntarthiana @sohereforyou @jennagill @hutchhitched @muttpeeta and anyone else who would like to do this :)
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17 March 2021 Additions to Reylo Holidays
These fics have been added to the Holiday list located here.
Christmas
Mistle-oh-no by KyloTrashForever (AO3 2019 Rated E Complete, 5 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Rey kisses a stranger at a holiday party.)
Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday by CaliforniaQueen (AO3 2020 Rated E Complete, 20 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Celebrating finishing school and getting a teaching job, Rey Jackson and her friends go out for a night of drinks and letting their hair down. When she meets the beautiful stranger at the bar, she decides tonight she's going to break a rule and be the bad girl for a change. Their one night together turns out to have disastrous consequences for everyone involved. But is being tied down as bad as Rey thinks it is, or is she just afraid to let herself be happy?)
Scrooged at Crossroads by apisa_b (AO3 2019 Rated T Complete, One-Shot, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Kylo Ren is a workaholic Grinch with anger management issues - until his life is changed by falling in love and being visited by a ghost.)
A Heavenly Holiday by ElleRen31 (AO3 2018 Rated T Complete, 4 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Ben Solo needs to find Christmas gifts for his family. At a local department store, he finds more than he bargains for.)
Christmas Eve Will Find Me (Where the Lovelight Gleams) by Love_andbalance (AO3 2020 Rated T Complete, 3 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Christmas Eve. Ben stares at the train that he and his now ex were supposed to be departing on. A noise behind him turns his head, a beautiful girl yelling at the SOLD OUT ticket booth. He looks at the 2 tickets in his hand and back at the girl. "Fuck it," he says, walking up to her.)
Keep On Giving by MaryMonster (AO3 2018 Rated E Complete, One-Shot, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Rey is eagerly awaiting the delivery of her Christmas present, a luxury vibrator. There’s only one problem – it was accidentally delivered to her neighbor, Ben Solo. A cozy Christmas Reylo fic full of fluff and smut.)
Let It Be Me by elemie89 (AO3 2018 Rated E Complete, One-Shot, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Ben Solo has found the perfect Christmas tree. Only problem is, someone else thinks it’s a perfect tree too.)
Merry Christmas, I'm Yours by captain_staryeyed (AO3 2018 Rated T Complete, One-Shot, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: After finding out that Rey has nowhere to go for Christmas, Ben invites her to spend Christmas at his parents’ house. During the time spent together, they are forced to confront their growing feelings toward each other.)
Dark Carols by Nyx_Fedra (AO3 2018 Rated E Complete, 3 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: CW: Suicidal Ideation. Ben Solo wasn't liked around the office. He had outbursts of rage, and he was generally rather unpleasant, harsh, difficult to get along with. He seemed to despise others and to be disinterested in anything anyone talked to him about. Rey didn't like him very much, their few encounters had been difficult, some even shouting matches. To her eyes, he was spoiled, ungrateful of the privileges he’d been granted by life. He refused to join Resistance enterprise for a long time, working for Snoke instead, he was harsh with Leia and Han, hostile with Luke…It all changed two months before Christmas, when they entered Resistance enterprise headquarters to find Holdo dishevelled, alone when Leia never missed a day, and she informed them that Ben Solo had almost succeeded in committing suicide the night before. Rey’s world tilted upside down. )
If the Fates Allow by dawninthemtn (AO3 2018 Rated T Complete, 6 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Leia Organa is the most successful matchmaker in the world and renowned creator of irresistible.com, where she built an algorithm so airtight her corporate headquarters is wallpapered with wedding announcements. To her chagrin, the only person she’s never been able to set up is her own son, Ben. But she has an employee named Rey that she has decided is Ben’s perfect match, so she hatches a plan to set them up. Unbeknownst to his mother, Ben has set up an anonymous profile on irresistible.com and has been writing his match Rey for months.)
All I Want for Christmas (Is Smut) by MizuPhoenix (AO3 2018 Rated E Complete, 2 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: All Ben Solo wanted for Christmas was to lose his V-Card. Only, the reason he was still thirty years old and hadn't lost it yet was all due to one Rey Jackson. His very best friend. Rey wanted quite a lot of things for Christmas this year. All of them involving her first friend (and love of her life) Ben Solo.With meddling friends trying to bring the oblivious pair some Christmas cheer, this was going to be a very Smutty Christmas.)
Gelt by RebelRebel (AO3 2018 Rated G Complete, One-Shot, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: "I only need a few minutes of your time," she continued, voice faltering slightly under his gaze. "To discuss my proposal for the purchase and refurbishment of the Plutt Orphanage in Brooklyn Heights– " In which Rey works with Kylo Ren, Advocacy Director of the Organa Foundation, to spread a little Chrismukkah cheer.)
smothered, covered, chunked by SecretReyloTrash (BadOldWest) (AO3 2018 Rated T Complete, One-Shot, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Ben is a painfully shy college student. Rey is the fellow insomniac next door. He finally gets to see where she goes in the middle of the night when he hears her leave the dorm.)
Homecoming by ItsALilah (AO3 2018 Rated E Complete, 2 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: After disaster rips through his hometown, Ben Solo finally comes home to surprise his parents at their annual Christmas Eve party. And if he's hoping to run into Rey, the girl he's secretly been pining for since high school, that would be... cool. Although he'll never make a move, not while her over-protective older brother - and Ben's best friend - is around. But when Ben makes it home, not only does he find himself reconnecting with his friends and family, but fate itself seems to be pushing him and Rey together (thanks to a ridiculous amount of mistletoe).)
Got a Feeling we Should Just Go Home by slugmutt (AO3 2018 Rated M Complete, 13 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Spending the week before Christmas with sullen deputy-CEO Kylo Ren is the last thing on earth Rey wants to do. Going back to his hometown with Christmas-loving Rey in tow is the last thing Kylo wants to do. But with a little help from family, some holiday magic, and a stray blizzard or two, they might start seeing things differently.)
A Reylo Christmas Carol by Crackedkybercrystal (AO3 2018 Rated M Complete, 4 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: "Before the dawn," Hux intoned, "you will be visited by three spirits. Heed their message Kylo Ren, least you end your days like me." It was only now that Kylo perceived his old partner to be bound with a great chain around his waist, weighed down by heavy blocks.)
The Set-up by CajunSpice714 (AO3 2018 Rated T Complete, One-Shot, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Ben Solo has aways been socially awkward, but when he sets his sights on his brother Poe's fiance Finn's bestfriend Rey during an engagment party Poe decided that he and Finn need to divise a plan to set the two of them up if not for the sake of his and Finn's future wedding then for the sake of their own sanity.)
Bespoke by L_awlietxoxx (AO3 2018 Rated G Complete, One-Shot, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Ben Solo is miserable, stumbling through his life in London without seeing much of anything. Then Christmas sneaks up on him, as does a little shop and a woman who makes custom ornaments to meet the needs of any heart. Suddenly, Ben sees everything.)
Valentine’s Day
forever valentine by bellestar (AO3 2021 Rated G Complete, One-Shot, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Ben makes a confession in his wedding speech. He knew he was going to marry Rey when he and Rey were 4 years old and she gave him a Valentine she made and colored herself. And 21 years later, he still has that Valentine.)
Halloween
Housewarming by ArdeaJestin (AO3 2018 Rated E Complete, One-Shot, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: When her best friend Rose asks Ben Solo to help on moving day, Rey knows she's in trouble. If only those big strong arms didn't make her forget what an obnoxious jerk he is every time she looked at him.)
How You Turn My World, You Precious Thing by BensLostTookaCat (VillainTheBlank) (AO3 2018 Rated E Complete, 3 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: He's the hotshot asshole who leads The First Order, the legal arm of The Resistance. She's the new company liaison who has been assigned to The First Order to keep them accountable.The annual Resistance Masquerade Ball is about to turn Kylo and Rey's worlds upside down.)
Haunted Corn Maze by OptimisticBeth (AO3 2018 Rated T Complete, One-Shot, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Rey bonds with her work buddy, Ben.)
Zombie Run by OptimisticBeth (AO3 2018 Rated T Complete, One-Shot, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: During a charity run, Rey is relentlessly pursued by a zombie.)
you're my boo by murakamism (AO3 2018 Rated M Complete, One-Shot, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: Rey's neighbor Ben Solo is the only one who ever shows Halloween spirit around here. When she discovers he's moving out, she's only hurt because that means she won't have anymore competition... right? So she sets out on a plan to make him stay.)
Thanksgiving
New Beginnings by reylocalligraphy (AO3 2018 Rated G Complete, One-Shot, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: When Ben comes home for the first time in five years, it happens to be Thanksgiving dinner. He’s surprised to meet a girl who’s working for his father… an odd girl his parents seem strangely fond of.)
Of Penmanship and Discourse by INTPSlytherin_reylove97 (AO3 2018 Rated M Complete, 35 Chapters, Modern AU, Quick Synopsis: When Rey Kenobi's professor and advisor, Luke Skywalker, refuses to give constructive criticism or facilitate workshops for his students, she decides to seek help else where. Ben Solo (or if you read his published work, Kylo Ren) is on the brink of insanity. The literary magazine he is editor for is racing off in a new direction-- and is leaving him questioning both its morals and his love for writing. To find his intellectual and creative needs met, he decides to turn to the internet. A PenPals AU no one asked for.)
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Goshi Kaneshiro SSR
2017 ー Christmas Promise [クリスマスの約束]
“For Kaneshiro-san, if there is a slightly special place that you bring them to, wouldn’t your partner be pleased about it. Important is, where does Kaneshiro-san like to spend time with your precious one.”
『 Event: The Dreaming Xmas LIVE (15th - 28rd December 2017) 』
Part 1
Tsubasa: ‘You did great for the recording! Because there is some time until the next appointment, may I have a bit of your time?’
Yuta: ‘Yep, it’s fine.~ Is it about work?’
Tsubasa: ‘Yes, a gravure shooting for a women’s magazine came in. Because it will be for the magazine’s Christmas issue, it seems you will think about the ideal Christmas date and shoot for it.’
Goshi: ‘What? We have to think about it?’
Tsubasa: ‘Yes. One week before the shooting I will have to inform the other party about your ideas.’
Kento: ‘Hee, that’s the perfect project for me.’
Yuta: ‘A date situation, huh. There are so many spots I want to go, too many to decide!~’
Kento: ‘Let me think about it carefully so that my good sense will show.’
While his two teammates are excited for the theme Goshi is the opposite. He is not interested in such thing, much less having to think about it himself. Kento and Yuta learn how Christmas is celebrated overseas which is quite different than in Japan.
Goshi: ‘........’
Yuta: ‘Ah! Gochin’s making a long face! You are probably thinking “I won’t go on a date!”, right~’
Goshi: ‘Shut it, leave me alone.’
Tsubasa: ‘Uhm, since there is still some time until then, please think about it carefully.’
Goshi: ‘....Yeah.’
Kento: ‘Fuuh, you sure let out your disinterest. Isn’t Christmas popular overseas. Aren’t you used to it?’
Yuta: ‘Ooh~! Is Gochin a Christmas date expert actually!?’
Goshi: ‘Don’t go saying stupid stuff on your own.’
Yuta: ‘Eeh~, then what’s it like?’
Goshi: ‘What’s it like, you say…. Having a party with family and friends and exchanging gifts, things like these.’
Kento: ‘Speaking of which, aren’t the gifts being put under the tree.’
Yuta: ‘Eh, not at the bedside?’
Goshi: ‘There are too many to put there.’
Yuta: ‘Hee~, it sounds super fun! We should do that too!’
Goshi: ‘Haah? It’s gonna be awful.’
Kento: ‘I also pass. It’s not my hobby to give out presents to men.’
Yuta: ‘Muuh~~! Gochin and Kenken are such cheapskates! Come on, please, please! Let’sーdoーitー!’
Goshi: ‘You’re too loud, quit it!’
Kento: ‘Haa…, do if you feel like it.’
Yuta: ‘I definitely willー!’
Part 2
(Since the meeting is over I return to the office after this and need to clear up the collected documents….)
Goshi: ‘....Ah, Sumisora.’
Tsubasa: ‘Oh, Kaneshiro-san, hello. Are you practicing the guitar?’
Goshi: ‘Yeah, because the studio’s free.’
Tsubasa: ‘Which reminds me, it is about the special feature for Christmas we talked about last time. Did you decide on a date situation?’
Goshi: ‘Sorry, I didn’t yet.’
Tsubasa: ‘I see….’
Goshi: ‘Ashu and Aizome already decided on their’s, right.’
Tsubasa: ‘Yes. But if you are troubled, it is fine.’
Goshi: ‘Yeah….’
Goshi: ‘Haa…. Even if you say Christmas date…’
Tsubasa: ‘Kaneshiro-san?’
Goshi: ‘During my stay in the US it was normal to celebrate with your family and friends, so I don’t have any idea, to be honest.’
Goshi: ‘Even though it’s crowded wherever you go, do you think you want to go out of your way to go anywhere?’
Tsubasa: ‘Uhm, I think it is not necessary to do things you are not familiar with only because it is Christmas.’
Goshi: ‘What do you mean?’
Tsubasa: ‘Things like the lights or a Christmas dinner are also wonderful…’
Tsubasa: ‘For Kaneshiro-san, if there is a slightly special place that you bring them to, wouldn’t your partner be pleased about it. Important is, where does Kaneshiro-san like to spend time with your precious one.’
Goshi: ‘Hm, so that’s how it is?’
Tsubasa: ‘Yes. At least when you ask me.’
Her honest advice makes him pensive. He takes a minute to think about her words.
Goshi: ‘....Well, I’ll try to think about it a little.’
(I hope you can decide on a situation, Kaneshiro-san.)
Part 3
Yuta: ‘We made itー! Fuuh~~~, that was heavy~~~’
Goshi: ‘That should be my line.’
Kento: ‘Why did we have to carry this luggage.’
Tsubasa: ‘What an impressive luggage. What happened?’
Kento: ‘On the way here, Yuta started to talk about wanting to buy Christmas goods.’
Yuta: ‘I bought lots of tree decoration and gifts!’
Goshi: ‘Even though we have a recording, that guy had to buy so much stuff!’
Yuta: ‘Well, I thought because I wanted to buy lots of things Gochin and Kenken won’t have the time for it ♪’
Goshi: ‘We are not your luggage personnel!’
Yuta: ‘Since you two got presents too, look forward to it ♪’
Kento: ‘I mean, why let the person that receives the present carry the luggage.’
Yuta: ‘Don’t mind, don’t mind~’
Kento: ‘Speaking of which, Goshi wasn’t there during the shopping. Where did you go?’
Goshi: ‘....Eh, why should it interest you?’
Yuta: ‘Oho, that’s suspicious, Gochin~!’
Kento: ‘Could it be, you bought a present for someone?’
Goshi: ‘It got nothing to do with you.’
_____
Goshi: ‘Also, Sumisora, I decided on the date situation for the Christmas issue. I’m negotiating with the place so please wait for a bit longer. I will write down the details in the questionnaire that came from the editorial department and hand it over.’
Tsubasa: ‘I understand!’
Goshi: ‘Well, it’s not a big deal.’
Tsubasa: ‘I am glad that you decided on something.’
Yuta: ‘Ah, say! When the recording is over, we will decorate the tree. Won’t Tsubasa-chan join us?’
Tsubasa: ‘Eh, are you fine with it?’
Goshi: ‘Oi, don’t include me.’
Kento: ‘Tsubasa is always welcomed.’
Yuta: ‘Muuh~~, you two aren’t honest. If we do it together with everyone it will be 100 times more fun!’
Goshi: ‘Don’t just say things on your own…’
Tsubasa: ‘Then I will come by later to help out!’
Part 4
The long awaited moment of decorating the Christmas tree finally happened. Yuta is visibly excited over this small task. But one of them was not of big help...
Yuta: ‘Putting the star on top of the Christmas tree… Complete!’
Tsubasa: ‘It turned into a wonderful Christmas tree!’
Kento: ‘Thanks for coming, Tsubasa. If we had left it to Yuta, we wouldn’t be done by now.’
Goshi: ‘Says the one that held us back the most.’
Kento: ‘Assembling is outside of my expertise so I act as the supervisor.’
Goshi: ‘That’s the same! “One centimeter more to the right”, you and your strange obsession!’
Yuta: ‘Yep, that’s right!’
Kento: ‘Because kids don’t have an eye for aesthetics, they should be quiet.’
Tsubasa: ‘Fufu, even so there sure are a lot of presents under the tree.’
Yuta: ‘Ehehe, there are so many because I couldn’t decide. Of course, Tsubasa also has her own one!’
Kento: ‘Actually, I wanted to prepare a present only for Tsubasa but Yuta bought one himself too and was quite noisy about it.’
Tsubasa: ‘Eeh, somehow, I am sorry.’
Yuta: ‘It’s only natural because Tsubasa-chan is also a member of THRIVE~’
Tsubasa: ‘Thank you very much.’
Yuta: ‘Gochin quickly bought one too!’
Goshi: ‘Whatever you say.’
Yuta: ‘Muuh~~, what a contrary person.’
___________
They turned off the lights to look at the results of their hard work from earlier.
Yuta: ‘....So, now that we finished decorating, let’s turn on the lights!’
Kento: ‘Yeah, you’re right. ...Let’s turn them on.’
______
Yuta: ‘Waah, it’s so sparkling beautifully~! We did our best with the decoration!’
Kento: ‘Definitely, I wonder if I should take a picture and send it to the girls.’
Yuta: ‘Me too, me too~! I will boast about it to Ryu-chan ♪’
Kento: ‘Yes, yes.’
___
Goshi: ‘....Sumisora.’
Tsubasa: ‘Yes, how can I help you?’
Goshi: ‘This is for you…’
(Christmas wrapping…. Could it be a Christmas present?)
Tsubasa: ‘Is it fine if I receive it?’
Goshi: ‘Well, it’s a thanks for always taking care of me.’
Goshi: ‘Since I will put it under the tree later, come get it on the 25th.’
Tsubasa: ‘Thank you very much. I also prepared presents in advance.’
Goshi: ‘Yeah….’
Part 5
It is the day of the shooting of the Christmas special issue. Everything went well, in particular Goshi’s scenario was well received. The compliments for it surprise him since he had such difficulties with this theme.
Staff: ‘This is all for the shooting. Thank you very much!’
THRIVE: ‘Thank you very much!’
Yuta: ‘That shooting was so much fun~! Say say, how was my date plan?’
Kento: ‘Yuta’s was too much like a child’s one. Things like cake all-you-can-eat, that never changes, huh.’
Yuta: ‘It’s different~! It’s Christmas cake all-you-can-eat!’
Goshi: ‘No, that’s the same.’
Staff: ‘Everyone, you really did a great job. Each of you did a different situation, and either one was as charming as the other. Especially Kaneshiro-san’s Christmas live in the jazz bar! It was very adult-like and the best.’
Goshi: ‘Thank you very much.’
Staff: ‘Until next time, please take care of you.’
Kento: ‘Indeed, the bar had a good atmosphere. Is it Goshi’s favourite one?’
Goshi: ‘Well. An acquaintance of mine manages it but it’s a place where music lovers gather, so I know this one well.’
Yuta: ‘That’s why you got permission to shoot in there, right~’
Goshi: ‘I like it since not many know of this bar.’
Kento: ‘Nevertheless, even for Christmas you can’t be separated from music.’
Yuta: ‘But it’s very much like Gochin!’
Goshi: ‘....I don’t mind.’
___
Goshi: ‘.....Sumisora.’
Tsubasa: ‘Oh, Kaneshiro-san. You did well for the shooting.’
Goshi: ‘Thanks.’
Tsubasa: ‘Kaneshiro-san’s idea of the situation was quite popular among the staff.’
Goshi: ‘I just introduced my favourite place.’
Tsubasa: ‘Fufu, I think, that thought makes Kaneshiro-san happy.’
Speaking with her about this favourite place of his brings a smile to his face. He then takes a moment to think about what he says next. With a blush, he voices his gratitude for her advice the week before.
Goshi: ‘....Thanks for helping me the other day. After I listened to your advice and thought about it, it could only be music after all.’
Tsubasa: ‘I am glad if it was useful to you.’
Goshi: ‘Yeah.’
Tsubasa: ‘Nevertheless, it was a really lovely establishment. It was a bit regrettable that you were not able to listen to the live since it was during the shooting.’
Goshi: ‘Do you want to go together, next time?’
Tsubasa: ‘Eh, are you sure?’
Goshi: ‘Yeah. If there’s day where you can go, tell me. I’m sure if it’s you,it will be something you like.’
END
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Christmas Eve With You (Let It Snow)
Summary: It's Christmas Eve in Lima Ohio, and Kurt has a lot to do: find the perfect gift for his dad, make a life changing decision, and--after an unexpected turn of events--escort pop star Blaine Anderson around town. You know, the usual...Based off of Netflix's Let It Snow
A/N: Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Kwanzaa to you all!! I personally celebrate Christmas and it's my favorite holiday and I've never written a Christmas Rom-Com AU so I decided last minute to write one lol. Relatively short, part one today, part two to come hopefully before the New Year!
Read on AO3
***
Congratulations!
We are delighted to inform you that you have been accepted into the New York Academy of the Dramatic Arts. With an acceptance rate of less than 4%, NYADA is one of the top tier schools for those wishing to perfect their
Kurt tore his eyes away from the page and slowly drew in a deep breath. He didn’t need to keep reading. He had practically memorized the damn thing in the first hour he opened the envelope. He began folding up the acceptance letter for what must have been the hundredth time and opened his desk drawer, tucking the letter underneath some old papers where his dad would never find it.
He pulled on his coat and any other winter wear necessary to make the freezing train ride to the swap meet bearable.
He would probably come home later and read the letter just one more time, scouring it to see if it had the answer he needed, but right now he had an elf to find.
***
“I’m looking for a Townhouse Moments Christmas Elf number forty-three.” Kurt explained to the man at the swap meet while this year’s crappy pop Christmas song played on in the background. “I ordered it online ahead of time, but they gave me number forty-two.”
The vendor simply looked at him with an almost bored (and definitely condescending) expression. “Listen, kid. You and every other collector out here are looking for this guy, and I don’t have him. You’re not gonna find it. Not on Christmas Eve.”
Kurt sighed, the background song seeming even more annoying than usual. Seriously, the swap meet couldn’t find any holiday music better than some lame Blaine Anderson single? “Look, I really need this figurine. My dad’s Christmas kind of depends on it.” He explained desperately.
The vendor shook his head. “Like I said, I can’t help you.”
Kurt angrily huffed and shoved the figurine he’d brought with him back in his pocket. “Merry Christmas,” he muttered under his breath before heading back to the train station.
At least the train had a stop near the Lima Bean. There was nothing quite like sitting with a warm cup of coffee in your hands while watching the snow fall down through the frosted windows.
***
Blaine stepped up from the platform onto the train, immediately searching for a seat in an area that wouldn’t be too crowded. He rarely got a chance to walk through the world without being gawked at like some Zoo animal, and he wasn’t about to have that ruined by an overexcited fan.
It’s not that he wasn’t grateful for everything his fans provided him, but sometimes it got to be a bit much and he needed a moment to just… retract from all the pandemonium.
He finally spotted a somewhat secluded area and headed towards it. Before he could make it, though, he felt a tap on his shoulder.
“Excuse me,” a voice called out from behind him.
Blaine sighed before reluctantly turning around to face a boy, probably around his age, with pale skin and a nose slightly pinked by the cold they both just entered from.
The boy looked slightly startled, as if he had just realized who Blaine was, but remained calm.
“Look,” Blaine started. “I really don’t feel like taking any pictures right now.”
The boy pursed his lips and glared at Blaine. He then extended his hand out and Blaine looked down to see he was just returning his phone that must have fallen out of his coat pocket.
“You dropped this,” the stranger said with a bit of sting in his voice as he shoved the phone back into Blaine’s grasp.
“Oh,” Blaine replied lamely. “Sorry, I—“
Mystery boy scoffed and held up a hand to silence him. “Don’t bother.” He muttered, then turned around to find a seat.
Fair enough, Blaine thought.
Just as Blaine was about to head back to find a seat of his own, the boy whipped around, apparently not quite done with him yet. “And by the way,” he began. “You don’t even know anything about me. I don’t care for your trashy pop music, I’m not one of your Blaineiacs who swoons at just the mention of your name, and I’m definitely not the type of person who would just throw myself at someone just because they’re famous.”
“I never said—“
Once again, Blaine was cut off, but not by the (admittedly attractive) boy. The train suddenly jerked forward and the momentum sent the strange boy flying backwards into Blaine’s unsteady arms.
Blaine felt his breath hitch, caught off guard by the suddenness of it all. He looked down and caught the boy’s gaze, realizing he had some of the clearest crystal blue eyes Blaine had ever seen. Awesome. The universe throws a super cute guy into your arms and it’s someone who thinks you’re a complete asshole.
As soon as it happened, it was over. Before either of them knew it, the train was on its way, steady enough so that the pale boy had the balance necessary to shoot himself out of Blaine’s arms like a repelling magnet.
His face flushed bright red and he gaped at Blaine for a moment. “I–That wasn’t—that was the train,” he said in a huff before whipping around and heading to his seat on the other side of the train car.
Blaine followed him with his eyes the entire time.
***
Not even ten minutes into the ride, Kurt felt the train slowly come crawling to a stop. “No,” he pleaded under his breath. “Please, no, we’re so close to the Lima Bean,” he whined.
But sure enough, the conductor’s voice came over the intercom and loudly announced that the train would be stalled indeterminately due to the recent snowfall.
Kurt sighed and looked longingly out the window towards the Lima Bean. This was ridiculous, he could see the rooftop to his favorite coffee shop just over the snow-covered hill. There was no reason he couldn’t make it there without incident.
He drew in a steadying breath before standing up and heading towards the doors. Unfortunately, before he could completely escape the defective cab, another figure came up in front of him and unintentionally blocked his path.
It so happened to be none other than the Blaine Anderson. Of course it was Blaine. Of course it was the idiot celebrity who thought everything revolved around him.
“You headed to that coffee shop, too?” Blaine asked without turning back to look at Kurt, using his clover hand to block out the morning sun as he stared off into the distance.
Anderson only kept trucking on forward as Kurt followed his lead—coincidentally, of course.
“I’m not following you,” he felt compelled to say. “I also just want a decent cup of coffee.”
Blaine gave him a charmingly warm smile and hopped off the platform into the soft snow. “Of course. Then, I suppose, you wouldn’t mind keeping me company.”
Kurt followed his lead and hopped off the train, beginning to trudge through the snow after Blaine—again, completely by chance that they were headed in the same direction.
“Fine. Just know that this is completely coincidental!”
“Deal.”
***
“Deal,” Blaine said. “So, uh, do I get your name? I mean, it’s only fair since you already know mine.”
“Yeah, because everybody knows your name, right?”
“I–no-! That’s not what I meant…”
The pale boy narrowed his eyes slightly at him and looked him up and down like he was deciding whether or not to trust him. “Kurt,” he finally answered. “Kurt Hummel.”
Blaine extended his hand out and Kurt stared at it for a second before taking it. “Blaine Anderson—because I’m not going to assume anybody knows my name anymore.” Blaine noticed the corner of Kurt’s mouth twitch up, barely noticeable. “Nice to meet you, Kurt.”
They walked on for a few moments in silence before Kurt spoke up again. “Why did you even take the train into town?” He asked.
Blaine shrugged. “I wanted to get away from the tour bus for a while. It felt real being in there. Surrounded by real people.”
Kurt chortled. “If the train made you feel real, the Lima Bean is gonna blow your mind.”
***
Kurt and Blaine stood in front of the long awaited coffee shop, both staring up at the broken and incomplete sign at the top of the building. The worn out block green letters should have obviously spelled out “LIMA BEAN”, but time and weather had taken out the L.
“Say it to yourself,” Kurt instructed Blaine. “Out loud.”
“Ima Bean?” Blaine said questioningly.
“I’m A Bean.” Kurt said dismally. “Because nobody in this town is—or ever will be—anything but a tiny bean in the universe… at least, that’s what we would say growing up.”
“That’s… morbid.”
Kurt simply shrugged before heading in through the doors. “It’s the truth,” he grumbled, remembering the letter burning a hole in his desk drawer and knowing he could never ever let it see the light of day again.
The Lima Bean was empty for the time being, but Kurt knew it would be filled with McKinley high teens in no time.
The couple silently made their way to the counter and Blaine took note of the barista who was… not exactly someone he imagined to be working at a coffee shop, but a job was a job he supposed. The barista had his head down, showcasing his unique haircut (a mohawk) while he began to take their orders.
“Welcome to the Lima Bean,” he sighed before slowly upturning his head. “What can I…” Just as Kurt had expected, Puck’s eyes grew wide upon seeing Blaine. “Get for you today…”
“Uh, Puck.” Kurt started timidly. “This is Blaine… I didn’t expect you to be here, I thought you’d be preparing for your long awaited Christmas Eve Rager?”
Puck pouted. “Uh, yeah… so my parents flight was delayed ‘cause of the snow, and they caught me setting up for the party. Decided I should come to work instead. But!” He held up his index finger and his face lit up. “I convinced Sam to let me have it here! So if you’re free tonight, just come on down to I’m A Bean.”
Kurt stifled a laugh at his friend’s wild antics. “Sure thing, Puck. Though, at this point,” he jerked his head towards Blaine. “I don’t know where this day will take me.”
“Been there… anyways, what’ll it be?”
***
“Order for Kurt!” Puck called out.
It was both their orders, but they’d decided it’d be best if they didn’t use Blaine’s name. It turned out to be a good call considering the fact that a group of Titans and Cheerios walked in as soon as Kurt and Blaine sat down.
Kurt got up and shortly returned with their coffees and pastries.
“Are you going to actually finish all that?” Kurt asked, referring to the small mountain of food Blaine had ordered including a tomato and mozzarella panini, a snowman cookie, a breakfast biscuit, and his medium drip.
“Yeah, I don’t like to waste food. It’s like a charity thing for me.” At Kurt’s unamused look, Blaine rolled his eyes and gave his real explanation. “We uh, didn’t grow up with a lot. It feels kind of wrong to throw out a meal when I remember the days we didn’t get one.”
After a moment of processing, “Oh…” was all Kurt could pathetically offer, suddenly feeling like the biggest asshole in the world.
Here he’d been, making assumptions about Blaine when he really didn’t know anything about him. Kind of the way certain football players would do to Kurt.
Okay, so Blaine had kind of come off as a presumptuous dick, but now Kurt realized he himself was making that same mistake.
He watched as Blaine took a bite of the panini and the too full sandwich overflowed with cheese into Blaine’s upper lip. Kurt giggled. “You’ve got a little…” he pointed to his own mouth, trying to point out the stained area on Blaine’s face.
Blaine stuck out his tongue, but completely missed the area. “Did I get it?”
“Not at all,” Kurt laughed again. “But I’ll go grab you some napkins, your royal highness.”
As Kurt was standing up, Blaine opened his mouth to contest before noting the playful look on the other boy’s face.
“And add some more creamer to this bad boy while I’m up,“ He said, gesturing to his half full coffee.
Kurt was nearly to the condiment table when a hauntingly familiar figure blocked his path.
“Where you going off to, fairy boy?”
“Merry Christmas to you, too, Azimio,” Kurt scoffed, trying to side step his long time tormentor.
Azimio followed Kurt’s move, leaving him in the same position he was not a moment ago. “Heard my boy Karofsky’s got a boyfriend over at Thurston high now.”
“Good for him.”
“That’s the farthest thing from good, my man. If it weren’t for you turnin him gay, we’d still have a winning offensive line.”
“I really don’t have any time for this,” Kurt lamented.
“Not so tough without your army brother to protect you, huh?”
Kurt opened his mouth to explain that he didn’t need anyone to protect him, but was immediately silenced by Azimio suddenly slapping the cup out of Kurt’s hand. Kurt flinched as lukewarm coffee splattered around him, the majority of it spilling right on his shirt.
“That’s for turning my best friend into a homo.”
“Hey!” Puck called from behind the counter. “Get out of here!”
“I am a paying customer!” Azimio argued.
“Read the sign, dickwad. Right to refuse service to anyone. That includes no good Lima Losers like yourself!”
Azimio rolled his eyes and angrily stormed out of the store.
As Kurt looked down his stained shirt, he could feel Blaine’s horrified stare burning right through his back. “Oh my god, Kurt. Are you okay?”
He turned around to face the other boy, still shaking with rage and that twinge of humiliation he always felt after scenes like this, no matter how hard he tried to push it down.
“You wanted real?” Kurt asked, feeling tears he would never let Azimio and Langanthal see begin to burn behind his eyelids. “How’s this? Only out gay kid in the entire town gets harassed on a daily basis—even publicly, as you just saw—finally gets an out when he gets into his dream school, and can’t even go because his dad is too sick to be left alone!”
Blaine reached out to place a comforting hand on Kurt’s shoulder. “Kurt—“
Before Blaine could finish his sentence, Kurt heard the table full of Cheerios become more chatty than usual, and he came to a startling realization. He quickly turned around, scanning the table to see that several of the McKinley High cheerleaders were whispering to each other and pointing at Blaine.
“Shit,” he muttered before facing Blaine again. “Restroom, back window,” he ordered as the head Cheerio stood up from the table and made a beeline towards them.
“What?”
“Just go!” Kurt ordered nudging Blaine in the right direction.
Blaine finally seemed to notice the onlookers and started to quickly walk towards the bathroom as one of the cheerleaders walked right behind Kurt.
He spun around to face her, a fake smile on his face. “Hello, there Satan—Santana!”
“Was that... Blaine Anderson?” She asked brusquely, staring down Kurt and crossing her arms.
Kurt raised his eyebrows before turning his head behind him to check that Blaine had made it to the impromptu escape route. He turned to Santana again and sighed, throwing his hands out in defeat. “Yes,” he said, feigning a trenchant dismay. “You caught me. Blaine Anderson is here, with me, at the I’m A Bean …” Kurt scrunched up his nose and smiled wryly at her. “And if you wait a few more minutes, I’m pretty sure TuPac is going to start a flash mob!”
She rolled her eyes and scoffed. As she turned around her perfectly cooked ponytail nearly whipped him right across the face.
He watched her take a seat with the rest of the Cheerios and let out a sigh of relief before heading out to go find Blaine.
***
Blaine writhed and squirmed with all his might, but still wasn’t able to get enough momentum to hoist himself out of the window. He lay on his back, the top half of his body exposed to the bitter cold while the bottom half was stuck in the warmth of the I’m A Bean. The opening wasn’t big enough for him to turn around to get on his stomach. In that position, he could easily reach out for something and just pull himself out.
He he was straining to reach for the window to get some sort of leverage when he heard a giggle. And if he weren’t in the situation he was currently in, he might’ve taken more time to appreciate how beautiful that laugh was.
“Wow,” Kurt chuckled. “I wonder what TMZ would pay for a photo like this.”
“Not enough,” Blaine grunted, struggling for some sort of hand hold. “Now, are you— going to— help me— or not?”
Kurt rolled his eyes and headed over to Blaine.
He laced his arms underneath Blaine’s. “Alright,” Kurt said. “I’m gonna pull on the count of three, so brace yourself. One…”
“Wait, on three or after three?”
“What? Clearly on three, Blaine.”
“Wait, did that count as three?”
“Oh for fuck’s sake.”
Kurt tugged and Blaine slid out of the window with ease. The momentum of the pull sent them both toppling backwards—Blaine’s entire body on Kurt—towards the ground.
They hit the frozen ground with an “oof,” and immediately bust out into a fit of laughter.
“That went well.” Kurt giggled.
Still laughing, Blaine turned his body to face Kurt. “Yeah, we’re the epitome of grace.”
They settled into a surprisingly comfortable silence, both warmed by being in the other’s embrace. After a moment, Kurt cleared his throat and shifted backwards,as if he’d just realized the position they’d fallen into. He shuffled to his feet and brushed off some snow from his pants. “So, um, it was so nice—and super random and bizarre—to meet you,” Kurt said, shaking his head. “But I have to go. I have… things to do.”
Kurt headed off in the direction of his next destination, but not without Blaine following close behind. “Like what?”
“Like go meet my dad to watch my Jewish best friend play mother Mary in a multicultural holiday play. “
Blaine rolled his eyes. “Fine, don't tell me.”
“Oh, I only wish I were joking… Whatever, I have other things to do. Important things.”
“Like what?” Blaine pried again, hoping it was something he could accompany Kurt to. He was intrigued by him, and wanted to get to know him better.
“Like make the biggest decision of my life!” Kurt finally snapped, whirling around to face him. Blaine wondered for a moment if he had been too intrusive before Kurt deflated, like a cat un-bristling its tail. “I got into NYADA. It’s one of the best schools in the country for musical theatre, but it’s in New York and I can’t go.”
Blaine thought back to the incident that happened moments before he had nearly been discovered, then back to when he first met Kurt. No wonder Kurt was so wary of him.
“Because of your dad.”
Kurt gave a meek nod of confirmation. “He had a heart attack last year that put him in a coma for a few days, and now, he has… cancer… and we don’t know which way it’s going to go… I asked NYADA for a deferral, but they said I would lose my scholarship.”
They both stayed silent for a moment, neither quite knowing what to say after that. “Sorry for the huge downer,” Kurt mumbled. “I just… haven’t said that to anyone yet. Aside from kind of yelling it at you in the I’m A Bean a few minutes ago… Anyways,” he started up again, turning from Blaine and heading off into the snow covered terrain. “Merry Christmas, I gotta go.”
Blaine continued to trudge after him. “What, where?”
“I told you, multicultural nativity play.”
Blaine caught up with Kurt and sent him his most charming grin. “Sounds fun.”
***
“A hundred and fifty six piece elf village?” Blaine asked in astonishment as he and Kurt walked through the underpath of some trees.
Kurt let out a dry laugh. It sounded even more ridiculous aloud. “Some people’s dads collect coins, or artisan beer bottles; mine collects elves and their homes… So, what are your plans for the holidays?”
Blaine just gave him a halfhearted shrug. “I’ll probably just stay in the hotel room.”
“Christmas Eve in a hotel room?”
“I travel a lot. I’m used to it.”
“And I’m used to getting harassed by idiot meatheads, that doesn’t mean I like it.”
Blaine barked out a laugh, making Kurt’s stomach flip involuntarily. “I guess, just once… I’d like to stay in one place for a little while.”
Well, Lima isn't the worst place to spend Christmas Eve, Kurt nearly said before stopping himself and realizing he would look like a total creep if he did. He lightly shook his head, trying to bring himself back to reality. Head out of the clouds, Hummel. He probably has a girlfriend on the tour bus waiting for him.
“So why does your dad like Christmas so much?” Blaine asked, breaking Kurt out of his thoughts.
“Oh. I think… I think it’s because my mom passed away between Thanksgiving and Christmas.” He took note of the sympathetic look on Blaine’s face before continuing. “So now I think he wants to make Christmas this big and spectacular thing… for me, I guess. I used to love the little figurines when I was little, because I kind of looked like them. My mom decided to start collecting them a few weeks before she died.”
“I’m sorry about your mom,” Blaine said, adding a gentle hand on Kurt’s shoulder. “But that’s pretty sweet of your dad.”
“Yeah… I guess it is.” Kurt smiled warmly. “He’s a great dad.”
The two boys finally reached the peak of the hill. The view overlooked a beautiful wintry scene, complete with frosted evergreen trees and a meadow blanketed in fresh pillowy snow.
“Wow, it’s beautiful.”
Kurt scoffed. “Snow can hide a lot… it’s like the spanx of weather…” Blaine laughed and another comfortable silence fell between them for a moment. “So, where did you grow up?”
“New York. Queens. Growing up, you had to be tough and my brother was… I, on the other hand, was a little more sensitive… and I think that came off as weakness to the other kids.” Blaine shrugged it off. “But it was okay because I always had music.”
Kurt nodded and smiled understandingly. “I know exactly what you mean. The only thing that keeps me sane around here is the glee club. When I’m not singing, I don’t really feel… whole. It’s like—“
“Like you’re barely even a person.”
Kurt let out a little puff of air in astonishment. “Yeah… kind of exactly like that…” As they tread on, Kurt could hear the sound of ice softly crunching beneath their feet. “So uh, what do your parents think about your job?”
Blaine let out a short laugh that felt just the tiniest bit bitter. “Well, my mom supports me but… My dad doesn’t think performing is a real job. He’s really strict. He wasn’t too happy when I came out to him either, but he got over it… sort of.”
Kurt snapped his head up to look at Blaine, eyes wide as he processed the words he just heard. Came out, as in… “Wait a second, you’re…”
A smile tugged at the corner of Blaine’s lips. “Queer as a three dollar bill.” As soon as it was there, it faded. “But uh, it’s not something I advertise, you know? My dad thinks it’s better—safer, if I don’t.”
Kurt cocked an eyebrow, doing his best to push down the butterflies raging in his stomach. “Like a safer career move?” Why would Blaine’s dad care about his career if he didn’t even think it was valid?
Blaine shook his head. “When I was in middle school, before my first album, I went to a Sadie Hawkins dance with a friend; the only other gay guy in the school. While we were waiting for his dad to pick us up, these three guys came and beat the crap out of us.”
In an instant, Blaine felt Kurt’s hand on his. “I… I’m so sorry.”
“I uh, never pressed charges or anything. Just transferred and never looked back, which made sense at the time, but now I just regret not standing up to them.” Blaine looked right into Kurt’s crystal blue eyes as he came to a stop. “So if you ever get the chance to do what I didn’t, you should take it.”
***
They lumbered on through the snow, finally reaching the peak of a hill with a gentler slope than the last one.
Families stood huddled together while groups of children, wrapped up tighter than the presents under their trees, waddled to sleds and rode down the hill.
Kurt watched a smile crack Blaine’s face and he narrowed his eyes with a light suspicion. “What are you smiling at?”
“We should go sledding.”
“We don’t have a sled..?”
Blaine just picked up his pace to a light jog and headed towards a group of women huddled together. He faced Kurt, but kept up his jog in a backpedal. “Young moms; kind of my bread and butter.”
Kurt huffed out a laugh as he looked on at Blaine introducing himself to the star struck mothers. He offered to take a few selfies with them before shortly returning back to Kurt with—lo and behold—a sled.
A minute later they were at the edge of the slope and Blaine settled himself behind Kurt. Kurt felt his heart racing and if he was being completely honest, he couldn’t tell if it was because of the dropoff or the way Blaine was pressed flush against his back, his arms wrapped snug around Kurt’s waist so that he could take hold of the reins.
Blaine started to scoot the sled forward and Kurt felt his nerves kick in. “Wait!” He cried out.
“Is everything alright?”
“Yeah, I just… despite living in a snow covered town for eighteen years, I’ve never actually been sledding before.”
Blaine leaned forward and rested his head in the space between Kurt’s head and shoulders. “It’s okay,” he murmured. “I’ve got you. You’re safe with me.”
Kurt had absolutely no reason to believe Blaine—considering the short time they’d known each other—but for some reason, he found that he did. He believed he’d be safe with Blaine because he already felt safe with him. Safe enough to tell him about his mom, safe enough to confide in him about his dilemma with his dad, and now, safe enough to go sledding for the first time.
He nodded and felt himself pressing his cheek closer to Blaine’s. Blaine pushed them forward and off they went, down the gentle curve of the hill.
The air started rushing quicker and quicker against Kurt’s face, until they were riding at an enjoyable speed. Kurt felt Blaine’s arms close in a little tighter around him and he turned his head to smile back at the other boy, who graciously returned it.
The smiles were wiped clean off their faces when they faced forward once more and suddenly came into contact with a bump in the hill that sent Blaine tumbling backwards with an “oof.” Kurt managed to stay on, panic rising as he realized he had no control of the sled.
“Oh no. No no no,” Kurt yelped as he approached the sharp incline of a snow bank, unable to do anything to slow down or avoid the oncoming collision.
The sled went up the ramp and Kurt went flying, landing hard on a cleared path of snow he didn’t even have time to recognize as the road. He heard a harsh noise in the distance while he groaned and tried to gather himself. Kurt finally made it to his feet and the (now much louder and closer) noise finally registered as the revving of an engine from an oncoming car that was coming down way too fast for this weather.
The car seemed impossibly close and Kurt wasn’t sure he’d make it out of the way in time.
Out of nowhere, Blaine came racing across the road and practically tackled Kurt to the safety of the other side of the road.
The curly haired boy lay with his body pressed warmly against Kurt’s for a moment before clearing his throat and rolling off to the side.
Kurt let out a breath (of relief or disbelief, he really couldn’t tell) and watched it wisp away into the cold air. After the initial shock faded, Kurt turned his head to look at Blaine, who lay next to him looking just as dazed.
Of all the things he expected to do after a situation like this, feeling a smile start to curl on his lips definitely wasn’t at the top of the list. But Kurt took one look at Blaine’s (horrified) honey colored eyes and couldn’t help but think how ridiculous this whole situation was. Before he could help himself, he exploded into a fit of laughter.
Kurt felt an unfamiliar tingle in his chest—something light and warm, that he maybe only had a memory of. As his laughter grew and he watched a smile spread on Blaine’s lips, the glow spread down through his arms and legs and all the way down to his toes until his entire body felt sunny, despite being surrounded by mounds of snow.
#klaine#glee#wow look at me im writing!#kurt hummel#blaine anderson#merry christmas!#let it snow#fic rec
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just one bite.
original female character centric fanfiction | post descendants three | canon compliant | part one of one | rating : teen | warnings : spells, death, mentioned eating disorder (it never explicitly says ‘delilah has an eating disorder’ but you can definitely inference it) | word count : 2742 | part of the unhappily ever after collection | masterlist
prompt: “it would warm my ancient heart if you could accept this modest gift on your birthday. just one bite... and a good fortune to the fairest of them all.” unhappily ever after collection
tags (open): @cherry-bxtch, @cosmosstarstudio, @go-sullivan, @tacobacoyeet
she wraps a finger in a stray curl of her hair, it’s not black enough. even with the yellow ribbon tied in dark brown waves it’s not enough. she huffs and tugs it out, the ribbon floats daintily to the surface of her vanity (a grace delilah herself could never achieve) and she stares at it with jealousy. she had tried so desperately to make herself light as a feather, her waist so petite it looks as if she had been squeezed into a thousand corsets. her skin so pale her mother swears that she looks like death, and you can see the veins in her her wrists. her friends had sworn they could see her ribs even through the sweaters she keeps over her.
delilah sighs and sucks in her cheeks, and she almost has no skin to pull in between her teeth. the rouge brush tickles her cheeks, but smiles give you wrinkle lines so she can’t afford a giggle to pass her rosy lips. she had perfected the perfect smile, it was unnatural, sure, but it minimized wrinkles so it was okay with her.
she sets down the brush delicately, presses her fingers to her cheeks anxiously, as if to get rid of the skin that had been raked by well-manicured nails several time before. she was only thirteen, but she had become so vain so soon, and she had to. her mother was only fourteen when she died.
and dying certainly wasn’t on delilah’s to-do list but if it happened maybe she could be the picturesque princess asleep on a death bed of flowers. all she wants is to be like her mother, people adore her. she has tried everything, but yet she hadn’t yet reached the beauty of her mother yet. well, she had tried everything but plastic surgery, but she was forbidden from that.
she had asked once when she was younger, but her mother had nearly fainted at the question and her father had given her the stern and noble ‘you’re beautiful just the way you are’. so she dutifully apologized and ran up to her room to sulk, as you do. delilah had learned what questions to ask, like ‘how lovely is the weather today?’ or ‘where did you get that dress?’ she knew better than to ask silly things concerning literally anything else. she was a princess, not a little girl.
she cradles her head in her hands as she glared into the mirror. delilah hates the way she looks, she’s not different enough to be pretty on her own, so people constantly compare her to her mother. ‘you look just like your mother! a splitting image!’ and at first she beams and thanks them. but then they tilt their heads and look harder at the practiced pinkish pout that doesn’t pass as red only slightly and the not quite ebony hair. ‘well, almost just like her.’ so she tried harder, she has to.
at first she may have been pretty, but it wasn’t enough to be pretty, she had to be snow white. delilah had to be the kind of pretty that princes would risk their lives over. even if the blue veins were very easily seen on her limbs, and the shadows under her eyes, and her lips had turned a sickly grey-pink, there was still something so delicate about her. pretty, almost, like glass.
and yeah, she had been taught to avoid apples like the plague but in secret she didn’t, not at all. the minute she heard princess audrey had been cursed by the daughter of maleficent (even by accident) delilah knew her time would come. she had begun looking for things to take from strangers, spending more time in the woods and even volunteering to help the survivors from the isle of the lost just in case the evil queen should see an opportunity.
over the week, all she could think about was how she looked, that she needed to appear perfect at all times in case a terrible tragedy should occur. delilah has scarcely eaten anything at all, and when she did eat she felt so sick to her stomach that she almost immediately coughed it back up. some days, she could keep it down, but others she couldn’t.
so here she was, seated at her vanity, clutching a lip tint with a deadly grip in her hand as she shakily traced it over her lips. it’s supposed to make her lips rose red, but it’s too pink. delilah purses her lips and sets it down, groaning. she needed to look just like her mother, she wasn’t enough on her own after all. the thirteen year old stood up, brushing off her pale yellow pleated skirt.
she adjusts the blue sweater on her shoulder, and pretends not to notice how dead she looks because it’s too big and keeps sliding off. she might as well have no skin at all with the look of her bony limbs. she practices her smile in the mirror before grabbing her bag to head off to school.
it’s around four in the afternoon before she gets back to her awaiting parents, who are seated at the table oddly silent. normally she’d catch them in post afternoon tea, where they would be discussing the weather, or how her mother’s career was doing. but today, they don’t even notice she arrives until she comes to next to them, because they were too wrapped up in their thoughts.
she touches the teapot in the middle of the table, it’s cold. their tiny cups are full of dark liquid, so she knows they have something to tell her, probably bad. they never waste perfectly good tea.
“darling,” her mother sounds so disappointed, so concerned. “sit down, please.” she grits her teeth behind closed lips. she obeys of course, she has to be a good daughter, and a perfect princess. “are you aware of what tomorrow is?”
she shakes her head, and pretends not to notice the dread filled fingers pressed into his pale temple. “of course you don’t.” her mother scolds him under her breath, but it’s too late. if her kindhearted father is disappointed, she must’ve really forgotten something important.
her mother purses her classic red as blood lips, seemingly preparing for her next words. “it’s your birthday,” is what comes out first. “tomorrow’s your birthday.” she corrects almost immediately afterwards. delilah almost hits herself, how could she forget her own birthday? her calendar was always correct one-hundred percent of the time. she wouldn’t forget to plan a party, her own party nonetheless.
she supposed it’s possible she didn’t mark it on purpose, after all the evil queen is loose, who knows what kind of havoc she could wreak on the birthday of a princess. (though that seemed much more maleficent’s style wasn’t it?)
“oh, i completely forgot.” that was true, she had forgotten, and she honestly doesn’t know how. “with all of these tests... i’m so sorry, mother.” paired with big guilt ridden eyes, she could get away from this without a scratch. her eyes found her fiddling fingers in her lap. if she could blow it off, she could go up to her room and do homework. that wasn’t really what she wanted to do. but she would do it to make her family proud.
“it’s alright sweetheart, me and your father have a party planned.” her breath caught in her throat. she had been sort of distant with her friends lately, so a birthday party would be awkward and strange. “it’s a quiet little garden party, but there will be quite a lot of people there, i suppose.”
she sucked in another breath, delilah could no way tell her mother she had been blowing off her friends to constantly pick at her insecurities and tiny flaws of her appearance, oh what would she say? “that sounds so lovely, thank you!” she walks over to delicately put her arms around her mother.
her mother seemed to stiffen in her arms, “delilah honey, you look like you’ve let yourself go.” she almost flinches at her words. she stands back up, and crosses her arms. “i can’t remember the last time you ate anything besides apples.”
delilah almost curls in on herself to wallow in self pity, “i’m fine mother.” her tone turns cold, but she’s trying too hard not to cave and tell her mother how she feels, “thank you for the party, i’m going to go find something to wear.”
and then she’s sitting in her closet, alone. her phone is next to her foot, and for the first time in weeks it was plugged in and the screen was lit up with texts. she looked over at it, it was the only thing she could see since she was completely concealed in the dark.
delilah gnaws on her lip as she reaches for her phone, her fingers hovering over the keyboard it takes her a little bit to muster up the courage to ask the girl on the other side of the phone if she wanted to go shopping, she had some christmas money left over after all.
to not press the send button was so very tempting, but she really didn’t want to be alone in her adventures of looking for something to wear so she pressed it. and in true delilah style she immediately regretted it afterwards. her head was buried in her arms atop her knees, and she really was starting to wish the party was cancelled. if it was this hard for her to talk to one person, how hard would it be for her to be at a party. and to make it even worse she would be the center of attention.
she waited with her nerves filling up her own body, all from just from not speaking to anyone outside of school for a while. the phone pings from where it sits and she picks it up, a sigh of relief flowing through her lungs as she read the words of agreement on the screen.
it didn’t take long to decide on a time, and it was equally as quick to get to the mall (probably due to her mother’s love of the mall, so the castle was close to it) the girl she was with was the daughter of rapunzel, so she was good with coming up with what to do.
the mall was fun, but it was over soon with delilah coming home with a navy blue and buttercup yellow dress that looked unnervingly similar to the one her mother wore, only shorter. but delilah persisted that it was what she wanted. the dress was now in her hands as she started to pick out other things to wear with it. her birthday was on a saturday, and today was friday. anxiety stirred in her stomach thinking about the party, even though all she had to do was show up.
the mary jane shoes at the bottom of her closet looked promising so she grabbed those and a pair of plain white socks with adorable little ruffles. there was a little necklace with an apple charm that she layed out next to the dress also before deciding the outfit as done and hanging it up in front of her wardrobe.
by the time her and her parents ate a silent dinner, all the worrying she had done had tired her out plenty. so much so that she almost immediately fell asleep as soon as she got into bed. even with how tired she was it was a miracle that the millions of thoughts in her head didn’t keep her up all night.
the next morning she felt sick, and she tried to tell her mother that and snow white simply brushed her off with a perfectly perfect laugh. okay, so she didn’t feel actually sick, but her stomach was twisting because she hadn’t hung out with anybody since forever. and yeah, she did hang out with rapunzel’s daughter the other day but there wasn’t a lot of talking. of course she turned down breakfast and although she didn’t miss the concerned look on her mother’s face, it was routine now so she didn’t care about it much anymore to be very honest.
she slipped on the dress and shoes before carefully latching in the golden necklace, after all she’d had it since she was a baby and didn’t want to damage it or break it in any way. her hands were practically shaking as she went over to the vanity. delilah pretended that she was just doing her makeup, covering up her shadows like she normally did. lips glossed red, cheeks brushed pale pink, it was normal.
she was used to this by now, and she knew how to make it look like there was no effort put in. a little extra sparkle on her eyelids made her feel like this was something new. she curled her hair, tied a ribbon over her head like she normally did. delilah adjusted herself in the mirror before leaving the room.
she stepped down the stairs quietly, delicate as she normally was, how she had to be. she was thirteen, turned fourteen and yet delilah white knew how to look small and feel small in almost every way imaginable. her shiny black shoes creaked on the stairs and she winced at the noise, even though a warm call of her name from downstairs immediately followed.
her parents were awake and sitting at the table with their morning tea, as normal. but the difference was that there was a little baby blue wrapped box on the table. she smiled softly, before reminding herself of the wrinkles that could follow. when she reached the bottom of the stairs, she kissed her mother’s cheek as affectionately as possible. “good morning, mother.” her voice was honeyed, but her parents didn’t know that.
“good morning dear.” she kissed her father’s cheek as well before sitting at the seat the little box was placed in front of. it couldn’t be bigger than a tissue box but still delilah felt a little warmth in her heart. she trailed her fingers over the soft fabric covering the box. her smile only widened as she felt the silky material.
“is this for me?” her voice was soft, maybe even childish, but the fact that she had forgotten her birthday had hit her hard enough so much so that she was surprised her parents remembered to get her a present.
her parents nodded cheerfully in response, but just as she touched the ribbon to start to pull, the door rang. she smiled apologetically and told them she would get it. delilah’s footsteps on the wooden floor seemed to echo in her eardrums. a twinge in her chest led her to think that something bad could happen, but she ignored it.
she opened the door and nearly gasped at the sight before her. a fairly ugly old woman wrapped in a black cloak stood before her with a soft wrinkled smile. “hello dear.” delilah nodded and forced out a quiet ‘hello’.
her wrinkled hand stretched out to reveal a shiny red apple, the color of blood, the color of her mother’s lips. “it would warm my ancient heart if you could accept this modest gift on your birthday.” now, delilah wasn’t stupid. she knew her mother’s fairytale forwards and backwards. and in her heart she knew how this would end. but all she could think about was fulfilling her mother’s legacy, how pretty she might look wrapped in a flowered deathbed.
she smiled gratefully and took it in her hands, trying to mask the shaking of her fingers. she didn’t need to be worried, right? it was just a sweet old woman giving the princess a gift on her birthday. delilah raised it up to her lips, the bottom of it touching the apple first. only when her teeth just pushed open the skin of the fruit was when she heard the woman say something, her voice sounding younger and meaner. “just one bite... and a good fortune to the fairest of them all.”
delilah didn’t even realize she had swallowed the bite that had made its way into her mouth until the room was spinning and her vision darkened, her mother calling her name and the woman cackling. but even then she knew she was dead.
ʚĭɞ | if you want to be on my taglist, all you have to do is like this post. hello darlings! this is my story for the writing event i started for fifty followers. please share the collection linked before the cut of this piece, i really want to get some more writers on this! i’ve been dreading writing this for some reason, but it feels good to get it out of my drafts!
#unhappily ever after collection#ofc#original female character#descendants original character#post descendants three#post d3#my writing#disney descendants#descendants#descendants three#rory's fifty#tw ; angst#tw ; death#tw ; spells#tw ; eating disorder#descendants fanfiction
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Somebody Else Is All You Need (PART 2)
***There’s spoilers! if you haven’t yet, please read part 1 first HERE***
Word Count: 2.7k
Warnings: it’s sad, look out
A/N: here it is folks! the long-awaited, much-demanded part 2 to Somebody Else Is All You Need :) also, thank you to the anon who suggested Gwil play a bigger role in part 2 — you got my brain-gears turning and I can’t thank you enough ❤️
Research says it takes twenty-one days to break a habit.
If that was the case, you were never going to be able to make it a habit of not checking your phone to see if Rami had texted you.
It had been only four days. Four days since you last saw and spoke to him. And it wasn’t on good terms either.
Four days.
That was ninety-six hours without him.
Nine thousand, seven hundred and sixty minutes, which in seconds could be converted to-
You had to stop. This was getting out of control.
The more you replayed the fight in your head, the worse things got. Your mind was a pendulum, swinging back and forth between regretting leaving and then not regretting your decision. You had to face fact, Rami acted like a complete asshole.
But did that really justify you leaving the way you did?
Not to mention, Lucy was in the picture now — which was a whole other shitshow in itself, really.
You were giving yourself a headache. A four-day-long headache to be exact.
You stared up at the popcorn ceiling of your hotel room as the Weather Channel buzzed in the background. Your initial idea was to give yourself a little relaxing getaway downtown for the time being. Go see a movie, go for a swim, browse the shops here and there — anything to get your mind off Rami.
But the moment you went down to the pool, towel in hand and sunglasses on your head, something made you turn around and walk right back the way you came from. All you could see in your mind was you with him in the pool, happy together.
It just didn’t feel right, coming to a place like this without him. It made you feel worse, empty even. Were you trying to move on, or simply trying to tune everything out? The sting in your heart made you think it was more of the latter.
You were running out of things to wear. You really only had your sleep shirt and sweatpants — that was all you were wearing when you left, after all.
You went down to the gift shop to buy a swimsuit for the pool of course, but that did no good. You couldn’t even make it to the pool chair without breaking down for crying out loud.
You had to pick up more of your things from home, you knew that for certain. You couldn’t stay holed up in your pajamas in a downtown LA hotel forever. The cabin fever was starting to kick in. You felt itchy. You had to get out.
But going back home to pack more things meant you’d see Rami again. That was the last thing you wanted. You would rather go back to the pool and try to hide your sniffles from tourists and little kids splashing about the pool than go home and speak to your boyfriend.
Could you even call him that anymore?
What he did was bad, you knew that. Real bad.
Sometimes you’d wake up thinking that all he did was forget you at the bar, but then slowly Lucy would crawl back into your memory, like a sliver you couldn’t get out of your hand.
You made your decision to head back home in an instant. It was easy, really. A simple equation had popped into your mind and the result was what got you practically running from your hotel room to the car, ready to head back and pack up your stuff once and for all:
Rami + You + Lucy = error. There was no solution. But there was an explanation for the lack of solution.
He cheated on you.
The mere thought made you sick to your stomach. It was a topic you honestly didn’t even want to go anywhere near addressing. But he had six months in London. Six months in London with her.
And judging by how you found them at that party — they hadn’t been ‘just friends’ in London, either.
You jumped when your phone started ringing in the car, and you snatched your phone off the seat lightning fast.
But when you glanced at the screen, expecting to see Rami’s name on your phone, you were taken aback to find it wasn’t him calling, but instead an unknown number.
You tried to ignore the sinking feeling you got when you saw it wasn’t Rami, and set your phone back down on the seat.
You could feel yourself growing more and more anxious as you got closer to the house. What if Rami was still home, even though it was already two in the afternoon? What if he’d pull some fucked up charm-thing of his and convince you to stay?
Oh god. What if he had already moved on? What if Lucy was there?
You knew it was unlikely, but after everything that had happened in London, as well as at the party, your mind was wandering everywhere. There wasn’t any scenario you could consider ‘impossible’ anymore.
The statement you’d often tell yourself in your mind now had a question sewn into it:
Rami would never do something like that… would he?
To your relief, his car wasn’t in the driveway when you pulled in. You thanked your lucky stars you managed to come at a time when Rami had gone out. You honestly didn’t know what you’d do or say if you saw him again, you weren’t ready for that yet.
You thought you were prepared to come back home. You really thought you were.
The moment your key clicked in the lock and you swung the door open, you almost doubled over and started to cry right there. Everything hit you all too fast, all at once.
The pictures you had taken together on vacation last Christmas were still hung up on the wall. For some reason you had expected him to take them down in anger. The room still carried a faint combination of the pine candle you often loved to burn, along with the hint of spice from Rami’s cologne.
You hovered in the entry hall for a few extra moments, almost expecting him to peek over at you from the kitchen and smile that goofy grin he always wore when you came home.
“I made you tea,” He’d always announce proudly, before beckoning you further inside into the kitchen.
But there was none of that today. No tea. No Rami.
You hated what he had done. But you hated this emptiness more.
You jumped when your phone began to ring again. Swiping at your damp cheeks hastily and sniffling, you pulled out your phone and frowned.
The unknown number was calling again.
You tapped ‘decline’ and set your phone back in your pocket, only to have it start ringing once more moments later. It was still the same number.
What the hell?
“Hello?” You asked cautiously, frowning as you began to make your way upstairs to your room.
“Y/N? This is Y/N, right?”
“Yes…” You answered slowly. “Who’s this?”
“Oh, sorry.” The voice on the other line apologized, laughing a little. “It’s Gwilym. From the BoRhap party.”
You blinked in surprise, pausing on the stairs for a moment as you tried to recall if and when you gave him your number at the party. You weren’t that drunk, were you?
“Hey,” You greeted him, slightly confused but also grateful to speak to someone other than a hotel wall for the first time in four days. “I hope you don’t mind me asking but uh, how did you get my number?”
“Rami gave it to me when he was looking for you.” He explained. “He was hoping you’d reply to someone if you weren’t going to reply to him. But I never heard back from you, either. I was starting to worry.”
Oh. That made sense.
You realized Gwilym’s text must have gotten lost amongst the thirty or forty-something nutty texts Rami had sent that night. You didn’t even realize someone else had texted you.
“God, I’m sorry,” you groaned, running a hand through your hair. “It’s been just crazy over here, I’m sorry I never got back to you.
“It’s alright, don’t worry Y/N.” Gwilym replied gently. “I just wanted to see if you were doing okay. And also if you need anything.”
You sighed as you placed your empty suitcase on your bed. It looked more like a black hole at the moment rather than luggage to you.
“I’m not okay, I don’t think.” You replied quietly as you started grabbing some of your shirts and packing them in your suitcase. “I mean, I’m planning on leaving and I don’t know when I’m going to come back, and it just…”
You broke off as your voice hitched. You could feel the tears start to come back. You felt stupid for crying in front of Gwilym, who you literally just met four days ago.
“I’m sorry,” you manage to blurt out. “Everything I was honestly never expecting happened so fast and…”
“Hey, it’s okay.” Gwilym answered soothingly. “If you want… I’m in town for another few days before I have to fly back to London. I could come by for a bit? You know, if you need a friend.”
You almost started to cry even more at Gwilym’s kind offer. You nodded emphatically, before remembering you were still on the phone.
“I’d really like that,” You almost laughed with relief. “Thank you.”
“Great. You’re at Rami’s place, yes?”
“Yeah — I was planning on going back to my hotel but I’ll wait for you here. It’s easier.”
“Wonderful,” Gwilym replied. “See you soon, Y/N. I’m on my way.”
“Y/N…?”
You had just hit ‘end call’ on your phone when you heard your name. Whipping around in shock, your heart stopped when you saw Rami standing at the entrance to your room. His features carried a mixed expression of anger, confusion, and absolute heartbreak. He was still wearing his coat and shoes, so you figured he must have just gotten home, heard you speak, and come straight upstairs.
But now that he was here in front of you, and after you had already spoken with Gwilym, you didn’t want to talk to Rami at all.
So instead you kept packing. Almost slamming your clothes into your suitcase as you went. Rami rushed over and grabbed your wrist to try and stop you from adding more clothes to your suitcase.
“Hey,” he whispered shakily. “Y/N, what’s going on? I haven’t seen you in four days, where are you going?”
Huh. So you weren’t the only one counting the days you’d been away.
You shook your head and tugged your wrist away from his grasp. You didn’t even want to look Rami in the eye.
“Y/N, talk to me.”
You busied yourself with trying to count the threads on the sweater you were folding. You weren’t going to look up, you weren’t going to look up, you weren’t going to-
“Y/N, please!”
Rami was yelling now. You could see out of the corner of your eye that his hand kept darting towards you, as if he wanted nothing more than to touch you again, before thinking twice about it and changing his mind.
“I’ll tell you I’m sorry a thousand times, and then a thousand times after that because Y/N, I am so, so, so fucking sorry. Please. I just want to hear you say something. Anything.”
His apology didn’t cut it for you. You were fully packed now, and you closed up your suitcase with a click before grabbing the handle and dragging it down the hall.
“Y/N, wait!”
The catch in Rami’s voice was what made you stop. It wasn’t that you listened to him, but you were taken so off guard by how broken he suddenly sounded that you froze. You didn’t want to look at him even more now, in fear of breaking into tears yourself.
“What can I do to get you to talk to me?” He pleaded. You heard footsteps as he approached you from behind, but he never touched you. “What do I have to do to get you to stay here? Do I have to beg? Do you want me to get down on my knees? Because, fucking hell, I’ll do all that and more if it means you stay for just one more day and I get to talk to you.”
That made you whip around in bewilderment. Your first instinct was to snap at him and tell him to ‘cut the shit’, but when your eyes finally met his, you saw he wasn’t joking.
Rami had sunk to his knees now. The sight alone had started to make your eyes sting again. You shook your head.
“Stop it,” You tried to hiss, but it came out as a whisper. “Stop this Rami, get up. This is ridiculous.”
He ignored you, and instead slowly wrapped his arms around your middle. You could feel his shoulders trembling as he began to cry.
“Don’t go,” he begged, his voice muffled both by tears and your shirt. “Please, Y/N, you never have to speak to me again, just don’t leave, fuck!”
You closed your eyes as tears trailed down your cheeks. This was far from what you had expected would happen when you’d inevitably have to cross path with Rami again. You thought he’d be angry, and both of you would be yelling and screaming at each other.
This was much worse.
You dropped to your knees as well, so you were now on the same level as Rami. Sighing in defeat, you gently brushed a few tears off his face.
“Please stop this,” you whispered, your composure crumbling in the form of a sob. “It’s not going to do any good. I have to leave. For now.”
“But you’ll be back?” Rami’s voice wasn’t even a whisper. You shook your head.
“I don’t know.”
Rami reached out and caressed your face with trembling hands. A new set of tears had begun to glisten in his eyes.
“I lost you once already.” His voice was wavering as he spoke. “I’m not fucking ready to see you leave again. Please don’t. We can figure this out and-”
The doorbell cut him off. That was enough of a signal to make up your mind.
“I’m sorry Rami,” You said, moving away and grabbing your suitcase. “I have to go.”
You threw your coat and shoes on and opened the door to see Gwilym standing there. He frowned in concern when he saw your tear-stained face. Without a word, he pulled you into a hug.
You looked over your shoulder just as Rami came down the stairs. He looked from you, to Gwilym, and back to you again. You could see the fire in his eyes.
“Is this where you’re going?” He demanded, nodding towards Gwilym. “Back to his place? Is this where you’ve been this entire time?”
You couldn’t believe Rami. You had put up with so much of his bullshit and this was what you got in return. Your hand tighted on the handle of your suitcase and you started to walk faster to Gwilym’s car.
“That’s real low, Y/N. You’re a coward.”
That made you stop.
You turned around, all previous sympathy you felt was completely gone.
“That makes two of us.” You spit out. You didn’t even wait for a reaction before tugging open the car door and slamming it shut.
Gwilym didn’t start the car right away. Instead, he placed a hand on your shoulder reassuringly.
“Let him cool off,” He suggested gently. “Too much has happened in such a short while.”
You could only nod as you stared blankly out the window. It felt like ages before Gwilym finally started the car.
“Where do you want to go?”
“Anywhere,” You answered with a whisper. “Anywhere but here.”
#rami malek#rami malek x reader#rami malek imagine#rami malek oneshot#elliot alderson x reader#elliot alderson#elliot alderson imagine#bohemian rhapsody#bohemian rhapsody x reader#queen#queen imagine#queen oneshot#freddie mercury#freddie mercury imagine#freddie mercury oneshot#request
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Speech Impediment - Chapter 9
Ships: Logicality, Prinxiety, platonic dlamp
Summary: It’s December 23rd. Patton’s flying out to visit his family in Illinois that evening, Roman’s driving upstate to see his, Logan is spending Christmas with his family in the city, and Dexter goes out to get tea. They all celebrate their last time together until New Years giving gifts and watching Christmas movies. However, one question is on Dexter’s mind: Why isn’t Virgil visiting his?
AO3 - Here
Chapter One Previous Next
It was getting harder to get out of bed these days. What with class being out for the next three weeks finally allowing him to sleep in as, and the freezing cold hell that awaited him outside the thick blankets. But alas, he had to get up.
Moving as fast as he could to avoid the cold as much as he could, Dexter slipped out of bed and went to the shower and turned the faucet on the hottest setting, so it would be warm when he got in, ran back into the room and grabbed a change of clothes, then practically threw himself under the waterfall of scalding heat. The soles of his feet stung as they touched both the chill bottom of the tub and the boiling water running past them. Dexter shifted around to try to distribute the pain, but was restricted from moving too far away from the shower’s stream in order to avoid the icy air. After a few minutes the room warmed up and Dexter was able sit down and enjoy his shower. Was he the only one who liked to sit down when showering? Maybe that was another item to add to the list of why he’s abnormal.
Dexter quickly stopped that thought. The others would be angry if they knew he was thinking like that. They were such a help in his battle with self deprecation that he didn’t even know he was fighting. When you’ve been called names and told that you’re a bad person your entire life it’s hard to notice when you’re being self deprecating, because you’re so used to it that it becomes the truth in your head. But what the others, Patton and Logan especially, have taught him is that people’s opinion of you doesn’t always translate to reality. So, what Dexter has decided to do to help those thoughts is to ‘meditate’ on them in a way. Dexter’s had enough of therapists to last a lifetime, but he does agree with some of their therapy, so he just uses an app.
Finding it easier to relax in the shower, Dexter simply listens to a voice direct him whilst nature sounds a played. There are breathing exercises, thinking exercises, and much more that helps him with tuning down his negative thinking. Logan was the one who downloaded this app on his phone and set up an account for him. Apparently he had spent a few hours looking through different types of self-help apps until he decided this one was the best for Dexter. Dexter would still get those intrusive thoughts, and sometimes he wasn’t able to talk himself out of his negative thinking easily, but it really did help him. The only important thing was that he was trying to get better.
After about fifteen minutes in the shower, about three of them spent complaining about having to leave; Dexter shut off the water and quickly swiped his towel of the rack and dried off. Stepping out of the tub he wrapped the towel around his waist and reached into his drawer to grab his blow dryer. Usually Dexter liked to air dry his hair, but he didn’t feel like dying of hypothermia today. Funny thing is that after drying his hair, Dexter also dried his skin with the dryer just to warm up a little before getting dressed. Call him weird, he was finally embracing it as a good thing.
This outfit today consisted of a pair of black slacks, a dark grey, long-sleeve button up, and the yellow pair of gloves from his Halloween costume, since they were the only gloves he owned and looked quite dashing on him if he did say so himself.
Cracking the tiny window open and turning on the fan, Dee shut the bathroom door behind him and went back into him room. Patton was away having a breakfast date with Logan, so he had the room to himself for the next few hours.
First things first, Dexter decided to feed Dee Dee. Since corn snakes only had to eat once or twice a week, he had reserved feeding day to Monday, which was today. Now, if you were a luck snake owner, your snake would eat whatever you gave them. Dee Dee, however, was a brat. He loved her, but she was a brat. Dee Dee would eat only if the frozen mouse was warmed in the microwave, dipped in blood, and held in front of her face; she wouldn’t go anywhere near crickets. It was a pain to feed her, but it had to be done.
After that was settled and taken care of, he decided to venture out in the cold and get some tea at his favorite shop, maybe get some work done there as well. The five of them weren’t supposed to meet until noon to have their gift exchange and Christmas party, which was being held in Roman and Virgil’s dorm this time, so he still had a little more time to himself.
Walking to his side of the closet, Dexter pulled out a thick, black peacoat and a checkered scarf to keep warm. Grabbing his wallet and keys, he headed down to the parking lot and got in his bug. The day after Dexter had got stuck out in the cold with his car parked outside the reptile shop, Both Logan and Patton had offered to go jump start it and bring it back for him, as both wanted him to stay in bed and not push himself. Those two really were almost like a mother and father to him.
Plugging his aux cord into his phone, Dee listened to Melanie Martinez and Billie Eilish on his way to the coffee shop, both of them queens to him. The ride was quick as there was no traffic on the road, yet slow as he was trying not to slide on black ice. He pulled up into an easy parking space right outside the front, next to a handicap spot.
Walking to the shop Dexter was meant with the comforting warmth of the building’s heaters, and his nose was invaded by the sweet and succulent smell of coffee and honey. The line to the counter was not that long, only two people ahead of him, a male and a female. The female was currently ordering a peppermint latte from the teenager behind the register. The male after him, and before Dexter, was, for some reason, wearing sunglasses and scrolling through his phone. Once the woman left, the man walked up with a confidence that could only possibly be matched by Roman. And in a clear, smooth, but upbeat voice ordered a caramel cappuccino with a dash of cinnamon and a drizzle of chocolate. Once he had his order written down and paid for, he turned around to take a seat. Their eyes met for a brief moment as he went by, Dexter took note of the color of his eyes, dark cocoa.
A moment passed without him noticing, the annoyed barista had to call him in question to bring him back to the present.
“Oh not sorry,” Dexter apologized, “May I not have a small green tea with a bit of sugar?”
The barista, Melissa according to her name tag, looked thoroughly annoyed with the way he was speaking to her, but said nothing to his face, grumbling as she wrote down the order on the cup.
“Name?” She asked.
“Not Dexter.”
The teen raised an eyebrow and rolled her eyes, telling him to sit and wait for his drink, as if he was a small child who needed help to do anything. Dexter was used to this kind of treatment, that’s why he tried his best to limit talking to strangers s much as he could whenever he went out.
Turning back to the tables and booths Dexter started for his and his friends’ favorite spot, only to find that it was occupied by the mysterious man who was in line before him. Dexter didn’t want to be rude and ask him to move to a new booth, but he also really wanted to sit there. So, trying his absolute best not to look like a total creep, Dee walked to the booth directly next to the usual one, and sat in the closest seat to it, less than a foot away from the other person. This felt awkward on so many levels, he wanted nothing more than to quickly get his drink and run away from this place and burn this awkward moment from his memory permanently.
“Well I’m honored that you think I’m so memorable, I tend to have that affect.” The man spoke from behind him, making Dexter yelp and jump back a little. Whipping around in his seat, Dexter realized that the stranger was turned towards him as well.
“Yes- I mean, uh, I was talking about you, I wasn’t thinking of something else and- and I-” What the fuck am I doing? I look like an idiot! Stop rambling!
Dexter tried desperately to think of a coherent excuse, but instead just shout out words vomit of pure awkwardness and regret. Eventually he was able to shut up, but only when he forcibly slapped his hand over his own mouth. However the other didn’t seem to mind his dumb talking, grinning at him the entire time.
“Not sorry, I wasn’t thinking out loud.” Dexter explained, looking down at his pants.
“So sweat girl, no hard feelings.” He told him, “I like the way you talk.”
“Huh?” Dexter voiced, taken aback, “But I don’t speak wrong. I’m not hard to understand.”
“Nah, it’s adorable, like it’s opposite day on repeat for you.” Dexter screamed him his head. What the hell was happening?!
“Oh, uh, no thank you...” He murmured shyly.
“No problem,” He smiled honestly. A name was called from the front, he got up. “Well, hope to see you again...” He lingered on the last word, asking for a name.
“Dexter.”
His eyes lit up.
“Remy.”
He walked away, grabbing his drink, leaving the store with a quick wave. Dexter didn’t wave back.
...
The sound of Jim Carry's The Grinch Who Stole Christmas played in the background. They sat around a video of a fire in a fireplace on a tablet in the center of the room. Patton had made all of them a mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows and snickerdoodles. Before they were to give each other their main gift, they had decided to play some Christmas games. They played Life, Candy Land, and, currently, Secret Santa.
“I had you Virgil,” Logan began, “So I thought it was appropriate to get you a gift card for some audible books.”
“Wow that’s- alright I guess.” Virgil said, taking the card into his hands and acting as if it were nothing special.
“And I had you Logan, so I wrote a story about you helping Sherlock in his greatest mystery yet.” Roman said with glee, handing his cell phone over to the motherly nerd.
“This is a self insert on Wattpad.”
“Yep!” Roman said in excitement, “Do you love it?”
“It is adequate I suppose.” Cue Roman becoming offensive.
“Well I got Dexter,” Patton said with cheer, bringing out a small gift bag, “So I made you and Dee Dee matching sweaters!”
Looking looked into the bad with interest and pulled out a large black, orange, and yellow stripped sweater, with a mini matching tube sweater. It was the cutest thing he ever did see.
“My goodness, I hate it!” Dexter said with a slight squeal of excitement. “I’m sure Dee Dee will hate it to!” As if she was waiting for her cue, Dee Dee slivered out of Dexter’s sleeve, winding her little noodle body around his hand. The others looked on in surprise.
“You brought Dee Dee here?” Virgil questioned.
“Of course not, this’ll be the last time she’ll be able to see any of you for two weeks and she gets attached easily. Right, Dee Dee?” The small corn snake stuck out her tongue and booped her snoot against his thumb. Everyone ‘awe’d at her cuteness. “Here, I didn’t get Roman.”
Roman took the wrapped gift from Dexter’s outstretched hands, and tore it open. Underneath the paper was a box, wow. Opening the box, Roman reached it and pulled out two items, an adult coloring book and a package of over fifty different colored pencils.
“Ah, thanks ‘Fibbiler’ On the Roof.”
“You’re not welcome.”
And that left only Virgil to give his gift.
“Sorry I uh- just got you this card.” He murmured, practically throwing the card at Patton. Dexter didn’t know what the card said, but it must have been interesting because at first Patton looked concerned, then brilliantly happy.
“Aha, I love it!”
“Really?” Virgil asked for confirmation. Patton nodded his head eagerly.
Thus their party games and gift exchange had ended and they all settled down to continue watching the movie. It was quarter to three now, Patton’s plane took off at five and he’d have to leave in an hour. Roman’s would start his two hour drive to his parents’ house at about the same time. Once they’d all leave Logan decided that he too would head to his parents house to stay the week. Dexter sat there in his thoughts, ignoring the movie, wondering what he’d do alone for the remaining time until everyone was back.
Dexter was used to solitude; it’s all he’s ever known for the majority of his life, but for some reason now he couldn’t stand the thought of it. He had gotten so used to being around his friends that the thought of them separating for even a little bit felt suffocating.
Then a question popped into his head. What about Virgil? He wasn’t visiting any family over the break, just like him, the emo would be stuck in the dorms until everyone got back. Which brought another question to his head:
Why wasn’t Virgil visiting his family?
.
.
Here’s another chapter, love ya’ll. (Should I have a romantic or platonic relationship between Dexter and Remy?)
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#sanders sides#deciet sanders#ts deceit#logan sanders#sanders sides logan#patton sanders#sanders sides patton#roman sanders#sanders sides roman#virgil sanders#sanders sides virgil#ts remy#remy sanders#logicality#prinxiety#princiety#platonic dlamp
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Perfect Gifts for New Year And Christmas
Decorative Fancy Jewelry Storage Box
The merry clock is ticking! The most awaited holidays are here. In no time the joys of Christmas and New Year cheers will surround us. The festive spirit brings great cheers to every house but along comes the panic of picking out the perfect gifts for your loved ones. There is so much to get done and you are unapologetically caught up in those pre-festive soirées with your friends, cocktail parties with neighbors and much more. The struggle gets real especially when there is so much to be done. A simple box of chocolates and reindeer mugs aren’t any good for anybody anymore. The gifting experience has gone up a notch. You want to buy something thoughtful for your loved ones; something unique that stands out.
Gift shopping can be a little challenging so don’t keep it for the last minute. Obviously in a parallel universe you would have been done with your shopping before time. This is life. It is full of never ending lists tangled with prior commitments and super crowded shopping malls. I say this year ditch the regular old exhausting store aisles and shop from the comfort of your home. From photo frames to decorative trays, from unique drinking horns to Decorative Fancy Jewelry Storage box, and from elegant pen holders to tasteful shaving bowls, online stores like Handicrafts Home have a plethora of options to choose from. In order to avoid the unfinished list madness, stop stalling and scroll ahead. There are a set of miracle suggestions for Christmas and New Year gift ideas that will make shopping for your loved ones merrier.
Ditch the Usual Picks
Picking out gifts is all about being thoughtful. You do not want to buy just anything for the sake of it. You know your loved ones well so why not pick something you know they will cherish forever. Handicrafts Home has something for everyone. The very unique Viking Drinking Horn which is made using natural materials of the best quality. The drinking horn collection has so much variety to offer such as drinking glass cup, mug cup with ox horn beaker and drinking horn with stand cups vessels. This is the best gift for that one person who admires vintage collections and appreciates their uniqueness.
Keep It Contemporary
Gifts come in all shapes and sizes. Give your holiday cards a twist with these amazing photo frames. You are only a click away from exploring the cool and contemporary collection of Photo Frames at Handicrafts Home. These frames come in many vibrant patterns, colors and sizes. Along with the stone finish, adorable Baby Photo Frames in different shapes, they are the perfect set to give.
Surprise Your Gal Pals
Sometimes the idea of what someone would want lingers around but you are too occupied to narrow it down. Here it is. You can surprise your girls or even that co-worker or your yoga gal-pal with these beautiful jewelry boxes from Handicrafts Home. They are a must-have and the collection lets you pick your style from Moroccan to mosaic and even American flag prints.
Pick Out the Eye Candies
Who says gifts can’t be both useful and fancy? To name one, the bold collection of trays at Handicrafts Home. The wide range extends from breakfast serving trays to handcrafted decorative trays and beautiful bathroom vanity tray for your makeup products. You can also find cool squares and octagons. The designs are irresistible and totally eye-catching. These multipurpose trays will bring a smile to your loved ones.
A Little Something
Sweet little gestures say it all. Gifts aren’t loved for their extravagance or prices; it is the effort that counts. Spread the festive cheers this year with little things. We have all been a binge shopper when it comes to desk stationery; aren’t they just so irresistible? Handicrafts Home offers a collection of Moroccan art and mother of pearl art caddy pen holders. You can always buy someone a little something for their home office desk or regular study desk. This gift is a hit to give a twist to the regular stationery and will definitely add cool to your work station. While you are at it, don’t miss checking out the very cool and useful shaving bowls.
We know you want to pick out what’s best and wouldn’t want to leave out anyone from the lists. Handicrafts Home has something for everyone. Now that you can avoid those long waiting hours at the shopping desk, you can have the best of both worlds. Your festive gatherings can go on smoothly without messing up your shopping spree. Hurry and start shopping. You don’t want to leave out those Christmas socks hanging empty and New Year’s celebrations dry.
Have a cheerful shopping & a Merry Experience!
Check our website Handicrafts Home
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Arplis - News: My 22 Goals for 2019 Week 49 of 52
My 22 Goals for 2019
Goal #1 Spend More Time Doing What I Love
Red alert people, RED ALERT. It was 6 degrees this morning when I woke up. SIX!!! That.Is.Chilly. The Girl and I were going to walk Lucy on the beach this morning but those plans have been scraped. Gaaaa. I think if its 6 degrees outside, all bets are off and you can most certainly declare it a pajama day. Whos with me on this?
Goal #2 Garden, Garden, Garden
Garden are done for the year. Yipee!
Goal #3 Plant an Orchard {Calling it Quits on this one.}
Lemon baby #3 is on the way and we are patiently awaiting her arrival.
Goal #4 Gussy Up the Potting Shed Done!
I gussied up the potting shed at our old house, but I would like to add some sort of potting station to the backyard here somewhere, but Im not sure where I would put it yet.
I did come across this photo on Author Susan Branchs Instagram page though of a picture she tooth at Colonial Williamsburg. Isnt it cute? I think I need one of those.
Goal #5 Grow Enough Extra Vegetables, Eggs and Flowers to Earn $1500 at my little roadside vegetable stand.
It was totally my intention to grow a ton of fruits and vegetables to sell at the farm-stand when I made my list of goals for 2019 last winter, but then we moved. So, that whole goal was sort of a bust. I do miss it though.
Goal #6 Finish Every Single Unfinished Rug Hooking Project in My Pattern Bin + 10 Things from back Issues of Magazines/Books Ive Been Meaning to Make.
While I didnt add any new finished hooked rug pieces in my Etsy shop this past week, I did hook 4 totally new rugs {1 of which will become a kit and 2 will be offered as patterns} as well as hand dyed a bunch of wool {that I was able to get listed in my Etsy shop}.
I have decided to go back to my old schedule of only listing new hooked rugs items on the first Friday of every month for next year as it seems less stressful to me. It allows me more time to hook, rather than stopping every few days to take photo, write up description and then post a single piece online. Doing it all in one big swoop seems less chaotic to me.
73 rugs in my pattern bin {now down to 16} < SO CLOSE!
183 hooked flowers {finished 150, now down to 33}
10 things from back issues of magazines {finished 0}
Goal #7 Create 12 New Rug Hooking Patterns {with at least half of them being large ones} DONE!
So far this year Ive added 12 new rug hooking patterns and 14 beginner rug hooking kits to my Etsy shop. I just added Santa and Rudy 1892 yesterday and am hoping to squeeze one more kit in before the end of the year.
New rug hooking patterns Ive created and added to My Etsy Shop this year:
Santa and Rudy 1892
Tullia and Thomas Turkey
Double Nantucket Whale Runner
Miss Henny and Penny
Miss Penny
Simple Kitty
Primitive Flowers
2 Fat Cats
Annabells Big Day
Old Fashioned Double Tulip
Fat Brown Hen
Busy Little Bee
Queen Bee
Rug Hooking Kits
Busy Little Bee {in 2 different colors}
Folk Art Heart
Small Nantucket Whale
Primitive Crow
Miss Robin {in 2 different colors}
Simple Kitty
Primitive Flowers
Sunflowers
A Basket of Spring Posies
Fat Brown Hen
Chickys Garden
Goal #8 Split and Stack 2 Cords of Wood for Next Winter
All that firewood! We sold it.
Goal #9 Do Something with the 5,002 Photos on My Phone
Currently at 2415 Back up to 2565.
Goal #10 -Lose the Muffin Top Done!
Sweet digity!
Goal #11 Run, Walk or Crawl a 5k, 10k, Half Marathon and Marathon
As long as its not pouring rain tomorrow. The Girl and I are on for the Half Marathon. Wish us luck!
Goal #12 Read or Listen to 26 New Books {21 down, 5 to go}
No new books this week but we are planning a trip to the library later this week.
Books Ive Read or Listened to So Far This Year:
Marilla of Green Gables #1 Still my favorite
The Great Alone #2
The Aviators Wife #3
Before We Were Yours #4
Secrets of a Charmed Life #5
Whered You Go, Bernadette #6
Carnegies Maid #7
The Gown #8
Unbroken #9
Drama#10
The Alice Network #11
The Shape of Mercy #12
Wills Red Coat #13
Big Little Lies #14
Mr. Churchills Secretary
Born to Run
I Feel Bad About My Neck
Bunny Mellon {Doesnt count because it was my second time}
On Writing {Doesnt count because it was my third time}
Walden
Finders Keepers
Delicious!
50 Things to Do in Maine Before You Die
Following Atticus
Goal #13 Try 52 New Recipes.
39 down, 13 recipes to go. We tried 2 new recipes this week. 1 was a dud and the other I will share on Tuesday. And its a good one!
Goal #14 Clean Up 52 Old Recipes on the Blog
9 down, 44 to go. Why did I make this goal? Note to self: Make fewer goals for next year.
Goal #15 Fill 100 Canning Jars 72 down, 28 to go.
I made a batch of Christmas Jam for gift giving PLUS I tried a new recipe {that was inspired by Mrs. HB} this past week and the HH and I loved it so much, that Ill be making another batch {or maybe 2} of it today {Ill share the recipe on Tuesday}.
So far this year Ive I canned:
9 Jars of..
6 jars Christmas Jam
7 jars Spiced Pomegranate Jelly
7 jars Peach Jam
7 jars of Strawberry Jam
15 jars of Carrot Cake Jam
15 jars of Spiced Pear Jam
4 jars of Almond Pears.
Goal #16 Finish Furnishing Our House
We finished the roman shades for the kitchen nook and kitchen window. I plan on taking a break from making roman shades for the next month so I can finish making kits for my Etsy shop and paint out the entire kitchen area as well as finish a couple of art projects for the walls.
Goal #17 52 Dates with the HH {44 down, 8 to go}
The HH and I went on 2 date days this past week and one of them was to the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village for their Shaker Christmas Fair and it was so overwhelming, we left after 5 minutes.
Overwhelming in the sense that although we could tell there was going to be a lot of people at the event by the distance we had to walk to the village, what we werent expecting was that once we walked in the doors of the trustees office {where the craft fair was being held}, it was SHOULDER to SHOULDER.
Like, being at a rock concert crowded. The HH didnt even make it 2 feet in before walking out and it took me nearly 5 minutes to get from the entrance and through 3 rooms and back out the door again without even being able to look or pick up anything it was so crowded. It was nuts. And totally not in the calm, welcoming Shaker spirit and all we wanted to do was leave. And so we did.
I do want to go back though at some point to visit the museum, but it will have to be an ordinary weekday with nothing on the event calendar, thats for sure.
Goal #18 Take One Adult Education Class Done {Ive taken 3!}
Block Printing Class with my neighbor.
Spoon Carving Classwith Heather.
Mini pottery lesson {I loved it! and now I want to sign up for a full class}
Goal #19 Secret Holiday Project{s}
Block print towels
Seed packet wreaths
Tea Bag Trees
Goal #20 Create 12 Wowie Zowie Party Platters
8 down, 4 to go. We are planning on making #9 tonight!
Goal #21 Visit 12 General Stores
10 down 2 to go. We visited a new country store yesterday!! The kind that offers human made {and local} baskets to customers to do their shopping with. Ill tell you all about it next week.
H.B. Provisions in Kennebunk, Maine
Chases Daily {I think it should count}
Squam Lake Marketplace
Harrisville General Store
Dodges Store in New Boston, New Hampshire
Zebs General Store in North Conway, New Hampshire
Dan and Whits in Norwich, Vermont
Husseys General Store in Windsor, Maine
Goal #22 Compete with Carole.. Get on My Front Door Game On
Would you believe not a single person walking by {or even a neighbor} has made a comment about the leg lamp in the window? I think theyre showing restraint, while my husband keeps telling me that they are in such awe of it, they just dont know what to say.
Ummmm Okay.
Front Door Bling Ive Made So Far This Year to Compete with Carole:
Late January : Valentine Heart
Late February : Shamrock
Late March : Giant Carrot
May: White wave petunia hanging basket
June/July: Tin Star and Flag Bunting
August : Sunflower
September: Indian corn and pumpkins
October: Pumpkins and spinner do hickeys
November: Indian corn and big pumpkins
December: Leg lamp and nutcrackers in the window and giant Christmas balls on the porch
**************
How about YOU? What are your goals for 2019? If you told us about them HERE, check in! We want to know how you are doing. Because seriously, its so much easier to get those goals checked off your list when you have people rooting for you!
Have a great day everyone,
Mavis
P.S. If you are looking for a last minute gift for neighbor or a friend, I still have a few ornaments left in my Etsy shop and you can find them all HERE. UPDATE: The barred rock chicken is sold out but there are a few more chicken ornaments HERE.
You can read more about my 22 goals for 2019 HERE.
Have a Great Day!
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My 22 Goals for 2019 Week 48 of 52
My 22 Goals for 2019 Week 47 of 52
My 22 Goals for 2019 Week 46 of 52
Arplis - News
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Top 12 U.S. Towns with Incredible Christmas Celebrations
In the United States, we live Christmas in a very special way. After the celebrations for Thanksgiving, families, and institutions in the American territory begin to breathe the Christmas air just started December. A great Christmas tree, the lights illuminating the facades, the Christmas songs or Christmas carols in most establishments … Without a doubt a very special month!
But what makes Christmas really special in the United States is the contribution that each community gives to the celebration. And if we talk about contributions, the American community has undoubtedly managed to bring the best of its cuisine and incorporate it into Christmas dinner, not to mention the customs that have gradually become common to our community. Therefore, and with little to celebrate Christmas Eve, we wanted to detail some customs that embellish and make particular Christmas celebrations in our America. Do you remember any of them with longing?
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Classic Christmas dinner
In the U.S.A. on the 24th, there is no special celebration. But the stores remain open until 12 pm for all families to buy last-minute gifts. The 25 begins with the little ones opening the gifts that Santa Claus has left them.
In addition, this day a family dinner is celebrated that usually includes turkey, mashed potatoes with sauce and savoury cakes. A traditional Christmas Eve drink is liquor or eggnog, made from milk, cream, sugar, beaten eggs, and brandy or rum.
Stocking or socks for Santa
While it is true that Santa Claus is the main icon of Christmas in the US, we must highlight another of the fundamental elements of American Christmas: it is stocking or socks for Santa. They are a symbol of Christmas in the USA. since each family member has a sock where they find the candy and gifts left by Santa Claus.
Natural Christmas tree
The natural Christmas tree is a tradition that Americans cannot skip. As a kind of family ritual, the whole family goes together to buy the tree at the so-called Christmas tree decoration party. Natural pines are usually purchased at those known as Christmas Tree Farms. All family members gather to decorate the tree.
If you want to know how Christmas is celebrated in the United States you have to know that the Christmas tree has very special importance. It is clear that in Europe trees are also inside our homes, but in most American families these trees are natural. Going to look for the Christmas tree is even a family ritual known as the Christmas tree decoration party and it is about the whole family going to look for the tree while listening to Christmas carols.
Decoration and lights
In the United States not only decorate the streets and shop windows but also give much importance to the decoration in their homes. In most of them, you can observe the exteriors full of coloured lights creating Christmas designs and figures such as reindeer and stars.
So important is this tradition that Christmas decoration contests are organized, families go out to tour the neighbourhood with the little ones to enjoy this light show.
Mistletoe
Mistletoe or mistletoe is another of the most typical elements of Christmas in the United States. Every time two people are under the mistletoe they have to kiss and pick fruit. A well-known tradition that takes place in the US is the placement of mistletoe in a high concrete place so that whenever there are two people under it they should kiss.
Ginger Cookies
Christmas in the USA It is also characterized by several culinary traditions. First is the eggnog or Eggnog. In addition, they eat traditional gingerbread cookies or Christmas cookies. They are ginger candy with all kinds of Christmas shapes: stars, trees, snowmen …
Christmas parades
In the U.S.A. they do not enjoy the Three Kings Parade as in Spain; however, Christmas parades are organized in some of the big cities. In New York, these festivities begin Thanksgiving with the Macy’s parade that brings together more than 3 million people on the street and another 50 million watching it live on television.
New Year’s Eve
The night celebrations of December 31 continue until New Year’s Day with friends and family. Some of the traditions of this day are: see how the ball falls in Times Square, kissing someone at midnight or great fireworks.
Christmas Greeting Cards
It is very typical during these holidays to send Christmas greeting cards to friends and loved ones, wishing you good holidays, love, peace and much love. A detail that makes Christmas special and that fills people’s homes and hearts with joy and phrases of good wishes. Christmas in the United States is not celebrated without these postcards that usually have the family as the main protagonist. These postcards are personalized and sent to loved ones; It is a tradition that, on these dates, all the postcards that are received on the chimney are hung or placed on a table where there are Christmas motifs.
Christmas decoration in the United States
The decoration in the United States is a complement that is part of the Christmas party. The streets, shops, public and private places are filled with Christmas joy in such a way that they infect locals and tourists. Among the most prominent decorative elements, Christmas lights are especially important in the United States and, in fact, most of the houses have an elaborate decoration full of colored lights and Christmas figures such as Santa Claus; the tree cannot be missing in the gardens of the Americans
Within the Christmas decoration, we also highlight the importance of the mistletoe, a plant that is placed at the door or at the entrance to the living room and that represents a tradition: if two people are under the mistletoe, they should kiss and pick fruit.
Burring the Devil
This distinctive Guatemalan holiday takes place on December 7, usually at 6 p.m. People burn devil-shaped figures outside their homes and on the streets, symbolizing a clean one. The figures that represent the devil are made of garbage and other items that are no longer used and that people want to get rid of. Burning these objects symbolizes the process of purification and renewal: out of the old, welcome the new.
Midnight Mass
The Mass of the Rooster, or midnight mass, is a common way to celebrate the good night and await the arrival of Christmas throughout Central America. Christmas parties and family gatherings are also typical of the night of December 24, where delicious dishes and drinks are tasted. Christmas Eve dinner commonly includes pork prepared in different ways.
Conclusion
Christmas in the United States is one of the main holidays of the year. The Christmas season begins on the fourth Thursday of November with the celebration of Thanksgiving and ends on January 6. Striking decorations flood streets and homes with Christmas lights and ornaments, towering pines, mistletoe, socks for Santa and gingerbread cookies.
Due to the multiculturalism in the United States, there are many different customs to celebrate Christmas. But the truth is that the vast majority of citizens celebrate it. 9 out of 10 Americans and almost all Christians (96%) celebrate this holiday, according to a study by the Pew Research Centre. In addition, according to the same study, much of the non-believing Americans (81%) join the celebration.
About Author
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Hi, I am Maria Smith. I am a blogger and a traveler. I usually writes for medium.com and https://bestessaywritingservice.org/. I usually cover the niches likes tech, academics, and entertainment.
#christmas#christmas tree#christmas celebration#best essay writing service#online essay writing#custom essay writing service#thesis writing service#assignment writing service#term paper writer
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Afterglow
Pairing: Peter x Reader
Prompt: You and Peter have been dating for awhile and the time has come for more summer adventures with him. You spend the first night of summer together doing anything that suits your fancy.
Warnings: Slight hints of sexual stuff (ish) other than that just fluff. Fluffy fluff fluff.
Word Count: 1.8K
Song: Afterglow by All Time Low
The clock seems to move slower and slower as the minute hand gets closer to the 12. You glance over at Peter who smiles at you. You continue to tap your foot anxiously awaiting the final bell. Your eyes fall back to the clock with 5 seconds left.
5…4…3…2…
The bell rings out and you and Peter are the first two out the door. You both run to your lockers pulling out all the books and running from them to avoid the crowd of teenagers behind you. As you run past the front office you put all the books in the drop and make your way down the front steps hand in hand. Once you are far enough away from the crowd he plants a kiss on top your head and places his arm around your shoulder. You smile up at him.
“Well my queen, we are officially free.” he says. “How should we use that freedom?”
“I am officially free. You may be free from school, but you are not free from being bug boy.” you say. Knowing it irritates him when you call him that
“You’re so lucky I love you, and I think the cops can handle things for one night. We have to keep up our titles!” he says.
Peter had been calling you two king and queen of the streets since you two went on your first date two years ago. Really you thought it was kind of cute how dorky he was about it. You were really happy that he said the police could take care of one night. You wanted to spend time with him. Time with him not in classes or in the cafeteria.
“Alright, alright. What do you wanna do?” You ask him laughing. Peter smiles down at you and takes your hand.
“I’ve got some stuff in store. Don’t worry your pretty little head about it. I’ll pick you up at 5 yeah?” he says as you get to your house.
“How could I worry about a surprise from you? I mean it’s not like last time the surprise was shot from your wrist and stuck my arm to the wall.” you say with a smirk. Peter rolls his eyes and shakes his head.
“I’ve never been more in love with someone in my life.” he says. He pulls you in for a kiss. You wrap your arms around his neck and his arms fall around your waist.
“Okay it’s cute for the first five seconds but if you don’t stop I’m letting the dog out on you.” your father calls from the porch. You break away from Peter as you both laugh.
“I’ll see you at 5.” Peter says backing away and waving to your father before walking down the block. You turn and walk up the way to your house and meet your father on the porch as you watch Peter cross to his street in the distance.
“He’s a good kid.” your father says. You nod.
“ Eh he’s alright.” you say. Your father rolls his eyes and you both go inside.
By the time 5 o'clock rolls around you have taken a nap, gotten a shower and are dressed in leggings and a lightweight green top Peter had gotten you for Christmas. You also put your matching necklace back on. Peter had given you that as a gift as well. It was a longer chain with a small silver coin at the bottom about the size of a dime. The coin had a spider engraved on it just as his did. You loved how happy being Spider-Man made him. He loved being able to help people and make things better, yet it always had you worried about him.
“Party is here!” Peter yells as he bursts through your door. You scream and put your hand on your heart.
“Ever heard of knocking? I could’ve been naked or something!” You say.
“Wait can we try it that way? I’ll go back out and when I come in you can be naked.” He says turning around. You slap him upside the head and he laughs tuning around again to kiss your forehead.
“It’s not like I haven’t seen you that way before or-” he starts.
“Out bug boy!” You laugh as you push him out of your room closing your door behind the two of you. You go down the stairs yelling to your parents that yours leaving and make your way to Peters car. He only uses the car to go places other than school. Getting in the car you notice that Peter has his eyes on you.
“What?” you ask leaning your head against the west end looking at him. He shakes his head.
“Have I ever told you…that you are incredibly hot?” he asks with a smirk. You roll your eyes and smile.
“Drive bug boy.” you laugh. He kiss e your hand and starts the car off down the road.
As he drive you watch his features. He has one hand on your leg and the other on the wheel. You watch as he pays close attention to every traffic signal and sign. Once he comes to a stop and parks the car you see that yours at one of those huge trampoline places.
“Oh my god.” You laugh looking at him. Peter smiles and nods rapidly. Both of you leave the car in fits of childish laughter and rush inside. You make your way onto the trampolines and step onto them.
“Tag.” You say pushing your hand against Peters chest. His eyes widen as he falls onto his back and bounces a couple times before he can catch his balance and get up. By that time you are already leaps a head of him. He bounds after you and eventuall catches you causing both of you to take a tumble.
The games continue for about two hours before both of you are sore and out of breath.
“Whats next my king?” You ask intertwining your fingers through his. He smiles and nods to the south end of the block.
“How about some painting?” he asks. You smile and he tugs you down the block to a small ceramics shop at the end.
You walk in to see little statues lining the shelves closest to the floor and plates and cups toward the middle picture frames and candle holders at the top. You absolutely loved painting ceramics and Peter knew it. The woman behind the counter asked what she could do for you.
“We’ll take two picture frames.” Peter says. The woman nods and goes into the back bring you two identical frames. Peter takes them and hands one to you as you two sit down.
You begin to paint the frames first band in blue, painting the second red, and the third black. The colors of his suit. You look up at him from across the table and smile. He is intently painting what seems to be swirls of some sort around the corners of the frame. He looks up at you and sits back in his chair.
“What?” he asks. You shake your head.
“Thank you for taking me to do this stuff Peter. I love it.” You say.
“Y/N, you don’t have to thank me. You know I love spending time with you.” Peter says taking your hand. You smile and squeeze his hand slightly.
You both finish your frames and hand them back to woman at the counter leaving your numbers and the name of your items on the paper. As you leave the shop you notice the sun beginning to set. The sky is a mix of dark blues and pinks and oranges. Your eyes fixate on the sky and to the glow of the sun off the tall buildings.
“Hey, we aren’t done yet. We’ve got one more stop.” Peter says putting his arm around your back and leading you to the car.
After about a 15 minute drive you pull up to the park where you first met Peter. There was a benefit party for animal shelters in the area and his aunt was working a booth. He was helping her, much to his dismay…until he realized you were working the benefit too. Once he saw you he would make any excuse to make his way to your booth. He hasn’t noticed you at school before, and honestly, you hadn’t noticed him before that day either.
You both get out of the car and Peter walks around the trunk clicking the button and having it open. He pulls out a blanket and shuts the trunk again. Taking your hand You both walk up the hill to the clearing to sit. You both stare at the setting sun and watch the sky turn from a dark orange to a dark blue. The outline of the buildings a bright orange.
“I love the afterglow of a sunset like this.“ he says. You nod and sigh. You begin to feel peaceful and truly okay. As soon as you feel that? The seven police cars chasing the large van, zoom down the street below the hill. Peters eyes widen and he pulls out his phone. After he looks at it for a moment he sighs and shakes his head before looking to you. You know what hes going to ask before he says anything.
“Go babe, they need you.” you say.
He smiles and kisses you before sprinting off down the hill. He had dropped the keys on the blanket for you to take the car home.
“I love you!” You shout after him.
“I LOVE YOU MORE!” he yells back.
Moments later you see the one and only Spider-Man swing up away from the hill. You sit and watch until the swinging silhouette dissappears. Taking your heart with it.
————————————–
Thanks so much to @ifoundlove-x0vanessa0x for helping decide which character to have in this! Much love girly!!
#marvel#imagins#song#peter parker#spiderman#tony stark#iron man#steve rogers#captain america#bucky barnes#winter soldier#wanda maximoff#scarlett witch#pietro maximoff#quicksilver#thor#loki#sam wilson#falcon#clint barton#hawkeye#bruce banner#hulk#natasha romanoff#black widow
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Our 2018 all-Chicago holiday gift guide
Sustenance
1/ Local coffee subscription: Back of the Yards, Dark Matter, or Metric Coffee
Coffee is the social lubricant that wakes you up, keeps you awake—or maybe puts you to sleep. You can drink it hot in winter to stay warm! But drink good, fresh coffee. Chicago is home to many fine craft coffee roasters, and may offer subscriptions for a steady supply. Metric Coffee offers espresso ($20) and blend ($20) subscriptions as well as a Roasters Choice Subscription ($22) and Single Origin Subscription ($24) each with two different eight-ounce bags in every weekly or monthly delivery. Dark Matter Coffee offers three, six, and twelve-month subscriptions to their monthly limited blends for $20 per month—with discounts for longer subscriptions. Back of the Yards Coffee Co.'s Coffee Club subscriptions page is currently under construction. Hopefully that will be available again soon. In the meantime, they do sell their espresso and 47th Street Blend medium-dark roast coffee in twelve-ounce bags ($15.99), with one dollar from every 47th Street Blend going to their Social Impact fund to benefit the neighborhood.—John Dunlevy Prices vary at backoftheyardscoffee.com, darkmattercoffee.com, and metriccoffee.com.
2/ Coffee maker Nº3 by Manual.is
Manual's newest coffee maker is four usages in one: pour over, French press, cold brew, and a pitcher. It can keep its liquids hot for about an hour in the double-wall insulated design. With this elegant, hand-blown borosilicate glass vessel, even a person who doesn't drink coffee regularly (me) will savor the ritual of making, and serving coffee. —Sue Kwong $140 at Manual Shop & Studio, 3251½ W. Bryn Mawr, 312-870-0799, manual.is.
3/ Mushroom tree ornaments by Facture Goods
The handcrafted mushroom Christmas ornaments come in earthy brown clay glazed in gray and flecked with 22-karat gold. They typically sell out in minutes when creator Aron Fischer puts a fresh batch in his online shop. But on November 24 you can find them at Martha Mae in Andersonville during Small Business Saturday. The mushrooms come in enoki, morel, shiitake, and straw varietals. Plus, while you're there, you can snag plenty more gifts for loved ones in Jean Cate's magical shop. —Maya Dukmasova $18 each or $60 for a set of four at facturegoods.com and on November 24 only at Martha Mae, 5407 N. Clark, 872-806-0988, marthamae.info.
4/ Malort soy candle
Everyone's favorite drink in candle form. —Vince Cerasani $30 at reuse-first.com.
5/ Tellicherry Black Whole Peppercorns from Reluctant Trading Experiment
Pretty amazing pepper from an outfit started by Scott Eirinberg, the entrepreneur who founded, and later sold, The Land of Nod. —Suggested by Kate Schmidt, written by Reader staff Starting at $6.50 at reluctanttrading.com.
Self Care
1/ Houseplant from Foyer
This little plant and stationary store opened in Andersonville a few months ago. It's run by a tremendously helpful and non-judgmental Alma Vescovi, who wants you to get past your fear of killing houseplants. The stock is refreshed weekly and she carries hard-to-find varietals like pilea, monstera, and satin pothos alongside all kinds of succulents and cacti. There are also vintage planters and pots as well as ones made by local artists. If things don't go well with your new plant friend, you can always bring it back for a check-up with Vescovi. She once helped me resuscitate a delicate plumosa fern. It's doing great. Plants are the gift that keeps on giving.—Maya Dukmasova Starting at $8 at 1480 W. Berwyn, 713-994-0302, foyer.shop.
2/ Sound wave art, Soundwaves by Mordecai
Kathleen Mordecai turns sound waves from parts of songs or special moments (for example Pat Hughes saying "Chicago Cubs win the World Series" or children's laughter, as pictured) into sculptures she handcrafts using reclaimed wood. Whether you're shopping for someone who lives in a tiny studio, or in a mansion with plenty of wall space to fill, there's likely an option that will fit; the current selection of sculptures in her online shop runs from 12 inches to 4 feet. Mordecai also takes custom orders, and for those who want to be able to hear the sound while enjoying the visuals, she offers an option for audio playback. —Jamie Ludwig Starting at $76 at etsy.com/soundwavesbyMordecai.
3/ Soap Distillery
The brand tagline for Soap Distillery may promise "Small batches. No hangovers," but no such claim can be made about whether these boozy body care miracles are addictive. Because they are, friends. A bottle of the Beer + Cigarettes hand and body wash disappeared so quickly from my bathroom that I'm not entirely convinced my partner wasn't drinking it. Perfect for the person on your list who always smells so damn good. —Karen Hawkins Prices vary at soapdistillery.com. Catch up with founder Danielle Martin at a holiday shopping event or click here for a list of retailers.
4/ King Spa & Sauna
King Spa & Sauna, the Korean spa in Niles, does not fulfil the glossy magazine ideal of the spa day. There are no fluffy white robes, no soothing music or nice-smelling oils and lotions. Instead, there's a series of saunas, each filled with a different substance that will relieve you of a different source of stress, each more baroque than the last: amethyst geodes, living crystals, 350-million-year-old salt rocks, a 23-karat gold pyramid. The admission fee gets a person access to all of them, plus the soaking pools, food court, and movie theater. (Massages and other spa treatments are extra.) The spa's open 24 hours, so guests can stay as long as they like. In Korea, entire families go to spas for an easy weekend getaway. Maybe they're onto something? —Aimee Levitt $40 admission at King Spa & Sauna, 809 Civic Center Drive, Niles, 847-972-2540, kingspa.com/chicago. Gift cards available.
5/ Mochimochi Land knitting kits
Forget sweaters and scarves, Mochimochi Land gives you the tools to show off your needle skills by knitting something truly unique: cute miniature characters like tiny burgers or tiny walruses or tiny robots and really any other tiny thing you can dream up. The kits go for $12-$15 and include yarn, stuffing, notions, and patterns—all you need are knitting needles, available separately on the website. Mochimochi Land creator Anna Hrachovec features her knitted friends in stop-motion animated videos and GIFs of everyday life in the mystical, yarn-covered land of her own creation. Hrachovec also used the style in her book, Adventures in Mochimochi Land, which follows the adventures of a talking doughnut and a lovelorn balloon, of course. The online shop offers patterns for larger, equally adorable knitting projects ranging from $5-$8 and, for the less crafty among us, pre-knit gnomes, hedgehogs, zombies, and unicorns for $25 each. —Brianna Wellen Prices vary at mochimochiland.com.
6/ Mano y Metal handmade accessories
These aren't your basic accessories. Mano y Metal offers handmade metal jewelry that spices up any look. Owner Desiree T. Guzman features hand stamped metal rings, cuff bracelets, earrings, necklaces, dog tags and more with empowering sayings engraved on them like "be badass" ("chingona" in Spanish) or "me vale madre" which translates to "I don't give a damn." The online shop even offers options available for customization and a Chicago collection. —Marissa De La Cerda $10 for keychains, $16 for rings, $20-$22 for double finger rings, $16-$28 for bracelets, $17-$58 for necklaces at manoymetal.com.
7/ The WasteShed Art Supplies
Help fuel your loved one's winter craft addiction and help rescue markers, knitting needles and paints from the landfill. Cultivating a more sustainable culture, The WasteShed accepts donations of art supplies and repurposes art, craft and school supplies. Pull together a gift basket for a DIY project from their low cost offerings, or grab a gift certificate for the creatives and teachers on your list. While you're there, drop off the crocheting you gave up on. The WasteShed is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) so your donations are tax deductible! See their web site for complete list of acceptable donations. — Jamie Ramsay Prices vary at 2842 W. Chicago, 773-666-5997, thewasteshed.com.
8/ Mermaid lessons at AquaMermaid
Who doesn't know someone who once dreamed of being a mermaid? (If your answer is "me," feel free to skip this item.) Fortunately, AquaMermaid exists for the sole purpose of helping people fulfill this glorious dream. Weekly lessons are available on Sunday afternoons at the UIC Sports and Fitness Center pool for both kids and adults; parties can also be arranged. You'll learn basic mermaid maneuvers, like how to glide gracefully underwater, flip your fins, and wave gracefully with your tail. And yes, tails are provided—though you'll have to wear your own bathing suit, or a seashell bra if you want to go full Ariel. Be warned: being a mermaid is a lot harder than it looks, but you'll get a great core workout. —Aimee Levitt Starting at $60 at UIC Sports and Fitness Center, 901 W. Roosevelt Road, 866-279-2767, aquamermaid.com.
Community Care
1/ Chicago Community Bond Fund donation
What better way to spread holiday cheer than to help someone in jail get home to their family? CCBF accepts donations large and small to pay bail for those awaiting trial in Cook County Jail. —Maya Dukmasova Visit chicagobond.org to see the criteria they use to select whose bail to pay.
2/ Women & Children First gift certificate
This post-#MeToo moment is a really good time to give all the sexist jerks in your life a gift certificate to one of the oldest and most significant women-owned bookstores in the US. Making people support women-owned businesses and select from an array of books including a higher-than-average spate by women and nonbinary folks is truly a gift that will benefit generations to come. —Anne Elizabeth Moore Prices vary at 5233 N. Clark, 773-769-9299, womenandchildrenfirst.com.
3/ My Block, My Hood, My City gear
Founded by Jamal Cole, MBMHMC is a connectivity-encouraging, mentoring nonprofit that focuses on providing underserved teenagers exposure to opportunities beyond their familiar neighborhoods. Through excursions in STEM, art, entrepreneurism, and community development, called the Explorers Program, as well as service projects like shoveling snow for seniors, MBMHMC fosters experiences to nurture and empower Chicago youth. Twenty percent of all apparel sales go toward the Explorers Program. On December 1 and 8, volunteer to help hang holiday lights from 51st to 87th Streets along historic Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Like their Facebook page or check https://www.formyblock.org/events/ for updates on projects, calls to action, and to learn about volunteering. —Jamie Ramsay from $50 for hoodies (available in English, Spanish and Mandarin), $25 for skullies, at formyblock.org.
4/ Haymarket Books Book Club
If there's a radical or revolutionary on your shopping list, or, at the very least, someone who cares about social and economic justice, odds are they already know about Haymarket Books, the Buena Park-based publisher of Angela Davis, Rebecca Solnit, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, and Eve Ewing, among many, many others. Membership in Haymarket's book club provides regular monthly shipments of all the publisher's new titles, in either print or e-book format, plus discounts on everything on the backlist. Not only will you provide someone with the foundation of a great personal library, you'll also be supporting a local business. It's a win for everybody. —Aimee Levitt $20-$30/month at haymarketbooks.org.
5/ T-Shirt from the Silver Room
I discovered Silver Room when I first saw Eve Ewing wearing a "Make Chicago Great Again" Harold Washington T-shirt at Pitchfork last year. But the store has a lot more to offer, with shirts by local artists ranging from a profile of Colin Kaepernick made out of tiny red fists to one that looks like a hand-painted bodega advertisement for Hyde Park. The store is full of hand-crafted leather goods, jewelry, and home decor, many by black makers. —Maya Dukmasova $20-$30 at Silver Room, 1506 E. 53rd St., 773-947-0024, thesilverroom.com.
6/ Rebel Betty Arte prints and zines
Support a Latinx artist this holiday season by buying zines, prints, buttons and other artwork by Rebel Betty, an Afro-Latina artist, DJ, and educator. Her work focuses on raising awareness and creating discussions about gentrification and issues affecting black and brown communities. —Marissa De La Cerda $5-$35 for prints, $5-$15 for zines, $10-$15 for buttons and other items at rebelbettyarte.com.
Good Times
1/ Hollow Leg cocktail class
Contrary to popular belief, Hollow Leg is not a store where you can buy a leg lamp a la A Christmas Story, it's a company that offers mixology classes at various venues around the city. Founded by Devin Kidner, Hollow Leg aims to share the art and science behind crafting cocktails so that anyone who attends their events leaves with the knowledge, taste, and skill to finally make a decent drink—and since they offer plenty of non-alcoholic options, everyone can join in on the fun. You can purchase individual tickets or gift certificates to workshops such as Liquid Confidence: Mixology 101, or book them for a holiday shindig so you can give a whole bunch of your friends the gift that keeps on giving (and giving, and giving . . . depending on who you hang out with). Though most classes are hands-on, they also offer tastings, so you and your guests can just sit back, sip, and learn. The best part might be that they'll play "cocktail whisperer," and tailor the menu for their audience, so if, for example, you hate sugary sweet drinks, you won't have to waste your time—or your booze—mixing one. —Jamie Ludwig $60-$95 for gift certificates at hollowleg.com.
2/ Fat Tiger Workshop hat
Streetwear boutique Fat Tiger Workshop first set up in a small Congress Theater storefront four years ago. Founding designers Vic Lloyd, Desmond Owusu, Terrell Jones, and Joe "Freshgoods" Robinson quickly made the space a home for friends, aspiring artists, and established musicians. One day I wandered in to find Chuck Inglish and Sulaiman filming a music video behind the storefront; on another I bought a Save Money shirt during a pop-up helmed by Joey Purp. Fat Tiger has changed locations twice since then, and the owners still make sure its large West Town headquarters is an open-door community space, even as their individual profiles have risen. Robinson has become a streetwear celebrity since he made a one-off clothing line in homage to our previous president, "Thank U Obama" (Chance the Rapper wore one such hoodie while collecting his first Grammy), and he's since been enlisted to make clothes for the Chicago Bears, McDonald's, and the MCA. All four designers make gear for their individual brands, but they also have a run of Fat Tiger clothes. The simple, bold Fat Tiger hat is a great way to show love for all four of these independent, community-driven designers. —Leor Galil $30 for a signature hat at 836 N. Milwaukee, fattigerworkshop.com.
3/ Custom handmade guitar strap from Souldier
In 2004, Chicago musician Jen Tabor started making instrument straps for her friends, and soon began selling them at shows. Nearly 15 years later, her company Souldier, which specializes in hand-cut leather guitar, bass, and banjo straps, has helped support the instruments of artists such as Jeff Tweedy, Tom Petty, and Kim Gordon, and has practically come to have rock-star status of its own. You can find Souldier straps at a number of instrument shops and other retailers throughout the city, or purchase directly through their website, where there's more fun to be had by customizing a strap of your own. Choose between dozens of color and fabric patterns to match anyone's personality and/or artistic aesthetic. And though Souldier is most known for their instrument accessories, their product line also includes camera straps, headbands, wrist cuffs, dog collars, and more, so there are plenty of gift options for your non-musician human and canine friends. —Jamie Ludwig Prices vary at souldier.us.
4/ Fine Prints cassettes
Chicago's rock scene–if you can say there is one single community–is a lot broader than it often gets credited. Local label Fine Prints gets it. Founded by Robby Haynes (who helps run Hermosa studio Strange Magic Recording) and Ziyad Asrar (of Baby Blue, formerly of Whitney), Fine Prints has put out only a handful of cassette releases, but the small catalog shows how weird and wonderful Chicago rock can get. The label launched in August by releasing tapes from prog misfits Mayor Daley, art punks Wage, and synthpop hypnotists Desert Liminal; in October, Haynes and Asrar dropped the second EP by bedroom-pop wizard Adam Schubert, aka Ruins. The acts Fine Prints have worked with don't overlap stylistically, and that's partly why these four cassettes work well as a single package; they're great individual documents, and all together they unintentionally function as a reminder that there's a lot of great music happening in the city beyond the sounds on these tapes. —Leor Galil $7 per cassette at fineprints.bandcamp.com.
5/ Sharkula T-shirt
Can you really claim to be a Chicagoan if you've never met Sharkula? For the past couple decades, the oddball rapper who also answers to Thigahmahjigggee and Dirty Gilligan has roamed around the city's streets, selling his wares hand-to-hand: usually that means CD-Rs of his unpredictable raps housed in a photocopied sheet of paper littered with his drawings. He recently started making his own T-shirts, and his detailed, gritty graffiti style gives his pieces a lived-in quality. Sharkula designs each shirt by hand and no two are identical, which means this is the most unique gift you can give the Chicago hip-hop fan in your life. And, since buying a shirt requires that you call Sharkula, this also gives anyone who has never met him before the opportunity to finally meet a local legend. —Leor Galil Starting at $30 at 773-647-4995.
6/ Experimental Sound Studio tickets
Experimental Sound Studio, founded in 1986 and based in Edgewater since 2006, is one of the city's great incubators of avant-garde and experimental music. The nonprofit's facility houses a full-service recording studio, of course, as well as a small public gallery that hosts exhibitions, workshops, and other events. ESS also provides a home for the Creative Audio Archive, which it describes as "an invaluable collection of recordings, print, and visual ephemera related to avant-garde and exploratory sound and music"—including a trove of Sun Ra material dating back to the 1950s and thousands of improvised and underground shows captured between 1981 and 2006 by Chicago sound recordist Malachi Ritscher. The concert series that ESS presents in its cozy live room, including Option and Oscillations, feature internationally celebrated Chicagoans—drummer Hamid Drake, sound artist Olivia Block, visionary multi-instrumentalists Ben Lamar Gay and Douglas Ewart—as well as renowned out-of-towners such as trumpeter Greg Kelley, saxophonist Don Dietrich, and pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn. —Philip Montoro $40 for a pack of five tickets good for any concerts, which usually cost $10 apiece—and if you e-mail [email protected] in advance to make a reservation, they'll even get you into one of the handful each year that sell out, 5925 N. Ravenswood, 773-998-1069, ess.org.
7/ Ninja Zombie DVD
In 1992, aspiring writer-director Mark Bessenger and a small crew filmed a low-budget Super-8 horror comedy in Chicago, the exurbs, and Wisconsin. No distributor wanted to touch his movie, Ninja Zombie, though I have a little trouble understanding why; the sight of a green, shirtless zombie adeptly fighting off a small army of ninjas would've sold me in 1992, but I was also seven at the time. Bessenger made a few VHS copies for friends, but the film otherwise disappeared. More than two decades later a copy wound up in the hands of cinema fanatic Zack Carlson, who helps run Bleeding Skull, a site and film distributor that documents obscure horror pictures. In 2014, Carlson brought the VHS to his Bleeding Skull collaborators (writer Annie Choi and site founder Joseph Ziemba, an Illinois native) who were so charmed by the goofy, light-footed picture they decided to find a way to release it. Last month, Bleeding Skull and Austin-based nonprofit the American Genre Film Archive co-released Ninja Zombie on DVD. I just hope with this wide release it may soon become a midnight staple. —Leor Galil $13.99 at americangenrefilm.com/releases/ninja-zombie.
About the artists
To accompany our gift guide, we commissioned two local artists to create the gift wrap featured on our two variant covers. To take full advantage of the festivities, pick up a paper copy of this week's Reader.
Justin Clemons from Chicago Lawn is also the Production Manager at Magnolia Printing. His gift wrap features hands spelling "C-H-I-C-A-G-O" in American Sign Language. The piece started as a hand study he painted at age 17 in the program After School Matters, and his instructor noted that it evoked the feeling of people being deaf to the youth of Chicago and their issues. Years later, Justin completed the painting in acrylics. It was featured in Black Creativity Juried Art Exhibition hosted at the Museum of Science+Industry Chicago 2014.
Laura Berger is an artist living in Chicago who paints, sculpts and also animates. Her beautifully minimalistic work often focuses on themes of nature, dreams, or travel. Sometimes, her images feature a host of culturally diverse naked bodies—as appear on one of our variant covers. She is interested in how people create meaning and a sense of belonging to a greater whole.
For more info on Justin's work: justinianart.com. For more info on Laura's work: lauraberger.com. v
Source: https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/chicago-reader-2018-holiday-gift-guide/Content?oid=63481605
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A Choose Your Own Adventure Approach to the Holidays
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. That’s what they say, isn’t it? Holiday decorations have gone up and children are knocking on doors for the sole purpose of singing upbeat, aurally pleasing carols and there is the sound of literal bells in the air—at least at the entrances to most local grocery stores, shopping malls, and Targets generally too crowded for their own good. It’s a Norman Rockwell painting come to life. It’s the holidays, folks. Welcome.
This time of year has a habit of amplifying everything, both the good and the bad—every emotion, every close bond, every fraught relationship. The holidays can be a magical time, or a strange time, or an okay time. They can be a downright hard time for folks whose anxiety, or financial burdens, or relationship insecurities are magnified in tandem with the flurry of activity, festivity, and cheer from Thanksgiving to New Year’s. Some people find true, genuine, nearly unfathomable delight in this season of tinsel and twinkle lights. Some people do not enjoy it at all. I fall somewhere on the middle-to-latter end of the spectrum—eagerly awaiting a few particular activities, and downright dreading others.
The holidays have, historically, been a difficult time for me. It’s some mix of being without the “perfect” set of traditions, not having the most tight-knit family with which to spend them, and living with a brain that instinctively views winter, in and of itself, as an excellent opportunity to take a dive into the depths of the Emotion Ocean, if you will!! Compounding upon all of the above, my mind also likes to regard this time of year as the ideal opportunity to compare each facet of my life to the lives of all those around me, ad nauseam. It is fun! We have the most fun.
I broached this very topic with my therapist, just before Thanksgiving, a day which I more often than not spend alone. I told her all of the aforementioned things, and then some. I told her I generally steer clear of talking about my plans entirely, to avoid the looks of pity people tend to give when they determine that how I’m spending this time doesn’t measure up to the unwritten, ever implied societal expectations for what the holidays should be. I told her I intentionally avoid posting about them on social media, too, because I feel some sort of inherent shame about the whole thing. In comparison to all the shiny Instagram stories showcasing perfectly set tables and perfectly timed videos featuring everyone’s wittiest, most charmingly self-deprecating family members, it’s easier to keep my own plans under wraps entirely.
She did the thing that good therapists do: she listened calmly, she let me spill each one of my thoughts out into the still office air. And then, when I was done, she assured me that it was okay to feel that way. She reminded me that for as many people who are talking about or posting about a very edited version of their holiday plans, there are likely just as many not sharing at all, for the same reasons as me. It’s this thing I already knew, inherently. Yet it’s this thing I often forget.
We can tell ourselves, over and over again, that the narratives people relay to us in passing at the office, and the ones folks post on social media are not the full story. We can recognize that water cooler chat is not particularly known for enabling vulnerability, that the curated glow of Instagram is a place where nuance goes to die. We can know that these things are true, but it’s easy to forget. So it’s good to remind ourselves, whenever we need to—whenever we’re feeling less than or not good enough or like our lives don’t measure up—that it’s okay and recommended to take every conversation about well-laid holiday plans, every shiny photo, every witty video, with a gigantic grain of salt. It’s good to remind ourselves, too, that no two versions of the holidays need to look the same.
So I spent Thanksgiving alone. So I was kind of dreading it. Can I tell you a secret, though? When the day finally arrived? I actually didn’t hate it. It wasn’t a perfect day (does perfect anything even exist??), but it wasn’t a bad day, either. It was just a day, one I’d decided ahead of time I would spend however the hell I wanted. And I did. I slept in. I went for a nice, long run (my own personal version of relaxing! Not everyone’s! That’s cool!). I cooked a very good meal while meandering about my kitchen, on nobody’s timeline but my own. I caught up on my favorite podcasts. I wrote, with no pressure attached—whatever combination of words my brain wanted to spew out onto my laptop. I spent the day exactly as I pleased. While this was not the first Thanksgiving I’ve spent alone, this was probably the first year I let myself enjoy it.
Maybe you didn’t have plans for Thanksgiving or Hanukkah. Maybe you don’t have plans for Christmas (or whatever December holiday you choose to celebrate!). Maybe you don’t have plans for New Year’s Eve, either. Maybe your family isn’t idyllic, or you haven’t established any lasting traditions, or you’re single and feel weird about it, or you were just broken up with, or you just broke up with someone, or your mental health is taking a plunge, or you couldn’t get time off from work, or you just lost your job, or your husband’s family is so obnoxious they truly make you want to hide in the nearest closet, or you live halfway across the country and aren’t flying home this year, or you don’t want to talk to your Aunt Susan about her obscure political leanings (again). Maybe there are five separate reasons I did not list in that very long sentence that have had the potential to make this string of weeks, for you, your own personal version of a nightmare. I HEAR YOU AND I SEE YOU AND YOU ARE SO NOT ALONE IN THIS.
It’s okay to feel like your plans aren’t worthy of sharing, or your family isn’t everything you’d like them to be, or your end-of-year circumstances are less than ideal. It’s okay not to feel okay this time of year. We don’t have to put on a happy face; we don’t have to do every single thing that’s expected of us; we don’t have to appease all of the people all of the time. There doesn’t have to be so much undue pressure on the entire season, on the holidays, on the whole. They can be whatever it is we want them to be, whatever it is we need.
Take from these next few weeks the things you enjoy. Leave behind those you don’t. I understand there is a subtlety to the whole thing! I realize that the people in our lives have feelings and feelings are important and we can’t necessarily make it our mission to disregard every single one of them. I know that we can’t skip out on each activity, outing or dinner we don’t necessarily want to attend. But we can evaluate what really matters to us, and what doesn’t. We can intentionally choose to do less of the things that don’t bring us joy, and more of those that do. December is stressful enough without us trying to meet other people’s expectations every minute of every day.
Don’t enjoy spending time with your family? Don’t spend time with your family! Or, at the very least, minimize it as best you can. Don’t feel like going to your office holiday party or your neighborhood holiday party or that mini-reunion your high school classmates are having at the bar? Don’t go! Or skip out early, if that feels right. Don’t have time to bake the perfect cookies or buy the perfect gift or host the perfect party? Pick up cookies at the store, buy an okay gift, host whatever version of a party you feel like hosting. Don’t actually enjoy going out on New Year’s but yet you do it every year because you feel like that is the thing you’re supposed to be doing? Don’t go out on New Year’s! I invite you to take your *shoulds*, collect your *supposed tos*, put them all together in the palms of your hands, and throw them out the nearest window.
Think of some things you genuinely enjoy doing, and really up the ante on those. It can be watching holiday movies! It can be sitting by your sparkly indoor pine tree every chance you get! It can be not taking said tree down until January, or February, for no other reason than you don’t want to! It can be spending time with friends! It can be spending time alone! It can be doing a crossword! It can be sitting on your couch in your underwear, watching the Chrismukkah episode of The O.C. while eating your favorite pizza with honey drizzled on top (a nonspecific example I definitely did not pull from experience)! It can have nothing to do with the stereotypical markers of the holidays at all.
Live your life; respect your boundaries; make your own damn traditions.
Please go easy on yourself this time of year. Please try not to compare your own plans to everyone else’s. Please remember that there don’t have to be any hard and fast rules to the upcoming few weeks—you are not only entitled, but encouraged to treat this time of year as a Choose Your Own Adventure of sorts. Please remember that you can take from the holidays whatever you want.
Images via: 1 / 2 / 3
Jackie Saffert is a human person who lives in Minneapolis. In her spare time, you can find her running along the river road, loitering in the vicinity of the nearest puppy at a local brewery, or recharging her soul (?!) in her tiny sanctuary of an apartment. She likes to write; she thinks you are very kind for reading the words above.
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