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keerysquinn · 5 months

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ship: Eden Bingham/Chrissy Cunningham wc: 1.9k A/N: another suggestion from @heroeddiemunson who is the best ever <3 this rarepair has sparked something that I didn't know existed, and now I need a novel about them

Being brave was never Chrissy's strong suit. She had trouble standing up for herself, and she rarely spoke her mind for fear of ridicule. She was content to sit on the sidelines as the rest of the world passed her by because, at the very least, she couldn't get hurt if she didn't put herself out there.

But, as she walked into that airport holding the sign she'd made the night before, she couldn't think of a more terrifying thing she'd ever done.

When she was fifteen, her mother had signed her up for a pen pal program at their church. Their pastor had been promoting it as a way to connect with other teens who loved God and all he had to offer, and her mother had decided that she was in desperate need of connecting with exactly that kind of person. So, Chrissy wrote the first of many letters to Eden Bingham not really expecting to hear anything back.

What followed was several years and hundreds of letters shared back and forth with someone who was maybe the greatest person she’d ever gotten to know. They had so much in common and very similar upbringings despite the differences in their religions. Both of them came from a fairly strict, religious household, they were both the oldest siblings, and they both felt like they couldn’t be themselves in front of their families. She felt like she was able to share things with Eden that she’d never been able to share with anyone else before.

She felt like Eden was just a much cooler version of herself. She had this wicked sense of humor that had Chrissy laughing in almost every letter, and she gave the best movie recommendations even if the horror films she liked often scared Chrissy into sleeping with the lights on. She listened to bands that Chrissy had never heard of and sent her mixtapes with all the songs that she insisted Chrissy would love. She read everything that Chrissy recommended to her, and she always had the most insightful things to say when she wrote that she’d finished another book. She was open about the fact that she regularly got high and hid it from her parents, and she had them convinced that she was a good little Mormon girl even though they’d hate pretty much every aspect of her life if they knew the truth.

Eden was also the first person that Chrissy confided in about her own bisexuality. Eden had been so open about being interested in guys and girls from the start, so it felt only natural for her to share that bit of herself with her long distance best friend. There was no one else that she trusted enough to be that open with.

There was a secret part of her that thought that she was maybe falling for Eden with every new letter that she read, but she kept telling herself that they’d never work. At one point, they’d talked about the kinds of people they were interested in, and while Chrissy had been vague and only cared if the person she ended up with made her laugh and cared about her, Eden had made a point out of saying that she was typically only interested in girls that were the exact opposite of her. If she was too similar to her partner, it would never work. She’d joked that it was torture for her because she was clearly the best kind of person there was, but the heart wants what the heart wants, so she was doomed to suffer a girlfriendless existence. Chrissy knew that meant Eden would never love her back, and she had taught herself to be okay with that. She could be content with just being her best friend.

So, when Chrissy started college and decided she didn’t necessarily need to spend the holidays with her family anymore, she knew that there was only one person she really wanted to spend Christmas with. It was time for her to meet her best friend in person and enjoy the holidays for once. More letters were exchanged, and flights were booked so that Eden could come and spend two weeks with Chrissy at her campus apartment.

Now, Chrissy was waiting by the baggage claim, holding a sign with Eden's name on it, and regretting every decision that led her to this moment. What if she and Eden didn’t click when they were in the same room? What if they only had that connection when she was able to take her time and choose her words carefully? She had to be brave though. For this, she could be brave.

As she scanned the group of people exiting from where Eden's flight was supposed to be entering the baggage claim, there was nobody that fit the picture that she had in her head. Still, she stood tall and held her sign out in front of her. She'd probably just looked past her and not realized it. Eden would find her soon enough.

“You're Chrissy?”

Chrissy whipped her head towards the voice and was shocked by the appearance of the girl standing before her. She was about the same height as Chrissy, but that was the only thing that matched the picture in her head. Maybe it was because they'd never really discussed their appearances or sent each other pictures, but Chrissy had pictured someone exactly like herself. Maybe not as preppy, but she pictured another quiet, girly girl who dressed in a way that would please her parents. Instead, the girl standing before her was dressed all in black with chunky layered necklaces, bracelets, and rings on almost every finger. Her short, dark hair was a little messy, and her eyeliner looked intentionally smudged.

“Eden?”

“That's me.”

It didn't matter that Eden didn't look like she'd imagined. This was still her best friend, and she couldn't believe that she was actually here. Chrissy dropped her sign and flung her arms around the other girl.

“It's so good to finally meet you,” she said as she hugged her.

Eden hesitated at first, but soon she was hugging Chrissy back.

“You, too,” she replied.

“I'm so excited you're here. I have so much planned for your trip, but of course, we can do anything you want while you're here. So if there's anything I suggest that you're not into, we totally don't have to do it. I promise I won't be upset.”

Chrissy ended their hug only to take Eden by the hand and pull her towards the baggage carousel.

“Which one is yours?” she asked. “I'll carry it for you if you want. You must be exhausted after your flight. We don't have to do anything crazy tonight. Maybe we can just watch a couple movies? There's a rental place around the corner from my apartment building, so we could stop there on the way home, and you could pick out a handful of movies you haven't recommended to me yet. And we could order take out. What do you think?”

“You're very peppy,” Eden said after a moment.

“Oh.” Chrissy's face fell. She was already ruining this. She was just so excited that she couldn't contain herself.

“It's not a bad thing,” Eden reassured her. “It's just different. You're different than I expected.”

“So are you,” Chrissy admitted.

“I am?”

Chrissy nodded.

Just then, Eden noticed her suitcase and grabbed it off the carousel before she could miss it.

“Why don't you take me to your car, and you can tell me just how different I am.”

“It's not a bad thing,” she repeated Eden's sentiment. “I just expected someone more like me is all.”

“Really?”

“Well, yeah. We had such similar upbringings and so much in common that I pictured someone who looked like me.”

“So you read letters from a weed-smoking, horror movie obsessed girl who was faking her Mormon beliefs to keep her parents complacent, and you thought I was a cheerleader type?”

“You used cute kitten stickers and sent me glittery birthday cards!”

“I was being ironic.”

They burst out laughing with Eden clinging to Chrissy's arm to steady herself.

“What about you?” Chrissy asked between her giggles. “I told you that I was a cheerleader.”

“I don't know. You also told me that your mom forced you to try out. I figured it was just something you just went along with.”

Their shared laughter melted away all of the awkwardness that Chrissy was feeling and allowed her to relax. She could be calm around a pretty girl who knew everything about her and still wanted to be her friend. She could do this.

“Come on,” Chrissy said. “We can go back to my apartment and clear up anything else that might have gotten mixed up through our letters.”

“I'd really like that.”

“So, how many times did I accidentally give you nightmares with my movie choices?” Eden asked as she set her empty lo mein container down on the coffee table. She and Chrissy had skipped the rental place and opted for Chinese takeout and getting to know each other even better instead.

“Literally every single time it was an even remotely scary one.”

“Why didn't you tell me? I wouldn't have recommended so many of them.”

“Because then you would have stopped,” Chrissy admitted. “I like scary movies. I'm just a big baby about them if I'm watching alone.”

“So you're saying that if I watch them with you, you'll be okay?”

“Something like that.”

Chrissy didn't want to admit it, but it was getting harder for her to pretend she didn't have a crush on Eden anymore. She'd started to develop feelings for her when she was just words on a page, and now she was sitting on Chrissy's couch, and she was just as funny and smart and caring as she'd been in all of her letters. Not to mention she had the audacity to be beautiful on top of all that. It wasn't fair.

“Okay, your turn to ask a question,” Eden said as she nudged Chrissy's thigh with her foot.

Chrissy knew what she wanted to ask. She just had to be brave enough to put it out there. She didn't want to make the rest of this visit awkward, but every time Eden smiled at her or touched her in some way, she could feel her heart skip a beat. She had to know if she had a chance.

“You once told me that your type was girls who are the exact opposite of you, and I'm realizing now that I have no idea what that means since I was picturing you so differently.”

“You're going to make me say it?” she asked.

“I'm just curious.”

“It's so embarrassing though. For multiple reasons.”

Maybe it was a trick of the light, but Chrissy was convinced that Eden's cheeks were turning a little pink as she spoke.

“I like the pretty, popular type. Very feminine and bubbly. And I've always had a thing for strawberry blondes.”

It was Chrissy's turn to blush which didn't go unnoticed by Eden.

“What about you?” she asked. “Still have no preference on looks?”

“As long as she can make me laugh and make me feel cared for, looks don't matter to me. But I would be lying if I said that I didn't have a thing for brunettes who wear lots and lots of rings.”

“Good to know.”

Neither of them were willing to make a move just yet. Being in the same room was still so new that neither of them wanted to risk it. But, as Eden smiled over at her, Chrissy had a feeling that this was going to be her merriest Christmas yet.

#ctcwc23 #gothcheer #gothcheer fic #eden bingham #chrissy cunningham #my writing

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