Well, here we are! This is something I've been working on for several weeks now and I'm so proud that I've gotten so far with it!

Consider it to be a Hayffie Christmas countdown calendar where, instead of chocolate each day, you get a new chapter of a Hayffie Christmas AU!

This idea was inspired by two of my favourite Christmas movies- Love Actually and Elf. The latter only inspired one or two scenes, but those will be evident as the story progresses (actual chocolates for anyone who guesses the scenes).

Because there will be such a large number of chapters with hopefully daily updates, not every chapter will be 1000+ words. I wanted to do this in a very chronological order (starting November 1st and running up until December 25th), so some chapters are shorter than others.

Also also, when I say 'chronological order', I mean the dates. There wont be a chapter for each day as a) something chapter-worthy wont happen every day in their lives and b) I wanted to write from their first meeting and it seemed incredibly rushed trying to cram it all into one month for the purposes of matching the dates up. So, our story starts in November and ends in December.
This fic is being updated each day on my Tumblr account (euphemiafleurtrinket)and I'll try to update as frequently as possible here (I work very long hours 4 days a week so on those days, don't expect a chapter.

I hope you all enjoy this! This is such a huge challenge for me, but I'm enjoying writing it.

As always, feedback is always appreciated!

NOVEMBER 1ST

Haymitch stuffed his hands in his pockets, a scowl taking over his face partly due to the cold that had fallen over New York City, but mainly because he'd been dragged out of the warmth of his house in the suburbs by his best friend.

Haymitch had moved to New York fifteen years ago, after a string of events that he was only too desperate to forget. The city was so different to his home town and, although he'd left friends behind, like his old friend Mags, who'd been a very close family friend who he'd known since he was a child, he knew it was for the best. He'd begun to spiral out of control with his drinking, and New York was a place of distractions. He'd found himself a steady job, training and qualifying as an officer for NYPD. Chaff also worked for the police department and from their first meeting, they'd clicked. Haymitch had never looked back.

Haymitch had an incredibly strong bond with Chaff, but when it came to forming any other relationships, Haymitch was at a loss. Now, at the age of 36, Haymitch had been single for 20 years. He'd never trusted himself to commit to being in a relationship with someone, no matter how many times Chaff had tried to set him up. Haymitch had thought the man would stop bugging him about his relationships when things got serious between Chaff and the woman he was dating, Maggie, but apparently, it only spurred Chaff on. And now, the pair were out looking for an engagement ring for Maggie, with which Chaff was planning on proposing on Christmas day. Haymitch had only agreed to help after Chaff promised to buy him a beer afterwards.

"I don't see why ya can't just ask her, then take her out to choose her ring in the new year," Haymitch grumbled as they battled their way through the crowds in Times Square. "Ain't like I can offer ya any useful advice on what women like, anyway."

Chaff just chuckled, shaking his head at Haymitch's complaints
"How d'ya expect to ever gain any knowledge of romance if you keep rejecting any date I try to set ya up with?" He responded, which prompted Haymitch to shoot a glare in the man's direction.

"I told ya, I ain't into all that shit," he muttered.

"You're far too young to be so bitter, Haymitch," Chaff smirked, leading them in the direction of a small jewellery boutique.

xXx

Three hours later and Chaff's search for the perfect ring had been fruitless, and Haymitch's mood was steadily worsening. They'd been to what Haymitch assumed was every single jewellery store in the entire city, and yet he still found himself being dragged to the first floor in Macy's, a store Haymitch had never ventured into in all his time living in New York, and he quickly realised why.

The place was even more crowded than the streets outside and the bright lights were enough to give him a headache. Added to that were the chirpy sales assistants who seemed to pounce on Haymitch and Chaff the second they stepped off the escalator.

After making a somewhat miraculous escape from a man trying to sell them the latest men's aftershave, Haymitch found himself being led to the jewellery section, Chaff quickly descending on some French designer Haymitch had never heard of.

While Chaff was talking to an overly-enthusiastic salesman, Haymitch took the opportunity to kill time by browsing a nearby stall. A plethora of diamond jewellery sparkled beneath the glass case, but Haymitch's focus was on the price tag. How someone could justify spending $3000 dollars on a pair of earrings, Haymitch would never understand.

"May I help you?" A woman's voice broke Haymitch's internal rant and he looked up to see the beaming blonde sales assistant on the opposite side of the glass counter.

"Me?" He said gruffly. "No, I'm just…lookin'."

"Well, if it's something for a special someone, allow me to-"

"Woah…" Haymitch held a hand up to silence her, his eyes glancing down at her name badge briefly. "Listen, Euphemia, I said I was lookin'. Ain't mentioned who for or why. Don't jump to conclusions."

The woman looked mildly offended and, ordinarily, Haymitch would have scoffed and walked away. But something about her had him rooted to the spot, all but ready to apologise. But that wasn't him. Instead, he pointed a finger in Chaff's direction.

"That asshole is the reason I'm here," he grumbled. "Had me all over the damn city helpin' him find a ring for his girl."

"I see," Euphemia nodded, smoothing out her fitted black blouse. "Well, as I was saying, before you interrupted me, we have quite a lovely selection of new rings just in time for Christmas. Perhaps he'd be interested."

xXx

"Your eyes were on her tits the entire time," Chaff grinned wolfishly, taking a sip of his beer as they sat in the bar.

"Fuck you," Haymitch grumbled, but he wasn't about to deny where he'd been looking. "She was hot, give me a damn break."

"Yeah, she was hot," Chaff smirked. "And potentially single."

"How many single women do you know who walk around with a diamond the size of fuckin' Jupiter on her ring finger, huh?"

"Could just be modelling the jewellery," Chaff shrugged. "Stores do shit like that. Starts conversations that could lead to a sale."

"How the hell do you know that?" Haymitch raised an eyebrow.

"Maggie. She used to work for some makeup counter before she trained as a cop. They make staff wear the products they wanna sell, so people ask about them."

"Huh," Haymitch nodded, scowling into his beer. "Well, I still ain't convinced. She was hot and women like that ain't usually single."

But somehow, he knew Chaff was right. The way the woman was looking at him wasn't the way a taken woman would look at someone.

He decided right then and there he was going to get Mags a necklace for Christmas, one that he'd spotted while Chaff had been purchasing the ring.

Although, he knew deep down that his train of thought was literally just him looking for an excuse to go back to that damn jewellery counter.