"Because there isn't any Santa!"
Amy breathed heavily as she leaned close to Rory and Rory's eyes were opened in shock. Mels stood beside Rory, looking back and forward between the two before she sat down unceremoniously next to Rory. Rory blinked and Amy cringed, leaning back as Rory slumped down to sit next to Mels. Amy's brow furrowed and she crossed her arms. She knew that she'd been mean but she couldn't take it back, not now.
Mels crossed her arms and pulled her knees up, leaning forward to rest the side of her head on her arms. She glanced at Rory who looked like he was going to cry. She looked up at Amy who still refused to say anything to alleviate the intensity of the conversation. Finally Rory stood up and took a step towards Amy. Amy looked down at him hesitantly.
"What if there isn't any Doctor, Amy? I'll play the games with you, I like the games. But if Santa isn't real… What if the Doctor isn't, either?"
And Amy punched him.
Rory fell to the ground and Mels didn't move. She watched as Amy ran off in a huff and teachers closed in on the situation, finally grabbing Amy and taking her to the office. Mels had been there before.
She glanced down at Rory who was still in shock. A bruise was forming on the side of his face. Rory took a hand to touch it and winced when his finger made contact. He sat some more. A teacher walked up to Rory and asked if he was okay, if he wanted to go to the nurse. Rory just shook his head.
Mels watched as the teacher moved away. She scooted closer to Rory, moving to sit with her legs underneath her.
"Rory… Santa is real."
Rory shook his head, wiping away a few extra tears with his sleeve.
"No he's not. You wouldn't say it like that if he was."
Mels frowned but had nothing to say in return.
The next day, Amy offered Rory a pretzel from her packed lunch. Rory, bruise on his face, took it. They didn't speak of it again.
That Christmas, Rory climbed down the stairs at three in the morning. He knew Santa wasn't real, he knew, but what if… Groggily, he sat on the stairs, watching the fire burn and the Christmas tree cast a rainbow, eerie glow across the dark house. He clutched a teddy bear and his slippers had holes in them. Eventually, his eyes betrayed him and they closed.
When he opened them again, there were tons of presents. Rory allowed himself one moment to think they were Santa before he slipped down the stairs and looked at all the tags. They all said "from Mum and Dad." He figured as much. He'd told them about how he knew. Standing surrounded by boxes and ribbons, Rory's teddy bear hung limply from his hand. He tried desperately to fight the urge to cry but then he spied a tiny box slipped between a few stray branches of the tree. His heart jumped to his throat and Rory dropped the bear as he pulled the small box from it, brushing away a few pine needles. On the tag, in strange handwriting, it said, "from Santa." Grinning, Rory tore open the package and gingerly opened the box. Inside there was a rock. It glowed faintly white and seemed to throb gently. Rory tipped the box over to let the rock fall onto his palm. It felt cold. On the bottom of the box, it said, "From the North Pole." Rory jumped up and down before running over to his room and slipping the rock into his sock drawer. As he shut the drawer, he smiled.
He had a secret.
When he returned from school, Amy and Mels sat on the swings, doing more talking than swinging. As Rory bounded over, Mels gave up her swing and offered it to Rory. He declined, his cheeks pink from the cold and from running.
"Guess what."
"What?"
"Santa came this year and gave me a present."
Amy furrowed her brow. Rory's smile grew.
"That's funny," she decided.
"Why?"
"He gave me something, too. It was a rock from the North Pole…"
"Me too!"
"… What about you, Mels?"
"Me too."
Rory giddily started to talk about the rock, careful to avoid telling where he'd put it, and Amy interjected every so often with her own thoughts.
Mels swung gently, trying so very hard not to let her friends see the faint smile pulling at her lips.