DISCLAIMER: Most definitely not mine.
A/N: So this story takes place in the same universe as my story The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From The Tree and would be set during what the characters come to refer to as "The Junior Year From Hell," as in my world, Ben's birthday is in December and the coronation was in late January/early February. However, you do not need to know what happens during that year to understand this fic. (I hope. If you do need it and haven't read that story, PM me and I'll tell you which chapters to read)
"Chad. Chad. CHAD!" Doug shouted, staring at Chad as he skipped down the hallways of Auradon Prep. More and more doors were opening as Chad's shouting continued to wake people up. "Chad, it's November first!"
"Halloween's over, Doug! IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS! EVVVVERYWHERRRRE YOU GOOOOO!"
When Ben's door opened, Mal was standing there, her eyes glaring at everyone until they all scrammed, including the still-caroling Chad.
"Look who's caught under the mistletoe," Anxelin teased as Doug and Evie bumped into each other on the quad. Doug didn't want to kiss her- no, that was a lie. He wanted to kiss her, and really badly to, but not here. Their first kiss was supposed to be special.
But, with everyone chanting, "KISS! KISS! KISS!", he knew he didn't have much of a choice.
So he stepped forward, grabbed her hand, and kissed it before starting to walk away. Instead, Evie rested her hand on his chest, preventing him from going anywhere, and gave him a proper kiss- it was on the cheek, but still-, and then let him scurry away, Fairy Godmother's shouts of PDA not being acceptable barely audible.
"Happy birthday," Mal said, kissing her boyfriend's cheek as he welcomed her into the castle.
"Welcome to my humble abode," he joked and she sighed, slapping his arm playfully. "Excuse all the garlands; Dad goes a little overboard for Christmas."
"It's December 2," she laughed.
"Yeah, I know. It's a miracle he even remembers my birthday's in December, considering how much he loves Christmas."
"Mal!" Belle calls as she comes down the stairs, pulling her into a hug as soon as they reach each other. Mal stiffens, but Ben's encouraging smile and gesture reminds her that in Auradon, this is how a person would greet their son's girlfriend. "Adam and I are so excited you could come, and we were wondering if you wanted to spend Christmas with us."
Ben's head instantly snapped up and he looked at Mal, making a look that clearly screamed Please! but Mal wasn't so sure. She'd come to understand that Christmas was a religious event, and she wasn't so sure she believed in that.
"I don't-"
"Please, Mal. We're trying to find places for all of you to spend your first Christmas in Auradon, and we really want you to spend it with us."
Mal glanced back to Ben, who seemed to be silently pleading with her. Christmas in Auradon- at least Chad's version of it- didn't seem as religious as it once was.
"I'll be there," she said with a hesitant smile.
"What are they doing?" Evie asked, nodding towards the long line of children waiting to see Santa.
"They're waiting to see Santa Claus," Jordan replied.
"Who's that?" Freddie asked.
"A magical man that flies on a sleigh with reindeer pulling it. He delivers presents to everyone while they sleep between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. He then hires people to go to the shopping malls and toy stores to serve as an ambassador," she answered, going up to a jewelry kiosk and fingering some rabbit earrings. "Do you think Ally would like these?" There was no response, so she turned around, expecting to find the two engrossed in their phones, only to see Evie dragging Freddie over to the line behind a bunch of eight year olds. Knowing she would have to play damage control with the overprotective moms, she also made sure to take pictures to show later.
"Look, I get that it's Jay, Carlos, Mal, and Evie's first Christmas here, but it's Freddie, Ginny, Harry, and Jace's, too. I feel like we should do something for them, too," Ryder said, prying the fashion magazine out of Audrey's hands. "Did you hear a word that I just said?"
"You want to do something for the newer Isle kids we've taken under our wing. I may be pretty, but I'm not dumb." He rolled his eyes as she stood up and snatched the magazine back out of his hands. "We'll take them to the castle's grand illumination tonight. Will that save your conscience?"
He and Audrey may have agreed to put their shared history behind them when they signed up to do this together, but she was really getting under his skin, more so than usual.
Mal, despite living in Auradon for eleven months, still refused to take her coffee any way but black. It was the one thing from her life on the Isle that didn't make her feel sick- besides her friends, of course.
But, with Christmas on the horizon, Ben was curious as to whether or not she would try any of the seasonal flavors. During the fall, Evie had probably consumed 90% of the pumpkin spice lattes that were sold, but Evie was not as stubborn as her best friend; that was a simple fact. In fact, nobody was really more stubborn than Mal.
Ben, Jane, and Mal all wait in line for what feels like hours. Ben and Jane both order their gingerbread lattes, and know that Mal's going to order her black-like-her-soul coffee, despite them having told her since February to at least try something else.
So imagine their surprise when she actually winds up ordering a peppermint mocha.
At their flabbergasted looks, she says, "Nathan made me try some of his the other day. It was so good! Ben, you're the king; why are peppermint drinks only sold during the winter?"
Ben was still too stunned to reply.
"I don't understand why the tourney team has to do a 'Secret Santa,'" Carlos sighed as he and Chad trekked up to the locker room, "I mean, I get that you love Christmas, and that you're co-captain with Jay and everything, but seriously? What am I supposed to get for-"
"You're not supposed to tell anyone who you have," Chad interrupted. "That's the point."
"Oh," he said lamely. "Hey, Chad?"
"Yeah?"
"What's the pizza place we order from after the games?"
"Pizza Planet. Why?"
"No reason."
He totally has Jay.
"You know him better than me, Evie. What should I get him?" Audrey asked Evie on their way to study hall.
"You're his girlfriend; not me," she laughed, waving to Carlos as they passed the STEM classroom.
"He says that you guys dated back on the Isle."
"For maybe forty-eight hours, and dating on the Isle isn't quite what it would be in Auradon. Audrey, you'll find something great for him; I know you will," Evie promised, resting her hand against Audrey's arm in a gesture of comfort before taking her seat. Audrey sighed. Just because Evie was right didn't mean that Audrey had to like it.
Despite the fact that all the villain kids were spread throughout Auradon for Christmas, Belle and the Beast- Adam was his name, but Mal had trouble calling him it- invited almost everyone in Auradon to a Christmas ball. Evie had opened a dress shop out of her and Mal's dorm room for the event and had made many of the dresses everyone wore, custom designed by Evie and the wearer for a truly unique look. Mal's dress was long and black with a lacey top, a little different from what she'd worn in the past, but she liked it.
While everyone was dressed in formal attire, all four Charmings had been outfitted with Christmas gear, courtesy of Chad. His sister wore reindeer antlers, his father had a Rudolph nose strapped to his face, his mother wore an elf hat, and Chad himself was wearing a Santa dress suit, complete with a Santa hat on his head.
Chad really did love Christmas.
About halfway through the ball, Chad rounded all of them up and dragged them into what she quickly realized must be Ben's bedroom. They exchanged their presents, and Mal smiled at some of the more extreme reactions- Evie and Carlos jumped up and down when they opened their tandem gift from Jay, a new video game; Doug literally kissed Evie when he got the biography of the founder of The Dragon Slayers; and Jay lifted Audrey up over his shoulder and started to make out with her when she handed him a book with the professional tourney season's stats as of December first. Freddie had proudly admitted that she didn't steal any of her gifts to ravenous applause, and Chad gave all the Auradon kids Santa hats with gift cards hidden in the brim, while the Isle kids got "My First Christmas" ornaments and what had to be a year's supply worth of hot chocolate with marshmallows.
They spent the rest of the night in Ben's room, eating peppermint bark, drinking hot chocolate, and the Auradon kids taught them a bunch of insane Christmas songs, Ryder and Audrey performing a flirty number called "Baby, It's Cold Outside" and Lonnie crooning "All I Want For Christmas Is You" to all of them. Flynn and Ben teasingly sang, "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch" to Mal, which resulted in both slaps to the back of their heads and a teasing kiss for Ben.
All in all, it was a perfect first Christmas.
A/N: Thank you all for reading! Also, on my tumblr, I've included pictures of the dresses and Chad's Santa suit. Here's the url: little-miss-antisocial dot tumblr dot com/reference