A/N: Okay, I just had to do this. I love the holidays, so I made a vow that I would make a short, little Payson/Austin Christmas Special one shot that is based off of Another Twisted Family Reunion. Arguably the cheesiest thing I've written. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Make It or Break It
When Austin walks back into his house that evening, his body warms up in contrast to the cold air he just walks in from. It isn't necessarily because his house is significantly warmer than the Colorado air, but because it's Christmas. It has been a while since he felt this excited about the holiday season. As soon as he opens the front door, the smell of delicious food infests his nose (in a good way), the sound of Christmas music runs into his ears, and the sight of the burning wood in the fireplace makes him smile. There's even a Christmas movie playing on his television. He couldn't ask for anything more.
He looks to the right and smiles brighter because the sight is better than all of the previous—the one gift that he didn't find under the tree. She's dressed in a simple red V-neck sweater, plain black pants, and boots. Nobody could miss the small, blue, heart necklace secured on her neck, the one his grandmother gave to him. He walks into the kitchen while she's stirring the cookie batter diligently. So diligently that she doesn't realize Austin is directly behind her. He gently hugs from the back and she jumps from shock.
Austin smirks as he kisses her head suggesting, "Come dance with me, Pay. You know I love this song."
"Jingle Bell Rock," Payson takes note, "I'm cooking, Austin."
"Mmm…," he hums, "I do love your cooking," Austin says. He moves slightly next to her, while still wrapping an arm around her lower back. "At least take a break. You've been cooking since like four."
Payson scratches her head, glancing at her watch. "Exactly, and it's six right now. We have to eat dinner, and I haven't even finished making the cookie batter. Unless… you want to help me?"
He gives her a look, almost laughing. "I would prefer us enjoy Christmas instead of throwing up food."
She laughs as he takes her hand and leads her into the living room where there is more space, while saying, "The song is almost over," he informs, "Enjoy Christmas, and don't worry too much about the technicalities, Pay. The important part is that we're together."
Payson nods her head. Maybe a few minutes of dancing won't hurt. "I hate when you're right." Austin smirks; taking one of her hands and placing it on his shoulder before positioning an arm around her waist. He takes her other hands and gently traces the outline of her handprint, before intertwining his fingers with hers. The difference between the size of their hands is almost unreal. They move from side to side, not letting their eyes wander off each other's. Wanting to spice things up a bit, Austin twirls her around a few times, making sure to grab her every time she loses balance. She laughs as they continue to fool around. Arm still around her waist, he bends her body backward so her head is near the floor, and then quickly brings her back up. The dancing isn't anything spectacular, but the point of it isn't for perfection; they truly just want to have fun. It's what they do. They can be serious one minute and do foolish antics like this the next. They both can't manage to contain their laughter.
The song finishes, and she suggests that she goes back to cooking. But he's not yet ready to see this moment end. "One more. It's that Merry Little Christmas song. Come on, we need to dance to at least one slow song," he says. She rolls her eyes and wraps her overworked hands around his neck (something she would never be able to do properly if there weren't a heel to her shoe), while Austin is embracing her by the waist. The couple sways from side to side to the beat of the song, enjoying the pleasant serene of them spending this special day together. She smiles as she rests her head on his chest, closing her eyes and hums the tune of the song. For a moment, Payson lets all the petty stuff, like cooking, slip her mind and solely focuses her attention on the things that matter.
…
Austin takes another sip of his second glass of wine. "That's enough, Austin." Payson says, before looking back at the tree. It may be annoying to other guys, but not to Austin. It's what they do; Austin takes a sip too much, and Payson is always there to stop him. He lies back in his seat after he finishes his dinner, trying to ease the feeling of being so full. Austin grins as he finds Payson resting her head on her palm, gazing at the beautiful tree that they decorated together. "So, did you check under the tree to see if Santa got you anything?" he asks, hinting for them to start opening presents.
Keeping her eyes on the tree, she shakes her head. "No, that can wait. But I think there's something on the tree you might like," Payson says.
He lifts an eyebrow as he gets up from the table and moves to the lighted Christmas tree. "What is it?"
"Keep looking," she says as she slowly moves over to the tree.
He continues to search, and then realizes that there's an ornament that isn't one that him and Payson had put up. He grins, picking up the dated ornament. "How did you get this?"
"Your mom sent it to my apartment. She said you can't have a Christmas without this being on your tree. She didn't want me to tell you about it until today." she explains, smiling.
Austin takes a few steps back so he's next to his girlfriend, and wraps an arm around her waist. "I made this when I was six," he says, laughing, "I can't believe she kept it."
"Of course she kept it. She's your mother and she loves you."
He kisses her head before putting the special ornament back on the tree. His eyes travel back and forth from Payson to the bottom of the tree.
She folds her arms over her chest. "I'm starting to think all you care about is the gifts."
"I just want you to see what I got for you. I think you might like it," he says, wrapping his arms around her waist.
Playing with the collar on his black button up shirt, she reminds him, "Austin, you know I don't care about that stuff. I'd still be happy if you didn't get me a gift. I'm just glad that I'm sharing Christmas with you this year."
Austin rolls his eyes. "Can you please just act like a five-year old for one second and be excited about the commercial, materialistic side of Christmas?"
Laughing, she agrees. "Fine. It better be worth it."
"Ms. I-don't-care-about-the-gifts," he mutters as she picks up the gift that has From: Austin and To: My Dearest Love written on it. It's long, hard, and sort of thin. It's definitely not jewelry and Payson is glad. Jewelry is nice, but it's a bit general and unoriginal. There's only one time she got an original piece of jewelry with actual meaning behind it, and it's already on her neck.
"Well, now you're actually making me excited since you want me to open this that bad…," continuing, she remarks, hesitating, "This is mine right, or are we not as exclusive as I thought?"
"Open it and find out," Austin suggests.
"Hm...," she begins, attempting to torture Austin, "I think I'll open it later."
"Payson!" he bellows, in an almost joking way. "Come on, don't do this to me. Just open it."
"Fine, fine. Calm down." Payson sits down on the floor pretzel style. She takes a deep breath as she begins to open it a bit. She stops when she notices the odd stare from Austin. "What? You can't open Christmas presents standing up."
She continues to open the gift and stops when she notices it's a picture frame. Payson frowns confusedly at Austin, trying to figure out what this is before completely opening it. Maybe it's a picture of them from years ago, or maybe it's a picture of the kids at the Rock holding a Merry Christmas sign, or maybe it's a picture of her family, she thought.
Giving up on trying to guess, Payson rips off the wrapping paper and tears immediately start to roll down her cheek when she sees the gift Austin got for her. It's definitely different and not general. It's not a picture of them, a picture at the gymnasts, or even a picture of her family. It's special, and it's only something that could be given to her. She can't believe that he went out of his way to do this for her.
"Austin…" she trails off.
"Don't cry, Payson," he says, sitting on the floor next to her.
"I just can't believe you did this for me." The gift is a large picture frame with an actual drawing of Payson holding her Olympic medal. On the bottom left is the image of when she broke her back at Nationals, in small drawing form, of course. In cursive, next to it reads, Her struggles make her stronger, and what breaks her, makes her.
Aware of his low artistic ability, she notes, "This must have cost you a fortune to get done, Austin."
"However much it cost is worth it."
"Did you think of this whole thing by yourself?" she asks, still admiring the work of art. It seems almost impossible that someone loves her this much to think of something like this.
He nods. "Yup. I know your story, Pay. And I felt the need to put it in a picture and a few words. It's not something you can wear or anything materialistic, I know. I just-"
Payson cuts him off by kissing him. It's all she can do right now. It's exactly what she wanted; something original, something with meaning. When they pull away from each other, she says, "Thank you. This is all I'm about; it's who I am. And… it means a lot to me that you get it. It's probably the nicest thing that someone has ever done for me." Of course, the special place the gift has in her heart is nothing compared to the special place the giver has.
After Austin opens his gift from Payson, which Payson had to admit sucked compared to the one he gave to her, she enthusiastically says, "Lets go, Tucker. We still need to make the gingerbread house."
Austin laughs at his girlfriend as she quickly moves through the kitchen, looking for the things they're going to need. Sometimes she did let her five-year old self come out.
…
With icing all over themselves, Payson and Austin marvel at the creation they've made. Not just the extremely messy gingerbread house, but also his house in general. It is Christmas. The perfect Christmas.
"Promise me something, Pay?"
"Anything," she assures.
He turns to her and wraps his arms around her waist. "Promise to be mine forever," he says in an even lower, husky voice.
Payson blushes, looking down. She's almost accepted that fact that she'll never be able to get rid of that, no matter how long they're together or how comfortable she is with him. "Only if you promise to be mine forever."
"It's a deal," he says, resting his head on top of hers," Merry Christmas, Payson."
All of a sudden, everything starts to blur and go dark. His eyes flicker open and that's when he realizes that it was all just a dream. He hits his fist hard on the bed.
Dammit, Austin thought. It really was the perfect Christmas, but it isn't even remotely real or possible at this point, and that's what makes the whole thing depressing.
If only all dreams are able to become a reality… For now, it has to be left as almost the perfect Christmas.
Author's Note: Gotcha! It should be a Christmas/April Fools one shot. To make it up to you, I'll get going on the next chapter of Another Twisted Family Reunion soon. This companion piece is supposed to be in sync with what's going on in the actual story, so it's kinda, sorta the next chapter... in a way.
Special Shout-out to GinnyGinervaWeasley for reading this over.
Please Review! Again, sorry for the trick and Happy Holidays!