I know it's taking me a really long time for Problems but Christmas is in like 2 days and I wanted to make this oneshot :) so...her ya go :-) (humanized)

December 2006:

I was really excited about this Christmas since this would be my first Christmas with Stickers. When December first at us, all I could think about was what we were going to do this year, I kept blabbing and blabbing to Lightning how much I love Christmas and how much it's going to be twice as special with him. You have no idea how hard I broke down when he told me something horrible. That very first day of the month when Lightning got a call from his agent saying that he had a month of training for the Piston Cup. All of the other months were booked for other racers so December was his only month. Lightning kept apologizing to me but I covered my sadness with a smile and told him it was ok...although I still felt horrible.
The next day, Lightning left for California after hugging me and kissing me and telling me how much he'll miss me. That month felt so lonely to me. Day after day after snowy days...Lightning didn't even have time to call me or even text me with all of his hard training, not even email. I felt like crying when Christmas and Christmas Eve came. On New Year's, he came back...hugging me and kissing me and telling me how much he missed me. He told me that the next Christmas will be very special...

December 2007:

It feels kind of strange that this is the first Christmas I'm going to spend with Sally even though we've been together for more than a year. That stupid training trip that Harv booked me ruined the first one. I remember last year on New Year's when I told Sally that this Christmas will be very special. You know how tough Sally could be, but all girls have a soft part in them and I don't want to break her heart if I mess something up. I don't know how I'd mess things up, I just have a bad feeling of something for a strange reason.

Sally actually took oath to herself that she would spend the entire month with me! I thought she was being a little obsessive, but I told her that I liked it. So since she's been doing a lot of work, I took liberty of doing something really special with her. On the third week of the month, I went online to buy two tickets for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular! When I told her the news, she squealed and jumped on me, hugging me as we kissed. She never saw the show or been to Radio City. Well, I've been to Radio City, but I never watched it. She was very happy that we are going to New York (she's never been there either).

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As I hugged Stickers with my legs across his waist, my forehead was against his as I told him "You didn't lie when you said this Christmas will be special." With his sly smile, he told me that he always keeps his promises. I gave him a loving kiss as I ran my fingers through his hair...and...for some strange reason, I felt like I was happy for a whole different reason. As if he proposed to me. Funny, huh? I felt like we were an already married couple hugging and kissing each other not for a special reason, but because we loved each other.

My mind yelled OMG when I realized there was only three days until Christmas. There was so much to do, and yet, there was so little to do. I invited my parents and brothers to come over for Christmas Eve and I kept asking Stickers to please invite his family. I kept begging and begging until he gave in and said ok. I never met his brother and sister before, so I was kind of excited. Nothing could go wrong at all.

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Everything went wrong on Christmas Eve.

Sally kept begging me for my family to come over so I said yes. I honestly can't remember the last time I saw them. So I called up my mom, dad, brother, sister and her whole family to come over! I was kind of nervous what my parents would do...(they got divorced when I was 10 and havent seen each other or made any contact to each other in probably over 10 or fifteen years) When I called them, I didn't even tell them that they're BOTH coming. :-o So I went crazy with phone calling that week; I'd call my mom and she wouldn't answer, she'd call me back when I didn't know, I'd call her back after I see I had a missed call and she wouldn't pick up! That always happens to me :-) This kept happening with the rest of my family which really pissed me off.

Well, Christmas Eve finally came. I saw Sally's parents' car pull up in front of the Cozy Cone. Her parents and 17 year old brothers came out of it and greeted her. Kind of weird that it's been more than a year and I only met Sally's mom and not her dad and brothers. As Sally told me she was going to take her parents inside the hotel, I talked to Drew and Chris for a while. I never knew that Sally's brothers were twins! I stopped our conversation when I saw my mom pull up her car.

She came up to me and hugged me. As Sally walked out, my mom hugged her too saying it was good to see her again. Sally stood on her toes to say something to my ear,

"Where's your dad?"

I stood stiff and cursed in my mind. OH MY GOD. I FORGOT TO TELL HER THEIR DIVORCED. HOW COULD I BE SUCH A STUPID ASSHOLE???

"Uhh..." I started to say. I thanked God when I saw my sister's car drive in. She and her kids stopped my conversation. I hugged her and introduced her to Sally. I asked Alexa if she could introduce my niece and nephew to Sally.

"Sally," Alexa said with a four year old girl and a five year old boy next to her. "This is Lila and this is Carter." The little children waved their hands to Sally and added "hi" in their cutest little voices. I felt kind of happy as I saw Sally kneeled down and ruffle Carter's hair.
Then my brother Devon showed up. Again, he greeted me and was introduced to Sally.

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Well, I was getting a little suspicous right now. It's been almost two hours since everyone who supposed to be here is...except for one.

As everyone was dancing in the streets of the literally red and green glowing town, I went over to Lightning who was sitting next to his brother on a bench.

"Lightning, where's your dad?" I asked him. "He hasn't been here since everyone else got here. And I thought he would've come here with your mom."

For some reason, Lightning was in a stiff position. Devon looked at him with a questioning look. "Uhh, I don't know why he's late." Lightning said shrugging. I sighed...but suddenly, a black G35 Infiniti pulled up. Lightning stood up and starting over to the car. A man with gray hair came out of the car and hugged Lightning.

"Good to see you son." he said. "Sorry I'm late. Traffic was terrible."
"That's ok dad." Lighting said smiling.

Devon, Alexa, Adam (her husband), Carter and Lila went over to Jack (Lightning's dad) to greet him. Then, Devon went over to Lightning and turned his face to his shoulder.

"Mom's going to be pretty mad when she sees dad."

"Why?" I asked overhearing. Lightning looked at me worriedly. I was pretty confused at this moment.

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"Uhh, I'll leave now." Devon said leaving Sally and I alone.

"Stickers," she said. "Why did he say that?"

I sighed and dropped my shoulders. He went over to me and put his hand on my shoulder.
"Sal, my parents got divorced when I was ten."

Sally's face turned questioning. "I swear," I continued. "I was going to tell you, but...I guess I forgot. And I couldn't uninvite them after I called them." Sally looked down. She looked like she would cry as she looked up at me.

"Did you remember when I asked you where your dad was?" she asked. I sighed not wanting to lie to her and nodded.

She took my hand off her shoulder and took a step back. Her face looked like a sad puppy. "So...you lied to me for what reason?"

I took a small hesitation. "Sal, I didn't want to get you mad or shocked or anything. Y-you just looked so happy planning for the party and I thought that my parents would-"

"Lightning, I don't care about that." she said interrupting me. "I just care that you lied...to me."

Yup, lying hits Sally's soft side. Unfortunately, I just found that out now.

This silence was pretty awkward, so I asked sush a stupid question. "Are you mad at me?"

Sally raised her eyebrows and scoffed pretending to laugh. "Am I mad at you??" She started to sound serious. "Lightning, you didn't have to lie to me to cover up something stupid. Ok, so your parents are divorced. So what? You could've told me and I could've done something."

"Like what?" Another stupid question.

"I don't know!" Sally said sounding mad and annoyed at the same time. "I-I could've gave them different rooms if they didn't want to see each other! Lightning, it's that simple!" Sally relaxed her widened eyes and sighed. She took something out from her pocket,

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I took the Radio City Christmas Show tickets out of my pocket and threw them on the floor.

"Here," I said. "Go with Mater or something...I don't really want to go."

I was almost out of this scene (if you're wondering where we are, wer're inbetween two buildings...like an alley) until Lightning stopped me. "Sally, wait."

I turned to look at him. "Sally, I'm sorry. I truly am...and you promised that you would spend the whole month with me! You're just going to break it like that?"

I sigh a small sigh. "Yea, because I didn't picture this as a very special Christmas." And I left just like that.

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She left just like that.

I really couldn't believe that could happen just like that. I picked up the tickets that she threw on the ground. I knew that she hates me now, and I also knew that I had to do something about it...and fast.

Sally was in the Cozy Cone talking to her mom while I was trying to find my mom. I found her sitting outside Flo's, smoking a cigarette.

"Hey mom." I said sitting next to her. She didn't face me, she just sat there blowing out smoke. She then faced me with a face.

"Sweetie, did you invite your father?"

I took a big sigh. I really needed someone to let out all of my stress. "Mom, I'm starting to feel like inviting dad was a bad thing. It's just that Sally wanted me to invite the whole family. The problem was that I forgot to tell her and now she's mad at me because I lied to her." Suddenly, I really started to think. "You know..." I started saying. "Now that I really think about, I didn't really lie to her...I just left out something and didn't tell her."

My mom put her cigarette out on the ashtray and then leaned forward me. "I think she was just very upset because she always trusts you...and I think you broke that trust."

Wow, mom was right. I sighed and looked at my lap. "The worst part is that I got tickets for the Radio City Christmas show for tomorrow and she doesn't want to go anymore." I now looked up at her. "And...I-I'm kind of scared that she might dump me."

My mom gave me a reassuring smile and put her hand on my shoulder. "She won't honey. All you have to do is gain her trust back."

"How?" I asked her. My mom shrugged. "How should I know? I'm not her boyfriend."

She patted me on the back and left the table for me to think. How do I make her trust me again?

A crazy idea suddenly popped into my mind. Something no one knows (except for the family of course). I just wonder how I can get her to talk to me.

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I was really, very mad at this moment. It's not that I hate Lightning, I'm just mad at him. Now that I think of it, he didn't really lie to me, he just didn't tell me something he should've told me. As you can tell, I was troubled. So I went to the hotel to talk to my mom.

"You looked troubled honey," she said as I entered the building. "What's wrong?"

"I just got in a fight with Lightning and I don't know what to do anymore." I said leaning on my desk.

"What happened?" she asked worried.

I stood straight and sighed. "Well, he didn't tell me something I should've known and I accused him for lying to me. The worst part was that I turned down tickets for the Radio City Christmas show with him because I'm mad at him." You could tell that I felt like crying from the tone of my voice. "Now, I just don't know if I can trust him anymore."

"Oh Sweetie," she said wrapping her arms around me. I sobbed lightly as one or two tears slid down my cheeks. I quickly wiped them away as we un-hugged. She then put her hands on my shoulders.

"You know how boys mess up, but I still don't blame you for being mad. You're a very sensitive girl, and you had a great trust in him and that little mistake broke it."

My mouth slanted. "Well, what do I do now?"

She put her arms down. "Well Sally," she said. "I can tell that Lightning still has a great feeling for you, and you can probably gain back your trust if you talk to him. A stupid mistake isn't meant for holding grudges."

I love how moms make everything better. My mouth slid into a smile. "Thanks mom."

"No problem." mom said smiling. "Now, I want you to go to that boy and make up with him!"

I laughed as I exited the building. "I'll try!" I called out. Now...where is Lightning anyway?

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My feet were dangling on the edge of this massive mountain. I was sitting in front of the Wheel Well building, looking at the dark sky, thinking of how to put it or if I could tell her something else.

No, I had to tell her this. I don't think I have any other deeper secret which is as embarrasing. Suddenly, I heard light footsteps.

"Hey Sally."

She walked over to me and sat down next to me.

"How'd you know it was me?"

I shrugged. "Who else would it be?" I said still not facing her.

Sally shrugged too. "I don't know, but it wouldn't be someone who loves you more than I do...because that's impossible.

I quietly sighed and looked down at my hanging feet. "Sally," I said now looking at her. "You're acting like nothing happened."

She put her hand on my back. "Lightning, I was mad. You know how sensitive I can be. And I know we just fought like ten or twenty minutes ago, but we can't hold this as a grudge forever."

"You're right." was all I could say to that. We both waited for one of us to say something until Sally suddenly put her hand on mine.

"Can we please make up?"

Putting my eyes back on her, I had a half smile. "Ok."

Sally had a full smile and she hugged me. She almost kissed me until I spoke.

"Sal, theres something I have to tell you."

She changed her sitting postition so she could now face me. "Go ahead."

I sighed. "I never told anyone but my family."

Sally was too eager. "And that's..." she said.

I put on my half smile and decided to let it out. "Sal, my name really isn't Lightning."

Sally hesitated. "Really?" she asked leaning forward me?

I nodded. "Well, what is it?" Sally asked. She didn't take 'Lightning isn't my name' as a really big surprise, she want the WHOLE surprise.

My smile turned bigger. "You're gonna laugh!"

"So?" Sally said. I was kind of expecting a "Oh no I won't!" from her but oh well. "Its embarrasing." I said.

"Ugh," said Sally. "Come on! If you don't tell me now, I'll never know who you really are Mr. Whats-his-name!"

I laughed a little. "Fine." I said. "My name is...

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"Eli."

Ok, I know this may sound mean...but I couldn't help but laugh! A few chuckles popped out of me and formed into a medium laughter.

He laughed a little. "See!?! You're laughing!"

"I didn't say I wouldn't laugh!" I said trying not to cry. Eli sighed and looked down. I stopped laughing ang put my arm around him.

"Hey," I said. "It's not such a bad name. Trust me, I've heard worse. I once knew this guy named Callahan!"

Lightning looked up in front of him with a questioning look.

"Oh my God, get this," I said. "In highschool, there was this bald guy named Harry and a hairy guy named Baldwin!"

He started to laugh. "You're kidding." he said now facing me. "I'm not!" I said also laughing. Then, I suddenly noticed something.

"Hey, Eli is also that football player's game for the New York Giants: Eli Manning, right?"

Eli faced me with a questioning look. "How do you know about the Giants?"

I raised my eyes and scoffed. "Well Mr. Eli, if you never knew that I'm a football fan, then you don't know the real Sally!"

"Ok," he said scratching his chin. "Well, who's the other football team in New York?"

"Well everyone knows that's the Jets!" I said as if I was bragging. "Duhh..."

"Well excuse me but you never told me that!" Eli said smiling.

"Well you never told me you're parents were divorced." I said. Eli's smile sudddenly slanted.

"Yea, Sally, I'm still very sorry about that." he said.

I smiled. "It's ok." My face went closer to each other until our lips met. As we unlocked, he smiled greatfully and we hugged.

"Sooo..." I started to say. "Did you make 'Lightning' your cool nick name for the Piston Cup?"

"No," Lightning said. "You see, my dad gave me the name Eli. Then as I started growing up, the nickname Lightning started."

I thought it was kind of weird how he got that. "I know, I was confused at first too." Lightning said. "But he then started saying that Eli sounds like elite. Then he thought of elite-ning which soon became Lightning."

My face still looked puzzled. He laughed."I know it's strange, but it would be even stranger to start calling me Eli right now."

"Well..." I said sighing. "It's just that you realy don't look like an Eli, but its funny that you really do look like a Lightning." I said chuckling. Lightning chuckled too.

"Yea well," he said. "At least you're not mixed up with names."

Oh my God, I thoght with my body stiff. I just remembered something! I didn't laugh, I just turned the other way. Lightning was suspicous.

"Sally..." Lightning started to ask. "Is 'Sally' a nickname too?"

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The oddest thing happened that night. Me and Sally sitting on the edge of a cliff, confessing our real names. I don't want to be mean or anything, but I think she won the 'weirdest name' contest :-D

"So, when I was born," Sally started explaining. "My dad gave me my middle name, Lynn, and my mom...well, she was sort of having trouble picking my name. You see, she really like only two names; Amanda and Sally. You know what she did?"

I just sat there waiting for what she was going to say.

"She mixed them together." Sally said clumping her hands together. My face was sort of questioning.

"My name is Salamander."

I didn't hesitate at all. My laughter came out like an explosion. She smacked my arm.

"Shutup, Eli!" She said also laughing.

"You laughed at me Salamander!" I said still bursting of laughter. I finally calmed down afte a minute.

"So, Salamander." I said with Sally giving me a look. "Did your mom know that 'salamander' is an animal?"

She smacked my arm again. "Yes she did. And for some reason, she thought it was cute." she said letting out a chuckle. "But it's really stupid because she never called me Amanda. After a couple of years in school when I told kids my name, they kept making fun of me. So the name slowly slipped into Sally."

"Hmm," I said. Well, there really is nothing else to say. We both now our deep secrets, now what? I saw Sally hug her knees.

"It's really beautiful out here Stickers." she said as the snow fell upon us.

"Yeah." I said. She suddenly slid down in her position and laid her head on my shoulder. I smiled and rested my head on hers.

I looked at my watch. It was 10:56. Getting kinda late. I thought. After a couple of minutes, I slowly turned my head and saw Sally's eyes closed and a small smile still on her face. She wasn' sleeping thought because she spoke to me.

"Merry Christmas Eli."

I smiled putting my head back on hers. I closed my eyes,

"Merry Christmas Salamander."

Eli+Salamander. Kinda weird huh? I hope you liked it )

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!!!! MWAAHHZ :-D :-D