Title: Fortune-teller, Fred and Christmas presents
Author: Juliana
Genre: fluff
Rating: general audience
A call came over the radio asking for the police to remove a woman from a diner. Faith answered the call before he could protest. He hated this kind of calls. Usually they were just drunks and they had to drag them to the house to sober them up and in return they had tons of paperwork to do without any real crime being committed. Sometimes he could swear he hated Faith with her 'serving the community' approach to their work. Other times …
They reached the diner and entered. The bell over the door rang loudly and Bosco gave a quiet thanks there was no mistletoe hanging above his head. He would've found himself in an awkward position otherwise.
"We came to escort someone out of your diner," Faith said to a waitress behind the counter.
"Oh, yes, thank you. It's her," the girl pointed to a woman that was sitting behind a table with a man sitting opposite her. They seemed to be fighting.
"She's pestering our guests. She wants to predict everyone's future from her cards. Guests started to complain and I tried to get her to leave but she refuses. She says she has no place to go and that it's cold outside."
"She's got that right," Bosco mumbled as he tried to warm his frozen hands by rubbing them together.
Faith motioned to him to follow her. They soon found out that the lady wasn't drunk but was really stubborn and wasn't in the least intimidated by their uniforms. The other occupant of the booth soon left, realizing he would find a quieter place sooner than silence the crazy woman.
"You can't force me to leave," she insisted after Faith had asked her again to leave the diner.
"Well, you can't bother people while they're eating either."
"I'm not bothering anyone. I was telling them their fortune and they appreciated it. If that silly girl doesn't know what's good for business that's not my problem," she said loud enough for the waitress to catch her words.
"They appreciated it?" Bosco snorted.
"Are you calling me a liar?" she asked threatening.
"Wouldn't dream of it," Bosco mocked in return.
"I think you're just afraid to hear what awaits you in the future," she commented slowly.
"Right."
"Let's go, crazy lady," he grabbed the woman's elbow but Faith nudged him in his ribs at his words.
"What?" he asked annoyed and shrugged as if silently saying 'don't tell me you think she's sane.'
"Here, officer, prove me wrong. Pick your cards," the woman again offered him a stack of cards.
"I said let's go," he grumbled and waved his hand towards the cards, hitting them in the process. They scattered across the table.
He turned away, waiting for Faith and the woman to follow him, when suddenly he heard a weird howling behind his back.
"Ooooo."
Startled he turned to see what happened. The fortune-teller stared transfixed in the cards in front of her. Faith gave him a weird look and then shrugged.
"Oh, don't tell me, I'm gonna die this afternoon?" he laughed. "It wouldn't be a wonder with all kinds of maniacs walking around," he added getting more and more frustrated.
"Oh no, officer, not at all. Quite the opposite. Eros et Tanatos."
"What, errors and what?" he blinked.
"She means love and death," Faith explained after seeing his perplexed face.
He shook his head as if trying to clear his thoughts. Unsuccessfully.
"I see you're in love, officer," the woman gushed as she turned to look at him. She was met with a pair of deep blue and deeply shocked eyes.
Faith giggled at his side and he glared at her once he regained his senses. He was taken completely by surprise with the woman's words.
"No, I'm not," he denied it fiercely.
"Well, I expected as much, of course. You wouldn't even admit it to yourself."
"There's nothing to admit," he gritted his teeth.
He noticed Faith was getting intrigued by their exchange. Exactly what he needed, he cursed.
"I see there is some fear involved, but I'm pretty certain from the arrangement of the cards that it will end happily and before the end of this year, too."
Bosco started to blush but tried to hide it behind anger and derision.
"I'm pretty sure my prediction that I'll die this afternoon has bigger chances of coming true."
"You can laugh as much as you want, young man, but you'll see I'm right."
Bosco gave up and moved towards the door. He had no intentions of listening to her rambling. This week he had had enough of wackoes for a life time. It was always the same before Christmas and New Year.
Faith followed him out with the woman in tow. She opened the back door of their RMP for her and then joined him in the front.
He didn't say much the whole way to the station. He was deep in thoughts. The woman's words struck too close to home not to disturb him. He knew she had been only making things up but she had guessed his situation pretty accurately. And her words reminded him of the ridiculous situation he had found himself in. What bothered him was, that he didn't know what to do.
It'd soon be Christmas again and he'd spend it alone since his ma went to see her sister. That gave him way too much time to spend thinking. It never ended well when he started to think and it only caused him pain.
He parked in front of the house and Faith was already getting out of the car when the woman leaned right to the mesh and whispered to him, "Whatever you do just don't stay at home."
Shocked, Bosco turned, "What?"
"Christmas, don't spend it alone," she said again. Bosco made a face and exited the car. He slammed the door and was met with Faith's questioning eyes.
"What else did she predict?" she chuckled.
"Nothing, she's totally off her rocker." He made a gesture with his finger against his temple to emphasize his words.
Faith laughed harder, amused by his strong reaction to the woman's words. She sensed there was something there that he tried desperately to hide from her. She wondered who it was this time. Faith was more than a little surprised when she felt a bit of jealousy at the thought.
After another two hours of work it was time for their dinner break. Bosco stopped the car in front of their usual place.
They ordered their meals and drinks. Faith thought Bosco was unusually quiet.
"Is there something wrong?"
"Huh? No, nothing."
Faith smiled amused. "So it's true, isn't it?"
Bosco stared at her befuddled. He was getting annoyed by the fact that everything seemed to be incomprehensible to him today. People were asking him questions he didn't understand and telling him stuff he didn't want to understand.
"You are in love," she snickered.
"Am not!" he said emphatically.
"Are too," she laughed when his answer confirmed her suspicion.
He blushed against his will. If this continued and Faith did find out his secret it would definitely spoil his holidays and, he feared, much more than just that.
"Who is she?" Faith pressed further. She felt an uncommon need to find out everything about his new love. She couldn't pinpoint the reason for that but she sensed she didn't even want to know what it was.
"She's …"
"I knew it!" Faith exclaimed with a triumphant smile. And he wanted to bite his tongue for so carelessly admitting he actually was in love.
"So … who is she?"
"Er … I … I can't tell," he said hoarsely. He knew he was trapped now, she would never let it go and he could never tell her. It would be like telling an escaped murderer you knew who the perpetrator was – a death sentence.
"You can't tell?" she asked surprised. "You always tell me everything about your women, even the things I don't want to know." She made a face before she sipped from her can of soda.
"This time it's different," he said firmly in an attempt to end the discussion.
"Yeah? How?"
He felt awkward talking to Faith about Faith without her knowing it. He felt like he was lying to her but he was well aware that was the only way. The realization that it would always be like that made him feel miserable.
"She's someone … special," he finally said.
"Oh," was her only response. She sounded a bit disappointed. She probably expected to get more information, he thought.
They both started eating when their meals were brought to the table. He thought the discussion was long forgotten when she asked again, "What exactly is so special about her? I mean, why her?"
"Can't you give it a rest?" he said exasperated.
"No. I want some answers. You're never in love so this is a major thing. I wanna know why, who and how. I'm not gonna stop till I find out," she threatened and he rolled his eyes at her words.
"I don't know what to say, she's just different that anyone else."
"I get that but what makes her different?" Faith persisted.
He sighed dejectedly, "You're awful, you know that, right?"
She nodded and grinned. Bosco leaned back in his seat and thought about it. "She's a strong woman, very passionate about everything she does, she loves her job, she makes me laugh … she even made me cry a few times. She's so great I don't even mind when she's bossing me around," he gave a small smile.
"Wait a minute, I thought I was bossing you around."
He quickly raised his eyes to hers. There was a flicker of fear in the deep blue before it vanished as he joked, "Yeah, but you don't have the exclusive right to do it."
"Too bad," she faked disappointment.
They were both quiet for a moment until Faith spoke again.
"You two are serious then?"
Bosco didn't know what to say to that. He almost laughed when he thought he had never been more serious about a woman in his whole life but this time the woman wasn't even remotely interested in him.
"I don't know … "
His answer surprised her but she didn't want to press further.
Bosco cursed once again on the day before Christmas when he remembered he had two days off. It was all his stupid mistake. He didn't bother to check with his ma what she would do over the holidays so he didn't volunteer to work the two days in question. Once she called and told him she'd leave town it was too late to be put on the list.
Now he had Christmas Eve and Christmas day off. The two worst days of the year to be alone and with nothing to do. Unwillingly he remembered the fortune-teller's words not to stay home for Christmas. Like he had a choice. There was no place he could go to. Maybe to midnight mass but even that didn't seem too appealing in the bitter cold and without company.
In the spur of the moment he decided to go see Faith. She had told him the kids would be at Fred's over the holidays and that she'd maybe go see her parents on Christmas.
As soon as the door of her apartment opened he heard several voices in the living room.
"Hey, Bos, come on in," she invited him.
He noticed right away she was dressed in a gorgeous chocolate brown top and a dark green skirt. She looked wonderful.
He followed her into the living room and he saw Emily and Charlie were there. He looked at Faith confused.
"Fred's coming to pick them up any minute now," she explained as she saw his surprise.
"Uncle B," Charlie yelled and ran to him.
"Hey, Chuck," he patted his shoulder and smiled to Emily when she greeted him.
"Are you and mom going to spend Christmas together?"
Bosco raised his eyebrows at the question. "I think your mom has other plans," he said, feeling sadness and emptiness just saying that. He would've given anything to be able to be with her for the holidays but he knew that was not a possibility.
"No, she doesn't. Grandma has a cold so she decided not to go," Emily offered from the couch.
"Oh, too bad," Bosco said and received a quiet 'yeah, right' from Emily.
Faith returned to the room with a cup of coffee for him and he took it gratefully.
"I wish we could check out my new toys on Christmas morning this year too," Chuck all but whispered when he sat down next to Bosco on the couch.
Bosco messed his hair and said quietly, "Me too, Chuck, me too."
Faith watched him thoughtfully and wondered what was on his mind.
Only seconds after a knock on the door Fred entered into the apartment.
"Hey guys," he greeted the kids but looked weirdly at Faith when he noticed Bosco on the couch.
"Ready to go?" Emily just nodded with a grim expression on her face and Chuck ran excitedly to his room to pick up his bag.
"Promise you'll call," he said to his mom and she promised with a grin.
She kissed both kids before giving them advice about how to behave.
"Are you two spending Christmas together?" Fred asked as his eyes went from Faith to Bosco who was now getting seriously annoyed by everyone asking him that.
Faith looked at him too and then shrugged when she turned back to Fred. "I don't know."
Fred only nodded and turned to leave but wished a merry Christmas to Bosco before he was out the door. Bosco was too shocked at Fred's friendliness to be able to come up with a reply.
When Faith hugged Em and Charlie one last time Fred turned to her and said quietly, "I've noticed you'll have a nice holiday."
"What do you mean?"
"Don't tell me you don't know what I'm talking about."
What -was- Fred talking about?
"I wasn't jealous for nothing, Faith."
His words angered Faith and she started to protest, "If you're implying I'm having an affair with him …"
"I never said that. And I still don't like the guy. But in my opinion that would be the best thing you could do."
Her jaw dropped to the floor and she didn't even manage to say 'what'.
"Come on, it's obvious. He's crazy about you, even I can see it when he looks at you. And God knows I'm no expert."
"Fred …" she tried to form a coherent sentence but she couldn't.
"Merry Christmas, Faith." He was already in the elevator when she finally managed to wish him a merry Christmas too.
When Faith returned to the living room Bosco noticed she was staring at him with a strange look. He wondered what Fred said to her again. He knew the man couldn't stand him and he could guess why. The man wasn't as stupid as he looked, after all. He obviously hadn't managed to hide his feelings as well as he had hoped.
At the same time Faith was trying to figure out what Fred was talking about and whether he could be right. Nah, she thought, Fred just finally lost it. Whatever could Bosco see on her, anyway? Besides, he admitted to being in love with … a woman. She didn't know who it was but it definitely wasn't her. She wasn't … what did he say? Passionate about everything she did, loved her job, make him laugh? Boss him around? As she thought about it, it suddenly eerily reminded her of herself. Her eyes widened with shock when she looked at him. When did she make him cry?
"What? Did I just grow a second head or something? Why are you staring at me like that?" he asked. "You're scaring me."
"Sorry, I just remembered something," she stammered and quickly turned away from him. "I'll get you some cookies to go with the coffee," she added as she retreated to the kitchen.
He had drunk his coffee several minutes ago but he didn't say anything.
Faith gulped down a glass of icy water to clear her head. She still couldn't believe it, it was just too far-fetched to be possible. Bosco in love with her? In her mind that just wasn't an option. She sighed when she realized she wished it were true anyway.
She brought the cookies and put them down on the coffee table. She sat down next to him and asked, "What are you doing tomorrow?"
"Nothing," he shrugged. "Ma's gone to her sister so there won't be any Christmas dinner tomorrow. I'll probably make up for some lost sleep."
"Oh, so you won't go to your mom's? You could come here, we could have a Christmas dinner."
"I don't want to bother you, you have your own plans."
"No, not at all. I'll be home with nothing much to do."
She leaned across him to get a cookie. He almost jumped when she came too close. He couldn't trust himself when there was so little space between them. It was too much for his senses.
Faith smiled secretly at his reaction. Maybe she'll get her Christmas present after all.
They'd agreed to go out in the afternoon. Bosco said if they stayed in the apartment the whole afternoon they'd get on each other's nerves before the time for dinner came. She was looking forward to enjoying the first winter snow and the true holiday spirit that it brought with it.
She wrapped her coat tighter around herself. It was already dark at five in the afternoon but the white snowflakes made it look like it was daylight when the streetlamp light shone through them.
"You know, this morning when I saw it was snowing I think I didn't mind for the first time in years," Bosco said next to her as he shoved his hands deeper in his pockets.
"Yeah? How come?" She remembered how much nagging she had to listen to every winter when it was snowing. He didn't hate snow itself, he hated the car crashes and traffic jams it caused.
"I guess this is one of the rare days I don't work so I don't give a damn about what people do on the streets," he grinned when he looked at her sideways. "Actually …" he started but then fell silent.
"What?"
"Nothing," he shook his head.
She nudged him in his side but she was sure he could hardly feel her elbow through all the layers of clothing. "Come on, tell me."
"No, you'll laugh at me."
"I won't laugh. When have I ever?" she asked innocently and he gave her an 'are you kidding me' look but after a moment answered anyway.
"I just feel, you know, relaxed, Christmassy, nice …" He wasn't sure what her reaction would be so he didn't look at her straight away. He figured it would be easier to take her mocking if he didn't have to see her eyes.
"I know what you mean." Slightly surprised he turned to her to see whether she meant it. "And it's nice … to feel nice. For a change."
He knew now she was serious. "Yeah, it is. Haven't felt this way for a long time."
Faith knew she shouldn't but she just couldn't resist. "Has this anything to do with you being in love?" She tried to hide her mischievous grin when he looked at her.
He looked ahead again before he answered. "Sort of, I guess. Just not the way you mean." He smiled sadly. He watched the snow flakes that stuck onto his jeans.
"What do I mean?"
He shrugged. "I don't know, sex. You think sex is the only reason for me being in a good mood."
She felt a bit of pain when she heard the bitterness in his deep voice.
"And it isn't?"
He just gave her a look but didn't answer.
"Well?"
"No, it isn't. I like just being with her."
"So how come you're not with her for Christmas?" She knew she was pushing it but watching him trying to wriggle out of the awkward situation was just too much fun to pass the chance.
Bosco on the other hand kicked himself mentally for not thinking about it before. It was only natural she's expect him to spend the holidays with the woman he was in love with. How couldn't he think of that before? He could've at least come up with an excuse.
"It's just complicated. I don't wanna talk about it."
She nodded and they walked side by side in a comfortable silence. They stopped at the park where they saw a skating rink. They decided to watch the people on the ice and they had quite a few good laughs when they observed the kids and adults alike losing their balance, falling and getting up only to fall again.
Faith enjoyed the colorful shadows the light from the paper lanterns hung up on trees created on the ice, the Christmas songs coming from the loud speakers and the kids' shouts of joy. The snowy blanket on the ground and the tiny snow flakes raining down on their heads only added to the festive atmosphere.
They stood by the rink for a while but then Bosco pointed to a line of benches underneath a tent. She followed him there and as she sat down he whispered he'd be right back. Only a minute later he brought her a cup of hot chocolate. She took it from his hands and made a sip right away.
"Mmm, this is good."
"I knew you'd like it," he said confidently and sat down next to her. He used his cup to warm up his frozen fingers instead of drinking the chocolate.
"You know me pretty well, huh?" she commented as she moved closer to him to steal some warmth from him.
"We've worked together for years, it's only natural."
"True. Say, what do you think is my best quality?"
"Huh?"
He sipped from his cup and she reached up to wipe a bit of chocolate from his upper lip. He lowered his eyes as she did it.
"See, I was thinking. If I want to start dating again I have to … you know, present myself in the best way so men will want to go out with me."
"Oh," he mumbled hoarsely and she almost regretted teasing him when she saw his downcast face.
"I don't think you have to do anything special. I'm sure lots of men would want to go out with you just as you are."
"You think?"
"I know," he said simply.
"You do? How's that?"
She didn't ask again when she didn't get an answer because she was afraid his good mood would vanish. Sadness already colored his smiles and voice too often. She realized it would soon be time to stop playing games and to give him his Christmas present. She could hardly wait.
The song All I want for Christmas could be heard from the loud speakers in one of its many versions. Surprisingly, Bosco liked the song. Probably for the first time in all the years he liked listening to Christmas songs. It must've had something to do with his feelings for the woman sitting next to him. She was too close for his sanity's sake but not close enough to make him feel happy and loved.
"So what do you want for Christmas?" he asked quietly. "And I don't mean as in presents but in general, from life." He snuggled closer to her, hoping she wouldn't move away. He hadn't felt so cozy and nice in a while. Tentatively he hugged her around her shoulders and waited for her response. She leaned into him like it was the most natural thing to do. His heart missed a beat and a smile lit up his face.
"What do I want for Christmas?" she repeated a bit surprised but at the same time thinking about how to answer him. She knew she had to encourage him, to show him just a glimmer of her feelings but not too much so as not to make it too easy for him.
"I wanna be happy again, you know, forget all the bad moments of my past." She made a pause, trying to form a thought in her mind.
"I want to be in love and be loved again, after I have so bitterly realized Fred wasn't the love of my life." She scrunched up her face at her last words but Bosco didn't smile. He seemed pensive and somewhat sad again.
He didn't respond for what seemed an eternity to her. She turned away from him and observed the merry skaters in front of them.
"So what do you want for Christmas?"
He gave a resigned laugh. "The same as you, I suppose."
"But you have that already, don't you?"
He looked at her sideways. He wiped a snow flake from his eyelashes.
"You actually believed her?"
"Who, the fortune-teller?" He nodded. "You admitted yourself you were in love."
"Yeah, well, I guess I've already got that part of my Christmas wish then," he whispered bitterly.
"But you're not loved back?" After a short silence between them, Faith asked again, "You don't believe what the woman said is true? That everything will end happily before the end of this year?"
He snorted but didn't say anything.
"You should have faith," she offered innocently.
His head snapped around and he stared at her with wide eyes. When he saw he misunderstood her words he turned away again, feeling stupid.
For a long moment no one spoke.
"I don't deserve her," he broke the silence.
"What makes you think that?"
He shrugged. "She's too good for me and I couldn't make her happy. I'm not what she wants."
"She told you that?"
He wanted to say she was asking too many questions, instead he answered, "Not in as many words but I know her well enough to see that."
"As well as you know me?" He made another sip of the hot chocolate that didn't exactly deserve to be called hot chocolate anymore. The situation that he found himself in was just too weird to be true. And he was afraid he was getting deeper and deeper into the mess.
Faith continued before he managed to answer, "Cause if you know her as well as me, then you probably also know what kind of a man she wants. A good, trustworthy and loyal man who would understand her, make her laugh and be with her when she cried. Who would love her more than anything else in the world and make her feel really special and beautiful."
He stared at her dumbstruck. He was certain he misunderstood her again but the annoyingly persevering hope in his chest didn't budge.
"That's the kind of a man I want." She made a pause before she continued with a smile, "And I believe you resemble that description pretty nicely, don't you agree?"
The knot in his throat didn't allow him to say anything. He felt like a plushy bunny that ran out of batteries and was left frozen in one position unable to do anything.
Finally he coughed to clear his throat before he tentatively asked, "Are you making fun of me, Faith?"
"No, Bosco, I'm not making fun of you. I meant what I said."
"And you knew all along?" he asked, feeling his cheeks flushed when his heart beat like crazy, but he didn't know whether from excitement and happiness or from embarrassment that she had know from the beginning and he had been foolishly trying to hide it from her. He turned to look her in the eyes.
"Not at the beginning, no. Fred opened my eyes."
"Fred?" he said shocked.
Faith rolled her eyes in an 'I know' manner. "I guess we were just too scared to let ourselves see what was really going on. So we needed someone else to tell us that."
"Hmm, like a fortune-teller and Fred? What a combination." She grinned at his unbelieving face.
They just sat quietly staring in each other's eyes. When she saw Bosco was still too insecure, she leaned in and kissed him softly. His lips welcomed her hungrily. She felt his hand on her back pulling her closer to him and she snuggled up to him when they broke the kiss to get some air.
"Do I need a bow if I want to be your Christmas present?" she grinned up at his relaxed and smiling face.
"No need for that. You're already wrapped up pretty nicely."