Disclaimer: I don't own The Gifted, I just really love writing about the characters.

A/N: IT'S NOW CHRISTMAS! Lol, or well, here, have a super fluffy sugary romance-filled, Christmas Spirit-y, holiday-who-be-what-ee kind of fic. Modern AU, no powers! Also, if they seem a little lighter-hearted than usual, well, they don't have the same stress that they do in the show. Also, I am also probably totally messing up how much leave a Marine can take at a time or what happens after they get back from a tour, but yeaaaah. Stretch the truth.

Let Your Heart Be Light

Chapter 1

The train whistle blew as pulled into the tiny station, and John was up and out of his seat before the attendant could tap his shoulder. The Westchester station was basically just a big old-fashioned one-story building with peeling white and red paint and one long concrete platform. Just like he had expected, it was decorated with garland and fabric poinsettia blooms and even though it was midnight, they had left on the Christmas lights that were wrapped around each post.

There were a few people down on the platform, but he couldn't make out Marcos or James. They had said they would pick him up at the station, but the train was late. Maybe they had gone to grab a coffee or something at a convenience store. Or, alternatively, they were wrestling somewhere after getting into an argument.

His best friend and his brother didn't always see eye to eye on everything.

Grabbing his bag down from the tiny storage space, John tossed it over his shoulder and headed down the aisle, beating the slower moving passengers to the car door. As he got off the train, he looked around and fished his cell out of his pocket.

Before he could even start a text, one of the trucks in the parking area behind the platform went haywire. The headlights started flashing, the horn blared, and some awful remixed version of "I Need A Hero" started blasting from the speakers. John laughed and shook his head, waving his arms in hopes that they would cut it out.

That only made them turn up the volume.

"Sorry, sorry about them," John said to the elderly couple that was ogling the truck and covering their ears. Or, well, the man was covering his ears. The woman was waving her hands in the air, doing some kind of shuffling dance.

"It's all right, dear," she said, "I like this song!"

John nodded to them before jogging over to the truck. He dropped his bag, yanked open the door, launched himself over James, and cut the stereo system before shoving Marcos back into his seat. "You're going to wake up the whole—"

Immediately, the two of them latched onto him, yelling incoherently while ruffling his hair and tugging on him. John made a few weak attempts to fend them off before he wriggled away, giving his little brother's head a fond shove as he got back out of the truck.

"Thought we'd give you a proper welcome," Marcos said, smirking. "The song was James' suggestion."

James jumped out of the truck after John, and John caught him in a proper hug, slapping his back. "I guessed that might be the case."

"Don't lie, that's your favorite," James said, pushing away from John as Marcos came around the front of the truck.

"I'm just happy to see you two could get along long enough to come get me," John said. He caught Marcos' hand and brought him in for a quick hug. "And neither of you died." He clapped a hand on James' and Marcos' shoulders. "I'm proud. Really."

"It was difficult, but we managed somehow," Marcos said, rolling his eyes.

"Marcos provoked me, but I stayed strong," James teased, "You owe me."

"Somehow I think that's probably the other way around."

Marcos gave John his best long-suffering look. "He wouldn't leave the radio alone. He stole all the quarters from the middle console. And he started going through my glove compartment like some kind of weasel."

James didn't even try to pull an innocent look. "It's not like you had anything interesting in there." He picked up John's bag and tossed it into the truck bed. "C'mon, I have class in the morning, unlike you two ancients."

"See?" Marcos said.

"I thought you didn't have a first period," John said, climbing into the front seat.

"Ten is still in the morning," James said. He yanked open the backseat door and pulled himself into the cab of the truck. "Let's go, Marcos! Get a move on, you're so slow. It's like a snail and a sloth had a weird freakish baby and you are that baby."

Marcos pointed at John as he got into the driver's seat. "Your brother is a little shit."

"This is something I am well aware of." But he still loved him.

Marcos pulled out of the parking area, and John it wasn't long before wished that he had asked to drive. Marcos had a ton of great qualities and he was skilled at a number of things, but driving… It depended on if he was excited or not. Like that one time back in high school when they had all been going to the Spring Fling dance at the school and Lorna had been singing along to the radio and sang to Marcos that she loved him in the most punk-rock way and he had driven the car off the road. Mrs. Dorothy Kellings had not been happy with how they had taken out her mailbox. He had been way more concerned about Clarice, who had hit her head on the window… She ended up with a minor concussion, and they had spent the whole dance in the hospital.

He yanked himself away from his memories and focused on what James was saying.

"Riles and Aunt Evelyn still don't know you're coming, which has been really hard," James said, "Aunt Evelyn tried putting up a wreath last year and then Riley burst into tears because you put that wreath up a couple years ago or something. We haven't touched the decorations since then. So guess what you're going to be doing the next few days."

"I'm fine with that," John said, shaking his head. He would make sure to take Riley out to get some new decorations, too, and make it up to her. Last year he had been overseas on a tour of duty, but his tour had ended about a month ago. He had told his aunt and little cousin that there was no way he could make it home, that he was swamped, but he was actually going to be in town until New Year's. He had organized it with Marcos and James so he could sneak in and surprise Riley and Aunt Evelyn.

The drive home was lively, and Marcos and James filled him in on some of stuff he had missed while he was gone. Marcos and Lorna's baby room was ready to go for their kiddo, and Marcos officially despised IKEA. James mentioned something about a Christmas play, but quickly changed the subject. There was a parade in a few days and there was a program at Riley's elementary school and a Christmas concert at James' high school. James was still trying to convince Aunt Evelyn to let him get a dog even though it was his senior year. Sage was planning some kind of get-together for their old high school crew.

"Speaking of which, Clarice is going to be in town."

John's hand tightened on the door. "She is? That's cool."

"That's cool," James said, mimicking him.

"Did anyone say how long she was going to be here?" John said, trying to seem nonchalant even though there was no way Marcos and James wouldn't see through his question.

"The whole month," Marcos said, smirking, "She's going to be on winter break, and she actually decided to spend it at home."

Yeah, instead of jetsetting around the world, like usual. Clarice was a well-known travel writer and blogger, and she was finishing up a MFA in Creative Writing on top of that. They had bumped into each other a few times since that graduating years ago, but…yeah. Most of the time they were both super busy with their own lives.

He realized that both Marcos and James were watching him and he glared at both of them. "Stop."

"He carries such an obvious torch," Marcos said, glancing in the mirror at James.

"It's sad. So sad."

Okay, so the only thing the two of them could agree on was that torturing him was fun.

Luckily they were already pulling up to the curb of Aunt Evelyn's house, and John practically flew out of the truck to get away from the conversation. He was reaching into the bed of the truck to get his bag when he noticed a light in one of the second story windows. A couple moments later, the front door opened, and he spotted a small figure clinging to the doorframe. He dodged to the back of the truck and ducked down, hiding from his little cousin.

"James!" hissed Riley, a flashlight in her hand, "Hurry before Mom wakes up. She'd be so mad, you know she said—" The flashlight beam skittered across the frosty ground, over the truck, and into James' face. "You better get inside before she finds out. She said you can't sneak out anymore, or she'll take all your…" She tilted her head to the side as her flashlight beam hit the driver's side of the truck. "Why're you with Marcos?"

"Because…"

"I needed him to go to the store with me," Marcos said, "Lorna wanted, um, donuts. With sour cream."

The flashlight beam dashed away from Marcos and back to James as Riley stepped off the steps, still looking suspicious. "Nuh-uh…"

Okay, he couldn't take it anymore. "Riley Naomi Proudstar, you don't even have socks on," John said as he stood up straight, walking out from behind the truck. "What in the world do you think you're doing—"

Riley made some kind of noise that was between a scream and squeal and then it was like she teleported to his side. She jumped at him, flinging herself into his arms. Her arms tightened around his neck as she clung to him, and he hugged her tight.

All that's when the front door light came on and Aunt Evelyn started yelling and crying and John was home.