A/N: Hey guys, Happy December! So I'm making it a tradition now that I write a Christmas fanfic for you guys every year now. This is my one for this year, and I'm going to try real hard to keep updating it so this might be my priority until after Christmas time, but I will try to update other stories, I promise! I hope you enjoy, and please review and tell me what you think! :)
It was after eight at night on Christmas eve. Snow was coming down on Liverpool in a light flurry as the streets came alive with movement, people traveling to their cars to go home for the holidays and spend the night with their families. And then of course, there were always the late, last minute shoppers who crowded the stores in a frantic panic matter, shuffling all over the place trying to get that one last gift or two. The streets were light with Christmas lights, every lamppost bearing a Christmas wreath with a pretty red ribbon. A man stood on the street corner in a Santa costume ringing a bell and collecting money for charity. As people passed by dropping euros into the can, they wished him a Merry Christmas and were on their way. Out of the darkness a figure emerged of a tall young man with brown hair in a red sweater and black sweatshirt, hands stuffed into the pockets of his khakis, trying to keep warm through the thin protection of the gloves he was wearing. The snow continued to fall, crunching beneath the boy's feet as he made his way to he didn't really know where. He was just off on a stroll; no motive, no specific place to be. Just roaming the streets on Christmas eve.
The streets were now almost empty as everyone wanted to get home. Nine strikes from clocks nearby boomed and echoed through the stars, signaling that 9 o'clock had come out to play. The boy stared up at the sky and curled his cold lips together, brushing the snow off of his face with the sleeve of his coat. From behind him, he could hear two girls. It sounded as if they were walking- no, running, toward him.
"Patricia, wait up!" the other girl hollered after her sister. As the first sister passed the boy, the other was trying to catch up.
"Come on, we're already late." The second sister gasped for breath, pushing herself the last bit she had, and ran to catch up, bumping into the boy in the process. She shrieked, embarrassed.
"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going." The girl pushed her hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ears under the winter hat she had been wearing, giving the stranger a weak and somewhat guilty smile.
"No, it's okay," he replied, looking at her for a second, sort of speechless. The girl looked down, smiling nervously now.
"Merry Christmas," she said, looking up for only a second before turning away to rush after her sister. "Patricia!"
"Merry Christmas..." he replied to nothing but air. Still the boy stood their in awe, trying to figure out where he had seen her before. He knew that she had looked familiar, but he couldn't place her. And now, she was gone, and he didn't even know her name. All he knew was that she was beautiful, and he had to find her again.
He tried to find her after that. He tried going after her footprints, but those soon were lost in the traffic and more snow to come. Then he tried asking if anyone had seen them, but had no luck. He knew she had to be from around here, because wherever they were late in going, if they were walking, it had to be nearby. All that was left to do was keep looking, and pray for a miracle.
Back where the two sisters ended up, a Christmas party was going on. Patricia smirked when they finally arrived, knocking on the door until a familiar face opened the door. "Patricia!" Joy Mercer's voice squealed. "I was starting to think you weren't going to show." The two girls hugged, and Joy proceeded to hug Piper as well, inviting both of them in. All of Patricia's old friends were there, and even some people that Piper had grown to know. Most of Anubis house had shown up, except for the Americans of course. It was one big party at Joy's father's house. After graduation, few things changed, but not much. A lot of the couples that ended up becoming still lasted, as Patricia was still with Eddie, who had gone to visit his Mum for Christmas but will be back here for New Years. Joy and Jerome were still going strong, as were Fabian and Mara. It was a good feeling to see everyone happy for once.
"Piper I'm getting a drink. Would you like one?" Patricia offered her sister. The brunette nodded, taking a seat on the sofa next to Joy and catching up on the latest gossip. Patricia came back with two glasses of sparkling cider. "So who was that guy you almost ditched me for, eh?" Patricia asked, teasing her. Piper shrugged but couldn't help but smile.
"I honestly don't even know. I bumped into him on accident, apologized, he said it's okay, I said Merry Christmas and then I ran off. I have to say though, he was cute." Patricia sighed, taking a sip of her drink.
"We should have invited him to come with us. Oh well... maybe he'll turn up some day." Piper was silent, sipping her drink, but deep inside, she definitely was hoping so.
About a year passed and neither stranger ever met again. Now, it was only a few days before Christmas, and Liverpool looked the same as it had last year, minus the snow. Piper was out in the stores, buying her gift for Patricia as she did every year. After making her purchase, she realized she still had an hour and a half to kill before meeting up with Patricia again for lunch. Giving it some thought, she decided to wander the streets and take in the scenery. As she walked, Piper remembered that night, last year. How she bumped into the incredibly tall, handsome stranger, but was too flustered by embarrassment to even say her name, or ask him his. The look on his face though looked as if he remembered her from somewhere, but she was sure she had never seen him before that night. Now, she was wishing she could see him again.
In the distance, Christmas carols could be heard playing. Piper smiled, dancing along as she walked, only subtly. She was so focused on looking down that when she actually looked up, she read the street sign before her and gasped. This was the same intersection that she and Patricia had been on when they encountered the stranger. It was too good to be true to think that there was any chance of meeting him here again. Piper shuffled her feet and went back to her little dance that she was doing. Next thing she knew, a hand was tapping her on the shoulder. "May I cut in?" a low voice sounded. She whipped around, startled, but then relieved at the realization that it was the same stranger she had met ages before.
"How did you know I'd be here?" she asked him, bewildered out of her mind. The boy shrugged.
"I took a lucky guess." She smiled slyly, putting her bag down.
"Okay, well how did you know it was me?" He looked down nervously, looking back up at her.
"I recognized your hair, and your face isn't exactly forgettable. More so because I've figured it out, after 361 days, that I've met your twin before. It took me forever to figure out how I knew you, until I realized, it wasn't you I had known, it was your sister Patricia."
"You're not disappointed, are you?" she asked, lowering her voice.
"Never. Besides, I know your sister's taken. How do you think I met her?" A light bulb went on in the girl's head.
"Through Eddie," she said, realizing the whole situation.
"Bingo. So, how about that dance?" Piper nervously rubbed her arm.
"I don't know... I don't normally dance with strangers." The boy frowned.
"Well, how silly of me. My name is Ben. And yours?"
"Piper," the girl replied, giggling. Ben sighed, thinking of what to say next.
"Well Piper, I like long walks on the beach, my favourite color is sunset orange, winter is my favourite season, I'm in love with armadillos and I think you're beautiful." Piper laughed, tucking her hair behind her ear.
"I'm pretty sure you just made that up." Ben shrugged.
"All but that last bit." The girl blushed, feeling her face getting hotter.
"Do you say that to everyone?" Ben shook his head.
"Only to people whom I mean it. Now can we have that dance?"
"I think so. But only if you promise not to run away afterwards."
"I wouldn't even think about it." Ben held his hand out for her to take, pulling her in to him gently, that hand holding hers and the other holding her waist. Piper laid a hand on his shoulder, smiling childishly, giggling as well as they danced to the christmas music playing ironically louder now from the store across the street. Ben laughed as well, spinning her around and about, smiling back at her. After their dance, Piper got nervous again.
"That was fun," she admitted.
"Yeah, it was. Listen, Piper. I was wondering, if you weren't doing anything, if you wanted to go out sometime? I just feel like meeting here almost two years in a row, its like destiny, you know? I don't want to lose you." Piper could feel herself blushing again.
"I feel the same way. I'd love to; how about now even? We could get drinks, and talk. Because there has to be more to you than loving sunset orange, long walks on the beach and armadillos," she joked, laughing. Ben burst into laughter as well.
"Truth be told, I hate armadillos. They freak me out." Piper giggled.
"I'm afraid of big birds," she confessed. Ben thought for a minute.
"You mean that big yellow puppet thing?"
"No, silly! Not Big Bird, big birds. Like eagles and hawks, and other big ones. Ooh, especially vultures. Ugh."
"Ohhh," Ben sighed in realization. "No I get that. It's not such a strange fear. I'll tell you about a worse one when we get to the place." Ben held out his hand for Piper to take yet again which she did after getting her bag, holding hands on the way to the cafe.
It was cute little cafe, very quaint and cozy. There weren't many people there, which was good. It made the place all the better to get acquainted. The two got in line, looking at the menu. "Do you know what you want?" Ben asked her sweetly. Piper thought for another second before nodding.
"I want to try the white chocolate latte. My sister said it was good." Ben nodded.
"It sounds good. I'm gonna get a spiced cappuccino." They ordered their drinks and paid, taking a seat at a table. Their drinks would be brought out to them. A waitress brought out a small plate of Christmas cookies for them to munch on as well, free of charge. Piper took off her coat, revealing a royal blue velvet type material sweater. It was very pretty, and it was her favourite sweater. Ben took his coat off, which revealed a white under shirt and a brown sort of sweater type thing over it.
"So, what was this fear you were talking about?" the brunette questioned curiously. Ben laughed nervously.
"You're probably going to think it's silly, but it's true. When I was younger, I was afraid of the color black because it reminded me of the dark, and I was afraid of the dark as a little kid. I refused to wear, look at, eat anything black until I was eight years of age. I was literally terrified, and wanted nothing to do with it," he explained through laughter. Piper smiled, taking a cookie.
"That's not so silly," she insisted. "There was a time I wanted nothing to do with the color red because it reminded me of blood. When Patricia first dyed her hair, I hadn't seen her for a while, so when she came back with red hair it freaked me out." She took a bite of the cookie, smiling still. Their drinks were brought out to them by the same waitress who wished them happy holidays and disappeared back behind the counter. Piper grabbed the mug and held it in her hands, warming her body. Ben took a sip of his, making a face.
"Ah, that's hot," he said, putting it down to cool before taking any more sips. "But delicious." Piper set hers down as well, as even her hands could tell the drink was too hot to drink.
"So how (i)did() you know I would be there again?" Ben ran a hand through his hair.
"To be honest I just hoped I would if I went back. I was prepared to stay there until Christmas eve if I had to." This thought really impacted the girl.
"Really? How come?" Ben took her hands in his that were resting on the table.
"Because from the minute I saw you run away, I wanted you to come back. I had a lot a time to think after that, and I thought about you every day at least twice. Meeting you again this year in the same spot, I don't think that was such a coincidence. I'd even go as far to say it's..."
"A Christmas miracle..." she ended with him.
"Exactly," he confirmed, letting her hands go.
"If we're being completely honest, I wish I hadn't run away that night. If we hadn't been going anywhere, maybe I would have. I don't know... But I don't think meeting again is a coincidence either." Ben took a sip of his now cooler drink, watching the girl. "Hey, my sister and I, we're going to a party tonight. Do you want to come?" Ben sat up, putting his drink down.
"I'd love to, just tell me when and where." Piper smiled excitedly.
"Okay, but first, before we lose track of each other again," Piper started. "Let me see your phone." Ben handed over his phone and traded it for hers. Expertly, Piper put her name and number into his contacts in no time, where as it took Ben a little longer, adding his into her her phone and trading them back. "There. The party is at seven, and we can meet up at the intersection again if you want. It's only a shirt way from there," the girl proposed. Ben nodded, seeing no flaw in that.
"I'd like that. So, how much longer do I have you for before I have to hand you over to Patricia?" He asked, leaning closer to her across the table.
"Well it's thirty-five minutes until I have to meet her at the restaurant, and from here it takes about ten minutes to get there. So that gives us about twenty, twenty-five minutes to finish our drinks," she estimated, taking a sip of hers.
"And these delicious cookies," Ben added, closing his eyes as he bit into it, making the girl laugh. Ben chuckled, noticing the girl eyeing his drink. "Go for it if you want," he said with a smile, pushing the cup toward her. Piper smiled guiltily.
"It looked really good," she said, taking a sip.
"It is," he assured her as the flavor washed over her taste buds.
"Mm, it is. I'll have to get that next time." Piper offered him a sip of hers which he took, thinking why not?
"And I might have to get that next time," he said ironically. "That's a really good latte. Maybe we should come here more often." Piper smiled, trying not to blush.
"Maybe we should." After that, the two no longer strangers made small talk as they finished their drinks. Before either of them knew it, it was time to end their gathering. Or was it a date? Well, either way, it was over. "Unfortunately I have to go," Piper spoke with a frown.
"At least let me walk you there, yeah?" That, she could easily agree to. The two of them got their coats on, picked up their belongings and headed out holding hands, making their way to the restaurant. On the way they talked about life, and what they had been doing since graduating high school three years ago. Piper had gone to college for music, and Ben for history. With all the small talk the made, they also found out that they only lived about twenty minutes away from each other. It was almost a sad feeling when they got to the restaurant. Neither of them wanted to leave. "Well I look forward to tonight," Ben told her.
"Me too." There was an awkward pause between them, as neither knew quite what to say next. "I'll see you at seven," Piper whispered, pulling her hand away slowly, as if not really wanting to let go. Ben smiled, watching her leave and enter the building. Memories of last year flooded through his head, recreating when he first saw her. It felt a lot like that now, only this time he knew she wouldn't be gone forever. Ben left the scene and made the semi long journey home. At least, long when you're walking. Part of this whole situation felt like a dream, but then again, even if it were a dream, he wouldn't want to know. This was his Christmas wish come true, and nothing was going to take it away. She was a Christmas miracle.