Disclaimer: I do not own the amazingly versatile Clique characters or anything else mentioned in this story.

Claire Lyons loved Christmas. It was a fact. The hot chocolate, the warm fuzzy sweaters, and the feeling that she was a part of a union excited her. In Florida, Christmas was an exciting holiday. Apparently, Westchester wasn't the same.

She sat on a table her legs swinging under her in an attempt to do something entertaining. This year, Massie had decided that she would have a Christmas party instead of a Halloween party. She demanded a huge tree, endless amounts of presents for everyone, and too many sparkles for Claire's taste. She had even gone to the extent of demanding no one decorated their houses so that her house was the most special one of all. And of course, what Massie Block wants, Massie Block gets. Kendra had gone crazy the past week hiring all types of professionals ranging from majoring in gift wrapping to the art of making gingerbread houses. Claire found it all unnecessary. Couldn't they just have a normal family get-together?

In front of her, the Pretty Committee was dancing to 'Please Don't Stop the Music' with the guys. Massie and Derrick were dancing in the middle in their own alpha way. Massie had her usual bored-and-over-it look but Derrick seemed to be openly enjoying it. But Claire knew Massie enough to see a twinkle in her eyes that proved that she was happy, too. They had been fighting for a long time. The school had split into two groups. Team Massie and Team Derrick. Thankfully, they had stopped their nonsense. Claire didn't know where to buy a Team Massie t-shirt. Plus, knowing Massie, they'd probably be expensive.

Next to Massie and Derrick were Alicia and Kemp. They were being very suggestive with their dance moves. Kemp had his hands all over Alicia and she didn't seem to mind. In fact, she was ruffling Kemp's bushy hair with a lascivious grin. Now that Claire thought about it, they made a good couple. Neither of them seemed to be able to stay with one person too long without getting bored. Maybe they were both experienced enough to keep each other entertained. Claire shuddered at whatever entertainment they would have. Personally, she didn't enjoy imagining other people get it on, for a lack of words.

Kristen was dancing around everywhere with Dempsey. Claire would've never thought Kristen would find love in Dempsey Solomon. Not only had Massie and Layne been fighting for him, but Kristen had been bent out of shape trying to help both of them at the same time. Amazingly, at the end, Dempsey had decided he liked Kristen and she figured she liked him, too. Nowadays, they were inseparable. Whether it was studying or doing community service they were always together.

Dylan and Josh were on the other side of Massie and Derrick. Claire was a bit surprised to see them dancing together, but Alicia seemed too caught up with Kemp to notice Dylan dancing with her ex. She probably wouldn't have cared, though. She had deemed Josh boring and predictable. Therefore, he had gone in the Alicia's Exes stack. Dylan was laughing loudly and Josh seemed amused. From what Claire could see, they were happy.

They were all happy. All of them, except Claire.

She was always an exception. She had always noticed that she was never genuinely happy. Was it some Lyons curse? Could she really not be happy?

Claire decided to play 20 questions later and kept on looking around. Massie's humongous pool had been frozen for the occasion and turned into an ice skating rink. There were a few people skating on it they going from professionals to beginners. There were even some couples skating together and Claire almost wished she could be out there. Well, that was before she remembered she could barely stand on skates. Balance was never her virtue.

Her's eyes stopped on the enormous, sparkly, overly-decorated Christmas tree in the corner of Massie's backyard. Looking at it, something sparked her memory. Thinking back to when she was eight years old, she remembered how Todd and her would always sleep under the tree on Christmas Eve in hope of catching a glimpse of Santa Clause. Of course, when Claire found out he wasn't real, her parents asked her to tell Todd that it was inconvenient for Santa when they slept under the tree. She suddenly felt the urge to hold on to that one Christmas memory amongst the chaos that was her life.

She kicked her legs one more time and jumped off the table. When she reached the tree, she crawled under it and picked a spot where she was out of view. Leaning against the bark, Claire let her head rest on a branch while inhaling the citrus smell of the pine.Right when she was about to doze off, she felt the branches rustle. Thinking it was the wind, she continued trying to fall into a slumber. Then, she felt something warm next to her. Claire opened her eyes, alarmed.

Next to her, was Chris Plovert. First, Claire wondered why he wasn't out there dancing and enjoying the party. But then she wondered why the heck was he under the tree?

"Hi?" Claire continued, "In case you're lost, or drunk, the party is out there."

"I know. And I take offense to that, I'm perfectly sober," Plovert responded.

"Well, it's not everyday that guys crawl under trees," Claire tried to reason with him, "Why are you here?"

"I saw you come in here and didn't think it was right for you to be alone on Christmas Eve."

"I'm okay, I just wanted to be alone for a while," Claire responded pointedly.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Do you want me to leave?" Plovert apologized and widened his brown eyes.

Claire couldn't deny him to stay after seeing his eyes fill with such emotion.

She sighed, "No, it's okay, you can stay."

"Thanks."

Claire attempted to go back to her sleeping position, but then Chris spoke again.

"How's Christmas in Florida like?"

"It's cool."

"I know there's more to it than that."

Claire was surprised at his interest. What did he care? Wasn't he the perverted double of Kemp? She decided to answer anyways. Closing her eyes, she imagined she was back in Florida and gave him a play by play.

"When I lived in Florida, the cold was not too overwhelming and the holiday lights lit up the night with beautiful colors. Mostly green and red, though. We would go together to pick out our Christmas tree and we would pick the biggest and greenest one of the bunch. Then, we'd strap it onto the roof of the car and pray that it would not fall off.

When we would get home, we'd all join my dad in the task of carrying the tree to the perfect spot in the living room. Always checking with mom to make sure we got the right place with the perfect lighting, and most importantly a socket for the lights, we would soon put the tree up. Next, my dad would make a journey into the attic to bring out the ornaments and lights. Every year, we would pick a color and the whole home would be decorated in that solitary color," She continued.

"After all the decorations were sprawled on the floor, the decorating process would begin. This process took 1-2 hours tops, but when we were finished we would all lay back and admire our work. Todd and I both had our own ornaments, given to us our first Christmas, which we would hang every year. Of course, this year we packed them in a box and couldn't bring them out. On Christmas, whoever awoke first would go to our parents and demand we opened the presents. Usually it was Todd," Claire finished with a big gulp of pine-scented air.

Claire smiled at the memory and opened her eyes. Chris was staring at her with a weird look on his face. Claire gave him a 'what?' look and he snapped out of it.

"That was beautiful," Plovert stated.

"Thanks," Claire responded sighing, suddenly feeling home-sick.

"Do you miss Florida a lot?"

"Many times, but sometimes I can't find myself ever leaving Westchester."

"I'm sorry that Christmas isn't as great here."

"It's okay, I have to get used to it." she said with a shrug.

Claire watched as Plovert seemed to struggle with something. He looked around and Claire had the strange idea that maybe this was his way of thinking. Suddenly, his eyes lit up and a huge grin spread across his face. That must be his eureka look, Claire thought.

Claire started giggling uncontrollably at his smile. It was so goofy and she couldn't help but match it with one of her own.

"Want to ditch this party?" Plovert asked.

Claire thought about what Massie would do to her, but then remembered that Massie didn't really seem to be thinking about Claire's whereabouts at the moment. Plus, Claire felt a little rebellious. Who cares what Massie says? She felt the party was boring so she would leave. Normal procedure.

"Sure," Claire responded a smile gracing her features.

Plovert took her hand and crawled out of the bottom of the tree. He put his index finger to his lips and started tippy-toeing around the Christmas tree towards the back gate, a giggling Claire in tow. He got on the floor and did a very 007 roll towards the gate. Claire followed his lead and soon they were both in hysterics at the foot of the gate.

"Okay, now I'm going to jump the fence and you're going to follow the same way. Do you copy?" Plovert whispered still in 007 mode.

"Roger that!" Claire responded with her fingers poised as guns.

Plovert started climbing the fence and when he was finally over it, he whistled to Claire so that she could follow.
Claire looked at the height of the fence and thought about her grace or lack of. Jumping the fence was out of question. Then, she saw that the gate was open. Opening it wider, she went out and saw Plovert sitting on a ledge.

"You could've just opened the gate…" Claire suggested.

"Way to kill the James Bond mood, Claire!" Plovert accused her jokingly.

Laughing, Claire asked, "Okay, so what are we doing now?"

"C'mon, I'll show you," Plovert told her.

He headed down the street and Claire had no choice but to follow. When she caught up to him, she asked, "So, isn't Derrick going to be looking for you soon?"

"Pshh, he doesn't care. Us guys aren't as over-protective as you girls. I see how Massie has all of you on a leash, and that's just wrong. She thinks she's the best, and honestly, she's not."

"Wow, I assumed Derrick was the same way, but I guess I see how you have more freedom. Sometimes, I wish that I could just have a day without the Pretty Committee. I'm nothing like them. I hate shopping, barely have any money, and don't even like having attention!"

"I understand; I always knew you were different. You always look bored or in pain around them," Plovert said sticking his tongue out.

"Hey! I do not!" Claire hit him gently on the arm.

"Oh, look, we're here."

With the intense conversation they were having, Claire had not noticed her surroundings. They were in a meadow and it was filled with snow. And not the fake kind that was falling back at Massie's party.

"Wow, but how? There's no-" Claire questioned until a snowball hit her on the forehead. She looked at Plovert with an open mouth.

"You ask too many questions, just enjoy it," Plovert said, grinning.

"Oh, I will enjoy it," Claire said before throwing a snowball at Plovert. It missed and hit him in the chest.

"I see how it is," Plovert started laughing and launched a full attack at Claire.

Claire dodged behind a fallen log and ducked. She started making a pile of snow, while Plovert's snowballs whisked by. When he ran out of snowballs, Claire started throwing her own. Laughing, Plovert dodged all of them without even trying to hide.

The frustrated blonde grabbed a huge pile of snow and ran towards him. All the snow hit him and he fell to his knees, laughing. Claire ran back to her log and hid. It was all quiet. Claire tried to listen closely so that she could hear Chris's rebuttal.

Suddenly, she felt hands engulf her in a hug and pull her towards the ground. Laughing out loud, she started wriggling in Plovert's arms and when she was free, she got on top of him and they started rolling down the hill, laughing all the way. All Claire could hear were her girly shrieks and Plovert's full and deep laugh.

When they were at a standstill, they let go of each other and finished laughing with a sigh. After a moment, Plovert got up and brushed off all the snow on his jeans. Claire got up and did the same.

She saw that Plovert was accumulating snow and forming it into a giant ball. Claire looked at what he was doing and automatically knew. She started forming another ball of snow that was the size of her head. Plovert had already formed the second ball and was putting it on top of the first large one. Claire went over to him and placed the last ball on top of the second. The stepped back and looked at their creation.

"How are we going to decorate it?" Claire questioned, tilting her head to the side as if she was contemplating something.

"Well, we have nature around us. You look for the eyes and buttons and I'll search for the nose and the other accessories," he responded while looking around, already searching for a suitable nose.

Claire nodded and started looking for pebbles. She found a black pebble and a white pebble. For some reason, this reminded her of Cam. She sighed at the thought of her ex-boyfriend. She had finally broken up with him for good a few months ago. She was tired of his fake sweetness and the rollercoaster that was their relationship.

The blonde just couldn't stand it anymore. Every time she would be around him, 'Hot n' Cold' would play in the back of her head. She tossed the pebbles to the side. They reminded her too much of Cam. She could find new ones. Pebbles that symbolized Cam's eyes were definitely not suitable for their snowman.

After a while, she found two gray pebbles. She held onto those and went on to find more pebbles. When she held about 5 more pebbles in her sweater pocket, she went back to where Plovert was. The snowman had a stick as its nose and Claire found it looked better that way. Carrots were so overrated.

Smiling, she came up behind Plovert and then playfully pounced on his back. When he let out a high pitched scream, she doubled over in laughter.

"You scream like a girl," she said between laughs.

"Hey, you never know what creatures could be out here. My scream is a well-mastered defense mechanism," he explained to Claire while blushing.

Claire looked around. "Oh yeah, you need great defense from some squirrels." She smirked.

"Do you have the eyes and the buttons?" he questioned, changing the subject.

"Of course," Claire responded while taking the pebbles out of her sweater pocket. She showed them to Plovert who took two gray pebbles and placed them as the snowman's eyes.

Claire proceeded to place the rest of the pebbles she found as buttons vertically on the front of the snowman.

"It's missing something. Wait here," Plover said to Claire while walking away.

He came back with a block of hay from the stables near the park. How he was able to acquire the hay, she had no idea. While she watched, he plucked off a big chunk of hay and started placing it strategically around the snowman's head.

Soon, the snowman had a full head of yellow hair.

"What's it supposed to be?" Claire asked tilting her head.

"It's a mix of me and you. The hair color is yours and the length is mine. The gray pebbles are the closest to your eyes, even if they don't do them justice," he explained turning crimson.

Claire blushed back, because she was sure he had given her a compliment. He started shuffling through his pockets until he seemed to have found what he was looking for. Taking a small camera out of his coat pocket, he smiled at Claire.

"You're into photography, too?" Claire asked him.

"You like taking pictures?" Plovert questioned.

"Yeah, it's, like, my hobby."

"But, I never see you with a camera."

"Oh, well, that's because the Pretty Committee uses me as their personal photographer whenever I use my camera. And personally, I hate standing around taking pictures of them while wishing to be in them."

"I understand," Plovert responded looking down then continued, "Do you want to take a picture with the snowman?"

"Sure!"

She posed in front of the snowman and grinned. With a flash, the memory was captured. One of the things she loved about taking pictures. Memories could be saved forever and she could look back on them when she was at an old age.

Plovert moved next to her and holding the camera in front of them, snapped the picture. He scrolled through his pictures until he found it. Claire saw them both with the snowman in the background and with huge smiles. Plovert had his eyebrows as if they were caught mid-wag and Claire just had to giggle. With surprise, she noticed that she looked really happy. Strangely happy, for her, at least.

She involuntarily sighed and thought, "I really love pictures."

"Then promise me one thing," Plovert said. Claire hadn't realized she'd been thinking out loud.

She nodded, telling him to go on.

"Promise me that you'll dig up your camera and no matter what, you'll go back to taking pictures." He smiled.

"I promise," she responded with her hand on her heart.

"Good, you better keep it or I'll hunt you down and tickle you to death," Plovert replied with a goofy smile.

Claire took this as her cue to run and in a flash, Plovert was behind her, reaching at her sides and poised to tickle. Laughing, she gave up and let Plovert tickle her.

"Stop, stop!" she said between laughs.

After about a minute of tickling, Plovert looked at his watch and saw that it was already three a.m. and Claire's parents were probably wondering where she was.

"We should get going. Massie's party is long over and your parents are probably worried. I kinda kidnapped you," Plovert said sheepishly.

"It was a willing kidnap so it doesn't count," she responded returning the smile he gave.

He carried her and flung her onto his back, piggy-back style. All the way to Massie's house they talked about their families, friends, preferences, music and had a serious debate on which sour gummy was the best. Plovert was convinced it was gummy worms while Claire was all for gummy feet.

("Who wants to eat feet?" Plovert asked her.)

When they were finally at the guesthouse's doorstep, Plovert looked down at his feet, pondering the best way to end the day.

"Thanks for everything, I had fun," Claire said, her blue eyes shining.

"No problem, anytime," Plovert responded.

"Well, bye," Claire said, opening her door.

"Wait, what's your number?" Plovert asked her, blushing. Claire thought he blushed often, especially when he was nervous.

They exchanged numbers and IM screen names.

"Okay, so bye!" Claire said once again.

She kissed Plovert on the cheek and he smiled the goofy grin she found adorable.

Once she was inside, and after explaining to her parents where she was all night, she headed to her room. After changing out of her clothes and into her Hello Kitty pajamas, she plopped down on her bed and sighed a happy sigh. She was surprised at how great the evening had gone. All thanks to Plovert. With a smile, and the image of Plovert on her mind, she fell into a deep slumber.

The vibration of her phone awoke her in the morning. With a groan, she looked at her phone. She had a text from Plovert. She immediately stopped grumbling and opened up the message.

From: Chris Plovert

Hey, good morning.

Go look under the huge Christmas tree.

Same spot as last night. :)

She slipped on her furry pink slippers and jumped out of bed. Running out of her house, Claire headed towards the Christmas tree. She crawled under it and looked around. In the exact spot where she had been sitting was a box with a bow on it.

She took it in her hands carefully and slipped off the ribbon. Swiftly, she opened the box and took out what was inside. It was a snow globe. But not just a snow globe. It had the picture of Claire and Plovert next to the snowman inside of it. When she shook it, tiny white snowflakes fell all over. On the base of the snow globe the words Merry Christmas were engraved.

And once again, Claire felt the incomparable feeling of happiness.

A/n: Oh gosh, this is such a late Christmas fic. I am so so so sorry. I hope you liked it though. And I hope you all had a great Christmas. This is my first try at Clovert so I'm sorry if it's not that great. Anyways, read and review please. I encourage constructive criticism.