Title: The Night Of Christmas Eve
Disclaimer: These characters are not mine. Just using them for entertainment purposes.
Now that he was a sensible adult, Scott Summers still behaved like when he was 14. Though this time nobody would punish him for creeping into his girlfriend's room in the middle of the night, he still acted like a kid who was trying to sneak out of the house unnoticed. It added to the fun, he had answered when was asked by Jean.
Turning the brass door handle very slowly, Scott crept into the darkened room like a prowler and closed the door behind him. The moonlight was bright enough to show him the outline of the figure sleeping peacefully in the middle of the queen size bed. He stood beside the bed for awhile, admiring the perfection in front of him, hating himself for going to wake her from her peaceful slumber.
"Jean," he whispered her name. "Jean, wake up." She didn't move at all but there was a soft sigh escaping her parted lips.
"Jean, wake up," he tried again, shaking her lightly.
She was still asleep. "Jean, there's a fire!" Scott said a little louder, trying to make it sounded real. Instead, she snuggled deeper into the huge teddy bear Scott had bought for her many years ago. She had laughed when he gave her that stuffed toy, saying that she was too old to be having or playing with a teddy bear. Nevertheless, she accepted the gift, kept it at her side every night and named it 'Slim'. And currently, 'Slim' was wearing one of his favourite t-shirt. He remembered rummaging his whole closet, looking for that particular t-shirt, but never found it. Now he knew who had stole it from his room.
"C'mon, Jeannie…" He poked her ribs as he spoke. She moved away from him. "Wake up…" Then he pulled the thick blanket off her body and tossed it aside.
Jean got up immediately and shivered as the cold weather stung her skin. Her beautiful pair of green eyes was glowering at her insufferable boyfriend as what could be interpreted as 'try it again and you're one dead frozen meat'.
Scott ignored her deathly glares as he took a seat on her bed, even though he was aware that waking this fiery tempered red head would spell out trouble with capital T for him. If he was given a choice, he'd rather fight with the entire Brotherhood himself than having to wake Jean up at this hour.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, Scott Summers!" demanded Jean as she lifted the blanket off the floor and wrapped it around her shivering body.
"Waking you up," he stated matter of factly, then eyeing the teddy bear which she was still holding. "Aren't you a little too old to be sleeping with a teddy bear?"
"Shut up!" Being waken up at ungodly hour of the morning definitely got rid of all her nice and proper manner. "What are you doing here?" She hugged the bear tighter and all of a sudden, Scott had an irrational jealousy toward the stuffed toy. It had his t-shirt and his girlfriend!
"Scott?"
"Huh? Oh, I want to show you something," he said, "but first you have to wake up."
"I am awake! Can't you see?" she said, clearly annoyed.
"Great. Now get dressed and follow me." He stood up.
Jean threw herself back onto the bed. "No."
"C'mon, Jean. Just follow me, please…"
Jean opened an eye and questioned him. "Are you on any kind of medication?"
"Not that I know of. Why?"
"Because you could certainly use one. This is late and cold!" Then she covered her head with a pillow.
"Hey, don't go back to sleep!" Scott shook her. "Just follow me, please?" he pleaded, wishing there was some way he could show her his puppy eyes behind the ruby quartz glasses.
"Give me one damn good reason why I should listen to you," Jean muttered beneath the pillow.
"Because I love you and you love me?"
"Not good enough, honey. Now get out," said Jean as she snuggled deeper into the warmth her blanket provided.
"Alright, alright. Because you're leaving tomorrow and I'll miss you terribly."
Jean was silence for a while and then she popped her head from beneath the pillow and tossed the blanket aside. "Fine! This better be good," she grumbled with an exaggerated sigh and finally got down from bed. "Oh God, it's freezing!"
"It should be. It's snowing outside," Scott said smugly.
"Don't get cute with me, Scott." Jean walked to her wardrobe and grabbed a pair of jeans and a sweater.
"You may want to grab your jacket too. It's really cold outside."
"Oh, I'm glad to know that you haven't lost your mind," Jean said sardonically. "On second thought…" she paused, "I think I will let you warm me instead."
He smiled in return. "I love how your mind works. Let's go."
The two of them walked out of the mansion in silence until they were at the backyard of the mansion.
"This is it?" Jean asked incredulously. "This is what you wake me up for? To see a pile of snow?"
"No. Just wait." Scott walked a few meters from her and bent down. He seemed to working on something beneath that pile of snow. Then suddenly, she place was brightened with the Christmas light they placed around the mansion and there was table set with a bouquet of flower at the corner.
"What is this all about?"
"I told you already. You're leaving to spend Christmas with your parents tomorrow, so I thought before you leave, we can have a small celebration here," Scott answered as he led her to the table.
A bottle of Dom Pérignon was chilling in a bucket and Jean spotted it. "Champagne?" Jean asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, darling." Scott took the bouquet of Jean's favourite flower, lily, and handed it to her. "Flower for my beautiful lady," he said in his fake British accent, as he poured the champagne into two glasses and handed one to her. "And a toss for us." They clinked their glasses and took a sip.
"Thank you, Scott. That's so sweet." She smiled as she caressed his cheek affectionately. "Although I must say, consuming alcohol at 3 in the morning? You're crazy."
"Glad you like it." He grinned.
"So… this is what you wanted to show me?"
"No. I just want to spend the night with you. Is that bad?"
"No, not at all. It's beautiful. I'm glad you wake me up." Jean leaned in to kiss him lightly. "If you want, I can stay here with you, you know. I'll just call my parents and tell them that I'm spending the Christmas this year at the Institute," she said seriously. "Besides, I will have more fun here with you guys around."
Though the idea was very tempting, Scott didn't want to keep Jean all to himself. She still had her own family. "No, it's okay. You should spend it with your parents. They seldom see you and it's a rare opportunity to get the whole family together, so I think you should go."
"Then come with me…" Jean whined. "Please?"
Scott shook his head. "Now, you know that your Mom and I don't go along very nicely. I don't want to spoil your mood when you're there. You're supposed to have fun and do all those cuddly things with your family. It's Christmas, you know."
"I have more fun here with you."
"I'm sure of that. But don't you miss your father? I'm sure he misses you."
Jean thought for a moment. "But—"
"No buts, Jeannie. Be a good girl or else Santa won't give you your present," he teased.
"Alright, if you think so…" she sighed. "What are we gonna do now?"
Scott looked at her thoughtfully. "Close your eyes."
"What?"
"Close your eyes," he repeated.
Jean shot him a skeptical look. "Why?"
"C'mon, Jean. Do you always have to know everything?"
Jean closed her eyes eventually and then Scott took her hand in his. She could hear Scott the sound of fabric moving as Scott searched something behind his pocket. Then his hand clasped around her left hand and she felt something hanging around her wrist.
"Can I open my eyes now?" said Jean, eager to find out what it was.
"Yeah, you can open them now."
The young woman opened her eyes and immediately saw a white gold charm bracelet hanging on her left hand. There were several ornaments hanging from the bracelet as well.
"Do you like it?" asked Scott hopefully then he took her hand in his once more. "Each of this little toys hanging here, represents you."
"I… wow, I wasn't expecting this," said Jean as she hugged her boyfriend. "Thank you, Scott. Let me go back to my room and I'll get you your present."
Scott stopped her before she could leave. "No, no. It's okay." He smiled. "My present can wait. I want to be with you now."
A smile danced across her angelic face as Scott leaned in and placed his lips on hers. He kissed her slowly and tenderly, enjoying every moment he had. When he finally let go, Jean's face was as bright as her hair.
"Wow," she breathed out. "Where did you learn to kiss like that?"
He chuckled in response. "I've had my share of women." He said smugly which earned him a smack from Jean. "Ouch! C'mon, let's go sit over there." He grabbed the two blankets he had put aside, the bottle of champagne, their glasses and Jean to the frozen pond. He set the blanket near the pond and allowed her to sit before he nuzzled next to her.
"Hmmm," Jean moaned in contentment as she snuggled closer to him for warmth his body provided her. "I like this."
"Me too."
"Hey, what do you mean when you said these little toys here represent me?" she asked, dangling the bracelet.
"Oh, that. Well, I chose them myself and I think it suits you a lot." He grinned.
"You still haven't told me why."
"Okay, you see this? The little hairbrush thingy?" Jean nodded. "You're the only person I know who could spend half an hour in the bathroom just to comb your hair."
"I'm not that bad…"
"Yes, you are. I've timed every girls in the mansion and the second longest is Kitty. But she only takes twelve minutes."
"You timed the girls?" asked Jean, bewildered. "Just what were you doing outside the girls' bathroom?! And with a stopwatch?! Are you trying to peek at them while they—"
"No! I wasn't!" Scott quickly defended himself. "I-It just happened that I was there and— okay, let's move on," said Scott desperately. "See this little car here?"
"Yeah," answered Jean, obviously still slightly ticked at him.
"Well, this is to remember the first time I got my car and you were my first passenger."
"Okay, what about this?" She pointed at the little book hanging from the bracelet.
"Oh, that was when I accidentally, I swear to God it was an accident, read your… diary," the poor man cowered at his girlfriend's glare, "and that was how I knew you loved me and we became a couple. Until now."
"Hmm, I think I can let that one go." She smiled mischievously and kissed his cheek. "This frying pan then?"
"Oh, erm, this is just a reminder of… your cooking," he said uneasily.
"Are you saying that it's horrible?"
"No! It's nice and delicious."
"Don't lie to me, Summers. I'm a telepath."
"Geez, okay… they're horrible—" he stopped dead in track as Jean's beautiful green eyes suddenly turned cold, "—you want the truth!" He concluded, just so that Jean wouldn't cut his head off.
"The flower?"
"It was the flower I bought for you on our first date and I didn't know you were allergic to roses."
Jean wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, I still remember that day. Spent the whole day in my room because of all the rashes on my skin. Thanks to you."
"Sorry," he smiled sheepishly. "And this," he pointed at the mini ice-skate, "is when we shared out first kiss."
"We did?"
"Yes, well, not really. But technically, we kissed." Scott shrugged. "It was winter and you wanted to play ice-skating at the lake. We played, I slipped and fell and then you tripped over me."
"I did?"
"Yes. In fact, you fell onto my body. Your lips touched mine, but unfortunately, so did your teeth. I went home with a bleeding lips and bruised forehead.
Jean laughed at the memory. "Yes, I remember that! You didn't know how to skate then! And you still don't!"
"Hey, I'm pretty good at ice-skating now."
"Really? Then let's go to the lake and we can play," Jean challenged.
Scott swallowed the lump in his throat. "Okay."
A moment later, Jean was already sliding gracefully on the ice while Scott took his own sweet time tying his skates. When he was done, he stood awkwardly and Jean had to suppress a laugh.
"C'mon big boy," she teased, "wanna race?"
Scott stood up, took a few wobbly steps forward and fell on his butt. Instead of helping him, Jean laughed.
"See, I told you. You still don't know how to skate."
Scott grumbled softly. "Help me up!"
The young woman glided smoothly towards him and reached out her hand. When they were both on their feet, Scott tried to skate again. He lasted longer this time, but in the end, still fell on his butt.
"Okay, fine. I give up. You win. I can't skate."
"Gosh, did I hear that right? Scott Summers gave up?" she said mockingly. "You must be a fake! What have you done to my boyfriend?"
"Come on, stop teasing me and help me up. My butt is freezing here." He complained.
Jean offered her hand to him which he gladly took. "Don't try to pull me down, Summers, or else, you're gonna spend the rest of Christmas season stuck on that ice." Jean warned before he pulled on of his tricks on her.
"I won't. I have better ways to die." He grabbed onto her extending arm and pulled himself up.
They played for another half hour with Scott falling down on his butt all the time. He, apparently couldn't get used to skating on ice. Soon, he gave up and decided to end his suffering by sitting on the near by bench. Jean followed after him.
"You're horrible." She laughed at him.
"Yeah, yeah…" he mumbled, while changing his skates into his normal shoes. "Can we go back to the house now? I can't feel my butt anymore."
Jean nodded her head in agreement. "I'm freezing too. C'mon, we can raid the kitchen."
He grinned. "Milk and cookies?"
"What else?"
"Sure."
-----
The next morning, unlike the usual morning, he wasn't the first one to rise. The living room was already bustling with students. Normally, they would sleep in until at least ten, but it was Christmas! The joy and anticipation to open their Christmas gifts were unbearable. Since half of the students had gone back to be with their families, the mansion wasn't as full as it used to be."Hey, Merry Christmas, Scott!" Greeted the beautiful weather witch. She was even more beautiful in just her robe. Everyone in the living room was still wearing their pajamas, even the Professor. It's a tradition.
"Merry Christmas too, 'Ro," he smiled at her.
"Nothing could ruin the day," she cheerfully added while looking out at the window at the falling snow, "and I'll make sure we'll have a white Christmas all day."
"Never thought you would want to interfere with Mother Nature."
"Today is an exception."
"Children," they heard Professor Xavier's voice, "I know you're all excited about the present, but please calm yourself. You may open the present later, after breakfast. Ms. Munroe has prepared something special this morning."
Some of the students sighed, but some were excited. They loved Ororo's cooking.
"Has Jean left?" Scott asked while walking to the kitchen.
"Nah," Logan, who appeared out of nowhere, answered his question. "Her car's still in the garage."
"Hey, Logan, Merry Christmas." Ororo said to him. "It's nice to see that you decided to stay in the mansion for the holiday."
"Well, yeah. As long as the kids don't create havoc in here, I'm good."
Scott, meanwhile, left the kitchen and went in search of his missing girlfriend. She was supposed to be leaving now if she wanted to make it to her parents' house before they' were done celebrating.
"Jean?" He knocked on the door. The door remained locked for several moments though he could definitely hear her scrambling for something. "Jean, you okay?"
Jean finally opened the door, her face flushed, hair still uncombed and she was sporting a very worried look on her face.
"Hey, aren't you supposed to get ready?" he asked. "Are your bags packed? I'll bring them to your car." He offered.
"No, no…" Jean whined. She scrambled to the floor looking for something. It was then Scott realised that Jean had turned her bedroom upside down to search for whatever it was.
"Jean, what is it? What are you looking for?"
Flustered, she stood and faced him. She bit her lip for a moment before she spoke. A gesture that Scott knew she always did when she was nervous. "Scott, please don't get mad… I-I seemed to have lost the bracelet you gave me last night… I still had it on last night, but it's missing now… and, and I've searched the entire room, but couldn't find it. It must be somewhere—" She was babbling away and Scott would have laughed at her if only there wasn't any tears brimming in her eyes. Now she made him feel guilty.
"Jean, it's okay." He placed his hands on her shoulders to calm her down. "I can get you another one."
Jean let go his hold and went back down on the floor. "No, it's not okay. I want that bracelet. Even if you buy a hundred of them it won't be the same bracelet…"
Now he was at loss, so he got down on the floor too, looking for that jewellery. "Are you sure you still had it on when you went to sleep?" he asked.
"Yeah, I guess so… I remember going to the bathroom and…" Jean stood up abruptly and was about to check her bathroom when all of a sudden she seemed to sway a little. Holding her head, she called out to her boyfriend. "Scott…"
Noticing that she was about to fall to the floor, Scott immediately jumped up and ran to catch her before she hit the ground.
"Jean?!" Holding her in his arms, he tried to shake her awake. It was then he realised that her face was a different shade of red this morning. She was perspiring, breathing heavily and her body was hot all over. He thought she was just flustered from loosing the bracelet, but it turned out that she had a fever too. Without much thought, he carried her downstairs to the infirmary while yelling for Hank.
"Is she okay?" He had asked when Hank was done examining her.
Smiling, he put his stethoscope away. "She'll be fine, Scott. It's just a bad cold. Don't worry. Her temperature was quite high, but I've given her something and it should go down in an hour or two."
"So I guess she won't be able to make it back to her parents' home?"
"I'd suggest that she stays here."
Scott nodded. "I'll call her parents and let them know she isn't coming."
"Now, if you'll excuse me, for once I'd like to get away from the lab and join the merriment in the hall. Care to join us, Scott?"
"No, that's fine." He pulled a chair and sat beside her bed. "I'll be down here with Jean. Thanks, Hank."
-----
An hour later, when the rest of the occupants were exchanging gifts in the hall, Jean finally opened her eyes but had to close it again due to the bright light. It was hurting her eyes.
"Hey." She heard Scott's voice and could feel his hand running through her hair.
"Hey, yourself." She croaked out, smiling. "What happened?"
"You fainted. Have a cold. I called your parents and told them you're not coming." He stated. "You feeling better?"
She nodded her head. "I'm sorry… you don't have to stay here with me."
"That's okay. I'm having fun here watching you sleep."
She sighed. "You're making me feel worse. It's bad enough that I lost your bracelet and now I made you stay here watching me sleep!"
Scott chuckled. "Actually, Ororo found this just now." He held out the silvery jewellery and pulled her left hand so he could clasp it around her wrist. "She found it in the kitchen."
Her face brightened immediately. "Wait, I haven't given you my gift yet. It's in my room, beneath my table. It's the one with the red wrapping paper and has a tag with your name on it. You should be able to see it immediately—mmph!"
Jean was silenced as Scott locked his lips with hers.
She swallowed hard when Scott finally let go of her and for awhile he thought maybe her fever had gone up again. "I-I'm sick, you know…"
"I know."
"Is this your evil way to make me stay here for the holiday? Getting me sick?"
He grinned. "Maybe."
"You should have just asked nicely and I'll be more than happy to stay."
"Now, where's the fun in that?"
"Damn you, Scott Summers. You know you're dead when I get out of this place, right?"
"Love you too, Jeannie." He smiled before kissing her again.
"Merry Christmas, Redd."
"Merry Christmas, Slim."
--- THE END ---
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone!!
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