A/N: So, here is a fluffy-Christmas-procrastination fic. I am working on the sequel to I Know Better, and already wrote the first chapter. It should be posted very soon. In the mean time, I hope you enjoy this. Happy Holidays!
Oh, and this is un-betaed, so all mistakes are mine.
Jenny came home straight from school that day, just like she did any other day. She never went shopping, or to get coffee with friends because she had no friends in Hudson. It turned out that one person at her school read Gossip Girl, and she had told everyone about Jenny and what she had done. So her social life was dead, and the only friend she had was her mother. Her only relief was that this was the last day of school before the Holidays, and she wouldn't have to see any of these people for three weeks.
As she walked into her mother's apartment she sighed dramatically and dropped her backpack on the floor. Technically, there was no homework during the Holidays, but she had a reading list that was about a mile long she wanted to get started on before the next semester.
"Mom, I'm home," Jenny yelled. "Are you here?"
Alison walked in slowly and smiled at her daughter before hugging her. "How was your last day of school sweetie?" she asked. Jenny rolled her eyes.
"I'm just glad it's over," she answered. She took off her coat and hung it on the hook by the door, for the first time noticing a man's winter jacket that was hung there.
"Who's here?" Jenny asked.
"You have a visitor," Alison said, gesturing to the living room.
Jenny was intrigued and walked slowly to the living room. She gasped when she saw who it was.
"Nate," she whispered in awe. He slowly rose from the couch and smiled shyly at her.
"Hi Jenny, it's good to see you," he said.
They were interrupted by Alison bringing some tea and cookies. She then said she had some errands to run so she would leave them alone to talk.
Jenny hadn't moved and was still staring at him, and Nate got nervous. On the ride over he couldn't imagine whether she'd be happy to see him or not, and standing in front of her now he still couldn't tell.
"Can't you sit?" Nate finally said. Jenny seemed to snap out of her daze and they both sat down on opposite ends of the couch. Jenny poured them both some tea so she would have something to do with her hands.
"So how's school?" Nate asked, once again breaking the silence. He had no idea it would be this hard, being alone with Jenny after all this time. It had been months since they had talked, but they had always been able to reconnect, no matter how much time apart they had spent. Nate was scared that he had really blown it this time, that it was indeed too late to recuperate and rebuild their friendship.
"It's high school," Jenny answered, "you remember how it is."
Nate laughed nervously. "Yeah, I remember." There was another silence and Jenny started getting impatient.
"No offense Nate, but why are you here?"
"I'm Santa Claus," he said, smiling a full-blown smile.
"You're much too hot to be Santa Claus," Jenny said, and as soon as she said it she clamped her hand over her mouth and turned red. "Oh no, I can't believe I just said that!"
Nate laughed, a real laugh this time, and he felt the tension drain out of him. "Well, thanks, I guess." Jenny was staring at the floor, and he put his hand on her thigh to get her attention. When she looked at him he continued, "I was Christmas shopping, and I didn't know what to get Dan so I asked him what was on his wishlist. He said the only thing he wanted was to spend Christmas with you."
Jenny's mouth dropped. She couldn't believe, after everything that had happened, that she had done, that her brother wanted to see her. She knew he loved her of course, but she thought was she did was unforgivable. Her eyes watered at the thought that her brother might have forgiven her after all.
As Nate saw a tear rolled down her face, his hand automatically raised to wipe it away. He hesitated, not knowing if he should do it or not, or if she would let him, but he decided to risk it. Underneath the tear her skin was as soft as he remembered it to be, and he felt a slight thrill at the thought.
He cleared his throat. "So anyways, the plan is that you come back with me now, spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning in Brooklyn with Dan, and you come back in the afternoon to spend the rest of the day with your mom. She already said it was okay."
Jenny smiled and threw her arms around Nate, hugging him. He heard her gasp for air, but he couldn't tell if she was laughing or crying. He pulled away to make sure and found that she was doing both. She wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Well go on, get ready!" Nate said. Jenny squealed as she got off the couch and skipped to her room. Nate laughed at her antics and leaned back on the couch, feeling good about himself. Everything in his life seemed like it was out of his control lately, but at least he had done something right. And maybe he'd get to repair his friendship with Jenny in the process.
