A.N.: Happy Holidays, everybody! This is my addition to our Christmas collection. It took me awhile to figure out exactly how to execute this. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, and I hope you enjoy it!
Keith smiled as he smelled the nutmeg and cinnamon coming from the kitchen. Jessica was baking. He went into the kitchen.
"What do we have here?" he asked teasingly. She smiled at him.
"What you smell here is snickerdoodle."
"Yum," he said, "My favorite." She giggled.
"Yep, I know," she said, "Now go on, I've got this under control."
He went out into the living room where the piano was. Since before Halloween, he had been trying to perfect an arrangement of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas for her. It was her favorite Christmas carol and he wanted to sing and play it for her on Christmas Eve.
He warmed up with a couple scales before his dad walked in the door.
"How's your day going?" Leo asked his son, "Everything good?" Keith smiled at his father.
"Yep, everything's great. In fact, Jessica is making cookies as we speak."
"So that's what that smell is," he said, "Alright, now I'm gonna go schedule those doctor's appointments. You just play now, okay?"
"Okay, Dad. It's not like I'm gonna do anything crazy. Jeez." His father walked to his bedroom as the son continued to compose. Something had been kind of funny with his dad lately. He was hoping some eggnog might reveal exactly what it was. But it was far too early for that, so he instead played. Should that be a D or D#? He rattled through the musical knowledge in his brain, thinking of intervals and key signatures and other things of that sort before deciding that D# would be appropriate. Then he needed that chord. Why was this song so complicated? He was almost at the end, but it still seemed like an enormous amount of work to do.
Then, Jessica walked in with a glass of warm milk.
"You need a break," she told him.
"No way; I'm almost done!"
"Keith, ten minutes of actual break won't kill you," she told him.
"Fine," he said with a pout, joining her on the couch. He turned on the TV and put The Year Without a Santa Claus on. But he didn't pay much attention to the movie, for he was to busy staring at Jessica. She was absolutely beautiful. Her curly hair was braided and looked sleek and stunning. There was a sort of grace surrounding her that was impossible not to find lovely.
"I love this part," she said, referencing the Heat Miser song that was currently playing.
"I like the part that comes next more." She turned to him in a confused manner.
"What's that?" He leaned forward.
"This part." And with that, they were kissing. Keith had kissed girls before, but never had it felt so wonderful. They fit perfectly together like puzzle pieces. He felt warm; warmer than he had ever felt before in his life. She pulled away gently.
"Your dad's in the next room, remember?" He chuckled.
"That hardly matters." She sat up.
"Are you kidding? He still covers your eyes during kissing scenes!" He took a sip of his warm milk.
"Yeah, you're right. But it was still nice; don't you think?" She shrugged.
Leo walked into the room smiling.
"Do you wanna go out to eat tonight? That new Italian place opened up a couple blocks away."
"Oh," he said, "Oh, okay. That sounds nice." He smiled at his dad as well.
"Can Jess join us?" he asked. Leo's smile became more forced.
"Actually, Mrs. Ruiz called as she needs to go home." Keith looked at Jessica, who looked severely disappointed.
"Yeah, yeah okay. I'll see you then, I guess." She smiled at him and got up. As she walked over to the door, she waved at Leo, but he did not wave back.
He put the milk down and went back to the piano. Leo walked away after a couple minor chords.
What was going on with him? Something clearly wasn't right. He went through his arrangement. It was a great Christmas song, one of the best. But it was tricky. Yet nothing was as tricky as whatever was going on with his dad. Manny Spamboni was easier to understand, even on his most obnoxious days. Although, he would deny it to anyone if they were to ask. Nothing was supposed to be more confusing than a Prankster.
Christmas Eve; the day filled with more anticipation than any other day of the year. Keith was sitting in the park. Jessica had promised to meet him here at one o'clock. She was now five minutes late, something highly unusual. He tapped his foot nervously. Maybe Francine or Annie had done something to her! They were still in town, after all. He pulled out his phone to call and make sure that he was okay when he heard her call his name. He grinned at her and waved. She waved back. Her black hair was dotted with snowflakes that sparkled like diamonds. He walked over to her.
"Merry Christmas," he whispered.
"We still have awhile before it's actually Christmas," she said jokingly. He chuckled.
"Well, Merry Christmas Eve then."
"So, what are your big holiday plans that you've been hiding from me?" she asked him teasingly.
"I'm glad you asked," he said, giving her his arm, "Follow me."
As they walked through the park, people gave them strange looks, as if they'd never seen a couple before. Jessica glared at them, but to no avail.
"You'd think people would be extra open on Christmas Eve," he said, "Not extra judgy." She laughed at this. Shock walked past them, nearly running into Jessica before smiling and wishing a Merry Christmas. That type of thing happened a few times, actually. People were almost always running into her.
"I'm not wearing an invisibility cloak!" she said angrily after a while.
This led into a long, drawn out Harry Potter discussion involving enough spoilers to fill a room. Marcus came up to them.
"Hi!" he said in his usual hyperactive way. He threw his arms around Keith, "Merry Christmas, Keith! You'll be at the diner tonight for the sing-a-"
"Sh!" Keith shushed the younger boy, "She doesn't know about that!" Marcus peered around like a secret spy.
"Who?" he asked as he looked at each and every female in the park. Keith gave his signature skeptical look to Marcus before pointing at Jessica.
"Who else?"
"Oh, I didn't know Paul and Jane would be there! How nice!" Keith rolled his eyes at the younger boy.
"I'll see you later, Marcus," he said as he continued to walk with Jessica.
"What was that about?" she asked. He shrugged.
"It's Marcus; don't question him." She thought about this for a moment and seemed to find it a sufficient explanation.
"So where exactly are we going?" she asked him.
"We have to pick a couple things up from my place, and then the surprise."
"Is the surprise at the diner?" she asked. He laughed.
"I really need to stop telling Marcus about surprise plans," he said, "Yeah, that's where it is."
"I think I'll just cut over to there, then. Want me to order you something?" He shook his head.
"Suit yourself then," she said before kissing him on the cheek and running off. He smiled. She was just too good.
Around eight that night, the Christmas party at The Electric Diner was in full swing. Paul had already consumed twenty banana milkshakes, Francine was flirting with her doorman (who had had a bit too much eggnog), Danny and Annie were kissing in a booth, and Hector and Manny were trying to see who could chug more eggnog in an hour. The Christmas tree in the center had at least a hundred presents underneath it. Keith was sitting at the bar sipping hot chocolate, watching all of this happening. Jessica was dancing to the music in the center of the room, as if no one was watching her. Shock came over to him.
"You need a refill?" he asked.
"This is the first place I saw her," he said, "In the diner, I mean. Can you believe that was ten years ago?" Shock chuckled.
"You two were seven?" Keith nodded.
"Seriously, though, do you want a refill? Manny is almost done eggnog number 17." Keith made a grossed out face before handing Shock the mug.
"Yeah, thanks, man," he said as he glanced at his watch. According to that, it was 8:32. He was so close, but still not quite close enough. He pulled his sheet music out of his bag to examine for a moment. Were they close enough?" He saw Marcus shoving a pickle down his throat and nodded at the younger Electric Company member. He darted off to do exactly what he had been told: to get rid of the music. People might not be open to a mashup, especially in these conditions. Suddenly, the music and lights cut out. Keith nonchalantly threw a wordball to the hidden Marcus with instructions on how to get the lights back on. A moment later, it appeared that the youngest Electric Company member listened, for the lights were on.
"Sorry about that, everyone," he said as he stood up, "I just needed to get your attention because one of my Christmas presents can't be wrapped in paper."
With everyone's eyes on him, he walked up to the piano and began to play his arrangement for Jessica. Several different people and gorillas in the diner described it as hauntingly beautiful. It was gentle, yet somehow made people feel as though they were just punched in the stomach. Yet he did not seem to mind any of this. He was far too focused on his enchanting melodies. It was hard not to be. Even Marcus, with the attention span of a caffeinated hamster, kept his full focus on Keith. Eventually, though, it had to end. He looked at his audience.
"Ten years ago," he said, "To the minute, I met the most wonderful girl in the whole world. That was for her. I love you, Jessica." Everyone was silent, staring uncertainly at each other. Leo walked up to his son.
"Keith," he said, "She's not here."
If an image were to be put to what was going on in Keith's head, it would look like someone had just poured creamer into coffee and had yet to swirl it around. Everything was going on in a current of emotion all at once.
"She's right there!" he yelled, although knowing it was pointless. Tears welled up in his eyes as he ran out into the snowy mess that was New York.
He charged past the few people who were still out and about. He didn't feel the cold, even though he had no coat on. He ran without feeling anything or fear of being ran over. He sprinted out with no regard to his own safety or that of anyone else. Nothing mattered. His whole world was gone. Jessica was gone.
"Keith!" a voice called, but he ignored it. He saw the Brooklyn Bridge ahead of him and had a few ideas on what to do when he got there.
"KEITH! KEITH WATSON!" he turned around when he recognized the voice to be that of Danny Rebus. He was bundled up and carrying another coat. He felt a lump in his throat when he realized that it was his coat. He came to a stop. Danny managed to catch up with him and throw a scarf around the younger boy.
"Keith, I'm- I wish I had known," he said quietly, "I knew it was tough on you, but I had no idea that-"
"It's okay, Danny," he said, as bitter and cold as the wind around them.
"No, it's not," he said, "Granny Rebus did the same thing when Grampy Rebus died. I should have realized what was happening." Keith shook his head.
"It's my fault. You shouldn't feel bad about it," he started to walk away.
"Well, I do!" Danny retorted, "Doesn't that count for something?" Keith stopped again.
"I don't want to fight my mind," he said to the Prankster.
"I know. And don't go saying you don't know, because I do. I'm bipolar; didn't you know?"
No, he had not known that. In fact, he had never even come close to thinking of that.
"Look, I know how scary this is," he said, "But it's Christmas! Especially now, you should be able to see that there is a light in the dark. I mean, just look around us! We're in the city that never sleeps!" Keith chuckled. Danny did too.
"Thanks, Danny," he said.
"No problem," he said, glancing at his watch, "We have time to get into the showing of It's a Wonderful Life. Do you want to catch it?" Keith laughed as he put on his coat.
"How appropriate!" he said. Danny laughed too as they walked further away from what they knew and into a bright future.
A.N.: I admit, I teared up a bit. I hope everyone has a great holiday season! My Christmas wish is for some reviews!