...

A Tom/Denise fic.

...

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own Prancer Returns

...

A/N: I don't usually write fanfics for movies, but I thought I'd give it a go with this one. I absolutely love John Corbett, never was there a man with a sexier voice.

Anywhoo, this is the first of at least a couple of fics I will write for this pairing.

This one takes place back when Tom was friends with her brother, and his thoughts on her while she was seeing Matt - whom I've decided was her high school sweetheart.

I hope you like this, I know I'll love writing it.

As always, please read and review, I live for feedback!

...

Tom was a couple years older than her, but that didn't make him any less attracted to her. He wouldn't go there, though ... she was his best friend's little sister, and even if she wasn't ... she'd never go for a guy like him. He was a small-town boy at heart, and something told him that she was meant for bigger things. Maybe it was just his less than stellar self-esteem. It was odd, because normally he was as confident as they came. He'd had a few girlfriends before, and had no trouble taking them out for a good time ... but Denise Randolph was different. Around her, he was a completely different person. Would that ever change? Would he ever get the chance to see if that would change?

Tom watched from afar, never letting her brother - or Denise herself - know how he truly felt about her. Sometimes he thought it was stupid, how he would pine for her when no one was looking. He tried to move on. The year after he'd graduated, when he and the guys were still goofing off, he heard from Gary that she was getting pretty serious about her boyfriend, Matt. They were talking about moving up to Chicago when they graduated; his parents were interested in opening a business there.

That hit him hard. He'd never thought about her not being there ...

So, he told himself that he needed to move on. He found a girl - Marion - and eventually found something that he hoped was love. It didn't work out, though. She wasn't a small-town girl, she wanted to see the world; he wasn't ready to give it to her. So, she'd left, and he was stuck in a rut.

Eventually, that rut didn't seem to be so bad. He got on well with the people in town as he grew older, made himself a home, and a career out of being a sought after handyman. Life was going okay - not great, not bad.

Until that day, so close to Christmas, when she stumbled into his life again. Denise Randolph ... back from Chicago. Looking right at him. Calling his name. It was surreal. All of the old feelings came rushing back ten-fold, and it was all he could do not to drop the pail of milk that her son had told him to pretend was his. ... Her son. It was all so much to take in, in such a short time.

Somehow, he managed to muddle through the conversation, even though his mind was reeling at having her back in his life, back in the old house, back in town ... it was the best Christmas present he ever could have imagined.

He could feel something in the air changing ... something good. Something he'd been waiting a long time for.

...

The end.

Short, I know, but this is just a stepping stone into the Prancer Returns realm for me. I hope to get some longer ones up.

What did you guys think of this? Like it, hate it?

Reviews are appreciated, flame if you must, but constructive criticism is much more useful.

Until next time ...!