South of Nowhere is a property of The-N and Viacom. I'm not a crack monkey therefore I do not work for the writers of South of Nowhere. I just borrow their characters for my own pleasure.
I know it's late, but I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!
I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas
Ashley swore as she dropped her keys. Maybe it wasn't the best of ideas to carry all her things from the car to the loft in one trip. Her guitar gig bag was dangling from her left shoulder while her messenger bag was hanging on her right forearm. A stack of papers was dangerously close to falling out of her grasp and her left hand was clutching today's mail. Which, with the holidays, was a lot thicker than usual.
She bent down to pick up the fallen keys and smiled in triumph when nothing fell. Opening the door, Ashley nearly fell over with the weight of her things and decided that the stack of papers wasn't all that important and dropped them on the floor. The guitar was set down gently though.
"Spencer, I'm home," she announced and started putting her things away.
A grunt or mumble came from Kyla's old bedroom which they converted to a study. Ashley grinned at her girlfriend's response. That grunt meant that Spencer was too busy with whatever she was doing to give Ashley a proper hello. Ashley grabbed the stack of mail and made her way to Spencer.
Spencer was typing and clicking away on her computer with a stressed out look on her face.
"Hey, baby," Ashley said softly and kissed the side of her neck. Spencer unconsciously leaned into Ashley. "What are you working on?" she asked as she looked at the computer screen.
"My group project," Spencer answered and let out an exasperated sigh. "Although, a group project usually involves a group and not me doing everything," she said bitterly. "I hate story boarding."
Ashley squeezed Spencer's tense shoulders in sympathy. "I'm sorry, but hey, you got a whole bunch of Christmas cards." She handed her five different colored envelopes. Some of them had snowmen and Christmas trees stamps and other had Jesus, Mary, and Joseph stamps. Ashley figured those are from Spencer's family back in Ohio.
Spencer just took them and set them aside on her desk. "Thanks."
Ashley arched her eyebrow and gave Spencer a confused look. "You're not going to open them and find out if any of your family members gave you money?"
Spencer shook her head and returned back to work. "Later," she said halfheartedly. "I just need to finish this and hand it by tomorrow."
"What time does your last class end?"
"Twelve, and then I'm officially on break."
Ashley frowned. Spencer was usually excited when she had time off from school and especially with Christmas just around the corner. Spencer loved Christmas.
"Are you okay?" Ashley asked voicing her concerns.
Spencer looked up at her girlfriend and gave her a little smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "I'm fine. Just really tired."
Ashley wasn't convinced but let it go for now. She kissed the top of Spencer's head and proceeded to give her a neck and shoulder massage.
They were quiet for some time with Spencer working on her project and Ashley's rubbing her shoulders.
"So are you done with all your shopping my little Christmas Nazi?"
If anything, Spencer's shoulders tensed up more. "Um, yeah, almost."
Ashley frowned again. "Want to go shopping tomorrow after you get out of class?"
Spencer abruptly got off her chair and gave Ashley a tight smile. "Um, not really. I can go by myself later." With that she saved her project and left the room. Ashley just stood there more confused than ever.
---
At first, Ashley put it off as Spencer being stressed about all the last minute work she had to do for class before she went on break. But now, with two days into her break, Spencer's mood seem to worsen. Spencer was usually the festive one out of the two when it came to holidays especially Christmas. She was always about decking the halls with boughs of holly but this year, Ashley noticed, Spencer became almost a Scrooge.
She tried not to comment when they'd drive together and Spencer would scowl at people's decorations outside their houses. Ashley had no idea what was wrong with Spencer and every single time she would ask, Spencer would tell her it was nothing.
It was definitely not nothing. It was two days before Christmas and Spencer had absolutely no Christmas spirit. Ashley even added extra decorations around the loft to make it a little brighter but her girlfriend didn't notice.
"Hey," Ashley said softly as she peeked into their bedroom. Spencer was reading her Christmas cards she received a few days ago but was just now opening.
"Hey," Spencer said sadly.
Ashley bit her lip and got on the bed. She sat next to Spencer and gently put an arm around her sad girlfriend. "Spencer, what's the matter?"
Spencer sighed as she handed Ashley the card she was reading. "That's from my cousin, Chloe."
Ashley took the card and read it. She didn't know what she was looking for. It was a typical Christmas card. Chloe wished Spencer a Merry Christmas and gave her a few updates on her life. Was she missing something?
"Sounds like everything is good," Ashley said because she had no idea what else to say.
Spencer sighed and took the card back. "There's five inches of snow in Columbus. Everything is covered in white."
Again, Ashley was confused. She set the card down and looked at Spencer. "Okay," she said.
Spencer just sighed and leaned into Ashley's embrace. "I miss home," she said quietly.
Ashley had no idea how to react to that admission. "You miss Ohio?" They never really talked about Spencer's life in Ohio. It wasn't that Ashley never asked, it's that Spencer never wanted to talk about it. Ashley never gave it a second thought. She always thought that Ohio suppressed Spencer.
"Sometimes," Spencer finally answered. "But I was thinking about it the past few weeks." She sat up and faced Ashley. "I've been here a few years now and I love it. There's a never a dull moment and you're here." Ashley smiled. "But, I miss holidays back home." Spencer got up and looked out the window. The sun was just setting and everything still looked like summer.
"It's 60 degrees right now," Spencer said.
"Yeah, it's freezing."
"In Ohio, 60 degrees is like summer."
Ashley bit her lip. Spencer was homesick even though she was home.
"I know it sounds stupid," Spencer continued and returned to the bed. "But I want Christmas to actually feel like Christmas. Like it did when I lived in Ohio. There was snow everywhere, I had to wear gloves and a scarf. Glen, Clay, and I would have snowball fights before getting our sled down that giant hill." She had a far away look on her face as nostalgia hit her ten-fold.
Ashley sighed. She didn't know what to do. Spencer was sad and she didn't know how to make her feel better. It's the one thing she hated most in the world. Seeing her beautiful, loving girlfriend sad.
"I'm sorry you won't get a white Christmas, Spencer," Ashley apologized as if it were her fault. "If I could, I'd control the weather and make it snow here in L.A."
Spencer laughed and climbed on top of Ashley so she was straddling her lap. "I know. And I'm sorry I've been a Scrooge lately."
"Bah humbug," Ashley said into Spencer's neck earning giggles. "It's okay, I'm a Scrooge all year long."
Spencer just smiled and kissed her.
---
"Sleigh bells ring, are you listening? In the lane, snow is glistening. A beautiful sight, we're happy tonight, walking in a winter wonderland." Ashley sang softly into Spencer's ear Christmas morning.
Spencer stirred and smiled when she saw her girlfriend hovering above her wearing a Santa hat. "Merry Christmas, Spencer," she said and kissed her nose.
"Merry Christmas, Santa." She sat up and gave her girlfriend a proper kiss.
"Okay, I know we're supposed to open presents at your parents' house but I got you a little something that couldn't really be wrapped."
Spencer tilted her head in curiosity. "Really? What?"
Ashley took out a red bandanna and held it out to her.
"A bandanna?" Spencer said her face falling. "Really?"
Ashley rolled her eyes. "No, smartass, a blindfold." She quickly tied it around Spencer's eyes before she could protest.
"Ash, come on, is this necessary?" She went to take it off but Ashley stopped her.
"Come on, you'll ruin the surprise."
"Okay fine," she relented and then felt herself being pulled from the bed.
"Here, put your shoes on."
Spencer felt Ashley put sneakers by her feet and helped her slipped into them. "Why do I need my shoes on?"
"You'll see."
Spencer knew enough that she was being led outside but she had no idea why. "Why are we going outside?"
"Patience, my dear Spencer," Ashley jokingly chastised. Finally, they stopped walking and Spencer felt her girlfriend stand behind her. Then the blindfold was taken off and Spencer's heart skipped a beat or two. She was outside looking at and standing in snow. And flakes were still falling around her.
"Merry Christmas," Ashley whispered and put her arms around her waist.
Spencer's mouth opened and closed but no words came out. "How did you do this?" she finally managed to get out.
"It's not real," Ashley said ruefully. "But it was the best I could do."
Spencer was still wide-eyed as she stared at the falling flakes around her. "But how?"
Ashley smiled and kissed the side of her neck. "I went down to the WB studios and may have bribed the props manager dude person to lend me a snow making machine. I think it's the same one they used in that one Buffy episode when it snowed."
Spencer eyed her. "Bribed?"
"With generous gifts from Benjamin Franklin," Ashley said blushing. She then bit her lip. "I know it's not exactly how you wanted it-"
Spencer cut her off with a kiss. "It's perfect, Ashley. It's the best Christmas present."
Ashley smiled and brushed some fake snow flakes from Spencer's hair. "I'd do anything to make you happy. Even trying to control the weather."
Spencer laughed. "How I did get so lucky?"
"That's funny," Ashley said and tightened her grip on Spencer. "I ask myself that everyday when I wake up next to you."
Spencer leaned in for another kiss. "It's like we're in a snow globe," she said once they pulled apart and looked around. It was only snowing in a fifteen foot radius.
"Funny you should say that," Ashley said grinning and reached into her pocket. "Because I also got you this." She handed Spencer a snow globe.
"Oh my God," Spencer said surprised as she looked at it more closely. "That's us!"
Ashley nodded and shook the snow globe so the snow would fall. "I had it specially made." The snow globe had the L.A. skyline with two little people in the center. A blonde girl holding a little camera and a brunette girl holding a guitar. And written on it was "Spencer and Ashley's White Christmas."
"Merry Christmas, baby," Ashley said again.
Spencer looked up from the snow globe and smiled. "Merry Christmas, Ashley."
END
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