Happy Holidays
The sound of the doorbell vibrated throughout the house. Summer Hathaway skipped down the stairs to the front door. She tugged at the black skirt that framed her hips, and opened the door. In front of her stood Freddy Jones, well, underneath the massive coat and hat he was adorned in.
"Come in, come in," Summer said, ushering him inside where it was warm. "It's really snowing good out there, huh?"
"Yeah, we'll be lucky if school's cancelled and we don't have to present this dumb project," he said, taking off his coat.
"Don't get your hopes up," she retorted.
There were only days until winter vacation, but the students were still up to their ears in homework. Freddy's visit was the result of their English teacher's cruel idea to give them a last minute project. Well, it was last minute for the pair. The project had been assigned nearly 2 weeks ago, but Freddy had always been 'busy'. Summer knew that to be a typical excuse from the underachiever, who never did anymore work than he was supposed to.
"Follow me into the kitchen," she instructed. She led him into the room, where Freddy took note of the Christmas decorations that bejeweled the Hathaway house.
"You guys really get into this Christmas stuff, don't you?" he asked, slinging his coat over a chair, still looking around.
Lights were strewn across the windows, stockings hung near the fireplace, the tree was up and decorated; covered in gold and white ornaments, and a good amount of presents lay under it. The house smelt like cinnamon, and there were gingerbread cookies lying on the kitchen table.
"Yeah," Summer replied with a smile, taking a deep breath. "Mom loves the holidays."
"So, where are working?" Freddy asked, seeming eager to change the subject.
"Upstairs in the study," she answered. "Are you hungry? If you haven't eaten already, we have some food to snack on."
"I'm good," he said. "Should we get started on this project?"
She raised an eyebrow. "Freddy Jones, enthusiastic about a school project?"
He smirked. "In your dreams, Tinkerbell. I just want to get this finished."
She didn't argue with him, but instead led the way to the upstairs study. As they neared the room, Freddy asked, "Are your parents home?"
She suppressed a laugh. "Dad's working late tonight, and mom is in the other room with the baby."
He nodded, and they entered the room. It was a fairly small, desolate room. Minus the desk and computer, there was nothing in there. No shelves, books, or –and to Freddy's astonishment—no Christmas decorations.
"Nice," he commented, taking a seat in the computer chair, as Summer opened the closet to pull out the binder she had been using while getting a head start on the English assignment.
"It's going to be Anna's room, so there's no need for that sarcasm," she said with a glare. Anna was her baby sister. She currently resided in the nursery, but once she got a little older, they were going to move her into the study, so they could turn the nursery into the study, as it was much bigger.
"Oh," he said shortly. "Right. Knew that."
She rolled her eyes. "Let's get on with this, shall we?"
She shoved a packet his way, and he took it, flipping through the pages.
"We have to do all of this in three days?" he exclaimed, upset. "This is impossible!"
"Maybe you should have spent less time hanging out with Zack and Katie, and more time working," she snapped.
There was something else in her voice. Was it…? No. It couldn't be…jealousy, could it?
Whatever it was, Freddy didn't catch it, and Summer was glad.
"Hey, I can't just blow off my friends for a stupid project like this," he said, his voice raising a bit.
"Well, maybe if you stopped caring about what everyone else thought and focused a little more on your schoolwork, then maybe you wouldn't be failing all of your classes!" she shot back, glaring at him.
"Maybe you should just leave me and my grades to myself and worry about yourself."
"Well, when you're costing me a good grade it's a bit hard, don't you think?" she snapped.
"God, all you can think about is yourself, Summer Hathaway, you're so—"
She laughed. Not the amused kind of laugh, but the I'm-angry-with-you-because-you're-so-stupid-and-I'm-just-doing-this-so-I-don't-do-something-I-will-regret-later kind of laugh. "You are the biggest hypocrite I know, Freddy Jones."
"And you're the biggest do-gooder I know!" he half-shouted.
Summer stopped. "Yeah? Well I'd rather be that than some punk-ass kid who can't get his life together."
They both froze. She could feel she had crossed the line. Freddy never gave up on verbal arguments. He had a comeback for everything. And if he didn't, there was something wrong. They just stared at each other until one of them decided to make a move. Freddy kicked the binder resting before him, and stormed out of the room.
Summer looked at the papers that had flown out of the binder. She sighed deeply and then ran out of the door.
"Freddy!" she called, half-apologetic, half-annoyed.
She raced down the stairs, finding him throwing on his coat and hat.
"Where do you think you're going?" she demanded, her face hot and her eyes narrow with anger.
"Away from you, Hathaway," he barked, and stomped out the door.
Instinctively, she threw on her own jacket and followed him. She wasn't even aware of how cold it was when she stepped outside. She could see her own breath and her arms were shaking, but she didn't care.
"Freddy! Wait!" she shouted, and ran up to him.
He stopped and turned around.
"Go back inside," he said. "I'm going home."
He turned to leave. She grabbed his arm.
"I'm sorry!" she told him sincerely.
"Don't even, Summer. Don't even."
"I know you have potential to be great, Freddy. I was just mad," she said quickly. "I mean to upset you, yes, but not like that. I didn't realize that it offended you so much."
He cringed. He didn't want to be talking about feelings right now. Especially not with Summer.
"Look, I'm sorry I called you a do-gooder," he told her.
She half-smiled. "But I am, aren't I?"
"Yeah," he laughed. "But that's not always a bad thing."
She smiled; this time a real, full smile. "And you're not some bad kid—"
"I believe the words were 'punk-ass'," he teased.
"You know what I mean," she said. "Anyway, you're not all the things I said you are. I acted under impulse, and I'm sorry."
"If I'm not all the things you said I was, then what am I?" he asked, a teasing note in his voice.
A tiny laugh escaped her lips. "You're Freddy Jones. And that's good enough for me."
There was a slight pause, and then Summer realized she had been staring a few too many seconds at the boy in front of her.
"So, do you want to go back inside and finish the project?" she asked softly.
"Not really," he answered, and she rolled her eyes. "But I guess we kinda have to."
She nodded. "Yeah, I think so."
"Wait, wait, wait. We can't go in just yet."
She looked at him expectantly. "What? Come on, it's freezing cold out here!"
A smile tugged at his mouth. His bitter hand grabbed hers, and as he pulled her closer, their lips met for a short, yet very sweet kiss.
"Merry Christmas, Summer Hathaway," he said with a grin.
Summer blushed, looking down at the ground. Her arms flung around Freddy's neck as she whispered, "And Merry Christmas to you, too, Freddy Jones."
A/N: Very first SoR one-shot ever. Mission accomplished. Short, clichéd, and sweet, a fic for all you SummerFreddy fans. Always wanted to write a Christmas fic, and who better to write about than Summer and Freddy? Reviews are appreciated! ;)