Hathaway wasn't big into Christmas, it wasn't so much the religious aspect of it that he hated but rather how it was a family holiday. A holiday that had now been turned into a mass marketing holiday as well as something to "bring families together". He scoffed, his family wasn't what he wanted to be around at Christmas. Especially his father. The mere thought of his father and the memories he brought up put Hathaway in a foul mood as he walked into the office.
Lewis raised an eyebrow at the younger man when he saw his glower,
"What's eating you?" Hathaway slumped into his chair and muttered,
"Bloody Christmas."
"Ah, I see." Lewis knew of Hathaway's dislike of the holiday and had an idea of why he hated it so much. Whenever they breached the topic of his family he bristled and avoided it at all costs. "Any plans this year?" Hathaway shook his head,
"I've got a bottle of wine and a few world music CD's to listen to." Lewis shook his head,
"That's no way to spend Christmas lad. My offer still stands if you want to join me and Lyn, if ya like of course." A small smile graced the younger man's face,
"Thanks but I'm afraid I'd only put a damper on your holiday." Lewis sighed,
"Well, if ya change your mind give us a ring." Hathaway nodded and the two went on working in silence. About twenty minutes later a thought occurred to Lewis, "Hathaway?"
"Yes sir?"
"What about your mate Dani? The one I met when you were in hospital. Ya could spend the holiday with her." A soft smile made its way onto Hathaway's face as he quietly said,
"Perhaps." That one word gave Lewis some hope for the younger man. No one should spend the holidays alone.
All throughout the day Hathaway kept thinking about what Lewis had said. He thought about how long it had been since he had spent Christmas with Dani and her family. They were nice people, well, nicer than his. Her mother was quite fond of him and of course her father was wary of what his intentions were for his daughter. At the time there were no intentions, just a lonely boy with no one to spend the holiday with. Now though with her parents split up and her mother in Australia while her father was in Germany she had no one to spend the holiday with either. He wondered if she had already made plans.
When Hathaway got home he sat down on his sofa and stared at his mobile, contemplating whether or not to call. Eventually though the thought of spending another Christmas alone and depressed caused him to press the call button. The phone rang several times before there was an answer,
"Hello James." He smiled,
"Hello Dani. Listen, do you have plans for Christmas this year?"
Hathaway spent the morning making sure he had everything that they'd need to make Christmas dinner. Dani had promised to come over early that morning and help him cook, something he was grateful for, and he wanted to have everything ready when she got there. He had done a bit of tidying up and even put on a nice shirt and his best jeans. His flat wasn't decorated; he just couldn't bring himself to do something so trivial. No, the most festive thing in his whole flat was the rectangular red and white candy cane stripped package sitting on his coffee table. It was a rare gift, something that he'd done a lot of digging around for. He was confidant that she'd be pleased. As he lit the last of the candles there was a knock at the door, letting him know that his guest had arrived. He gave the place a once over before making his way over and opening the door.
Standing there, in a dark red button up shirt, black jeans, and a white coat and scarf, was Dani. He smiled,
"Hello Dani." She grinned as she pulled him into a hug,
"Hello James, and Merry Christmas!" He chuckled,
"Come on in, get out of the cold." As he ushered her in and locked the door he took her coat and scarf and hung them up before noticing a rather large thing blue and white snowflake wrapped package in her hands, "Um, would you like to do gifts now or after dinner?"
"Hmm, how about now?" He chuckled,
"Alright, yours is over here on the table." As she followed him over to the sofa her ears quickly recognized the music that was being played through the stereo,
"Tchaikovsky's Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. I'm impressed." He shrugged with a laugh,
"It's the only Christmas music I'll listen to." She held her hands up in mock surrender,
"It is the best, I'll grant you that." As she sat down next to him she couldn't contain her excitement, "You have to open yours first." Quickly she shoved the large package into his hands. He gave her a curious look, "Well go on, open it!" As he tore at the paper he quickly realized that it was a picture frame, and when he turned it over his eyes widened and his mouth fell open. Dani was practically bouncing with excitement, "Do you like it?"
James cleared his throat, his voice was thick and low, "Dani… how… where did you get this?" In his hands, he held a framed piece of sheet music. And not just any sheet music, no, this was Jimi Hendrix's song Purple Haze sheet music. Not only that but it was signed!
"It's the original too, my cousin knows a guy who knows a guy who works in the music industry and she owes me favor." James couldn't believe it, in his hands he was holding the original Purple Haze sheet music signed by Jimi Hendrix himself!
"Dani… this is amazing. Truly this is the best gift I have ever gotten. Thank you so much." James carefully set aside the picture and pulled her in for a tight hug.
"I'm glad you like it."
"Here, it's your turn now." He handed over the candy cane package causing her to give him a suspicious look,
"Now, I know you aren't one for holiday's James so tell me, did you have this paper lying around or did you run out and buy it?" He chuckled,
"Nicked it off my boss actually when he was wrapping some last minute gifts at the office." She laughed as she opened the paper,
"Well, tell your boss he has good taste in wrapping paper." When she got all the paper off she stared in shock at the gift. "James… is this what I think it is?" He nodded,
"Yeah, it's real."
"This is the actual Elegy of Young Lovers script?" He nodded again, "By Chester Kallman and W.H. Auden?"
"Yeah, it's the real one. You can see where the two signed their names at the end of the manuscript." With gentle fingers she leafed through the pages until her fingers came across the last page which had two signatures scrawled at the bottom of the page.
"James… I have never held something so priceless in my life let alone owned such a thing." Gently she set the book down before pulling him into another hug, "Thank you." He closed his eyes with a sigh, enjoying the warmth and the happiness that radiated off of her,
"You're welcome darling." She pulled back and with a soft smile brushed his cheek with the back of her hand,
"You're such a dear, despite the gruff show you put on for the boys at the station." He shook his head with a chuckle,
"I'm not always gruff." She shot him a look, clearly she didn't believe him causing him to laugh. "Come on, we've got cooking to do."
As the day went on the two cooked dinner while Dani danced around the kitchen to the ballet music. To Hathaway it was both an amusing sight and a heart clenching one. He wanted this, a normal life with a woman, and he honestly couldn't see himself having a normal life with anyone than his Dani.
"Come on then! Dinner's almost done and you still have to help me with the cookies." He shook his head with a smile as she rolled out the dough. He couldn't believe he was making Christmas cookies, and the one thought that passed through his mind was that his boss would get a kick out of it if he could see him now.
When it was all said in done and they had sat down to dinner it was almost three o'clock. They had worked hard all day and it was time to enjoy the fruit of their labors. He had to admit, they didn't do a bad job. In fact, he was quite impressed. He knew that she could cook, at least, she could cook better than he could. When they were finished, and the leftovers were all packed away, they made themselves at home on the sofa in front of the fireplace. She looked over at him and for a moment, stared at him, taking in every detail before smiling,
"What?" She chuckled before closing the gap between them and softly pressing her lips against his. It was a sweet kiss, one that he would probably dream about for a long time, and he found that her lips were soft and tasted of caramel. Probably from the cookies they made. Sadly, she pulled away but when she smiled at him and whispered,
"Merry Christmas James." He knew that this was the best Christmas holiday he had ever had. She snuggled down against his chest as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and rested his head on top of hers,
"Merry Christmas, Dani." As the snow fell outside, Hathaway felt hope stirring in him for the first time in years. Hope, that maybe one day he might live a normal life. A normal life, filled with the woman he now held in his arms.
Alright, so here's the second oneshot in the collection. If you haven't read the first I suggest you do, but don't worry these aren't going to be in chronological order but you should be able to follow along fairly easily. I wanted to make them all be able to stand alone by themselves but also be connected. So you can read just one or read them all. Please, let me know what you think, I thrive on reviews and I promise that there is still more to come.
~ilovemedia18