Almost a month passed before you even tried to forgive Toby. The sting of the event left after a week or so, but the fear was still rooted deep within the recesses of your mind. You shook your head as you recalled the glint of madness behind his orange goggles as he swung the axe.

"Shaking glitter from your hair again, Sissy?" Jeremy asked, smiling. You shot him a grin back and dusted off your pajama bottoms. You and Jeremy were setting up the Christmas tree before your Dad before he returned from work. You loved this time of year. Everyone seemed to become sweeter, more loving, and they definitely became more generous. It was the middle of December, the 12th, to be exact, and you couldn't think of a better way to spend the day than hanging red and green lights on a fake-snow covered tree.

"Isn't this the ornament you made when you were little like me?" Jeremy asked, holding up a sparkly ball of glitter and star stickers.

"Mhm. I made that when I was in Mrs. Donovan's class, way back when," You smiled and lifted Jeremy up so he put the ornament on a higher limb. You breathed in deeply, taking in the scent of a pure Douglas Fir and the sweet smell of the cookies you were baking. You went into the kitchen and checked the oven.

"Cookies'll be done in T-minus ten minutes!" You listened as Jay squealed with joy. A smile played across your lips as you turned towards the window above the sink. Snow had begun to fall once again, leaving the ground covered in a pure-white blanket. The setting sun cast faint glowing beams of orange, red, pink, and yellow across the white of the snow, making it seemed multicoloured. You sighed... This is beautiful. The beauty was soon interrupted, though, by something (or someone) very out-of-place.

The man with a face whiter than the snow and blacker than coal stood at the edge of the woods, waving.

Slenderman?

You cocked your head to one side and stared at him curiously. Then you shrugged and waved back, silently asking what he wanted. He motioned for you to come outside, to speak with him. You shook your head and left the kitchen, walking back into the living room.

"Can I put the star on the tree!?" Jeremy begged, beaming when he saw you.

"Of course," You said, grinning. You grabbed him and hoisted him onto your shoulders. Star in hand, he leaned up and placed it, albeit a little crookedly, on top of the tree. He squealed happily and hugged your neck. You stood back and looked at the tree.

From top to bottom, it shined. Screaming joy and Christmas, the tinsel glittered prettily in sequence with the steady glow of the lights. Little beams illuminated the ornaments, giving them their own sparkling glint. It was breath-taking.

"It's beautiful, Sissy..."

"Yeah. It really is," You said softly. You put Jay down and kissed his chubby little cheek.

"Daddy'll be home soon, okay? Want me to tu-" You stopped talking when you saw the terrified look on your brother's face.

"Jay? What's wrong?"

"There's a man at the window..." Jeremy turned ghostly white, shaking in his Mike Wazowski bedtime slippers. You looked at the window and found the Tall Man, beckoning for you. You gritted your teeth.

"Go to Dad's bathroom. Lock the door. DO NOT come out until I knock on the door. Understand?"

Jeremy nodded and ran for the bathroom. You got on your scarf, slipped on your Hello Kitty beanie and put your coat on over your Christmas pajamas. You went outside the backdoor and walked to the edge of the woods, shivering slightly.

"Miss Y/n, it is nice to see you again. I-"

"You stop right there, Mister!" You yelled. "I don't want anything to do with you guys anymore! I'm tired of it! I'm sick, sick, sick of all this shit! I risked my life so many times for you imbeciles and even now I was almost kill-"

"Babe... There's something tragic about you, something so magic about you. Don't you agree?"

You looked towards the familiar voice and your heart stopped. There, devoid of orange goggles, mask, hatchets, and filled with apprehension and stage fright, was none other than Toby. He held an old, black guitar and was singing, lips stretched in a small smile. You could see the hope in his eyes but behind that, lied his fear of fucking up. You were going to turn around and leave before he started again.

"Babe, there's something lonesome about you, something so wholesome about you. Get closer to me... No tired sighs, no ro-rolling eyes, no irony. No 'who cares', no vacant stares, no time for me..."
Honey, you're familiar like my mirror years ago. Idealism sits in prison, chivalry fell on its sword. Innocence died screaming, honey, ask me I should know. I slithered here from Eden just to sit outside your door...
" He cracked a wider smile as you started to show yours.

"Babe, th-there's something wretched about this, something so precious about this.
Oh what a sin... Where to begin? Babe, there's something broken about- But I might be open about this... Oh what a sin... To the strand, a picnic plan for you and me. A rope in hand for your other man to hang fro-from a tree
."

"Honey, you're familiar like my mirror years ago. Idealism sits in prison, chivalry fell on its sword. Innocence died screaming, honey, ask me I should know. I slithered here from Eden just to sit outside your door... Honey, you're familiar like my mirror years ago. Idealism sits in prison, chivalry fell on its sword. Innocence died screaming, honey, ask me I should know...I slithered here from Eden just to hide outside your door..." He stopped and looked up at you, determination in those brown eyes.

"Y/n?" He called to you, hanging onto the neck of the guitar. His eyes widened for a moment and he grinned. He pulled a little folded piece of paper from his pants pocket and came closer to you.

"Toby..." You said breathlessly. Your mind was in shambles and so was your heart... You knew and loved the song but somehow, he'd changed it's meaning. It was rather... shocking. You grinned as he handed you the paper. You opened it carefully and read the words at the top:

To someone wonderful

From someone awful

I'm sorry...

You looked at the crude but cute drawing of two teenagers holding hands in front of what looked like the Slender Mansion. It seemed as it a six-year-old drew it and You smiled when you saw "By Sally" in the bottom right corner.

"Y/n? Do you ... Did you like it?" He asked, his words falling flat with hesitation.

"I did, Toby. I did. I loved it," Your voice shook from the cold, along with your body. Toby gave you a brilliant smile, screaming with joy and embracing you in a death-grip. He pulled you close, squeezing you and crying into your shoulder as he spun you. He set you down and looked down at you, his eyes sparkling.

"I love you, Y/n"

"I love you too, Toby." Immediately, your heart began to flutter. You smiled and started blushing, feeling those warm, cuddly feelings bubble up inside your tummy as butterflies made there way through. But your little love montage was intterup-

"S-Sissy?" Jeremy called.

You turned around and saw Jeremy at the door. You smiled and took Toby's hand. When you turned around, you noticed the tall man was gone. You let out a happy sigh, knowing he's polite enough to give you two privacy.

"JJ? This is Toby. Toby, this is Jeremy," Toby looked down at Jeremy and grinned.

"Hey little guy!" Toby squealed and bent down to pat Jeremy's head. Jeremy grinned and hugged Toby's neck.

"Hi, Toby! It's nice to meet you," Jeremy said professionally. You smiled and invited Toby inside to get away from the icy weather.

After an hour of warming up and another hour of playing, you'd put Jeremy to bed and sighed. You were exhausted.

"Hey, Y/n? I made hot-chocolate!" Toby called from the kitchen. You grinned and ran down the stairs, suddenly bursting with energy.

"Amazeballs!" You grabbed a mug and started chugging the liquid. Toby just laughed and began making more. You contemplated something while you watched Toby make more hot-chocolate.

"Toby... Why did you... Try to kill me?" You asked, nervously chewing on your sleeve. Toby stopped what he was doing and looked down into the mug.

"I-I..." He stuttered, shaking slightly. His voice began to crack as he explained everything, much like Ben did. He was soon shaking with sobs, crying into your arms as he begged for forgiveness. His pleas were taken into great consideration but, in the back of your mind, you didn't know what to think. So, you just blurted out whatever sounded right.

"Toby? It's... It's okay, okay? I-I understand. I made the choice to be in danger when I agreed to be your girlfriend, okay? Just please... I can't let you do that again. Never break me like that again," You told him, rubbing small circles on his back. He shook with a soft sob and agreed, vowing to never hurt you or let anyone else hurt you again.

"I promise, Love." He gave you a small, sincere smile. "The tree looks really beautiful... I've never celebrated Christmas like that. My mom could never put up the tr-tree because my "dad" was a complete psychopath... We never had much time or patience to get gifts, and at one point, never had the money..." He smiled still, but it was a sad, dark upturn of the lips.

"I remember one year when we knew we wouldn't be able to get any gifts and Lira got a job and she bought us all presents. It was such a great surprise. She even bought Dad one and he smiled at her. It was beginning to look like it was gonna be a good year, but then Dad started drinking..." Toby sighed.

"I'm so-sorry... I didn't mean'ta give away all that," Toby looked away sheepishly, his eyes looking towards the tree every now and then. The whole while, you'd listened to Toby with great concern.

"No, that's totally cool. Okay? I don't mind. I uhh... I kinda got you something," You blushed and chewed on your bottom lip. Despite what had happened, you knew you'd get him something eventually and when you noticed that, You couldn't help but smile.

"REALLY!? IS IT A WAFFLE IRON?!" Toby squealed, excitement radiating from his very pores.

"Well... Yeah. But there's something else," You smiled and got up. You went into your room and pulled a large, green and white box with a bright red bow. You left your room and sat down beside Toby, grinning from ear to ear.

"Don't hate me," You said, trying to hide your blush. "I know it's early but... I think you deserve it,"

You handed Toby the box and he eyed it curiously. Slowly, but surely, he pulled out the ribbon. Thus, beginning the tornado of wrapping paper as he destroyed it. You giggled as he looked inside. He completely flipped when he pulled out the waffle iron, thanking you and squealing with joy.

"There's something at the bottom," You added. He nodded and looked inside, pulling out something unexpected.

"Y/n... You didn't have to do this," He said, smiling warmly at you,

"You're right. I didn't have to but I wanted to," You gave him a smile back. He put his gifts down and hugged you tightly, running his long, slender fingers through your h/c hair. He whispered thank you in your ear.

"It's no problem. I like seeing you like this," You said with a grin. He kissed your forehead and stood up.

"I have to be getting back, okay? Masky caught Offenderman flirting with Hoodie and I wanna see if they're go-gonna duke it out," Toby said, twitching as he smiled.

"Alright," You began. "Just meet me soon. I've missed you,"

"I've missed you too," Toby said softly. He leaned down and placed a sweet, chaste kiss on your lips, lingering as it ending.

"I love you,"

"I love you too,"

Toby grinned and hugged you tightly.

"See you soon, Love." He waved and made his way towards the back door, waffle iron in the box and a new, beautiful hatchet in the other, the date of the anniversary carved into the handle.

I'll see you soon, Love.

(A/N: Hey babies! Sorry. This is earlier than I expected to finish and I made is all Christmas-y. cx Sorry... Uhh... Yeah! Hope ya like-y! Mwahh

~EJ)