Continued...
It was Christmas day and Clarke woke up sluggish. She had stayed up a bit late with Bellamy and it made her smile when she remembered back hours ago sitting with him and talking. Fumbling, she found her phone and checked the time. It was just after nine in the morning. Her biological clock knew better than to let her sleep in, even on Christmas day. She yawned and rolled her body against the bed to stretch before climbing out of bed and throwing a sweater on over her tank top and shorts. After going to the bathroom and brushing her teeth, naturally she took her phone and charger with her and went out into the living room. Ray wasn't up yet, or wasn't out of bed so she opted to check on her.
Opening the door, the room was dim and Raven was laying in bed with her phone in her face, a blue glow casting over it. Her eyes clocked Clarke's.
"Morning." Clarke said, or more asked.
Raven grumbled.
"Oh yeah?"
Raven nodded. The childishness made them both laugh after that and Raven then stretched. Clarke didn't move from the door but she leaned in a bit.
"Getting up or going back to sleep?" She asked.
"I have to pee so fucking bad." Raven said and Clarke laughed which in turn made Raven laugh and then groan at worsening the condition of her bladder.
"Need help?" Clarke finally asked point blank and watched. Raven sat up and pulled her linens back. She watched the woman swing her legs over and off the bed, a slight cringe on her face. That implied she was still in pain but the question was if she felt like she could walk today. Clarke had to stop herself from going to the bedside and being there as support as that is what she would do at work. This wasn't work, and this wasn't a patient. It was her stubborn best friend who was well capable. Raven stood slowly to test her own limit. She got up fully erect though, but she failed to let go of the night stand.
"Stiff brace?" Clarke asked.
Nodding, she sat back down and sighed. "I think it's also a cane day."
Clarke came into the room finally and went to the closet. Raven had a rack system with a few braces for different needs of support. She also had two canes and a folded walker on the rack.
"Oh." Clarke mumbled.
"What?" Ray asked from her bed.
"You realize we have to wrap your cane in ribbon and make it look like a candy cane, right?" Clarke turned out of the closet and presented Raven with the more supportive brace and cane. She was smiling.
"That is so stupid and so perfect. Let's do it."
The girls got the brace on with little to no effort and Raven stood up with much more comfort and stability. The cane came into hand and she walked with a large limp out of the room and into the bathroom. Meanwhile Clarke skipped out to a plastic bin still out with Christmas stuff in it. She shuffled through it for ribbon, hoping they had a red ribbon. Luckily, she found a flat velvet ribbon in a dark red and a few white ones of different opacity. Raven came out of the bathroom after relieving her bladder and Clarke presented a few ribbon options. Raven smiled at how dumb this was, but it would make her feel better about having to use her cane for the day.
"Oh that one." She pointed to a spool of white ribbon with silver threads in it. Clarke put the others in the bin and pushed it away before grabbing the hot glue gun.
"Good idea." Raven approved, knowing it would secure the ribbon without making it a permanent fixture or damaging the cane. Raven limped over to the sofa and sat down, elevating her leg on the table. The nerve swelling is what was impairing her today, so elevating helped. The glue gun took no time at all to heat and together they started wrapping the cane. It was easier with four hands. When it was done, it looked like an actual candy cane and it was really cute. Clarke even tied a bow off on the bottom a few inches above the rubber pad.
"A job well done." Clarke boasted, proudly.
"I can beat people with my candy cane." Raven joked.
"You would."
"Yep." Raven beamed. Clarke checked the time. They planned on going over to Jackson and Miller's house around two so they had a few hours. They needed to pack up gifts into bags and make the side they were bringing as well as pack up the cookies for travel.
"Shall we breffast?" Clarke mispronounces the word on purpose, something they often did.
"Hell yes." Raven went to stand but Clarke put a hand up.
"Nope. You stood and hurt yourself yesterday. Stay!" She playfully commanded. Raven looked pissed but she knew she was right. They had to go mingle and enjoy the holiday with their family and friends, she needed her pain levels to be maintained as best as possible.
In the kitchen, Clarke quickly threw together Monkey Bread in a bundt pan and popped it into the ocean. She then put the kettle on and pulled out a skillet which quickly mad work of a lot of bacon, some crumbled breakfast sausage and onions. A piece of bacon was set aside while the rest was decimated into tiny pieces and separated into two dishes. One was a larger bowl that now held the bacon, sausage, onions and a lot of beaten egg, mostly whites with a few yolk. Clarke poured the mixture into a shallow baking dish, sprinkling red and green bell pepper on top then sent it to cook. With the boiled water she filled two mugs and then added two scoops of a secret mixture to each one before presenting Raven with her mug. The liquid was a tradition for them, it was a hodge-podge cider kind of drink that mostly consisted of Tang orange drink mix, cider drink mix, and spices. It wasn't fancy but it was so tasty. The egg casserole came out before the monkey bread did, and they ate while watching the parade on TV before the monkey bread was done, which they dug into as well. Nothing like lumps of fluffy bread covered in gooey butter melted cinnamon sugar. After they were satiated with their traditional Christmas meal, they went about getting ready. Both of them would shower, change, and collect gifts they had for others under their tree. Clarke got ready and wore an off-white sweater dress that fit perfectly without being overly tight or too loose. The cowl neck was big and cozy. She had black leggings on and a pair of knee-high brown boots to cap the look off. Raven slipped herself into a simple red jumpsuit with loose legs that fit right over her brace. She slipped on some flats in place of heels, for her safety and comfort. They loaded up a trash bag with the gifts which was a dangerous choice but nothing was too heavy or big, the one item that was, Clarke carried to the car. With everything loaded up, the girls left to spend Christmas with people they loved.
Arriving, the driveway was piled up so they knew they weren't the first ones there. Clarke walked in and held the door for Raven. They were greeted by Octavia and Lincoln who were passing through from the kitchen to the living room. Lincoln stepped in and helped unload the car before they settled into the living room. With everyone but Jasper and Maya there, it was fourteen people and they split up between sitting at the dining room table and chatting, hanging out in the living room and gaming downstairs while a few were in the kitchen. Murphy gravitated to Raven from downstairs and joined her on the couch while Bellamy nowhere to be found. He was the last to arrive, about twenty minutes after the girls did. He looked rushed, but Clarke thought nothing of it. She wanted to get up and kiss him, but she didn't. It felt out of place today. He looked damn cute with grey-washed jeans that hugged everything nicely and a black and white color-block sweater, his sleeves pushed up.
It was just after two in the afternoon and they were all mingling, hanging out and drinking. Monty and Miller were in a head to head of pool which Miller's father stepped in to play the winner who happened to be his son. They battled over billiards and it was intense to watch, a mirror image of one another. Ultimately Nate won, way more cocky than his father. A little while later, most of the group had trickled back upstairs and planted themselves in the living room. The TV played music idling in the background and the house smelled of cider which someone had brought a hot crock pot full of. Eventually Jackson wrangled everyone at the suggestion of the parents to sit down and do gifts before dinner.
The groups sat around the living room filling out any available seat and many of the younger group sitting on the floor. The house wasn't decorated much, but they had a massive tree taking up a chunk of real estate in the living room. It was tall and thick, pre-lit and cluttered with a variety of blue, green, yellow and red ornaments. It was very masculine in aesthetic and stunning. Under it was a red and green tree skirt covered in gifts. So many boxes and bags piled up under it. The group was fourteen people deep and each of them had brought a number of gifts, be it one or twenty. That added up and filled it out, looking like a marketing advertisement for Christmas. Jackson and Miller took post at the tree to dish out gifts after the group discussed how to effectively do this. Everyone had different traditions and no one wanted to step on toes. They had the perfect solution; Miller and Jackson would pass out gifts to whomever they were labeled for and as a group they would all just open up everything. No taking turns or focused energy so that no gift felt better or worse than the next one.
"Clarke." Miller said her name and handed her a box. That began a passing out of gifts which Lincoln and Bellamy joined in on. Everyone had a pile at their feet or around them if they were on the floor, including the boys. The parents in the room had very few things compared to the core group who seemingly all got something from one another. Piles in hand, they all dug in and began opening things. For the most part they all got little things from one another, things that carried inside jokes or were mentioned throughout the year at some point and remembered. Clarke ended up receiving some novelty items about nursing, toiletries to pamper herself from Harper.
As she watched the people she grew to value in her life, she peeled open another present. It was a clothing box, so she assumed it was from her mother or Ray. To her surprise, it wasn't a garment. Instead, wrapped delicately in tissue was a stack of notebooks or better stated, a standard Moleskine sketchbook, a personalized leather bound journal that had a beautiful teal leather cover embossed with a floral pattern on part of it. The binding was a brown cord with a little metal charm on it. It couldn't have been cheap as it was obviously handmade, likely by an artist online. Under that were plain inserts for both, so when she filled them she had backups. Her heart felt so full. This gift felt personal. She flicked a glance up to Raven who was busy unwrapping what looked to be small basket of coffees with a mug that read "Best. Engineer. Ever." Raven looked over at her with a smile, but she didn't acknowledge what Clarke had unwrapped. Naturally she looked to her mother next. Abby had the same unknowing smile, so she looked to Kane with the same result. Her instinct left her with one other person and she looked over to him. He was watching and looked away casually just as she had met his eyes. That said everything she was asking and he almost shyly avoided looking back over. Part of her was confused by the gesture, because he didn't know much if anything about her artistic side. She was also curious about the personalized journal. She couldn't dwell on the curiosity though as Octavia suddenly squealed like a child.
"No way!" She screamed, or nearly screamed. Her hand cupping her mouth.
"What?" Bellamy was quick to look to his sister who was standing in excitement.
Octavia looked around, the room had stopped everything to watch her. She immediately blushed in embarrassment.
"Oh guys I'm sorry." She ducked back down. Lincoln looked amused if not embarrassed himself as Octavia knelt back down next to him and held up a jewelry box. Clarke watched dread fill Bellamy's face and she almost found it hilarious but Octavia quickly caught on and defused him.
Tipping the box, she showed what was in it. It was a key, a house key. Lincoln had asked her to move in with him via a Christmas present and she was obviously surprised. People clapped and no one was more relieved than Bellamy when his face went from stern to relaxed in the blink of an eye. Congratulations were in order and they all toasted whatever drinks they had nearby before resuming the unwrapping. As they all continued opening gifts, she kept checking him to see if he had opened hers yet. She must have missed it when he did because he was soon finished and sat by with a smile on chatting and watching others open their gifts. She almost felt disappointed that she didn't get to see his reaction but she also worried if it was lost in the mix. There were still things under the tree for Jasper and Maya. A mess of wrapping paper and bags piled up in the room and Kane quietly began cleaning up the mess before it could take over the. The group shared so many thanks and sweet moments about the meaning behind certain gifts. Raven was in awe over receiving an ornate wooden puzzle box that was built by a world renowned engineer and puzzle designer. She figured it was from Clarke, which it was, and she sat there studying it with Monty. Murphy looked on as well. Everyone was just happy. It was really a perfect holiday.
"Now don't get too excited, but I got you all bonsai plants." Marcus took the room's attention. Everyone looked confused but he elaborated. "I learned a lot from taking care of one over the years, and I wanted to share that. I brought one for each household rather than a person, they are in gift bags by the front door for when we all go home."
"That is really awesome." Monty said, likely being the only one to keep his alive. Everyone else thanked him and then Abby stepped to attention.
"I have one last gift for the kids." Abby stated as she took a bag from under the tree and handed it to who was closest to her, which happened to be Harper. "Go ahead and take one and pass the bag on, there should be one for each of you and then one for Jasper and Maya who aren't here." A hint of nervousness freckled her tone, worrying she may have miscounted the members of their group. The bag made its way into the hands of all of the "kids" so to speak. Each of them held a little box wrapped in gold and silver snowflaked paper.
"Please." She suggested, beckoning the group to open their gift.
They all opened their little boxes and each of them held the same item, a small silver key-chain. One end of the chain held the clasp to hook it to things whereas the other presented a quarter sized round metal charm. On it was painted a galaxy with one very bright star that stood out which was all encapsulated in resin making the key-chain look more like a pendant. They looked at their gift, no one different from the other and Clarke looked to her mother for the explanation.
"When Clarke was little, her father would work away from home a lot. When he left and it was just us girls, he would always remind us to look up at the night sky when we felt alone, and he'd be looking at the same stars." Abby teared up a little and Clarke couldn't help but pout at the memory, a happy pout.
"You kids somehow fell into one anthers lives and over the past year, which we all know has had its moments, you have still found your way to stay together. I wanted to pass on our family's sentiment to the one you kids have created here. It is so special." Clarke sniffled at the moving gift. It was such a small token but the impact of the sentiment was the size of… well, the galaxy.
"Oh Mom." Clarke stood and walked over to her mother. The women embraced and tears fell which were met with laughter; A true moment of happiness.
"Abby that is so beautiful." Monty's mother stated, a hand over her chest. The faces in the room were all touched, even Murphy looked beside himself
Abby quickly regained her composure and tried to divert the attention from her gesture as well as the now heavy but very fulfilling aura in the room. "And, Kane got you plants."
Laughter filled the room at the mention back to Kane's gifts and it instantly lightened the energy in the room.
"I don't know about you guys, but all these feelings have made me very hungry." Murphy was the one to break the mood and suggest is was time for dinner. The group unanimously agreed and they started sorting things out. Murphy, Jackson, Mrs. Green, and Mr. Miller went into the kitchen to start getting things sorted and reheated if need be it. The rest of the group worked on organizing the plethora of gifts sitting about. Abby and Kane would help put things in bags so when everyone left it was easier to carry. Clarke used the disbursement of people to excuse herself, stepping outside. Bellamy saw her leave, as he saw any move she made and he hesitated but would give her a few minutes before joining her. He stepped outside and scanned the patio for her, she was sitting on the edge of the trampoline in the unlit backyard. He moved to her quietly and climbed up to sit beside her. She was sniffling and it hurt his heart.
"Hey." He said. He didn't want to ask if she was okay, or what was wrong. More so just present himself to her, available if needed. She looked up through watery and puffy eyes, her makeup staining her cheeks, but she smiled. It was a pathetic smile, but a genuine one.
"Hey." She leaned into him and he wrapped an arm around her, lending her some warmth. Her skin was cold to the touch.
"You know, I forgot about that?" She began before a pregnant pause. "I had completely forgotten my dad used to do that. It's been so long." Her words betrayed her composure and though her face was away from him, he could hear more tears come forward.
"He would go across the country for work and tell me 'Find the biggest star in the sky and know I'll find the same one.'" She sobbed through a smile. He held her even closer.
"I feel so bad about forgetting that, but so moved that Mom would want that for all of us. It's a lot." She chuckle-cried.
"Don't feel bad." He spoke soft, not wanting to interrupt her venting. She looked at him curiously. "I've sometimes forgotten things about my mom. Life gets so busy and blurry that things, even the most important ones, can get hazy. We're allowed to forget things, just know you'll never forget him. I bet you're thinking about every curve in his face, the way he smelled or how his eyes would light up when he looked at you." Bellamy looked at her meaning what he said so wholly. She nodded and it broke her, sending more tears out. He pulled her into him completely, both arms holding her body into his and she sobbed into his sweater.
"How you feel about your dad, is how I feel about my mom and I know that neither of us will ever truly forget our parents, even if our families have to remind us of other things. He's a part of you, like my mom is a part of me and O. You can't lose that." He whispered to her, rubbing her back as she calmed down. She didn't cry long, she was just overwhelmed with emotion and he could feel it. Once she had calmed, she pulled away from him enough to wipe her face off a bit.
"Thank you." Was all she could say for how much she was feeling at that moment. He knew what to say but he didn't say it to say it. He meant it, and he understands exactly what she was thinking.
He planted a kiss on her forehead, letting her collect herself and randomly stated: "Did you give me the coffee tumbler?" He asked blankly. Clarke sniffled and chuckled all in one.
"Did you open it?" She asked. He felt so stupid and shook his head. "You should open it after dinner." Now he was curious and it would probably nag him but he focused on her as she shifted to get up. He moved to get up first and faced her, a thumb sweeping the ruined mascara under each eye. She smiled up at him with appreciation and he couldn't help but let his hand linger on her chin. He lifted it, that cute little cleft chin, and gently kissed her. They enjoyed the moment of privacy and tenderness before he helped her down and they would head indoors.
"When did that happen?" Abby said, peering out the window to the scene of Bellamy and Clarke on the trampoline. Kane stepped to her side and slid a hand on the small of her back.
"Oh." He said before turning her away from the sliding glass door. Raven looked at what they were on about and she chuckled.
"We were just as surprised. We think Halloween?" She suggested.
"What, and she never told me?" Abby pouted disapprovingly.
"Hey, they never told any of us. I don't think there is anything to tell, they have always been close. I think they finally realized that and are going with it." Raven explained as she stood near the sofa, looking for her cane. Someone must have moved it while cleaning things up.
"Where…" She mumbled quietly looking around. She could walk without it but right now she didn't feel like making an ass of herself and falling on her face.
"Here." Harper sidled up to her with it in hand and a smile to follow up. Raven gave her a heartfelt thank you and they made their way in the dining room. The table, which could sit ten at max had four more chairs from around the house tucked in to accommodate. It would be snug but it would work.
"There isn't really enough room for the amount of food we all brought, so let's do a buffet style situation in the kitchen. Run a plate through then pick a seat. I'll gladly serve everyone drinks." Hannah or Mrs. Green stated and gestured over to the kitchen like a flight attendant. They did as they were told and in a messy line the group filled plates of food before filtering into the dining room. She was on point with drinks as each person at down she would ask what they wanted and fetch it quickly. Everyone left the foot end of the table open for her as the rest of the seats were taken. Miller's father sat at the head of the table per Jackson's request. Each plate was stacked differently, so many options of food. There was ham, turkey and a plethora of sides from salad to the classic comfort foods. Not to forget the assortment of sweets that were also brought. On the table were rolls, olives, gravy and sauces as well as salad and some other condiments. No one ate until the last person sat down, which allowed Hannah to offer up a prayed. It wasn't religious or to a deity of any sort. It was more a blessing among them all for the luck of love and family they had in their lives and her thanking everyone for the invite. It was very sweet and Mr. Miller, Abby and Marcus shared the sentiment. After that, they dug in. It was a true feast, so many things to enjoy and plenty of food to go around.
Once all of the bellies were full of savory and sweet, the parents dismissed everyone and offered to put things away and clean. No one put up a fuss and the group trickled about the house to lounge. Murphy helped Raven down the basement steps without directly carrying her. They put a movie on the projector and hung out down there. Clarke and Harper sat on the sofa upstairs and quietly gushed about some of the sentimental things they got and realistically Harper asked about Bellamy who after having a chat with Octavia and Lincoln, he went to Clarke and Harper. Harper took that as a cue to meet up with Monty downstairs, leaving them on the couch together. He sat down with a groan, full of delicious foods.
"I ate too much." He grumbled with a smile on his face. She sat back, full herself.
"You should open the coffee cup thingy." She suggested coyly and he sat up alert.
"Oh yeah." He went to collect it from the pile of things he had been given and sat back down with her. It was a standard sized metal tumbler with insulation and a frosted blue coating on the outside, his name sandblasted on the front of it very subtly. She looked on eagerly as screwed the top off of the tumbler. Bellamy looked down into vessel and poured the contents into his hand. Out came a roll of lined paper with a smaller red one in the middle which wrapped around a few other small things. He separated them out and smiled when he saw a gift card to the biggest local book store and one for the coffee shop where they met. He changed over at her sweetly.
"This" she tapped the rolled up paper, "I wouldn't read here, but that's your call. You can read the little red note in there though."
He found the red paper and pulled it open, reading it.
"This is so you don't go getting coffee spilled on you by someone random and decided to fall into their lives instead of mine. I have a matching one at home so I don't go spilling coffee on anyone either.
Thank you for catching my coffee with your shirt."
It was a simple and sweet message and he smiled at the charm.
"I'll read this later, alone." He put everything back in the tumbler and closed it back up despite how curious is was. She wouldn't have suggested waiting if it didn't mean something to her. He set the tumbler down beside them and looked to her. "Thank you."
"I love your gift by the way." She shifted her weight and leaned into him a little bit.
"I know you enjoy drawing and wanted you to have something nice to sketch in. The notebook was so you could write if you wanted to. Raven told me you journal sometimes." He explained his gift to her and the thought behind it without knowing how ironic it was, given the letter she wrote him and put in his gift.
"I'll cherish them both." She meant it so very much, as cliche as it sounded.
"I'm glad." He held her hand.
"I'm ready for this year to end." He pouted at her statement, knowing how rough it was but she looked at him, their eyes met.
"I'm ready to face next year, with you." His face said everything his heart felt, that look of a full heart that almost read like a pout but was purely happiness. His rough hand met the soft milky skin of her chin. He cupped her jaw and pulled her in for a kiss. Every kiss between them felt different and got sweeter the more they opened up to whatever this was. They were alone and had no eyes to worry about in this very personal moment which lead him to not hold back on colliding his lips with hers. The two of them took those moments they could steal for everything they were worth before allowing themselves to rejoin the festivities. Everyone watched A Christmas Story and talked about it, as most people did on Christmas day. Not long after that the parents trickled out, as did Octavia and Lincoln. They likely had their own holiday to celebrate.
When the night finally rounded out and ended for the rest of them, the girls thought about inviting their beaus back home but both were so tired. While the holiday was a lovely thing, it took a lot of out of people. The boys loaded up Clarke's car with the gift she and Raven received before seeing them off so they could go home, relax and sleep off the build up of the holiday which is exactly what the girls did. When Bellamy got home he set his tumbler on his desk and let it sit, untouched, contemplating when he could dedicate the time to reading whatever it was she wrote in that letter.
And you've made it to the end of our not-so-little Christmas chapter. Feelings abound! What could Clarke possibly have written in a letter to Bellamy?
See you next year.