Summary:
He didn't know he would be gone for Christmas. No one did. Two shot.
Author's Note:
I don not know why I am writing a Christmas story in the middle of spring but anyway... The inspiration came from a movie I watched awhile back called "I'll Be Home for Christmas" with Jonathan Taylor Thomas but this is a lot sadder than the movie (sorry).
Thanks to HNB FRJAY for the help.
Thank you so much for reading! :) I had a lot of fun writing this two shot so please enjoy!
Warning! - major character death, angst, tragedy...
I'll Be Gone for Christmas by VintageRoseTaylor
Christmas was coming and everyone knew in the town of Bayport. Red and green lights were on the buildings of Main Street, pouring out sparkling light onto the streets. The Christmas-y feeling was practically everywhere. Whether someone drove or walked the citizens of Baypor would give them a smile and a wave. The crisp cold air stung Joe Hardy's cheeks as he ran down the sidewalk of Main Street. He had to get to Walmart before it closed. It was the evening of Christmas Eve and he was going to be the only teen at Bayport High who didn't have presents for his family. He had been working on a case for his father and it had been rough the past few days. It was had been rough for him lately. His brother was picking on him about his slowly-but-surely-raising grades and his girlfriend, Iola. His mother was being too nice. His dad was ignoring him because of no reason! He rarely said goodnight or hello to him anymore but he always said hello to Frank. And Auntie G was just being herself.
"Hey, Joseph!" The local butcher called after him as he held hands with his wife. Joe waved and kept onto his mission. "Wait, Joseph!" Joe slid to a stop and ran back to the Johnsons who had a package in their hands. "Shouldn't you be at your house celebrating?" Mrs. Johnson asked with a smile.
"Yeah, but I'm kinda busy." Joe shrugged as they handed a package of goodies to him. "Thanks, Mr and Mrs. Johnson. Merry Christmas!" He ran back to Frank and his van. Unlocked the passenger door and shoved the basket inside. Cold air blasted his face as he ran again towards the store. He had to get those gifts right NOW!
"Joe!" Biff Hooper greeted, a girl standing beside him.
"Not now, Biff," Joe waved at him and kept running.
"Can't you drive your van?"
"It broke down!" Joe called back, irritation lacing his voice.
"Do you want me to drive you there?" Biff shouted making the young Hardy stop in his tracks.
"Thanks, Biff but could I just borrow the car?"
"Um, sure," Joe ran back to Biff, breathless. Biff handed him the car keys.
"Where is it?"
"What?"
"The car!" Joe boomed, clearly surprised at the tone of his voice. He had to get to Walmart for those special gifts.
"Oh! Over there! Don't you want to meet my girlfriend?"
"Not now, Biff!"
-Hardys-Hardys-Hardys-Hardys-
All the Hardys sat around the Christmas tree and sipped hot chocolate. They stared at the sparkling lights and ornaments, memories clouding their minds.
"Hot chocolate is death." Aunt Trudy said breaking the beautiful family moment. Frank saw his mother roll his eyes.
"What do you mean by that, Aunt Trudy?" Frank asked.
"It's chocolate that means it's death,"
"Oh, I didn't know that," Laura interjected with sarcasm in her voice. Trudy ignored her and continued her thoughts of Christmas treats.
"Or those sugar cookies! Oh my, Laura, how can you eat those?" Laura was just taking a bite of a delicious homemade sugar cookie when Aunt Gertrude said that. She stopped chewing for a second and took another large bite. Frank stifled a laugh as he sipped more of the hot chocolate and marshmallows.
"Or that popcorn! It has so much salt!"
"...Trudy, its normal to have this much of salt -" Dad began to say but the older woman was interrupting him as usual.
"Your body isn't supposed to have so much salt in it, Fenton," Trudy retorted.
"Where is Joe?" Mom asked, changing the subject hoping the tension in the air would soon disappear. Frank shrugged hoping they didn't remember the fight he and Joe had. Well, of course, they heard it, they had been yelling at the top of their lungs. Everyone looked at Frank who stared blankly back.
"What?" Frank said passively.
"We all know you and Joe had a fight," Mom said gently.
"I am letting him cool off, that's all, Mom," Mom lowered her lashes and sipped more of hot chocolate from her mug. "He said he had to get some special gifts at Walmart," Frank suggested.
"I didn't see him go out though," Dad piped up.
"He's probably still in his room, I'll go check," Frank put his mug on the coffee table and went upstairs to Joe's room. He knocked on the closed door.
"...Joe?... Hey, Joe? You in there? Can I come in?" Frank knocked on the door again and opened it after a few silent moments. No one was in there... The dark haired Hardy looked around and shivered. He walked to the open window and was about to close it when he saw a rope hanging down from the window.
"He went to Walmart anyway?" Frank whispered. He whirled around and ran down the stairs not noticing the gust of wind pulling a little piece of lined paper into the window that was nearly cracked open.
"What's going on, Franklin?" Trudy asked sternly as he stormed into the living room.
"Joe's gone," The seventeen year old boy said, his heart pounding.
"Maybe he did go to Walmart," Dad suggested.
"But he has a rope out the window, Dad," Dad's eyes widened and his face paled.
"There was supposed to be a winter storm coming." Mom whispered with fear in her voice.
"Frank, look outside and see if the van's gone, " Frank nodded and ran to the front window. His stomach dropped all the way to his shoes.
"...He's not here..." Frank said, dread filling his voice as someone stepped upto the window beside him.
"Go back to your brother's room. Maybe he left a note." Frank nodded following his dad's orders. He ran up stairs and looked around for more details. Joe wouldn't just leave like that. He heard a papery noise and saw it whipping against the slightly opened window.
"Joe!" He ran forward and ripped it out before the winter air claimed it. He scanned the page til he read his name:
Frank,
I know you think sneaking out on Xmas Eve is stupid but i really need to get the gifts that i ordered. Tell Mom and Auntie G that I'm fine. Dad won't really care since he's still on his stupid case.
Don't worry, big bro, I'm fine. You don't have to go after me. I haven't gotten myself into trouble.
I'm going to probably be back in an hour. So if i'm not home, you can come after me.
Merry Christmas,
Joe
Frank swallowed the lump in his throat and started to walk down the stairs slowly. Why would Joe go out this late for presents? How could he have forgotten simple gifts?
-Hardys-Hardys-Hardys-Hardys-
Joe was trying to get the special gifts he ordered from the guy at Walmart. He was being so extremely slow and rude. Joe's infamous temper flared inside of him and he really wanted to hit something right now.. particularly the guy with the name tag 'Leo'.
"Joe?" He turned around to see Iola standing there with a Christmasy outfit on.
"Iola? What are you doing here?"
"I was going to ask you that,"
"Did Frank send you?"
"Yeah, he texted me while I was out caroling with my family," Joe nodded, remembering that the Mortons always did that.
"Is he worried about something?" Joe asked.
"No," Joe shrugged it off and smiled at his girlfriend. "So you wanna do something...buy hot chocolate?" Iola gave him a sweet smile.
"I am kinda cold,"
"Hey, wait, dontcha want your packages, sir?" Leo said breaking up the merry moment. Joe rolled his eyes and grabbed them from him. "Sign here, please," Joe grabbed the tablet and signed it.
"Thanks,"
"Merry Christmas, sir!" Leo said as Joe went to the checkout with Iola's hand on his arm.
"Yeah, you too," Once Joe paid with cash, Iola looped her arm through Joe's arm.
"What car are you using?"
"...Biff's..."
"Oh, okay, how about we drive his car to him and-"
"HOLD IT!" A guy in ski mask held a gun in front of him. Joe swallowed hard as Iola gripped his arm. He shoved the Walmart dude to get more money out of the cash register. The employee was shaking uncontrollably. "STAY RIGHT THERE!"
"Look, please, leave the guy alone," Joe took a step forward trying to be cautious as possible, gently pushing Iola behind him. The masked robber swung his gun back at Joe and glared.
"I told you to STAY BACK!"
"It's Christmas Eve, we don't want anybody to get hurt. Please." A small crowd had kind of gathered but they looked afraid.
"Shut up, will ya?! I just want some of the money that's it!"
"Okay, okay," Joe took a deep breath and wondered what he should say next...that wouldn't trigger the guy to shoot any innocent Christmas shoppers.
Without anything to stop him with, someone suddenly tried to grab the gun from the robber's hands and it went off as the two struggled.
It was like a bright white pain...He didn't even feel the impact of the floor leaving him breathless. He didn't hear his girlfriend screaming his name in fear. Shouts rang but it all felt so muddied as if he was drowning in a lake. Maybe this was all a dream. He didn't hear the whistling... Was that stars he saw? Or angels dancing around his head. It looked like Iola Angels. Whoa. He had never seen that before.
"JOE! Joe! Joe!"
It snapped him to reality. Joe's eyes flickered open, the harsh lights on the ceiling made him flinch. He realized that his head was being cradled by Iola. He was on the floor. His hands touched something warm and sticky...blood...?
"...Iola..."
"Joe!" Iola blinked a few times and suddenly a tear slipped down her face, and dripped onto Joe's face. She brushed it away, her eyes still watery."Sorry." Joe weakly smiled but it faded when the ski masked guy grabbed Iola by the arm.
"Get away from her!" He weakly protested. Joe's stomach felt sick as his head hit the floor. His vision swam, he gritted his teeth as the robber hauled Joe to his feet.
"Don't hurt him! He's bleeding!" Iola begged.
"He's gonna be my hostage! Don't you DARE think of doing anything stupid, okay!? Or he'll pay for it."
TO BE CONTINUED in "I'll Be Gone For Christmas Part Two"
Please review, my lovely readers! Thank you so much for reading! ~VintageRoseTaylor