Happy December! OK, this is the one-shot that littlelonghairedoutlaw won last year for winning the Holiday one-shot challenge! Finally, finally- it's here! I know you guys were probably hoping for an Home For Christmas update- but it is coming! The goal is to finish that story this month (which is about 3ish more chapters.) So, here is the one shot for littlelonghairedoutlaw who requested a soft one-shot about E/C dancing in the falling snow.
Some background info on this certain AU! This is part of a long on-going AU I've been working on for a long time that I call my "bookstore" AU. All you need to know to understand this one-shot is that Mama Valerius owns a bookstore that Christine works at and rents the upstairs apartment of. This is set well into an established relationship between Erik and Christine to the point where Erik lives with Christine. It's a Modern AU, but not quite. Set more late 20th century rather than 21st century. Alright! Here we go! Rules for this year's one-shot contest will be attached at the end. (Pretty much the same as prior years)
The shop had been locked up early that night with the New England wind blowing wildly and the threat of an early winter storm lingering in the air.
"Any luck with the breaker?" Christine called out as she heard the rickety stairs that led down to the basement creak.
"No, it's really out…unless there's a generator around—"
She shook her head.
"Then I guess we should light some candles or get a flashlight or something," Erik said, dead-bolting the lock on the basement door back before brushing a bit of dust off his jacket.
She had no confirmation, but she suspected that a tree was to blame for their sudden loss of power a few moments earlier which now left them in the dark. The wind really had picked up and even though the shop was relatively safe from any falling trees, the power lines that they were connected to were very close to said trees.
Not ideal at all.
"So much for inventorying this evening…" Christine said to herself as she opened a drawer to search for a lighter and some emergency candles.
A light flicked on from behind the front counter followed by an older, wiser voice. "It's a sign, it's gonna be a bad one, I can tell. My knee has been bothering me all week, never does that unless a blizzard is coming."
Christine sighed and walked over to the desk, "Mama, you're being superstitious—"
"Hold on- blizzard? As in snow?" Erik cut in.
Mama Valerius's eyes lit up faster than her flashlight had as her jaw dropped.
"Oh, here we go," Christine grumbled with an amused roll of her eyes.
"What do you mean as in snow? Young man, haven't you ever heard the word blizzard before?" She said in disbelief, emphasizing with a wave of her flashlight.
"Well, yes, I've heard the word—"
"Then what don't you understand?"
"Mama," Christine interrupted with a gentle hand on the older woman's shoulder, "It's embarrassing for him."
"What's embarrassing?" She lowered her flashlight as she whispered.
"Snow, Judy. I've never seen snow." Erik blurted out (a little louder than was necessary).
The only sound was the whistling of the wind outside.
"You've…really never seen it snow?"
"No."
More silence.
"Really?" Mama pried a little more.
"Really."
And that was how they came to where they were now, sitting under every blanket Christine could gather from her upstairs apartment, staring out the glass of the front door waiting for the first snow to fall. Judy had a book in her lap with only her flashlight and the light of the couple candles to read by, and Christine was dozing off next to Erik, her head occasionally falling on his shoulder as her eyes shut. Erik had one arm around her and the other holding the blanket up around them. However, Erik's eyes were glued to the door, anxious to see the first snow fall from the sky. He had heard about snow, he had read about snow, he had seen it on Nadir's old television set when forced to watch a cliché Christmas movie or the weather station, but— in all his years he had never actually experienced it. Would it melt as soon as it hit the ground? Would it stick? Did people actually go out in it or was that just another movie myth? His mother's Southern home had never gotten any snow in the winter (not that he would've been allowed out in it if it had) and the Arizona deserts he had lived in for years were just as hot and snow-less.
Maybe his expectations were set too high.
He pulled Christine closer to him and she snuggled her head into the crook of his neck as the clock on the wall chimed one in the morning.
Maybe it wasn't going to snow after all.
The wind had calmed down in the past few hours, but Judy insisted that it was simply 'the calm before the storm'. He had laughed, but he had also never been up North in the winter, so he did have to grant her some credibility despite her over-dramatics. There was a part of him that couldn't imagine a world without her, she was like a grandmother that he had always fantasized about but never had—
He blinked and shook his head. Was he seeing things? Just on the other side of the glass door white flakes were briskly falling from the clouds, a slight gust of wind whirling them around.
He decided his expectations hadn't been high enough.
"Christine, Christine," he gently shook her awake and uncovered himself from the quilt that was draped across him so he could move closer to the door.
"Mmm?" She hummed, stretching a bit.
"It's happening, it's snowing." He found his hands unlocking the door before his brain had time to register that it was in fact cold outside. He didn't really care though, he needed to feel the snow.
"Oh, Erik! You need some gloves!" Christine called behind him but he was already out the door, face towards the sky, simply marveling at the snow falling down around him.
He wasn't sure how long he stood out there alone before he felt a warm pair of hands wrap around his own.
"Beautiful isn't it?" She offered, watching the snow fall with him.
"Magical," he whispered as though his voice would somehow make the snow cease to fall. He did have the uncanny ability to mess up everything he came in contact with. Christine being the singular and very important exception.
"Tomorrow, I'll bring you out and we can make a snowman if there's enough snow and maybe make snow cream and..."
He took his eyes away from the clouds for a moment to instead gaze at Christine by his side as she rambled on about making up for his lost childhood. She had taken the time to put on gloves and a scarf but the quilt she had been bundled up inside in was now held tight around her shoulders by the hand that wasn't in his. The snow and the glow of the candles from inside made her all the more breathtaking. Her hair flowed golden, but not brightly; softly. Christine was soft in general. Soft eyes and soft hair and soft skin—
"Here."
He hadn't even noticed that he had gathered her in his arms to be closer to her until Christine started trying to cover his shoulder with the quilt. He gave a quick laugh and picked the corner of the quilt up and tugged it so that it rested over both of them.
"Thank you."
"You looked cold," she shrugged before raising on her toes to press a soft kiss to the side of his mask.
Radio static and then the strains of O Little Town of Bethlehem joined the air, its quiet melody blending perfectly with the falling snow.
"I think Mama is too nosy for her own good," Christine groaned as she looked back to see a wireless radio set on the front steps of the shop.
Erik shook his head and gave a small smile. "I know when to take a hint..."
Christine raised a perfectly blonde eyebrow at his remark until he pulled her closer and began swaying back and forth. The song on the radio changed and Dean Martin began crooning as Erik turned Christine around, watching the snow stick to the edges of her curls as they spun around with her. She giggled and they kept dancing, footprints starting to form on the sidewalk they were on as the snow and wind picked up.
"I love you," he whispered into her hair.
"I love you more," she replied, pulling away from him so as to see him better.
"Impossible."
She laughed as Erik leaned down, his lips almost grazing hers—
The flash of a camera stopped them.
"Mama!" Christine yelled.
Erik glanced over her shoulder only to see Judy through the store window with the Polaroid he had bought for her in one hand and the photo that had just printed out being waved around in the other hand.
Christine took off inside the store, dragging the quilt with her and grabbing the radio on her way in. Erik went to follow but hesitated, putting his hands in his pockets. Had that been the right moment? Had he missed it? She was so gorgeous in the candlelight in the snow and he had felt such peace— should he have done it then? Had he missed the perfect opportunity? He gave the velvet ring box in his coat pocket a good reassuring squeeze and continued inside, locking the door behind him.
He would find the right moment, he hadn't missed it. Not yet anyway.
There will be a second wintry one-shot set in this same verse when I announce the winners!
It's time for the 4th Annual Phantom's Christmas One-Shot Challenge! Here's what you need to know:
Entry Timeline: December 1st— 31st (longer than it usually is!)
Winner's Announced: January 3rd (Aiming for this, but by now we all know how great I am with deadlines)
Awards: There will be 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winner along with category winners. 1st place gets a review, a favorite, and I'll write them either a one-shot based on a song of their choice for When Words Fail or a one-shot to a theme of their choice and bragging rights, 2nd place gets a review and a favorite and a one-shot of choice, and bragging rights, 3rd place gets a review, favorite and bragging rights. ALL entries will get a review and be added to my one-shot challenge community. :D (which I still need to add all the entries from last year into- sorry guys! Life exploded for me this year! Haha)
How to enter: Leave a review on this story, upload your one-shot to this site, to tumblr, or on AO3 (in the book category of "The Phantom of the Opera" if on here), PM on here or on Tumblr and tell me you uploaded it, and put "Entry for Phantom's Christmas One-Shot Challenge" somewhere in either the story description or in the author note!
Rules: Story must be a ONE-SHOT. It can be in a collection of one-shots, and the one-shot may continue on into a full-fledged story, but judging will only be on the first chapter in that case. Stories must have a winter or winter holiday theme (Christmas or New Years for example). One-shots can have any character pairing, any rating (within site rules), and can be any genre! No minimum or maximum word count- just have fun!
Looking forward to reading people's submissions! Please remember, I do this to promote more holiday Phantom stories and more one-shots! Don't get super stressed over this, it's just for fun!
Thanks! If anyone has any questions just let me know!