Ah winter holidays, the days I'll spend with family and friends, enjoying my social life… IF I HAD ONE!
Sorry, lost the happy but the happy's back! Heya folks it's Watermalone here with the Christmas installment of Ripples!
And as always, a huge thanks to all who read my story, you guys are amazing!
Onto reviews!
Special regards to EVAunit42: Don't worry about it! I honestly didn't expect you to actually write something for me but thanks for the birthday wish nonetheless! Oh and I'm glad you liked that last chapter, I wasn't too sure if the emotional stuff was too much or not.
PROJECT K: Thanks! And to you too Jacob! Lucky you, your personalities actually agree on stuff…
Lupus Boulevard: It was a pretty intense chapter to write, don't worry, I'll try my best not to falter. Oh and with regards to Silhouettes I am continuing the story, only in a slightly different direction now that we have seen Marco's death and backstory. It's new, and it's coming out next week, so hopefully you'll like it!
Smitty Theories: Well… did you cry?
K.S: I certainly will! Thanks!
Romantic Sloth: BRUH. Haha but I'm glad you like it!
Okay so this chapter is a bit long, but I have good reason. And that reason is not staying up until 3:03 in the morning because I lost track of time… okay so it totally is… HERE SYNOPSIS DISTRACTION!
Synopsis: 'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the town, not a single soul stirred, not even a… actually Star and Marco spend their first Christmas Eve as college freshmen in Echo Creek Mall, in the middle of a snowstorm.
Haha I couldn't resist to do the thing. Anyways, without further ado, here is my Ripples holiday special! Enjoy!
~All I want for Christmas is…~ RIGHTS TO OWN DISNEY AND SVTFOE! Except I can't…
"But it's just a part of who you are. I don't care for something as small as a gift, I care about you, and that's pretty much it."
The wind howled in the blizzard of the cold night. Snow whirled around the sidewalks, piling up to form banks, not long before swiftly being destroyed by another gust.
Tonight was a tremendous freeze over, one that many people were not prepared for. And yet people celebrated the cold, determined to outlive the chill of winter with the festivities of Christmas.
Which was exactly why Star and Marco were walking, blinded by the flurry of snow, towards the Echo Creek Mall, the centre of consumerism in the relatively peaceful town.
"Star! It's too late, I'm pretty sure every shop is closed!"
"No! I'm not letting fate win this one! We are getting in there, and we are getting your present!"
"Star, please! It's below freezing, I can tell you're cold. Let's just go home before the buses shut down for the night too!"
"Nuh-uh!"
"But I already told you, I don't need a present! It's really not that big of a deal!"
"Just shut it Marco! You always say that, every single year!"
Marco stopped. "That's because it's true! I don't know why you insist on dragging us both into the mall at this hour just for something as small as this."
Star turned to face Marco, pouting. "Because it matters alright? Can you just leave it alone for now?"
"Not until you tell me why this is so important to you!"
Star stomped her foot in anger. "Ugh! Whatever! I'm going by myself. You can freeze to death here waiting for an answer for all I care!"
Marco's anger switched to concern. "Star, wait!" But she had already begun to storm her way into the mall.
He finally caught up, grabbing ahold of her arm. "Star! Can you at least tell me what it is we're looking for?"
"For the last time, Diaz, no I can't!" She said rolling her eyes. "This is why I told you not to come with me."
Marco sighed, releasing her. "You know I could never do that…"
After trudging through the seemingly endless empty parking lot, they finally made it to the front doors of the mall. Its tall glass doors stretching high and wide automatically slid open with ease against the freezing temperatures, washing the couple over in a wave of warmth and comfort.
"Hrmmm.." Star chewed her fingernails feverently as she studied the mall directory. "Aha!"
And off she took without another word.
Normally, Marco would chase her down to the ends of the, well, mall, but this was a different matter. Star was just so headstrong, it would probably take a full team of wild horses and a tank to keep her from her goals.
He sighed to himself and sat down on the nearest bench. Despite the circumstances, this was still a trip to the mall, something Marco rather despised. The boring atmosphere, the annoying music playing on constant repeat, the ridiculous chase every person there took to achieve acceptance and social standards of beauty, you name it.
But today, the mall was rather empty. Of course that logically made sense, it was Christmas Eve, after all. And yet this establishment was still open. Probably for last minute stragglers to get their half share of last minute gift shopping done before the actual deadline.
6:07PM
What could Star even be trying to get for his present anyways? They had agreed on price limits so many years back of no more than $20. That didn't mean that they didn't secretly break that promise once in a while, only to pretend that the price had magically dropped below that boundary, but it was a silent agreement that the thought is what mattered the most, not the cost. Even though that was probably the cheesiest holiday saying ever.
Loud metal crackling sounded off behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, he watched as the stores around him closed up, one by one.
Then the thought struck him. Had they been too late? What if Star didn't manage to get into the store she wanted and instead had been locked out? His fear, somewhat partitioned for her, was actually more so directed to the possible store owner or perhaps even a last standing employee begging to go home. If Star didn't get what she wanted…
Oh no.
Marco looked around the mall, checking for the possible routes she could've taken. There were three main hallways, each stemming from a central 'core' which sat right below the food court. Approximately 168 stores in the entire mall, and about less than two minutes for Star to go full supernova, pun intended.
But this wasn't a joking matter. Marco evaluated his options, carefully considering which shop she could have visited.
I have to think like her. Quite the ridiculous premise, trying to replicate her thought process given her… unpredictable nature. But luckily, the mall had somewhat of a sense of organization, something even Marco had to agree was rather impressive, and so specific stores had been stacked with others alike it in differing hallways.
First, on the left was the health and medical lane. Drug stores, organic food stores, optometrists, dentists, etc. He would be correct in assuming not that one.
Next was the 'Specialty Retail' aisle, straight down the center. Card stores, hobby shops, luggage and travel, alongside other kiosks for small appliances or products. Hmm possibly, but most likely not.
Marco turned right and dashed down the final path. Clothing, beauty, and accessory hall, also known as every other teenager's paradise. By far the longest of the three, this hallway held (according to name), every shoe, clothes, makeup, jewellery, purse, and fashion item ever conceived.
Every store he passed made his heart drop lower and lower. Each one blocked off with cold aluminum bars, indicative that the day was done.
Still no sign of Star. His heels clicked against the polished ceramic tiles as he delved deeper into the consumer's wasteland, echoing through the grand hallway. To his surprise, however, he couldn't hear anything else aside from his own shortened breath, paced footsteps, and scattered thoughts.
The hallway stretched down as far as the eye could see, if not even farther. His eyes, darting back and forth scanned every nook and cranny for any signs of life, but to no avail. It seemed as if every single soul had simply disappeared.
*Ding* "Dear valuable Echo Creek shoppers, the mall is now closed. On behalf of all staff here, thank you and Happy Holidays!" *Ding*
And with that, any last bit of hope that dimly glowed in his heart had been brutally quashed. This was game over.
"STAR!" There was really no point in trying to be subtle anymore. "THE MALL'S CLOSED, LET'S GO HOME!"
Only his voice rang through the empty corridors, echoing back to him.
Which, on one hand, was kinda good. It meant that the mall was devoid of terrorized screams of a middle aged shop manager or horrified retail worker.
On the other hand… where the heck was she then?
His sprinting slowed to a walk, allowing him to catch his breath.
"Star?" Concern began to grow inside of him, eating away at his gut. She couldn't have disappeared, and it was very unlike her to simply become invisible, let alone ignore his calling.
No. She was avoiding him. And if the last 11 years had taught him anything, it was that whenever Star actively evaded him, it meant something was seriously wrong. Or she was planning a surprise birthday party for him.
Probably not the latter, although a 3 month belated birthday would be quite surprising.
Marco stopped in his tracks. This was the end of the line. Ahead of where he stood were the large glass automatic doors that separated the east entrance from the cold outdoors.
And still no sign of her.
He turned around, gazing at the vast distance he covered in his panicked state. Shop after shop lined the sides of the mall all the way down to the centre of the mall and even further beyond that.
This piqued his curiosity even more. What was it that Star was so anxious for him to receive? Why was this situation of such dire importance?
Surely he was correct in following this trail in the mall right? If he wasn't, well it'd certainly take a lot longer to scan the other two.
As Marco strode back to the main hub of the building, he made silent note of what possible stores she would visit. Ruling out clothes stores due to his obvious attraction of the "red and hoodie-like", shoe stores because those were way beyond their price limits. Nothing flashy, nothing flamboyant, nothing expensive.
Maybe he was wrong in assuming this direction.
One store, however, caught his attention. This wasn't really out of the ordinary, he'd just always wondered about it's placement ever since the first time he had noticed it.
Finest Engrave.
Yes, a store that engraved jewelry, antiques, odds and ends, you name it. However, it didn't exactly fit in with the "theme" of it's corresponding section of the mall. Not that it mattered, the owners had full right to place it wherever they pleased. It always just… bothered him.
Luckily, one nice detail he had noticed when he was younger was that there was a small hallway that fell off of the main road meant for mall workers or other maintenance service men to access the deepest, most restricted parts of the infrastructure. Away from mall goers always staring and nosing about at what other people buy, away from parents forcing children to "try so-and-so article of clothing on". Just peace and quiet. Something he remembered showing Star so they could sit there and read together or play card games while the adults took to perusing the aisles.
Something… he showed Star…
The thought snapped into place instantly as he bolted in its direction.
"STAR!" And sure enough, rounding the corner, he gained direct vision of the blonde haired girl, sitting with her knees up to her chin, on the ground where they had always used to be years ago.
Her eyes widened in shock at seeing him, immediately being buried in her arms and coat sleeves.
"L-leave me alone Marco!" Her muffled and clearly shaky voice cried out.
"I've just ran the length of the mall looking for you and now you're avoiding me? C'mon Star, let's just go home."
"No." Yeah, should've seen that coming.
Marco sighed, as he made his way over to sit down next to her.
"Can you at least tell me what was so important? Now that it's all over."
No answer. On one hand, expected. On the other…
"Star, please, I'm being serious. I'm sorry that this didn't work out for you, but I need to know why this is such a huge deal."
Faint, inaudible murmuring came from the thick winter jacket she wore.
"I- um… sorry, what?"
"IT'S BECAUSE EVERYTHING IS CHANGING MARCO!" Tears streaked down her cheeks, eyes filled with despair.
Immediately, Marco slung an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. Another instinct developed after being with her for so long was to be able to detect when she needed a hug.
Now was a little more than obvious.
"Hey hey hey, slow down there." He gently spoke, as though she were a distressed lion. Equally dangerous when upset. "Calm down, and tell me everything when you're ready."
He felt her nod on his chest, however she was still avoiding eye contact. The sniffles eventually died out, and her pace of breath became longer and deeper.
"You know it's the first Christmas since you've been gone, right Marco?"
The question struck him quite hard. "Yeah, can you believe I've been counting down the days before coming home, even before I left?"
"Of course, I remember each time we video chatted, you had to show me you're dumb calendar."
"Heh, and then you'd show me your equally dumb calendar and then we'd cross off one more day together." He closed his eyes and smiled at the fond memories.
"Y-*hic*-yeah."
"So what about it?" His eyes reopened.
"I don't think you know, just… how hard it was… having… y-you…" Her voice quickly became uneasy before dying out completely.
"Gone?"
"Nhnn.." She buried her face into his jacket once more.
It was true. Lot's had changed ever since he moved out to Illinois to pursue a degree in Neuroscience at the University of Chicago. It only felt like moments ago had he and Star first met, their adventures flying away one by one on the wings of time…
Change was hard to accept. Even through the half hearted smiles and the difficult lies of "Don't worry, this won't affect anything" or "You'll be back soon anyways", there was a sense of uneasiness that came with one's leaving and how it displaces the peace of home. Day after day, Marco struggled to adjust being away from his town, not to mention his family, and the one girl he loved the most…
If he ever understood Star the most at any moment. It would be now.
"I… I don't know what to say Star… I'm sorry that I've been gone… it's definitely been hard… for the both of us." A slight pause followed.
"You wanna know what I got you for your Christmas present?"
He looked down at her head, still hiding her face in his jacket.
"Yeah, I kinda do."
"This." Her hand ruffled around within her extremely puffy coat, only to pull out a quite solid looking steel box, roughly the size of a tissue box. Small but dense, when Marco grabbed a hold of it, he questioned how she had managed to conceal it the entire trip to the mall.
Rotating the box in his hand he noticed the metal hinges on the side of the container, alongside the brass handle and combination dial on the front.
"A mini-safe?" He felt a head nod.
"So then why are we here?"
"Because I broke it." Not to speak badly of her, but... of course she did. "I think the axle jammed somewhere inside but when I tried to turn the dial I cracked it off and now I can't open it again."
"But you didn't leave anything in there right?"
"No, but after I broke it I needed a replacement."
"Which is why we're here?"
"No, the safe I got a while ago. But… I brought it here…"
"To be engraved…" He finished.
Marco stared at the small cursive font on the back of the solid metal, carefully etched in the most intricate and beautiful design he had seen. A silvery border in a branched and wavy design contained three simple words:
No matter what
He was completely speechless. Star was neither careless nor clueless when it came to gift exchange, but this was above and beyond standards, even for her.
It really made Marco think about how much all this had affected her.
"You don't have to say anything Marco, I know that you didn't want a gift anyways but-"
"No, I-... I was going to say it's amazing… I love it, Star."
"But it's broken."
"Broken or not doesn't mean there's nothing left to enjoy, and besides, broken things can always be fixed." His hand cupped her chin and raised her reddened eyes to meet his. "Isn't that what we always do? Fix the broken?"
Her expression softened as she felt the tears stop flowing. "Yeah…"
"Then remember that even if it's ever broken that we always come back to fix it right up. No matter what."
Star's lips curled into a sweet smile. Staring into Marco's deep brown eyes, she felt her fears, sadness, and anxiety all melt away. He always knew how to make her feel better, despite how cheesy he could be.
"So can we go home now? I think our parents ar-"
Before he could finish, Star lifted her head and quickly met her lips upon his. Despite how brief it was, the electricity was sharp and sweet.
"Yep, let's go home and get started on that 'fixing'."
For the second time, Marco was quite stunned. He shook his head to return to reality, his cheeks burning red. "You have no idea how much I've missed that." He looked at her with the most dumbfounded expression.
"Mhm, well since I don't have a proper gift for you anymore, I figured that'll have to do!"
"Haha, I'd better go steal myself some mistletoe then and see if I could get a second 'gift'."
"Nope! You're just gonna have to wait until we get home!" Star stood up, and offered an outstretched hand to Marco.
He took it without and second thought and followed in her example, as they made their way towards the east exit.
"You know it's gotta be minus a bagillion degrees out right?"
Marco shrugged. "Don't worry, I'll promise to keep you warm."
Star flicked the lock on the automatic doors, allowing them to slide open fully, and the cold winter chill to force it's way into the warm haven. "You promise?"
Marco lifted the metal safe still within his grasp.
"No matter what."
And the two made their way out into the freezing weather.
Right well… a quick few details I wanna cover here about this chapter. First, the reason why Star brought the second safe to the engrave shop was because it was a special design that she wanted replicated like the first that may or may not have been scrapped. Second, she had actually dropped off the replacement safe a bit before this story had taken place and she could only pick it up this date, very late at best due to the limitations of work hours and the huge amount of orders ahead of her, hence why she was too late when they got there. Third, I actually wrote this one without my little elf helper EVAunit42 more or less because I wanted his Christmas present from me to be a Starco chapter.
And there you have it! My first five installment of this story have been completed. Which can only mean one thing:
Silhouettes reboot next Friday!
Yep for all of you who may keep up with that story, this means that next week will be my introduction to a bit of a new idea I'm trying with that story. Think of the first two chapters as prologue and backstory. This is where it gets good. Hopefully!
And as always, reviews and and comments are deeply appreciated, this story has gotten quite a bit further than I originally expected and so I'm rather proud! And I hope to see you all next time in Silhouettes, or whenever this story will become updated again!
Oh and Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all who celebrate it!
