This was a much longer wait than I anticipated, and for that I apologize! Writing two fics at once is just a bit more effort than I anticipated, ha! But this chapter is a bit longer than my usual, so hopefully that helps!
And I just want to sincerely thank those of you who left reviews! Each one genuinely blows me away and you have no idea how much I cherish them! Thank you so much!
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By the time they were finished touring the mansion it was getting late. Another two and a half hours were spent chatting in the car on the way back to the Woods' house. Peyton invited Lex in for a cup of coffee before he headed home. It was cold out and he'd been more than generous spending the day with her. It was the least she could do. Especially if she were going to disappear for a few more years. Any second now.
Luckily the kitchen was empty when they snuck in. Lex offered to make the drinks, so Peyton dug through the fridge to make some simple sandwiches. By the time she'd finished and put everything away, how many mustards were there, Lex had two cups of cocoa waiting. He passed her one and she traded him a sandwich.
They nibbled at their sandwiches and Peyton tried to get to the cocoa under the mountain of whipped cream floating on top.
"Like your whipped cream with some cocoa," she teased. Lex grinned.
"Maybe."
She snorted lightly and took another sip before she sat the mug down.
"So," she continued as she began to pick at her crust. "What do you and your dad do for Christmas?"
Upstairs she'd noticed a few stylishly placed strands of garland and lights. It was a bit sterile for her taste, but at least it was a small acknowledgement of the season. Lex snorted into his drink.
"My dad doesn't do Christmas," he said. "According to him it's just a lazy man's excuse not to work."
Peyton frowned, swallowing down the bitter taste his easy proclamation seemed to bring to her tongue.
"No offense to your dad, but that's dumb."
"That has to be the least offensive thing that's ever been said about my dad."
Peyton let out an obligatory chuckle, but chewed lightly on her bottom lip afterwards. She knew that not everyone had great relations with their parents, but it still bothered her. Lex was only just an adult, and he already spoke about his father with a callousness and apathy that spoke of rocky years between them.
"Well, no one should be deprived of days off." She tried to steer the conversation away from his dad. "And no one should be deprived of Christmas either. Heck, even these people at least put some sort of decorations up."
Lex wore a smirk as if amused by her ranting and raised his mug.
"I'll drink to that."
Peyton rolled her eyes but clinked mugs with him and took a few more drags of cocoa.
They finished and cleaned up the mess and Peyton walked him back to the front door. She still hadn't blinked back to her own room. The uneasiness in her gut was so constant now that it was almost making her numb.
"Thanks again," she said. She leaned against the threshold of the door and watched him loiter again on the stairs. He gazed at her almost nervously, and Peyton wasn't sure if it were because she was a girl or because he wasn't used to having real friends. With a sigh she pushed herself off the doorframe and met him on the top step.
"I mean it. You've really... You've been a saving grace through all this craziness. And you actually believe me, which is incredible. You're an incredibly kind person, Lex."
Taking a breath and hoping she wasn't being too forward, she took another step and embraced Lex. From the brief encounter she'd had with his father and what she heard tonight, plus how he'd acted at school, she figured he could probably use one.
He stiffened a moment, as if unused to the gesture, before relaxing and returning the embrace. Peyton really hoped he knew it was strictly friendly. She kept forgetting that she only looked sixteen.
She held the hug for a moment and then released him with a parting pat on his arms. Lex cleared his throat.
"Well, just trying to do the right thing, right?"
"Right. Now get home before it gets too late."
"I'll text you in the morning."
Peyton let her face fall flat.
"I might not be here tomorrow."
The idea didn't seem to phase him.
"But you might be."
"You can't just come over everyday if I am!"
He moved down the stairs and waved at her as he hit the unlock button on his key fob.
"See you later, Peyton!"
The house felt cold when she reentered it. She spotted a few staff members making their way down hallways, but no sign of the owners of the house. No matter their names they weren't her parents, and she was a bit confused as to how to refer to them. Nonetheless, she was less than impressed by them. Instead of looking for them she trotted up the staircase and back up to the bedroom that was hers. After going nonstop and worrying in the idle moments, she was exhausted. She really hoped that when she woke, she'd be home.
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Peyton woke in the rich bed again.
She sat up and froze as she took in the high canopy bed, large vanity, and scenic view out the large window across from her bed. Her face grew hot and eyes wet and her still groggy mind rushed through panicked thoughts.
How could this still be going on? How was she still here when she'd never stayed this long before? What was going on around her back home? Could her body back home die? Was it just laying in her bed, empty?
She put a hand over her mouth to stifle her crying. The thought of never going home again was too much to consider. Her lungs tightened and she gasped to try and catch her breath. If she dwelled on this much longer she was going to have another panic attack.
Peyton took several deep breaths and blinked her eyes dry. She kept trying to tell herself that crying wouldn't help, no matter how badly she wanted to collapse into a sobbing pile. She forced herself out of bed on shaking legs and committed herself to doing the same routine as yesterday. At least for a little while, she would leave her mind blank and run off autopilot.
She didn't even feel the hardwood floor against her bare feet as she finally shuffled out of her room and down the main stairs. Once again she found herself in the kitchens, dodging the chef and his staff as she raided the coffee pot.
"Miss Woods," the man exclaimed, "are you not eating in the dining room again?"
Peyton rubbed at her face and peered at the frazzled cook from behind her fingers. The poor man's face was turning red and he was more than obviously bewildered. Not for the first time, Peyton wondered how awful this other version of her was.
"I'm sorry," Peyton hedged, "I've forgotten your name."
The chef's expression shuttered and he clenched a hand as he straightened his stance.
"Randall Stanton, miss," he answered stiffly.
"Mr. Stanton, sorry if I'm bugging you, but I just… I like it better down here. You're kitchen is very homey. It's warm."
A few of the staff blinked in stunned silence and the chef cleared his throat.
"Are you feeling alright, Miss Wood?"
Peyton sighed into her mug.
"I've actually been better."
She offered no other explanation and they didn't pry. A minute later a plate with a french-style omelet, bacon, and toast slid in front of her. She felt her bristly mood melt a little and she smiled up at Randall.
"Thank you, Mr. Stanton."
He nodded an acknowledgement without truly making eye contact and Peyton ate silently as the bustle of the kitchen continued around her.
Afterwards she headed back upstairs; she was stopped once to be told that her parents expected her to dine with them that evening to talk and she vaguely acknowledged the message on her way back to her room. As she expected, there was a text on her phone when she flipped it open. Actually, there were multiple.
The first was unsurprisingly from Lex, and she responded that she was still in this universe before checking the next. It appeared that Annalise, the girl she'd roomed with at school if she remembered correctly, had sent her a string of messages.
[What's up? I'm having to spend time with the 'rents, so ugh.]
[French boys are cute tho. ;)]
[Why are you ignoring me?]
[PEYTON!]
With a roll of her eyes Peyton shot a text back pretending to commiserate on the topic of parents and let the girl know that she was busy herself with Christmas and 'hanging out'. With everything going on and what seemed to be her semi-permanent stay here, she hoped it wasn't permanent, Peyton wasn't in the mood to pretend to be a sixteen year old.
Her phone chirped and she scanned Lex's response.
[Are you ok?]
There was a bittersweet pang in her chest that he even thought to ask, but she shook sense into herself as she readied an answer. He didn't need to be worrying about her or her situation at his age. He probably already had enough going on in his life. She text back that she was doing alright.
There was probably plenty for her to be doing. Peyton wouldn't be surprised if there really was some project or report that needed doing over Christmas break, but she didn't exactly care. It wasn't her homework to do and she already had her high school diploma. No part of her was exactly keen on being a teenager again.
She took a stroll around the house grounds, with a jacket unlike the day before, and let herself not think some more amongst rose bushes and neatly trimmed hedges. As she walked down manicured paths, round and round, she could not help but start puzzling over her situation again. Revelations were forced upon her by her own logic.
She did not know why she was still here, but she couldn't change it; regardless of how unfair it seemed.
Hiding outside wasn't going to help her get home.
People in this universe might not be able to help her either.
She wanted to do something.
Peyton entered the mansion, shivering as she shed her jacket and found the right closet to hang it up in. Along the doorframes inside there hung well placed garland with a smattering of white lights. She eyed the decor with a small sneer of disdain.
It was almost cold. Obligatory. It wouldn't do.
It might not be the Christmas season in her own world, but it was one of Peyton's favorite holidays, if not her most favorite.
Yes, she was going to give herself something to do.
Peyton stopped a passing woman, her name was Mary, it turned out, and asked if she knew where the nearest craft room or supply closet was. Mary directed her up the stairs and to a door two down from her bedroom with a perplexed stare that told Peyton she should have known this information already.
"Thanks, Mary," she said with a sheepish grin as she darted up the stairs. "It's, uh, another one of those days, ha!"
She didn't know if Mary believed her and she didn't care.
The room was indeed a craft room, the likes of which Peyton had never dreamed to see. In her world, she had a desk and a couple shelves of supplies when she needed them. But this, this was just indulgent.
The space was probably around the same size of her too-large bedroom, but was lined with shelves on every wall and was dominated by a large work table in the middle of the room. With a grin she darted inside. A sudden determination overtook her as she gave herself a mission. She dropped a stack of construction paper onto the island and then dug around for a glue stick and scissors.
Peyton set to work making various lengths of paper chains, only breaking when her phone chimed. It didn't take three guesses to figure out who it was.
[I'm free; will head over.]
Peyton huffed and tried to work through texting with a keypad again. She'd almost forgotten how much she hated having to click through every letter to get to the one she wanted. Another message popped up before she could reply.
[And before you try to protest, I'm already in my car.]
She rolled her eyes, deleted her message, and started over.
[Get ready to be put to work, then.]
[Sure.]
She went back to her paper chains until she had a pile taking over half the island, then she switched to paper snowflakes. There was already a stack of ten of them when there was a rapping on the doorframe. Peyton looked up.
"Mr. Luthor is here, miss."
"Oh, hey Mary! Thanks! He can come up. If he's going to visit, he's going to help."
Mary blinked and stepped aside with a nod. The flabbergasted look she shot Peyton didn't go unnoticed.
Lex had apparently been waiting passed the door, because he stepped into view at her invitation and quirked a brow as he took in her craft explosion.
"Getting into the holiday spirit," he goaded as he approached the island. Peyton waved to Mary as she left and then shot Lex a grin.
"I am, and so are you. Grab some paper; start making snowflakes."
He looked amused by the order and the task, but sat in a stool next to her and picked up an untouched sheet of paper. When he just watched her for a minute, Peyton leaned over and plucked the sheet of paper from his hands.
"You fold it like this," she said. She creased the paper, pulled up the corner and pressed that down moving slowly enough that he could catch the process. When she handed the triangular piece of paper back to him, he was smirking slightly.
"I know how to fold a paper snowflake," he said. "But thanks."
Peyton scowled a bit and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear before turning back to her own work.
"Well, then you shouldn't lollygag. There's only four days til Christmas now and this place needs a lot of work."
"Ok, ok. You're the boss."
"Darn right I am."
"Darn? Really?"
"Shut up."
When they had accumulated a leaning stack of snowflakes and Lex started to complain about having run out of ideas for designs, Peyton decided they had enough to use for now and that they could stop. She eyed the piles of paper with a satisfied gleam in her eye and checked her phone.
"Oh, it's already lunch. You hungry?"
Lex dramatically sighed.
"Starving."
"Alright, come on."
She grabbed his hand and dragged him from the stool as he comically lagged behind her. Peyton laughed at his antics even as she continued to lead him down to the kitchens.
Most of the space was empty when they pushed through the set of doors. It was warmer, probably thanks to the ovens and stoves being used so often, and smelled of spices. Peyton let the sensations and scents wash over her as she let go of Lex and made her way to the pantry. Unlike her own home, there was an appalling lack of canned soups and boxed foods ready to eat.
"Figures," Peyton mumbled under her breath. She moved over to the fridge to look for leftovers. "You want anything in particular?"
There were a few glassware containers containing soup and another which probably held steak. Lex joined her in front of the fridge, scanning it quickly before moving over to the cupboard that held the mugs.
"Soup is fine," he said. "I'll get drinks."
"Something warm," Peyton insisted. "We have a holiday holiday theme going here."
"Of course."
She pulled out the soup and divvied some up between two thick bowls. Lex pulled his hand from his pocket and started on the drinks. Peyton sighed quietly to herself, wondering how many more times this would happen before she finally went home.
If she could still leave.
Both bowls were quickly hot thanks to the microwave, and Peyton slid one over to Lex over the counter as she reached for one of the mugs.
"I'll trade ya!"
Before she could grab the mug, Lex pulled it back out of her reach and slid the other one over. Peyton shot him a confused look and he smiled apologetically.
"Sorry, I like my coffee black."
"Oh, no problem." The coffee in the other mug was already lightened with cream. "You sure do have a good memory!" She took a sip before even going for the soup and nodded. There was definitely enough cream and sugar. "Pretty perfect," she complimented. "Unfortunately I can't take credit for the soup. Hats off to, probably, Randall for that."
"Randall?"
"He's the head chef. Nice guy. Today he made me the best omelette I've ever had in my life."
The soup was good too, of the chicken and dumplings variety, and satisfied the festive mood. Peyton hummed in contentment as she placed her empty dishes in the sink.
Her mother made the best chicken and rice soup.
She pursed her lips at the unbidden thought and whirled around to face Lex. He was just approaching with his own dishes and Peyton took them to put in the sink.
"I'm thinking sugar cookies," she said quickly.
Lex tilted his head to the side.
"What?"
"Sugar cookies. We should make some. It's a tradition at my house; a lot of people's house actually. You've had to have made them before."
He shuffled a bit and shrugged his shoulders.
"It's been awhile."
Peyton hid a frown and handed him a nearby bowl.
"Well, we'll just have to change that. Grab some eggs."
Peyton had the recipe memorized. Her family made these every year for the holidays, and also just when the craving hit them. She moved quickly as she hunted down bowls, measuring cups, and various ingredients. The actions sent her into back into old habits, which meant she tossed the baking equipment and ingredients back at Lex as if he were one of her brothers. He played the part well and without complaint, which was more than she could say for her brothers.
She easily fell into a role of leadership as she walked Lex through the steps and ingredient measurements. He made it easy, as she never had to repeat herself and he was more than precise with the measuring cups. Peyton started Lex on stirring the wet ingredients as she began sifting the dry ones together. She hummed a Christmas carol under her breath when she remembered that her flip phone didn't exactly have an iTunes app to open. Lex shot her a mischievous grin as she mixed in a small pinch of salt.
"Is that supposed to be Silent Night," he asked. "Because I can hardly tell through all your gurgling."
Peyton gasped in mock outrage.
"How dare you! I actually sing decently!" At his laughter she scrunched her lips and dipped her hand into the bag of flour. With a glare, she promptly flicked a small handful of the powder directly at his pristine sweater.
"Hey!"
Peyton laughed as Lex jumped back and dusted his shirt.
"Serves you right. Rude people get floured."
Lex's eyes glinted dangerously.
"I'd say throwing flour at someone is pretty rude."
His eyes cut over to the counter and Peyton realized he was serious.
"Wait, no!"
He had longer arms than her, however, and was able to snatch up the bag of flour before she could get a good grip on it. Peyton held up her hands in surrender as she eased away slowly. He hefted the bag in his hand with a grin creeping up his face.
"Look, we're even right now; you don't want to start this war. I'm warning y-"
A puff of flour cut her off as it landed smack on top of her head. Peyton coughed as she inhaled some of the powder and gaped at the smug teen across from her.
"You did not just do that!"
"Now we're even."
"Fine."
She scowled as she dusted off her hair and and ignored him as she huffed in irritation. Her eyes cut up to watch Lex, looking for the moment when his shoulders relaxed, and then struck. Before he could back away she snatched the bag of flour back from him, and promptly proceeded to take advantage of his hesitation. A fistful of flour was aimed at his face, even as he quickly ducked out of the way.
"Hey!"
Peyton laughed and chased him around the island in the kitchen, throwing more flour as she ran.
"Serves you right, you jerk! See if I make cookies with you again!"
There was flour all over the floor and even more embedded into the fiber of Lex's sweater. Peyton revelled in her victory. When she got entangled in battles with her brothers, it was always an unfair fight of two against one. They always teamed up on her and won.
Without warning, Lex stopped mid-run and whirled on the ball of his foot to face her; Peyton yelped and tried to skid to a halt, but all the flour on the floor made the tile slick. She backpedaled and her right foot flew out in front of her, sending her falling back. The floor was only an inch or two away when she came to a jarring stop. Lex had her free arm by the elbow and was supporting himself with the counter while he caught his balance. A surprised breath escaped her, her mind catching up with what had just happened, and then she looked up to Lex. He was grinning.
"Wh-oh, no! No! Don't you dare!"
But he had her free arm effectively restrained, and she was at too awkward an angle to really do anything about it. With his balance back under control, he reached down and pried the flour bag from her desperate grip and hefted it over her head. If Peyton hadn't been precariously balanced on the heels of her feet and by his hold on her arm she would have been halfway out of the kitchen already.
"Lex, we can't mess up the kitchen anymore; don't even-Ah!"
Flour dumped down over her head and shirt as Peyton shrieked in outrage. It would take so much shampoo to remove all the stuff from her hair!
"Lex!"
"What is going on!"
Peyton and Lex both jerked to a stop, Lex pulling her up so she could stand on her own to feet, and they cast guilty glances at the new figure in the room.
"Mr. Stanton," Peyton exclaimed. She pasted on an appeasing smile and winced as she saw all the flour coating the floor. "We're, uh, making Christmas cookies," she said. The head chef's face did not crinkle or curl up in any positive way.
"And," Peyton continued, "we are going to sweep this all up!"
Randall's brows sunk as low as his expectations of her.
"You," he said. "You are going to clean this mess up?"
"Of course!"
She'd found the closet full of cleaning supplies when she'd been on the hunt for ingredients, and she rushed back over to it to pull out two brooms. Passing one to Lex, she began trying to sweep up all the powder under the lips of the cupboards. Lex held the broom for a moment, looking between Peyton and Randall with a confused expression before she shot a glare at him and he joined her with a sigh.
With a small pile growing, she looked up at Randall and flashed a grin, her nose scrunching and turning up.
"See! No worries! I wouldn't leave your kitchen a mess like that!"
Randall opened and closed his mouth a few times and ran a hand through thinning hair.
With the both of them sweeping it didn't take long to collect a dirty pile of flour in the middle of the floor which was quickly scooped up and dumped in the trash. There was, however, no hope of saving their clothes without going outside and trying to shake them clean. Peyton went back over to their stolen counter space and scooped a bit of the dry ingredients into the wet ones.
"We'll just finish up and-"
"What are you making?"
"Peyton was showing me how to make sugar cookies," Lex cut in.
Randall shook his head and came over to the counter to see for himself. He studied the ingredients left out and then the dough itself as Peyton nervously mixed it. After a moment of watching he shook his head and took the bowl from her. Peyton made a noise of protest but he spoke before she could start arguing.
"No, no, this can be better. Let me teach you."
Inwardly she bristled as he dumped out her almost finished dough and started from scratch. She knew it was a perfectly good recipe, there was no need to get all fancy about it! But with a quick glance at Lex, and a shared look, she took a breath and forced herself to settle down. This guy was a professional chef, right? He probably did know a little bit more about baking than she did. As he ordered her to put her hair up, which she did sheepishly, and got into the groove of teaching Peyton softened further. The man's eyes lit up as he gave instructions and helpful tips and doled out responsibilities. He almost seemed excited.
By the time they'd gotten to rolling out the dough, a few more people had wandered into the kitchen and sort of hovered around the disturbance in the kitchen. One of the chef assistants was already mixing up frosting as Peyton insisted they cut the dough into Christmas themed shapes themselves since there was a disturbing lack of cookie cutters. By the time they got to the fun of frosting, Peyton had managed to convince the staff to actually join in, and the kitchen grew in occupation as happy chatter rose in volume. When they finally got around to eating some, Peyton was yawning happily.
Lex and she were able to escape the warm kitchen when the staff decided to kick them out, and sent them off with a few cookies on a plate to take with them. Peyton bit into another cookie and dropped her shoulders.
"Ugh, these are stupid good," she groaned as they climbed the stairs. "Curse Randall and his culinary skills."
Lex chuckled obligingly as he followed along after her. Peyton glanced at the time on her phone and ran her hand through her hair.
"Oh man, I've been dictating activities all afternoon. Is there something else you wanted to do?"
He shrugged noncommittally and flashed her a smile.
"I'm having fun."
Peyton grinned back.
"Alright. Then let's give these Christmas decorations an upgrade."
In her room, Peyton found a boombox and set it to a Christmas radio station. The people in the kitchen could probably hear the thunder of feet as Lex and she tore around the house, throwing paper chains over doorframes and plastering paper snowflakes to the walls. All the movement helped Peyton shake off some of the drowsiness that had creeped up on her, and she let herself really immerse in the holiday spirit.
Lex was taping another snowflake to the wall when she slid around the corner in fuzzy socks, a paper chain dangling around her neck.
"I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas," she belted along with the radio, "I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas! I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart!"
Lex's face twisted in amused disbelief as he watched.
"Oh my gosh," he said when her voice trailed off. "You're just a giant nerd, aren't you? You're not cool at all."
Peyton stuck out her tongue and wrapped a chain link around a staircase banister. Some of the paper was slightly creased from her performance, but it still looked decent enough. She smiled as she stepped back to grab another chain link and Lex helped her drape it over an ornately framed piece of art.
The numbness inside her, for now, was forgotten. At the moment, she was actually having fun.
The foyer of the home looked like something out of a cheesy Hallmark film when they were done and Peyton grinned in admiration when they stood back to admire their work. She rested a hand on Lex's shoulder, released a contented sigh, and grabbed another cookie off the plate sitting on the entry table.
"I love it," she said. "Much better."
"Glad to help by being your slave labor."
Peyton shoved Lex to the side and scoffed and Lex snickered as he caught his balance.
"Really though, I'm glad you're still here. At least for Christmas," he clarified with an uncertain look when she turned to look at him. "It's just that I haven't had a holiday like this in- in a long time."
Her throat constricted slightly but she swallowed down the emotion with a shrug. Half the cookie was still left, but she put it back down as all the sugar started to catch up on her. She stalled for what to say by pulling all her hair over one shoulder. They hadn't even done more than paper crafts and cookies. It didn't seem like a big deal to her.
"Well, I'm still here. We'll see how much we can fit in before I leave."
She idly checked her phone again and sighed as the light pouring in from the windows noticeably dimmed.
"I've been asked to eat dinner with the parents tonight," she complained. "Do you want to stick around? I'd understand if you didn't."
Lex seemed to deliberate on the idea for a moment before nodding.
"Why not? You might not be here tomorrow, right?"
Peyton slowly nodded in agreement.
"Right," she said, a hint of guilt marring her tone. "But we should probably get cleaned up first. Come on, there's a bathroom you can use upstairs."
She changed into one of the simple dresses in the girl's closet, because she didn't feel like dealing with any arguments that would probably start if she showed up to dinner in pants. Really, heaven forbid. It was definitely one of the casual choices; being a light blue with simple white collar and none of the frills or sheen that some of the other in the closet had. Her hair would have to go up in a clip because she didn't have time to wash it and there was no way she could shake out all the flour.
Back on the stair landing, Lex was already waiting. He'd somehow managed to get his sweater looking perfectly powder free and all around unwrinkled without more than a washcloth. Peyton rubbed at her eye and straightened her posture.
"Ok, you ready for this? Because I'm not." Lex quirked a grin and let her lead the way.
"I'm sure it won't be that bad."
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The parents were already waiting in the dining room when Peyton walked through the door. Both were wearing stern faces and Peyton hesitated before gesturing towards the entrance.
"Hey, I invited-"
Merrill interrupted by throwing a tabloid magazine down on the table; a glossy photo of Lex and herself dashing through the streets of Metropolis, holding hands no less, was printed on the front cover. Peyton cringed.
"Would you care to explain this?"
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Whoops! Looks like Peyton has some explaining to do! :P I love reviews and feedback, so feel free to leave any thoughts you have! :)
I hope you all have a great weekend and safe Halloween!
