A Friend For the Holidays

A heavy sigh forced its way from Duncan's lips as he reclined on the couch, silently sitting by himself in the dim lighting. He had a can of beer in one hand and was scratching his stubble with the other, wearing a plain black sweater and jeans to fight off the cold. Snow was falling from outside the one window that his small and cruddy apartment had, blanketing the ground two stories beneath it. Today was Christmas Eve and, if he were anyone else right now, maybe he would've been feeling even remotely festive.

Except he wasn't. Far from it in fact.

It had been two months since he and Courtney both split up. In the couple of months prior to that, things hadn't quite been working out well between the two of them. The usual bickering and fighting between the two of them had gotten worse and the relationship between them both strained. It was only back in October that the weakened tether that held them together finally snapped, with Courtney being the one to break it off with Duncan. As a result of the breakup, Duncan had ended up moving out of the place they shared and moved into the dingy apartment that he now resided in.

At first, Duncan had been more than relieved to have Courtney out of his mohawk, thinking that he would finally have some peace from her nagging and upstanding attitude. He was a single man once more and free to mingle with whoever he wanted, no longer bound by a relationship. Yet…as the initial euphoria and relief wore off, a certain emptiness had begun to settle inside of him. He was free from being with Courtney…but he did start to miss her, even if he refused to admit it. Duncan somewhat missed Courtney's bossy attitude and tough love, no matter how much she bothered him with their usual fights. Her surprisingly tender embrace, her sparkling mocha eyes, her cute expressions that she made when he ticked her off...

"Pfft…Merry Christmas my fucking ass." Duncan muttered to himself, shaking himself out of his thoughts as he took a gulp from his beer can. Once he downed the can's contents, he crushed the can in his hand and tossed it over his shoulder, where it landed in a small pile of other beer cans near the recycling bin. The young man then stood up and stretched a bit, letting out a quiet sigh to himself. There wasn't much he had planned for today despite the holidays…so maybe he'd just go out and mess with some of carolers that were going door to door on the streets. Maybe that'd lift him out of his mood a lit-

Knock knock!

The sounds of knocking at the door caught Duncan by surprise, one brow raising as he looked over. He wasn't expecting any visitors today, at least to his knowledge. Probably someone trying to pawn off some fruitcake with his luck, if anything.

Reluctantly, Duncan then moved over towards the door and promptly started to open the door, giving the person on the other side an annoyed look. "Whatever it is you're selling, I'm not interested-"

"Merry Christmas Eve Duncan!"

One of the last people he expected to be standing there was smiling up at him, holding what appeared to be a small present in her hands. Zoey was comparably more dressed for the occasion than Duncan, wearing a festive Christmas sweater and green sweatpants. The young woman also wore a cotton hat to fend off the cold, though the flower in her hair poked out slightly from underneath her hat.

The sight of his childhood friend standing there had Duncan staring at Zoey with widened eyes, mildly surprised. "Red? What're you doing here?" Duncan asked in a questioning manner, giving her a slightly bewildered look. "You didn't tell me you were coming over."

Zoey chuckled lightly at Duncan's use of his nickname for her and warmly smiled, rubbing her arm slightly. "Well, I wanted it to be a surprise, since I figured you'd probably tell me to not come over otherwise." Zoey explained, glancing to the side sheepishly as she spoke. "And I wasn't about to let you just mope by yourself for the entirety of Christmas Eve if I had the choice."

"Trust me, I'm fine." Duncan insisted in an mildly annoyed manner, though his eyes averted Zoey's gaze. "It's not the end of the world because some girl didn't want to deal with me. It's her loss, really." Despite what he said, his shoulders did slump slightly, which Zoey had keenly noticed. "Besides, don't you have family that want to spend time with you?"

"O-oh! Well…" It was Zoey's turn to shift her gaze she bit her lip anxiously. "My family couldn't make it over this time around. The roads are too bad for them and the airports near them are packed, s-so…yeah."

"Ah..." Duncan answered, a pang of sympathy in his tone as he spoke. "Makes sense Red. I'm sorry to hear that, I suppose."

"It is what it is…" Zoey shrugged non-committedly, despite the hint of sadness in her tone. However, she then perked up and looked back at Duncan, smiling slightly. "May I come in for a minute at least? There's something that I wanted to give you for the holidays."

Duncan's brow rose once more, but he then simply shrugged as he stepped aside. "Come in I suppose, just mind your step, I haven't felt like cleaning up yet."

"I can see that…" Zoey thought with a hint of concern, her eyes scanning the somewhat messy floor as she stepped in. There was some trash lying around on the floor, partially made up of cans and old bags of fast food. Has he even been outside recently?

As she stepped inside, Duncan closed the door behind her and turned to face her, quirking a brow as he looked at her. "Nice…uh, sweater by the way, I think." Duncan awkwardly spoke, looking at the Christmas sweater she wore. It had a simple image of a stereotypical snowman, complete with corn pipe, hat, and carrot.

At the compliment, Zoey's own brows rose, but her smile widened just a tad and her cheeks flushed slightly. "Thank you Duncan! I found it at the bargain bin at the discount store." The redhead explained, reaching up and rubbing her sleeve again as she looked up at Duncan.

"Pffft, that explains a lot if anything." Duncan replied with a hint of a smirk, the first that he had given in a little while.

He received a light punch in the arm in response, giving a small "oww" as Zoey shook her head in amusement and exasperation. "You are such…such a butt, you know that right?" Zoey commented, though she couldn't keep the smile off her lips.

Zoey did happen to know about what happened to Duncan and Courtney, finding out not long after the breakup. She had gone to see Duncan a couple of times since then, but most of those times he had been in a mental funk. So seeing him even crack some resemblance of a smile was a bit of a relief, at least.

"You know that I'm going to always try, no matter what. You should know from experience." Duncan remarked, smirking still as he rubbed his now slightly sore arm. For someone as lithe as Zoey, she packed a good bit of a punch.

"Oh I know, trust me."

Zoey and Duncan exchanged a small, albeit slightly awkward chuckle before the former's eyes widened a bit. "Oh yeah, before I forget I'm holding it, here!" She then offered the small box out to Duncan, who received it raised brows. "I…I figured you were still feeling down about earlier, so…I wanted to make sure you got something nice for Christmas."

"Oh Red, you…didn't have to do that." Duncan quietly answered, looking down at the box with a curious gaze. The box was wrapped in red-and-green striped wrapping paper and felt somewhat heavy for its size, which only made him more curious despite his previously low mood. "I don't even have anything to give back."

Zoey continued to smile as she shrugged. "Don't worry about it. Like I said, I did it because I wanted to, not because I expected something in return."

"I…see…" Duncan softly spoke, still looking at the gift as he felt the wrapping paper up.

"Well, are you going to open it or are you going to wait until my hair turns gray first?"

Duncan snorted at that as Zoey lightly giggled, rolling his eyes slightly. "Yeah yeah, hold onto your pants Red." His gaze then drifted back towards the gift and, after a moment of silence, he began to rip the wrapping paper off.

Once he got the wrapping paper off, Duncan could see that the gift was a small box with a lid on top. Even more curious now, Duncan then gripped the lid and gently tugged it off, dropping it to the side…only for his eyes to widen at what was inside.

Inside of the box, protected by a Styrofoam mold, was a brand new folding knife. The model very much resembled Duncan's trademark knife, but had a much sleeker design and even had a nifty skull painted onto the handle of the blade. It looked freaking awesome…and probably very expensive as well.

Duncan found himself gawking slightly at the knife and pulling it out as Zoey chuckled with amusement. "Do ya like it? I also happened upon it while I was doing some window shopping. I took one look at it and immediately thought of you, so I went ahead and bought it. The cashier even wrapped it up in some wrapping paper for me!"

"Red…" Duncan then looked up at Zoey with what appeared to Zoey to be gratitude in his eyes. "I…thank you…the knife's fucking awesome." He sincerely spoke, gently fingering the handle to get a feel for it. It felt so smooth and cool, yet polished and firm. The knife was simply amazing. "It…I don't say this a lot and I don't say it to most people, so you should consider yourself lucky, but really…thank you."

"Of course! Anything for a friend, Duncan." Zoey answered sweetly, smiling up at the awed Duncan. She then clasped her hands behind her back and twirled on her feet slightly, looking over her shoulder. "Well, I should probably get going anyways. I gotta get some more shopping done before I head home and the snow is only going to get heavier, so I don't want to be out for too long."

Zoey then looked up at Duncan and, smiling slightly, gave him a kind hug. The gesture caught Duncan slightly off guard, his eyes widening as he looked down at the smiling Zoey. "I hope the rest of your holidays go well…and I hope you enjoy the gift."

After a moment, Duncan then took a deep breath and tentatively wrapped his free arm around Zoey's waist, hugging her back. "I, uh, hope you enjoy your holidays as well, Red. And thank you again for the gift…" Duncan awkwardly replied, managing a faint smile as he looked back down at Zoey.

"Of course Duncan!" A few moments after their embrace, Zoey and Duncan then finally pulled away from each other and Zoey stepped back, readjusting her hat slightly. "Well, I'll see you around Duncan. Happy holidays and stay well!"

With that, Zoey then turned around and started to head over towards the door. As she did so however, Duncan's brows knitted slightly and he looked back down at the blade in his hands. He felt…something…stir inside of him. It was hard to describe, but it felt like the weight that was in his chest had lifted just a bit. That he could breathe a little easier and think a little more clearly.

As Zoey started to open the door, she felt a rough hand gently grip her shoulder and she stopped in her tracks, glancing over with widened eyes. Duncan had stopped her in his tracks, but the gaze on his face was noticeably softened. "I…err, I know you said you didn't expect anything in return, but I think there's something that I can do for you."

"Oh?" Zoey asked with a curious gaze of her own, turning her head towards him properly. "What is it Dun-" She was then stopped when Duncan planted a kiss on her cheek. It was only for a brief, passing moment, but Zoey felt her cheeks immediately flush as Duncan promptly pulled back and put his hands behind his back.

The delinquent's own heart was racing a bit at his own bold action as he looked back at the flustered Zoey, a slight smirk on his face. "Would you like to come back over after your shopping and spend the night with me? Since you've got no folks at home or anything?"

Zoey stared at Duncan for a good moment, her eyes still wide as she tried to process the initial kiss. He had kissed her…and while her first instinct was to ask why, another part of her felt that it didn't quite demand an explanation. It did actually feel nice…she actually enjoyed that somewhat.

After a small pause, Zoey then raised a hand to her cheek and gave Duncan a warm smile, her cheeks growing rather rosy. "If you don't mind…I don't either, Duncan." Zoey softly spoke, still a little shocked but in a rather pleasant way. "I'd like to spend the evening with you."

Duncan slowly nodded in understanding and glanced off to the side, trying to fight off the slight smile that threatened to come to his lips. "Then don't take too long. It would be a shame for you to get buried under snow before you could make it back in time."

"Don't worry Duncan, I won't." The redhead chuckled once more and gave Duncan a wide smile, her face a light shade of red. It was honestly always a cute sight to Duncan, even if he would go to the ends of the earth to not admit it. "See you soon!"

With that, Zoey then finally turned around and, giving Duncan one more kind glance, closed the door behind her gently. Once Zoey was gone, Duncan had to step back slightly and rest his free hand over his chest, glancing at the knife in his other hand. Did…did he seriously kiss Zoey? And why did he? Was it out of gratitude? Out of habit? …Or was it some other really cheesy reason?

Duncan couldn't tell…and to be honest, he didn't quite care. For the first time in a little while, he felt himself grin as he pocketed the knife Zoey got him. Maybe this Christmas wouldn't be that bad after all.

A/N:Howdy folks, RF here! First off, I wanted to say that I dedicated this fanfic to fellow Fanfiction writer DarkAngelOfSorrowReturns for our Secret Santa Exchange! It was mostly meant to be just a fluffy slice-of-life AU fic for Duncan/Zoey, which I enjoyed writing out personally. It's been a while since I've written something other than college reviews or papers, so I genuinely hope that you enjoy the gift fic Angel :D

Another thing I wanted to mention quickly is that I have not forgotten about the reboot! I sincerely apologize to anyone who was following it, I've just been getting my rear end kicked in by college with papers and stuff, so fanfiction writing has taken a seat on the backburner for now. However, I do hope to get back to writing for it within the the next year hopefully, so hopefully I can work on that when college dies down *fingers crossed*

But yeah, I hope you all enjoyed this little one-shot and I wish you all a holly, jolly Christmas and/or happy holidays!

Sincerely,

RFtheGreat