wowzers, rough chapter! Didn't have time to edit or anything, and I tried a new level of fluff. Bad combination, haha.
Anyways, I hope you all had a very merry Christmas! See ya in a few weeks! c:
Over the course of the next few weeks, Eridan and Nepeta went shopping for gifts and planned their trip. They both agreed it would probably be best if Eridan drove the entire way, and that he drive straight through, only resting when they arrived. Nepeta's parents were having a Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas day breakfast, and were expecting Meulin and her family of four.
"Meulin's got two kids- Catherine and Daniel. Daniel prefers to be called Dandy though, seriously, don't get that messed up. She's married to Gamzee's older brother, Kurloz, who can't talk. He can hear, but he can't talk, which reminds me-Meulin is really deaf. She has hearing aids, but sometimes they don't work and whatever. You don't have to use sign language to talk to them, but Kurloz will when he talks-or signs-I don't know, to you. My parent's names are-actually, just call them Mr. and Mrs. Leijon. They really appreciated that when Kurloz called them that. You don't have to get any of them anything, since none of them will have gotten you anything. But you should bring some sort of food-you did bring a dish for the dinner, right?"
Eridan blinked. "Um, that's a lot to take in, Nep."
She smiled. "You'll get it. Now let's go, go, go! I'm supurr excited fur you to meet my family!"
He took a deep breath and started the car. "At least one of us is."
She reached over and grabbed his hand. "Eridan. They'll love you. I purromise."
He managed a smile for her. "Let's hope so."
Nepeta was in charge of the map. She and Eridan had charted out their journey, and while he was in charge of the wheel she was in charge of directions.
"Take this exit!" She pointed.
Eridan quickly swerved into the next lane, and received an irritated honk in return. He flipped them off before turning to Nepeta.
"An exit already? We just pulled onto the highway."
"Actually, I just really have to go pee, there's a gas station right there."
Eridan crinkled his nose. "Oh."
"What? Squeamish at the mention of pee?" Nepeta teased. She leaned in close to him and stuck her tongue out at him.
He laughed and pushed her away. "No, get out of my face, I'm driving."
"Don't you like my face?" Nepeta asked, leaning in close to him again and batting her eyelashes.
"Yes, you have a nice face, and it's far too distracting, get it out of here," Eridan said, putting his hand on her face.
She giggled and pulled his arm away. "Both hands on the wheel!"
He eyed her and took both hands off.
"Eridan!" She squealed.
He laughed and grabbed the wheel once again, and pulled into the gas station parking lot.
"Have fun going pee."
"I will, thank you!"
He watched her run inside, and nearly bump into a tall man in overalls in the process. He chuckled as he watched her apologize excessively, and could imagine her voice in his mind. When she disappeared inside the building, he turned up the volume on the stereo and tapped his fingers on the wheel to the beat of the song.
A few minutes later, his phone went off. It was Nepeta calling him.
He eyed the screen and answered curiously. "Hello?"
"I have to buy something. They won't let me leave without buying something, and I left my purse in the car."
Eridan groaned. "That's bullshit. Whatever, I'm on my way." He hung up, made sure his wallet was in his pocket, and locked his car as he headed inside.
He found Nepeta clutching her phone and eyeing the cashier nervously as she stood next to the door. He grabbed her hand, grabbed a pack of gum, and slapped it onto th counter. The cashier rung it up, and didn't meet his glare the entire time. When she was handing him his change, Eridan said, "Merry fuckin' Christmas, keep your damn change."
"I didn't make the rules, asshole!" She hollered as they walked out.
When they climbed into the car, Nepeta began to giggle.
"What? What are you laughing about?"
"Always dramatic with you. Always gotta make a scene."
"She wouldn't let you leave-that's bullshit."
"Merry fuckin' Christmas," She imitated in his voice.
"Whatever, you were scared shitless. I was your savior, deal with it."
"Uh-huh," Nepeta jeered.
Eridan turned up the volume in an attempt to drown her out, but she immediately changed the station to a Christmas station.
"Really?" Eridan asked, annoyed.
"Yes, it's nearly Christmas! We're listening to Christmas music!" Nepeta protested.
Eridan groaned and turned the volume down. "Fine. But it's not getting any louder than this."
Nepeta shrugged and hummed along with the carols.
They repeated this pattern, teasing and bickering the entire journey. Neither one of them got bored of each other; and they certainly didn't pass up any opportunities to tease the other. The longer the journey continued, the more stops Eridan made for a caffeine fix, and that meant more stops to use the bathroom.
Eridan was debating to pull over for his third coffee at the next exit when Nepeta started shouting, "We're here, we're here!"
"Nep, we're literally in the middle of the interstate, no we're not."
"No but you see that house over there?" Nepta pointed to a house sitting alone in a cornfield, it had broken windows and weeds growing up to the second floor.
"That's a house?" Eridan sneered.
"My sister and I used to make up short ghost stories about it on our way up here to visit my nanna and papa!" Nepeta said excitedly, ignoring his comment.
"Nanna? Papa? Really?"
Nepeta was silent for a few moments. "Yeah. This is the first Christmas without them."
Eridan's smirk immediately fell. "Oh, Nep. I'm really sorry..."
Nepeta sighed and fought back the tears that were stinging her eyes. "My grandma died of a heart attack, it was so sudden. No one saw it coming, no one even knew she was sick. My grandpa died of what we think was grief a week later. He might have been dehydrated, Mom never told me or Meulin. They died in January, just after we had visited them for Christmas. Don't bring anything about it up, or make any comments about why they live far away, or anything like that. The house we're staying in was theirs, and my parents moved into it so it wouldn't sell away. We've got too many memories there."
Eridan grabbed her hand and squeezed it. Nothing was said the rest of the ride, until they pulled into the town which the home lied on the outskirts of.
"Is that...is that snow?" Eridan asked, pulling his hand out of hers and pointing at some snow piled up on the sides of the street.
Nepeta giggled. "Yeah, Mr. Loves-the-beach-more-than-me."
"Hey now, that's not true, and it's...I've only seen it a few times, and the rest all on T.V...is there more? Here?"
"Mom said it was going to snow a lot tonight."
"Really?" Eridan asked excitedly.
Nepeta laughed. "Yeah, and in our family tradition of sorts, we always have snowball fights and go sledding. You're about to get a whole lot of snow-did you bring a coat?"
Eridan paused. "I've got my suit jackets back home if that's what you mean."
Nepeta facepalmed. "Eridan. It is twenty degrees outside. This isn't Georiga, this is West Virginia. Why didn't you bring a coat?"
"I brought a scarf."
"Whatever, we'll probably have stuff for you." Nepeta gasped. "There it is! You see it? We're here!"
Eridan frowned. "Yay."
"You'll be fine, I promise," Nepeta said, smiling reassuringly.
"What if they don't like me though Nepeta...I mean, no one's liked me before, why would they start now?"
"Eridan, even if they don't like you-which I am pawsitvely confident they will-I'll still like you, and that's really all that matters, right?"
Eridan sighed. "I suppose. Of course, yea. You're all that matters to me, Nep. But this is important to you, so it's important to me too."
Nepeta leaned forward and kissed him. "It's fine. You're fine. Trust me, Eridan."
Eridan pulled up in front of the house and shut off his car. Nepeta quickly bounded out and unpacked everything from the trunk. Two figures stepped out of the house and waved at Nepeta.
"Mom! Dad!" She called out, and waved back.
Eridan shoved his hands in his pockets in an attempt to stop them from shaking. He approached the couple and offered his hand.
"Mr. and Mrs. Leijon, I'm Eridan. I'm er...dating your daughter. Nepeta, not the older one...Uhm, I'm Nepeta's girlfriend, I mean, boyfriend. Nice to meet you."
Nepeta's dad shook his hand. "Leaving her with the bags, eh?"
Eridan paled and whipped his head around to see Nepeta unloading the car.
He punched Eridan in the arm with a little too much force. "Haha! I'm kiddin' ya boy! Loosen up a bit, it's Christmas!"
Eridan forced a smile and laughed nervously.
Mrs. Leijon slapped Mr. Leijon in the gut. "Behave! You're scaring the poor boy." She smiled warmly at Eridan and pulled him into a hug. He froze under her touch and returned the hug hesitantly.
She pulled away and looked him over. "You know, I could hardly believe Nepeta when she said she finally caught someone besides old Equius. When she was a teenager, all she'd ever do is fantasize over other people's relationships and fictional men. I was beginning to wonder if she'd ever catch anyone! But never in my wildest dreams had I seen her with someone with the likes of you!"
Eridan laughed. "Oh yeah? How's that?"
"I may be married and older, but I know a handsome young man when I see one!"
"Mom, hush. Now you're embarrassing him," Mr. Leijon said, scowling.
"Um, I'm going to help Nepeta with the bags," Eridan said, red-faced.
He ran to Nepeta and grabbed the last few remaining bags off of the ground.
Nepeta led him inside and set down her bags on the kitchen floor, and Eridan followed.
The house was about three stories tall, and old. It was decorated with a very country, rustic feel, and had loads of pictures in just about every place you could find one. There were also Christmas decorations scattered about, like a Santa Claus statue next to the kitchen sink and candles with snowmen painted on them on the dining table.
"We're going to have dinner in the living room, hopefully the young kiddies won't spill their plates on mom's old couch," Mrs. Leijon said, gesturing to the living room.
"Ya hear your mother Neppy? No spills this year."
"I'm not a kid, dad, I'm living in my own apartment."
"Meulin's here!" Mrs. Leijon exclaimed, looking out the window. She rushed to the door. "Hopefully she forgot Kurloz at home," she whispered to Eridan and Nepeta as she shuffled past them.
Nepeta laughed out loud and Eridan only smiled.
"Nepeta, you got the spare bedroom next to the master bedroom. Eridan, I'll show you to yers, grab yer bag.
He led him into the basement. "Sorry yer room is down here, this was the only one we had. The grandkids got the couch, so at least be glad that ain't you." He opened a door to a room with a bed, desk, vanity mirror, walk in closet, and adjacent bathroom.
"This is pretty nice," Eridan complimented, setting his bag on the bed. Remembering what Nepeta said in the car, he quickly changed th subject.
"Don't you think Nepeta and I could share a room, and let the little kids get this one?"
Mr. Leijon sighed and clapped his shoulder. "A man's children are one of the few prides of his life. I already lost my oldest gem, I'd like to keep Nepeta safe a lil longer."
Eridan eyed him for a moment as he processed what he was saying. When it made sense, his eyes lit up and his cheeks burned. "Oh...sir, I wouldn't...I mean, we haven't even been talking for very long."
Mr. Leijon winked at him and left the room. Eridan stayed put, dumbfounded. After he recovered, he unpacked his belongings and shoved his bag under the bed.
As he stood up to go upstairs, he saw Nepeta leaning in the doorway, eyeing him. She had somehow made her hair longer, and grown a few inches. He took a double take and saw that it wasn't Nepeta at all, but someone else.
"Meulin!" Nepeta's voice called from the top of the staircase.
"Oh! You're Nepeta's sister, right?"
"And you're Ampora's little brother?" She asked worriedly.
"Uhm...I guess so. But we're really nothing alike, I promise," Eridan said nervously.
"I hope so," Meulin said, turning to leave.
Nepeta appeared in the doorway. "Oh! So you two have met...great! You'll get along purrfectly!"
Meulin smiled and pulled her sister off the ground into a hug. "I missed you little sister! Come help mom and me with dinner."
"Okay!" Nepeta said, beaming. She turned to Eridan as they walked away. "Well come on, don't just stand there by yourself!"
Eridan followed quickly behind them.
The next few hours were spent baking, or at least, Eridan thought so. He ended falling asleep on the couch and awoke to a small hand slapping his face.
"Who are you?" A voice shouted.
"Jesus!" Eridan exclaimed as he jolted awake. A boy and girl were standing in front of him, the boy was about five and the girl was probably around three.
The boy stared up at him, his brows furrowed in confusion.
"Uhm, hi," Eridan said.
Another person walked into the room, a pale man with jet black hair and skinny frame. He clapped his hands twice and the two children whipped their heads toward him. "Daddy!" The young boy called out, arms wide open as he ran to him.
Eridan got off of the couch and held out his hand to the man, who was now holding the boy on his hip.
"I'm Eridan. You must be Kurloz."
Kurloz smiled and shook his hand.
Eridan smiled in return and quickly walked into the kitchen, where he nearly bumped into Mrs. Leijon and the turkey she was carrying.
"Oh, pardon me-"
"Not a problem dear, not a problem!" She exclaimed, carrying on.
Eridan found Nepeta and Mr. Leijon dancing in the kitchen to a radio playing Christmas music.
Nepeta was grinning from ear to ear and she and her dad moved ridiculously around the kitchen, much to the irritation of Meulin and Mrs. Leijon. Her short hair and over-sized Christmas sweater bounced as she did, and Mr. Leijon's bald head was just a bright blur as he moved much too fast for a man his age.
Nepeta flopped her arms like a chicken and stuck her tongue out playfully at her dad. Eridan laughed at loud and she caught his eye."Eridan! You're the dancer! Get over here!" She held out her hands and smiled expectantly at him.
"No," Eridan said quickly.
Nepeta ran over to him and grabbed his hands. She waved their arms around madly and jumped, not in any sort of sync to the music playing. Eridan eyed her for a little while, until she stopped and started begging him to dance with her again.
"That wasn't even dancing," Eridan protested.
"Oh really? Then show me how it's done."
"Oh my God, Nepeta stop."
"C'monnnnnnn."
"Yeah, I wanna see pretty boy dance!" Her dad chimed in.
The song changed to something slower and Eridan eyed her deviously. He grabbed her waist and hand, and she placed her hand on his shoulder. She returned his smile, but with a more excited look than devious.
They started dancing, just as they had at the restaurant. Before they were even a few steps through, however, he grabbed her waist with both hands and lifted her up as he spun in a circle.
She yelped and dug her fingers into his shoulders. He laughed and set her down, but didn't waste any time moving back through the steps of the dance. She followed quickly and laughed.
As they danced through the song, he would every once in a while pull an advanced move on her that made her fumble her steps and once nearly run into Meulin. When the song ended, they were a grinning, laughing mess.
Mr. Leijon clapped his shoulder. "Nice job, sport. Those were some pretty great moves. Let's go eat."
Eridan smiled at him. "Thank you sir."
After he walked into the living room, Eridan turned to Nepeta. "Does...does he like me?"
She smiled. "I think so, but I knew he would."
Eridan smiled and kissed her forehead.
Dinner was mostly just Mr. Leijon teasing everyone and Mrs. Leijon shushing him or saying something witty in reply. Even though he was hardly part of the conversation, Eridan laughed the entire time and felt refreshed to see a family seated around the table without any fights or crying.
"I want to open presents now!" Dandy shouted at Meulin.
"Not tonight, Santa hasn't come yet."
"Santa!" Catherine shouted.
"Stop shouting," Meulin said.
"Santaaaaaaaa" Dandy whispered loudly in her ear.
"Stop! If you're naughty Santa won't even come."
"No! I've been good!" Dandy protested.
"Well good boys go to bed and do as they're told," Meulin said, sticking her tongue out playfully.
"I'll go to bed! I'll go to bed right now!" Dandy said. He ran out of the room and came back with a blanket.
"I wish you and Neppy were that easy to put to bed on Christmas Eve," Mrs. Leijon said, smiling.
"We'll see if he stays this way," Meulin said, pulling Dandy into her arms.
"C'mon Eridan, let's let them set up the beds for the kids," Nepeta said, helping him out of the chair.
"Thank you for the meal, Mrs. Leijon," Eridan said to Nepeta's mother.
"You're most welcome dear, goodnight you two, see you in the morning."
Eridan and Nepeta both said goodnight to everyone in the room, and when they were out of the room completely, Eridan scooped Nepeta into his arms off of her feet and spun her around. He laughed as he spun and set her down with a grin.
"What was that for?"
"I don't know, I guess I'm in the Christmas spirit," Eridan said, smiling. He kissed her passionately on the lips and she kissed him back, grabbing his face and pulling him close.
She smelled him again, not faintly like the white noise type of scent that lingered in his car, but the scent that hit her hard and made her heart skip a beat. His face was warm, much warmer than usual.
He pulled away and her lips still remain puckered and her eyes refused to open. She wrestled her mind back into consciousness and opened her eyes. He was smiling at her and she smiled back.
He laughed and shook head. "You are so cute."
"Go to bed dummy," Nepeta said, giggling. She pushed him away and made her way to her room.
"Goodnight, Nep," He called.
She blew him a kiss. "Night!"
Eridan made his way to his room and changed into a t shirt and sweatpants. He was asleep the moment his head touched the pillow.
Eridan awoke to a sound in his room. It was pitch black, and the only source of light was the clock on the desk. Without his glasses, he couldn't read what he said. As he tried to focus on it, it turned off.
As he focused a little harder, he saw that it hadn't turned off, but that someone was standing in front of it. He put on his glasses to find Nepeta standing in front of them.
"Nepeta?"
"Oh, good, you're awake. I'm really sorry to bother you-"
"Nep? What time is it even?" He sat up, and suddenly she had her arms wrapped around him, pulling him close.
"Nepeta-! What's wrong?"
"I miss them so much, Eridan. I had a dream about nanna, I had a dream she was having a heart attack, it was so scary, I couldn't do anything about it, it was so sad I miss them so much," Nepeta said, burying her face into his chest.
He rocked her back and forth, kissing her head and neck repeatedly.
"She's not hurting Nep. She obviously loved you. And your grandfather isn't missing her anymore. They loved you a lot and cared about you," Eridan whispered to her.
Nepeta sniffled and looked at him. She leaned in close and touched her forehead to his. He nuzzled her and kissed her on the lips.
"Stay with me." Eridan whispered.
Nepeta eyed him. "W-what?"
"Not...not like that. Just, sleep next to me, stay with me," Eridan said. He eyed her carefully, and she nodded. She climbed over him and lied down. He took off his glasses and lied back down. Nepeta rolled over on her side, and Eridan dug his face into her hair and pulled her close.
"I love you, Nepeta."
"I love you too, Eridan."
The rest of the trip was a joyful blur. It consisted of laughter and merry times, and many memories which Eridan intended on keeping for a while. Presents were opened, and to neither Nepeta or Meulin's surprise they received another homemade ugly sweater. The grand-kids opened at least twice as many presents as everyone else, receiving clothes that were tossed aside and toys that were hugged close.
Mr. Leijon opened a Rolex watch, and nearly had a heart attack upon seeing it. While that was most certainly a surprise to him, what came as an even bigger shock was the name tag. Eridan told him he bought the new model and needed a home for his old watch. He also tipped off that it might help with financial issues.