A/N: Christmas drabbles! Someone may think that they're a Christmas present! But she'd be wrong! They're in the wrong order! Happy Christmas anyway!
Timeline:
1. 'In the beginning' Parts 1 and 2 (Chapters 13 and 14) Rusty is seven, Danny is nine.
2. 'Neverending Conversation' Parts 1 and 2 (Chapters 15 and 16) Rusty is seven, Danny is nine.
3. 'Growing Together' (Chapter 44) Rusty is seven, Danny is nine
4. 'Trick and Treat' (Chapter 34) Rusty is eight, Danny is ten.
5. 'Matilda and the Werewolf' (Chapter 23) Rusty is nine, Danny is eleven.
6. 'Something more than it should be' (Chapter 10) Rusty is ten, Danny is twelve
7. 'The humiliation of Norris Carrol' (Chapter 20) Rusty is ten, Danny is thirteen
8. 'Four Day Interlude' (Chapter 5) Rusty is ten, Danny is thirteen
9. 'Remember the first time' (Chapter 4) Rusty is ten, Danny is thirteen
10. 'Sunshine, smiles and sweet, sweet words' (Chapter 17) Rusty is ten, Danny is thirteen.
11. 'Lie, Cheat, Steal, Play' (Chapter 24) Rusty is ten, Danny is thirteen
12. 'View from the outside' (Chapter 12) Rusty is eleven, Danny is fourteen
13. 'When we were young' Part 1, 2, 3 and 4 (Chapter 25-28) Rusty is eleven, Danny is fourteen
14. 'And we won't get it back when we die' (Chapter 29) Rusty is twelve, Danny is fourteen
15. 'Walk before you can crawl' (Chapter 2) Rusty is twelve, Danny is fifteen
16. 'Other Nightmares Parts 1 and 2 (Chapters 8 and 9) Rusty is twelve, Danny is fifteen
17. 'Unseasonal' (Chapter 36 37, 38, 39 40, 41, 42 & 43) Rusty is twelve, Danny is fifteen
18. 'The more things change' (Chapter 1) Rusty is thirteen, Danny is fifteen
19. 'Different Roads' Part 1-3 (Chapter 31-33)
20. 'Words and Silence' (Chapter 22) Rusty is thirteen, Danny is sixteen
21. 'Six months of roses' (Chapter 18) Rusty is thirteen/fourteen, Danny is sixteen
22. 'Two stories with some understanding' (Chapter 21) Rusty is thirteen, Danny is sixteen. Falls within time of 'Six months of roses'
23. 'Stocking, Glitter, Snow' (Chapter 46) Rusty is thirteen, Danny is sixteen
24. 'Life Lessons' (Chapter 7) Rusty is fourteen, Danny is sixteen - falls within time of 'Six months of roses'
25. 'The lies we live' (Chapter 3) Rusty is fourteen, Danny is sixteen
26. 'All Fun and Games' (Chapter 45) Rusty is fourteen, Danny is sixteen
27. 'If the fates allow' (Chapter 19) Rusty is fourteen, Danny is seventeen
28. 'This is our decision (to live fast and die young)' (Chapter 6) Rusty is fourteen, Danny is seventeen
29. 'Such a perfect day' (Chapter 11) Rusty is fourteen, Danny is seventeen
And sequels after they move away!
'Adjusting' - two months after they leave town, Rusty is 15, Danny is 17
'Time to regret' - shortly before 'Learning Curve'
'Learning Curve' - eighteen months after they leave town, Rusty is 16, Danny is 19
'All in the family' - shortly after 'Learning Curve'
'Stockings, Glitter, Snow' - shortly after 'Learning Curve'
'Outward Ripples' - Rusty is 18, Danny is 20
'Eye for an Eye' - Rusty is 18, Danny is 20
'Chasing Echoes' - set after O11.
'Reconstruction' - set after movies.
Christmas 1979
Stocking
The woman is lying back on the sofa, legs spread wide. She isn't wearing underwear.
Dad's Christmas party is drunk, raucous and dangerous. Rusty wants to run, but the bruising grip on his shoulder makes that impossible.
Torn nylon is shoved into his hands. "Go on," Joe urges his broken-toothed grin filled with anticipation.
"Put the whore's stockings on," Dad snorts, shoving him forwards. He lands on his knees in front of the sofa, his face inches from her moist, sticky thigh. "Isn't that what every boy wants in his Christmas stocking?"
The laughter starts. He shuts his eyes.
Glitter
Danny leans against the wall beside the dance floor. Juliet Darcey's Christmas party. There's no one here he wants to talk to.
Annette Darcey slinks up beside him. "Did you see Mrs Freeman's dress? I think she made it out of a tablecloth. I don't think we should let that sort in here. Since when do parties get affirmative action?"
"You sound just like your mother," he says.
She flushes red and walks away.
(Maybe we all become our parents in the end. Maybe magic dies.)
He stares at the glitter ball, swirling above. It is beautiful and hollow.
Snow
Saul risks a glance behind him as he stumbles through the streets. The snow is falling heavily now. It will cover his footprints, and the blood.
He limps on, blundering into a crowd of people coming out of a church. Of course. It's Christmas.
Happy families cross his path. Excited children smiling up at their loving parents. This time of year always makes him feel like he's missing something. It's an old ache he's grown used to.
His breath hangs in the air. The snow is cold. If he lives through tonight, he will head to Vegas for a while.
Christmas 1982
Stocking
Danny doesn't know why he does it. This new apartment has a fireplace, and the moment he saw it, four months back, he got this idea.
He carefully gets up before Rusty and fills two stockings with candy, nuts and dates and hangs them from the mantlepiece. Mom never let him when he was a kid. She said it would ruin the paintwork.
He smiles. It looks like Christmas should.
Two hours later Rusty gets up and the look in his eyes when he sees the stockings makes Danny wish he'd thought to buy a camera.
This magic is real.
Glitter
He waits on their doorstep clutching the presents and maybe he's a little nervous. He's known them six months now, and that time has been wonderful beyond belief, but despite the freely-given invitation, he still worries he might be intruding.
A second later, Rusty pulls the door open, grinning widely. There is glitter on his cheek, and behind him, Saul can see that sixteen-year-old-enthusiasm and a glitter gun have transformed the apartment into something almost too bright to look at.
The glitter doesn't shine half as bright as the smile on Rusty's face. Right now, he isn't missing a thing.
Snow
The snow starts falling a little after three. Rusty stops and watches it out the window for a while. They say no two snowflakes are the same, though who checks, he can't imagine. Makes them all the more special though. Knowing that when a snowflake melts, there will never be another one quite like it.
He smiles back into the living room. Danny and Saul are having an animated discussion while Miracle on 34th Street plays in the background.
They have ate, they have drank, they have made merry and he is indescribably happy.
Times like this are like snowflakes.