Aburameclanhead: Jingle bells, jingle bells, it's almost Halloween. But it's already Christmas time for hormonal super teens.
Logan: Yeah, and my gift for you is some singing lessons.
Laura: Can we hurry this up? I want to give Shawn my gift already.
Aburameclanhead: Some people have no taste. Anyway, it's Christmas morning in the Xavier house and most of the students are with family. Only Logan, Laura, Shawn, Jubilee, Rogue, Bobby and Ororo are left. Bobby would normally be with his parents and brother, but this year their flight got delayed while visiting relatives out west. Ororo would be at her sister's tonight but she wanted to see Shawn and Laura exchange gifts and, although she wouldn't admit it, she was hoping to get Logan under the mistletoe at least once before Christmas was over.
Currently, everyone was still in bed, though most were awake already because of excitement. In-fact, the only ones still asleep were Logan and Bobby.
Ororo had asked Logan before if he wanted to come to her sister's Christmas party with her but he just reminded her what happened last time they left some of the kids alone in the house. Shawn, Laura, and Rogue he trusts. Bobby and Jubilee? Not so much. Besides, he didn't like the idea of Shawn, alone, with Laura, in a house that Ororo, for some reason, filled with mistletoe. So he was the chaperon for tonight.
Shawn didn't really know much about Christmas, except that it was a time for giving gifts to people you cared a lot about. This would be his first Christmas and he was going to give his first gift to Laura. He had been thinking about her a lot lately. She'd become someone very important to him, for reasons he didn't entirely understand. He originally bought her this gift to get her to stop being mad at him, but now that they were starting to get on more friendly terms, he was becoming more and more excited about giving her his gift. He hadn't let the little box out of his sight since he bought it, it cost a lot of money and he wanted to make sure she got it.
Laura had never celebrated Christmas before either. She never had any real experience giving a gift and hoped she bought the right one. In the short time she'd known Shawn, her feelings for him had grown. He started out as little more than an annoyance but quickly he became someone special to her. She honestly couldn't remember what her life at the institute was like before he arrived. She had bought the gift that she thought Shawn would like best but was starting to get cold feet and wondered if she should just hide it and pretend she hadn't bought it in the first place. She rolled over, 'No that won't work. Then he'll just think I didn't get him anything.' "Ugh!" she groaned into her pillow.
Jubilee was a little depressed. This would be her first Christmas since her parents died. Though she was secretly glad that Bobby was here. She had grown a small crush on him and hoped that they might get a chance to be alone tonight.
Shawn's alarm clock sounded and he headed to the bathroom with a towel a change of clothes and a toothbrush hanging from his mouth. Sound familiar? He's reaches the bathroom only to find a locked door.
"Occupied dude!" He heard Bobby's voice call from behind the door over the sound of running water.
Shawn was tired and a little bit out of it and started walking around to pass the time.
On the other side of the building, in the girl's dorms. Jubilee managed to beat Laura to the shower because she was having trouble finding the right thing to wear today, a fact that shocked herself almost as much as it does you, believe me. Anyway, Laura was now stuck outside the bathroom in nothing but a bathrobe with her hair in knots and that yellow stuff you find in your eyes every morning. And if that wasn't bad enough, Shawn's morning stroll brought him right to her.
"Hey Laura." he groggily greeted her.
"'Gasp' Shawn? What are you doing here?" she was surprised and tried to hide the blush creeping across her face. She was embarrassed to be seen like this before having a chance to straighten herself up.
Shawn was oblivious to her situation, his vision was a still a little blurry and his mind was kind of hazy. "Oh, Bobby beat me to the shower so I decided to take a walk to pass the time," he sleepily smiled at her.
"You do know this is the girl's dorm right?" she asked, grabbing the op of her robe to keep him from seeing too much.
His eyebrows raised slightly and he noticed she was in her bathrobe and she looked really uncomfortable, "Oh, sorry. I had no idea. Really." he blushed.
She put on a nervous smile, "No, I understand. It's ok."
"So I'll just uh,"
"Yeah,"
Shawn walked away to see if Bobby was done yet and Laura tried to calm herself down. Right about then Jubilee came out of the bathroom.
"It's all yours," she said perkily.
Laura just ran by her and slammed the door, leaving Jubilee to wonder what happened while she was in the shower.
Shawn headed back to the boy's dormitory bathroom. On the way he saw Bobby heading down the stairs to the kitchen for breakfast. Jubilee ran past Shawn and made her way to the kitchen too. He got in the shower and back out quick. He was in a hurry to give Laura his gift. He placed the small box in his pants pocket and was on his way down when he heard a knock on the door. He opened the door and was a little surprised at what he saw.
Laura was drying off after getting out of the shower. She put on the clothes she picked out for today, a black v-neck sweater with a white under-shirt and a pair of long white pants that she borrowed from Kitty, and began to brush her hair. Normally she'd just go through it a few times with a comb to keep it straight but she felt the need to look her best today and took her time with each brush stroke. When she was done she wiped the steam off of the mirror and couldn't help herself as she felt the corners of her lips curl upward. She could hardly believe it was her own reflection she was looking at. She had always disliked 'girly' things and often wondered why most girls spent so much time worrying about their clothes, hair, make-up, and other things like that, but seeing herself now, she was beginning to see why. She walked over to the laundry hamper and grabbed the gift for Shawn, took a deep breath and left out into the hall. The others were probably almost finished with breakfast by now. She walked down the stairs to the kitchen and when she arrived, the first thing she noticed was Shawn, the second was the boy sitting across from him.
He was blond with broad shoulders and an almost flawless, upright posture, his face wasn't hard on the eyes either. Shawn turned to see Laura and smiled. He started to get up but before he could, the stranger got up from his seat and introduced himself. He reached out, took her hand, raised it to his lips, and he kissed the back of her hand, causing her to blush, "Hello, My name is Warren Kenneth Worthington the third, and what, may I ask is yours?"
Laura's face reddened some, "L-Laura, Laura Kinney," she stuttered. She was used to this kind of feeling around Shawn but she felt a little ashamed that she was reacting like this to someone she just met, especially when Shawn was looking right at her.
Apparently no-one noticed the low growl coming from Shawn's throat, or the glass filings his claws were peeling from his glass of milk. No-one except Logan that is. Suddenly Shawn stood up and and forced himself, rather ungracefully, between Laura and Warren. He put on a fake smile and asked "So, Warren! Why exactly are you here again?"
Laura was a little confused about why Shawn was acting like that before it hit her 'Is he... jealous?' the thought that the boy that she's been so worried about liking her was jealous of a guy, just for kissing her hand, lit her up inside like the Christmas decorations all over the mansion.
Warren remembered what he was telling the others about before Laura came in. "Oh yes, I almost forgot. As I was saying Mister Logan, my father's pharmacy is working on a serum that will permanently take away a mutant's powers.
Logan stood up, from his seat, "What?" he slammed his fists down on the table.
Ororo put her hand over her mouth to silence a gasp, "Oh my,"
"You've got to be kidding me!" Bobby was the last, and loudest, to say anything.
Shawn looked down at his claws and clenched his hand into a fist. He turned to Warren and said, "Ok, I've got two questions, one. Why are you telling us this if it's your own father doing it?" he holds up one finger, "And two." he raised the second finger, "When is this serum supposed to be finished?"
Warren sighed and put his well manicured hands (something that really annoyed Shawn for obvious reasons) into his pockets. "To answer your first question, My father and I disagree on many things, including mutant rights. As for when, I don't know the specifics but I'd say that the serum will be finished in five or six weeks." he sounded upset.
Bobby smiled, "Then it's no big deal, right? We go in and destroy the labs and come home for a slammin' celebration party." he started to dance.
Logan shook his head, annoyed by the ice-cube's over confidence. "It ain't gonna be that easy kid. Anybody with Warthington's kind of money is gonna have heavy security, and I mean heavy."
Bobby fell back in his chair with his bubble burst.
Laura looked over to Logan, her face was as serious as it used to be all the time. "So what are we going to do Logan?" she put her hand on her hip.
"For now we're going to enjoy the holidays like we should and worry about all of this later." the older mutant replied.
It would be hard for them to enjoy Christmas with something like this looming over their heads.
"ALL RIGHT LET'S GET THE GOOD TIMES ROLLIN'"
Never mind. Bobby's enthusiasm wouldn't be put out as easily as they thought and, in a way, that lifted their spirits a little too.
Shawn saw Laura walking off to the living room and quickly followed, hoping to get some 'alone time' to give her his gift.
Jubilee had Bobby by the arm, dragging him off to another room saying she 'had something to show him'.
Warren said his goodbyes to Logan and Ororo and left for his own mansion.
Shawn and Laura were alone in the living room. There was an awkward silence. Laura thought that he may still be mad about the thing with Warren. She rubbed the back of her head nervously. "Shawn, about what just happened with Warren... I," she began.
Shawn stopped her before she could apologize and waved dismissively. "That's not important, Laura, I know we didn't exactly get off on the right foot, but I think you're a really good person and I'd like to put the past behind us and get to know you better," he had a big smile on that made Laura feel warm inside.
She could tell that he meant every word. "Shawn," a small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "I don't care if we got off to a bad start, the truth is that..." her face glowed redder than any of the decorative lights on the tree. "I have a...crush...on...you." the words came out a bit awkwardly but she said it and now she couldn't take it back.
Shawn looked shocked, then confused. He never imagined that Laura had feelings for him. He didn't know what to say.
Laura was worried that he wasn't answering. Did he not feel that way about her? She felt her heart start to hurt. "Listen, Shawn, I shouldn't of..."
"All this time," he interrupted her again, "The reason you were acting so strange was because... Laura I don't know what to say."
Laura felt her knees shaking, telling her to leave the room and avoid Shawn for the rest of her natural life, but she stayed. "You could start by telling me how you feel" she half asked. She wouldn't give up unless he outright turned her down.
Well, I'm not sure, I mean I really like you and... when I thought you were mad at me I felt sad. I was worried about you when Klaww attacked you in the alley way, and relieved when you weren't hurt." he pulled out the small box, "I bought you this gift to make peace with you and maybe get you to like me a little more."
Laura was starting to perk up, seeing a little hope in the way he was talking.
"I didn't really think much about why getting you to like me mattered so much. Then I saw that Worthington guy all over you," he scowled a little, "Seeing some other guy touching you just... I don't know, it made me so..." he sat on the sofa and rested his head on his hand.
"Jealous?"
His eyes widened. That was it, he was jealous. If he was jealous then that meant he had feelings for Laura too. He stood up and walked over to her, he took her hand and looked at her face. He noticed the hint of pink coming to her cheeks, "Laura, I think I might feel the same way about you,"
Laura's face lit up and she lunged at Shawn, making him fall down on the couch, laughing. She nuzzled into Shawn's chest like the first time he caught her, only this time she could enjoy it. He started stroking her hair.
"Wow, your hair looks really nice today,"
She looked up at him and smiled, "You noticed,"
He returned the smile, "I also noticed your new clothes," he whispered into her ear.
She smiled bigger and laid her head down on him.
He leaned his head back and relaxed. When he opened his eyes he saw something strange. "Hey Laura, what's that?" he nodded his head towards the ceiling.
She drowsily looked up and grinned. "Ororo told me about that, it's called mistletoe."
He looked down at her, and noticed the smile, "What's it for?"
She leaned up and whispered, " When two people walk under it, they have to kiss," before he had the chance to say anything, she slammed her lips against his for their first 'official' kiss. She didn't count the first time because he wasn't awake.
The kiss lasted for what seemed like hours, (really just a minute). When she pulled away she asked teasingly, "So? How was it?"
He sat upright and wrapped his arms around her back, "Too bad it's only for Christmas." and pulled her into another, more passionate kiss. At one point Laura thought she felt some tongue.
They pulled away and Shawn started on her neck, causing her to moan, "Sh-Shawn, slow down, we shouldn't rush things." she pushed lightly on his shoulders.
He pulled his mouth from the bend between her neck and shoulder, looking like he was coming out of a trance. "Y-yeah, I guess you're right," he lifted her from on top of him, stood up and made his way out.
Laura scooted over to the edge of the sofa, "Shawn, where are you going?"
He turned to see her, "I uh, I gotta go sit in the sit in the snow," then he walked out, making Laura tilt her head in confusion.
As he made his way to the main doors, he caught a glimps of Bobby stumbling down the stairs looking a little ragged. His hair was all messed up and he had a grin stretching from ear to ear.
Shawn couldn't help but laugh, "Hey Bobby!" he called up the stairs, The icy mutant looked at him, dazed and confused. "Nice lipstick."
Bobby snapped to his senses and wiped his mouth on his sleeve.
Shawn was still laughing when he closed the door behind him.
Meanwhile, Logan and Ororo were having a stroll outside.
"So Logan, is there anything special you want for Christmas?" Ororo brushed the hair from her face and smiled.
"Not really, I can't think about holiday cheer after what Worthington said. Besides, I've never been one for the holidays." he put his hands into his pockets.
Ororo's eyes narrowed, "Are you sure there isn't something you want?" she said backing him up against a tree.
Now Logan can be a little dense sometimes, but a blind man could see were this was going. "Well now that I think about it..." he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her up against him, but when he tried to reach lower, she pulled something out of her pocket.
"Mistletoe?" he asked, looking up at what she was dangling over his head.
"I think it's romantic," she laughed.
Logan pulled her into a kiss so deep, she dropped the mistletoe. However, when he tried to reach lower, he was stopped again.
Ororo pulled away and said, "Sorry, but it's not going to be that easy. Now I have to go to my sister's and help her get ready for the party. I'll see you tomorrow." She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.
And so she left. Logan was still suffering from the uh, 'ahem' effects of the kiss. So he found the nearest pile of snow and plopped down in it with a grunt.
"Logan?"
He sat up and looked to his right, "Shawn, what are you doing here?"
Shawn didn't exactly wanted to tell a man called Wolverine that he tried to feel up his daughter. "Uh, what are you doing here?" he asked back.
Logan lied back into the pile of snow. "Y'now what kid, never mind. I can't really lecture ya when I'm in the same boat."
Shawn raised an eyebrow. "Ms. Monroe?"
"'sigh' Yup. So you and Laura huh?"
Shawn grinned, "Yup,"
"Hehehe You'll be out ere a lot,"
"Yeah, I figured. Then again, that's what makes her worth going after. Right?"
Logan just smiled. "Y'know kid? You're too smart for your own good."
Shawn got up and pated the snow off of himself. "Well, I'm going to go give Laura her gift."
"Good luck,"
Shawn just wave behind him to show that he heard.
Meanwhile, Laura was still in the living room, playing with one of the lights on the Christmas tree.
"Laura?"
She looked over to see Shawn with a grin on his face as he walked over to her. He reached out his hand, handing her his gift. She opened up the box and saw a tiny ring, nothing all that expensive looking but instead of a stone for a setting, she saw the face of a little black cat.
Shawn was smiling, "When I saw it, I thought about you."
She smiled widely and pulled him into a hug, "Oh Shawn, I love it. Here, I have a gift for you too," she reached into her pocket and pulled out a long box with a bow around it.
He took the box and opened it. He was grinning ear to ear when he pulled out a necklace with a (fake) bear claw on it. He held it up to his finger tips and chuckled, "What do ya know? It matches. Thanks Laura," he said in a voice that caused her to blush a little.
"I though you'd like it." she smiled as he placed the necklace around his neck. She was only a little startled when he wrapped his arms arms around her and pulled her into their second kiss. It was enough to curl her leg like in those romance movies the other girls forced her to watch with them.
When they pulled apart, Shawn was the only one that could speak, "Merry Christmas Laura,"
She just smiled, laid her head up against him, and thought to herself, "I love Christmas,"
Aburameclanhead: So? How was it? Please review. I really enjoyed writing this one.