A/N: This is dedicated to PatriciaMillerP on Twitter, who requested Peddie being soft with each other, and family drama. I had fun writing this for you for the exchange, and I hope you enjoy it! It is not set in a particular season, that's up to the imagination of the reader, but it's Christmas, and Patricia and Eddie are an established couple. If you've ever seen the movie 'Four Christmases' that is what popped into my head when I thought about what to do for this prompt. Both Patricia's parents and Eddie's parents are divorced in this. Also, I can't remember where in America Eddie is from, so for the sake of this story, he is from California. That will make sense later in the story. Rated T for language and mentions of sexual content.

Ms. Andrews announced that the students had ten minutes left to finish their finals before Winter Break, and then gave some instructions in French that Eddie Miller barely paid attention to. His eyes were trained on the clock despite having four questions left. The only French vocabulary on his mind were words having to do with food, of which he would be having plenty for the next two weeks.

He and his girlfriend Patricia Williamson were planning on two short trips to their fathers' houses for dinner long enough to fill their bellies and then jetting off to a romantic vacation for the holidays. They didn't know yet where they'd be going, but they wanted it to be just the two of them and far away from 'creepy towers'. Both of them were hoping they would be able to leave Mr. Sweet's place before too many relatives showed up. It would be easier to keep from being noticed at Mr. Williamson's since the attention would be on Patricia's sister Piper.

The strategy would be sneaking in the back doors, quickly grabbing food, hopefully avoiding saying hi to anyone, and then making a swift exit. Would it work? Only time would tell. The sound of Ms. Andrews clearing her throat brought him out of his thoughts.

"Edison," Her tone was impatient. She had attempted to get his attention several times.

"Yes?"

"Have you finished your exam?"

"Almost."

"Well, you have two minutes. I suggest you pay attention and finish if you want to pass this class. I have somewhere to be tonight," He decided it would be best to avoid a snarky reply of 'well so do I', and nodded, returning his attention to the paper. He sighed as he looked at the last couple of questions and circled answers he wasn't sure were correct, but at least it meant he was finished.

Plus, the other students had already left, and he didn't want to deal with an impatient girlfriend, so he quickly handed in his test. Ms. Andrews looked at his paper but gave no indication of whether he passed or not as she quickly scanned his answers.

"Have a good break Eddie. Merry Christmas."

"You too, Ms. Andrews," Her tone had been kinder that time. Perhaps she figured his daydreaming already had him in the hot seat with Patricia, so she'd let it slide this time. The women at this school tended to stick together.

God help him.

X

Thankfully, Patricia wasn't as annoyed with him as he thought she might be, so the ride to Mr. Sweet's was argument-free. Maybe the holiday spirit was rubbing off on her. There was something about her that seemed lighter since they got together, and since the latest mystery had been solved. Teasing jabs and insults were still a part of their friendship, but she had softened too, and their friends had all noticed. She was happy. He wanted that for her, happiness, and he was glad he seemed to be the reason why. His heart swelled when she smiled and there was plenty of that as they spent the car ride laughing about all the ridiculous shenanigans that had happened at the school that semester.

Snowflakes started falling as they drove, matching the festive mood of the decorated trees and buildings they passed. There was a Christmas carol playing softly on the radio, and Patricia turned up the volume, snorting when Eddie attempted to sing along.

"What? Those are the words."

"In the wrong key," She teased.

"Maybe it's the singer who has the key wrong," He feigned offense.

"Uh-huh, sure,"

"I think my way sounds better," His cocky smile made her heart warm as she rolled her eyes lovingly.

"Of course you do."

"I want a hippopotamus for Christmas!" He sang louder and she laughed.

"That poor hippo would hear your voice and run away."

"Nah they'd fall in love with me as you did. I'm irresistible," She smiled. That was a fact she couldn't argue with.

"Peace offering?" She handed him a candy cane and he popped it into his mouth.

"Hmm, I've found something else irresistible."

"Me?"

"Candy," He teased.

"Hey! You know that candy cane can't do half the things for you that I can," He raised an eyebrow.

"Get your mind out of the gutter!" They both laughed and he went back to driving, enjoying each other's company and the festiveness of the streets surrounding them.

X

The snow had started to fall harder as they pulled into the driveway of the Sweet residence. There were only a couple of other cars there, so they both hoped their plans to sneak in and out quickly with food would be successful.

They walked into the house and immediately stopped in their tracks when they realized the people they heard flirting in the kitchen where Eddie's father Eric Sweet, and their teacher Daphne Andrews. When the adults leaned in for a kiss they cleared their throats, breaking the two apart and sparing the teens from the aversive sight.

"Oh! Eddie! Patricia! You two are early!" Eric exclaimed.

"Dad, what the heck is going on?"

"What on earth do you mean?" He realized they were looking at him and Ms. Andrews who spoke up.

"Oh, don't mind me, children! I'm not your teacher tonight. I'm your friend."

"First of all, gross. Second, Eddie was asking why his father and our teacher were about to snog," Patricia made no attempt to hide the disgust from her tone. Mr. Sweet cleared his throat.

"Not that it is any of your business, but Daphne and I have been seeing each other for a few months."

"It looks like you've been doing a lot more than seeing each other," Eddie shuddered internally.

"We're gonna go-" Eddie, never one to resist food, cut Patricia off.

"We're gonna eat and then go."

"No need. We have presents for both of you," Daphne exclaimed cheerfully and they resisted the urge to groan.

"Fine," It wasn't until they were all seated at the table, and food was passed around, that the younger couple noticed the glittering diamond on their teacher's finger.

"What the fuck is that?"

"Edison! Language!" His father shouted.

"What is what dear?"

"Dad, why is she calling me dear?"

"I will not have you disrespecting your teacher and future stepmother in my house!"

"My what!?"

"Future stepmother? The headmaster and a teacher. Isn't that a conflict of interest or something?"

"No Patricia. It is not. It would've been, but I am leaving the school so we can be together."

"I just have one question," Eddie finally came out of his shock. "Why?"

"I fell in love with your father, and he fell in love-"

"Please don't finish that sentence."

"Watch your tone. I will not tell you again. It's Christmas."

"It's actually the Friday before Christmas, dad."

"Still, this is my home, and if we are all going to be a family-"

"This just keeps getting more gross. Let's go, Tricia,"

"Ok, you know what? Now I am your teacher. Unless you both want to fail your finals you will stay seated and finish this meal," Daphne warned.

"That's hardly fair."

"Life isn't fair Miss Williamson. Get used to it," She smiled smugly. "Eric darling, please pass the potatoes."

"Ok, can we have some ground rules if we stay? Like absolutely no pet names. I won't be able to keep my food down," Eddie spoke up.

"Then you should wait until I say this to start eating," His father replied. "Daphne sweetheart, would you like some gravy?"

X

They managed to make it out of there and luckily were spared from more flirting between the adults, but when dinner was over, and it was time for presents, they took theirs without opening them.

The drive to Patricia's father's house would take a bit longer, so they had plenty of time to detox before what would likely be another awkward family dinner. Patricia's mother had called while they were at Mr. Sweet's, and asked if they could stop by. They reluctantly agreed, deciding that if they got all the uncomfortable family visits done in one night they could have the rest of their break to themselves.

"Mr. Sweet and Ms. Andrews. I could've gone the rest of my life without seeing that."

"Yeah. I need to sterilize my eyes."

"Although I have to admit," Patricia teased. "They were kinda cute."

"Oh god, what has gotten into you?"

"Cute in a gross way, but don't you think there are people that think that about us?"

"We don't act like that."

"I don't mean we flirt the way they do, but we have our own way of doing it that might make some people gag. I mean Jerome has mentioned sexual tension plenty of times at dinner."

"I would rather not think about the sexual tension between my father and Ms. Andrews."

"She's gonna be Mrs. Sweet soon," She mocked playfully. "You'll have to call her Daphne."

"I will absolutely not be calling her that."

"Oh Eddie dear," She imitated Ms. Andrews's voice. "We are all gonna be a family isn't that exciting!"

"Why do you hate me, yacker?"

"I love you weasel, and watching you squirm is fun."

"You know I'm gonna remember this when we get to your dad's. Turnabout is fair play."

"Yeah yeah," They both chuckled and smiled at each other before falling into a comfortable silence.

A/N: This was originally going to be a one-shot, but now will be four chapters. I hope you enjoyed this one and thanks for reading!

Also, for anyone reading this that was following my old account 'mrandmrsstabler' I have deactivated that one and now just have a Twitter account for the House of Anubis fandom rather than a multifandom one. It is WriterKC1. My Instagram (writerkc) is still multifandom.

Thank you to Alexis for beta reading :).