Wednesday,

December 25th, 2013

A thin layer of white covered the streets and sidewalks, glittering snowflakes kept fluttering from the sky and fell upon the young couple strolling arm in arm down the street, a white and brown dog running ahead of them, relieving itself on the nearest street lamp. Jade pressed her forehead against the cold glass of the window and closed her eyes as the soft sound of Christmas music filled her ears. It was a perfect Christmas night. But something was missing.

She couldn't help but shake her head and chuckle at Aiden's cheerful smile as he bent down and placed a kiss on Amelia's grandmother's cheek, the older woman blushing and giggling bashfully as both of them were caught under the mistletoe. A comfortable feeling of warmth spread through her entire body when two familiar arms wrapped around her. Jade smiled softly and leaned back into the person behind her, releasing a content breath. "Merry Christmas, love," a husky voice murmured into her ear, almost drowning in the loud laughs that echoed through the Braverman living room.

"To you too," Jade whispered and craned her neck, only getting a glimpse of the serene smile that captured Amelia's lips as the blonde rested her forehead against Jade's head, eyelids hiding those eyes Jade fell in love with a few years ago. They stood like that for a couple of moments, basking in everything the other one was; breathing, feeling and simply enjoying each other. After a while, Jade released a light sigh and turned in her fiancée's embrace, her eyes watching as those sparkling hazel irises revealed themselves. Without hesitation, Jade leaned forward and captured Lia's lips in a kiss, feeling them curve underneath her own. "I love you," she mumbled against her mouth after she pulled away a little and felt her mouth forming a grin as her eyes dropped to Lia's lips, seeing the corners pull up almost automatically at her words. Amelia's arms snaked around her neck, keeping their heads close together.

"I love you."

Jade kept her grin for a moment longer before letting it drop, closing her eyes and groaning quietly. "I hate us for being so disgustingly sappy."

"We're not sappy," Lia argued with a shake of her head and a playful frown, "We're in love."

Jade hummed, her eyebrows twitching up. "I wonder how we'll be when we're finally married."

"Not much different than now, I suppose."

"How do you know? Maybe I'll drop the act as soon as you say yes and I'm going to show my real side. Make you sleep on the couch whenever you do something I don't like, stop listening to you when you talk, boss you around..."

Amelia cocked an eyebrow. "Don't you do that already? Boss me around?" She laughed when Jade sent a glare in her direction. "Kidding."

Jade groaned again, pulling Amelia's body flush against hers. "I swear, you'll be the death of me, woman."

"Let's hope not," she murmured with a smirk before letting her lips claim Jade's once again.

Blue eyes opened again, blankly staring out of the window and not realizing that even more snowflakes were falling now. If Jade had known back then that this would be the last Christmas they would ever spent with each other, she would have… she would have… Jade frowned. She would have done nothing different, probably. Everything was perfect. They were perfect and every time she would ask herself questions like 'What should I have done different?' or 'What should I have said instead of that?' or even 'Did I tell her that I loved her enough?' Jade always came up with a blank mind. In movies and books people always say that they have a feeling that they forgot to tell them something, or that they would have done so many things differently than they did. But Jade… She didn't think she'd do anything different, nor did she think that she should have told Lia something before… before she died. The only thing she would have done differently was that she would have stopped her from getting into that damn car, but that was pretty self-explanatory.

"Jade."

Jade blinked, flicking her eyes from the window to the glass of wine her brother held in front of her face. Taking in a deep breath, she lifted her head from the cold window and took the glass from his hand while muttering a quiet thanks. She took a sip, watching Aiden take a seat on the window seat across from her. "This is my third glass. Are you trying to make me drunk?"

Aiden shrugged. "Worth a try. Alcohol always makes you have a loose tongue."

Jade froze while taking a sip from the red wine and squinted over the rim of her glass at her brother. When she swallowed, the sweet liquid gave her a deliciously burning feeling in the back of her throat and she realized that she probably should really stop now because one more sip would probably be enough for her to start talking like a waterfall. Not taking her eyes off of her brother, she lowered the glass and placed it on the floor. "Why would you want me to have a loose tongue?"

"For a lot of reasons," he admitted without shame and released a sigh while turning to look out of the window. "What you were thinking about just now, for a start."

It wouldn't exactly take a genius to figure it out, so without much hesitance Jade said "About Amelia. About… our last Christmas together. Do you remember that?"

"Of course I do." A small smile crept to his lips before he let out a light laugh. "Lia's grandma and I were standing under the mistletoe together."

Jade nodded, not being able to fight off her own smile. "Yeah. She was such a nice woman. I wonder how she's doing."

"We could go tomorrow," Aiden offered lightly and ignored the way Jade's jaw clenched, "Together. They would be so-"

"No."

Although he had expected a reaction like that from his sister, he couldn't help but let out a tired sigh. "They invite us every year. I don't understand why you refuse to go. The Braverman's are as close to a family you have, besides me. Maybe it would make you feel better. Make you feel closer to Lia."

A bitter scoff left Jade's mouth. "You mean make me move on more easily."

"No," Aiden immediately denied, frowning, "That's not what I meant." The short moment in which Jade had been willing to talk disappeared just as quickly as it came, wrapping the room in silence. Eventually, Aiden tried to change the topic. "There's still one present you haven't opened yet," he pointed out and motioned his wine glass towards his coffee table where Tori's present was lying, the wrapping paper still untouched. Torn between being curious about what Tori had gotten her and the feeling that she probably didn't even want to know, Jade let her eyes wander to where the blue package was lying.

"I'm going to open it…" she said hesitantly and added, without taking her eyes off of the present, "…eventually."

"What are you scared of?" She heard Aiden ask but refused to look at him. When she didn't give him an answer – she couldn't, she didn't even know what she was scared of, – everything fell quiet, the Christmas CD Aiden had put into the stereo having ended a couple of minutes ago. But when her brother next spoke, Jade's heart seemed to skip a beat. "You care a lot about her, don't you?"

She scoffed weakly, tiredly, and closed her eyes while resting her head against the wall behind her. "What are you talking about?"

"You really don't give me enough credit, Jade," he murmured softly, "You have a habit of pushing people away when you realize you begin to care about them more than you should. You try to close off your heart but you'll fail eventually. You did it with Amelia. Now you're trying to do it with Tori."

Blue eyes slowly opened, finding themselves staring into their spitting image. The lines around Aiden's eyes crinkled as he smiled at her; he stood up, gave her leg a squeeze before walking over to the table to grab Tori's present. "Just open it. I know you're dying to." He handed it to her, shooting her an encouraging smile before he walked into his kitchen, leaving Jade alone. For a long while Jade just stared at it, counted the amount of teddy bears and candy canes, ran her fingers across the paper, and drummed her nails on the hard square. "Stupid," she growled at herself before she quickly turned the package over and plucked at the Scotch tape, opening one end of the present, then, after taking in a deep breath, Jade tore it open and a black square box revealed itself. When she opened the lid of the box, a small blackish stone hanging on a leather band laid on a folded piece of paper. Frowning, Jade lifted the pendant and looked at it, letting it dangle in front of her face. Holding it into the light, Jade saw that it was more brown than black, and a key ring was fastened on the other end of the braided leather band. Jade glanced at the box, then placed the pendant on her lap and grabbed the slip of paper, unfolding it to reveal a cursive handwriting.

Dear Jade,

If there is one thing I really hate, it's to see you cry. When I heard the story of this stone and what is said about it, my mind immediately went to you, in hopes that maybe, it could somehow help to make you feel better. If only just the slightest bit.

Merry Christmas.

Love, Tori

The Apache Tear

According to an old legend, one day at a party the Apache men were ambushed by an enemy tribe. They fought bravely but were greatly outnumbered and were driven to the top of a high bluff. Their arrows gone, unable to fight and unwilling to be taken captive, they leapt from the cliffs to their death. Their women were understandably grief-stricken and wept over their bodies, and when their teardrops fell to the ground, they became stones, today known as the Apache tears. It is said that whoever owns one of these stones will never cry again, because the Apache women shed enough tears already.

Apache tears are said to especially relieve grief and sadness, as well as help release negative energies and balance the emotional state. Also, they are considered to be good luck stones.

A little stunned, Jade lowered the paper and stared at the seat Aiden had occupied a few minutes ago. She didn't know what she had expected when she tore the blue wrapping paper off, but somehow… she really didn't expect to find something as thoughtful as this. Before she really knew what she was doing, Jade found herself holding Tori's present in her one hand and her cell phone in the other…

…

"So Tori," Trina said with a smirk and squinted at her sister across the table, "How's your lovely 'friend' doing?"

Before Tori could say anything, the confused voice of her father rang in her ear. "Why do you make air quotes around friend?"

Tori's glare at her sister intensified while Trina's smirk grew even more complacent. "Because Trina is a provocative, little wi-"

"Tori," Holly warned with a pointed look at her youngest daughter, "Don't finish that sentence." Taking in an irritated breath and looking down at her empty plate, Tori missed the curious look her mother was sending her. "But why were air quotes around friend?" Tori looked up, just to see a smirk resembling Trina's growing on her mom's face. "Are you not telling us something?"

"No, I-"

"No no, mom," Trina interrupted her sister nonchalantly, "I was just messing with Tori. It's just her friend." But after a long breath, she added, "A friend with amazingly swoon worthy pretty eyes."

It took all of Tori's willpower not to lunge over the table and wring her sister's neck, but when her phone vibrated on the table and Tori got a glimpse at the familiar name that flashed up on the screen, all thoughts about Trina were blown away. With hands as fast as lightning Tori snatched the phone up and shot up from the table, picking up and happily greeting the caller.

"Hey… Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you," she cheerfully said into the phone and hurried up the stairs, not even caring about the curious looks she received from her parents, and the knowing look Trina was sporting, "How's it going over there?"

"Good." There was a small pause and when Jade next spoke, her voice suddenly turned soft. "I… I wanted to thank you. For your present."

"You liked it? I wasn't sure if you would, and if you don't then it's totally okay."

"No, I… I liked it." While Jade blew out a loud breath, Tori closed the door of her old room behind her and leaned on it. "I feel really bad now that I didn't have anything for you."

"Nonsense. I don't want anything. You liking the stone is present enough for me."

A deep chuckle made Tori's heart soar. "Is that so?" the woman on the other end of the line asked and just the teasing tone in her voice was enough to tint Tori's skin a deep red. For the first time since she knew Jade, she was actually glad she wasn't here, because the bright flush probably made her look like a tomato. Realizing she still didn't give an answer, Tori nodded. "It is. Knowing you're happy is enough," she softly said and immediately cringed at the mushy mess she always transformed into when talking to Jade. Desperately she hoped that Jade didn't notice, or would just choose to ignore the underlying tone her voice just had, but of course, this was Jade. That laugh that made her knees go weak sounded in her ear but the words that followed weren't those that Tori expected. "Yeah, well… mission accomplished I'd say. I'm happy. Thanks to you."

Fireworks exploded in front of her, a deep feeling of hope brewing inside her stomach and making her lips curl into a grin. "I don't want you to get hurt by building up false hopes." Robbie's words were still fresh in her mind and while Tori knew that they rang true, she couldn't help but relish this moment. The phone line crackled a little before a sigh was heard, followed by Jade's voice. "Is it okay that I called you? Or are you missing important family time right now?"

"No," Tori chuckled and slid to the floor. She tried to keep her voice just as quiet as Jade's, to keep the weird but comfortable level of intimacy they've had with each other since their phone call had started. "I was actually really glad that you called. My sister was getting on my last nerve. What were you doing?"

"Oh, just… nothing. I think Aiden made me drunk, to be honest."

Tori laughed quietly. "He made you drunk?"

"Yeah. He bought really good wine, you know. I'd like to offer you some but… you're not here, so…"

Tori smiled and shook her head in amusement before Jade asked "Speaking of… when will you be back?"

"My flight goes January 3rd."

There was a long pause, in which Tori could only hear Jade's quiet breathing. "Oh… So you're staying in L.A. for New Year's too?"

"Yeah. I guess we won't see each other until next year." The thought sent a pang through Tori's heart. Even though she knew 'next year' wasn't far away at all, it was still far away enough. Pathetic would probably be the right word to describe herself, Tori thought absentmindedly but forgot about it when a long sigh reached her ears. "Tori?"

"Yeah?"

There was a moment between the stillness of Jade and the second she began talking again, where Tori's heart almost gave out for a millisecond, only saved by the enormous feeling of happiness and hope Jade's words caused, her heartbeat going crazy inside of her chest.

"I miss you."

A/N: Did this turn out good? I don't really know what I think of it yet, somehow it turned out how I wanted it to but somehow... it didn't. Anyways, this was a pretty quick update, next one will probably not be up so fast, just to warn you ;).