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#i don't think i mind fire/fighting that much? i'm glad they started switching it up with skeledirge—i think fire/ghost is really cool
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luimagines · 2 years
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I really hope that requests are still open otherwise please ignore my dumbass. But uh. I really liked the "zombie/braindead reader" scenario (Qiqi is a major comfort character for me lol) and was wondering if I could request maybe more scenarios with that particular scenario? I don't have anyone specific in mind but if you want specifics maybe like older brother Wind or Hyrule. Apologies again if I've done something wrong this is my first request and I don't often send in asks. Have a nice day.
Oh, of course! From what I've been told, Qiqi is from Genshin. I don't play but I'm glad that I got kind of close. ^.^*
Masterlist
You can read the first half here!
Content under the cut!
The group tended to move slowly in the rain.
Not out of want but more so out of need. And everyone hated it.
“Can’t we just stay put for today?” Four gripes. “If we’re going to take this long to get anywhere anyway, we’re only going to get more soaked.”
“If we don’t move, we risk getting sick and we’re still far away from a town.” Twilight knocks him upside the head gently. “If we get wet and get sick at least we’ll be close to a town where we can get medicine and fire and decent blankets for a change.”
Hyrule says nothing. In fact, he doesn’t mind the rain. It wouldn’t be his first time that he’s traveled like this and he doubted it would be his last. He was more concerned for their littlest member.
The child was still hanging onto Warrior tightly as the Captain kept to the pace of the group. It was impressive. He had yet to complain or ask to switch.
The child sneezes.
At that time Warrior had to stop. He didn’t like the look of their face. It was red and their nose was running.
While Warrior tried to fix their little shawl, he adds his scarf to the mix. Warrior wraps it around their neck tightly and he’s glad it large enough on them at it doubles as a blanket twice over. It’s a bit heavy and damp from the rain that’s hit it. But Warrior is banking on the little having blocked most of the rain from hitting it so that it would be drier than the shawl at least.
“I can carry them.” Hyrule blurts without thinking. “We’ve already been traveling for a while. You can take a break.”
The child looks up at him and sniffles. One of their tiny hands fights the clothe just to wipe their nose. Hyrule grins and uses the scarf to do so since it’s holding most of them down anyway.
Warrior looks ready to disagree- or tell him off for dirtying his scarf but now that Hyrule takes a good look at the captain, he could use a break. 
The little one hops to the best of their ability and bonks Hyrule’s leg with their head.
Hyrule laughs a bit and picks them up. He holds them the same way the Captains did and he’s shocked, and a little concerned, by how little they weigh. No wonder Warrior could hold them for so long.
“Thanks.” The Captain says.
Hyrule salutes back and gets back to walking. The child sneezes again soon after though and Hyrule starts to wonder if they’ve gotten sick in the process.
Suddenly, the rain stops hitting his face and exposed neck. It got a bit dark to- what is-?
“I have this leaf.” Wind holds it out over the two of them. “It’s not the best solution-”
“Thank you.” Hyrule offers.
Wind nods and tries to match his pace. Hyrule slows down to make up for their difference in strides so that it would be easier for Wind to walk by his side. The less frigid water that hits the little the better. So this make-shift umbrella in the form of one giant deku-leaf will have to do. 
The others catch on quickly. Once they notice that Hyrule and Wind are going slower than the rest, they seem to match their pace so that no one gets left behind. 
All for this one lost and quiet child.
“I still have some of my grandma’s soup.” Wind whispers in Hyrule’s ear. “It’s not much and it’s gone cold by now, but I can get Wild to heat it up real quick. They can have it for lunch. Hopefully that would help them feel better. I don’t want them to get sick.”
Hyrule nods. “That’s a good idea.”
Wind preens with pride and holds the leaf a bit higher. The boy tries his best to be under it as well but it’s not large enough for the three of them.
Wild comes up to them next with his own leaf and he holds it over Wind and himself.  He’s able to cover what Wind cannot. “Better?”
Wind nods and goes back to focusing on not letting the water hit the child.
Travel is quiet after that. Still slow, as it always tends to be. There are sniffles and more sneezes from the child but there’s little they can do about that until there’s a roof over their heads.
The rest of the group doesn’t seem to fare much after after the next hour. Sky has begun to sniffle as well and Legend looks a bit red in the face.  Four isn’t faring any better. Hyrule thinks he might have gotten sick the night before given his demeanor but he’s very good at hiding it.
Time looks tired and Hyrule knows that his armor isn’t helping him. Twilight smells enough like wet dog that Hyrule thinks he’ll pass it on to the others just by walking near them. 
Warrior is doing the best of out the rest of them. The lack of scarf is probably helping him... it’s a shame he looks like he’s freezing.
After a long journey, there’s familiar billowing smoke that appears above the trees.
A town.
A collective sigh of relief passes over the whole group. With renewed hopes and energy, they journey on.
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headinthestaticsky · 3 years
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Frozen Within the Night Wind: Jasper Hale x Fleur Swan, Chapter 11.
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None of the characters in Twilight belong to me, all rights go to Stephenie Meyer.
Authors note:I was reading up on the Newborn Battle and saw that it took place in June... I get that snow storms can happen on mountains but why is everyone else wearing jackets in the battle haha.
"When the mako flies Up from the bottom in your eyes Then I know the twilight skies Are not so broken hearted."
Stylo by, Gorillaz
Today was the day, they would finally arrive ending the constant tension of the inevitable battle. We all stood tense in the field, the wolves were hiding so they weren't immediately sought after.
"Fleur, do you think you could track Riley? We need to know how close he is." Esme asked.
"On it... They aren't to far from here, it'll take them about... 2 minutes before they find us. They're falling for Bella's blood trap quite easily."
"That's good, we don't need them finding her." Carlisle said.
I felt someone grab my hand I turned and looked at them, Jasper was staring back at me.
"We're gonna be fine." He said. I turned my head due to the sound of rustling coming from the far side of the field. I looked back at him and smiled.
"I know we are."
I then saw the crowd coming toward us, they all were yelling. We then began to run toward them as soon as the got close enough both Jasper and I punched two of the vampires heads off. The rest of us had separated at that point as the new born vampires spread out. Two vampires came toward me both of them trying to take out my head. I dunk under them both easily and took out there legs, leaving them defenseless. I then took off both of there heads, another vampire snuck up behind my and grabbed me by the back of my neck, I grabbed both of there hands and flipped them over, crushing there head into the ground and shattering it.
I looked around me and saw Paul with two vampires on his back, I quickly made it toward him. Kicking two other vampires in the process and flipping over another one that was being chased by a wolf before making it to him. I ripped the first one off his body taking it's head clean off with it. Paul had gotten the other one off of him and looked at me quickly before running off again. I ran toward a tree and rock, suspecting someone to be hiding there. My theory proved to be correct, I saw a girl coming out of the little nook.
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She looked about 15 years old and scared out of her mind. I stopped myself from attacking her and saw Carlisle and Esme next to me, we were unsure about her.
"Let's leave her here...I really don't think she'll try anything. She looks absolutely terrified." I said Esme and Carlisle nodded. I then ran back toward the fight. I was in the midst of a power struggle with one vampire, my arms, shoulders, sides of my neck, and cheeks began to crack from the pressure. It was unbearable, it was as if a thousand needles were stabbing each individual nerve rendering it useless. Suddenly the pressure was gone and angry amber eyes looked down at the vampire's dismembered body. I healed quickly thankfully and Jasper and I ran off together to defeat the remaining vampires left. They had all been taken out with ease with the exception of a few. Before we both could react a vampire bite Jasper right on the neck, trying to tear apart his skin. Jasper had let out a yell due to the pain and I quickly pushed him off of Jasper, stomping his head in. Emmett and Paul took out the last vampire. When we all dragged them to the middle of the field to burn them I noticed I never saw Riley.
"Hey... did any of you guys run into Riley?"
I saw uncertain faces on the Cullens, which gave me the answer.
I decided to track him, to see if he was still around. I saw him stalking up a mountain, Bella and Edward suddenly came into view.
"Riley... listen to me. Victoria is just using you to distract me. She knows I’ll kill you. In fact, she’ll be glad she didn’t have to deal with you anymore." Edward stated.
Bella looked terrified behind him. I saw Victoria come down a tree landing on a rock covered in snow.
"Don’t listen, Riley. I told you about their mind tricks." Victoria persuaded.
"I can read her mind. So I know what she thinks of you." Edward interjected.
"He's lying."
"She only created you and this army to avenge her true mate, James. That’s the only thing she cares about. Not you."
Riley turned his head to her, and an unsure look was on his pale, deadly face.
Victoria froze, her eyes slightly widened.
"There's only you, you know that!" She said.
Riley then began to walk toward Edward again, Both he and Bella backed up.
"Think about it. You’re from Forks, you know the area. That’s the only reason she chose you. She doesn’t love you."
"Riley, don’t let him do this to us. You know I love you."
Riley turned his head back to Edward a smirk was on his face.
"You're...dead."
I broke out of trance before a fight could break out.
"Guys...They're both with Edward and Bella..."
All of the Cullens's eyes widened with shock.
"Look I got a plan, Dean, you're the second-fastest in the family so you need to get that girl out of here take her back to the house... I have a feeling the Volturi are going to show up and I don't think they'll spare her. I am going to get as close to the fight as I can from the mountains and try to get Victoria to hallucinate again. We don't have any time to waste, MOVE IT!" I demanded before running toward the fight. I could hear Jasper in the distance as I kept running.
"That's my girl..."
As I ran it felt like I was having deja-vu, it reminded me of the ballet studio situation 2 years ago. That same mantra was going through my head. "Please...let me get there in time." No matter how cruel and unkind Bella could be...I couldn't stand the thought of her getting killed by the cold hands of revenge.
Flashback: 4 years ago.
"THAT'S IT... I CAN'T STAND TO BE AROUND YOU TWO ANYMORE!" I yelled at Bella and Renee.
"OH GET OVER YOURSELF, YOU'RE THE ONE ALWAYS CAUSING TROUBLE AROUND HERE!" Renee yelled back.
"Causing trouble....CAUSING TROUBLE? WHAT THE FUCK DID I DO THIS TIME?"
"YOU WATCH YOUR MOUTH YOUNG LADY! I HAVE RAISED YOU FOR 15 YEARS!"
"THAT DOESN'T MAKE YOU A GOOD MOTHER!"
"How dare you..."
"What did I do.... what do I always do? Want love? Reassurance? Someone I can trust? That's not "causing problems"... that's something a parent should give to their child. Oh sorry... both of their children!"
"Well...it's hard to give that to a child you just can't stand. You act just like your father..."
"You say that like it's an insult... my father is an intelligent, compassionate man, I'm glad you left him... I didn't want to see him get abused like me."
Bella just sat back and smirked, enjoying the chaos that was in front of her.
"If you love him so much why don't you go live with him."
"Fine... I will just buy the damn plane ticket and I swear I will never come back here again!"
"I will... Bella will finally be able to get away from your poisonous mind."
I scoffed and rolled my eyes before speaking again.
"Goodbye Renee, I'll see you at my wedding. I know you won't be able to resist showing up, you'll have so much fun at the open bar being the boozer you were meant to be. Your speech will probably be you upchucking on the stage. It'll be a hit with the guest."
Renee and Bella's eyes widened with shock. Renee decided to speak up.
"Like you'll ever get married... no sane person would want to be with a disgraceful woman such as you."
I ignored her, I stopped at Bella and looked at her.
"Isabella... get away from her, you'll end up just as toxic and abusive as she is." I then ran upstairs and started packing my bags... eager to leave.
Flashback: OVER
I ran up the mountain and saw a glimpse of the fight, Victoria and Riley held Edward by the arms and neck. Bella stood there paralyzed in fear. I prayed that this plan would work, I tried creating that image of James again but instead... my body changed turning into him. I stood there for a second shocked before making my way up to them. Victoria froze in fear, Riley looked at her in confusion, and Bella and Edward didn't know what to think.
"J-james... how... how are you here? She isn't here is she?" Victoria asked.
I prayed my voice would've changed along with my appearance before I spoke.
"Who? Fleur... no no no, she's too busy dealing with the army you created with... this pipsqueak. I said, my voice was not of my own.
She dropped Edward, which in return made Edward throw off Riley who was then dragged away by a wolf... it seemed to be Seth.
"VICTORIA!" "VICTORIA HELP!"
Seth pulled him down the slope, I could still hear him scream on the way down. Edward just observed us, pulling Bella behind him again.
"James... you have to understand I did this for us, I thought you were dead. Why didn't you come and find me?"
"I did find you...but then I saw what you were doing, whoring yourself out there after you came back from Texas... persuading that man by kissing him the same way you kissed me. You're disgusting!"
"James no... please don't do this."
"You should know...we began this by me hunting you... you've always been my prey. And now..."
My voice switched back to my own.
"I will take you out the same way I intended to from the beginning."
Her eyes widened but before she could escape I snapped her neck, ripping her head off a few seconds later.
"Whoa..." I heard Bella say meekly.
Edward handed me a lighter he was carrying, I lit it and threw it on her body, it busted into flames. I saw Seth carrying Riley back up, he too was dead. I threw him in the fire too, making sure both of them were taken out.
"Fleur... Carlisle said you could make hallucinations... but you completely morphed into James." Edward said in shock.
"T-that's the first time I have ever done that..."
Before either of us could say anything Edward gasped.
"What is it?" Bella asked.
"Alice needs us to go...NOW!"
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ethan-bears · 4 years
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Home for Christmas (Nolan Patrick x Reader)
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You've resigned yourself to spending this Christmas alone. But Nolan has other plans.
Author's note: I started writing this out as a thought to send to @lindylovegang for her soft thought night tonight but I realized it needed to be a small book whole fic instead, so I decided to do this instead of editing my final paper. This is also not edited. I might edit it later. Who knows.
Warnings: light swearing, holidays, slight angst but it gets fluffy real quick, it's my first fic so it's probably not great, I'm on mobile and I can't figure out "keep reading" and I'm very sorry
Word count: absolutely no idea but good luck fam
gif credit to: bretthowden
*****
This was not how you wanted to spend your first Christmas in Philadelphia. Ideally, you wouldn't even be in Philly at all right now. You should be on a plane back home to your family and friends and the warm, familiar streets of your hometown. You should be waking up tomorrow morning in your grandma's house with the smell of warm bread surrounding you like a hug.
But no. You were trapped.
The blizzard had started to roll in earlier this morning, and you thought to yourself that it wouldn't be that bad, right? It was just some flurries. They wouldn't ground any flights, right?
Oh how wrong you wound up being.
After three hours of waiting for news in the airport terminal, followed by another hour and a half desperately trying to reschedule your flight to a time that would still work and getting nothing out of every airline representative in the building, you somehow managed to get an Uber driver crazy enough to come get you in the ocean of snow. Fighting back tears, you tried to console yourself in the backseat. At least your apartment would be warm. And you had a little tree, so it would still feel like Christmas. You'd make some soup and Skype your family, and while it wouldn't be the same as being with them, it would be better than nothing!
"Reckless optimist," you sighed as you flipped the light switch to your apartment only to be met with continued darkness. Alone in a dark, cold, apartment on Christmas Eve, snowed in with nowhere to go in a city that came nowhere close to feeling like home. Merry Christmas. Slumping against the door, you felt your hot tears break free and cascade down your face. You decided to let all the stress and frustration that had been building all day take over your body, sobbing harder than you could ever remember. Each new wave shook your body, sending you to the floor. You didn't care. It couldn't get worse, so why not act like it?
During a pause in the festivities you decided to check your phone to see if you had any messages from your dad, only to find a text you definitely didn't expect from someone who was definitely not your father.
Sir Nolan the Rosy-Faced: hey, just checking in, i know you're probably mid flight rn but just wanted to make sure you land safely when you do. Crazy storm. Text me?
Sniffing, you paused to process the message. Nolan wanted to make sure you were safe? It shouldn't really have surprised you, but the fact that he was concerned enough to text you while he thought you were still midair was...touching.
You fired a short text back explaining that the flight wasn't happening, thinking he'd respond with a simple "okay" or an "oh, sorry to hear that :(". But the next text you got (mere seconds later) surprised you again.
Sir Nolan: oh my god that sucks! Wait.....does that mean you're home alone tonight?
Me: Yeah, and the power's out, so it's suuuper cold, but idk it's fine, I'll just layer up and go to bed early I guess
Sir Nolan: are you okay?
That one hit you like a truck. No, you thought, I'm really, really not.
Me: Yeah, I'll be fine
Sir Nolan: are you sure? Cause I can come over if you want.
Any other night, you would be losing your mind at an offer like that. Ever since you had met Nolan, you'd had the biggest crush on him. All other crushes seemed like weak sauce compared to how you felt about him. But you'd cried all your energy out. The best response your heart could muster was a meek, "Sure, but don't worry if the snow's just too much."
You were met with a resounding, "Already on my way."
You decided that if you were going to be having company you should at least get up off the floor. You shuffled your way into your bedroom, habitually flicking the light switch before you remembered it was pointless. You fumbled in the dark to your desk drawer, trying to find your flashlight, and once you found it you turned it on and started changing into your warmest pajamas. Now that you weren't just a puddle of self-pity, you started to think about Nolan's sudden inviting-over of himself. You first met him during training camp when your work friend brought you along to meet up with Travis, her boyfriend. She figured that since you were new to the city and also a huge hockey fan that it couldn't hurt to introduce you to some guys on the team and help you make some friends. You weren't sure what to make of Nolan at first. He seemed so quiet and awkward that you thought your own quietness and awkwardness would make conversation impossible with such a knockout of a man. You wound up being horribly wrong, once again, but that time it was in a good way. Neither of you were really the super-outgoing party type, so whenever one or both of you started getting exhausted with the atmosphere you'd usually drift off into your own conversation in a quieter part of the room. As a result, he became a good friend incredibly fast. It seemed there was nothing you couldn't talk about with him, even though you still got nervous about certain things. Like your personal feelings for him. But that had never come up before, so you were safe. For now.
You knew he knew all about how hard the transition to Philly has been for you. How homesick you get, how you can't help but wonder if you made a mistake taking the job offer that brought you here (even though it was your dream job), and how you felt like it was hard to click with so many new people. Which was probably why he seemed so worried about you being alone tonight. He knew you felt alone most of the time anyway.
An hour and a half had gone by and you were starting to get worried about him. He only lived 20 minutes away, and even with the snow, it shouldn't take him that long unless he was stuck and just too proud to call you. It had given you time to call your mom, which you were grateful for and made you feel a lot better, but you couldn't ignore the knot in your stomach anymore. You were just about to hit "call" when you heard a knock at the door. Or more like a thump at the door.
You practically sprinted over to open it for the man-sized popsicle with his arms full of grocery bags standing on your doorstep. You paused for a second with your mouth hanging open, both amazed by the fact that he actually came over and by...him. The cold made his already pink cheeks bright red, and the snowflakes were sticking to his long eyelashes and the free locks of hair that didn't fit under his beanie. You had never seen anything more beautiful in your life.
"Can...can I come in?" Nolan's teeth chattered, snapping you back to reality.
"Oh, yeah, sorry! God, Nol, you're shivering!" you remark, ushering him through the door. Not that inside was that much warmer, but anything was better than being out there.
"It's cold," he laughs.
"Wow, AND he's meteorologist!" you quip back. "What can Nolan Patrick not do?"
Shaking his head, he made a beeline for your kitchen, looking for a place to set his bags down.
"Took me forever to find a place that was still open tonight," he muttered, pulling what looked in the dark like to-go boxes out of one of the bags. You shined your flashlight up to the ceiling to make it light the whole room as Nolan continued to pull items from his three bags. You just stood there, still dumbfounded by him.
"Pat... what's all this?" you manage to squeak out.
"This," he said, pointing to the to-go tubs, "is soup. I'm not completely sure what kind, but I figured soup would be the best thing no matter what. I didn't know if you had any crackers, so I brought some saltines. And some oranges because I knew you'd want something fruity and healthy and oranges are festive. And this," he pulled a thermos out of the second bag, "is hot chocolate. Made it myself." He grinned, sliding it towards you, obviously proud of himself. You could barely contain your own grin, feeling yourself blush. You were proud of him too.
"I saved the best for last," he continued once you took a sip of the cocoa. You frowned.
"What else could you possibly have brought?" you asked, genuinely astonished.
He looked you in the eyes and gave you a smirk. Holy hell. You were glad he probably couldn't see how pink your own cheeks were getting. The things he did to you and he didn't even know.
He carefully pulled a basket out of the last bag, and you could see it was full of a bunch of other things. You couldn't believe it.
"Nolan..." You trailed off, feeling the tears starting to well up again. Inside the basket were a bunch of little gifts with a note that read "For: y/n, From: Us". It had some of your favorite candies, one of those cheesy home-state-scented candles, a scarf with your home team's name and logo on it, and a tin of your favorite tea from a tiny local tea shop in your home town. You tried your best to fight the tears, but you weren't strong enough, rendered useless from your earlier fit.
"Nol-" You couldn't even finish your question before your own sob choked you. You set your thermos and flashlight down to bury your face in your hands.
"Hey, hey," Nolan whispered, pulling you into a hug. You wasted no time in hugging him back, squeezing him as you sobbed into his chest. "Shhhh, it's okay," he muttered to the top of your head. He slowly ran a hand up and down your back, rocking you back and forth. It only made you more emotional. He had never hugged you before, and you hadn't been hugged like this in what felt like years. You just wanted to stay there in his arms forever and ignore the world around you.
"It was a team effort," he continued. "Some of us thought you could use some things that remind you of home."
"Who...who found the tea?" you said into his chest, muffled by his sweater.
"What?" He smiled, pulling out of the hug a bit to let you speak up.
You wiped your face and took a breath. "Who found the tea?"
He pulled the rest of the way out of the hug, much to your disappointment. He leaned his head down, staring at the floor.
"That was me," he mumbled, tucking a loose strand of hair behind his ear. "I remembered you mentioning it, and it was hard to work out, but they agreed to send me some." Somehow, his voice kept getting lower and lower.
You could hardly believe your ears. He remembered that? You swore you had only mentioned it once in passing after you got a really disappointing chai from a coffee place down the street. You had no idea he had been paying attention. And he went to all the trouble of getting a store with a locals-only business model to ship a product long-distance. You started to wonder if.... No, you thought, don't get your hopes up again tonight.
You stared at him for another moment, trying to soak in the situation. He seemed surprised when you went back in for another hug.
"Thank you so much!" you whisper, knowing that if you said it any louder you'd start crying again. You could feel him relax into the hug and gave him a little squeeze before you ended it.
"Soup time?"
"Soup time." Nolan nodded, practically beaming.
You sat on the couch, eating as carefully as you could in the dark, though your eyes were getting pretty adjusted. From then on, it was conversation as usual. It came so naturally with him that even when you weren't saying anything, you were still happy. You exchanged stories about your favorite Christmases, what you thought the best cookies are, and weird things your families do during the holidays for hours, barely even noticing the time or the cold.  At some point Nolan had pulled the blankets off the back of the couch and tossed them over both your laps. You didn't notice that you'd been getting closer and closer to him with every story until you laughed so hard you fell on his shoulder.
"Stop laughing!" He pouted, audibly trying to stifle his own laugh. "I almost got hypothermia. I could've died!"
"I can't...I can't!" you breathe between laughs. "You fell through the ice...but just one leg?!"
"Yeah, and I was stuck there on my side almost doing the splits between the ice and the water and my sister just stood there laughing. Just like you!" He nudged you, pretending to be annoyed. "But eventually she pulled me out and carried me back home. Couldn't move my leg for hours, it was just sticking straight out like..." He stuck his leg in the air, demonstrating, and only making you laugh harder. You could hardly breathe. You knew it probably felt funnier because of how exhausted you were, but you didn't care. Nolan had put a smile back on your face and back in your heart.
"Hey, Nolan?"
"Yeah?"
You swallowed. "I just... I'm not complaining that you're here, obviously, but... weren't you planning on spending tonight with Kevin and his family?"
"I was, but they've got each other, and someone else who's super special to me was sad and alone, which made me really sad to think about. You deserve to be happy and I wanted to help. Easiest decision I've ever made."
You really did not have it in you for another cry, so you settled for teasing him instead.
"That's really cheesy of you, softie."
"Take it while you can," he laughed.
"I know," you smiled.
Your eyes were starting to feel heavy and you let out a jaw-cracking yawn.
"Damn," Nolan remarked. You grunted in response, earning another laugh from him. "Wanna lay down?"
You nodded, leaning into his shoulder.
"You're warm," you sleepily drawl. You wanted to lay down, but you didn't want to get up to go to your bed. You wanted more snuggles, and right now you didn't care if he read into it or not.
He seemed to get the message, moving to lay down and taking you with him. He wrapped his arms around you after making sure the blankets covered you both as much as possible. You smiled contentedly, settling into your position and closing your eyes. You barely had time to contemplate how touchy he was being tonight compared to his normal reservations about hugs and touching before you were completely gone.
*****
Nolan woke up first the next morning. He was careful to move as little as possible to avoid waking you up. You looked so peaceful, curled up with your head on his chest. He felt his heart swell as you shifted to wrap your arms around his torso and fell back asleep within seconds. He smiled down at you, noticing how beautiful you were, even with your messy bedhead and your cheek squished against his chest. He wanted to stay in this moment forever. Just the two of you.
The power had come back on at some point during the night, so it was no longer freezing in the apartment, and the lights on your tiny tree had come on as well. He glanced back over to the kitchen to the basket on the counter. It had been embarrassing enough to admit to being the one who hunted down the tea like a police dog, so he left out the part about the whole gift basket being his idea in the first place. He would've bought you everything himself, but he wanted you to know that you had other friends, too, and that they wanted to show you that they were thinking of you. The scarf was Carter's idea, the candy TK's. Claude had suggested the candle, and being the local expert on how to be good to the woman he loved, Nolan took the advice and bought the candle as well. It did make him strangely jealous of your hometown in a way he couldn't quite explain. He was worried that you would be looking for any excuse to move back home, which he really didn't want. If it made you happy, then of course he'd support you, but he'd never felt for anyone the way he felt about you. The way you laugh, how passionate you get when you talk about something you care about, whether that's a person, a subject, a place, or what the best pizza topping is. He loved everything down to the way you word your sentences. He loved how much you loved.
He was awoken from his thoughts by you stirring and opening your eyes to look at him.
"Merry Christmas," you mumbled.
"Merry Christmas," he mumbled back.
You laid your head back down, enjoying the comforting rise and fall of his chest.
"You hungry? I can try and make you some breakfast. Emphasis on try," Nolan offered.
You laughed at the thought. "That'd be nice. But I don't wanna get up."
"Me neither," he sighed, tracing his thumb along your arm. He was not ready for when you suddenly shot off the couch, eyes manic and wide.
"Oh my god!" you shouted. "I didn't get you anything for Christmas! And you did all that last night!" You waved your hand at the kitchen. Nolan sat up, confused and cold, missing the weight of you on him.
"It's okay, y/n! I wasn't expecting anything."
"No, okay, I'm making you breakfast, and it's gonna be the best damn breakfast I've ever made. Lay back down," you insisted, marching off to the kitchen, wincing at the still-cold floor.
As nice as it sounded to stay under the warm blankets, Nolan didn't want to just sit there doing nothing. Suddenly he had an idea, even though it was a risky one. He decided it was a risk he needed to take eventually.
"Get out!" you playfully threatened, brandishing a spatula at him as he stepped into the kitchen. He put his hands up in mock surrender.
"I won't touch!"
"Good," you smirk, turning back to your pan.
Nolan shuffled around nervously, working up the courage to say what he wanted to. He swallowed and took a deep breath.
"I, uh...I have an idea for what you can give me. If you, uh, still want to give me something. Besides breakfast, I mean." Smooth, Patrick, he thought.
"What's that?" You met his gaze, making his stomach flip. The things you do to him and you have no idea.
"Maybe we can go out sometime? Like, just us. On purpose. To dinner or something?"
You looked like a deer caught in the headlights, making Nolan immediately second-guess himself. He bashfully broke your eye contact, focusing on the floor again. He felt the blush on his cheeks worsening.
"Are you... serious?" you ask, voice full of wonder.
"Of course I am!" he mumbled insistently. "Wouldn't ask if I wasn't."
You almost knocked him over with the force of your hug, a truly impressive feat.
"Yes, yes, a thousand times, yes!!!" you laughed, not even bothering to play it cool. Nolan smiled so much it started to hurt, but he didn't care. He felt like he could take off and fly, he was so relieved. The weight of the world was replaced by the weight of you clinging to his shoulders. And he couldn't imagine a better way to spend his Christmas. Maybe, just maybe, he thought, Christmas would be like this forever from now on.
*****
You relaxed into Nolan's arms as he followed you back to the stove, hugging you from behind and resting his chin on your shoulder. Suddenly, you felt something more than the giddy high of getting asked out by your crush. You felt a sort of peace you hadn't felt since before you moved.
You were home for Christmas.
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