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littlemissmentallyunstable · 15 days ago

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title: my disappearing secret

pairing: toby hawthorne x hannah rooney

synopsis: hannah thought she’d never see her toby again, he’d left her once, then twice but maybe just maybe third time’s a charm

warnings: SPOILERS FOR GAMES UNTOLD!!

a/n: for @lila-77 merry christmas my love!! 🎄❤️🤍💚

taglist: @lovethornes @whatsamongus @wish-i-were-heather @inmyheaddd @never-enough-novels @fleuriosa @midiosaamor @sweetreveriee @emelia07 @f4iry-bell @zaraaaabear @thoughtdaughter3 @benny1989fredd @elysianwayy77 @maybxlle @sheisntyou @anintellectualintellectual @aleatorio1234 @adalia-jaycee @off-to-the-r4ces @lyra-kane @reminiscentreader @lyrakanefanatic @imaseabear @elizaa31 @loveinalocket @lanterns-and-daydreams @hermesenthusiast @eternal--dream @shattered-glass-roses

She felt his gaze before she even turned around. But it couldn’t really be him, could it? She thought she might be making it all up in her mind, yet she still whispered his name aloud, just incase maybe this time she wasn’t fantasising, incase this time he was actually there.

“Harry?”

There was one beat. Disappointment flooded through her, of course he wasn’t there. She’s been stupid to think it. Massaging her temples she carried on with her job. Then there was a second beat. ‘He’s not coming back Hannah’ she silently reminded herself.

“Hannah.”

Her heart almost stopped beating as all the oxygen was robbed from her lungs. She spun around, she had to see if it was real or whether it was all a voice inside her head. With a soft gasp, she could only stare and question whether or not she was hallucinating.

There he stood, sparkling green eyes, tall laid back figure, grinning like the first day she’d ever set eyes on him. He looked thinner than she would’ve liked him to, dark circles under his eyes. She wondered when the last time he had a proper meal was or when last he slept through the night. But she stopped herself from asking because that would waste their time and she’d learnt that time was all too precious.

“Same forwards as it is backwards,” he finished, a Hawthorne smile if she ever saw one, dancing across his lips.

Hannah was still at a loss for words, which wasn’t a lot like her in front of him. Toby Hawthorne was stood in her kitchen. She’d fantasised for something like this to happen, wished on dandelion clocks and birthday cake for a moment like this and now it was here.

Only she was less relieved than she thought she might be and more panicked. What was going on? Why was he here? Why now? Her brain raced through every worst case possible scenario. But then, for a minute she silenced her thoughts and let go of caring why and took in the moment. He was here. The rest didn’t matter. He was here.

“Harry,” she exhaled shakily.

“You already said that,” he replied, taking a step closer.

Every cell in her body burned with a sudden starvation. A desire born from a sheer desperation to be in his arms. She wanted to feel his touch, she craved it. Hannah couldn’t think of anything better than for him to scoop her up and run away from the rest of the world, even if it were all just for a second.

“What are you doing here?” she blurted out suddenly.

His lips twisted into a strange sort of smile, “do you want another postcard?”

She almost smiled back. Almost.

She folded her arms, “what are you doing here?” she asked again, her tone more demanding, reminding them both of her sharpness she’d once had with him as teenagers.

“Come on Hannah I thought you were meant to be astute,” he grinned, that twinkle in his eye as he cocked his head to the side, “don’t tell me that’s gone downhill after all these years.”

“You can’t avoid the question forever,” she told him.

“Why ask when you already know the answer,” he asked quietly, taking another step towards her, “I love you Hannah, I always have and I always will. I needed to see you, your face, your eyes, your everything. It was killing me not to.”

“Then you have no idea what it was doing to me,” she murmured, tilting her chin up slightly to truly meet his eyes.

His pupils slowly dilated, swallowing up the green of his iris like a malnourished lion would a human corpse.

“I love you,” he told her again, his voice strong and steady.

“I love you too,” she said, letting her hands trail up his torso until they met at the back of his neck.

“Do you still hate me,” Toby asked her, “for the way I left you, both times?”

Hannah could only chuckle, “always, but love does something funny to the hate.”

“How poetic,” he teased, snaking an arm around her waist.

“Well we both know how much you like your poems,” she murmured, melting into his touch.

It felt so natural, so right. As if this was how they were always meant to be. He softly brushed his lips over hers and something ignited. Neither had tasted each it in such a long time, they’d almost forgotten how much they craved it.

The kisses began to get rougher, more passion and fire behind the movement. Hannah had her hand buried deep in his hair, clutching at chunks and tugging them every which way. It was love on a deeper level, intense and rash. Toby’s finger squeezed tighter around her waist in an attempt to pull her even closer into him, though it wasn’t possible. It was the kind of kiss that made you forget you even existed, that made you forget anything existed, that made you forget you had to breathe until your lungs were screaming at you, begging for oxygen.

“I want my postcard,” she said, breathlessly against his lips.

He smirked, amused by the way annoyance flashed across her perfect face, “impatient, are we?”

And for a moment it felt like they’d never been apart, like the years of constant yearning and dreaming and praying had never even happened. It felt like they’d been together through it all, like Toby had never left that night in the lighthouse and never left that night in the hospital either.

“Come on Hawthorne and give me the damn postcard,” she replied, between kisses, “I want it.”

“Sometimes we don’t get what we want,” he taunted, taking her face into his hands slowly pressing a kiss on her forehead, then on the bone when her eyebrow met her nose, moving down to each of her eyes closed eyes and the tip of her nose. They were so soft, so delicate they almost tickled. He met her lips again before slowly trailing down to her jawline, neck and collarbone.

“I do,” she replied, a flicker of determination in her eyes and a fluttering in her stomach, “I get what I want.”

Toby bit his lip. Hannah Rooney, the girl he’d fallen in love with, the girl he’d never fall out of love with.

“Let’s play a game,” he said, “if you win, the postcard is all yours.”

Her eyes flickered to the clock hung on the wall. The minute hand was moving far too fast for her liking.

“Do we have enough time?” she asked, lips tingling still, “Avery will be coming home soon.”

“Avery,” he repeated tipping his head back smiling. He savoured her name on his tongue, “how is she?”

“She’s incredible,” Hannah beamed, wishing she could tell him every little thing about her, “she’s kind and sweet and caring and she’s so intelligent Harry.”

“No doubt she got all of her mother’s genes then,” he replied, placing his hands on her waist and pulling her in.

Heat crept up into Hannah’s cheeks. Of course he still managed to make her blush.

“She’s so big now,” she told him, “so much bigger than the last time you saw her.”

He raised an eyebrow, “bold of you to assume I don’t keep a closer eye on her.”

A tender hand squeezed Hannah’s heart, “you do?”

“When I can,” he shrugged, “she’s growing up to look so much like you Hannah, but she’s got Kaylie’s smile.”

He grazed her cheek with his knuckle, so gently it felt like he was barely touching her. Bittersweetness washed over Hannah like an overbearing tidal wave of feeling.

“I’m going to make sure she goes as far as she wants with her life,” she said quietly, trying to keep the emotion from seeping into her voice, “give her all the opportunities me and Kaylie didn’t have.”

“And you will,” Toby whispered, “you’re good like that.”

“She’s going to go far,” Hannah told him shakily, her eye blurring a little.

She was sure of it.

“I don’t have a doubt about it,” he replied hoarsely.

And so was he.

Her heart ached, weighted with the words she thought in her every waking hour. The words she wished for so long she could tell him. The words she thought she’d never get the opportunity to say to his face ever again.

“I miss you,” Hannah whispered, so quietly she wasn’t even sure if he’d heard her.

“I miss you too,” he replied in almost an instant.

Of course he heard her. He always did. Even when there was nothing to say. He just knew.

“He hasn’t found you, has he?” she asked, searching and scanning every line of his face for an indication of an answer.

They both know who ‘he’ was, the instant she said it. But she had to ask. The worry alone was intoxicating her internal organs, contorting them into funny shapes like some sort of psychotic balloon animal.

“Not yet,” he said firmly, “at least I don’t think so.”

“Good,” she nodded, “that’s good.”

Hannah stared at him for a long while and he only stared right back. She wanted Avery to meet him, to be able to call him ‘dad’, she wanted Avery to know about this wonderful man she loved in hopes she might find one equally as kind and as selfless and as genuine. And for a second she wondered if she might dare ask him one last time to stay with her. She wondered if maybe this time he might say yes.

“I can’t hide here Hannah,” he whispered.

Toby read her like an open book, he knew her mind like he knew his own. He also knew the risks she’d be willing to take for him and he wouldn’t let it happen.

She smiled a little sadly, “how can you read my mind?”

“Call it a talent,” he shrugged, with a wink.

“Why Harry,” she asked, her voice so small it scared him, “after everything you’ve been through, just come home.”

She touched the left side of her chest with her hand, her heart throbbing underneath. He belonged here. Hannah knew it in her bones. He belonged with her and Avery, here.

“He’d know,” he shook his head, “he’d hurt you, he’d hurt Avery.”

Hannah sighed, “so why now? Why decide to come and see me now?”

“Well I-“

A locked clicked, a handle turned and the front door swung open, “Mum you’ll never believe it! I won the science award!”

Hannah’s eyes went wide as she tore her gaze from his and rushed to greet her daughter, leaving Toby in the kitchen. He dared to stand in the doorway and silently watch as Hannah wrapped her gentle arms around Avery and congratulated her. He saw the exact moment Avery’s eye lit up in joy, happy with herself and her achievement.

Pride swelled in his chest and a few tears sprung to his eyes. Avery, his Avery had won the science award in school. He wanted nothing more than to embrace her tightly and tell her how special she truly was. How she was so like he mother and more, how he loved her to the moon and back, how he’d protect her until he was a gravestone stood in a churchyard.

But he knew what he had to do now. It had been a risk even coming at all. Even though he knew it had been coming, Toby had never been good at goodbyes. Glossy eyed with a twisting agony in the left side of his chest, he took one final look at his wonderful Avery and his beautiful Hannah. The brightest sparks he’d ever seen in his life.

“I got this certificate and everything,” Avery beamed, showing off the piece of paper.

“That’s amazing sweetheart!” Hannah said, stealing a glance back towards the kitchen.

She already knew he was gone, just like she knew when he was there. But she had to check. She hoped she was wrong, that her feeling was off but it wasn’t. It never was. Hannah didn’t know why it still hurt when she discovered he wasn’t still there. She wasn’t losing something she had.

“And I even got this medal,” Avery continued, snapping her out of the haze and bringing her back to reality. She had a daughter and a life. She had something to focus on. And even if Toby wasn’t physically there, he was there in her heart, “and Mrs Gray told me that I’m one of the best science students she’d seen of my age for years!”

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Hannah smiled kissing her forehead gently, “well done sweetie, I’m so proud of you. Should we put your certificate on the fridge?”

Avery nodded enthusiastically and went to get a magnet from the drawer. Suddenly she came to a halt and with a confused look picked up a rectangluar piece of card, furrowing her little eyebrows.

“Mum?” she asked curiously, “why is there a postcard on the counter?”

Hannah felt her heart rate pick up. He left her the postcard. Of course he had.

She looked around to Avery and bit back a smile, “let’s play a game Ave.”

“What kind of game?” she asked, folding her arms.

“One of our usual ones, it’s called I Have A Secret.”

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averygrambsbankaccount · 17 days ago

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merry Christmas (eve)!! this one wasn’t requested but I wanted to write a fun little christmas fic. I know the idea of this fic is kinda ridiculous and unrealistic but I thought it was funny (: I hope you guys enjoy 💗

word count: 3292

A Hawthorne Christmas Special Disaster

Christmas at Hawthorne House was magical, and everyone knew it. It was better than the North Pole itself. Christmas trees were in every hall, every room, so many of them it would be a fools errand to even attempt to count them. There were wreaths on every door, mistletoe on every chandelier, eggnog and hot chocolate on every table, and high Christmas spirit all throughout.

So, to put it simply, it was magical. A winter wonderland, so to speak!

This Christmas Eve, the House was full of guests. The usuals; Avery, Libby, and the Hawthorne brothers, along with Oren, Alisa, Nan, Thea, Rebecca, Max, and Zara. New additions this year were Gigi; Grayson’s cheerful younger sister who was basically the embodiment of the word hyper, and Grayson’s new girlfriend, Lyra.

The house was practically bursting at the seams with how many guests were staying this Holiday, but Avery stayed true to the statement The more the merrier! and reacted positively to every new arrival the night before Christmas.

With so many people there, the presents were overflowing too. So, they all agreed to put them in one room, and they would all be transported to the biggest tree in the house that night. The room was covered from floor to ceiling in presents, varieties of coloured wrapping paper making it a bit hard on the eyes.

Even with the presents taking up most of the space, Xander somehow still managed to run one of his contraptions through the rooms. Someone should really be monitoring him at all times, and maybe that was where they went wrong. Unattended, Xander usually managed to do one of his favourite things, even by accident; blow stuff up.

Whilst everyone went about their day, preparing for the big holiday coming up so soon, Xander was causing some big trouble. In his defense, he didn’t know it would blow up like that.

Avery and Jameson were in the library together when they heard the firework sounding, extremely close, extremely concerning, boom. It was even more absurd considering how quiet the library had been moments before the explosion had rocked it.

“Did a bomb just go off?” Avery was quite calm, albeit very confused.

“No,” Jameson took her hand and started leading her to the direction of the explosion noise. “I think it’s more likely Xander just went off.”

Grayson was sitting quietly, working at his desk with Lyra on her phone behind him when the incident occurred.

“What the fuck goes on this house?” Lyra sat up.

“Xander,” Grayson stood, sighing internally. “And I believe it’d be more accurate to describe it as him going off.”

Oren was keeping an eye on the security cameras when Xander made the Christmas big bang happen, so he had the pleasure of watching it all happen in real time. He rubbed his forehead in frustration when one of his men walked on.

“Sir, we heard the explosion. Is there a threat?”

“No,” Oren sighed. “Just Xander. Again.”

It seemed everyone was used to his antics by now.

The loud noise of the explosion soon led them all to the room where it happened, where Xander was currently standing with half an eyebrow missing, a face caked in dirt, and a shocked expression.

“Ok!” Xander exclaimed as they all walked into the room. “It was an accident, I swear!”

“Did it really have to happen in the room where all the presents are?” Thea sniped.

“Um,” Max quietly commented. “I think you mean the room where the presents were.”

“They do seem to have disappeared.” Rebecca pursed her lips, and a collective sigh of exasperation seemed to echo through the room.

———

The presents really did seem to have disappeared. If you looked at the broken windows or the literal hole in the wall, it wasn’t too hard to discern where they had gone to.

“They’re out on the grounds!” Libby ran her hands through her hair. “They could be anywhere! They could be gone!”

“Ok, everyone calm down,” Nash put his arm around Libby’s shoulder. “They gotta be out there somewhere. Let’s all just go look. I’m sure we could find them.”

“And if we don’t, Santa can just bring us replacement ones!” Gigi said, then in respond to the looks she was given added: “I’m joking! Duh!” (But the way she looked down sure didn’t make it seem like she was joking)

“So, we go look. Isn’t this what Christmas is about? Finding hope when all is lost?” Avery tried to bring up the mood.

Max scoffed. “Actually, Christmas is Jesus’ birthday, which I have already informed you of, Avery-“

Zara brought her hands together, abruptly ending that sentence. “Let’s just go look for those damned presents, shall we?”

There was a chorus of agreement throughout the room, and they started to make their plans to divide and conquer. Avery turned to her boyfriend beside her and noticed the especially nervous look on his face.

“Jameson?” Avery looked at him with concern in her eyes. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jameson put his hands on her shoulders. “Why don’t you go with Gigi and Lyra…I think I’m gonna go with my brothers.”

Avery nodded, biting her lip in worry. She didn’t want to say anything, but she feared he was hiding something from her.

The groups were made and the plan wasn’t really a plan at all; it was just look. It felt a bit like they were saving Christmas.

As everyone shuffled out of the room, Xander’s voice called out one last time to them all; “I’m really sorry guys! I swear! It won’t happen again!”

“It will,” Nan snorted from her seat next to the piano. “Oh, it will.”

Avery, Lyra, and Gigi were walking along the east side of the estate, coats wrapped tightly around their bodies and their breath creating clouds in the air. It was mostly silent, until Gigi spotted a wrapped little miracle in the distance.

“Look, I found one!” She took off running, and Avery and Lyra struggled to keep up with their freezing legs, until with no warning, Lyra was suddenly miles ahead of Avery too.

“How,” Avery panted “Are you guys so fast in this weather?” She rested her hands on her knees when she finally reached them.

“I’m a runner,” Lyra shrugged, taking the present box from Gigi’s hands.

“From Nash, to Libby.” Lyra read off the tag.

“Oooh, what do you think it is!” Gigi said excitedly.

“None of our business.” Avery and Lyra said at basically the same time, each of them laughing a little at the coincidence.

“Jinx!” Gigi exclaimed. “I did it for you, since you guys forgot to.” She smiled brightly.

On the west side of the estate, the four Hawthorne brothers walked together.

“Don’t look so nervous, Jamie,” Nash pushed his shoulder. “It’ll work out.”

“And if it doesn’t,” Grayson added coldly, raising a blonde eyebrow in Xander’s direction “We know who to blame.”

“Hey! I didn’t mean to blow your-“

“Shhh,” Jameson shushed him. “You never know who could be listening.”

Grayson silently rolled his eyes.

Xander continued, “I didn’t mean to blow your redacted out the wall! It just happened!”

“Well my ‘redacted’ is pretty darn important, Xander!”

“Let’s not fight. Maybe we should just focus on finding it.” Grayson stayed calm as ever.

“Yeah, before Avery does. That wouldn’t be good.” Nash winced just imagining it.

“God, don’t stress me out more!” Jameson ran his hands through his hair. “Everyone just…focus on looking!”

Libby, Max, Rebecca and Thea were together, but they were separated into two different duos waking close. Rebecca and Thea were a bit more focused on their romance than the presents, and Libby and Max were preoccupied with gossip.

“So, you know right?” Max whispered. “He told you?”

“Yes, of course!” Libby whispered back. “Well…technically Nash told me, but it’s fine.”

“Same,” Max giggled. “Xander told me. He’s not too good at keeping secrets from me..but not to worry, for I’m great at keeping secrets!”

“Me too,” Libby agreed. “My lips are sealed, one hundred and ten percent.”

Rebecca and Thea were caught up in a passionate conversation when one of them spotted a box sitting on the roof of a small shed. “Look, I found one!”

“Wow, that’s a big box.” Libby commented. “How do we get it down?”

“I’m on it!” Max was already scaling the wall.

“Uhhhh..” Thea raised one of her perfectly sculpted eyebrows. “Are we sure she’s not gonna like…break her leg doing that?”

“I’m fine!” Max was already on the roof, handing the wrapped box down to Libby. She climbed down the wall as easily as she had gone up it, landing on the ground without even a thud. “See?” She said smugly.

“I guess she’s got it under control.” Rebecca shrugged.

The adults of the group were together, though none of them seemed too happy about it. Alisa, Oren, and Zara walked in silence, whilst Nan had opted to stay inside and let the young ones do the dirty work.

“I’m going to kill Xander,” Alisa rubbed between her eyebrows. “I’m a lawyer, for gods sake! How do I end up cleaning up explosions every other damn day?”

“You’re Hawthorne-Adjacent,” Zara studied her nails. “You should expect this by now.”

Oren crossed his arms. “My job description said bodyguard. Now what have I become? A janitor! A directions man!”

“You’re employed to a billionaire,” Zara, ever the realist, stated. “An extremely generous one, at that. Complain all you want, but people would kill to be out here in the freezing cold looking for presents that were blown out a wall just for fun.”

None of them could disagree with that.

“I found a present.” Alisa deadpanned, pointing a manicured finger at a lonely tree on the property, somewhat resembling a Christmas tree, that had a present stuck high up in its branches.

Both the ladies turned to look at Oren, who sighed deeply and then began to climb.

Gigi and Lyra were ahead of Avery, whispering and giggling quietly. Avery looked around at the snow covered trees, and at footprints on the ground, at anything to make it seem like else wasn’t trying to eavesdrop. Unfortunately, the heavy wind made it quite hard to hear what they were saying, but it was clearly something she wasn’t meant to know.

Is everyone keeping something from me? At this point, she was getting a little pissed off.

The brothers walked in silence, looking out on the mostly undisturbed snow.

“Look!” Xander called out of the blue. “Down that hill!”

Sure enough, down the hill was a jackpot. It seems lots of the presents had tumbled right down into there.

Nash whistled. “Looks like we got ourselves some carrying to do.”

Jameson jogged down the hill, throwing big boxes out of his way in his rush to find it. But, in the giant pile of big presents, there was no little, perfectly wrapped one.

“It’s not here,” Jameson threw his head back. “It’s not here!”

“It’s okay, Jamie,” Xander patted his back. “We will find it! We will not give up!”

“Do I have to carry all these back myself?” Grayson snapped them back to reality with his cold voice.

They got to work.

“Do you think the others have had any luck?” Alisa has by now realized there her shoe choice wasn’t the most…practical for this activity. Although, Zara was wearing heels too and seemed perfectly fine.

“I sure hope so,” The cold air biting at her ankles didn’t bother Zara one bit. “They will be beside themselves if this holiday is ruined. And I mean, honestly, I would just like to relax for now.”

Alisa was opening her mouth to agree when her heel caught on something and she fell forward. Oren caught her in her arms and she put a hand to her chest.

“God, that scared me.” Alisa looked down at the tiny box she had tripped over, which Zara was currently picking up.

Alisa’s eyes narrowed. “Give me that,” She snatched it from her hands.

When she saw the shape of the box and the names written on the top, Alisa was hit with a headache which can only be described as the headache of an impending PR nightmare.

“Jameson Winchester Hawthorne!” She screamed, loud enough that everyone near Hawthorne house would surely hear.

“Did you hear that?” Avery looked up from the ground.

Lyra and Gigi looked up too.

“Um,” Lyra looked at Gigi nervously. “Should we go check on them?”

“First you guys need to tell me what you’re whispering about,” Avery crossed her arms and stood in front of the pair.

“I want to, so bad! But I-“ Gigi burst out, and Lyra slapped a hand over her mouth.

“Listen, Avery, I’m sorry. But..you’ll know soon enough anyways.”

Avery side eyed her. She’d heard that one before.

“I’m telling the truth!” Lyra defended herself.

Avery was stopped from responding by the sight of all four Hawthorne brothers coming into view, walking hurriedly. They were heading towards the sound of the yelling.

“Come on, guys.” Gigi grabbed the two girls arms and led them in the direction the brothers were heading; towards Alisa, Oren and Zara.

Alisa still stood with the box grasped tightly in her fist, looking at the approaching Jameson with a blank look on her face.

“Seriously?” She muttered.

Jameson looked at the small present box in her hand, internally sighing in relief that it wasn’t lost forever. “Uh..yeah.”

“She’s 19! You’re 20! Do you know what they’ll be saying in that tabloids? And god knows I’ll be the only one working to fix that!” She scolded him.

Jameson bit his lip, looking behind him for backup. His brothers all seemed preoccupied with the nature around them at the moment rather than the conversation happening in front of them.

“What’s going on?” Avery approached them, the two other girls in her group not far behind. “What’s that?”

It seemed like everyone knew something she didn’t, with the way they all looked at each other. They all knew what the hell was going on, and she had no clue.

“You guys are driving me crazy! Ugh!” She threw her hand hands in the air dramatically, beginning to walk back towards the house.

The scene was quite absurd, with everyone standing silently, watching her retreat. Alisa still held that damned box, and Jameson’s mouth was open as if to explain himself, but he stayed quiet.

“Ow! Fuck!” They heard faintly in the distance, following a barely audible banging noise. “Fucking box!”

“I found the rest of the presents!” Her voice was louder this time, and then immediately followed by the door slamming as she walked back into the house.

Their mouths stayed glued shut for a few moments before Xander decided to clear the air.

“Ahem,” Xander started trudging through the snow. “You heard her! Get to those presents!”

It turned out, the rest of the presents had blown into a snow bank near a door of Hawthorne House, a big pile just sitting there like Santa’s sleigh had gotten into an accident.

They transported them inside in a conveyor belt system, passing them along. It was quite efficient, and soon the presents were loaded up in the foyer.

“Maybe don’t blow this room up, Xander?” Max joked.

“Don’t sweat it! I’ve learned my lesson.”

Almost everyone in the room rolled their eyes.

“Where’s Jameson?”

“He took the box.” Alisa said, and they all made eye contact.

“Does that mean…” Libby said excitedly.

Alisa sighed. “Honestly, I hope not.”

It did in fact mean that. Jameson found Avery in a room not too far from the foyer, sitting by herself. She looked mad.

“Avery,” He said, his voice soft.

“Jameson,” She didn’t sound as happy to see him.

“Listen, Avery, I’m really sorry. But I promise I never wanted to lie to you.”

“So you’re gonna tell me what you’ve been hiding from me?”

He nodded lightly and pulled the box out from his pocket.

She looked at it with wide eyes, suddenly thinking of a possibility she hadn’t thought of before. “I-“

“I was going to do this on Christmas.” Jameson slowly said. “But I think it’s only right to do it now.” He handed her the box.

Avery ripped off the wrapping at lightning speed and upon seeing the black box underneath it her hands started to shake. “Jameson…” Was all she managed to say.

Torturously slow but as fast as she could manage, Avery opened the box, and her eyes were immediately hit by a sparkling glow. “Oh, it’s beautiful.” Probably wasn’t what she was supposed to say in that moment; but she said it anyway.

When Avery looked up, Jameson was on one knee. She gasped.

“I’ll keep this short,” He cleared his throat. “Avery, Saint Avery. I will love you for the rest of my life, and past that, and nothing will change that. I want nothing more than to be with you forever. Will you help make that wish come true? I understand if you’re not ready, and I’m prepared to wait, but…Avery Kylie Grambs, will you marry me?”

Avery could do nothing but stand in shock for a few minutes, and Jameson started to feel slightly terrified. What if she says no?

A smile started to spread across her features. “Yes!” She exclaimed. “Yes, I will!”

They kissed, and it was perfect. The perfect embodiment of the Christmas spirit, minus baby Jesus.

This romantic, amazing, never to be re created moment was interrupted by a flood of people bursting through the doors.

Squeals of “You’re engaged!” echoed through the room and Avery and Jameson broke apart. Jameson slid the ring onto Avery’s left ring finger before they turned to face the rest of the group.

“Yeah,” Avery giggled. “We are.”

Alisa came forward. “This really is not going to hit that press well. You couldn’t have waited, like, two years? Do I really have to deal with teen pregnancy rumours?”

She paused and looked between them, seeming to be considering something.

“But, I’m happy for you two.” She smiled.

“Thank you, Alisa,” Avery hugged her, and that started a chain of Avery hugging everyone.

“My best friend is getting married! My best friend is getting married!” Max sang.

After everyone finally dispersed, Avery returned to the room of the explosion alone. There, she found Nan, still sitting alone.

“Sit, girl,” She said, mentioning to the space beside her, and Avery obeyed.

“So you’re going to be a Hawthorne?”

Avery nodded silently.

“Marriage is dangerous. Make sure he’s good to you. Tell me if he’s not.” Nan informed her bluntly.

“I-I will.” Avery smiled at her.

A few moments of silence passed, and Avery assumed that was her cue to leave. As she was walking out the door, she heard Nan say one last thing.

“Don’t tell them I said this, but I’m happy to have you apart of this wretched family, girl.”

Avery grinned at her new great-grandmother in law.

———

Christmas morning, thankfully, didn’t involve any explosions, unless the mass amount of hastily ripped wrapping paper landing on the floor counted. Some of the presents had snow or dirt on them from their trip outside, but no one seemed to care.

Christmas morning was filled with joy, and a newly engaged Avery and Jameson felt a lot of it. Everyone did.

Presents were opened, hugs (and kisses) were shared, and it became another magical Christmas at Hawthorne house.

As everyone settled down and the house was quiet in the comfortable Christmas afternoon way, a very familiar boom sounded through the house, followed by an ear piercing screech: “XANDER!”

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