#but it is especially stedsy

[thetenthdoctorscompanion]

For the Christmas prompt thingy! Honestly I'll take all the help I can get getting into the holiday spirit. (I literally just got back from seeing the nutcracker for the 1st time ever and while i loved it, still nothing as far as holiday cheer goes😔)Obviously you know which one of your oc couples is my favorite and i never get tired of(S+C(+E)), but if you want a break from them, I also accept Dean and Kat or Stiles and Sadie. Any # tbh but 3, 7 or 10 caught my eye. I appreciate the help 😅🎄

I know that this took me until Christmas Eve-Eve, but I hope that it still gives you a little boost. I knew exactly which one I wanted to do as soon as you sent this.

iv. taking their time picking the tree

Christine had experienced almost every kind of Christmas she could imagine. She’d had years where she and her dad had just gone to the movies and eaten Chinese food. She’d had years where she went to a big Christmas party thrown by whatever company her dad was working for that year. She’d had Christmases where they decided to skip Christmas and try to recreate Hannukah the way her mother would’ve done it. Big Christmas, small Christmas, or no Christmas—Christine didn’t have a lot of expectations.

This year, though, she knew things would be different.

Once everything in Hawkins had settled and healed, once she’d finally grabbed her diploma without being eaten by an interdimensional monster, Christine left Indiana behind for MIT. Moving to Massachusetts might’ve been bittersweet if she hadn’t taken so much of Hawkins with her. It was hard to miss home when she was sharing an apartment with Eddie and Steve.

There hadn’t been much debate about the situation. Both boys cared more about Christine than anything keeping them in Hawkins—except Wayne, who Eddie called pretty much every day. He worked for cash at the local mechanic, Steve climbing his way to up to assistant manager at a nearby movie theater. They split rent and groceries three ways, which meant Christine was saving loads on room and board. It also meant spending every day with two of her favorite people.

Most days it was a little slice of heaven.

Today, it was decidedly not.

“Will you two stop arguing?” Christine begged. “My feet are about to freeze in these boots.”

“I’ll stop arguing when Eddie takes his head out of his ass,” Steve complained. He had his arms folded over his chest, giving Eddie a stern look. “We’re not getting this one. Pick something else.”

“No,” Eddie said stubbornly. “Why would I pick something else when we could have this beauty of a tree?”

“Because this beauty of a tree isn’t going to fit through the door, let alone in the living room. It’s about three feet too tall.”

“Wha—no, it’s not.” Eddie scoffed, struggling to hold the tree upright as another gust of wind blew through the lot. “Okay, it’s tall, but once they do a fresh cut on the bottom and we trim the top—”

“Dude, they’d have to cut the damn thing in half! We’re not buying it!”

Eddie swore and dropped the tree back against the fence, which creaked dangerously under the weight. “Well we’re not buying that shrimp of a tree that you picked out. Why the fuck would we get a three-foot Christmas tree?”

“Because it’s practical,” Steve said for the hundredth time. “The apartment’s already too small for us and, unless the tree’s gonna pay rent, I’m not letting it take up a quarter of the living room.”

“It’s for one month, Harrington. Don’t be a Scrooge.”

“Hilarious. Have you even read that?”

“What, because you have?”

“Guys, stop,” Christine pleaded. “Can’t we just split the difference and get a five-foot?”

“No,” the boys replied in unison.

Christine whined and snuggled further into her winter coat. They’d been standing in the tree lot for almost an hour, but with the wind chill, it felt like four. Even with two pairs of socks, her boots, her gloves, her sweater, scarf, coat, and hat, Christine could feel her blood starting to crystalize in her veins. Eddie seemed to be impervious to the cold, merely adding a hat and gloves to his usual ensemble of ripped jeans and flannel. Steve was bundled up in his peacoat, but he was so irritated that his anger was doing a better job of keeping him warm.

She knew, in theory, why they were having this argument. Steve had grown up with an over-the-top Christmas every year, a tree larger than God in his living room. Eddie never had that opportunity. In the trailer with Wayne, the most they ever did was hang up twinkle lights in the living room. This year, in their own apartment, they had a chance to do Christmas their way. They just couldn’t decide what their way was going to be.

“I still say we get a fake tree,” Steve huffed. “It’s less money in the long run and—”

“Over my dead body, Harrington.”

“Oho—we’re getting there, Munson!”

“Come on, angel, back me up here,” Eddie said, turning his puppy eyes to Christine.

“We’re not getting a fake tree,” she sighed. Eddie punched the air in victory and Steve groaned, sour until she added, “Because if we get a fake tree, it means I’ve been standing here for an hour freezing my ass off for no reason. I literally do not care what kind of tree we get. So help me, God—you two are gonna pick a tree, strap it to the car, and take me home before I take that seven-footer and shove it up your ass.”

“Wow, okay, uh…” Steve scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. “Which one of us?”

“Both of you,” she growled, “one on each end.”

The boys winced, then exchanged a look of resignation. Eddie shrugged and tipped his head to the side, a silent “you heard her” to Steve. Steve pursed his lips and looked around the lot one last time before he folded.

“We’re not doing anything bigger than six feet. And you’re vacuuming, Munson! If there’s a single needle in the carpet come January—”

“Then you can use me as a tree topper next year,” Eddie said, hand over his heart. “Aye-aye, Captain.”

“Oh, fuck you, Munson.”

“That’d be great, thanks.” Eddie winked as walked around Christine, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her back into his chest. The boy was like a furnace, heat radiating through her layers as he kissed the top of her head. “But I think we have to thaw-out the princess first.”