#fic: christmas in winterberry hollow

[becausebuckley]

pspspsps pleeeaaasseee share your countdown to christmas fic pspspsps

hahah your wish is my command, anon! so i have a couple different projects for @911countdowntochristmas in the works. i'm aiming to do the twelve-day version, and then for that, i have a six-chapter small town au, and six oneshots next to that. honestly who knows if i'll be able to do that, but i'm giving it my best shot. i love a good holiday fic <3 so the one i've been working on the most is the multichapter fic. it doesn't have a name yet, but it's basically about eddie and chris coming to this little christmassy town for the holidays and finding their home there among buck and bobby and hen and karen and maddie and everyone. it's fully outlined and i have some fun bits and pieces written! here's a little snippet:

“That’s why we’re here,” Eddie says. He glances up at Karen, then away and down at the steaming mug in his hands. It smells incredible. “Christopher, he loves the holidays, but they’re a difficult time of the year as well. Last year, we barely celebrated, and it was really rough. I guess I’m hoping that being here will make it easier on him.”

“And what about you?” Karen asks. Eddie doesn’t need to look up to know that she’s looking at him. He understands, now, why she used to be a scientist. She’s inquisitive, that’s for sure.

“It’s not about me.” Eddie shrugs. “If my kid’s happy, I’m happy.”

“So no other Christmas wishes we can help come true?” Eddie does look at Karen now. She’s pouting, as if she’s genuinely upset that she can’t, like, wave her wand and make all Eddie’s wildest dreams come true.

“It’s a whole thing,” Karen explains, waving her – thankfully mostly empty – mug around. “Like, Winterberry Hollow, it makes your dreams come true, right? Doesn’t matter what you’re looking for in the holiday season, you’ll find it here. It’s that good old Christmas magic, but then, like, extra concentrated.”

Eddie exhales sharply. He likes Karen, he really does. He’d rather not offend her. It’s just that-

“I don’t really believe in magic,” he says, congratulating himself on this calm phrasing instead of none of my wishes ever come true so fuck the universe or something along those lines. “I just want Christopher to make some happy Christmas memories, that’s all.”

“Okay.” Eddie looks up at Karen. Her eyes are on him, warm and steady and way too sober for the light conversation and mulled wine they’ve been sharing. “Well, if there’s one place that’s good for holiday memories, it would be Winterberry Hollow.”

“That’s why we’re here.” Eddie sips his drink slowly. 

“But, Eddie?”

“Yeah?”

“Even if you don’t believe in magic, or Christmas wishes, or anything, just think about it, okay? Think about what makes you happy. Even if I can’t gift wrap it for you. You deserve to have happy Christmas memories, too.”