Array
(
[text] =>
EPILOGUE
𝗗𝗘𝗖𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥 𝟮𝟱, 𝟭𝟵𝟴𝟰
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐌 𝐑𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐋𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 and shimmery incandescence. The holiday bulbs and glimmering string lights livened the room from every angle, wrapped around the big Christmas tree in the corner. The fireplace crackled just faintly in the background, mingling with the sweet tune of the record player— that smoothed out Christmas songs at a low volume. The air smelled of pine from the tree, chestnut and hot-cocoa from the mugs lingering near every hand, Cinnamon from the holiday candles scattered all around, and Christmas dinner cooking in the kitchen nearby. The room was coated in red and green embelishments, bright warm lights, and a tangible, lively presence that made every smile split from ear to ear.
It was December 25th, Christmas night. Snow was falling outside— somewhat of a holiday miracle— and bordered the window sills with tiny hills of white. It was a cold night, too, and every pair of feet wore slippers or holiday socks, arms warmed under cozy sweaters and fuzzy blankets, and hands held onto the toasty cups of cocoa with steam evaporating off the tops. The calm events of the day were sliding into an easeful finish, but their warmth and fondness never dissipated even when the hours slimmed. Christmas was everywhere— in the clothes, in the smiles, in the decorations, in the lingering aromas and in the gifts placed under the tree. Wrapping paper covered the eggshell carpet in a myriad of different holiday patterns, reds, greens and golds, from the previously opened gifts just moments ago.
It was Christmas now, and Halloween was far behind them. Of course they couldn’t forget about what happened, they never could, and probably never would. It remained printed in the backs of their minds— always a worry, always a distant thought. But time went on despite November’s troubles, and with time came healing, and with healing came calmness. Comfortability. Peace. And soon they stopped thinking about it every fleeting moment, stopped worrying in the dark, stopped letting it consume each and every thought. It was still there, the fear was still there, but somewhat muffled now. Frozen over for the winter. They gave into the feelings of Christmas and holidays and took it one, simple day at a time.
Lori Philbin sat on the floor next to the tree in the corner of the room, with an imperishable grin plastered on her face. She had her mug of hot cocoa in her hand, elbows resting on her folded knees, red turtleneck warm on her skin and glimmering in the bright Christmas lights. Through the wisps of her curled hair she watched her cousin marvel at the gift sitting in his freshly unwrapped box, the biggest smile lighting up his whole face— shining brighter than all of the holiday lights. He sat across from her in the jagged circle.
“No way!” he exclaimed, face bright with shock and happiness. “No way! It’s the new edition in the collection— holy shit! Mom, look!”
Lori felt a squeeze on her hand.
She looked away from her cousin and turned to the side, landing her eyes on Steve sitting next to her on the floor. He gave her this smile because he knew it was her gift, and he just wanted to see her eyes under the bright lights. He rubbed his thumb over the top of her hand.
His folks were out at some fancy work Christmas party that he didn’t want to attend— and so Lori had urged him weeks ago to join Christmas dinner at the Henderson house, even though it was a family event. Of course Dustin didn’t mind, not in any sense. And Maureen was getting used to seeing Steve around, anyways. You could say, as Dustin had said it once before— they were practically tied at the hip. But Lori wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. And Maureen was growing quite fond of this Harrington boy.
“Who is it,” Dustin looked around the room, in his little ugly Christmas sweater that Claudia had made him put on for dinner— but secretly, he wanted to wear it anyways. “Who got me?” he asked, eagerly looking around at everyone.
Claudia glanced to Maureen, both sitting on the couch above the kids. Claudia wore an ugly sweater with Dustin, her hair curled into rolling little twirls atop her head. Maureen wore her pearls like usual, because even on Christmas she was at least a little bit punctual, and a forest green sweater because she wasn’t the ugly-sweater type.
Lori couldn’t contain herself anymore. “Fine, the jig is up,” she rolled her eyes to the top of her head and smiled even bigger. “It’s me. I’m your Secret Santa, dearest Hagar.” she wiggled her hands sarcastically, for emphasis on the cheesy gift-giving idea.
The rest of them had already given and received their gifts. Claudia had gotten Lori back when they blindly picked names weeks ago, and she’d bought her a cute little pair of earrings, and— Lori didn’t know if it was unfortunate or fortunate just yet— an ugly Christmas sweater to match the one Dustin was wearing. She couldn’t even be mad about it, though. Lori adored Claudia. Steve had gotten Maureen, which was a little bit scary at first, but Maureen had actually cracked a genuine smile when the ripped open her gift to reveal a brand new cook book— because everyone was starting to complain about the four sole recipes she made on repeat from her old recipe book. She was also trying out this new chef thing— and so Steve was kind of like a savior for giving her real recipes to work with instead of “experimental cooking” like she planned.
“Lori,” Dustin sprang up, holding the new edition to his favorite comic series that Lori had gotten him. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” He rushed over to her and wrapped his arms around her neck to pull her into a tight hug. “Thank you, Lor, this is the best gift ever.”
She laughed onto his shoulder and patted his back, “I’m glad you like it,” she said, genuinely. “I didn’t fight for my life on that waiting list for nothing. Two weeks. Nerds are sort of cutthroat, you know that?”
He let out a booming laugh as he pulled away, shaking the comic book in his grasp like he still couldn’t believe it. He gave her a genuine smile for one second more, shaking her shoulders in gratitude, before hopping away on his feet in excitement.
As he hopped over to Maureen, Lori turned back to Steve and squeezed his hand even tighter.
“Told you he’d like it,” Steve said, voice quiet so only Lori could hear him. “Look at him go,” he titled his chin to Dustin.
She bit down on her bottom lip to try and contain her smile, as she watched her cousin blab about his gift to Maureen. “What a kid.” she admired.
“I better check on that turkey,” Claudia mused, standing up from her spot on the couch. “Dusty, will you finish setting up the table?” she said. “And Lori and Steve,”
It felt unusual to hear “Lori and Steve”, as if they were some sort of package deal. But she liked the way his name sounded with her own, how beautiful they rolled off the tongue one after the other. She adored it.
“Not now, ma!” Dustin replied, flipping through the pages of his comic.
“We should go help,” Lori turned to look at Steve, a sweet, relaxed smile pulled at her lips. “I’m great at table-setting.”
She stared all around his face— he looked beautiful under all of the Christmas lights. The glares of the tree lights and all the candles bounced off his skin in the most alluring way, shimmering in the waters of his big brown eyes. His hair was pushed into the unmistakeable swoop, and he was wearing one of those white knit sweaters, like he was meant to be on a fucking Christmas card, or something. But she loved it. She loved every part of it.
“Is that so?” A smile pulled at the corner of his mouth.
“No,” she answered. She rolled her eyes up jokingly, “But ’tis the damn season, so I’m allowed to pretend.”
“Language, Philbs,” Steve jokingly gawked, referring to the fact that it was Christmas.
Lori pushed herself up to stand, bringing their intertwined hands up with her. She pulled on his arm. “Come on.” she laughed. “Claudia’s Christmas dinner awaits its guests.”
He laughed as she put her hands up beside her head for emphasis, rising to stand with her. His body brushed against her backside as he stood, hand absentmindedly placing on her lower back so that he wouldn’t step on her feet. She started walking, and he kept his hand there.
They followed Maureen into the dining room— Dustin still on the couch marveling at his gift like it was a goddamn bar of gold— but before they could make it to the table, Steve stopped. His hand moved from her lower back to her waist, sliding onto the curve of it. He tapped her there to catch her attention.
He brought his mouth close to her ear. “I’ll be right back,” he whispered. “Stay here,”
She grinned at the chill that scattered from her ear down her neck, from his voice. “What?” she turned to look at him but he’d already stepped away.
Before he turned the corner down the hall, he turned and looked at her. “Just— one sec,” he put his finger up hastily, and then dashed away.
Her eyebrows narrowed only slightly, figuring he just had to use the bathroom, or something like that. She turned her attention to the kitchen attached to the dinning room, a smile spreading on her face at the sight of Claudia pulling the turkey from the oven. Maureen grabbed the other side of the pot, and helped her sister transport it over to the table. Lori, focused on grabbing forks for the table, didn’t hear the back door close as Steve shut it from down the hall.
The music was still playing from the record in the living room, fire still crackling, voices talking and smoothing between the melodies. Lori hummed to the tune of “White Christmas” as she placed forks and knives down on every napkin, and straightened out the pots and dishes in the center of the table. She glanced up to Dustin on the couch, and smiled at the sight of him reading what she’d gotten him. She laughed to herself and looked back down to the table, folding a napkin into the diamond shape like the rest. He truly was one of her favorite people in the whole world, him with his curly hair and his stupid Christmas sweater.
Right when she finished with the napkins and stopped at the head of the table closest to the hallway, she felt an arm wrap all the way around her stomach. She only jumped a little bit, startled only for a quick second before realizing it was Steve from the feeling of it. She let out a tiny gasp that quickly turned into a laugh as he picked her up from the floor a little bit.
“What the hell are you doing?” Lori said through a smile, turning around to face him as his hand slid from around her waist. “Steve!” She slapped his shoulder.
He had this look on his face, that particular look he got before doing something important. He leaned down close to her face. “I’m stealing you away for a moment,” he said through a grin, grabbing her hand.
“What?—” she laughed as he turned and pulled her with him down the hall. She glanced back at the table, as the kitchen slid from view. “Steve, we’re about to eat dinner—”
“Dinner can wait a minute,” He said determinedly, and just kept pulling her until they reached Claudia’s office at the end of the hall. “This’ll only take a sec.”
Confused but intrigued, Lori complied happily. She noticed a gift bag topped with tissue paper hanging from his fingers, that he was trying to hide in front of his stomach. Her heart skipped a beat. Steve.
They reached the door, and he wasted no time in turning the knob and pushing it open. He flicked the light on. They were in Claudia’s office, or something like it. The room was decorated with Christmas decorations because Claudia was an absolute sucker for Christmas, apparently, and had a cute little desk on the wall and a green sofa by the window. They could see the snow falling outside.
“Jesus Christ,” Steve breathed, at the decorations.
“Not on Christmas,” Lori slapped the side of his arm. “Steve, my family is waiting for us—”
“Just— take a seat,” he pulled her into the room as he stayed in place, letting go of her hand to shut the door. “Please.”
Eyebrows narrowed, she walked the short distance to the little sofa and sat down, Steve quickly following her. Carefully, she sat down on the couch and crossed her legs— sitting criss-crossed on the cushions. Her heart raced with anticipation.
“Okay, so before you say anything,” Steve started, as he sat down next to her— knees touching her legs. He placed the bag on his lap, “I know we weren’t supposed to give any gifts out of that Secret Santa shit, and I know I already gave you your Christmas present. But I can’t help myself, Philbs. And besides, it’s long overdue.”
Her eyes softened as he picked up the bag. “Steve,” she said, voice low and full of sentiment.
“And don’t say that you didn’t get me anything, I don’t care about that.” he said, before she could bring that up. “Just open this last gift. ‘Tis the damn season, right?” he repeated.
“Right,” she said, taking the bag in her hands.
She let out a breath of air and stared down at it for a moment. What could he have possibly gotten her now? And then slowly, she plucked the red and green tissue paper from the top of the bag and let it fall somewhere beside them, eyes staring down at the contents inside the bag.
“Steve,” she let out a breath when she realized what was inside. “Oh my god, Steve,”
He watched as she reached into the bag and pulled out a handful of the cassettes— the ones she’d chosen from his old collection. He still hadn’t given them to her, and held off on that for this occasion. Her face lit up beautifully, and she stared down at the collection of cassettes in awe. He polished them up. Made them pretty. They were just tapes, but to Lori they were the world. Their world.
“Look at the bottom, Philbs, there’s something special,” he said, voice soft and quiet.
As if it couldn’t get any better, she let the tapes fall delicately into her lap and pulled out the last one in the bag. Her heart tightened in the center of her chest, constricting at the sight of the last cassette. She pulled out the last cassette tape, eyes glimmering at David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane in her hands. But it wasn’t just that. It was brand new— completely brand new. And it had a beautiful red ribbon hanging from the side. Just like the one her dad had gotten her for her Young Americans tape. He remembered.
“I got a new one for you,” Steve said, voice almost at a whisper. “Red ribbon and all.”
She truly didn’t know what else to do but look up at him with those softened eyes. He stared back at her. And she smiled brighter than the sun, placing her hand on the side of his face, pulling him in.
He pressed his lips to hers, delicately, drinking in the feeling he could never get tired of. He placed his folded index finger below her chin to draw her closer, moving his lips softly against her own as his chest exploded— navigating her chin with his fingers. Her heart threw itself against her ribcage and she smiled into the kiss, relishing every part of his soft lips. Still holding onto the cassette in her hand, her other hand traveled from the side of his face down to his jaw and then to the back of his neck where her fingers met his hair. She moved her lips with his slowly, detaching and reattaching to ease the tightness of her chest. But it only grew stronger.
She pulled away and placed her chin on his shoulder, wrapping her arms around his neck. He pulled her close, arms caressing her waist. He breathed in her scent, wanting to pull her as close as possible.
“Merry Christmas, Lori,” he whispered into her ear, softly and sweetly.
She only hugged him tighter. “Merry Christmas.”
They hugged like that for what seemed like forever, sitting on that little sofa while the snow fell outside the window beside them. She pulled away after what felt like a while, her hands on his shoulders.
“I can’t believe you,” She smiled from ear to ear. She leaned forward and kissed him again— she could never get enough. Her lips traveled from his mouth to his cheeks, and she kissed him all around as he laughed out loud. “Holy shit, Steve Harrington.”
He pulled her closer with a tight grip on her waist. He rose one hand and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, taking in every feature on her face. He loved every part of her.
“Wish we could stay here forever, you know.” he whispered.
“I want to.” She let out a sigh, a really happy sigh. “But we should go before they start looking for us.”
It was true, the three others were standing in the kitchen finalizing the details of dinner, wondering where the hell Lori and Steve went.
“Can’t have that,” Steve shook his head.
“Thank you, Steve,” she said, sincerely, staring into his deep brown eyes. “Seriously, thank you. Thank you for everything.”
Smiling at that, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers one last time. He pulled away after a moment and placed his lips on her forehead, kissing just lightly.
“C’mon,” he whispered, grabbing her hand.
Carefully, she placed the cassettes back in the back and stood up with him, hand locked with his. Giggling stupidly, they rushed for the door and stepped out, hushing each other so as to not look suspicious. But it didn’t really work because they were laughing so hard, pushing each other down the hallway.
When they rounded the corner, Lori placed the gift down and stood to face her family. They were just sliding into their chairs. Lori and Steve sort of stopped in the entryway, his hand meeting the small of her back as she tangled their fingers together, hiding their hands behind her body.
“Oh, there they are,” Claudia grinned, as she sat down at the head of the table.
“Where were you two?” Maureen asked with a smile, a smile that told she already knew. And that she was happy for them.
“Oh— just last minute gift things,” Lori waved her hand through the air and pulled Steve along with her towards the table to their seats. Their hands parted as they pulled out their chairs.
As she sat down in her chair, she glanced up to Dustin across the table from her. He made a kissy face and mimicked the act of “making out”, mocking her and Steve childishly. She flipped him off over the table.
“Isn’t this nice,” Maureen grinned, from beside her cousin. She looked to Lori. “All of us together like this. And Steve, too.”
Lori returned the stare, and saw in her mother’s eyes that she was truly happy. Really happy. She couldn’t help but smile.
Steve nudged his foot against Lori’s, under the table.
“Let’s eat,” Claudia grinned. “I didn’t make this turkey for nothing.”
Steve reached up and placed his hand on top of Lori’s resting on the table. She turned her head to look at him. He was smiling under the crystal chandelier, staring at her like she was the most beautiful thing in the world. So she intertwined their fingers, hands interlocked there atop the Christmas tablecloth. There they were, her family, fighting over who got the first pick of the turkey and sitting under the Christmas lights together as the fire crackled in the living room, the record player hummed out sweet holiday music, and snow fell outside. Halloween was far behind them. For the first time ever she felt like her life had finally slid into place, with these people, under these lights, in the presence of their laughter and stupid bickering. And lastly, her hand in Steve’s, there in the middle of it all— fingers unapologetically and beautifully,
woven together.
━━━━━━ ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ━━━━━━
WOVEN
MYDRIVERERA
[text_hash] => 005cb799
)