twas the night before christmas (set on 12/24)

[triskehale]

This time of year is especially hard for Derek. Part of him wants to just keep to himself, to disappear for awhile, but that won't solve anything. It won't make him feel any better. So he does his best to keep moving forward, and he seeks out the people who make him feel good.

It's Christmas Eve, and Derek heads out into the chill to bring Bitty's gift to him. It's neatly wrapped, and he's pretty excited to give it to him. He thinks it'll go over pretty well, and he has a small smile on his face by the time he knocks on Bitty's door.

"Open up," he calls out, "Santa came early."

Comments

[puckandpie]

Because the world is a twisted and cruel place, I'd gotten a text from Derek shortly after dinner with Simon. Some part of me had wanted to burst into tears the second I saw his name flash across the screen, but I'd managed to hold myself together and shoot off a text in response.

If I wasn't quite as full of emoticons as usual, Derek at least didn't seem to notice.

His knock on my door now isn't really any surprise. Santa or no, he is a little bit earlier than I'd expected, but I can't think of a single time I've ever been displeased to see him and now is absolutely no different.

I'm still wiping my hands on my apron when I rush to open the door, smiling as I hold it wide to usher him inside. "Your last present isn't quite ready," I tell him, but I nod at the table. Less than a day ago, Simon and I had sat right there. I'm trying not to think about that. "It will be soon though. Are you in a hurry or can you stay awhile?"