Chapter Text
Sleepy Hallow, St. Paddy, Their Boyfriends and the Best Holiday Girls
Have the triplets killed Coal yet?
Hex
Emotionally, yes, I’m afraid
Coal
I can get them to like me! I know it! Just give me more time!
Loch
Stealing their older brother away hasn’t done you any favors
You have to accept that the bairns just like me more
Coal
Bairns? What the hell even is that? And who changed the chat name?
That would be me with input from the other best holiday gal around!
Iris
Love you so much <3
<3
Coal
WE’RE YOUR BROTHERS!
And? :P
Any cool stories to share, besides Coal getting his ass handed to him by three nine year olds?
Coal
rude.
Kris
Seeing all the spooky sights Hex’s home has to offer. You would love it here.
Coal
Miss The-Ghost-of-Christmas-Future-is-the-best-one
You’re a monster fucker and I can prove it
Gross! Stfu!
It’s not even about that! Kris knows!
Kris
It’s the one with the most thematic resonance. The one that holds the most impact on the story.
THANK YOU
Iris
Wish you were here, hon
Hex
Likewise
Coal
Ditto from the two of us
You know, YOUR BELOVED BROTHERS???
Kris
How is New York?
Bright, beautiful and busy
And I don’t just mean the city
Kris
Is Nova making time to see you?
Coal
He’d better be
Guys New Year’s is really close and he really wants things to go well this year, I do too! What with this being the first non-tithing year in a while. I owe it to him to be supportive
Coal
If you say so sugarplum
Gross. Stop. Immediately. Never call me that again.
Kris
You realize he will now find every opportunity to call you that, correct?
fuck
Coal
Language, sugarplum
Hate you
Coal
Love you too! Tell that boyfriend of yours I say hi! (As a threat!)
No, but the sentiment is noted and appreciated!
Hex, tell your littles I said hi!
Hex
They’re saving candy for you in the event you can make it after all
!!! <3
I smile down at my phone, imagining our little group of friends. My brothers, their boyfriends and Iris are all taking a much needed Post-Christmas break in Salem, Massachusetts. The headquarters of Halloween and where most of Hex’s family lives the majority of the year.
We’ve had an eventful year, all of us. This past Christmas was the first one Coal had overseen as our reigning Santa and Kris and I - who were there with him every step of the way - couldn’t be more proud of him. It went off without a hitch, and more than that, the joy on his face when he stepped out of the sleigh was enough to fill the Merry Measure full to bursting. Twice. Iris is already planning on commemorating the moment in her artwork.
Hex and Loch had been there too but in a more supportive manner. Hex to lovingly support his boyfriend, Loch ostensibly to do the same, but I have a feeling Loch was there especially as a means to make up for the joy theft he still felt endlessly guilty over. We were happy to have them all there, removed as they were.
There was a moment, just after Hex and Coal had hugged and kissed goodbye and good luck, where he, Loch and Iris all quietly moved to the back of the room. Iris shook my shoulder as she went and Loch offered Kris a forehead kiss, but after that, to the back they went.
An unwanted tear sprang to my eye then as I realized they were allowing the three of us to do this, on our own. They knew we needed to do this. Needed to make this Christmas Eve ours. And we did.
Especially when Coal beckoned us up into the sleigh. We did the ride together, just this once, and it healed more than I think any of us were expecting.
My boyfriend, Nova, wasn’t there but being involved with New Year’s Eve, that was to be expected. It didn’t bother me that he wasn’t there. It doesn’t.
That night was about my brothers and I and the joy we brought to the world together.
I check the time on my phone, once more met with the adorable face of my favorite reindeer back home, Sprinkle. The runt of her particular litter who I’d snuck out of the palace to care for and train since both of us were small. She’s mostly beige-y white but she has several little brown dots all over her face like sprinkles, hence the name. She’s led me to victory in the reindeer races more times than either of my brothers care to count.
It’s approaching eight o’clock and as I look outside the art deco interiors of the room I’m staying in, I can see Rockefeller plaza in all its sparkling glory, still lit up until mid-January if memory serves and I smile as I recall an idea I’d had before coming here.
After tying my unruly red hair into a braid, I reach into my bags and pull out the skates I’ve brought. They’re my thick, red and green hockey ones, but they’ll do the Rockefeller rink just fine. Still smiling, I leave behind the blacks and golds of my room in search of my boyfriend.
Nova Syne is the son of one of New Year’s Eve’s three major families. The Aulds, the Langs, and the Synes take turns overseeing New Year’s Eve and work in concert with their cousins around the world amongst the various new year traditions to bring hope and joy for the coming year. At least, that’s how he explained it to me when we met in the early days of Coal’s Winter Holiday Collective meetings.
Those meetings were tense and rocky at first, what with us trying to apologize for the years our father spent blackmailing them into tithing most of their joy to us. Nova and I hit it off very well though.
It wasn’t long after Kris’s debacle with Loch that Nova and I started dating officially. I wasn’t too thrilled at the holiday press knowing about us at first, but they were eating us up, and Nova seemed so happy. He always was a bit of showman, the Synes being the most future oriented family of their triumvirate. The Aulds were more concerned with celebrating the previous year as well as older traditions and were the ones who worked most closely with aiding their Chinese cousins with the lunar new year in February however they needed. The Langs shared a more party-focused and present attitude, but were still incredibly pleasant and easy to work with. The Synes were more focused on the coming year and the resolution aspect of the whole thing.
I’d asked Nova once how he felt about the lack of follow through many people had about their resolutions, but he’d never seemed too bothered about it.
“Whatever happens, happens,” he’d told me.
“It really doesn’t bother you?” I’d asked again, something feeling just a little bit off about his answer.
He’d turned to me and held my chin between his thumb and forefinger. Iris, Coal and Kris had teased me endlessly when we first got together, reminding me of a childhood fictional crush of mine. All four of us had discovered rather quickly how bisexual we all were by watching the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Nova looked a lot like Will Turner just with blond hair and a tendency toward wearing glossy black and gold shirts.
“To tell you the truth,” he’d told me, his eyes jumping down to my lips and lingering there for a time deliciously too long, “I think I was born into the wrong family.”
“H-how do you mean?” I asked, trying to keep composure as he traced his thumb over my bottom lip.
“I’d much rather focus on what’s present-ly in front of me than anything else.”
I laughed awkwardly picking up both the pun and flirtatious insinuation. He’d kissed me then and I was so overwhelmingly happy to just be the subject of someone’s love that I’d forgotten that line of questioning entirely.
Now, I am startled out of my reverent remembrance by a gaggle of holiday reporters down the hall.
New Year’s Eve is stationed mostly in New York City, but they have their contingents scattered everywhere. It’s quite the operation actually. The actual event being so close however, there are quite a few interviews being conducted for all three families. Nova had told me the one for the Synes may run long tonight, but by the looks of things, it’s been wrapped up for a little while. My date plan may work out without a hitch after all! So long as I avoid the paparazzi.
Before I can maneuver into a room out of sight, however, a reporter from New Year’s Times, a New Year’s Eve exclusive publication, spots me.
“Princess Eve!” She calls and I’m caught. Shit. I smile and wander over anyway. She’s cheerful enough, even though I’d rather be back holed up in my room listening to my music instead.
“Hi!” I greet, clocking her camera, recorder and notebook, “pleasure to meet you, what’s your name?”
“Aurora Nouveau of New Year’s Times, absolute pleasure bumping into you! You wouldn’t mind doing an impromptu little interview would you?”
As if I have a choice. I’m a good sport though.
“Of course not! Pleasure to be meeting you too! Love the gold stripes on your shirt, very pretty.”
“Oh gosh, thanks! Sweeter than a candy cane, aren’t you?”
“I wouldn’t say that,” I say wryly, “but I certainly try.”
She laughs with me and it somehow manages not to sound fake. “How are you enjoying your time with New Year’s Eve?”
“It’s wonderful,” I answer honestly, “everything here is so bright, vivid and bustling. Reminds me of home during our busy season, which I suppose wasn’t that long ago.” I snicker a little, unable to help it. For whatever reason, I’ve never found it in myself to fully dislike the holiday press outlets, not the nice ones anyway. There’s the complicated history with Dad that goes without saying, but if a reporter comes across the way Aurora does, and the questions feel more like a conversation, I can easily get comfortable.
“What I’m really happy to see, though, is how smoothly everything is running around here. It’s a well oiled machine, and I couldn’t be more pleased with that. The last thing me or my brothers want is any strain on our calendar neighbors.”
“Aww,” Aurora coos, even tilting her head a little. “And congratulations on a Christmas well done to you and your family.”
“Thank you,” I say, “that truly does mean a lot to me.”
“And you and the young Mr. Syne?” she asks, tone turning a bit teasing, “how are things on that front, if you don’t mind me asking?”
These are the questions however that make me a little uncomfortable. But in the back my mind I hear Nova’s lilting voice.
I just want them to see us, is that so bad? I’m so lucky to have you, is it a crime to want to share that, sweetie? Just think about it a bit, is all I ask. Please, for me?
A sweet smile works its way to my face without my noticing. “I was actually just looking for him. I was going to suggest we go skating at Rockefeller center.” I hold up my skates, smiling.
Aurora gasps, “oh that’s so cute! A Christmas meets New Year’s style date! Adorable!”
I blush. “That was the idea… you, uhm, you haven’t happened to see him around, have you?”
“You two are so precious! I think he walked down this hallway. Now, I promise I won’t interrupt your date, but I would love to get a picture of the two of you holding your skates, if you don’t mind.”
“Send me the picture when you’re done, and you’ve got yourself a deal Ms. Nouveau,” I say with a wink.
Aurora laughs and follows me down the hallway. I feel an excitement building within me the closer we get. I begin to hear Nova’s voice the further we go, but I can’t see him yet. One door on the left at the end of the hall is slightly ajar, a sliver of golden light leaking out across the floor. The glittery black tile reflects it like New Year’s Eve confetti.
I can hear Nova talking, probably coordinating something on the phone, New Year’s is only a few days away after all.
I hesitate at the door. His work is important. Especially now. Especially this year. The last thing I want to be is another Christmas thing straining him after what I’ve unwittingly been apart of for so many years. I couldn’t be any less important.
“You go on in, sweetie, I’ll be waiting over here,” Aurora says, gentle encouragement that steadies me a little. Brings me up out of the depths of my mind. I share a smile with her and wait a moment as he finds a spot a little further away.
If he’s on the phone, I tell myself, I can just patiently wait until he’s done. No big deal. I ignore the nervous twist in my stomach.
Just this once, I allow myself to be selfish, and I push open the door. I am utterly unprepared for what I see.
Thankfully their lower halves are covered by a glistening golden blanket, but it is very hard not to see another woman’s bare back and chest on top of Nova’s.
Stunned, I drop my skates. The blades - I must’ve forgotten to put the guards on, so used to safely handling them - crack and splinter the tile they land on, sending fragments of glittery black stone skittering across the ground.
That sound is what draws their attention to me. Tears well at the looks of disdain I see. The girl’s I’m expecting, I didn’t think I’d ever see a look of such hatred leveled at me from Nova. I flinch and step back.
Nova finally recovers, “Eve-“
A sob racks in my chest, as I whisper, “how could you?”
I expect a frantic, if insincere, apology. What I get is, “oh, grow up,” and a snicker from the girl on top of him as he drapes part of the blanket around her.
My tears are still coming but the sobbing stops as I ask, “excuse me?”
“Like we were ever going to be a real thing,” Nova says easily, like it’s not the most devastating thing I’ve heard all month.
“It was real to me,” I say, mostly to myself, mostly because I can’t help but say something.
It must not have been as quiet as I wanted it to be because the girl in the bed snorts out an ugly - in the sense of its blatant cruelty - laugh. “You get how that’s sadder right?”
“You can leave, I don’t need you anymore,” Nova says, impassive.
“Don’t… what?”
“God, nothing but candy canes and gingerbread in that head of yours, huh sweetheart?” the girl says.
“The winter collective thing worked out with your brother anyway. I don’t need you anymore, I was gonna tell you, but… I got busy.”
“You were… what? Just using me?”
“Not really any different than what your holiday has been doing for years?” Nova says, having the audacity to sound confused at my reaction.
“We’ve never done anything like… we’re doing better now,” I say, still stunned. Still utterly gobsmacked that I hadn’t seen any of this before.
“Not exactly made up for it just yet, have you?”
“I… I can’t believe you.”
“Why don’t you run along home, reindeer games,” he says, using the nickname I’d loved for the better part of a year. It hits my chest like a shard of ice. “Maybe some hot cocoa would make you feel better.” He finishes with a laugh, and kisses the cheek of the other girl, as if I’d never been there at all.
My vision blurs with tears and rage, but I find enough composure to say to this girl, “be careful. If he can do this to me, he can do it to you, too.”
“Oh right,” she says sarcastically, “because the Princess of Christmas really is all that, isn’t she? If a woman like her can be treated so unjustly, what hope does little ol’ me have?”
“That’s not-“
I can’t stand it anymore, not as they laugh at my expense, happily half naked together in bed, looking at each other like I’m not even there.
I turn without another word, my blood rushing in my ears as tears flood my eyes. I leave the door open, they didn’t seem embarrassed, if they want to shut the door, they can do it themselves.
The worst part is, the longer I think about our relationship, the more this outcome makes sense. He was never real with me. He never answered my real questions. He only ever distracted me, using my stupid, desperate need to be loved by someone to divert my attention from his ugly parts. He probably wasn’t ever nearly as busy as he made me believe.
I should’ve seen this coming, but I didn’t.
I hear Aurora’s voice call out my name, but I’ve had enough answering questions for one evening. I keep walking.
I faintly hear Nova cursing and other frantic noises, but by the time any of them seem intended for me, I’ve already turned the corner.
I forget my skates, don’t even think about them until I’m frantically shoving things in my bag and I find the blade guards. I love those skates, a joint gift from Kris and Coal and custom made, but nothing is worth going back into that mess for, not now when I can hardly breathe or see.
Instead I summon some left over Christmas magic and make a doorway for myself.
I don’t go home, I can’t.
I plan instead to go where I know I’ll find friends, family and comfort, even if it’s likely scary as hell.
I disappear to Salem in a flurry of bitter cold snowflakes.