⌜ chapter eleven ⌟

"Boy, you're with somebody for thirty-two years, you think you know 'em." Cory says from where he's sitting on the arm of the couch in the apartment.

"You know, Cor, when I said that you could come in, I didn't think you'd be bitching about all the things I watched yesterday." Letty says, sitting on the opposite side of the couch.

"It's everything that Eric was saying yesterday." He turns to look at her. "How do you two get along so well? You're not him, you're you."

Her eyebrows furrow. "I'm not sure I'm following that last bit."

"Sorry, something my dad said last night." He sighs. "But why do you fall in so easily with us and she just doesn't?"

"Well, kid, my Christmas tradition was couch hopping between Shawn and Eric." She tells him. "I didn't have a bunch of presents to open on either Christmas Eve or Christmas morning. I just had what your mom helped Eric pick out, what Shawn stole—"

"I did not!" The younger boy quickly argues, and she gives him a deflated look. He sighs. "Fine, maybe I did, but you weren't supposed to know that."

"—and what Jack sent in the mail. So, my gifts were opened whenever they found their way to me." She finishes as she looks back at Cory.

"You don't have any family traditions?" Cory asks, and she shakes her head.

"I was just glad that my dad spent the whole day too drunk to hit me." The brunette says. "I guess Eric and I got lucky on this one... As lucky as you can consider it."

"What about when you were... Never mind."

"With the Winchesters?" She asks. "John wasn't much for Christmas, but Dean and Miller tried to make it the best they could for their brother. We did some things that I'll never actually tell you about."

"Yeah, 'cause we think Dean's such a good guy anyway." Shawn mumbles.

"John did bring a wreath back to the motel one Christmas Eve though." The brunette smiles as she thinks back to that year. "It was made of crushed beer cans. It was kinda ugly, but Dean and I loved it... Sorry I can't be more help, kid." She says, and Cory shrugs.

"So... You walked out on Topanga on Christmas Eve day?" Shawn asks his best friend, who simply nods. "Cory, go back."

"No. I'm not gonna go back." He says as he looks up at him.

"You know, Jack, he doesn't realize how lucky he is to have a girl like Topanga." He says as he looks at his older brother.

"I don't really know her." Jack says.

"You know, I was gonna give her this ring, Shawn, you know?" Cory stands up and walks toward the kitchen as he rants. "I was gonna give her this ring that meant we were gonna be together forever, okay? But then I started learning all these new things about her. What kind of human being puts grapefruit juice in orange juice."

"The kind raised by people who named her Topanga." Letty mumbles as she sinks into the couch, and Jack chuckles as he looks down at her.

"Cory, I am but a simple idiot." Shawn says as he sets his eggnog on the coffee table. "But the one thing I do know is that you and Topanga are just like grapefruit juice and orange juice."

"Okay?" He sounds and looks confused.

"You shouldn't be together, yet somehow you are." He explains.

"Aw, Shawnie, that was so sweet." Letty smiles.

"You know, I'm sure I'll get to know her." Jack says, and they all look at him. "And if I don't, I don't. Well, Merry Christmas, everyone." He turns for the door.

"He's off his rocker." The brunette says as she stands up.

"Are you done screwing with him yet?" Shawn asks, and she shrugs before following the older of the Hunter boys out into the hall.

"Hey, uh... That's really how you spent Christmas?" Jack asks as he turns to look at her, and she nods. "And those were the only three gifts that you got?"

"Mrs. Matthews got me a couple extra sometimes." She shrugs. "I cared more about the company...and the hot meal."

"If I had known—"

"How would you have?" She shakes her head. "Even if you'd gotten the letters that I sent, I never would've told you about my dad or how things were."

"But what about your mom or Alec?" He asks. "I'd have found a way to come back sooner if I had known that they both left you."

"And what would you have done?" She asks, and he sighs as he shakes his head.

"I don't know. Something."

"I wasn't looking for a hero, and I wasn't looking to be saved." She tells him. "Eric just kinda stumbled into that role without meaning to, and now he tries. But now I don't need it, though it is cute when he thinks I need defending."

"He doesn't know what you can do?" He asks, and she shakes her head. "Isn't that hard? I mean, he doesn't know...all of you."

"He knows all of the pieces that are the most important to me." She tells him, and he nods as he looks down. She thinks she senses something off with him, but before she can ask what it is, the elevator door opens and Topanga walks out.

"Hey, is Cory here?" The blonde asks.

"Yeah." Jack turns for the door, seemingly eager to get out of the conversation that he was just having. "Hey, uh, some girl's here to see you." He says as he walks back into the apartment.

"Is everything okay?" Letty asks when Jack closes the door behind him, leaving the younger three in the apartment.

"Yeah, everything's fine." He nods.

"Uh, look, um... I told Shawn a year ago that he could spend the holidays with me, Alec, and the others. So, if you guys wanna spend Christmas at our house... You're both more than welcome."

"Aren't you spending it with Eric and his family?" He asks as Topanga walks past them and heads for the elevator.

"Yeah, but, uh... I'm spending the morning at my brother's, and then we're all heading over there afterward."

—

The others are finishing up opening the rest of their presents, and Letty sits down on the step of the stairs that's one lower than the one that Eric's on. He wraps his arms around her shoulders as she settles between his feet, and she leans into his chest.

"Have you talked to Hope or Jason today?" He asks, and she nods.

"Hope called at the apartment. The girls are on cloud nine with the new toys, Jason's complaining about packing everything into his car, and Bobby really seems to like having them there for the holiday." She tells him. "They're not coming back until after new years."

"You mean I get you to myself for even longer?" He tightens his hold on her, and she smiles as he leans forward and presses multiple kisses to her cheek. Then he pulls back. "Hey, is Hope doing alright? She's seemed a little off the last few times I've seen her."

"Yeah, I don't know what's up with her. I think she's just been working herself too hard." She says, and he nods.

"And now for my favorite part of the holidays!" Mr. Feeny gets their attention from his seat nearest the door, and everyone looks at him as Eric and Letty get to their feet. "A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens."

Eric jumps over the back of the couch to sit by the arm, and then he pulls Letty into his lap when she starts to move past him. Reggie pushes his way to sit on the couch, and the brunette rests her feet in his lap. Cory's sitting on his other side, with Topanga next to him, and Morgan's in her lap. Mr. Matthews is sitting in the chair by the door to the kitchen, with his wife in his lap, and the others — Alec, Tyler, Shawn, Lina, and Jack — are all spread out around the floor to listen.

Eric wraps his arms around Letty as she sinks down lower so that she can rest her head on his shoulder while Feeny reads. She nestles her head into her boyfriend's neck, and he turns his head to kiss her as best he can, making her smile like she always does.

"A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, as read by George Feeny." He says as he opens the book to where they left off earlier. "Marley was dead, to begin with. There was no doubt whatever about that. The registrar of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker...

"And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless us, every one." Feeny looks around at everyone after finishing his reading and sees that they've all fallen asleep. "Bah Humbug." He mutters as he shuts the book.

"Thanks, Mr. Feeny." Letty says sleepily, and he smiles as he looks over at her. The brunette's still curled up in Eric's lap, and his cheek is resting against her forehead.

"You're quite welcome, Ms. Black."