ση тнє ѕє¢ση∂ ∂αу σƒ ¢няιѕтмαѕ, му тяυє ℓσνє gανє тσ мє 

тωσ тυятℓє ∂σνєѕ, 

αη∂ α ραятяι∂gє ιη α ρєαя тяєє

Title: Special Bells
Prompt: Santa's POV of two teens opening their Christmas presents and confessing their feelings to each other
Synopsis: A story unfolds as the reader, along with Santa, watch two teenagers come to terms with their feelings in a tale full of Christmas magic.
Requirements: [Word Count] 1500+

Part One: The Memories
Christmas Day, thirteen years ago

     A little boy and girl sit, building a block tower by the fireplace. Their parents talk quietly on the couch behind them. Their joy is off the charts.

     Playing with the blocks they had received earlier that day, Estella and Jacob are silently constructing the tallest tower they could make. Both of them are happy, Estella warm and content with a mouthful of cookie sitting in her stomach; Jacob, the pickier eater, reminiscing about the yummy potatoes he'd eaten earlier.

     They're only three years old, but they've been the best of friends for their whole lives. Their parents are friends, so it was only natural for their kids to grow up together.

     From up above, Santa smiles.

Christmas Day, ten years ago

     Now six, Estella and Jacob are again opening presents together. This year, Santa has gifted them both LEGO sets. Their parents look on approvingly as they put together the pieces.

     The sets are like their friendship - tight, unbroken. Pieced together to create a cohesive scene, a perfect moment. Like every Christmas tradition, the Christmas Day celebration has been celebrated each year since the year they were born.

     After all, they were born on that day, together. It was always destined to be.

     Above them, Santa looks down, and smiles.

Christmas Day, five years ago

     Their eleventh birthday was the first Christmas they didn't spend together. It wasn't a big fight, they had made up almost immediately, and it was over the silliest thing. Jacob was mad that Estella was going on a trip to France for her birthday and leaving him behind. Estella was mad that he wasn't happy for her.

     And then, of course, as eleven year olds do, they resolved it. But that birthday marked the beginning of the end of their friendship.

     Up above, Santa's smile begins to fade.

Christmas Day, last year

     Estella and Jacob, the dynamic duo. Always pronounced as EstellaandJacob, like they were one person, not two. Always, until they weren't.

     Birthday number eleven was the start. Then, the next year, Jacob convinced his parents to take him on a trip without Estella. And then when they were thirteen, both of them reminded their parents that it was no longer cool to be friends with someone of the opposite gender unless they were dating.

     (Of course, this is completely ridiculous. But to teenagers, this is the way the world works.)

     By fourteen, they barely talked to one another. When their parents forced them to hang out, they sat in silence until someone took pity on them and engaged one or the other in conversation.

     Now at fifteen, they decided that they did not want to open presents together. Their parents wonder: is it because they have feelings for each other? Is it because they don't? Why are teenagers so complicated?

     Santa is no longer smiling.

Part Two: The Now
Christmas Day, present
Estella

     Estella rolled out of bed with a groan. Her mom was shouting, "ESTA, UP UP UP! Make the house presentable, now, now!"

     Estella ran a brush through her hair and threw on some clean clothes. She knew they had to clean up the house, but she definitely didn't want to. Today was her sixteenth birthday, and instead of having a nice relaxing Christmas-slash-birthday, she had to see Jacob again.

     For the last few years, they hadn't talked to each other at all. Last year, they'd even broken the unspoken Christmas Day Tradition of opening presents at one of the families' houses. But their parents were still friends, even if their kids were not, and they wanted everyone to hang out today.

     "This sucks," she muttered to herself as she stomped out the door. But she had to admit, there was a tiny tingle of excitement to see Jacob again. Shut up, she told her traitorous feelings. She'd forced herself to forget about him, to shove that foolish, childhood crush deep down where it would never see the light of day again. And it had worked for a while, up until her parents decided that they needed to make her see Jacob again. Stupid, stupid feelings.

     Above, Santa leans forward slightly, intrigued.

Christmas Day, present
Jacob

     "Jacob, wake up wake up wake UP!" Jude landed on his brother's chest, startling Jacob awake. He groaned and dragged himself out of bed, pushing Jude off.

     "Go away, please," he mumbled, rubbing his eyes and squinting at the clock.

     "Can't can't can't," Jude announced, bounding around the room like a puppy.

     "Why not?"

     "Because we're going to Estella's house today!" Jude drew out Estella's name, and Jacob's breath caught in his throat. He'd completely forgotten that he was being forced to come to the Christmas party. His parents had entirely disregarded the fact that he and Esta hadn't talked in at least a year. Add on to that the fact that Estella had just gotten prettier as time went by, and that was a surefire way to disaster.

     Jacob's mother poked her head into the room. "Jakey, we're leaving in 30."

     "Moooom, what did I say about calling me 'Jakey'?"

     "Jaaaake, what did I say about when we're leaving?"

     "Leaving in 30, I got it."

     "Good boy."

     Jacob sighed, shaking out his blankets to dislodge a bouncing Jude, and made his bed. Throwing on the first t-shirt and pair of shorts that he found, he pulled Estella's present out from his desk drawer. Jude looked at it, then at Jacob, and back at the present.

     "Is 'stella your girlfriend?" he asked knowingly.

     Jacob's face flushed. "No! We- I haven't even talked to her in a year!"

     "Suuuuuure," Jude replied. Jacob buried his face in his hands.

     Why does my 8 year old brother know more about my love life than I do? he wondered.

     Up above, Santa laughs out loud.

Christmas Day, present
Estella

     The arrival of Jacob's family had Estella sprinting to her room as fast as she could. She'd been cleaning all morning, and whipping the brush through her hair hastily had not worked as well as she'd have liked.

     And, all right...she didn't want Jacob to see her like this, no matter how long it had been since they'd last talked. She still had some dignity left, after all.

     When Jude bounded through the door, yelling, "Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!" she couldn't help but smile. And then Jacob's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Holloway, were hugging her and commenting on how much she'd grown.

     It's strange, she thought suddenly, that they wouldn't have to make these comments if they'd seen me this past year. And it was strange, to think that her and Jacob's ex-friendship could really have those kinds of repercussions.

     Every Christmas before, they hadn't had to waste time with small talk and idle chatter. They didn't need to mention how she'd grown up, since they'd been there to see it the whole time. These thoughts sent a pang of sadness through Estella.

     That sadness quickly dissipated, however, when Jacob walked through the door. If possible, he'd gotten more handsome: stronger, taller, more at ease in his body than Estella had ever seen.

     His dark hair released a curl over his forehead, and he self-consciously smoothed it back. Estella stood there, trying not to stare, trying to figure out what to say.

     Santa begins to smile again.

Christmas Day, present
Jacob

     "Uh- hi, Esta. Long time no see?" He tried to sound confident, but his voice betrayed him. Stupid voice, stupid feelings, stupid Christmas party.

     Jacob nervously raked his hand through his hair again. Estella was just looking at him, fidgeting with the hem of her dress.

     Right, Jacob realized. The first thing I said to her after not talking for a year was 'long time no see'. I can't believe she tolerates me.

     Esta snapped out of her trance and said, "Hi Jake. You can- everyone's in the living room."

     The conversation in the living room was lively, with Jude interjecting every now and then to announce something in his loud, excited voice. In the hallway, though, the conversation was stilted.

     "So...how's school?" Jacob asked.

     "Pretty good," Esta answered.

     "Uh..."

     "Yeah."

     Jacob ducked his head. It was so awkward now, a far cry from the easy banter they'd had their whole lives. They couldn't even talk about school like normal people.

     Esta broke the ice again, "What'd you get for Jude this year?"

     Relieved, Jacob replied, "A toy plane. He asked Santa for Air Force 1, so I gave him a model."

     She barked out a laugh. "Your eight year old brother asked for Air Force 1?"

     "What can I say? He's weird," Jacob answered, before both of them burst into laughter.

     Up above, Santa is laughing too.

Christmas Day, present
Estella and Jacob

     Estella and Jacob's conversation seemed to go back to normal as the day wore on. The tradition had always been to come over before lunch, have lunch and dinner together, and open presents from the family at night. Their parents were convinced that they needed to follow the tradition exactly, so lunch and dinner it was.

     The ice broken, Esta got more comfortable around Jake. They were even using their nicknames again. But nothing could make her forget about how nice he looked, with his hair swept back from his forehead and his new toned, muscular body. But no, she wasn't supposed to think about these things. She was supposed to focus on making sure that this tradition is less awkward than it has been so far.

     Jake was also having the same problem. When had Esta gotten so pretty? He figured out the answer right after - during the year where they didn't talk to each other.

     Despite the lingering awkwardness of their (secret) mutual pining for one another, they fell right back into the familiar pattern of years past - quips and jokes that only they understood, lighthearted teasing that they both knew the other didn't mean.

     After suffering through a dinner where they sat opposite each other and tried not to stare too much, Esta and Jake headed into the living room for the present ceremony. Jude was jumping around, ready to spring into action as soon as the parents gave the go-ahead.

     And when they did, he leapt into the pile of presents, shunting gifts out of his way in search of his toys. Unable to hide her smile, Esta looked at Jake. The lights glinted off his eyes, drawing dappled patterns on his cheeks. He caught her staring and they both turned bright red.

     Jude emerged from the tornado of wrapping paper he had created, holding a model airplane aloft. "Air Force 1!" he crowed. Jake bit his lip, but as soon as he saw Esta's face, neither of them could hold it in any longer. They both burst out laughing for the second time that day.

     Their parents exchanged looks, perhaps sensing the intense chemistry in the air. Gently taking Jude's arm, Jake's dad guided him out of the room, leaving Esta and Jake behind.

     Slowly, the hysterics subsided, and the teens looked around the now-empty room. "Well," Esta said, "I guess that means we're opening our presents alone."

     "Okay," replied Jake. "Ladies first."

     Esta stepped forward, and rooting through the pile of ripped paper and wrapped presents, pulled out a rectangular parcel with her name on it. She tore off the paper to reveal a book she'd been wanting, and spun around to show Jake her prize. 

     Her hair swirled around her face, curls bouncing around her shoulders as she delightedly showed off her book. Jake realized that he didn't even know her that well anymore - he'd never seen her read those kinds of books before.

     As she met his eyes, Esta froze momentarily, as she realized just how familiar this felt - opening presents with Jake, showing him her gifts, that swoopy feeling in her stomach every time he looked at her...

     Jake was thinking things along the same lines, wondering how he could have ever thought that his life was better without her friendship, how he could have ever missed how pretty she was. It took them both a moment to realize that they actually had to move, then Jake stepped forward to pick up his present.

     Nestled within a wrapped box was a new baseball glove, which he displayed proudly. "It'll be perfect for the All-City Championships!" he said excitedly.

     Esta smiled, but her heart hurt. She didn't even know he'd continued with baseball, let alone that he'd made it onto the All-City team.

     There was a lot that they had missed about the other.

     Santa begins to make some popcorn.

     Together, Esta and Jake take turns opening gifts: more books, a new water bottle, gift cards, sweaters, some socks. Finally, there's just one present left, which is odd, since normally the amount of presents is exactly equal so that each person gets the same amount.

     "Maybe it's Jude's," Esta suggested, crawling under the tree to pick up the small box. But when she emerged, they both could see the label on the top was not, in fact, addressed to Jude.

     Instead, it was addressed to both of them.

     To Estella and Jacob, the present read.

     Jake shrugged, "Open it." Esta did, revealing a small silver bell on a plush red cushion. She shook it, and smiled when a pure jingle rang out through the room. She turned to Jake, but saw him staring down at a worn piece of paper in his hands.

     "What's that?"

     "I don't know. It came out of the box," he replied.

     "What does it say?" she asked.

     "'The bell still rings for me as it does for all who truly believe'," Jake said.

     Esta laughed, "Oh, that's clever! That's The Polar Express!"

     Jake's face cleared as he recalled what she was talking about. But as he remembered, another memory floated to the surface as well.

     Jake and Esta were maybe six or seven, and their parents had put on The Polar Express to keep them busy while the adults made dinner. They had just reached the end of the movie when Esta had reached out and grabbed his hand. Esta had been a logical child - and still was - but had been a firm believer in magic. And when they had finished the movie, she had gripped Jake's fingers and told him that she believed. What she believed in Jake never knew, but in that moment, it wasn't so hard to think that maybe magic was real.

     Above, Santa smiles, knowingly.

     Now, at this moment, Jake thinks that magic might just be real after all. He has no idea that Esta also is remembering the Polar Express moment; he has no idea that the thoughts running through his head are also going through hers.

     What he does have an idea of, however, is how much he likes her. How much he regrets pushing her away. How much he missed her. So he gives the bell a shake, grabs her wrist, and tells her how he really feels.

     "Esta...I really missed you. You're so nice, and funny, and kind, and you're so smart and logical, yet you still believe in magic. And that's a good thing, by the way. I've liked you since I was little. As in, like liked you. And I don't want to ruin our friendship a second time, but I can't deny my feelings anymore."

     She stares at him, stunned into silence. Oh gosh, he thinks, please let me not screw up my closest friendship.

     Then, Esta pulls him into a hug. It's his turn to stand in shock. "Oh Jake, I've always liked you too. I missed you so much." She pulls away from him, just a bit, so that they still stand pressed against one another. Jake is a few inches taller, but as Esta looks up into his eyes, she sees that he's the same Jake she's always known; the same Jake who she fell for. And Jake is thinking the same things.

     Santa is eating the popcorn. Santa is watching every story unfold. Santa is everywhere, in the gifts, in the lights, in the love and Christmas magic.

     Esta and Jake, EstellaandJacob, two people blessed with the magic of love, ring the bell together. Their lips meet. Their hearts beat as one.

     And above them, around them, within them, Santa smiles.

2672 WORDS

~~~~~WELCOME to day two

i had fun writing this one - the prompt was given to me by Too_Many_Fandoms999 - and in the end, due to the title of the prompt, decided to add in some polar express vibes because who doesn't love the polar express?

(bro that was my childhood and the quote at the top?? my  h e a r t )

i love you all, and remember: believe <3