It had been snowing and Christmas was nearing. Tessa was overjoyed to learn that they would go to Virginia for the holidays but before that the two had to get shopping done.

"Ready?" Daniel asked from the doorway, zipping up his jacket and grabbing the keys. "I want to get this done while there is still sunlight,"

"Coming! Coming!" Tessa laughed at his rush and struggled to put on her boots, Xavier helping her with the jacket before grabbing her hand and letting her lead him out her room.

"Let's go?" The officer inquired as Tessa nodded, the three of them stepping out of the apartment.

"Thank you for letting me tag along," Xavier thanked Daniel in the elevator. "I want to get my moms' some Christmas presents and needed to do it without them finding out,"

"No problem,"

"See, I like it when you two get along," Tessa smiled up at the two, Daniel chuckling at her as Xavier gave a sheepish smile in response.

They drove to the stores before parking a little way off because of the rush before walking the rest of the way. The walk to the store spent with Xavier and Tessa ahead of Daniel and swinging their intertwined hands, talking to each other as the elder man opted to trail behind, and try to occupy his mind with thoughts and ideas for Christmas presents rather than focusing on the fact that the girl he loved was with another boy.

The couple didn't seem to notice his lagging and instead walked into a clothing store, all three of them looking around it before Daniel decided that he liked nothing from there.

"We should get Nathan and Delilah something wedding themed," Tessa finally spoke to Daniel in the baby shop where he was choosing a gift for Olivia, and looked at the racks of baby clothes before cooing at how tiny they were.

"Leave the wedding gifts for the wedding, Bambi," He chuckled and picked out a makeshift dollhouse. "Nathan and Delilah should get separate gifts this Christmas because after they're married they'd receive one gift,"

"Wow, marriage takes away the simple joys of gifts from you,"

"Which is why I don't plan on getting married,"

"What?" Tessa stared at him in confusion as he paid for the gift and got it wrapped. "You don't plan on getting married?"

"I'd love to have a family of my own, but I don't think any girl would like to marry me," He shrugged and picked up the gift making his way to the store across the street where Xavier was looking for his moms' gifts. "Let's not talk about it here, Bambi, we have Christmas shopping to get done,"

"But-" Her words were cut short by Xavier tugging her along in his excitement to show her what he had picked for his mothers.

Daniel chuckled and shook his head at the two before setting out to find gifts for the rest of his family.

"One down, nine more to go," He sighed and ventured into the store.

They took the rest of the day to get gifts for the others, Daniel having insisted on finishing his shopping in a day so he didn't have to worry about anything last minute.

The sun was setting behind the buildings and Daniel couldn't be sure if the number of people had grown or shrunken since when they had arrived. But on the bright side, Daniel got gifts for everyone, his arms stuffed with wrapped merchandise, with Tessa and Xavier behind him, the teenage boy having found gifts for his mom, while Tessa insisted on coming again tomorrow.

"Honestly, Bambi, could you not have found anything today?" Daniel asked with a sigh as he loaded everything into the back of his car. "I hate the holiday rush, and I want to leave the day after tomorrow to help out at home,"

"Tomorrow I promise to find all my gifts," Tessa sighed, going to grab her bag before realizing it wasn't slung across her shoulder anymore. "My bag?"

"There," He gestured to across the street where Xavier stood waiting to cross, Tessa's bag in his hand.

A laugh burst through her as she looked across the road and made her way towards him, Daniel watching her cross before he caught sight of a car making its way towards her and expected it to slow down. But then he looked closer and realized that the driver was busy fumbling with the radio and not even looking at the road.

"Tessa!" He called out to her, seeing her meet his call with a deaf ear and walk across the road, oblivious to the oncoming car nearing her. "Tessa!" He yelled and ran across the road, shoving her out of the way and sending her hurtling onto the sidewalk just as the car collided with him, sending him rolling over the windshield and hood before collapsing onto the road.

Tessa stared in shock at his unconscious body, her heart dropping to her feet as bile rose in her throat to see the blood pooling around his head. A horde of people gathering around them as Xavier pulled her back, her breath coming out pants and her eyes wide with panic to realize he had just thrown himself in the way of a moving car to protect her.

"Daniel!"