Ginger's Spy School Oneshots

feels like joy to the world

Author's Note: Me: There's so much comedic potential for the Hale sister dynamic!

                                 Also me: I'm gonna make it angsty, though

~ * ~

Boarding school sucked.

It wasn't that Trixie actively hated it most of the time, but she did get homesick sometimes and staying at home and going to the local public school sounded like the more fun option by a long shot.

Less than a week ago, Trixie had been so excited to get to see her family again. Especially Erica, since their fall breaks hadn't lined up and she hadn't seen her since August. They were all going to have Christmas together and the weird tension that seemed to have been brewing between her parents all summer would be gone, and they could all be a happy family again.

Now she was desperately wishing she was back at school. Not that staying at her boarding school over Christmas would have been even a little fun, but it wasn't like the news that her parents were getting divorced was putting her in the Christmas spirit.

Erica hadn't really reacted beyond leaving as soon as she could and just staying in her room. Granted that was her reaction to just about anything, but she had been in there forever, and Trixie was pretty sure that no one had actually gone to talk to her.

Trixie snuck down the hall, not because she had anything to be sneaky about, but because sneaking was fun and she'd made it a life goal to try and sneak up on Erica at some point. Today was not that day however. Erica opened the door and pulled Trixie in, shutting the door behind her and then glaring at her younger sister.

"What do you want," Erica asked irritably walking back over to her bed and flopping out on it.

There were times when Erica made Trixie look and feel so much younger than she actually was. Given that she was wearing footie pajamas with candy canes and snowmen on them while Erica had opted for black sweatpants and an old black t-shirt, the difference appeared a lot more noticeable than it normally was.

So Trixie straightened herself up as tall as she could and said, "I thought that you needed a hug."

Erica propped herself up on her elbows with the exact same expression and said, "You mean you need a hug."

Trixie made a face and said, "Well, maybe I do, and I'm mad at Mom and Dad right now, so you're the only option left." After a beat of silence where Erica continued to stare at her with the same annoyed expression, she added petulantly, "Besides, I think we both need a hug."

Erica's face softened at that and sitting up she patted the spot on the bed beside her and said, "Come here."

~ * ~

Erica felt bad for Trixie almost constantly.

Obviously, there was the part where her sister wasn't learning how to be a spy and would have to settle for some less important career. But even more than that, it shut her out from the family in a big way. She'd never understand what it meant to be a Hale, she'd never understand the impact of their legacy, she'd never get to take part in it.

But right now, it meant that she'd probably been blind sighted today's events and definitely didn't understand why they were happening.

Not that Erica knew what the straw that broke the camel's back had actually been, but she had seen it coming from a mile away. She'd heard plenty of the arguments that went on between her parents, and if she was being honest, she was surprised that they hadn't gotten divorced long before.

But Trixie didn't know that, or at least, Erica really hoped she didn't. Trixie was so young, too young to have to have to think about that kind of stuff.

It seemed like Trixie was always going to need protection from their family. From their legacy. She might not particularly like boarding school, but it was by far the best, the safest she could be. Erica wasn't convinced that any of this was the best way to handle Trixie's general lack of espionage aptitude, but what say had she ever had in the matter?

Erica wished she could do so much more, fix all the problems that living in this family created that there didn't seem to be a solution for, but she couldn't. But what Trixie needed right now was a hug, and as she snuggled into Erica, Erica decided that this was a thing could do for her sister.

(And if Trixie had been right and Erica had needed the hug too, no one actually needed to know that.)

~ * ~

Authors Note: I'll be taking my stories from ao3 and posting them over here in an attempt to get them to a wider audience, so if you feel like you've read this before, that's probably why. Feel free to check my out on there or on my tumblr (same username for both places) if you'd like to see more, and please don't forget to leave a comment and have a lovely day!