"I swear, if I'm dying tonight because of you, I'm gonna haunt your ass so hard, Harrington!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah! I'm gonna go full Poltergeist and shit!"
"Then bring it, Graveswood."
"Challenge accepted."
***
In which after years of suppressing their...
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Chapter Forty-Three: Merry Christmas
(The Upside Down, Pt. 7)
***
"Ack! Robin!"
"Sorry, Chris!"
"No you're not."
"No, I'm not."
Rowan snorted as Chrissy glowered at a smirking Robin, wiping away the splotch of gingerbread dough that Robin had "accidentally" flicked onto her. The strawberry blonde gave Robin another glare as the taller girl returned to stirring the batter while Chrissy went back to decorating the house and gingerbread men that had already come out of the oven alongside Rowan as ABBA played in the background.
When the gingerbread house and men were aptly decorated and a new batch was added in the oven, the trio munched on the spare cookies they had, the rest plus the house intended for tomorrow's Christmas, sitting on the living room couch as Christmas Eve played on the TV.
As the credits rolled, Rowan glanced over to the clock and groaned at realising the time.
"Sorry, but I need to get going. Eddie's gonna be here soon and I need to get Al from the Wheelers," Rowan said as she got up and moved to get her duffle bag, which was already packed and had the presents Chrissy and Robin had for her and for her brother.
Robin and Chrissy nodded, understanding. Unlike Chrissy, Rowan couldn't stay over on Christmas Eve, so she usually either came to hers or Robin's place the night before so they could still have a Christmas sleepover.
Looking at her friends, she asked, "You sure you guys don't want to spend this Christmas with me?"
"Trust me, I would give anything to do Christmas with you and your family instead, but my parents are insistent that I 'spend Christmas with family'," Robin replied, rolling her eyes, feelings clear on that. Chrissy nodded, fiddling with her cardigan.
"Same here. My grandparents come up from Maine with my brother, and it's usually one of the only times I get to spend with him when he's out of boarding school, so I can't really skip," Chrissy said, eyes shadowed as she worried her lip.
Rowan nodded. She understood, but still wanted to ask since both didn't really enjoy spending time with their respective families.
"Okay, but if either of you manage to get away or need a break... our door's always open."
"Thanks, Ro," Chrissy and Robin said in unison, giving her small, appreciative smiles.
A horn honked and Rowan smiled.
"That's my ride," she said, slinging her bag on and heading to the door. "Merry Christmas, guys!"
"Merry Christmas!" Robin and Chrissy called back as Rowan closed the door behind her, jogging up to the van. Outside, flurries of snow drifted down, dotting the land around them with blankets of white. When it had first started snowing, Rowan almost had a heart attack, her mind briefly thinking that somehow, the ashy flakes of the Upside Down had found itself here, that she was back there again, but she had to remind herself that it wasn't, that it was just snow. It had always been snow.
