Ice Cold

Chapter 8

The next few weeks were uneventful. I buried myself in my work even picking up a few after shifts. I didn't have any more run-ins with Elliot due to my crazy schedule and his even crazier one, but after becoming friends, we did exchange phone numbers. We did manage to talk almost everyday, but his season was going to full force, meaning more practices and more games.

Before I knew it, the holiday season was starting. The holidays were always bittersweet for me. I loved looking back at the memories made with my family, but mourned spending another season without them. Gianna always invited me to spend the holidays with her family, but sometimes being alone was more comforting than being an outsider crashing another family's traditions.

I loved the holiday season, it was the actual holiday I tried to ignore. I loved all the baking, decorating and all the other prep work that came with it, but when it came down to the day, I tended to ignore the festivities. It was easier to treat it like any other day and just watch a few Christmas movies.

Thanksgiving this year was fine due to me having to work, but unfortunately for Christmas I was off. I tried to volunteer to work, but management didn't want to pay extra for the holiday. Jokes on them since for me, Christmas is another random day of the week. My thoughts would probably change once I had a family of my own, but for now, it was easier to only celebrate the holiday on a basic level.

Gianna and I spent a weekend, a few weeks prior to Christmas, decorating our entire apartment since it was the first weekend we had off together since our last adventure in St. Paul . We hung up our stockings with the letters E and G on them. We put up our Christmas tree and decorated it with all the tacky ornaments and the most ugly-looking star we could find. We even put up a bunch of garland on every surface you could imagine. Our apartment looked like an ugly Christmas sweater threw up, and I loved every second I got to look at it. It was perfect.

The week of Christmas was filled with baking. We made sugar cookies, peanut butter blossoms, and a holiday chex mix. There was no way that either one of us would be able to eat it all, but it was fine since we were able to take the leftovers to work to help spread some of the Christmas cheer.

"How much shit do you have to pack?" I groaned as I flopped down on her bed, looking at the mountain of items Gianna was trying to pack to visit her home for the holidays.

"I'm going home for Christmas, I have to bring gifts," Gianna replied. "Aren't you supposed to be helping?"

"I'm not a magician. I can't magically make your stuff fit into your suitcase and carry on. Not even Santa himself travels this heavy," I exaggerated.

"Bitch, I am Santa."

"Whatever you say."

"Are you sure you don't want to come home with me for Christmas?" Gianna asked for a millionth time as she finally managed to zip up her suitcase, all ready to head to Michigan to see her family.

"I'm positive. You deserve some one-on-one time with your family," I insisted.

"I just hate leaving you here all alone, especially for the holidays," she emphasized.

"I won't be alone. I'll have the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future with me," I teased, hoping to ease some of her guilt.

"You said that last year," she reminded me.

"And did I complain last year?"

"I just worry about you Eleanore," she admitted, pulling me into a hug.

"Gianna, you are the closest thing I have to a family. You're basically my sister, but you have your own life that doesn't revolve around me. Now you deserve time to spend with your actual family. I'll always be right here when you get back."