Sam's Best Friend (Connor Franta Fanfic)

Chapter 16- Christmas Already

"Your grandparents called," I almost dropped my entire bowl of mac n' cheese and looked up at my mother who stood, leaning on the kitchen counter.

"What? When?"

"Today around noon." she said simply. I was still slightly in shock.

"How long has it been since you last talked to them?"

"Let's see... I suppose it must've been just before your 14th birthday. I remember my mother making me promise to clean up since it had been almost three years since your dad's accident." It made me roll my eyes how she always referred to it as 'your dad's accident'. "Which I did." she added firmly.

My mother loved to flaunt how she 'cleaned up' three years after 'my dad's accident'. I give her some credit for doing so, even though it was mostly because her parents had threatened to stop providing for us if she didn't. She still has a major drinking issue, but it has been getting better, a lot better than it was for those first three years without my dad.

"What did they want? To check up on your 'progress'?" I asked and she gave me a look.

"No. They invited us over for Christmas next week."

"So after three years of no communication, they just casually invite us to their Christmas?" I nearly laughed at the idea of an actual family Christmas with my grandparents.

"Yes, and we're going." My mother replied cooly. I shot up from the couch.

"What?! Are you kidding?"

"No, I'm not kidding. I think it will be nice for us all to reunite. They are you grandparents, Jo and they practically raised you." She folded her arms across her chest.

"I know." I huffed having no argument. I was still repulsed by the idea of driving to Andover to stay in my grandparents' mansion of a house.

When I was really little, going there was my favorite thing to do. Sam and I would spend weeks there running up and down the grand staircases and through the maze of long hallways and playing in their backyard pool. It was a wonderful place we could go to get away from the screaming at home. But after my dad died, that house became a prison we were sent to when my mom couldn't stand on her own feet and we hated it.

Finally, Mom demanded they stop controlling her life and children. That was when she finally started cleaning up. Eventually, my grandparents stopped calling to check up and we never saw them again. It was nice to finally be able to spend time in my real home even when Mom would come home drunk late at night and Sam would have to clean up her puke and put her to bed.

Going to Grandpa and Grandma's for the first time in a little over three years would drag up all those memories. I shuddered at the thought of having to walk those halls and stay in my room again...

"We'll leave here on the 24th and stay for a few days. It should be nice." Mom continued casually.

"Nice." I scoffed. This should be interesting.

---------------

My grounding finally ended on the last day before Winter Break. That Friday after school, I drove out to St. John's to see Connor and help him pack.

"I wish you could come with. Christmas is even better than Thanksgiving at our house." he told me while I sat, sprawled out on his futon admiring my phone which I had missed holding in my hands.

"Yeah, well I couldn't anyway. I already intruded on your family holidays enough. Plus, I just got this baby back." I smirked, waggling my phone in Connor's face.

"Ah, right." he smiled. "No more letters then?"

Seeing him only twice a week for a couple minutes at school wasn't enough for either of us, so Connor came up with the most adorable idea. He had a P.O Box at St. John's which he mostly used for fan letters and gifts, but every few days, he would send a letter to my house and I wrote one back to his P.O Box.