❝IN WHICH, IT IS A COLD DECEMBER IN LONDON, AND SNOW ISN'T THE ONLY THING THAT'S FALLING. HE'S FALLING FOR HER AS WELL.❞
Will Delilah Fitch be nothing more than a dance to remember?
❝ON THE FIRST DAY OF CHRISTMAS, MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME.❞ _______________________________________
Sometimes, Delilah Fitch left Parker Addington waiting for more.
He couldn't bear to part with her every night at Lambroke.
(the stars seemed to shine a little lesser, the streetlights momentarily dimmed, and the shopfronts seemed to dull down the moment she stepped off of the bus)
"I like to look at your eyes when you speak."
Her words rung in his ears all day, until she came back into the bus the next day.
The wait for the next days, were always so bloody long.
"Hey," she said, with a smile.
Parker grinned as well, and stepped forward to envelop her in a hug.
She laughed lightly and hugged him back tightly. "What's the occasion?"
"Seeing you is the occasion," he said. He was glad that he wasn't looking at her when he said that, for he was sure he would have stuttered. "I missed you," he said at last, as she pulled away.
She smiled up at him, an adorable smile that she couldn't seem to stop. "I'm here now."
He smiled again, and together they walked to their usual seat.
"How's the burn?" he asked, as they sat down. He couldn't see it today, because she was wearing a black turtleneck.
"Much better," she replied, her eyes twinkling. "Thank you."
He shook his head dismissively.
The bus was driving down a busy lane that had some sort of Christmas Carnival going on.
It was a picturesque scene. The lights shone brightly in the late evening. The scent of warm sugar and vanilla wafted around everywhere, and Delilah turned to look at Parker.
She smiled at the awestruck look on his face, and she looked back out of the window.
"I used to love Christmas." She clasped her fingers together, and looked down at her lap.
Parker knew she was about to launch into a story, and so he leaned back against his seat.
"25th of December, 2006. It was early in the morning, and I woke up to eagerly go and open my presents. However, I found something else." She sniffed and looked up at Parker. "My mom was on the couch, crying like a little baby. My dad had left us that day, and even worse, he'd physically abused my mom before he could leave."
Parker could not relate to this one bit, for his parents loved each other so much. They didn't gift each other expensive gifts. They just loved each other with every fiber in their being, and that was the best gift they could give each other.
"She had bruises on her face, and when we went to the hospital that evening we found out that she'd suffered internal bleeding as well."
Delilah bit her lip for a second before talking again. "That day, I lost not only a father, but a mother as well. Alcohol was the only thing that helped her forget. And she upped her intake when she saw him with his new wife, and then when they had a baby, and then when they bought a new car. It took more of the alcohol to help her forget. To unsee. To un-feel. To numb her heart to everything he was doing. This continued until he stopped even acknowledging her when they met at neighborhood events.
"And somewhere along the line, he also forgot that he had a daughter. And that's why I hate Christmas." She finished, and as usual, when Delilah's narrating something so sad, she smiled.
She smiled, and it left Parker breathless, for he was absolutely clueless as to how someone could smile at the thought of something as sad as this.
"It brings back too many bad memories. The last day my mother was ever completely sober. The day I lost my father."
Parker shifted uncomfortably. "So you haven't celebrated Christmas ever since?"
"Celebrate?" she said with a laugh. "It's a day of mourning for me."
At that very moment, Parker made a vow to himself that he would do anything in his power to make this Christmas a beautiful and unforgettable one for her.
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a/n
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