In The Stardust

Happy Holidays

"Lily, what's keeping you?" Willow groaned, waiting outside her cousin's front door. "We're gonna miss the party!"

"Perfection can't be rushed," Lily replied. Willow just rolled her eyes.

"It's a neighborhood Solstice potluck," she pointed out. "There's no need to be formal."

"This isn't formal," Lily argued. "It's casual, but carefully detailed. I made it myself. None of the fashion designers in the village could make what I wanted."

"Probably because you drove them nuts before," Willow muttered.

"What was that?" Lily asked, stepping outside in a red and green outfit.

"Nothing."

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"So, what kind of food did you bring?"

"Buche de Noel," Lily answered. "It's a yule log sponge cake rolled in chocolate buttercream frosting and decorated with marzipan holly berries, pinecones and mush--."

"Yeah, yeah, something fancy. I just brought lutefisk," Willow said, putting a jar of small fish on a table with some other dishes brought by party guests.

"You bring that every year, and no one we know ever eats it," Lily pointed out.

"What makes you say that?"

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

The music started once the sun set. Lily got bored without having someone to talk to, but she didn't care. As long as Willow was happy. Although she never admitted it, Lily cared for her younger cousin and often worried about her.

An hour within the party, Lily got hungry. She was going to grab a slice of pizza before noticing Willow's now empty jar.

"Who in their right mind would actually eat it?" she asked herself, and looked around. Lily then noticed one of the smelly fish in a clawed, yellowish hand. "Archer?"

"Ah! Lily!" he screamed, dropping the fish. "What a-- just to-- how-- I mean--"

"We've been on five dates and you still get nervous around me?"

"Well... a little," he admitted. "It's just... I really like you and I'm afraid of something going wrong."

"Is that why you won't tell me about yourself?" Lily asked. She was out of town when the Party Crashers invaded Troll Village. "Because I doubt some little insecurity will change the way I see you."

Archer sighed. "It's more than that. Can we talk somewhere else?"

Lily nodded and led him to a hollow tree stump away from the party.

"Now, what's this about?" she asked as they sat on the ground. Hesitantly, Archer told her everything. The Party Crashers, his brother, who he used to be, how Poppy saved him... Outwardly, Lily remained deadpan, but Archer feared what she felt inside.

"I was worried if you found out, you wouldn't want to be with me anymore," he said sadly. "I understand if you don't, though."

"It sounds as if you were forced into a situation you didn't want to be in," Lily replied. "You remind me of my cousin, Willow. We come from a family that loved the entertainment industry. With Willow, it's film. I personally like opera. My dad owns a disco ice cream parlor. And my aunt... wanted to be a supermodel.

As a teenager she was beautiful, but only on the outside. She was vain, and only cared about herself. But when she was seventeen, she had Willow, and blamed her for ruining her life. She married Willow's dad, of course, before giving birth. They had more kids, but they made Willow take care of them all. I've never seen another parent who treats their children so cruelly. And I refuse to believe Willow deserves it."

"I had no idea," Archer muttered. "She always seemed so cheerful."

"She doesn't like to talk about it," Lily admitted. "I do everything in my power to keep her happy, though. She just doesn't realize it."

Archer placed his hand on top of hers and smiled at her sweetly. Lily gave a slight grin in return.

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"Archer!" Poppy shouted. "Archer, where are you?! We just started the gift exchange!"

"Did you find him?" Willow asked. Poppy shook her head. "Weird, because I did."

"Where is he?"

"Under the mistletoe with my cousin," Willow answered, and led her to the old stump. They watched Archer give Lily a soft kiss on her cheek as she wrapped her arms around him.

"Look how happy they are!" Poppy whispered. "Just being with someone special may be the greatest gift you ever get."

"Yeah," Willow agreed. "Can I have their presents?"

I still think this is a bad idea...