"Do you wanna build a snow-"
"Don't you dare finish that," I cut Harley off before he finishes.
"Oh come on, just let it go," He jokes.
I make a fake snow ball in my hands and launch it as him, "Make one more Frozen reference, I dare you."
"The sky's awake so I'm awake, so we have to play," He smirks.
My eyes narrow as I gather more fake snow, "Fine, you want to play? Let's play."
"The cold never bothered me anyway," He remarks as I pelt him with another fake snowball.
"I hate you," I mumble as he plops an elf hat on my head.
"Love you too," He replies jokingly, "You actually look like an elf."
I hit him with another fake snowball, "You look cold. How is that possible? I didn't use real snow."
"I'm only slightly cold."
I laugh and pull him into a hug, "There, you can have my heat."
"Are you sure you're going to be okay without me?" He asks after I hand him his scarf.
"The world will not stop spinning without you, Harley. I'll be fine. Pinky promise."
He hands me a neatly wrapped present, "I got you a little something."
I hand him a gift bag, "I don't know how to wrap presents."
I carefully tear the paper off to reveal a picture frame. It's a collage of different pictures of me and my dad. There's an inscription on the frame,
'Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.'
"Harley, this is amazing. My gift isn't nearly as good."
"You got me the ultimate Stark Tech Engineering kit! It's awesome!"
I look into Harley's eyes, "Well, I don't know what I'd do without my engineer."
"I'm gonna miss my flight. I'll see you next year, okay?"
I pull out small box, " Wait, this is for your sister. To replace the one Tony broke."
"Thanks, she never let that go. Merry Christmas, Emily."
"Merry Christmas, Harley." And with that I'm alone in Scott Lang's front yard.
My fingers trace the perimeter of the picture frame. This is my second Christmas but this time I won't have my dad with me. It's okay I guess I just miss him a lot. Especially when I see people celebrating Christmas with their families.
I left my family of my own will and I can't just go back. I like my life outside of the Avengers and if returned that life would be gone.
"Emily! The hot chocolate is done!" Cassie calls from the door.
I plaster on a smile, "Coming!"
She meets me at the door with a grin, "Is your boyfriend gone already?"
A blush creeps onto my face, "He's not my boyfriend. Where's that hot cocoa?"
I walk into the kitchen where Scott is carefully pouring hot cocoa into ten mugs. "Wanna do the toppings?"
"It would be genuine pleasure," I tell him as I begin spraying whip cream on the drinks, adding extra for Cassie and Luis because they like it that way. I grab some crushed up peppermint and sprinkle it on top of the cream.
We load the mugs onto a platter and carry them into the living room, "Cinnamon for Hank, and Peppermint for the three baboons."
"A toast," Scott raises his mug, "To new friends, family, and Paxton."
Everyone laughs, even Paxton. I can't help but wonder what the team is up to. The last Christmas we had was a holiday disaster.
(Christmas Past)
"I still don't understand this holiday," I complained as I was forced to pose for a picture with an ugly sweater. "Why should we wear something ugly on purpose?"
"It's a holiday tradition," Clint explained as he forced Natasha to wear reindeer ears.
"And once we're done we can finally open presents," Dad added in.
I brighten up at the idea of that, "Then let's get this over with."
"Everyone say cheese!"
Then Thor sneezed which caused him to knock into Sam who fell on Steve, who brought Natasha down with him, which knocked me backward into my dad.
Needless to say, it was a disaster and everything only got worse from there.
Steve tried to make cookies that all came out burnt and black.
Even the Christmas dinner was ruined by one of Tony's stray suits. There was food flying every where and broken dishes scattered the floor.
Then of course, there was the holiday assassin. We still have no idea who he was after but he got butt whooping. Weirdly enough he kind of saved our Christmas.
He had taken out the power so we used candles instead. Takeout was ordered and the presents were opened.
They were trying to give me the perfect Christmas after the complete disaster Thanksgiving was but that's a whole other story. Somehow, sitting there with everybody in the candle light and chowing down on Chinese food was the perfect Christmas.
Until we found out the assassin had friends. Then things got hectic again.
It was a good Christmas for about 2 hours though and it's all I really needed.
But those days are over. This year, I just watch Scott use his suit to reenact the Christmas Carol but with ants.
It's different, but it's still Christmas.
******************
A/N: Happy Holidays! I hope everyone enjoyed their festivities. Hot cocoa inspired me to write this little one shot so here you go. Hope you enjoyed!
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FanfictionQuestion: How do you make a monster stop feeling so monstrous? Answer: You give her something she can hold in her palms without crushing. You give her something sweet and tell her to keep it. You wipe the blood from her hands You say her name over a...