My Christmas [standalone]
Title: My Christmas [standalone]
Author: ipanicdaily
Pairing: Gabe/Bill/Travis, Brendon/Ryan, Pete/Patrick, Nate/Alex, Spencer/Jon
POV: 3rd
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: As much as I would love to own some, if not all, of these boys, I don't, and therefore if you think I do, you're pretty damn stupid.).
Summary: "We don't have Christmas at my house," he said in a near whisper, wanting to cry with embarrassment. Even Gabe and Travis were intrigued; William being the only other than themselves either ever paid attention to. Sometimes they picked on him, sometimes they just tortured him for their own amusement. They'd made him cry more than anyone in the class could count to.
Beta: lilrainforest
Author Notes: Kid!fic to the prompt of 'Christmas'
Happy Holidays (you bastard) <3
"And then, after we've opened all our presents, we go to my nanny's for even more presents!" Brendon excitedly told his classmates, brown eyes even larger than normal and smile consuming his face. He held a piece of paper out in front of him bearing the seven-year-old's drawing of his family, a Christmas tree, presents, their dog, their cat, Santa, and snow (inside the house) for everyone to see.
"One at my nanny's-" The entire class groaned because Brendon had been talking for the past fifteen minutes, and everyone's heads had long since hit their desks. The only kids that still held any remote interest in the boy's extravagant and detailed story of what he does on Christmas were Ryan, Brendon's best friend, and William, the shy, quiet student. "I go feed her gold fish, Sir blubs-a-lot," Brendon giggled, "Who I named, and then I wish him a Merry-"
"It sounds like you have a wonderful Christmas," Mrs. Reff, their teacher, cut him off as she too was beginning to fall asleep. "Thank you for sharing with us, Brendon."
"But I'm not done..." Brendon frowned, arms dropping in front of him.
"There are other kids who want to share their stories too, right?" she asked, sitting up straight in her chair off to the side.
"I s'pose..." Brendon mumbled, head dropping sadly with disappointment.
"Why don't you go take a seat and if we have time later, you can tell us the rest, okay?" Brendon nodded, barely lifting his feet as he sulked back to his desk, falling into the brightly colored plastic chair with a heavy thud. He laid the paper down in front of him then let his forehead fall on top of it, pouting into his paper.
"I liked it," Ryan said, leaning over to hug Brendon since the two sat beside each other. Brendon let himself be hugged, unmoving, secretly smiling because Ryan liked it, and that's all that really mattered.
"Who's next?" Mrs. Reff asked, no one making eye contact with her. "No volunteers?" She looked from desk to desk, all of her students looking in other directions or busying themselves with whatever was on their desk. "How about...Gabe; why don't you share."
"Do I have to?" the boy whined from the back of the class, looking up from the paper that he and his best friend, Travis, had been bent over; both lost in a grueling game of hang-man. They were the class troublemakers.
"Yes, you have to," Mrs. Reff answered with a stern look. Gabe groaned, rolling his eyes, and got out of his seat, grabbing a paper he quickly scribbled something on, and walked down the aisle to the front. "What do you do for Christmas, Gabe?"
"I'm Jewish," Gabe said, displaying his paper with one hand. "We don't celebrate Christmas. We celebrate Chanukah."
"Why don't you tell us about Chanukah," his teacher said. Gabe sighed, eyes rolling again. He hated actually doing work. "Not too many of your classmates know what it's like to be Jewish and celebrate different holidays."
"It's not that exciting." Gabe shrugged. "We go to church and wear little white hats and light candles." He paused, slowly grinning to himself, letting the paper fall to the floor. "My nana says that when she was little though, there was this war called the 'Hollow-Cost' where all the Jewish people were forced into jail-camps and had to do all kinds of hard labor and then were mostly kil-" Mrs. Reff clamped her hand over his mouth.
"Thank you," she said, smiling nervously at the wide-eyed class before her. They were only in second grade; the lessons of WWII were still a few years away.
"But," Gabe pushed his teacher's hand away, "I was just getting to the good part!" he whined. It wasn't that Gabe thought the Holocaust was great or anything, there was still a lot he didn't know about it, naturally, but rather more that he was an eight-year-old boy so war and death and destruction just appealed to his interest.
"Your time's up." Mrs. Reff tried to be as calm and patient as she could. Most days she swore Gabe, and Travis, his partner in crime, just loved to push her buttons. It was hard enough apologizing to Pete's parents as well as helping to assure the boy that yes, they were just joking, and no, the tooth fairy doesn't really come into your room at night to rip all your teeth out with pliers.
"Whatever." Gabe shrugged again, going back to his seat, high-fiving Travis before resuming their game. It was an ironic coincidence that the person hanging from the gallows on their paper resembled Santa Claus.
"I think we have time for one more before lunch." Again, heads turned and eyes wandered. All except Brendon and William. Brendon had already gone though. "William? Would you like to come share?" The boy slowly shook his head, eyes dropping. "It doesn't have to be long." Of course, she knew how shy the boy was. "Just come up and show the class what Christmas at your house looks like."
Not wanting to be in trouble, William grabbed his paper and got up, the only one at the table beside Gabe and Travis (Mrs. Reff hoped that he could be a good influence on the boy's), head down as he went to the front. Mrs. Reff went back to her seat and sat down, leaving William alone in the center. "Let's see your picture," she said encouragingly. William lifted the paper up with one hand, still looking at the floor.
It was a blank sheet still.
"We don't have Christmas at my house," he said in a near whisper, wanting to cry with embarrassment. Even Gabe and Travis were intrigued; William being the only other than themselves either ever paid attention to. Sometimes they picked on him, sometimes they just tortured him for their own amusement. They'd made him cry more than anyone in the class could count to.
"What do you mean you don't have Christmas?" Pete asked, matching Brendon's (surprisingly) silent expression of shock. Beside him, Patrick hushed him, kicking his hyper friend under the table.
"We can't afford it." William shrugged, lowering his arm to hug himself instead.
O-' We wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas, and a happy new year O-'
"How can someone not have Christmas?" Travis asked during lunch, sitting at the round table in the cafeteria that he and Gabe claimed for themselves. He ignored his food though, looking a few tables over to William who sat alone with his bagged lunch of a sandwich and an apple. It seemed to be all he ever ate.
"I don't have Christmas." Gabe shrugged, not the least bit concerned about the shocking statement as he devoured his food. "It's not that big-a deal," he said through chewing.
"But you have something; and you still get presents." Travis sighed, eyes still on William. "He has nothing 'cause his mommy can't afford it."
"Mommy's can't afford lots of things," Gabe replied simply. "My mommy can't afford a big house or another car 'cause ours doesn't work so good but we are fine." Travis rolled his eyes at his friend's stupidity.
"But your mommy can afford to give you gifts for Chanukah and your birthday, right?" He looked to Gabe who still shoveled his lunch into his mouth, barely chewing. Miraculously, his metabolism was just as fast as his eating. "What if you never got another present never ever again?"
"That won't happen," Gabe said before sticking the tip of the straw protruding from his juice carton between his lips and lightly sucking.
"Pretend it could happen." Travis huffed, slightly frustrated. Gabe stopped to think for a minute, running the idea through his mind, as much as the second grader could comprehend about such a situation, then shrugged lazily.
"I'd probably be sad," he said, moving onto his cookie. Travis pushed his tray away then dropped his elbows to the table, holding his head in his hands, going back to watching William slowly and carefully eat-like it was his only meal.
"Maybe that's why William is so quiet," he muttered thoughtfully. "He's probably sad 'cause he doesn't get any presents ever."
"Maybe," Gabe echoed, still not all that interested. "Or maybe he likes being quiet." Travis ignored him. Their table fell silent, the lunch room still buzzing with the chatter of all the other students, Brendon's voice distinguishable despite his distance from the two. Once his food was gone, Gabe decided to destroy the Styrofoam tray with his plastic spork.
"Maybe if William got a gift, he wouldn't be so quiet and sad;" Travis thought aloud a little while later.
"Maybe," Gabe echoed once more, aggressively driving the spork into the tray, making cracking noises. Slowly, Travis' face softened, head rising as a smiled at Gabe who, when he noticed, stared somewhat worriedly. "What...?" he cautiously asked, lowering the spork to the table beside the pile of broken tray.
"We should give William a gift for Christmas!" Travis beamed, nearly bursting from his seat with energy that would put Brendon to shame. "'Cause then he wouldn't be so sad and quiet!"
"I like his quiet." Gabe frowned. "He's the only one who doesn't tattle on us."
"But he needs at least one Christmas!" Travis huffed with aggravation. "It doesn't have to be anything brand new. My mommy rewraps things all the time that we don't use. Don't you have any toys you don't play with anymore?" Gabe shook his head.
"We destroyed them all," Gabe said, almost proudly. Travis bit his lip because he forgot they did that; to both Gabe's and Travis' old toys. "And my mommy won't go near any stores now, she says." Travis dropped his head back to the table. It felt wrong to let William have no Christmas; even if the two picked on him. He was just easy to get away with being mean to-except when he started crying.
But just as hope was about to be lost, Pete's bragging voice took Travis' attention, making him lift his head and locate the boy. Pete sat with his usual group; really close to Patrick- Andy, Joe, Mikey, Mark, and Ashlee, all of which were in the other second grade class, taking up the remaining seats. In his hand he held a Batman action figure, displaying it for his friends and reciting all its cool features proudly.
The somewhat twisted smile took over Travis' mouth again.
"You know what, Gabanti?" He propped his head up with his hands again, looking at Gabe.
"What, Travie?" Gabe asked, smiling as well because he recognized that look; crooked smile and eyes sparkling with the idea of mischief and mayhem that bonded the two so tightly.
"I'm sure everyone else has toys they don't need anymore," he said, eyes locking with Gabe's as their thoughts shot back and forth perfectly. It was like they had that supposed bond of twins.
"I bet they do." Gabe's smile got even more cynical. Somehow, they managed to suck the innocence out of childhood, with only their expressions.
"And with Christmas almost here..."
"They'll be getting new toys anyway." Gabe finished Travis' sentence. It wasn't that he was set on giving William a gift like his friend seemed to be, it was that it would give him a 'reasonable' reason to push everyone around a bit.
"So I'm sure they can sacrifice something for the cause." A teacher announced that it was time to go back to class so everyone grabbed their things, depositing their trash along the way, lining up by class.
"You know what, McCoy?" Gabe slung an arm around Travis. "I like the way you think."
O-' Jingle bells, Jingle bells, Jingle all the way. Oh what fun, it is to ride, in this one-horse open sleigh. O-'
After lunch was recess, the weather outside was too cold to permit leaving the building, so everyone went back to their classrooms instead. Brendon hurried to William once they were all back, dragging Ryan along, only releasing his friend to put his arms around the shy boy in an invasion of his personal space. William was taken back and opened his mouth to say something, but closed it when he saw Ryan give a quick shake of his head. Brendon had always been one William couldn't quite understand. He was very sensitive and most always hyper.
"I'm sorry you don't have Christmas," Brendon said, face pressing into the worn, tearing hoodie William wore.
"S'okay," William mumbled, Brendon's semi-long dark brown hair tickling his face. Having never really had a Christmas, William didn't really understand what he was missing out on and therefore didn't make a huge deal about it. His mother would tell him he had food, clothes, and a place to live; they may not be good, but they were better than nothing.
Brendon released William and looked him straight in the eyes, probably the longest the boy ever went without moving, a sad and sympathetic look on his face. "Doesn't Santa come?" he asked a moment later. William only shook his head, avoiding the depressed brown eyes. "How come? Are you a good boy? You don't seem like a bad boy. You're just quiet and stuff..."
"I don't know." William shrugged, going back to working on some math problems rather than play. He didn't really have anyone to play with; they all stayed in pairs and there wasn't anyone left for William. It didn't bother him much though.
"Maybe he doesn't know where you live," Brendon said, coming up with his logical explanation. "'Cause Santa has lots of kids to bring presents to and maybe your address got losted or something 'cause my mommy loses addresses all the time and-"
"Brenny;" Ryan quickly cut Brendon off, grabbing his hand. Brendon looked at him and Ryan used his free hand to place his index finger over his lips. He was trying to get Brendon not to ramble so much because it annoyed people. Not Ryan, but some of the other kids. Brendon nodded understandingly.
"We just have to remind Santa of your address," he said as he looked back to William. "I'll write him a letter and tell him that he can't forget you this year!" Brendon chimed, face illuminating. "Come on Ryro! I can't write good yet so you have to help me make a letter for Santa 'cause Christmas is almost here and I want him to get it in time!" And just like that, Ryan was jerked back towards the table up front, William watching as Brendon dug around in his backpack.
Paper and a crayon were handed to Ryan before Brendon huddled close and Ryan's hand began to drag the crayon over the paper. William still didn't understand the excitement behind Christmas, so while Ryan wrote and everyone else played, William went back to his math problems; perfectly content, yet curious.
O-' You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I'm telling you why; Santa Calus is coming to town. O-'
Halfway through recess, Mrs. Reff had to take Nate to the nurse, Alex S. accompanying them since Nate refused to let go of him as he cried, because Nate tripped on his untied shoes and fell into the bookcase; smacking his forehead right on the corner. Miss Marie, the other second grade teacher across the hall, had to watch them, but she also had her class so, when only the kids were in the room, Gabe and Travis set to work.
First, they decided to get the easy people out of the way. Brendon, for once separated from Ryan's side, sat in the corner, contently playing with the Barbies Hayley and Greta abandoned to instead go get into the art supplies, namely the glitter, while they were unsupervised. The duo headed to Brendon first, the eager boy being possibly the most gullible child ever.
"And you, Daisy-Rae, are the pretty princess." Brendon merrily told the child, its limbs squeaking as he bent it in half to place on a little plastic chair inside the bright pink house with no back.
"Hello, Brendon," Gabe said as they approached, the boy twisting his head to look at them.
"What cha' doin'?" Travis asked just as smoothly, hands in the pockets of his too-big, baggy jeans.
"Playin' dolls," Brendon answered with a smile. "Wanna play with me?" Gender-specific titles meant nothing to the boy. If he wanted to play with dolls, he was going to, and not care what anyone said.
"Not really," Gabe said almost bitterly. Brendon shrugged and went back to playing, Gabe's dark eyes rolling as he bent down and snatched the doll right from Brendon's hand.
"Hey!" Brendon turned. "Give me back Miss Sparkle!" he demanded, reaching for the Barbie.
"Not until you agree to our plan," Gabe said, lifting the doll up more. He was tall for his age, but was also standing while Brendon was sitting, so there wasn't much effort behind the action.
"We want to give William a Christmas." Travis began to explain, making sure William didn't hear. "So you have to bring in an old toy an wrap it for him." Brendon temporarily forgot about his doll.
"Ryan and me writted a letter to Santa for William!" he smiled.
"Great," Gabe said tiredly. "Bring a toy, wrapped, that's not too broked or anything." Brendon nodded quickly, reaching for the Barbie again. Instead of handing it over though, Gabe snapped the head off, dropping the two pieces to the ground in front of Brendon. "Dolls are for girls, dummy," he said.
Brendon's eyes filled with tears, lower lip trembling, and hands shaking as he tried to get the head back on. When he failed, he threw the pieces and pushed off the ground, wailing as he ran to Ryan for comfort. Gabe shrugged, Travis toeing the dolls head which landed near him, and they moved on.
Next, they found Pete and Patrick, the latter assisting Pete in reading a book because Patrick was really good and Pete...wasn't, the Batman figurine sitting between them. Gabe took control and approached at a faster pace than Travis, putting his foot on the open book in Patrick's lap. "I'm trying to read," Patrick said carefully, probably having the most patience out of everyone in the room.
He needed it to deal with Pete each day.
"Not anymore," Gabe said, keeping his foot in place. "Travie 'n I are on a mission."
"Like secret agents?!" Pete excitedly inhaled, looking up.
"No, you idiot." Gabe sighed. "Why are you so stupid?"
"Hey;" Patrick frowned, trying to shove Gabe's foot away. "Don't call Pete stupid."
"What are you gonna do about it?" Gabe asked with a challenging smirk. "Sit on me and crush me to death?" Patrick looked down, his size having always been a target for bullies like Gabe. "That's what I thought, tubby."
"Don't call Patty-Cakes fat!" Pete angrily shot at him, smacking Gabe's leg. Gabe lifted an eyebrow, taking his foot from the book to shove Pete backwards forcefully. Travis stood back to watch, always amused when people thought they could take Gabe on, glancing over his shoulder quickly to make sure there weren't any teachers around.
"Don't hit me, pip-squeak." Gabe warned Pete, foot pressing into his chest. Pete made a tiny whimpering noise, so Gabe took his foot off and put it on the ground. "Anyway, as I was saying-" Patrick smacked Gabe with the book.
"I'm not fat!" he defended. Travis made a clicking noise with his tongue. No one hit Gabe like that and got away with it. It took Gabe a few seconds, but he tackled Patrick, pinning him to the ground and ripping the hat from his head to reveal his messy strawberry-blond hair.
"Not so tough now, are you?" Gabe asked, putting the hat over Patrick's face and easily holding him down despite Patrick's struggles. "You know better than to mess with me," he said, debating what he was going to do when Pete was suddenly on his back. "G'off!" he yelled, Pete's arms so tightly around his neck that it was choking him.
"Let 'Trick go!" Pete grunted, trying to pull the bigger boy away. Travis quickly went to aid Gabe, grabbing Pete's arms and attempting to pull them back. Pete had an iron grip. There was small cries, grunts, yells, and a lot of struggling, before an angry voice yelled, stopping them all.
"Boys!" Three of the four heads turned to see Miss Marie standing in the middle of the room, hands on her hips, Spencer and Jon peering around her legs. They all got off each other, Pete helping Patrick up then pointing to Gabe. "What is going on?" Before anyone could answer though, Brendon's crying caught her attention. "Brendon, honey, what's wrong?" Miss Marie's hands dropped as she went to where he was wrapped around Ryan, crying into the slightly older boy's chest.
"G-Gabe killed my d-dollie!" he sobbed, pointing towards the doll house with one hand. Miss Marie took him from Ryan, lifting him up into her arms, and turning back to the guilty pair in the reading corner.
"You two are coming with me," she said, face and voice stern. "The rest of you can go take your seats with your heads down until myself or Mrs. Reff get back." Everyone obeyed, William already being in his, Gabe and Travis walking to the teacher with bent heads. There was only one place they were going; and they knew it all too well.
O-' Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful, and since we've no place to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow O-'
Mrs. Reff came back with Nate and Alex, Nate holding an ice-pack to his head, frowning as she looked around. "Where are Gabe, Travis, and Brendon?" she asked the remaining students.
"Gabe broke Brendon's doll and made him cry," Jon said, lifting his head.
"Then he started beating on Pete so Patrick hit him with a book so he sat on Patrick so Pete jumped on Gabe and Travis beat on Pete," Spencer said after, lifting his head as well as he recited the events.
"So me 'n Spin got Miss Marie." Jon added.
"And Miss Marie tooked Brendon and Gabe and Travis to the principal." Mrs. Reff sighed and ushered Nate further into the room, the still-shaken boy sniffling as Alex escorted him over to the beanbags where they were given permission to be for the remainder of the day.
"Pete, Patrick, are you okay?" she asked, looking to the two boys.
"Patty's head hurts but I'm okay," Pete answered for both.
"Alright. Patrick, why don't you go lay down for a little while with Nate, okay?" Patrick nodded and got up, wandering to the brightly colored mat where he had been earlier to lay down. Pete raised his hand, but before he could say anything, Mrs. Reff answered with, "Yes, Pete, you can go with him."
"Thank you," Pete said, quickly joining Patrick, sitting cross-legged and making his lap Patrick's pillow; petting around Patrick's hat and softly humming a lullaby.
"The rest of you can take out your maps and color the water and land while I go check on Miss Marie's class." William opened his backpack and extracted the folder with the kitten on it, finding his chart and laying it on his desk; his classmates doing the same.
Up front, he noticed Ryan looked sat, coloring both his and Brendon's papers. Jon and Spencer quietly talked, recounting the events that had just occurred. Hayley and Greta pulled out the stolen glitter to play with more. In the reading area, Nate laid curled up with Alex who held the ice-pack for him, reading a book as Nate flipped the pages. On the floor, Patrick had fallen asleep, Pete still stroking his hair.
William didn't know how any holiday could be more intriguing or eventful than his everyday class.
O-' Rudolph the red nosed reindeer, had a very shiny nose, and if you ever saw it, you would even say it glows... O-'
"It wasn't our fault!" Gabe and Travis chimed in perfect unison as the principal, Mr. Gallahan, sat down in his brown leather chair. He didn't say a word at first, but merely rubbed his eyes and leaned back.
"You stole and broke a student's toy then beat on two other students," he said at last a few moments later. "Tell me why you can't just behave for one day, boys." he sighed.
"Boys shouldn't play with dolls!" Gabe defended. "They're for girls!"
"There's no law stating that so if a boy wants to play with a doll, he can." Mrs. Gallahan kept as calm and patient as he could. "And what provoked the fight?"
"Patrick hit Gabe so Gabe tackled him so Pete choked Gabe so I tried to pull Pete off," Travis said.
"Why did Patrick hit you?" Mr. Gallahan looked back to Gabe.
"I dunno." Gabe shrugged, acting as innocent as possible. "He's a vicious kid who probably wanted to suck all my blood out 'cause I'm pretty sure he's a vampire since he's always hiding from the light." He scooted to the front of his chair, leaning on the desk. "I've even seen him drink blood!" he whispered dead serious, eyes wide and head slowly nodding. Mr. Gallahan refrained from rolling his eyes.
"Breaking a toy is one thing, but physically attacking another student is completely unacceptable." Gabe moved back. "I'm going to send a letter home to each of your parents, and no recess for either of you until after Christmas." Both boys whined. "If I see you in here one more time before Christmas, you'll lose recess until summer, understand?"
Both headed nodded, eyes focused on the carpet. They always got in trouble; it wasn't fair.
"Good. Mrs. Reff will bring you back to class now." Mr. Gallahan picked up his phone while the two left his office, Gabe grumbling beneath his breath.
O-' Thumpety thump thump, thumpety thump thump, look at Frosty go O-'
"I don't know why you two can't get along with anyone else." Mrs. Reff sighed as the three walked down the hall. "Bullies are bad."
"We have a good reason!" Gabe whined, tipping his head back.
"Oh?" she asked with doubt. "And what's that?" The boys stopped, facing their teacher with matching smiles. Travis motioned for her to come close so she gave in and squatted down, Travis cupping his hands around her ear and whispering away.
Mrs. Reff's face made a one-eighty in appearance.
"That's a wonderful idea," she said when Travis pulled back. "But you two went about it the wrong way. You can't force anyone to bring anything. You should have told me your idea instead."
"We want it to be a surprise though." Gabe frowned.
"I mean, I can send letters home to everyone's parents to explain the idea. They can get something together to help if they want." Mrs. Reff stood up. "Now, I want you both to apologize to Brendon, Pete, and Patrick."
"Do I have to?" Gabe whined dramatically.
"Yes," Mrs. Reff said, opening the classroom door, "You have to." She pushed them both inside.
O-' When it seems the magics slipped away, we find it all again on Christmas day O-'
It was snowing the last day of school before Christmas vacation, so William was bundled in his coat, hat, mittens, and a scarf. He watched little white flakes cover him as he waited for the bus, melting away once he got on and sat in a seat. The radio station played Christmas songs, kids holding gifts and snacks for their classes, eagerly discussing the holiday just days away.
William looked out the window, watching winter passing, and quietly hummed along with the song.
The school came into sight in no time, the bus stopping and everyone filing out into the cafeteria where they waited until the bell rang; eating breakfast and talking. William sat in his usual spot, setting to undoing all the winter gear someone had donated to him a year or two ago, lying it in a pile on the table. It seemed unusually quiet in the cafeteria, but William paid it no attention.
When the bell rang, he gathered his belongings and slipped out, heading to his classroom where the door was shut for once. Shifting everything into one arm, he reached up and twisted the knob, pushing the door open to step into his class. With two steps into the room, William was greeted with shouts of, "Merry Christmas!"; everyone gathered around his desk where a pile of brightly wrapped boxes were stacked.
Not knowing how to react, William dropped his belongings and stared.
"Your classmates wanted to give you a Christmas," Mrs. Reff said when the silence became awkward. "All these presents are for you, William, so you have things to open as well; now, or on Christmas, if you'd rather wait."
"You should open them now!" Pete excitedly said, face half-hidden beneath a Santa hat too large for his head; unable to see. He was talking more to the cubbies than William because of it. Still unmoving, Gabe and Travis left the crowd to go to William who instinctively shut his eyes and tensed; waiting to be beat on.
"Chill," Gabe said, bending down to grab William's dropped things, cramming them into a cubby.
"Every kid has to know what it feels like to have a Christmas," Travis said, taking William's hand. "It's not the same 'cause it's not really Christmas, but it's close." Gabe took William's other hand, the two guiding him to the table of gifts. "Every Christmas begins with gifts."
There probably a dozen boxes, stacked neatly with the larger ones on the bottom and the smaller ones on top; reaching over even Gabe's head. William stared in awe, never really having seen so many in one spot before; other than in movies or books. He'd gotten gifts before, on his birthday, but only ever one little thing and not even every year.
"Go ahead;" Gabe nudged William with his shoulder. "Dig in."
"Open mine first!" Brendon beamed, waving his hand frantically in the air. He wore antler ears that flashed, a collar of bells, and a flashing red bulb over his nose. It made William giggle. "Mine's the bestest 'cause it's-" Ryan's hand clamped over his mouth.
"Shhh, Brenny," he said quietly; standing beside Brendon in a red and green elf outfit. "Let him find out for himself." Brendon pouted.
William reached for the first gift closest to him, staring a little more at the snowman paper it was dressed in, setting it on the tiny amount of space the table had; carefully starting to lift the paper. "Come on;" Gabe rolled his eyes. "Do it like this." He grabbed the edge of the paper and yanking it back with a load tearing noise. "Way funner."
Apprehensive, William grabbed a different corner and did what Gabe did; smiling almost instantly. It was a lot of fun. He had the gift unwrapped in no time. It was a Batman figurine similar to the one Pete had; said child smiling stupidly, still unable to see.
Before long, almost everything was unwrapped; Mrs. Reff shoving the paper into a large garbage bag. He had been given coloring books, crayons, some cars, some action figures, and a few books. When only one thing remained, Gabe personally grabbed it to hand it over. "This is from me 'n Travie," he said, William going back to carefully removing the paper. It was a white box.
William pulled the top off, moving thin white paper aside to reveal a brand new purple hoodie like the one Gabe wears so often. "Hope it fits. It might be big 'cause we didn't know your size but you're really small and they only come so little." Travis explained, nervously rubbing his neck. "Yours looked so...worn out..."
"And purples the bestest color ever." Gabe smiled. William felt ready to cry. It was by far the best thing he got, because it came from the two people he thought hated him for some reason. Apparently they didn't hate him at all. Instead of crying though, he wrapped his arms tightly around Gabe's body, inhaling cologne that probably belonged to Gabe's dad. "You're, uh, welcome?" Gabe was a bit shocked by the action.
"Thank you," William mumbled into the fabric of Gabe's long-sleeve shirt.
No one was allowed to touch Gabe, beside Travis, and get away with it. But William? Gabe decided he could too.
"Thank you all," William said, letting go of Gabe and wiping his eyes. "M-Merry Christmas." Travis hugged William next, everyone else following. The entire time, William was smiling.
"Party time!" Brendon clapped, the students dispersing to get all the snacks out they had brought. Gabe took the hoodie from the box, Travis helping William from the old one he wore, and Gabe helping him into the new one. It was a bit big, but it was soft, warm, and perfect.
"Come sit with us, William," Travis said, grabbing another chair for their table since William's gifts covered his.
"Bill," he said, wiping his eyes again with the sleeve that hung over his hand. "Call me 'Bill'."
"Alright, Bill." Gabe smiled, taking his hand. "Merry Christmas from the Jew." William laughed again.
He sat between Gabe and Travis, the space a bit tight for three people, but he was as happy as could be. Mrs. Reff put on Rudolph and everyone ate cookies and other snacks. It was then that William realized why everyone loved Christmas so much. It wasn't only about the gifts; it was about just being together with people to have a good time with. He even ended up playing hang-man with the two boys on either side of him, giggling as Gabe repeatedly put their principal in the noose.
While Gabe and Travis went to get something to eat, William grabbed a white piece of paper and his new crayons, ignoring the movie to draw; raising his hand when it finished. "Yes, William?" Mrs. Reff asked with a smile.
"Can I share something?" he asked. She nodded, William working his way from the cramped space by climbing over the table (with both Gabe and Travis' assistance since neither wanted to get up again), making his way to the front of the class; holding the paper he had drawn on out in front of him. On the paper he had drawn all his classmates, a pile of presents, and himself, in the purple hoodie, between Gabe and Travis; everyone bearing smiling taking up half their round heads.
On the bottom, in alternating red and green crayon, it read in messy, backwards letters, Merry Christmas.
A/N--- Yay! I actually got it done! You know, I stayed up until 2am to do it x3
I hope you like it. I love kid!fics, and for some reason, I love making them mainly Gabe/Bill/Travis.
I'm off to get ready for a party now <3
Happy Holidays everyone!
xoxo Tabi (meet me under the mistletoe)
Author: ipanicdaily
Pairing: Gabe/Bill/Travis, Brendon/Ryan, Pete/Patrick, Nate/Alex, Spencer/Jon
POV: 3rd
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: As much as I would love to own some, if not all, of these boys, I don't, and therefore if you think I do, you're pretty damn stupid.).
Summary: "We don't have Christmas at my house," he said in a near whisper, wanting to cry with embarrassment. Even Gabe and Travis were intrigued; William being the only other than themselves either ever paid attention to. Sometimes they picked on him, sometimes they just tortured him for their own amusement. They'd made him cry more than anyone in the class could count to.
Beta: lilrainforest
Author Notes: Kid!fic to the prompt of 'Christmas'
Happy Holidays (you bastard) <3
"And then, after we've opened all our presents, we go to my nanny's for even more presents!" Brendon excitedly told his classmates, brown eyes even larger than normal and smile consuming his face. He held a piece of paper out in front of him bearing the seven-year-old's drawing of his family, a Christmas tree, presents, their dog, their cat, Santa, and snow (inside the house) for everyone to see.
"One at my nanny's-" The entire class groaned because Brendon had been talking for the past fifteen minutes, and everyone's heads had long since hit their desks. The only kids that still held any remote interest in the boy's extravagant and detailed story of what he does on Christmas were Ryan, Brendon's best friend, and William, the shy, quiet student. "I go feed her gold fish, Sir blubs-a-lot," Brendon giggled, "Who I named, and then I wish him a Merry-"
"It sounds like you have a wonderful Christmas," Mrs. Reff, their teacher, cut him off as she too was beginning to fall asleep. "Thank you for sharing with us, Brendon."
"But I'm not done..." Brendon frowned, arms dropping in front of him.
"There are other kids who want to share their stories too, right?" she asked, sitting up straight in her chair off to the side.
"I s'pose..." Brendon mumbled, head dropping sadly with disappointment.
"Why don't you go take a seat and if we have time later, you can tell us the rest, okay?" Brendon nodded, barely lifting his feet as he sulked back to his desk, falling into the brightly colored plastic chair with a heavy thud. He laid the paper down in front of him then let his forehead fall on top of it, pouting into his paper.
"I liked it," Ryan said, leaning over to hug Brendon since the two sat beside each other. Brendon let himself be hugged, unmoving, secretly smiling because Ryan liked it, and that's all that really mattered.
"Who's next?" Mrs. Reff asked, no one making eye contact with her. "No volunteers?" She looked from desk to desk, all of her students looking in other directions or busying themselves with whatever was on their desk. "How about...Gabe; why don't you share."
"Do I have to?" the boy whined from the back of the class, looking up from the paper that he and his best friend, Travis, had been bent over; both lost in a grueling game of hang-man. They were the class troublemakers.
"Yes, you have to," Mrs. Reff answered with a stern look. Gabe groaned, rolling his eyes, and got out of his seat, grabbing a paper he quickly scribbled something on, and walked down the aisle to the front. "What do you do for Christmas, Gabe?"
"I'm Jewish," Gabe said, displaying his paper with one hand. "We don't celebrate Christmas. We celebrate Chanukah."
"Why don't you tell us about Chanukah," his teacher said. Gabe sighed, eyes rolling again. He hated actually doing work. "Not too many of your classmates know what it's like to be Jewish and celebrate different holidays."
"It's not that exciting." Gabe shrugged. "We go to church and wear little white hats and light candles." He paused, slowly grinning to himself, letting the paper fall to the floor. "My nana says that when she was little though, there was this war called the 'Hollow-Cost' where all the Jewish people were forced into jail-camps and had to do all kinds of hard labor and then were mostly kil-" Mrs. Reff clamped her hand over his mouth.
"Thank you," she said, smiling nervously at the wide-eyed class before her. They were only in second grade; the lessons of WWII were still a few years away.
"But," Gabe pushed his teacher's hand away, "I was just getting to the good part!" he whined. It wasn't that Gabe thought the Holocaust was great or anything, there was still a lot he didn't know about it, naturally, but rather more that he was an eight-year-old boy so war and death and destruction just appealed to his interest.
"Your time's up." Mrs. Reff tried to be as calm and patient as she could. Most days she swore Gabe, and Travis, his partner in crime, just loved to push her buttons. It was hard enough apologizing to Pete's parents as well as helping to assure the boy that yes, they were just joking, and no, the tooth fairy doesn't really come into your room at night to rip all your teeth out with pliers.
"Whatever." Gabe shrugged again, going back to his seat, high-fiving Travis before resuming their game. It was an ironic coincidence that the person hanging from the gallows on their paper resembled Santa Claus.
"I think we have time for one more before lunch." Again, heads turned and eyes wandered. All except Brendon and William. Brendon had already gone though. "William? Would you like to come share?" The boy slowly shook his head, eyes dropping. "It doesn't have to be long." Of course, she knew how shy the boy was. "Just come up and show the class what Christmas at your house looks like."
Not wanting to be in trouble, William grabbed his paper and got up, the only one at the table beside Gabe and Travis (Mrs. Reff hoped that he could be a good influence on the boy's), head down as he went to the front. Mrs. Reff went back to her seat and sat down, leaving William alone in the center. "Let's see your picture," she said encouragingly. William lifted the paper up with one hand, still looking at the floor.
It was a blank sheet still.
"We don't have Christmas at my house," he said in a near whisper, wanting to cry with embarrassment. Even Gabe and Travis were intrigued; William being the only other than themselves either ever paid attention to. Sometimes they picked on him, sometimes they just tortured him for their own amusement. They'd made him cry more than anyone in the class could count to.
"What do you mean you don't have Christmas?" Pete asked, matching Brendon's (surprisingly) silent expression of shock. Beside him, Patrick hushed him, kicking his hyper friend under the table.
"We can't afford it." William shrugged, lowering his arm to hug himself instead.
O-' We wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas, and a happy new year O-'
"How can someone not have Christmas?" Travis asked during lunch, sitting at the round table in the cafeteria that he and Gabe claimed for themselves. He ignored his food though, looking a few tables over to William who sat alone with his bagged lunch of a sandwich and an apple. It seemed to be all he ever ate.
"I don't have Christmas." Gabe shrugged, not the least bit concerned about the shocking statement as he devoured his food. "It's not that big-a deal," he said through chewing.
"But you have something; and you still get presents." Travis sighed, eyes still on William. "He has nothing 'cause his mommy can't afford it."
"Mommy's can't afford lots of things," Gabe replied simply. "My mommy can't afford a big house or another car 'cause ours doesn't work so good but we are fine." Travis rolled his eyes at his friend's stupidity.
"But your mommy can afford to give you gifts for Chanukah and your birthday, right?" He looked to Gabe who still shoveled his lunch into his mouth, barely chewing. Miraculously, his metabolism was just as fast as his eating. "What if you never got another present never ever again?"
"That won't happen," Gabe said before sticking the tip of the straw protruding from his juice carton between his lips and lightly sucking.
"Pretend it could happen." Travis huffed, slightly frustrated. Gabe stopped to think for a minute, running the idea through his mind, as much as the second grader could comprehend about such a situation, then shrugged lazily.
"I'd probably be sad," he said, moving onto his cookie. Travis pushed his tray away then dropped his elbows to the table, holding his head in his hands, going back to watching William slowly and carefully eat-like it was his only meal.
"Maybe that's why William is so quiet," he muttered thoughtfully. "He's probably sad 'cause he doesn't get any presents ever."
"Maybe," Gabe echoed, still not all that interested. "Or maybe he likes being quiet." Travis ignored him. Their table fell silent, the lunch room still buzzing with the chatter of all the other students, Brendon's voice distinguishable despite his distance from the two. Once his food was gone, Gabe decided to destroy the Styrofoam tray with his plastic spork.
"Maybe if William got a gift, he wouldn't be so quiet and sad;" Travis thought aloud a little while later.
"Maybe," Gabe echoed once more, aggressively driving the spork into the tray, making cracking noises. Slowly, Travis' face softened, head rising as a smiled at Gabe who, when he noticed, stared somewhat worriedly. "What...?" he cautiously asked, lowering the spork to the table beside the pile of broken tray.
"We should give William a gift for Christmas!" Travis beamed, nearly bursting from his seat with energy that would put Brendon to shame. "'Cause then he wouldn't be so sad and quiet!"
"I like his quiet." Gabe frowned. "He's the only one who doesn't tattle on us."
"But he needs at least one Christmas!" Travis huffed with aggravation. "It doesn't have to be anything brand new. My mommy rewraps things all the time that we don't use. Don't you have any toys you don't play with anymore?" Gabe shook his head.
"We destroyed them all," Gabe said, almost proudly. Travis bit his lip because he forgot they did that; to both Gabe's and Travis' old toys. "And my mommy won't go near any stores now, she says." Travis dropped his head back to the table. It felt wrong to let William have no Christmas; even if the two picked on him. He was just easy to get away with being mean to-except when he started crying.
But just as hope was about to be lost, Pete's bragging voice took Travis' attention, making him lift his head and locate the boy. Pete sat with his usual group; really close to Patrick- Andy, Joe, Mikey, Mark, and Ashlee, all of which were in the other second grade class, taking up the remaining seats. In his hand he held a Batman action figure, displaying it for his friends and reciting all its cool features proudly.
The somewhat twisted smile took over Travis' mouth again.
"You know what, Gabanti?" He propped his head up with his hands again, looking at Gabe.
"What, Travie?" Gabe asked, smiling as well because he recognized that look; crooked smile and eyes sparkling with the idea of mischief and mayhem that bonded the two so tightly.
"I'm sure everyone else has toys they don't need anymore," he said, eyes locking with Gabe's as their thoughts shot back and forth perfectly. It was like they had that supposed bond of twins.
"I bet they do." Gabe's smile got even more cynical. Somehow, they managed to suck the innocence out of childhood, with only their expressions.
"And with Christmas almost here..."
"They'll be getting new toys anyway." Gabe finished Travis' sentence. It wasn't that he was set on giving William a gift like his friend seemed to be, it was that it would give him a 'reasonable' reason to push everyone around a bit.
"So I'm sure they can sacrifice something for the cause." A teacher announced that it was time to go back to class so everyone grabbed their things, depositing their trash along the way, lining up by class.
"You know what, McCoy?" Gabe slung an arm around Travis. "I like the way you think."
O-' Jingle bells, Jingle bells, Jingle all the way. Oh what fun, it is to ride, in this one-horse open sleigh. O-'
After lunch was recess, the weather outside was too cold to permit leaving the building, so everyone went back to their classrooms instead. Brendon hurried to William once they were all back, dragging Ryan along, only releasing his friend to put his arms around the shy boy in an invasion of his personal space. William was taken back and opened his mouth to say something, but closed it when he saw Ryan give a quick shake of his head. Brendon had always been one William couldn't quite understand. He was very sensitive and most always hyper.
"I'm sorry you don't have Christmas," Brendon said, face pressing into the worn, tearing hoodie William wore.
"S'okay," William mumbled, Brendon's semi-long dark brown hair tickling his face. Having never really had a Christmas, William didn't really understand what he was missing out on and therefore didn't make a huge deal about it. His mother would tell him he had food, clothes, and a place to live; they may not be good, but they were better than nothing.
Brendon released William and looked him straight in the eyes, probably the longest the boy ever went without moving, a sad and sympathetic look on his face. "Doesn't Santa come?" he asked a moment later. William only shook his head, avoiding the depressed brown eyes. "How come? Are you a good boy? You don't seem like a bad boy. You're just quiet and stuff..."
"I don't know." William shrugged, going back to working on some math problems rather than play. He didn't really have anyone to play with; they all stayed in pairs and there wasn't anyone left for William. It didn't bother him much though.
"Maybe he doesn't know where you live," Brendon said, coming up with his logical explanation. "'Cause Santa has lots of kids to bring presents to and maybe your address got losted or something 'cause my mommy loses addresses all the time and-"
"Brenny;" Ryan quickly cut Brendon off, grabbing his hand. Brendon looked at him and Ryan used his free hand to place his index finger over his lips. He was trying to get Brendon not to ramble so much because it annoyed people. Not Ryan, but some of the other kids. Brendon nodded understandingly.
"We just have to remind Santa of your address," he said as he looked back to William. "I'll write him a letter and tell him that he can't forget you this year!" Brendon chimed, face illuminating. "Come on Ryro! I can't write good yet so you have to help me make a letter for Santa 'cause Christmas is almost here and I want him to get it in time!" And just like that, Ryan was jerked back towards the table up front, William watching as Brendon dug around in his backpack.
Paper and a crayon were handed to Ryan before Brendon huddled close and Ryan's hand began to drag the crayon over the paper. William still didn't understand the excitement behind Christmas, so while Ryan wrote and everyone else played, William went back to his math problems; perfectly content, yet curious.
O-' You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I'm telling you why; Santa Calus is coming to town. O-'
Halfway through recess, Mrs. Reff had to take Nate to the nurse, Alex S. accompanying them since Nate refused to let go of him as he cried, because Nate tripped on his untied shoes and fell into the bookcase; smacking his forehead right on the corner. Miss Marie, the other second grade teacher across the hall, had to watch them, but she also had her class so, when only the kids were in the room, Gabe and Travis set to work.
First, they decided to get the easy people out of the way. Brendon, for once separated from Ryan's side, sat in the corner, contently playing with the Barbies Hayley and Greta abandoned to instead go get into the art supplies, namely the glitter, while they were unsupervised. The duo headed to Brendon first, the eager boy being possibly the most gullible child ever.
"And you, Daisy-Rae, are the pretty princess." Brendon merrily told the child, its limbs squeaking as he bent it in half to place on a little plastic chair inside the bright pink house with no back.
"Hello, Brendon," Gabe said as they approached, the boy twisting his head to look at them.
"What cha' doin'?" Travis asked just as smoothly, hands in the pockets of his too-big, baggy jeans.
"Playin' dolls," Brendon answered with a smile. "Wanna play with me?" Gender-specific titles meant nothing to the boy. If he wanted to play with dolls, he was going to, and not care what anyone said.
"Not really," Gabe said almost bitterly. Brendon shrugged and went back to playing, Gabe's dark eyes rolling as he bent down and snatched the doll right from Brendon's hand.
"Hey!" Brendon turned. "Give me back Miss Sparkle!" he demanded, reaching for the Barbie.
"Not until you agree to our plan," Gabe said, lifting the doll up more. He was tall for his age, but was also standing while Brendon was sitting, so there wasn't much effort behind the action.
"We want to give William a Christmas." Travis began to explain, making sure William didn't hear. "So you have to bring in an old toy an wrap it for him." Brendon temporarily forgot about his doll.
"Ryan and me writted a letter to Santa for William!" he smiled.
"Great," Gabe said tiredly. "Bring a toy, wrapped, that's not too broked or anything." Brendon nodded quickly, reaching for the Barbie again. Instead of handing it over though, Gabe snapped the head off, dropping the two pieces to the ground in front of Brendon. "Dolls are for girls, dummy," he said.
Brendon's eyes filled with tears, lower lip trembling, and hands shaking as he tried to get the head back on. When he failed, he threw the pieces and pushed off the ground, wailing as he ran to Ryan for comfort. Gabe shrugged, Travis toeing the dolls head which landed near him, and they moved on.
Next, they found Pete and Patrick, the latter assisting Pete in reading a book because Patrick was really good and Pete...wasn't, the Batman figurine sitting between them. Gabe took control and approached at a faster pace than Travis, putting his foot on the open book in Patrick's lap. "I'm trying to read," Patrick said carefully, probably having the most patience out of everyone in the room.
He needed it to deal with Pete each day.
"Not anymore," Gabe said, keeping his foot in place. "Travie 'n I are on a mission."
"Like secret agents?!" Pete excitedly inhaled, looking up.
"No, you idiot." Gabe sighed. "Why are you so stupid?"
"Hey;" Patrick frowned, trying to shove Gabe's foot away. "Don't call Pete stupid."
"What are you gonna do about it?" Gabe asked with a challenging smirk. "Sit on me and crush me to death?" Patrick looked down, his size having always been a target for bullies like Gabe. "That's what I thought, tubby."
"Don't call Patty-Cakes fat!" Pete angrily shot at him, smacking Gabe's leg. Gabe lifted an eyebrow, taking his foot from the book to shove Pete backwards forcefully. Travis stood back to watch, always amused when people thought they could take Gabe on, glancing over his shoulder quickly to make sure there weren't any teachers around.
"Don't hit me, pip-squeak." Gabe warned Pete, foot pressing into his chest. Pete made a tiny whimpering noise, so Gabe took his foot off and put it on the ground. "Anyway, as I was saying-" Patrick smacked Gabe with the book.
"I'm not fat!" he defended. Travis made a clicking noise with his tongue. No one hit Gabe like that and got away with it. It took Gabe a few seconds, but he tackled Patrick, pinning him to the ground and ripping the hat from his head to reveal his messy strawberry-blond hair.
"Not so tough now, are you?" Gabe asked, putting the hat over Patrick's face and easily holding him down despite Patrick's struggles. "You know better than to mess with me," he said, debating what he was going to do when Pete was suddenly on his back. "G'off!" he yelled, Pete's arms so tightly around his neck that it was choking him.
"Let 'Trick go!" Pete grunted, trying to pull the bigger boy away. Travis quickly went to aid Gabe, grabbing Pete's arms and attempting to pull them back. Pete had an iron grip. There was small cries, grunts, yells, and a lot of struggling, before an angry voice yelled, stopping them all.
"Boys!" Three of the four heads turned to see Miss Marie standing in the middle of the room, hands on her hips, Spencer and Jon peering around her legs. They all got off each other, Pete helping Patrick up then pointing to Gabe. "What is going on?" Before anyone could answer though, Brendon's crying caught her attention. "Brendon, honey, what's wrong?" Miss Marie's hands dropped as she went to where he was wrapped around Ryan, crying into the slightly older boy's chest.
"G-Gabe killed my d-dollie!" he sobbed, pointing towards the doll house with one hand. Miss Marie took him from Ryan, lifting him up into her arms, and turning back to the guilty pair in the reading corner.
"You two are coming with me," she said, face and voice stern. "The rest of you can go take your seats with your heads down until myself or Mrs. Reff get back." Everyone obeyed, William already being in his, Gabe and Travis walking to the teacher with bent heads. There was only one place they were going; and they knew it all too well.
O-' Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful, and since we've no place to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow O-'
Mrs. Reff came back with Nate and Alex, Nate holding an ice-pack to his head, frowning as she looked around. "Where are Gabe, Travis, and Brendon?" she asked the remaining students.
"Gabe broke Brendon's doll and made him cry," Jon said, lifting his head.
"Then he started beating on Pete so Patrick hit him with a book so he sat on Patrick so Pete jumped on Gabe and Travis beat on Pete," Spencer said after, lifting his head as well as he recited the events.
"So me 'n Spin got Miss Marie." Jon added.
"And Miss Marie tooked Brendon and Gabe and Travis to the principal." Mrs. Reff sighed and ushered Nate further into the room, the still-shaken boy sniffling as Alex escorted him over to the beanbags where they were given permission to be for the remainder of the day.
"Pete, Patrick, are you okay?" she asked, looking to the two boys.
"Patty's head hurts but I'm okay," Pete answered for both.
"Alright. Patrick, why don't you go lay down for a little while with Nate, okay?" Patrick nodded and got up, wandering to the brightly colored mat where he had been earlier to lay down. Pete raised his hand, but before he could say anything, Mrs. Reff answered with, "Yes, Pete, you can go with him."
"Thank you," Pete said, quickly joining Patrick, sitting cross-legged and making his lap Patrick's pillow; petting around Patrick's hat and softly humming a lullaby.
"The rest of you can take out your maps and color the water and land while I go check on Miss Marie's class." William opened his backpack and extracted the folder with the kitten on it, finding his chart and laying it on his desk; his classmates doing the same.
Up front, he noticed Ryan looked sat, coloring both his and Brendon's papers. Jon and Spencer quietly talked, recounting the events that had just occurred. Hayley and Greta pulled out the stolen glitter to play with more. In the reading area, Nate laid curled up with Alex who held the ice-pack for him, reading a book as Nate flipped the pages. On the floor, Patrick had fallen asleep, Pete still stroking his hair.
William didn't know how any holiday could be more intriguing or eventful than his everyday class.
O-' Rudolph the red nosed reindeer, had a very shiny nose, and if you ever saw it, you would even say it glows... O-'
"It wasn't our fault!" Gabe and Travis chimed in perfect unison as the principal, Mr. Gallahan, sat down in his brown leather chair. He didn't say a word at first, but merely rubbed his eyes and leaned back.
"You stole and broke a student's toy then beat on two other students," he said at last a few moments later. "Tell me why you can't just behave for one day, boys." he sighed.
"Boys shouldn't play with dolls!" Gabe defended. "They're for girls!"
"There's no law stating that so if a boy wants to play with a doll, he can." Mrs. Gallahan kept as calm and patient as he could. "And what provoked the fight?"
"Patrick hit Gabe so Gabe tackled him so Pete choked Gabe so I tried to pull Pete off," Travis said.
"Why did Patrick hit you?" Mr. Gallahan looked back to Gabe.
"I dunno." Gabe shrugged, acting as innocent as possible. "He's a vicious kid who probably wanted to suck all my blood out 'cause I'm pretty sure he's a vampire since he's always hiding from the light." He scooted to the front of his chair, leaning on the desk. "I've even seen him drink blood!" he whispered dead serious, eyes wide and head slowly nodding. Mr. Gallahan refrained from rolling his eyes.
"Breaking a toy is one thing, but physically attacking another student is completely unacceptable." Gabe moved back. "I'm going to send a letter home to each of your parents, and no recess for either of you until after Christmas." Both boys whined. "If I see you in here one more time before Christmas, you'll lose recess until summer, understand?"
Both headed nodded, eyes focused on the carpet. They always got in trouble; it wasn't fair.
"Good. Mrs. Reff will bring you back to class now." Mr. Gallahan picked up his phone while the two left his office, Gabe grumbling beneath his breath.
O-' Thumpety thump thump, thumpety thump thump, look at Frosty go O-'
"I don't know why you two can't get along with anyone else." Mrs. Reff sighed as the three walked down the hall. "Bullies are bad."
"We have a good reason!" Gabe whined, tipping his head back.
"Oh?" she asked with doubt. "And what's that?" The boys stopped, facing their teacher with matching smiles. Travis motioned for her to come close so she gave in and squatted down, Travis cupping his hands around her ear and whispering away.
Mrs. Reff's face made a one-eighty in appearance.
"That's a wonderful idea," she said when Travis pulled back. "But you two went about it the wrong way. You can't force anyone to bring anything. You should have told me your idea instead."
"We want it to be a surprise though." Gabe frowned.
"I mean, I can send letters home to everyone's parents to explain the idea. They can get something together to help if they want." Mrs. Reff stood up. "Now, I want you both to apologize to Brendon, Pete, and Patrick."
"Do I have to?" Gabe whined dramatically.
"Yes," Mrs. Reff said, opening the classroom door, "You have to." She pushed them both inside.
O-' When it seems the magics slipped away, we find it all again on Christmas day O-'
It was snowing the last day of school before Christmas vacation, so William was bundled in his coat, hat, mittens, and a scarf. He watched little white flakes cover him as he waited for the bus, melting away once he got on and sat in a seat. The radio station played Christmas songs, kids holding gifts and snacks for their classes, eagerly discussing the holiday just days away.
William looked out the window, watching winter passing, and quietly hummed along with the song.
The school came into sight in no time, the bus stopping and everyone filing out into the cafeteria where they waited until the bell rang; eating breakfast and talking. William sat in his usual spot, setting to undoing all the winter gear someone had donated to him a year or two ago, lying it in a pile on the table. It seemed unusually quiet in the cafeteria, but William paid it no attention.
When the bell rang, he gathered his belongings and slipped out, heading to his classroom where the door was shut for once. Shifting everything into one arm, he reached up and twisted the knob, pushing the door open to step into his class. With two steps into the room, William was greeted with shouts of, "Merry Christmas!"; everyone gathered around his desk where a pile of brightly wrapped boxes were stacked.
Not knowing how to react, William dropped his belongings and stared.
"Your classmates wanted to give you a Christmas," Mrs. Reff said when the silence became awkward. "All these presents are for you, William, so you have things to open as well; now, or on Christmas, if you'd rather wait."
"You should open them now!" Pete excitedly said, face half-hidden beneath a Santa hat too large for his head; unable to see. He was talking more to the cubbies than William because of it. Still unmoving, Gabe and Travis left the crowd to go to William who instinctively shut his eyes and tensed; waiting to be beat on.
"Chill," Gabe said, bending down to grab William's dropped things, cramming them into a cubby.
"Every kid has to know what it feels like to have a Christmas," Travis said, taking William's hand. "It's not the same 'cause it's not really Christmas, but it's close." Gabe took William's other hand, the two guiding him to the table of gifts. "Every Christmas begins with gifts."
There probably a dozen boxes, stacked neatly with the larger ones on the bottom and the smaller ones on top; reaching over even Gabe's head. William stared in awe, never really having seen so many in one spot before; other than in movies or books. He'd gotten gifts before, on his birthday, but only ever one little thing and not even every year.
"Go ahead;" Gabe nudged William with his shoulder. "Dig in."
"Open mine first!" Brendon beamed, waving his hand frantically in the air. He wore antler ears that flashed, a collar of bells, and a flashing red bulb over his nose. It made William giggle. "Mine's the bestest 'cause it's-" Ryan's hand clamped over his mouth.
"Shhh, Brenny," he said quietly; standing beside Brendon in a red and green elf outfit. "Let him find out for himself." Brendon pouted.
William reached for the first gift closest to him, staring a little more at the snowman paper it was dressed in, setting it on the tiny amount of space the table had; carefully starting to lift the paper. "Come on;" Gabe rolled his eyes. "Do it like this." He grabbed the edge of the paper and yanking it back with a load tearing noise. "Way funner."
Apprehensive, William grabbed a different corner and did what Gabe did; smiling almost instantly. It was a lot of fun. He had the gift unwrapped in no time. It was a Batman figurine similar to the one Pete had; said child smiling stupidly, still unable to see.
Before long, almost everything was unwrapped; Mrs. Reff shoving the paper into a large garbage bag. He had been given coloring books, crayons, some cars, some action figures, and a few books. When only one thing remained, Gabe personally grabbed it to hand it over. "This is from me 'n Travie," he said, William going back to carefully removing the paper. It was a white box.
William pulled the top off, moving thin white paper aside to reveal a brand new purple hoodie like the one Gabe wears so often. "Hope it fits. It might be big 'cause we didn't know your size but you're really small and they only come so little." Travis explained, nervously rubbing his neck. "Yours looked so...worn out..."
"And purples the bestest color ever." Gabe smiled. William felt ready to cry. It was by far the best thing he got, because it came from the two people he thought hated him for some reason. Apparently they didn't hate him at all. Instead of crying though, he wrapped his arms tightly around Gabe's body, inhaling cologne that probably belonged to Gabe's dad. "You're, uh, welcome?" Gabe was a bit shocked by the action.
"Thank you," William mumbled into the fabric of Gabe's long-sleeve shirt.
No one was allowed to touch Gabe, beside Travis, and get away with it. But William? Gabe decided he could too.
"Thank you all," William said, letting go of Gabe and wiping his eyes. "M-Merry Christmas." Travis hugged William next, everyone else following. The entire time, William was smiling.
"Party time!" Brendon clapped, the students dispersing to get all the snacks out they had brought. Gabe took the hoodie from the box, Travis helping William from the old one he wore, and Gabe helping him into the new one. It was a bit big, but it was soft, warm, and perfect.
"Come sit with us, William," Travis said, grabbing another chair for their table since William's gifts covered his.
"Bill," he said, wiping his eyes again with the sleeve that hung over his hand. "Call me 'Bill'."
"Alright, Bill." Gabe smiled, taking his hand. "Merry Christmas from the Jew." William laughed again.
He sat between Gabe and Travis, the space a bit tight for three people, but he was as happy as could be. Mrs. Reff put on Rudolph and everyone ate cookies and other snacks. It was then that William realized why everyone loved Christmas so much. It wasn't only about the gifts; it was about just being together with people to have a good time with. He even ended up playing hang-man with the two boys on either side of him, giggling as Gabe repeatedly put their principal in the noose.
While Gabe and Travis went to get something to eat, William grabbed a white piece of paper and his new crayons, ignoring the movie to draw; raising his hand when it finished. "Yes, William?" Mrs. Reff asked with a smile.
"Can I share something?" he asked. She nodded, William working his way from the cramped space by climbing over the table (with both Gabe and Travis' assistance since neither wanted to get up again), making his way to the front of the class; holding the paper he had drawn on out in front of him. On the paper he had drawn all his classmates, a pile of presents, and himself, in the purple hoodie, between Gabe and Travis; everyone bearing smiling taking up half their round heads.
On the bottom, in alternating red and green crayon, it read in messy, backwards letters, Merry Christmas.
A/N--- Yay! I actually got it done! You know, I stayed up until 2am to do it x3
I hope you like it. I love kid!fics, and for some reason, I love making them mainly Gabe/Bill/Travis.
I'm off to get ready for a party now <3
Happy Holidays everyone!
xoxo Tabi (meet me under the mistletoe)