Disclaimer: Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys do not belong to me; this story gives me no profit but fun. No copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Note: Frank and Nancy are 15, Joe is 14.
Dedicated: Christmas present for katiejaneway, lightwarai, Roswalyn, and TesubCalle.
Thank Heaven (Sometimes) for Little Brothers
Christmas Eve found the Hardy home filled with guests after the Christmas Eve service at the family's church. There were friends from work, school, long distance and relatives who had flown in for the holiday.
The dozen or so young people trooped out the front door, still laughing and joking over what had delayed them in going outside to have the snowball fight of the century.
Joe was not really surprised when, stepping onto the porch, he was caught by the collar of his heavy dark green coat and dragged non-too-gently backwards inside. He could just picture the huge picture-perfect, heart-stopping smile on Frank's face as he called to their friends in a much too cheerful voice:
"We'll be right out! Joe just forgot something."
Then the door closed, and the boy was spun around. He was met with the sight of Frank's smile being replaced with a dark frown, his hands jammed inside his coat pockets. For a long moment the dark-haired boy stared at his brother. While finding the whole thing quite funny, Joe did want to keep his head on his shoulders and carefully kept any hint of amusement from his face. If Ricky were here instead, fireworks would be going off at any moment.
"Look, Frank—"
"What on earth did you do that for?!" the older boy demanded in a low whisper.
"Me? I didn't do anything," Joe protested, leaning against the door and waving his hands. "Jill was the one who first noticed Ricky and Nancy were under the mistletoe."
Both boys looked up at the shrubbery of pointy, green, leathery leaves with waxy red berries hanging in the middle of the front hall. Frank made a sound between a sigh and a growl.
"And you echoed her observation."
"Hey, I didn't think it was my place to make a scene. I'm not the one who is interested in Nancy."
Frank's face turned red. "Still…"
"I'm sure if Ricky had moved an inch closer to her face, Nancy would have socked him."
His brother's face lightened a little. "You really think so?"
Granted, Nancy had not voiced protest or pushed Ricky away when they were caught under the mistletoe; yet there had been something in her eyes the handsome boy must have noticed that he changed direction and kissed her on the cheek instead of on the lips.
Ricky had kept close to Nancy the whole night. He talked with her, joked with her, asked her to dance and for her phone number (and was turned down on both counts) – a complete Don Juan. Frank had glared daggers relentlessly at him; even Joe had been getting annoyed with their cousin.
"I know so. Ricky may be every girl's dream come true, but not Nancy's," the younger boy assured.
Frank sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"If you continue going along your merry way, not giving a hint of how you feel, you might lose your chance with her. There are plenty of other boys willing to make a move on her," Joe pointed out. "She is smart, athletic, and very pretty."
A dreamy expression came over his brother's face for a moment before he shook himself. "I know. But she may not like me. She treats me like her best friend."
"You can't really blame her when you haven't done anything to show you like her. You don't know what will happen unless you tell her!" Joe's patience was starting to run thin.
"Yes, but we live on opposite sides of the country."
"Si, so you would just date occasionally and not become engaged until you're twenty-one," the younger boy deadpanned.
"Joe," Frank groaned, hitting his brother on the side of the head.
"Ow! I give." He rubbed his head, glaring at his smiling brother. "Come on now, you're not going to get the girl while she's out there and we're in here. Besides, I hear a snowball fight calling our names. Now let's move, Hardy!"
"Here, let me take something for you," Laura Hardy said an hour and a half later in the front hall as she and her sons saw the Drews out. She carefully took a huge tin can of three-favored popcorn and a bag full of candy and cookies from Carson Drew.
"Thank you," Mr. Drew said, adjusting his grip on the three pies – sweet potato and pumpkin – he held. "Now I can also fish my keys from my pocket." He chuckled.
"Thank you again for coming," Frank said politely.
"We had a great time. Thank you for inviting us." Carson shook Frank's and Joe's hands. "You two try to stay out of trouble."
"You know we will," Joe didn't miss a beat.
"If only!" Laura sighed. "Joe dear…"
Her son reached the door with quick strides and opened it with a grand flourish and a bow.
"Thank you." Mrs. Hardy flicked on the switch for the porch light and led the way out the door.
"Good night," Mr. Drew said as he stepped outside.
"Good night, Merry Christmas," the Hardy boys called.
"Merry Christmas!"
Joe turned his attention to Nancy, who was zipping up her blue coat. She gave him a smile.
"It was fun, Drew. We should try doing it again," he commented, giving her a big hug.
Her eyes twinkled. "Yes, another snowball fight to—"
"To prove that I won tonight," Joe interrupted.
Nancy laughed and shook her head.
"Enjoy visiting your grandparents tomorrow," Frank said, hugging her in turn.
"I will." She moved back and looked down at the five large bags full of presents. She bit her lip.
"Do you need help?" Frank asked.
She glanced at him. "Yes, thank you."
He nodded and stepped away from his brother's side. No blushing, no shyness, no awkwardness on either one's part. Frank hadn't told Nancy. Joe silently groaned.
And he truly had hoped his brother would – had – done it. During the snowball fight Frank and Nancy had focused on each other, trying to bury the other in a hail of snowballs. And when his mom and aunt had insisted the young people come inside and warm up, the two had sat together on the couch while drinking hot chocolate, laughing and recounting the all-out snowball war. But Joe must have been reading too much into their behavior towards each other.
Shaking his head in a gesture of hopelessness, Joe leaned against the door and watched his brother and friend start to gather the Drews' bags.
"Nancy, when you're back in River Heights, can I call you?"
The words were spoken softly, but Joe heard them. He stared at his brother's tense back. He and Frank never asked Nancy if they could call her; they just did when they wanted to touch base. By asking if he could call her… A huge grin came over the blond-haired boy's face. Smart, Frank, very smart.
And Nancy got it. About to pick up one of the bags, her hand froze, and there was a lovely blush in her cheeks when she raised her head and looked at Frank with wide eyes. Slowly she smiled and nodded, her "yes" too low for Joe to hear.
Frank's posture relaxed, and he sounded relieved and amazed. "Great."
A moment later, the two teenagers finished gathering up the bags.
"Bye, Joe," Nancy said.
"Later, Nancy." Still grinning like an idiot, Joe gave her a broad wink.
She smiled and stifled a giggle before going out the door. Frank followed and only paused at Joe's whisper:
"You owe me."
The older boy just chuckled and hurried to catch up with Nancy.
Joe slowly closed the door, catching a last glimpse of the two making their way to the Drews' car at the end of the driveway. He spun in a circle. "Finally!"
THE END