I'll Be Home For Christmas

Heyya peoples! This story is written especially for my DN Secret Santa partner, Lady Azura.

Homg, I've never written Lizwin before. I hope it's not completely barfworthy. Gah! Anyways, Happy Holidays and have a Merry New Year.

The holidays were supposed to be jolly, and happy, and full of laughter and… well, love.

But did Lizzie McDonald get any of that?

No. This year, the chore of holding the annual Christmas party for the whole family fell upon her shoulders. She had to cook the turkey, the veggies, decorate, and set up the tree. She was twenty-one years old, and she doubted her shabby apartment building could hold the boisterous Venturi-McDonald's without exploding.

Of course, Nora wouldn't set the impossible task of doing all that by herself without some help. Casey volunteered to help, and brought along Derek, too. Though they spent most of the time making out, so it wasn't much help at all…

The only thing that kept her sane was the thought of seeing him.

She hadn't seen him all year, as he had been away on a business trip with his kooky idea/scheme/whatever-it-was-this-time in hopes of making it big in the States.

Though he hadn't made a cent, he promised Lizzie he'd be there for Christmas, despite the fact he couldn't afford a plane ticket, or a train ticket, or to get on a bus, for that matter…

But he promised, and that's all that was important.

So Lizzie made dinner, decorated the tree and the house and got ready for a chaotic Christmas in her tiny apartment.

The Venturi-McDonald's began arriving around noon on Christmas day, and though she was glad to see them, she was always glancing out the window nervously waiting for him to show up.

Dinner went well… except for Riley, the seven-year old Venturi had started screaming her head off when she was the turkey, and had a tantrum, too. George had to take her upstairs to calm her down.

Okay, so it wasn't so bad, Lizzie reminded herself, but the stress was beginning to weigh her down. Where was he? He was the only one who could calm her down in tight situations. She needed him.

After dinner, Riley had thrown another tantrum over not getting something related to Barbie, Casey and Derek had gotten into a fight over how much they had spent on each other, and Nora had fallen asleep on the couch.

By 8:00 she gave up hope that he was showing up. That thought upset her more than words could explain, so she faked a head ache and – though that was extremely rude to do and she'd feel guilty later – got the family to leave. She just wasn't in the Christmas mood without him there.

By 10:00 she was sitting in front of her T.V., curled up in her PJ's and watching some Christmas movies with a bowl of popcorn. For a health nut, she just felt like loosing herself then.

And that was when the phone rang.

She jumped up, toppling the bowl of popcorn over and swearing loudly at the mess it created. She guided her way over the popcorn and grabbed the cordless, pressing 'talk' and yelling, "What?!" into it at the top of her lungs.

"Wow, what turned you into Scrouge?" he asked, and she nearly smiled. Nearly. She was a little angry at all the stress of the day… and why had he decided to call so late?!

"Where are you?" Lizzie huffed. Then, feeling bad, she said, "The family missed you."

"I know," he sighed. She heard something howl in the background and wondered if he was outside in that freezing cold and wind. "I couldn't make it on time. I borrowed a friend's car to try and drive up –."

"From California?!"

"No, I was in Florida –,"

"So you've been driving for what, three days?" The anger began to subside when she thought of his dire situation.

"Yeah, about," he murmured.

"To see your family? You shouldn't have," she sighed.

He was quiet for a moment, than he murmured, "I did it for you."

"Me?" she squeaked.

"Yeah, but I guess his car couldn't handle the cold and it broke down. I'm on the side of the highway and I can't get a hold of a tow truck or anything and –,"

"I'm coming to get you. What city are you near?"

He told her, and in three seconds she was in her car, not bothering to change, but instead just throwing a thick jacket over her jammies.

He was about half hour outside the city, so she sped and made it there in 20 minutes. He was standing outside of a small car, his dark form leaning against the driver's door. He waved a little as she pulled up, and as she parked behind his car, she mentally prepared herself.

What would she say? What would she do? She couldn't even form coherent sentences, let alone figure out what to say to him…

She slowly got out of the car and walked up to him, her breath hitching in her throat when she saw his face.

"Edwin?" she murmured. He had changed. His hair was a little longer then usual, and five o' clock shadow framed his jaw. His dark eyes were still mischievous as ever, but they held something else in them… guilt?

"Liz," he sighed, "I know you must be mad, but I did try to make it for Christmas but I guess I –,"

She didn't know how to tell him she wasn't mad. She was glad he was there. So she put a finger on his lips and smiled. Her eyes were a little watery, but from happiness.

She couldn't find words, just let her finger slowly slid off his lip and down his chin… and that was all it took to initiate it.

She leaned up to his towering height and he leaned down, his arms going around her waist as he held her against him, pinning their frames together. Her lips met his cold ones, and his lips were chapped and his car was making a weird wheezing noise, and the wind was tangling her hair and the cars that drove by were spraying her with slush, but it was the best and most romantic kiss she had ever received.

He pulled back and laughed a little.

"So you're not mad at me?"

"Not even a bit," she agreed, running her hand lightly up his jaw line. "You've changed."

"Nope, I'm still loveable old Edwin. Fart jokes are still my life, and I can burp the alphabet now and –." She smacked him in the head with her glove, and then laughed at his shocked face.

"Merry Christmas," she murmured.

"And a Happy New Year ," he replied, leaning down for another kiss.