Chapter Text
Laughter and oohs and ahhs filled the room as tissue paper flew in every direction. Red and green flannel pajama pants were passed around, and each kid was gifted a different Christmas top tailored perfectly to their interests. Caroline had truly outdone herself this year. Thank you’s echoed across the living room until, eventually, the adults shooed the kids upstairs.
Adam was the first to retreat, heading toward his room. Aiden followed not long after. Andrew pressed a quick kiss to Alex’s cheek before disappearing into the guest room on the main floor. Alex and Abbie lingered just long enough to hug their parents and exchange goodnights with aunts and uncles before climbing the stairs to Alex’s room.
As tradition dictated, once the house had quieted and the lights dimmed, Alex slipped back downstairs and out onto the front stoop. Abbie joined her without question. They’d been doing this since they were fifteen—sitting outside on Christmas Eve, as long as the weather wasn’t unbearable, pretending they were too old to believe and too young not to.
Alex knew that in two hours, like clockwork, her father would rise from bed, eat the cookies Aiden left out for Santa, and dust flour on the bottom of his shoes before walking from the kitchen to the tree. He would leave a careful trail of powdery footprints across the hardwood floors.
Abbie brought her vape to her lips, careful to angle the smoke away from Alex. As always, Alex rolled her eyes, biting back a lecture about popcorn lung and cancer. Tonight, she didn’t have the energy. Instead, she found the courage to talk about Olivia.
She hadn’t told Abbie everything yet—just that Maya had cheated on Olivia with a football player, and that she’d spent some time with her afterward.
“She knows,” Alex said quietly.
Abbie slid the vape between her knees. It clicked softly against the concrete step. “Who knows what?”
“Olivia,” Alex replied. Her breath fogged in the cold air. “Olivia knows I’m gay.”
Abbie’s eyebrows shot up toward her hairline. “How did—what?”
“It’s a long story.” Alex shrugged, staring out at the dark street. “But my secret’s out.”
“I don’t think she’d tell anyone if you asked her not to.”
“But she knows.”
“Alex?”
The voice behind her made her neck snap so fast it almost hurt. Just inside the open doorway, one hand still on the frame, hoodie thrown over his T-shirt, hair mussed from sleep or running his hands through it, the voice spoke again.
“What did you just say?”