Tethered (Book Two of The Invisible String Series)

Nightmares and New Traditions

Lizzie rolls her eyes, but smiles nonetheless at my attempt at a joke. "I know that, smartass. I was just saying that we should probably get all that stuff soon. There's only two weeks until Christmas."

Humming, I turn my face to nuzzle into her shirt (not at all surprised that she's wearing one of my old tour shirts). "We can do that today if you want. I think the construction guys are bringing your garden plots by today, so it'll probably be best if we're not in their way. But only if we get hot chocolate at some point. That's the only way I'm going out to willingly shop for Christmas stuff."

"You don't like Christmas?"

I lazily shrug my shoulders, keeping my eyes closed and fighting off the sleepiness since we're apparently having a conversation right now. "I used to, when I was a kid. It wasn't really the same after my dad died. My mom and I usually spend a few days here in LA or back home and just eat junk food and watch movies."

"That explains why she was so willing to let us spend Christmas with my family and New Years with her."

Nodding against her stomach, I feel Lizzie's hand stall in its movements and my eyes automatically fall open to see my girlfriend staring down at me. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Lizzie gives me a half-hearted smile as her hand that had been playing with my hair comes down to rest against the side of my face. "It just hits me sometimes, remembering that you didn't always have it easy as a kid."

I chuckle a little at her late-night (early-morning?) contemplation of my childhood, and the trauma that comes along with it. It's not lost on my part that we have two very different sets of experiences when it comes to life. "It wasn't always so bad. My mom and I made it work, for the most part. I'm proud of how well we did when it was just the two of us. And yeah, stuff like holidays and birthdays kind of took a blow, but I'm looking forward to making new memories with you. And starting traditions, and all that domestic stuff couples do."

My girlfriend visibly brightens up at that, practically squirming around underneath me like a little kid. "Then I'm pulling out all the stops this year. From building gingerbread houses, to movie marathons, we're doing it."

I tighten my grip around her, smiling at her adorableness. "I would love to do all that with you, darling. But first- sleep. Just a few more hours."

Nox chooses that moment to appear, hopping up on the couch next to us, looking very grumpy. She lets out a scratchy mewl before clambering onto my back and loafing herself, almost immediately beginning to purr. "See? Even Nox agrees with me. Give me a few more hours, and when the sun is out I promise you we will start on whatever Christmas traditions you have in mind, my love."

Thankfully Lizzie doesn't argue with me, and instead settles herself further into the couch before giving me a light squeeze. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Liz."

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Ya'll, it has been a looooong weekend. My work has been really short-staffed lately, so I stayed over to help out and I am absolutely beat. I had planned to used my time after work to write, and it ended up cutting into it to the point that I had to wait until tonight. But fear not, I have until Friday off and I plan on using that time to get as many chapters as I can out.

Here's the plan for upcoming chapters. We'll have a few more of cute fluff stuff, like them decorating a tree together and also doing their own Christmas stuff before celebrating with the family. And then I'm going to actually bring the story to Y/N's hometown for the New Years chapter(s). Fair-warning for that, I am from the south part of the US, so I'm going to be basing everything off my own hometown and the farm I grew up on. So if you hate all that stuff, my bad. And then we'll be getting into more stuff, like the premiere of WandaVision, some more plot, and it's all gonna super cute and mostly fun. Only a little drama to spice some things up.

And here's the part where I'm stuck on: I don't know what to do for the Valentine's Day chapter. Obviously the girls have to celebrate it, but I don't know what I want them to do. So if you all have any suggestions, such as date ideas or whatever (also, smut ideas because it's Valentine's Day and we gotta have smut) please let me know what you wanna see! I'll take everything into consideration when it comes time for those chapter(s).

Make sure you're all taking care of yourselves. This time of year isn't always easy, so if you hate the holidays (much like I do) please remember that this too shall pass and my inbox is always open if anyone wants to talk through stuff. I check this app regularly throughout the day, so I'm always around to listen. Remember to eat some food, drink some water, take a break from the internet and make good choices! (When did I turn into your all's mother, BTW? I sound like such a mom 😂)

-C ❤️