The Workshop: A "The Santa Clause" Fanfiction. (Bernard x Female OC)

Magic Doesn't Lie

Angie's POV

"I don't mind, really," Bernard shrugged, "I have extra scarves and coats, so you won't get too cold."

I thought for a moment, trying to make up my mind. It was very cold outside, but he did seem sincere about wanting me to stay longer. I finally decided to stay and nodded with an eager smile. I would deal with Judy teasing me later.

"Okay, I'll stay longer," I reached around him and grabbed the leftover bottle of wine from behind his back. "But I'm going to get you talking." I cracked a mischievous smile.

"Angie," Bernard looked at me with a sigh, "We can talk without that, I don't want a headache in the morning."

"Bernard, when is the last time you've actually had fun with a friend? I'll give you an aspirin if you get a headache tomorrow." I nudged his arm.

He looked between me, the ground, and around the room a few times. "What would your father say?" Bernard crossed his arms, looking at me with an unsure expression.

"My "father" was a party animal at my age, trust me, I'm much more tame." I chewed on my lip as I was thinking, which was becoming a bad habit. "You won't get in trouble if that's what you are worried about, my lips are sealed!"

Bernard thought hard and sighed again. He seemed more to be trying to fight with himself than trying to give me an excuse. "Just- go sit down, won't you?" He finally snapped, although I knew it wasn't a rude type of snapping. He was the same way at the waterpark when he also had a hard time making up his mind, and I was beginning to see him act that way when he had to make a decision with his emotions rather than his head. That being said, I gave a victorious smile and wandered into the living room, with the bottle in hand.

Nina followed me in, looking at me questioningly as I sat back down on the couch. Perhaps for me, it was because I had two glasses already, because looking back, I didn't normally have that type of boldness. I think Bernard realized this, and it contributed to part of his hesitance.

Bernard came in a few moments later and sat down next to me. Using hand motions to get his point across, he said, "Okay, we need some rules. Number one, I am not going to get drunk, I do not think that is a good idea. Rule two, you get one more glass, but I also don't want to see you full on drunk either, so don't get your hopes up on finishing this bottle. Rule three... I get to choose not to answer questions if you start digging too much. Rule four-" He paused, "I don't actually have a rule four right now, but if I come up with one, I expect that one to be followed also."

"Okay okay," I laughed. "That's enough rules, we aren't working, remember?"

"I won't agree to this unless you follow them." Bernard crossed his arms, leaning back into the couch and keeping his eyes on me. "I know what rule four is," He added, "Rule four is that you follow the rules."

"Okay deal, deal. I promise!" I tapped my feet on the ground impatiently.

"Well what did you want to talk about then? You seemed so adamant about me talking." Bernard looked at me.

"Tell me more about yourself," I said, "What did you want to do before you turned into an elf? What was your family like? And why do you have an east coast accent?" I pulled my feet up onto the couch and sat with my legs crisscrossed under me.

"I- okay that's a lot," Bernard filled up his glass and shook his head.

"Just start with the first question, what did you want to do before you turned into an elf?"

Bernard thought for a minute, "My dad was a blacksmith, and so was my grandpa. I was the oldest son, so he would have trained me to follow in his footsteps. I wanted to become an artist though, I loved to paint." He crossed one leg over the other as he talked, "There was a painter in our village who was going to take me on as an apprentice, but my father found out and immediately put me into blacksmithing instead and didn't allow me to go out anymore. When I became an elf, they didn't give me a year to stay home like we did for you. Back then, there was much more suspicion about black magic, so I was brought to the North Pole the night I was chosen for my safety. My parents and grandparents all thought I ran away to be an artist... if only they knew." He laughed, a little sad sounding.