Greta Van Fleet Imagines

Songbird (Danny Wagner)

"Alright, this should be the last of them," Danny spoke as he set down a box of ornaments.

"Thank you. I started pulling out the lights and unraveling them." You held up the ball of white lights in your hand.

You and Danny had volunteered to decorate the Christmas tree this year. It wasn't often that Danny was home early enough to do anything festive. So, you decided to take full advantage of it. And with everyone out of the house, today was the perfect day.

"How many of those lights still work?" Danny laughed.

"I didn't get that far yet. Hopefully enough to put around the tree." You smiled.

"Well, we can't decorate a Christmas tree without some music." Danny made his way over the record player next to the fireplace and pulled out an album.

It was always a surprise when Danny picked the music. He has such a wide array of vinyl's, and his taste seemed to change by the day. Nevertheless, he always had a way of picking the perfect album for any given situation.

You continued unraveling the lights as Danny placed the record on the player. Suddenly Christine McVie's voice filled the room, and you knew he picked Fleetwood Mac's Tusk album. Fleetwood Mac was not only your favorite band, but Tusk was also your favorite album.

"I know how much you love Fleetwood Mac, and this just seemed appropriate." Danny smiled, grabbing the string of lights and wrapping them around the tree.

"I appreciate that." You finished unwrapping the final string of lights and moved on to the box of ornaments that was next to you.

Opening it up, you inspected the various shapes and colors. You made a face and moved on to the next box. Your eyes lit up when you noticed all the balls were in one container.

"I was thinking of a red and gold theme?" You looked over at Danny to see what he thought of your idea.

"That sounds good. I would have just opened a box and thrown whatever ornaments I saw first on the tree. This is why I put you in charge." Danny finished wrapping the lights around the bottom of the tree and plugged them in, lighting up the room.

"I'm glad you're home to help this year. It's nice not to be doing this alone." You took some of the ornaments and began placing them around the tree.

"I know. I feel like I haven't gotten to celebrate the holidays for the last few years. We're usually just home for Christmas eve and Christmas day; then we have to leave again." Danny walked over next to you with ornaments in hand.

"At least you don't have to worry about delayed flights or the weather this year." You looked out the window at the lightly falling snow.

"Yeah. You're not mentally done until you spend Christmas in a Chicago airport." Danny sighed.

"Do you remember that Christmas when our parents bought us matching sweaters and then insisted on having a mini photoshoot?" You thought back to those itchy red sweaters you both refused to wear.

"Yes." Danny laughed. "Why do you bring it up?"

"No reason." You smiled at him. "I was just thinking."

"We were only about six then." Danny commented, putting more ornaments on the tree.

"My mom still has her picture on the mantle. So, every time I enter the living room, I'm reminded of how uncomfortable those sweaters were." You walked over to the box grabbing the final ornaments.

"They were itchy. I just remember being so glad to finally take them off." Danny put the last remaining ornaments from his hand onto the tree.

"We spent so many holidays together." You remembered all the Halloweens spent trick-or-treating together and Easter egg hunts in your front yard.

"Remember when we decided to have a snowball fight one year and I accidentally hit you in the face with one?" Your boyfriend chuckled as he adjusted the ornaments on the tree.

"It wasn't a snowball. It was an ice ball." You corrected. "You managed to whip it at my nose and then your mom walked you over to my house to apologize."

"I felt bad when you came around the corner and I saw the giant bruise across your face. I thought I broke your nose."

"There would have been blood if you did that. You just severely bruised me instead." You walked over next to Your boyfriend, holding the star in your right hand. Together you admired your work on the tree. It was starting to come together; all it needed were a few finishing touches.

"That's all the ornaments. Now we need to put the star on." Danny commented.

"I guess I'll go get a chair. We're both too short to reach that high." You turned around to grab a chair from the kitchen. But before you could take even two steps, you were whisked off your feet.

"Nonsense. We might be too short alone, but together we've got this." Danny held you by the waist and lifted you above his head.

"Wow. Drumming has done you good. Who needs a gym anymore?" You laughed as you leaned over and placed the star on the top branch. "We're all good up here." You yelled down. Danny gently lowered you back to the ground, so you were standing next to him.

"I think we did pretty good." Danny smiled.

"Now, all we need is tinsel." You turned around and rummaged through the box behind you. You pulled out two packages of the silver material. You handed one to Danny before opening your own. Making your way over to the tree, you gently sprinkled some across the branches.

It wasn't even thirty seconds later that you saw a handful of tinsel fall around your face and land on your shoulders. "Daniel Wagner, I swear to god." You groaned. All you could hear was your boyfriend laughing loudly behind you.

"Oh, it's on." You grabbed a handful of the silver strings and threw them at him. Since he's much taller than you, it mostly fell around his shoulders and onto the floor.

This went on until you were both out of tinsel. Neither one of you could breathe from laughing so hard. You looked at Danny and the tinsel covering him from head to toe. Before you could even do anything else, he grabbed your hand and pulled you close to him. He wrapped one hand around your waist and gently swayed to the record playing in the background.

You never noticed Danny change the record. Fleetwood Mac was still playing, but it was no longer their Tusk album. Instead, it was the album Rumors.

"For you, there'll be no more crying, for you the sun will be shining, and I know that when I'm with you, it's alright, I know it's right." Danny sang along with Christine McVie.

At this point, the sun had gone down, the Christmas tree giving off your only source of light. You looked up at Danny and smiled. It was moments like this you missed while he was on tour.

"To you, I'll give the world, To you, I'll never be cold, 'Cause I feel that when I'm with you, It's alright, I know it's right." Danny continued as you both swayed.

"And the songbirds are singing like they know the score." Danny lifted his arm and spun you around. "And I love you, I love you, I love you, like never before." He continued singing as he pulled you back towards himself.

"And I wish you all the love in the world. But most of all, I wish it from myself." You gently laid your head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat along with his singing.

"And the songbirds keep singing like they know the score, And I love you, I love you, I love you like never before, like never before, like never before," Danny finished, softly placing a kiss at the top of your head.

Together in the dim light of the Christmas tree, covered in tinsel, you swayed to the fading music on the record player.