Today was Christmas' eve. Tonight, would be our Christmas' dinner. Usually, people opened their presents on Christmas' morning, but since Dustin and I were impatient when we were younger, Claudia moved ours to midnight. As soon as midnight hit, we were free to open the presents. Since I'd always been a night owl instead of an early bird, I did not mind it in the slightest.
Tonight, for some reason, too many people were coming over. Billy and Max, Steve, Hopper and El were coming over. What a mix, right? Well, Billy and Max are going to have their Christmas dinner tomorrow night, and Steve had his lunch for tomorrow with his parents. Hopper and El obviously have no one else, so.
"Are you excited?" I asked Billy on the phone. He called me a few minutes ago, waking me up.
"I sure am. I mean, I'm going to meet your mom. And the Sheriff." Billy said.
"You don't know Hopper?" I asked furrowing my eyebrows. I thought that after what happened almost 2 months ago, they'd met. Apparently not.
"No. I mean, we've seen each other, but we never spoke." He told me.
"Oh, alright." I nodded. "One more thing,"
"What?" He asked.
"You better behave tonight." I warned.
"What do you mean, I better behave?" He asked, his tone changing slightly.
"You know, since Steve is around... I know how you get." I told him.
"How do I get?" He asked me with attitude.
"Yeah, I'm not going to do this right now." I said rolling my eyes.
"Not gonna do what? You can't start shit and not finish it, Mavis." He told me.
"Billy, I literally woke up 10 minutes ago, please excuse me if I don't want to fight with my boyfriend as soon as I wake up on Christmas eve." I told him.
"But-"
"And for the record, you know damn well what I meant." I said annoyed.
"Oh, do I?" He scoffed.
"Yeah, you do, because last time I checked, you weren't that stupid. See you later." I said before hanging up.
I sighed as I looked at my ceiling. Sure, dating Billy was great, but I also had to deal with his shit temper. I knew what this was about though. I knew he didn't like Christmas because of his mom, so right now he was probably frustrated. The problem with Billy is that he'd rather be an asshole to everyone instead of just saying what he was feeling.
I knew why he was being a dick, but that didn't mean I had just accepted it.
I was with Dustin and my mom on the couch watching The Shinning. It was my favorite horror movie. Dustin had watched it with me once, but Claudia, who was absolutely terrified of horror movies, was dreading every second.
"Who were those twins?!" Mom asked as she held a pillow tightly.
"Ghosts." Dustin said spookily.
"Dustin." I reprehended as I tried to fight a smile.
"Oh, please get out of there." Mom mumbled as the boy and the mom showed up on the screen.
"Just wait until the wave of blood." Dustin said happily.
"Wave of blood?!" Mom asked wide eyed.
"Dustin!" I said hitting his shoulder.
Before anyone could say anything else, the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it, I'll get it." Mom said getting up, desperate to stop watching the movie.
"Stop spoiling the movie." I told Dustin.
"I'm sorry, it's just too funny." He chuckled.
"Oh, hello, Steve." Mom said as she opened the door.
"Steve?" Dustin and I asked at the same time, looking at the door.
"Hi, Mrs. Henderson. Uh, is Mavis here?" He asked.
"Yes, she is. Do you want to come in?" She asked him.
"No, no, thank you. I'd rather speak to her outside." He told her.
"Oh, uh, okay then. Mavis?" My mom said looking at me.
"Coming." I said as I got up.
"Can I go?" Dustin asked me.
"Sorry, kid. Grown up stuff." I told him.
"Next year I'm in high school, you know?" Dustin asked.
"Until then." I said before looking at my mom.
"Bye, mom. If I'm not out here in a bit, we probably went for some car ride." I told her as I grabbed my jacket.
"Okay. Don't forget to be here in time to get ready for dinner." She warned.
"I won't." I said kissing her cheek before closing the door behind me.
"Hey." Steve said as he hugged me.
"Hi." I said softly. "What's wrong?"
"I'm just feeling a little down." Steve said looking at his feet.
"Because of last Christmas?" I asked him.
"Yeah." He nodded sadly.
"Wanna drive around?" I offered.
Last year, Steve spent Christmas at the Wheeler's, so he was probably feeling a little down.
"Oh, yes." Steve said smiling as we made our way to his car.
"Care to explain what happened?" Steve asked me after a few minutes of driving.
"Nothing." I shrugged as I looked outside through the window.
"I can tell something bothered you. I'm not stupid." Steve said as he rolled his eyes.
"I just had a fight with Billy this morning, that's all." I said plainly.
"What did he do now?" Steve asked with a raised eyebrow.
"He didn't do anything, It's just..." I sighed. "He's not a fan of Christmas, and I guess he's not a fan of expressing his feelings either, so he just-let it out on the phone."
"Was he mean to you?" Steve asked.
"No, he was just a bit stupid. To be honest, I wasn't the sweetest person, because I had just woken up, so." I told him.
"How long before?" He asked.
"10 minutes."
"Yikes." Steve muttered.
"Exactly, so I don't blame him, but I hate being like this... you know? This is the first Christmas we're spending together, and we already fought. I wanted to change his view on Christmas, but I guess it's just gonna be a night full of tension. And not the good kind." I ranted.
"I know, but hey, the guy's a dick, so." Steve shrugged.
"Steve! No." I reprehended. "You said you'd give him a chance."
"Yeah, only if he's not being an asshole to you." Steve said.
"Just-promise me you'll behave tonight." I said looking at him.
"Can't." He said as he looked at the road.
"Steve." I said.
"Can't promise that, Mav." Steve said nonchalant.
"Then you're not coming." I told him.
"What?" He asked, quickly looking over at me. "Are you serious right now?!"
"I don't want any more bad environment tonight, Steve! It's El's first Christmas where she's not feeling trapped, I don't want to ruin it for her." I warned. "So, you either have a good attitude and be there for dinner, or you can stay home with your parents, your choice."
"Fine..." He huffed. "I'll behave."
"Good." I smiled.
After driving around for a while, Steve dropped off so I could get ready for the dinner. After having a shower, putting on a red winter dress and some make up, I was ready.
It was 7pm and the doorbell rang. So punctual it could only be El and Hopper. I opened the door and as expected, there was El and Hop.
"Hey guys!" I said happily.
"Hi!" El said hugging me. "You look pretty." She said as she looked up at me.
"Thanks, El. You look pretty too." I said as she let go of me, going to hug Dustin.
"Hey, kid." Hop said hugging me.
"Hey, Hop." I said hugging him back.
"You do look pretty." He said with a nod.
"Thanks. You don't look too bad yourself." I said as I adjusted the collar on his white shirt.
"Thanks." He smiled.
A few minutes later, Steve arrived, meaning that only Max and Billy were missing.
I was talking to Steve near the kitchen, when Claudia went to open the door. I looked over and saw Max coming in... alone.
"You gotta be kidding me." I muttered.
"What?" Steve asked before looking over. "Shit."
"Hey." Max said as she walked over to us.
"Hi." I smiled sadly.
"He dropped me off." She told me.
"I figured." I said looking down.
"He came here to apologize after your fight this morning, but you were out with Steve, so that made him more pissed." Max explained.
"Shit." I mumbled. "This was supposed to be a happy Christmas."
"He can still show up." Max said hopeful.
"Yeah, right." I scoffed. "Well, at least I hope you have a good night, Max." I said smiling at her.
"I will." Max said smiling back before making her way to Dustin and El.
"Are you okay?" Steve asked as he placed a hand on my shoulder.
"I kinda have to, don't I?" I sighed as Steve pulled me in for a hug.
"No way you did that!" Max exclaimed. We were all sitting on the dinner table. All besides Billy, of course.
"We did." Steve said nodding.
"You do know that's illegal, right?" Hopper asked amused.
"Yeah, very illegal." My mom said as she looked at us with wide eyes.
"Oh, don't act like you haven't done worse." I told her.
"And you weren't caught?" Dustin asked us.
"I wouldn't say we were caught..." Steve said looking at me.
"I mean, a janitor was definitely onto us, but I think we pulled it off." I told them.
"You're telling me no one noticed your eyes? Or your smell?" Dustin asked surprised.
"What can I say, kid. If you wanna do things like that, you gotta know how to hide your tracks." I told him.
"Have you ever thought about joining the police?" Hopper asked with a smile.
"I has cross my mind." I said with a nod.
"Good. I'd give it some thought." He said trying to hide how proud he was.
"Will do." I smiled.
"You guys are crazy." Max laughed.
"We try." Steve shrugged cockily.
"I'm going to pretend I still don't know that happened." My mom said disapprovingly.
"It's probably for the best." I told her.
"Hey, Mavis, was your boyfriend not coming?" Hopper asked me.
Suddenly I felt everyone's eyes on me. Thanks a lot, Hop.
"Uh, we had sort of a fight this morning, so we decided it was best for him to stay home." I told them. I felt Steve put rub my back, trying to make me feel better.
"Oh, dear... you fought on Christmas?" My mom asked me sadly.
"Yes, but it's totally fine. But let's talk important things right now. After dinner we must put on some music or play some game. You know, so midnight comes faster." I suggested.
"Games and music?" El asked smiling widely.
"I love your idea." Max said approvingly.
"Me too." Dustin smiled.
"I guess it's settled then." Hopper smiled.
After having dinner we ended up playing a chess tournament. Dustin won, I got in second place and Hopper in third. Obviously Steve, Max, and El thought it was unfair but we couldn't care less. It was even rather amusing, actually.
We were now listening to music as we talked to each other, when Dustin got up excitedly.
"It's midnight!" He yelled.
"Let's go open the presents then." My mom said as she got up, going to get the presents that were under our rather small Christmas tree. "Who wants to go first?"
"I do." I said as I got up. I grabbed my present for El and walked towards her. "Merry Christmas, El."
She happily grabbed the wrapped box and ripped out the paper. Once she opened it, she saw a picture of her, me, and Hopper on her birthday last year. El had an annoyed expression while she had a birthday hat on her curly hair, Hopper was yelling at the camera, and I was just laughing at them. I felt like that summed up our relationship better than any other photo.
El looked up at me teary eyed and hugged me.
"Thank you."
I held her tight as I shared a soft smile with Hopper.
"I can't really wait, so I'm going to go again." I said as I grabbed a box and walked over to Steve.
"Merry Christmas, Steve." I said as I handed him his present.
Once he opened it, it revealed a sweatshirt with the words 'I'm a pretty goddamn good babysitter' and a mixtape I made for him.
"Thanks, Mavis. I love it." He laughed as he hugged me.
"You better!" I laughed.
"Now you open yours." He said as he gave me my box. "Merry Christmas, Mavis."
I opened the box, revealing a new pair of headphones and a poster of Grease to put on my wall.
"I love it!! Thank you!!" I said happily as I wrapped my arms around him.
"Good. It cost me more money than it should've ." He joked. I knew he was joking because even though Steve was somewhat rich and could afford pricey gifts, he would never throw it at my face. It was just a funny remark.
After that, Hopper gave El his present which was a girly magazine that she loved, Steve gave Dustin a D&D book, which made him freak out, Dustin and I gave Max a leather jacket similar to one I owned since I knew she loved it so much. As Max was about to give Dustin her gift, someone rang the doorbell.
"Who could it be at this hour?" My mom asked as she got up to open the door.
She opened the door, and a familiar voice was heard.
"Merry Christmas, Mrs. Henderson."
I looked at Steve and Max before looking at the door.
"Oh, Billy, sweetly, merry Christmas. I thought you were no longer coming." My mom told him.
"And I wasn't, but I had a change of mind. I hope it's not too late?" He asked her.
"Not at all. Come in, come in." My mom told him as she opened the door more for him to come inside.
"Good night, everyone. I'm sorry for showing up late, but I had some things to take care of." Billy said looking around at us.
"We know it's because you two had a fight." Steve exposed with a somewhat mad expression.
I quickly nudged him on the ribs, making him groan.
"You promised you'd behave." I whispered angrily.
The room stayed silent for a few seconds until Billy cleared his throat.
"Uh, Mavis... mind if I talk to you for a second?" He asked me.
"Sure." I said as I got up. "Let's go outside."
I walked past him, opened the door, and sat down on the bench of my porch. Billy followed me, closed the door, and sat down next to me.
"I did try to apologize, you know? But when I got here, you were out with Steve." He said after a few seconds of silence.
"And that was enough of a reason for you to pull a tantrum and miss my Christmas dinner?" I asked him.
"Look..." He sighed. "You know I don't know how to deal with these... feelings. Whenever I used to feel like this, I would always go to you, and you would help me. So, when that doesn't happen, I don't know what to do and I guess I just end up fucking things up."
"Billy... you do know you can't depend on me, right?" I asked carefully.
"I know... it's just- hard." He admitted.
"Believe me, I know, but I just think that half of this could be avoided, you know? We could've had this conversation when you came with Max, and we would've been able to enjoy Christmas together." I said sadly. "I really wanted to change your views on Christmas but I guess we can no longer do that this year."
"I mean... I'm here, right? And I'm pretty sure Christmas Day just started, so..." He said giving me a small smile.
"You really want to try and have a good time?" I asked him, just to clarify.
"Yes." He nodded. "I'm sorry for making you upset this morning, it's just- I really am trying, you know?"
"I know... and I'm sorry for not being the nicest person, either. I suppose Steve's comment didn't help my case, huh?" I asked.
"It really didn't." He said with a small chuckle.
"You know he was just trying to look out for me." I told him.
"I know... that's the only why I didn't talk back." He told me.
"You know what? That sounds like progress to me." I said smiling at him.
"Good." He said with a smile in return. "We're good, right?" He asked me.
"We're good." I nodded.
"Good." He said before giving me a sweet peck on the lips.
I got up so we could go inside, but he stopped me.
"Hey, Mav?"
"Yeah?" I asked as I turned to look at him.
"Merry Christmas." He said as he handed me a clearly handmade wrapped box.
"Aw, Billy." I said as I grabbed the box.
"Open it." He told me.
I placed the box on the bench and opened it. Inside the box, were my favourite two sweaters of his, a box of my favourite Cheetos, and a frame with a picture Jonathan took of us in the Snowball. I was with my hands around Billy's neck while I smiled up at him, and he had his hands around my waist as he smiled down at me.
"Billy..." I mumbled as I tried not to cry.
"I know it's not a lot, but uh, I'm not really used to buying Christmas gifts, so this is the best I could do." Billy told me. By his tone I could tell he was expecting some sort of rejection.
"Billy." I stopped him. "I love it... it's perfect."
"Really?" He asked me hopeful.
"Really." I nodded before I kissed him. "Thank you."
"Anything for my girl." He said as he smiled down at me.
Still smiling, I grabbed his hand, and opened the door.
Everyone stopped to look at us, but once they saw us walking in happily, the tension immediately.
Billy and I went to sit down on the chairs next to Steve, me in the middle, obviously.
"Everything okay?" Steve whispered to me and I nodded, making him send me a nod back.
"What did you guys get while we were outside?" I asked them.
"I got a sweater." El said happily as she held a red sweater that I knew it had been made by my mother.
"I got stickers for my skateboard." Max said smiling widely.
"And I got a Star Wars figure!" Dustin said as he held up a Yoda toy.
"Mavis would you like to go?" My mom asked me as she looked between Billy and I.
"I would." I said smiling before I got up, letting go of Billy's hand. I grabbed a box and walked over to Billy. "Merry Christmas, Billy."
"For me?" He asked surprised, not counting on having one.
"Yes." I nodded sweetly.
He opened the box excitedly, revealing the AC/DC vinyl I had bought him, along with his favourite sour candy and a pack of cigarets.
"Is this Back in Black?!" He asked excited.
"You bet it is." I said smiling at him.
"I- Mavis, I... Thank you." He said as he quickly hugged me.
"I just wanted to make you happier this Christmas." I said rubbing my hand on his back.
"And it fucking worked." He said before giving me a kiss.
Once we sat back down and everyone finished exchanging their gifts, we sat around with Christmas songs playing on the background, while we talked and laughed.
"Harrington?" Billy called, making me look suspiciously between them.
"Yeah?" Steve asked clueless of what Billy wanted.
"Can I talk to you?" He asked.
Steve looked at me, and I sent him a begging look.
"Lead the way." Steve told him as he got up.
Billy smiled at me before getting up and walking with Steve towards the kitchen. I looked at Max, Dustin, and El who were looking as confused as I was.
Were they finally going to have a decent conversation? Please let it be true. I wanted nothing more than the both of them to get along. It was surprising that it was Billy's initiative, but I was glad he was trying.
About half an hour later, they both came out, looking friendly.
"You're both alive?" I asked as they sat down.
"Yes." They told me.
"And you didn't fight?" I asked.
"Not really." Steve shook his head.
"No." Billy said doing the same thing.
"You had a normal, calm, conversation?" I asked just to be clear.
"Yeah, pretty much." Billy nodded.
"Yeah." Steve said with a nod.
"Huh..." I said suspiciously before Billy grabbed y hand, intertwining our fingers.
The rest of the night was spent in a happy, fun, familiar environment, and I didn't think I could've had a better time.
"Did you have a good night?" I asked Billy as we were outside of his car. Max had fallen asleep on the couch, so Billy ended up carrying her to the car.
"I did... I regret that I didn't enjoy it longer, but it was fun." He told me.
"Yeah, maybe next time." I joked.
"Yeah... maybe celebrating Christmas doesn't sound so bad anymore." Billy said.
"Wait, so... have you changed your view on Christmas?" I asked him hopeful.
"Try me next year again, yeah?" He asked before placing a soft kiss on my forehead.
"Will do." I smiled. It made me feel butterflies knowing that Billy thought that next Christmas we would still be together... it meant that he truly did see a future for us, and that could not make me happier.
"I'll see you tomorrow, alright?" He asked me.
"Sure, see you tomorrow." I told him.
We kissed goodbye, and Billy went to his car, waved at me, and drove away. And that my friends, was the end of our first Christmas together
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Hey guys!! How are you??
Not gonna lie, I was considering postponing this chapter until Christmas but I couldn't wait that long lmao, so if you want you can reread it then.
Any theories for season 5??
How do you feel about seeing what Billy and Mavis dating really looked like?
Please don't forget to vote and comment your thoughts!!
I love you guys, until next time <33