y/n pov
Me, dad, and, charlie started delivering the presents before we made it to laura and Neil's house. Charlie sat in the sleigh as I and dad went down the chimney. i started handing him presents before I felt a light on us.
"hands up," a male voice said. i slowly turned around quickly which knocked bernards hat off my head. dad turned around.
"oh you officers gave me a start," he said with a small chuckle. "merry Christmas"
"Not for you fat boy," one of them said walking towards us. i looked over at dad whose jaw dropped.
"fat boy. guys"
"nice and easy you two" then two officers grabbed dads arms and one quickly grabbed my wrist from my side and pushed me down on my knees
"aye be careful with her. she's my daughter" dad said
"dad shut up" I said quietly
"I listen to her If i were you"
they started walking us out to the car
"was the boy" one of the officers asked
"in the sleigh" dad said
"on the roof," i said clarifying. the guy who grabbed me had put handcuffs on my wrist and pulled on them harshly making me yelp in pain. the officers dragged us to the car. well me. the other two picked dad up and walked him to the car. with each push of the officer behind me the more the handcuffs dug into my wrist. i could feel some sticky liquid dripping down my wrist slowly. there were lots of families outside.
"Santa! Santa. are you ok?" a kid asked
"ill be fine kids," he said as they shoved me in the car. they shut the door and started to drive off
bernard pov
"We got a problem. santa and y/n are at the miller's and are unresponsive" an elf said running in.
"well time to deploy E.L.F.S"
I nodded before quickly getting up.
"Why does this have to happen" I mumbled. i see my necklace that goes with y/ns turn red. "oh no no no" I whispered before pulling the cord and hearing multiple feet running. i just hope they get there soon. y/n might go into a panic at any time and I don't want that ruining Christmas night for her. i put my hand over the necklace.
"they'll be there soon snowflake" I whispered to myself before closing my eyes and sitting back down.
"he'll be fine," Judy said shooting me a small smile.
"it's not him I'm worried about" I mumbled putting my head in my hands.
"she's with him. shell be fine and right here with you soon enough"
"her necklace is red. shes hurt"
"she'll be fine they got it"
"I'm going to check on them once they get back to the house"
"ok. but she's going to be fine"
I sighed before waiting for the call.
y/n pov
I and dad got put in cells across from each other. i was staring at the wall trying to breathe slowly.
"y/n?" I heard dad say
"hi" I mumbled back
"We haven't talked much and I think there are things I need to catch up on"
"what do you mean"
"bernard," he asked. i could hear the small smile on his lips. i looked down to avoid him seeing the smile growing on my face. "when did that happen"
I sighed letting the conversation of bernard calm me down.
"well, he's been visiting since Christmas eve." I started. he gave me confused look. "he needed to train me. he started visiting in January and stopped around June when I finished training. but it mostly was when you were gone or I was at neals and lauras. i started drawing again. the first thing I started drawing was bernard. he keeps asking to see it but I got too nervous to show it. he was helping me a lot. he actually started being someone that calmed me down when I was stressed. during the thing that happen a few months ago, he came and stayed with me in the hospital. then just a little while ago he knew I was stressing. he made me a necklace that tells him how I'm doing. right now it's orange-red because I'm stressing but whatever. he saw red a few weeks ago and came to calm me down." I paused to catch my breath
"how long has the kiss on the cheek thing been going on"
"a couple of months I think. he did it before we went to the pole so I had to get him back before we left. it obviously worked because you noticed" I said with a small laugh
"so you like him"
"I uh...yeah. i like him"
"Alright, that just means ill have to keep an eye on him"
"dad no! don't do that"
"fine. fine"
i smiled to myself and lay down on the cold floor.
"i know he's looking at the necklace right now. he always looks when it's red"
"is he making you happy"
"Yeah"
"then I'm happy. he's one lucky guy to get a girl as amazing at you"
"thanks, dad" I whispered with a smile. i then heard laughing and yelling before the doors open revealing the elves and charlie.
"dad! y/n!"
"hey charlie"
"Are you ok dad," charlie said running over to dads cell while two elfs grabbed things from their bags before cutting the hinges off the cells.
"How did you do that?" I asked
"tinsel. not just for decorations" the elf said. i nodded slowly before looking away.
"let's get out of here"
----------
charlie opened laura and neals door. we walked in and charlie looked around
"Mom?! neal?!" charlie yelled. i heard running and then saw neal and laura run toward charlie. they started talking to him. i walked towards the tree and grabbed bernards hat before putting it on my head. i let out a sigh of relief as I looked down at the necklace which was now a yellow-green color. i saw neal and he waved me over. he pulled me into a hug. he rubbed my back for a second. i pulled away from him after a moment.
"I need a walk" I whispered. he nodded and let me pass. i walked into the kitchen where neal left a mess of dinner and leaned on the counter trying to clear my head. i heard charlie crying in the other room and I slid down the counter to the floor out of exhaustion. I've held it together so long that my walls were starting to come down. break actually. i felt tears slide down my cheeks as I tried to breathe. then I felt cold hands on my cheeks.
"snowflake" I heard his voice say. "look at me" he whispered softly brushing some of my hair behind my ears. i looked up at him crouching in front of me. "come here" he said pulling me into a hug. i moved towards him and nuzzled my nose into the crook of his neck. he rubbed my back as I lightly cried into his shoulder. he kissed the top of my head before pulling back a little to cup my jaw again. the tears had slowed down as I looked into his eyes. "you're ok. i promise" he said rubbing his thumb across my cheek. i closed my eyes. "you're doing really good." I could hear the smile on his face. i opened my eyes and took a deep breath. "can you stand up?" he asked.
i nodded and stood up before leaning against the counter bringing back the moment from just a few hours ago. the difference from last time was how worried he was. he was scanning my face for a couple of minutes. then he finally brought his eyes to mine. i felt stuck. not in a bad way though. i was trapped in his gaze. both of us just staring at the other. a small staring contest you might think if you were looking from afar. then i heard his breath hitch for a moment before his eyes flickered down to my lip and quickly back up. this made the blood rise to my cheeks so fast. he moved a little closer to me to where our foreheads were touching. this time my eyes flickered down to his lips as I brought my hands from my sides up to his chest. his hands were on both sides of my waist. i moved my arms to wrap around his neck which made the distance between us not very big. i could feel his breath on my lips. his hands moved from next to me to cup my jaw.
"kiss me already" I whispered. he didn't hesitate to place his lips on mine. our lips moved perfectly together. I pulled him closer trying to be as close as possible to him. he dropped his hands down to hold my waist. we pulled back for a second. he looked into the other room before back at me.
"they don't need us yet" he whispered before pressing his lips to mine once more. i smiled into the kiss. i was still pushed against the counter before he picked me up a little and sat me on top of it. his arms were then wrapped around my waist tightly. we pulled away for air after a minute or so. i smile was on my lips.
"maybe that's how you should get me out of a panic," I said. he laughed slightly.
"seems like it works though so maybe I will," he said with a smile. I looked at him and saw he had a new hat.
"got your other one," I asked
"yeah."
"no we match," I said with a smile
"yes" he laughed "yes we do"
"We probably should go in there," I said looking over at the room. he looked around the room.
"I think I should test his cooking first then go in there"
I laughed before pecking his lips.