chapter three
merry christmas
One week later, Madelyn woke up to Nick jumping on top of her at god knows what time in the morning. The girl groaned at the weight, trying to push him off of her. It was Christmas Day and the two had been up until about 3am watching Christmas movies the night before.
"Nick, baby, please get off of me." Madelyn grumbled.
"But it's Christmas honey." Nick replied, sliding off of her and standing on the edge of the bed.
"Merry Christmas." Madelyn told him, sitting up.
"Merry Christmas." Nick replied with a smile before harshly yanking the covers off of her body. "Now get up."
"Nick!" Madely exclaimed as the boy practically skipped out of the room.
Nicholas St James loved Christmas, more than any eighteen year old probably should. It was the only day of the year a person would ever see Nick being cheery instead of his usual grumpy attitude. Nick loved Christmas because it was the only day he could appreciate the people he cared about without it being weird – because according to society it was strange for men to buy their friends gifts – it was also the one day a year that Nick would have a full twenty minute conversation with his parents without them shouting or lecturing him.
Madelyn sighed, getting out of the bed and simply throwing the covers back on the bed. She was a firm believer in the 'why should I make my bed if I'm just going to sleep in it again later'. The girl made her way downstairs and into the living room where Nick was already inspecting the presents under the decorated tree.
"Nick, we're not opening presents before breakfast." Madelyn told him.
"I know, you have a stupid rule." Nick sighed.
"It's not a stupid rule, okay? It's not my fault my mum was on tv for breakfast and my dad refused to do anything until he had watched her segment." Madelyn stated.
"Yeah yeah I know." Nick nodded. Madelyn opened her mouth to speak when someone knocked on the front door. "Expecting anyone?"
"Nope." Madelyn shook her head. "And it can't be your parents they would have a key."
"I'll get it." Nick told the girl before heading towards the door. Madelyn followed behind the boy as he opened the front door to reveal Gale Weathers stood on the other side.
"Hello, Merry Christmas!" Gale greeted the two. "I bought a turkey and presents."
"Hello Ms Weathers." Nick smiled, taking the turkey off of her.
"Mum!" Madelyn exclaimed. Gale smiled at her widely, throwing her arms around her daughter and squeezing her tightly. "I thought you weren't coming until next week."
"I thought I'd surprise you, it is Christmas after all." Gale explained. "I also didn't want you two to be alone."
"I'm glad you're here." Madelyn nodded, hugging her once more before they made their way back into the living room. "Nick is cooking later and he makes the most incredible food."
Gale went to respond but another knock sounded at the door cut her off. Madelyn furrowed her eyebrows, moving to open the front door. Stood on the other side was Sam and Tara, both wearing large smiles.
"Hey guys!" Madelyn greeted them with a smile. "Come in."
"Sorry for barging in." Sam apologised. "My mum won't speak to me and we didn't want to have a lonely Christmas."
"The more the merrier." Nick stated, hugging Tara while Sam hugged Madelyn.
"Merry Christmas, Tara." Madelyn said as she moved to hug Tara next, Nick hugging Sam.
"Merry Christmas Mads."
The group went and sat in the living room, all laughing at some joke Nick had made. They sat down on the various sofas within the room.
"Bets on how long it takes for Mindy, Chad and Martha to turn up." Madelyn announced. "I give them ten minutes from now."
"Ten minutes?" Sam looked at her with raised eyebrows. "I give them an hour."
"Forty five minutes." Nick chimed in. "Can't believe you're going with ten minutes."
"What do you mean? We all have our location on for each other and Mindy checks her phone every three minutes. Also she hasn't done her yearly merry Christmas message which will come through in about two minutes so she'll see we're all in the same place and her and Chad will get FOMO and it only takes them five minutes to get here so ten." Madelyn explained her reasoning.
"She's right." Tara pointed to her. "But I'll give them thirty minutes."
"Alright, ten bucks in each?" Nick asked.
"Yep."
"Sure."
"Sounds good."
The group sat around for a little while, laughing and joking with Christmas songs playing in the background. They all turned silent when the doorbell rang throughout the house. The group jumped up, Nick walking to the door and opening it. The Meeks-Martin family walked through the door, Martha handing Nick some pie she had made while Chad and Mindy rushed into the living room where the others were.
Madelyn looked at the watch on her hand. "Ten minutes! Pay up everybody!"
The three all groaned as they handed Madelyn ten bucks each. The girl laughed softly, putting the money in her bra strap. Chad and Mindy shook their heads at the group's antics, knowing all too well how often they betted on things, silly little mindless things just to pass the time and make things more interesting.
The group made their way back into the living room, sitting and playing games as they laughed the day away. After a little while they got bored of playing games with Nick having to run in between the living room and the kitchen as he cooked. They decided to give each other their gifts.
Nick got a friendship bracelet from Chad, one that matched the one of his own wrist, a new football from Sam after she accidentally put a hole in the last one, Tara's matching hoodies for them all, money from Martha and Mindy had compiled a list of horror films Nick had to watch and bought them all for him on dvd. Gale had bought the boy a new jacket and offered him a place to stay with her if he decides to go to New York for college.
Madelyn ended up getting an annotated horror book from Mindy, with little notes in the margins of how unrealistic it was and points about how it could be turned into a movie. Chad got her the four Midnights Vinyl to make the Taylor Swift clock because he knew how much she loved them. Sam got her a bracelet, Martha gave her money and Tara got each of them matching hoodies with their initials embroidered onto the wrists.
Madelyn and Nick decided to give their presents to each other privately later so neither of them knew what that had gotten yet.
And as for Gale, she passed one of her presents over to Madelyn. It was a rather large envelope addressed to Madelyn. Madelyn took it out of her hands, the group pausing what they were doing to watch the clearly confused girl.
"Everything that is addressed to the trailer is redirected to me." Gale explained why she had the letter.
"Right." Madelyn looked at the envelope, noticing where it had come from. Her mouth dropped slightly as she opened it, skimming over the words on the page before gasping.
"What?"
"What is it?"
"You okay?"
Madelyn looked between the group, a smile forming on her face that once more. "I got Stanfords early acceptance."
"Oh my gosh!"
"No way!"
"What?"
Madelyn laughed as Chad practically rushed to stand and lunged across the room at her. He picked the girl up, spinning her around as she laughed while saying how proud he was of her. Tara was the next person to hug her, congratulating the girl on her achievement. Sam smiled softly in her direction while Gale hugged her daughter tightly.
"Wait." Nick spoke up.
"Yeah, woah." Mindy added.
"You applied to Stanford?" Nick asked her.
"What about New York?" Mindy wondered.
"I never said I was going." Madelyn told them. "I just, I wanted to see if I could get in, y'know. My entire life I've been trying to prove to other people that I'm not just some legacy kid or trailer trash or whatever that I wanted to prove to myself I could do it too."
"Right." Mindy nodded.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Nick questioned.
"It was a three am spur of the moment thing." Madelyn defended herself.
"Applying to a college isn't a spur of the moment thing." Nick retorted.
"Nick I—" She glanced at the group that was watching the two awkwardly.
"Um—sorry, I have to check on the potatoes." Nick stood up abruptly, walking into the kitchen without looking back. Madelyn watched him with sad eyes, letting out a small sigh as she looked back at the others.
"Sorry." Gale spoke up.
"It's fine. He was going to find out eventually." Madelyn shrugged.
After a little while, the group got worried about Nick, who had basically locked himself in the kitchen. Martha and Gale were talking amongst themselves, chatting to Sidney on the phone for a small period of time while the kids all messed around and joked between them. Madelyn looked at the closed kitchen door, concern covering her features.
"He'll be okay." Chad reassured her suddenly, catching her attention once more.
"I know." Madelyn nodded. "I'm just... worried about him."
Nick, his entire life, was alone. His parents left him at home on his own constantly and so when he found someone, Nick would cling on for dear life. And at a very young age, Nick found Madelyn and ever since then she had never left him. She was always there for him, through thick and thin and now there was a possibility of her leaving him. Nick was scared because if his longest friend left him, in his mind, it wouldn't be long before his other friends – Chad, Mindy and Tara – leave him too. And he would be on his own once more.
"I'm gonna go check on Nick." Madelyn announced, standing up and walking into the kitchen.
From the moment she stepped into the room, Madelyn could feel Nick's stress radiating off of him. His hair was pushed back and messy from where he had clearly been running his hands through it, he was slightly sweaty and was rushing around the kitchen despite not needing to.
"Hey, Nick." Madelyn spoke up but her greeting was ignored. "Nick. Nick!"
"Not now Mads." Nick grumbled.
Madelyn made her way over to him, turning the hobs on the oven off allowing everything to fall still for just a moment. She turned the boy to face her, a small smile on her face.
"And breathe." She told him.
Nick let out a breath. "Thank you."
"What are girlfriends for?" Madelyn commented with a small shrug.
"I'm so sorry about early." Nick stated. "I—I got in my head and I was scared and—"
"It's okay."
"No, it's not. I—I was rude and I didn't listen to you and—"
"Nick—" Madelyn placed her hands on his cheek, successfully cutting him off. "It's okay. I get it, I understand. And I'm not gonna go."
"Maddie of course you should go." Nick told her. "It's Stanford."
"It was nothing."
"Stanford isn't nothing." Nick shook his head. "Gabriella Montez went there."
"I'm proud that you know that." Madelyn laughed softly. "But New York..."
"Just don't come to New York for us, think about Stanford for you." Nick stared at her. "Okay?"
"I'll think about it." Madelyn nodded. "But if I decide to go to Stanford and you go to New York, we'll make it work. I mean we always have. We're Nick and Mads."
"Yeah we are." Nick smiled. Madelyn leant up to press her lips to his, basking in the moment for a few seconds before pulling away.
"Do you need any help?" She asked.
"Not from you." Nick replied quickly. "Send Martha in here."
"I will." Madelyn answered. Madelyn left the kitchen once more, asking Martha if she could go and help Nick, the woman agreeing happily.
And within the next hour and a half, the group were all sat around the St James dining table eating Christmas dinner, laughing and reminiscing about all the times they had spent together over the years. Madelyn laughed loudly at a joke Chad made along with everyone else at the table, looking around at the people around her as she realised.
This was her family. And she be damned if she lost anymore of them.
( 💌 ) isobel's notes
writing christmas in june is such a vibe
aren't they just the cutest family
graduation chapter next and then
just madelyns birthday before we're
onto scream 6