Living alone sometimes was a bit of a struggle. Not because you couldn't pay rent, or because you couldn't cook, or anything like that, it was the holidays. You couldn't really travel all the way out to your parents' place, because air fare is expensive and you only get paid enough to keep yourself in your small apartment, with your tiny little Christmas tree, and your many bags of ramen.
"Sometimes it feels like I'm in college again," You snickered while talking to your little sister on FaceTime. She went to an in-state college, since she couldn't bear to be far away from your parents.
"Why don't you just get Mom and Dad to send you money or something? For next year."
"It's fine. I'll just get an extra job on the side or something. I dunno. I don't want Mom and Dad to send me cash like I'm not able to make any on my own."
"C'mon, (Y/N)! We miss you over here!" She pleaded. Your heart began to ache. You've spent too many holidays alone in this apartment, eating take out on Thanksgiving, watching Grey's Anatomy on TV, and sleeping in until noon on Christmas, eating those tins of assorted cookies while watching reruns of Christmas specials.
"I'll figure it out, (S/N)." You said quickly before hanging up and dragging your feet to your bedroom. As you fell face forward on your bed, you started to cry. The holidays were supposed to be happy. Why were they miserable?
"What do people eat on Christmas, Fritz?" Vincent asked his red-headed co-worker as he scrolled through his phone. The guards were all sitting in Freddy's trying to figure out what they would do for the Holidays.
"I don't know." Fritz shrugged. "I literally cook whatever I want."
"Why is Christmas food so important to you, Vince?" Mike asked.
"Because," Vincent stood up with his hands on his hips. Scott took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. Anytime Vincent pulled out the superhero pose, he had a terrible idea.
"Oh no," He mumbled.
"We're going to break into (Y/N)'s apartment and surprise her for Christmas Eve!"
"B-Break in? Isn't that i-illegal?" Jeremy asked.
"Of course it is! And that's why we're doing it. Jeremike, you two are going to get a tree. You'll know it's the perfect size if you can fit a a body- or multiple bodies, in the box. Scott and I will buy the decorations, ugly sweaters, and the booze. Fritz and Chris are in charge of food."
"I- I had no clue I was part of this," Chris said as he put his broom down. "I don't even celebrate Christmas. I celebrate Hanukkah-"
"This is for friendship, Christopher!" Chris raised his hands in defense and went to the kitchen with Fritz following behind.
You were sitting in your living room, eating a bowl of cereal and watching television with a blank expression.
"Merry Christmas to me," Your voice rasped. Your throat was full of phlegm from crying. With a quick clearing of your throat, you continued to shove cereal in your mouth and wallow in your puddle of self-pity.
It's been a good hour and a half. Nothing really has changed. Life still sucked, but your cereal was gone and the bowl was in the sink. You decided to turn off your TV and just lay on your couch, on your back. Truly, you could just fall asleep right here right now and forget about the world. But would you?
"Yes." You said aloud and began to close your eyes. As soon as you saw the backs of your eyelids, your doorknob started to move on its own, making a small noise. You jolted up and rushed to your silverware drawer. "Umm..." You started to walk towards your door with your sharpest knife in hand. "Hey! I-I'm armed!" You warned the potential intruder. "I'm gonna cut a bitch!" A small chuckle came from the other side of the door.
"That's cute, (Y/N)." You wanted to scream. You knew Vincent was crazy, but you didn't think that he'd try to break into your apartment.
"Seriously, Vincent?" You asked, annoyed. As you opened your door with the hand that wasn't holding the knife, you saw the rest of your co-workers outside, in the hallway. They had a tree, ugly sweaters, and food. "Woah, wait." You began to smile. "Is this for me?" The guys nodded and filed into your apartment when you gave them the okay.
In no time at all, your apartment was filled with wonderful smells, Christmas music, and a tree that was covered in colorful lights and adorned with ornaments of many shapes, colors, and sizes. But really, you mainly cared about your friends who went through so much to give you a Christmas that reminded you of home. You were home. You were in your second home with your second family. And like any family should, you took out your phone and took a picture with the guys, all wearing your ugly sweaters. Yours had Santa on a unicorn with glitter and rhinestones all over it, Vincent's was purple and covered in toast, Scott's was red with phones, Mike's said "This is My Ugly Sweater" on it (he's original), Jeremy's was dark grey with the Sailor Moon cats on it, and Chris's was a fusion between Christmas and Hanukkah, with each holiday on either side.
After all of the pictures and movies and drinks, you passed out on your couch. The guys cleaned up after themselves and quietly left, each guard leaving you a present under your tree to open in the morning. Long story short, this was the best Christmas you've ever had.
(Happy Holidays! Below are your sweater, Chris' sweater, Jeremy's sweater, and Mike's sweater. I hope you guys have a good Christmas Eve/Day!/ Kwanzaa, or whatever you celebrate! And if you celebrated Hanukkah, I hope that was happy as well!)