Hi Jenn! Your stitchers secret 🎅 again. Sooo, it looks like I'll be late with your gift. I went with one idea but had writers block, so I switched to a different one. But work has been crazy too and I got called in a few times with the holidays. Your gift is definitely a work in progress though. Hope you have a great new year's!
No worries, Santa! Real life definitely takes precedence and I totally get the writer’s block thing. I’ll be grateful for your gift whenever you’re able to deliver it. Hope you also have a great new year!
Merry Christmas Jenn! Your stitchers secret Santa here. I hope you had a great time with your in-laws and family for the holidays. I'm still working on your gift and hope to complete it my early next week. Have a great rest of your Christmas 😊 🎄
Merry Christmas Santa! Thank you - it was a lot but very fun. Take your time - no worries. I completely understand. I just messaged with the admins letting them know I was going to fail to complete my gift ☹️ Hope you had a great Christmas!
Hi Jenn. It's your stitchers secret santa🎅. What are you doing for the holidays this year? 🎄❄️☃️ I saw that you'd like camsten fluff that's holiday themed and I'm excited to write a fic for you. Any other specifics I can try to add to your gift?
SANTA! We are doing Christmas Eve with my in-laws; Christmas with my family. I’m super excited to read your fic! Um the only thing I can think of is that Cameron is very much a movie guy and would have some definitive Christmas movie opinions if you’d like to work that in somehow. I’m sure you’ll do great, Santa! Thank you for signing up and keeping the spirit of Stitchers alive!
Hey Stitchers family! So Laura @e11evenseggos and I @xoheatherkw are interested in hosting the Stitchers Secret Santa again this year, if people are interested in signing up.
Please fill out this form to sign up!
General Rules/Guidelines:
- Sign-ups are open now through November 30, 2019 at 11:59pm PST
- Secret Santa assignments will go out by December 5, 2019.
- For fics, the suggestion is 1,000 words minimum.
- Contact your giftee anonymously to get to know them better or ask them preferences about their gift.
- Post the gifts between December 24 and December 31, 2019. @ your giftee and us @stitcherssecretsanta2019
- Tag posts with #StichersSS2019
Tagging people below the cut. Please feel free to reblog and tag people that might be interested!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year KJ @lizziesaltyzman ! I’m so sorry this is getting to you so late. Here is your fluffy Camsten fic. It’s a College AU. Please forgive my complete lack of knowledge about how labs/science theses work. Hopefully you still enjoy it! @stitcherssecretsanta2018
“I’m worried about you, Mr. Goodkin..”
After countless hours in the lab together, Dr. Clark has only ever looked this serious one other time. Given that that time involved one of his grad students getting nearly electrocuted along with half the lab, Cameron was sure this wasn’t shaping up to be a good talk.
“You’re on your third -“
Fourth, Cameron silently corrected in his head.
“- coder for your thesis project. At this rate you’ll have burned through all of the computer science department by your defense, if you get there at all.”
None of this was new information to Cameron, but it stung to hear everything laid out so matter of factly. You could make the argument that Marta leaving was his fault. They had been awake over two days when she’d had her accident.
The other two failures were clearly not Cameron’s. How was he to know Alex would end up creating and launching an app to help people manage their high blood pressure? There was no way to predict that. Camille had been working out great for several weeks. She was insightful and creative. They worked well together. That is until she saw Amanda Weston’s project on postmortem modeling. Camille jumped ship almost immediately.
The only hope Cameron had at this point was that he would get along swimmingly with his new partner Tim. There was no plan b.
—————————————————————-
When Kirsten Clark first met her half sister she knew that there were ways her life would change. There was another person she had to program into her calendar so she would remember to check in with them. There was someone else to inexplicably ask how she was doing at random intervals. There was one more member that understood just how tangled up one could be in the legacy of Daniel Stinger.
What she hadn’t anticipated was her newfound inability to say no. Whenever Ivy asked for a favor, Kirsten felt herself crumble inside. It was maddening, annoying, and meant that Kirsten was sitting front row, center in the coldest classroom ever at seven o’clock at night. She was meant to be studying or preparing to teach. If Ivy needed moral support for a one-off workshop though, here she was.
The room filled up the way these things always did. Most students sat in the back. A few brave souls ventured toward the front to better see the board. That was how Kirsten ended up with the only open seat right next to her.
Ten minutes into the lecture, an absolute whirlwind of a person burst into the room. As if the door cracking hard against the wall wasn’t enough of an announcement of his arrival, the guy tripped over someone’s messenger bag nearly toppling over. He just kept mouthing ‘sorry’ as his eyes swept the room. When his eyes finally met Kirsten’s, she pointed at the seat next to her.
Later that evening when Ivy teased her about it, Kirsten told her that she most certainly did not blush when Cameron smiled at her. It was the cold. There was no spark there. He just looked so lost throughout the whole workshop. And he called her Ada Lovelace when she helped him work through a line of code at the end.
How could she not want to see him again?
———————————————-
Cameron still wasn’t sure what was going on with the blonde from the coding workshop he attended. Yes, she gave him her number - without any prompting. Yes, she had been texting him.
But how could you have a maybe sort of thing going on with a woman whose name you didn’t know?
There were bigger issues Cameron was facing - Tim’s lack of respect for him, his utter inability to get along with Tim, how hard his thesis was going to fail without Tim’s help, avoiding his thesis advisor etc. Add in attending and teaching classes and he was flush with problems.
None of them occupied his mind like her though.
Before Cameron realized what he was doing he texted Ada about his immediate frustration.
how do people get tables in the library during midterms? who do i need to sell my soul to?
An answer came back almost immediately with a coffee order. Cameron sent back a line of question marks in reply.
I have a study room for the next three hours - that’s my price to share it.
Cameron nearly sank down in relief. He waited in an obnoxiously long line behind all the other caffeine deprived college students. It took him almost an hour to acquire coffee and muffins for his new friend. When he arrived at the study room, it was completely worth it for how she looked at him.
Her hands wrapped around the warmth of her coffee cup. “You’re welcome back anytime now that you know the price of admission. I’m here on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11. Plus, technically these are supposed to be group study rooms so you’d legitimize my usage.”
“How did you swing that schedule? They only let you book rooms a week in advance,” Cameron asked.
The blonde stared at her cup, a soft smile twitched at the edge of her mouth. “It’s not technically against the rules, but it’s probably not fair. I wrote a program that automatically goes in to reserve the room as soon as they open up online.”
Cameron laughed. “Your secret’s safe with me, ZeroCool.”
—————————————————
“Here’s your muffin, Muffin,” Cameron said as he presented Kirsten with her customary baked good and coffee.
Sometimes Kirsten marveled at the seemingly fathomless list of nicknames Cameron had for her. She’d been Stretch when she recovered his pen from a particularly hard to reach spot. She’d been Brainiac when she helped him fix his computer. She’d been Angel when she returned a laptop bag she found to the library staff. And now she was Muffin.
“Some days I wonder if you even know my name, Cameron. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you use it,” Kirsten told him as she popped a piece of muffin in her mouth.
The tips of Cameron’s ears turned bright pink. “Well…”
Kirsten ran back over their first meeting in her head. She had asked for his phone and put the number in. Cameron had sent her a text with his name in it. That had probably been a cue that Kirsten had completely missing. Her hands went to her eyes, covering them in embarrassment.
“It’s Kirsten and if you haven’t noticed I don’t people well,” she told him.
“What’s another word for passionate?” Kirsten murmured, not taking her eyes off of her computer screen.
Cameron looked up from his own work. He had been absorbed in Tim’s latest notes - which were marginally better than last week’s, but not by much. “Context? I’m not sure if you’re writing an online review of a restaurant or a love letter there.”
Kirsten snorted as she deleted several keystrokes. “I’m writing a personal statement for a project I want to work on. There have been a couple of openings this semester, but I always seem to miss them. I figure if I leave a packet with my CV and a proposal that maybe they’ll take me before they realize how difficult I am to work with.”
It seemed unlikely to Cameron that any team wouldn’t want Kirsten working with them. She was extremely good at what she did, detail-oriented, and incredibly focused. Any time she talked about her current projects, they seemed nearly impossible to Cameron. That was when he even understood what she was talking about. When Kirsten get excited about something it was so hard to interrupt her for clarification. Her enthusiasm was no less enjoyable when it completely went over Cameron’s head.
“They’d be idiots not to take you.” Cameron smirked. “Just don’t tell them you’re feeling amorous about the project.”
Kirsten’s blue eyes finally strayed from her typing. They assessed Cameron for a long moment, sweeping over his face. “You’re funny.” She retreated to her work again.
They worked in relative silence for the next few moments. The study room was filled with the comforting sort of calm that Cameron had come to associate with Kirsten. Instead of working on his project, Cameron started pulling up articles on personal statements.
“Have you written about why you’re so interested in the project?” He asked.
A flash of something unidentifiable crossed Kirsten’s face. “I really don’t think they want to hear about my dead mom. ”It took Cameron a moment to fully absorb what she was telling him. Her tone was so matter of fact. “It happened a long time ago. I barely remember her. It seems cheap to tell them that their research could’ve helped her.”
A tiny ache clawed at Cameron’s chest. “I think that’s exactly what you should tell them.”
There was more he wanted to ask her, to tell her about his life. As if Fate or Destiny hated him though, an undergrad decided that was the exact moment to start banging on the study room window. Nevermind that they still had another half an hour until it was his.
It wasn’t like Cameron to be late or miss one of their work sessions. Kirsten found herself working much slower without him in her space. That might have had something to do with the fact that she checked her phone every fifteen seconds for a text that had yet to arrive.
Five hundred and forty-one disappointing notification checks later, a text finally came through.
i’m so sorry i didn’t text you sooner. this thing came up with my dad and i’ve been sorting it out.
This was not something Kirsten was prepared for. She was not good with empathy or sympathy. There were few people in the world less helpful when people were upset than she was. This was Cameron though so she had to at least try to comfort him.
Is he okay? Is there anything I can do to help?
Kirsten stared at her reply, thinking of all the ways she could’ve made it sound better.
he’s just a terminally shitty person.
It was awful, and she recognized it, but Kirsten was kind of relieved. Dealing with trash dads was a specialty of hers.
He should meet my father. They could start a club.
It took a long time for Cameron to respond. Kirsten started to rethink her text. Had it been the wrong move to say that? Did it sound like she was trying to one up him?
he’s in jail for embezzlement, maybe paroled soon. it was awful when he went in. my mom and i changed our last name and everything just to get away.
Kirsten was still puzzling over what to say when there was a knock at the window. Cameron was on the other side looking slightly rumpled.
“Lunch? My treat,” he mouthed on the other side of the glass.
He apparently didn’t notice that she had already started packing up the second she saw him.
There was no getting around how awful working with Tim was. Cameron couldn’t take it anymore. They had terrible communication. Half the time a week’s worth of research went to waste. Tim thought Cameron didn’t know anything about what he did - which was true- but he also didn’t respect that Cameron knew his own field well.
Dr. Clark had been hounding Cameron constantly for updates. It was like he could sense how terribly things were going for them. Cameron knew that it was because he wanted him to succeed. There was something worse about disappointing someone you respected than being yelled at.
Facing the music now meant that he might have a new partner picked and up to speed before the semester ended. He stared up at the medical arts building as though the glass and steel could give him what he needed. His hand went to his pocket for his phone without thinking.
send help, rocky. I’m about to tell my thesis advisor that i can’t work with my partner anymore. this goodkin is about to get a good kick in the face.
Kirsten didn’t respond, but reaching out to her, as always, made Cameron feel a little better. He adjusted the messenger bag on his shoulder and headed toward his doom.
-------------------------------------------
There were often times when Kirsten felt a little behind what was going on. She wasn’t the best at reading people or their sarcasm. Her pop cultural knowledge was severely lacking. These things made it hard for her to socialize in groups or with new people.
Kirsten had never felt this blindsided though.
Cameron - her Cameron - was C. Goodkin. This was the guy she convinced Ed to hire based solely on his previous papers. This was the guy who she had been trying to work with all semester - despite Uncle Ed’s protestations of nepotism if he helped her. This was the guy who wanted to communicate with coma patients. He knew her reasons for wanting to work on this project. They got along well too, which wasn’t always the case with her and colleagues.
As though Kirsten’s entire world hadn’t been knocked off balance, Ed continued going on about the holiday party his department was throwing. Apparently Mr. Ahluwalia made world famous cookies that Kirsten just had to try.
There was no good way to break any of what she had to say to Cameron in a text. Only a phone call would work, even though she really hated those.
“Uncle Ed, I have to make a call,” Kirsten said as she stood up.
Her fingers were gripping the handle when the door swung out, pulling Kirsten with it. She nearly toppled into Cameron, who looked as though he were marching to his death. Kirsten inwardly shrugged. She’d have to wing this.
“Let me handle the talking,” she whispered at Cameron, gesturing for him to come in the door. There was nothing for him to do but follow her lead.
Cameron wasn’t sure why or how Kirsten was in Dr. Clark’s office, but he didn’t much care at that point. If she saved him, he would owe her for the rest of his life.
“Mr. Goodkin, did we have an appointment?” Dr. Clark asked. “We could meet in a few minutes if you’d like.”
The lump in Cameron’s throat grew. He made some sort of movement that was half between shrug and nervous arm flinging. As Cameron sat next to Kirsten he noticed how remarkably calm she was. Her hand stilled his forearm, resting just long enough for Cameron’s brain to register the feel of her.
“Cameron knew I was meeting you for lunch so he figured now would be a good time to tell you we’re working together.” Kirsten slid him a questioning look. “We can start immediately. I’m familiar with most of his work so it shouldn’t take too long for me to get caught up.”
The realization finally hit Cameron. Kirsten was offering to do the coding for his thesis. She was literally saving his academic career and still somehow looked nervous about her. Did she think he wasn’t serious about how much he admired her work?
“Yeah. I think we should be in good shape if we start now.” Cameron echoed her sentiment.
Dr. Clark looked between the both of them. “Okay. I’d like an update this time next week.” He gestured toward the door. “I’ll see you then.”
Cameron followed Kirsten out of the office, still in kind of a daze over how quickly things turned around. He nearly fell down the stairs trying to keep up with his new partner. When they finally got outside Cameron pulled her toward a bench.
“What just happened?”
Kirsten smiled. “Do you know how much trouble we could’ve saved each other if we knew each other’s last names?”
Her arms swooped around Cameron, pulling him in for a hug. He wanted answers, but for now he would settle for the softness of Kirsten’s hair against his cheek.
There was nothing worse than socializing with large groups of people. Kirsten had to track how all of them were feeling at every moment. She had to make sure she wasn’t showing off or playing dumb. There was also the small matter of pretending that any of these people were interesting and worth talking to.
Take Liam for instance, he had decided that it was important to discuss in great detail what his workout regimen was for each day. He was on leg day when Cameron finally rejoined the group.
“Hey, we hate to run, but Kirsten and I have another party to hit,” Cameron said as he twined their fingers together, pulling her toward him. “Catch you all later.”
There were two warring emotions in Kirsten. The one was absolute elation that she got to leave. The other was annoyance that she had to put in another appearance somewhere.
“Another party?” Kirsten asked. “How many people will I have to talk to?”
Cameron smiled at her. “One.”
There was no way that was true unless...
“Are we just going back to your place to watch Netflix and order takeout?” Kirsten sagged in relief against Cameron. “That sounds perfect.”
Cameron disentangled their fingers. He wrapped his arm around Kirsten and pulled her in closer. His head dropped down to place a kiss on her head.
Hey again!! Its your secret Santa. I've had a bit of a family medical emergency, and I'm a bit more behind on your fic than I'd like. I'm hoping to get it posted before Christmas, but it might not happen, so I just wanted to give you a heads up. I'm super sorry, hopefully I'll have it done soon!
Hey Santa! I’m so sorry you’re going through that. Family comes first! Don’t worry about finishing on time (or at all if things get chaotic). Sending you all the good thoughts!
Hey there, it's your secret Santa again!! December is pretty cold where I'm at too, I can't wait for it to warm up again. Glad we're on the same page about tropes, lol. I've never met a trope I didn't love. I'm leaning towards something fluffy, I love me some fluff
Hey Santa! Sending you warm thoughts! May your days be filled with cocoa. Tropes are the best. Fluff is always excellent. And Camsten fluff - the cutest!
Hey there Jenn!!!! Happy holidays! I hope you've been having a wonderful December. I'm so excited to be your stitchers SS! I've been doing a rewatch of the show to prepare, and I forgot how much I loved this show! I'd love to write a fanfic for you, camsten of course, do you have any preferences?
SANTA! December’s been cold, but pretty nice otherwise. Ooo rewatching is an excellent idea. Yay fic! I do love Camsten - pining Camsten, fluffy Camsten, best partners ever Camsten. Totally cool with either an AU or something canon. No trope is too cliche for me. I’m sure you’ll write something awesome. Thank you for taking the time to do so!
For Jenn, @your-stitcher-thursday for Stitchers Secret Santa! Merry (very belated) Christmas 🎄🎁 However belated, I do hope you enjoy this!! ❤
Camsten + Roommates AU + Fake Dating and a little bit of Christmas fluff. Also, I needed an AU where Cameron’s mom is actually a sweetheart, so that happened too!
And thanks to my partner in crime, Laura @e11evenseggos , for helping me run Stitchers Secret Santa and bugging me to write 😉
Read on AO3 / FF
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
December 18, 2017
Cameron was finishing up dinner for the two of them.
Considering what he was going to ask her, he felt that every little bit would help. Which is why he was making one of her favorite dinners – or breakfast for dinner – Nutella and banana crepes with eggs and bacon.
He even got them tickets to see the new Star Wars movie for later that night, as extra bribery. After a few months of living together, he finally convinced her to watch them with him. To her surprise (although not his), she loved them. And with their finals, they hadn’t had a chance to see the new one yet.
Just as he was plating the food and setting it on the dining room table, he heard the sound of keys unlocking the front door.
He glanced at the door to see Kirsten walking in.
“Perfect timing,” he directed at his roommate.
Kirsten smiled at him as she kicked the door closed with her foot. She dropped off her bag and kicked off her shoes. “Hey,” she said. She smiled and dropped down into one of the chairs at the dining room table, eyeing the crepes drizzled with Nutella. “What’s the occasion?”
He smiled briefly and shrugged. “No occasion. Just felt like breakfast.”
Kirsten tried making small talk throughout dinner, but Cameron was lost in his thoughts trying to think of a way to ask her. So far, he hadn’t come up with any good ideas.
Kirsten was trying to read Cameron. He barely said anything throughout dinner. The constant fidgeting of his thumbs on the table, not making eye contact with her, and answering in short sentences. He usually chatted away after she got home from campus, about his own Ph.D. program in neuroscience, about the new Star Wars movie coming out, or what new show they would start bingeing on Netflix.
He took their plates and dropped them in the dishwasher and returned to the table. He gave her a strained smile, still unsure of how he would ask her.
She reached across the table and placed a soft hand over his. “Cameron, what’s on your mind? You seem… distracted.” She grasped his hand a little tighter, with no intentions to remove it.
He let out a sigh of relief. “You picked up on that, did you?”
He gave her a soft smile. She noticed more and more that the soft smiles were reserved for her, and she wasn’t quite sure what to make of it.
“It’s silly, really,” he admitted.
“Well if it’s silly, then you can just tell me.” She smiled warmly at him, encouraging him to continue.
“You know I’ve been talking to my mother more,” he started.
She nodded, knowing they had a bit of a falling out in regard to his father, but they were working to repair their relationship.
He continued, “She’s been wanting me to visit home, and my cousin’s wedding is this weekend. Because they scheduled maintenance for equipment during the break, I can actually take the time off… So, she convinced me to go.” He ran his free hand on the back of his neck, looking down briefly before returning his gaze to her. “And I need you to go with me,” he mumbled.
“Of course, I will,” she said. They had plans that weekend with Camille, who Kirsten befriended in her program last year. But they could always reschedule.
“-As my girlfriend,” he continued.
Kirsten leaned back in her chair, finally letting go of his hand. Her eyes went wide.
He quickly tried to recover the conversation. “It’s just that my mom means well, she really does. But as soon as I said yes, she mentioned that she wanted to make an introduction to a friend of the family, a date. I agreed once back in college, and it did not go well. So, I uh- I mentioned that I actually had a girlfriend. And your name was the first thing that popped out of my mouth,” he confessed. “She practically booked the tickets herself, but I told her that I’d have to talk to you first, because it was such short notice. And I know it’s right before Christmas, but we’d be flying back on the 24th, so you could still make dinner with your family.”
He paused to assess his chances of her saying yes. His worry increased as the seconds passed, and she had yet to say anything.
“I am prepared for bribery,” he continued. She let out a chuckle and her gaze softened at his comment. “I got us tickets to see the new Star Wars movie tonight, in about-” he tapped the power button on his phone for the time “-an hour. Whatever chore you want me to do, I’ll do it. I’ll even make your favorite meals for a month.”
“You pretty much do that anyway,” she interjected with a smile.
“So, what do you say?” he asked with a hopeful tone to his voice.
She wondered exactly how she got into this mess.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
December 3, 2016
Kirsten tapped a few times on the door. Apartment 7D.
She heard a few thumps on the other side, before the door flung open and she met a pair of striking green eyes. The second thing she registered was he was not what she was expecting, at all.
She frowned, and her eyebrows knit together in confusion. “You’re not a-,” she started.
“You’re early,” Cameron interrupted.
“I like to be punctual.”
He opened the door wider, gesturing for her to come in.
She glared but cautiously walked into the spacious apartment. “Are you sure you’re not a serial killer? Luring women into your apartment with suspiciously cheap rent. Because if that’s the case, I am supposed to check in with a friend in a half hour. And she knows where you live.” She gave him a pointed look.
She knew he wasn’t, as she did a background check on him prior to meeting him. She even scoured the deep web. He was the perfect 4.0 GPA student in high school and college, and the only thing suspicious was a handful of incidents with his father and changing his last name from Miller. But she figured that wasn’t her place to mention.
The only thing she hadn’t thought of was to check for a picture. Which is why she was expecting a woman to greet her at the door.
He closed the door and went into the kitchen, seeing just four minutes left on his timer. “I can assure you that I’m not. Although I could see that with ‘preferred female roommate.’ I’m Cameron by the way.”
She nodded. “Kirsten.” She took a seat at the kitchen island, and he passed her a bottle of water.
“My last roommate didn’t work out, in case you were wondering. He preferred to sleep naked, then wander into the kitchen without putting on any pants.” He shuddered at the memory. “Plus, he was a slob.”
“Well, I’m not. So, what’s the deal with rent? I almost thought that was a typo.”
“Not a typo. I own the apartment and I’m mostly looking for someone to chip in with utilities.” He smiled warmly, and for whatever reason, Kirsten felt that she could trust him.
The shrill chirp of his kitchen timer went off. He donned oven mitts and pulled the dish out of the oven. “Why are you looking for a place?” He asked.
“The graduate program I’m in is pretty intensive. I’m just looking for a place closer to campus.” Her adoptive father insisted that she could stay there with him, but the late night commutes back home and early mornings were getting to be too much for her sanity. She was lucky she survived this first semester.
It didn’t hurt that his apartment was a fifteen minute walk to campus. Or a short Uber ride, depending on traffic.
He got out two plates, forks, and a spatula. He quickly served two portions and placed both plates on his island. “You’re not a vegetarian, are you?” He slid into the seat across from her.
She shook her head. “Not a vegetarian. You can cook too?” This was beginning to look like too much of a good deal.
“Don’t sound too surprised, Stretch.”
Her eyebrow quirked up at the nickname, but she let it slide.
“So, I have this rule about roommates. As long as you can handle the dishes, I’ll cook. I’m quite the foodie, if I do say so myself.” He smirked and took a bit of his lasagna.
She took a tentative bite of the lasagna, savoring the perfect mix of meat sauce, noodles, and cheese. “Do I at least get to see my room first?” She asked.
He pointed at her plate and smiled. “Eat your food first. I’ll give you the tour after.”
She moved in within a week.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
December 18, 2017
“So, will you?” He asked again. The piercing gaze caused her breathing to kick up a notch.
She was done for.
She tapped her fingers on the table, giving serious considerations to what he was asking. It wouldn’t be that difficult to convince everyone else; they had become best friends over the last year. She supposed she could pretend to be in love with her best friend.
She just had to ignore the flutter in her stomach every time his arm wrapped around her shoulders when they were half-asleep from binge watching TV (which was happening more frequently), or the small smirk he would give her in the mornings with his glasses slightly askew and his hair sticking up in every direction, or the way her heart rate sped up on the rare occasions that he went shirtless in their apartment.
The simple answer was would he do the same for her, if she needed a similar favor?
She didn’t doubt that the answer would be yes.
Just as Cameron was about to tell her ‘nevermind, that it was a stupid idea,’ Kirsten’s voice interrupted his internal crisis of how to salvage the situation.
“Alright, Cam. I’m in, boyfriend,” she said with extra emphasis on the last word.
He perked up at her words, a smile slowly spreading across his face. “Really?” he asked softly, his eyes lighting up.
“Yeah, of course. You’d do the same for me,” she reasoned.
He was standing up and pulling her by the hand, bringing her in for a crushing hug. “Thank you, Princess,” he breathed into her hair. She placed a tentative hand on his back, and soon she found herself returning the hug with the same enthusiasm.
“So, what’s this I hear about a bribery movie?” she spoke into the soft material of his flannel shirt.
He pulled back and grasped her hand, pulling her along towards the door. “Right. Let’s go.” He reluctantly let go of her hand, so they could put on their shoes and a hoodie for him, and a cardigan for her.
He grabbed her hand again as they went out the door, and only dropped it when they got to his car.
She noticed but didn’t comment or remove her hand from his grasp. Not when he was the happiest she’d seen all semester. Or maybe even all year.
HEATHER! I’m absolutely floored by this. So many of my favorite things in one fic: fake dating, fake dating for a wedding, friends/roommates to lovers, holiday fluff, MISTLETOE, SW date, Cameron cooking for Kirsten (TWICE), so much Netflix snuggling, that gif of Cameron looking at Kirsten. Love love love this fic so much. You’re the best. Thank you!!!!
Hi Jenn. Your stitchers secret santa here. I'm still working on your gift, but I got side tracked with back story (and other IRL stuff). Just wanted to let you know I'm still working on it, and didn't forget about you. Hope you had a great night in for New Year's 🥂
Santa! Both of those are problems I know well! Thank you for checking in and for working on my gift. I really appreciate your time and effort. I did have a great night in. We played a lot of video games. Hope your New Year’s was good as well! Take your time, focus on your IRL stuff. Have an excellent day!
110% serious question here… So Chloe mentioned (and I agree) that we should do a collaboration to write our own season 4. Would anyone else be interested?
I’m thinking just one chapter (maybe 2) per person? We can brainstorm, maybe send out a questionnaire to see what we want to cover (one overall stitch case, ships, maybe an epilogue to see the ships too, etc). If we do weekly updates, that’d be cool. Which would mean you’d only write 1 chapter/week for the duration of our collaboration.
I’m already in, and I’m pretty sure Chloe is too. @cameron-goodkins-wife
Tagging a bunch of people, so let me know if this is something you’d want to do! Also open to suggestions on the collab.
Between seeing who would do the collaboration, and brainstorming, maybe aim to start in February??
Alright, the people that are interested in contributing (in one way or another), I’m going to send you a link to a google doc I just made to come up with questions that we’d want to answer.
If you have a question you want answered, please add it to the list!
DON’T answer the questions yet, though! This is step 1- information gathering 😉
Also, please feel free to tag anyone else you think might want to contribute in some way or another. I want to give people time to see it, and figure out if they could take the time to contribute (at least the first half of Jan- we can determine a cutoff time later).
AND comment in a reblog or reply if you want to help with questions/ideas, answer them, and/or work on the collaboration with writing… So I make sure to include everyone that’s interested in helping.
Hi from your Stitchers secret santa again! I'm still working on your gift. It's an au, with a side of holiday fluff. I was hoping to finish today, but idk if that will happen. In any case, I hope you have a good New Year's!
SANTA! That sounds delightful. I’m excited. No worries. Take your time and enjoy your New Year’s celebration. We’re having a quiet night in, which is my favorite way to ring in midnight.
