&& christmas at the jones’ ! ( a drabble no one asked for )
it’s still dark, jughead’s asleep no more than 5 feet away, a christmas eve tradition that she’s not willing to let go of even if she turns FOURTEEN next year. only another year left in junior high, and that thought terrifies her -- but she won’t tell you that.EVER. she loves christmas, and jughead screws up his nose every time she says it. to him it’s another holiday filled with disappointment; to her it’s the only glimmer of MAGIC she still believes in. not the bullshit they feed you as a kid; santa clause, who never quite seemed to be as good to her as he was to the other kids in her class. the ones he brought bike’s and games consoles too, the ones she wondered at EIGHT years old when ALL she wanted was a nintendo DS -- why were they better than her? what did they do right that she did wrong? Jellybean grew up with a very SKEWED idea of what santa was. But, thankful at NINE when jughead gently told her he wasn’t real -- that it was their parents, and she got it.
she remembers her favourite christma. she was SIX -- jug was EIGHT. daddy came home on christmas ever with a pile of VHS tapes,scattered them on the living room floor, her eyes light up, her favourite LABYRINTH and so would begin her David Bowie obsession that her brother would tease her for years to come. she loved that movie, still does. the way sarah was dragged into this realm of magic and mystery. jughead hated it -- terrified him to think of HER as the stolen baby toby, ‘you're silly, Juggie i’m not a baby, i’m SIX!’ she proclaimed and that was that. Now a christmas eve tradition, all four of them huddled up on the little beat up couch to watch it. jellybean curled up on her daddy’s lap, a miracle each year if she even made it to the end of the movie.
‘jug --- jug... you awake?’ she’s got that child like grin painted across her lips, looks at the digital clock on the night stand, 05:38AM. her brother ain’t a morning person but all bets are off it’s CHRISTMAS ! and little does she know it but the last they’ll spend as a family -- at least for a while. he turns in bed, sleep filled eyes and a scowl painted on his lips, until he sees her face, hard to stay mad at her when she looks like a over excited puppy. ‘jels it’s not even SIX -- mom and dad will kill you if you wake them now. do i need to remind you of christmas 2010? y’know the year you decided to wake the whole house up at 4AM with a whistle.' That gets a laugh out her, giggling as she pulls herself up in bed, ‘ no whistles, promise, but c’mon stop being the grinch who stole christmas, emo’s can have fun too y’know.’ she teases. moving without invite over to his bed -- the blow up mattress on her floor, because oh no, he wasn’t allowed to sleep in his OWN room on christmas eve, Jellybean would never allow it.
‘fine -- we won’t wake mom and dad but watch a movie with me?’ as if their was any answer besides YES to that question, knowing she had her brother wrapped around her little finger ALMOST as much as her she had her daddy -- eyelids flutter, ‘pleeease -- i’ll make it worth your while -- milkshakes on ME when we go to pops tomorrow’ a little pout and head tilt to seal the deal, as jug reluctantly agrees, her brothers ONE WEAKNESS -- food.
two hours later and they’re both fast asleep on the floor, under a pile of blankets, the credits to nightmare before christmas rolling, Gladys and FP’s head peeking around the door, a little after 07.30AM, smirking at their two little tearaways, turning to FP she sighs soft, a hint of a smile curving, as she shakes her head, ‘every damn year...’
it’s late, after 9, her and her mom cuddle up on the couch, labyrinth playing in background -- some traditions die hard. the tree lights twinkle, but it doesn’t feel like christmas, not this year, not last either. it was her FAVOURITE holiday, and now it’s worst. cell phone out and she flicks open whatsapp taps on juggies picture, snapping a picture of the TV before she types:
‘maybe i am toby after all...’
