(@nonejdb I got your Egypt pun like I said I would, thanks for the challenge ;) also, happy new year, everyone! here's a little treat to start 2016... hope you enjoy x) 

chapter twenty-seven

THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS twinkled strung from trees and draped over bushes. Giant blowups of Disney characters and Santa Claus were scattered across the lawn, children playing around them with bright faces. The night air was not freezing, yet chilled whenever a breeze would whip by. Families and couples and friends chatted and laughed, snuggled in their coats and warmed with benign company.

Harry's hand was warm in mine, though both of our noses were slightly red from the nippy wind. Mom and Dad walked ahead of us, Dad's arm around her and her head on his shoulder. I don't think they'd lost an ounce of love for each other over the years. If anything, it'd grown stronger. Of course they fought like all couples do, but they were short-lived and petty. The worst I remember it getting was when I was a teenager and Dad slept on the couch overnight. That was it, though; just one night.

Nathan was speaking with Zac behind us, while Gemma tried to keep up with Des. Harry had asked if they could come since Desiree loved anything sparkly and bright, but obviously no one minded. Gemma and Mom had talked a long while when they met, seeming to hit it off fairly quickly, and the same went for Nathan and Zac.

"I have a country pun I forgot to say the other day," I said, glancing over to see Harry smirk.

"Oh really? Was one pun war not enough?"

"We didn't have a clear victor."

"I suppose we didn't... Go on."

"The other day I went to the store. The cashier should've given me back a dollar, but he gave me two quarters. Egypt me."

Harry furrowed his eyebrows for a minute, looking confused. Then a knowing look flashed through his eyes and he said, "Oh! He gypped you! I'm impressed, Delilah, that was clever."

I did a little bow. "Thank you. I'll be here all night."

"Please tell me I didn't just hear a pun," Nathan groaned from over my shoulder.

I peered back at him, then looked to Harry. "What was it you called him when the pun-war started?"

He grinned. "Laughtose intolerant."

"Y'all need to walk faster or I need to slow down because I feel sick already," he grumbled, half teasing and probably half serious.

Zac was laughing. "What? You don't like jokes, Nathan?"

"He doesn't appreciate the art of punnery," I told him.

"For shame."

"Not you, too, Zac, damn. To think we were getting along so well."

Zac jabbed his thumb in Gemma's direction, who was trying to keep Desiree from stealing a Minnie Mouse blowup twice her size. "You forget Gemma and Harry are related. Puns aren't one-sided in their family."

Harry wiggled his eyebrows. "Mine are better, though."

"They're both pretty horrid."

"So does that mean I win the pun war?" I asked.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Delilah," replied Harry. "There's still no winner."

I frowned at him. "You can't just let me win for an ego boost?"

He kissed the tip of my nose. "Nope. All's fair in pun and war, babe."

Mom had stopped up ahead in front of a large tree, standing at least the size of a two story house. It had fake presents beneath it, yet was decorated with real ornaments and lights and bright red tinsel. She was pointing at it and telling us all to stand in front of it for a picture.

"I don't like pictures," I mumbled.

"Tough luck," she said, patting my back. "Think about the memories, dear."

"I can think about them without a picture," I suggested.

"Get in front of the tree, Delilah."

I let out an exaggerated groan, but took my place nonetheless. She took one of just Nathan and I first, then Gemma snapped one of Mom, Dad, Nathan, and I, and then Mom asked if Harry, Gemma, Des, and Zac minded taking a picture. I inquired why they got a choice and I didn't, and Mom said it was because I was her bloodline and they weren't. She had to be kind to the guests, but tortured her daughter.

After what felt like a hundred pictures later, we continued our walk through the park. Desiree kept trying to convince Gemma that the blow up Minnie would live a much better life with her, and that she'd been good all year so she deserved to have it. Gemma attempted to drill into her head that it was stealing, but Desiree called it "improvement" since it'd be in a better home. She'd learned the word other day and was very proud of it.

Rounding a large oak tree along the pathway, the breath was knocked out of me when I saw Justin's all-too-familiar face roughly fifty yards away. I couldn't get away from him no matter how hard I tried; not when I was in the hospital, and now he's ruining a Christmas tradition. He'd always been apart of it when he was with me, however, he complained half the time. He didn't enjoy seeing the same lights every year, no matter how many new assets the park brought in. He could never be satisfied.

Beside him was his new girlfriend, her hand in his as she leaned against him. Yet her body was stiff and her eyes were not bright like the lights around her. There was a tight smile on her lips, one I knew quite well. I thought I'd invented that fake smile I once believed was convincing. Seeing it on someone, you could see how false it truly was. A pain struck my heart at the memory resurfacing of when I first used that smile.

It'd been after Justin had hit me for the first time.

I could never forget what the argument had been about, something so petty that led to something so violent. It was when we were right out of high school. He and his dad were fighting badly, ignoring each other and such. Justin's dad was known to occasionally hit him or his mother, so maybe that's where Justin got it from.

Anyways, Justin didn't have the money to move out--well, he did, he just didn't want to use it. His dad was practically kicking him out, and with Justin fresh out of high school, it was definitely a harsh move. He came to me complaining, and I tried to sort it out. I knew Justin wanted to save up his money, but he had a full scholarship to college because of football. I shouldn't have compared our situations, but I told him he should be grateful. He could make it through four years of school basically for free, yet I'd be struggling after the first year (which is why I hadn't finished and unfortunately dropped out). I had decent grades, but my GPA was a few points too low for a scholarship.

Justin had called me selfish when all I did was suggest he use his money to find a place near campus. You could potentially get a good deal with student housing, or he could've found a small apartment for cheaper with a longer drive. He said all I cared about were my own problems, though. That I hadn't listened to a single word that left his mouth, and I never did.

That was really the first time I stood up to him. Our arguments were prone to be bad, but I never fought back until then. I called him spoiled, and it was true. His father had always paid for everything. He got a brand new car on his sixteenth birthday, and it was a nice one at that. He was constantly getting all these expensive things, like big televisions or new game consoles or a computer, but he was never appeased.

I got payback for standing up for myself. One strike across the cheek and it was very evident that I should've stayed quiet. At first, neither of us had reacted, both too shocked. Justin stood there with his fists clenched, visibly shaking with rage, and I had tears welling in my eyes with my hand to my stinging face. Then the guilt caught up with him, and he genuinely seemed apologetic when he took my face in his hands and peppered kisses all over it. He was sorry; he hadn't meant to; he couldn't control his anger; he would never do it again.

The next day, and every day after that, I'd smile and nod and act like everything was fine.

Lacy, I believe her name was, was doing the same thing. Justin would speak to her, and she'd muster a smile and kiss his cheek. But she looked drained, utterly exhausted.

"Hey," Nat tapped my shoulder. "He looks like that asshole you were dating."

Hoping I could pull this off since Nat hadn't seen Justin in years, I said, "Yeah, he kind of does... I don't think that's him, though." Of course it was. I could never mistake that face.

Harry, however, apparently hadn't heard our small talk or he didn't care. "Delilah, there's Justin."

I gave him a look, and he frowned before glancing at Nathan, then returned my look with an apologetic one.

"So it is him," said Nat, beginning to walk off.

"Nathan!"

"I just want to talk to him."

Luckily, Harry placed his hand on his chest. "We should just leave it, mate. Don't want to start unnecessary drama, yeah?"

Nat chewed the inside of his cheek, stared Harry down, but Harry didn't falter. Finally, Nat grumbled. "Fine. But only because it's nearly Christmas."

Mom and Dad had turned back to face us. "Everything all right?" asked Dad.

Gemma came up with Desiree on her hip. "Why'd we stop?"

"Thought I saw someone," I lied, shaking my head. "Let's keep going."

They all gave me funny looks. Nat gave me a disgruntled one. My eyes were pleading, and he sighed before throwing his arm around my shoulders. "One punch?" he whispered.

"Nope."

"A slap?"

"Nat."

"Fine, fine, fine. But I don't know why you're protecting him."

"I'm not," I countered. "I'm protecting all of us by leaving it alone. I don't want to deal with him anymore, okay? I just... I want to be with my family and friends--"

Harry cleared his throat.

"--and boyfriend right now."

"I get it," said Nat, and he nodded. "Since I know what he looks like now, though, you can't save him if I find him by myself."

I glared at him.

"Kidding, kidding... kind of."

Out of curiosity, I glanced back over at Justin and Lacy, hoping they hadn't seen us. Unfortunately, they were both looking in our direction. Lacy had a weird look on her face, but Justin seemed distraught. His eyes caught mine and lingered there for a moment. Then he saw Nathan, and I could've sworn his skin paled. If he had any thought of coming over, it went out the window at the sight of Nathan. He grabbed Lacy's hand, stared a little longer, then walked in the opposite direction.

I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding.

***

"Hey, Gemma, can I ask you something?"

The boys chatted ahead of us, Des, Gem, and I in the back.

"Sure."

An exaggerated sigh left my lips. "Can you please tell me what I can get Harry for Christmas?"

She laughed. "He won't tell ya, huh?"

"He just says he doesn't want anything, but I can't just get him nothing, you know?"

She pursed her lips, in deep thought.

Desiree raised her hand excitedly. "Oh! Oh! I know! You can get him a sparkly unicorn! I saw one in the store yesterday, but Mommy said Santa would be coming soon so I couldn't get it." She pouted then, her small face scrunched up.

I smiled. "Thanks, Des. But I don't think Harry likes unicorns."

She gasped, eyes widening. "He doesn't?"

"You could get him socks," suggested Gemma. "Knowing him, he wouldn't complain."

"I threatened to get him socks and he laughed," I told her. "But he got me something, so I don't want to just get socks..."

"Glitter paint!" said Des. "He could paint pretty pictures."

"He's a total geek," said Gemma. "Anything Star Wars or Lord of the Rings or something like that."

I thought for a while, trying to decide. Maybe I'd go to the mall and just wander and pray for an idea to come to me. Why was it so difficult to choose something? Justin had been easy--anything sports related and he'd be in heaven. But Harry... he gave no hints, had no clear passion. Sure he liked the gym, but what was I going to do? Get him a gym membership? He's a trainer, so he doesn't need one. And I totally couldn't afford any gym equipment or anything. Maybe I could get him a lifetime supply of kale shakes and bake him a cake...

Des tugged on my shirt. "Who was that man looking at you earlier?"

I felt Gemma look over at me. "Just an old friend," I told her.

"Why did Nathan look upset?"

"He wasn't a nice friend."

She frowned. "He was mean to you?"

Gemma said, "Desiree, that's enough."

She turned to Gemma, appearing appalled herself. "If he was mean to my princess, I need to talk to him like Nathan was going to."

My heart probably just exploded.

"He's not mean anymore," I assured her, flashing a sincere smile at the small girl. "Not to me, at least..." I kept thinking about Lacy and how her expression mirrored my own in the past.

"Do you promise?" She held out her pinky.

I linked mine with hers. "I promise."

"Good, because you're my princess, and no one can be mean to princesses. Since I'm the queen, I thought I might have to tell the meanie that."

Before I could reply, Harry was calling out to us. "Your mum wants a picture with the real Olaf."

Desiree nearly fell out of Gemma's arms. "The real Olaf?" she screeched. "Where where where where?" She was talking so fast, scurrying over to Harry.

Harry grabbed her hand, then smirked at us. "Come on, ladies. Olaf is waiting."

Gemma rolled her eyes. "You're such a creep, Harry. Way to make Disney sound like pedophiles."

He covered Desiree's ears, as if she knew what the word meant. "For shame, Gemma. Keep your thoughts innocent around children, will you?"

I laughed at the siblings' banter, but my laugh was echoed by numerous others. My heart fell to the pit of my stomach, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. I knew those laughs and I wish I didn't. It took all of me to peer over my shoulder to confirm my thoughts on who the culprits were, and when I did, I felt light-headed.

Three girls and two boys huddled together in a group were pointing my way, sneering.

(FUN QUESTION: what do you think Delilah is going to get Harry for Christmas?)