Merry Ever After

I needed her to ground me as if I were a human who needed air.

I started for her, and she cocked her head to the side.

“You’re different.”

Her words echoed inside my heart chamber.

It was a jolt, but it felt like a purring sensation. A caress. I liked it.

I moved closer. “So are you.”

I reached for her, feeling her inside, but needing to feel her on the outside.

There was a cough next to us.

Right.

We hadn’t been alone when this happened, and we weren’t alone now.

We blinked, almost as one. I could see out of Shay’s eyes, and I knew she could see through mine.

Damien’s eyebrows almost touched his hairline. A crowd of Damien’s fraternity brothers and their friends from the party gaped at us. Except for two. One guy was funneling a beer. A girl was imagining me naked. Those two were fine.

Damien closed his eyes. “How the hell is this going to be explained?”

Suddenly Christmas music filled the air, coming from the second floor of the house, and everyone turned to look. Crowman appeared, a hose in hand, and he waved it from side to side. Fake snow rained down on everyone.

“Merry Christmas, bitches!” he yelled. “Welcome to the Alpha Mu house, where our live entertainment is out of this world. You ain’t getting this from any other house. Now, everyone, get drunk and pretend we’re all slutty Christmas angels together.”

There was a pause.

Then a smattering of laughs.

A girl sighed. “Oh, thank God it was all a show. I thought I was on a seriously bad trip for a minute.”

“You and me both, girl.”

More awkward and relieved laughing sprinkled through the crowd, and slowly, one by one, they moved back inside, leaving just Damien, Shay, and myself in the yard.

Crowman turned off the fake snow and propped the hose on his shoulder. He lifted a foot to rest on the deck railing in front of him. He shook his head, staring down at us. “I’d like to request that you two don’t attend our next holiday party. I can only handle learning that humans aren’t alone in this world so many times. I keep hoping I’ll forget, but you’re making that shit hard.”

He disappeared inside.

“What the fuck happened?” Damien asked. “You both look seriously weird. It’s like you’re glowing with neon light, like a backdrop behind yourself. It’s freaking me out, and I’m not human. That shouldn’t freak me out.” He held his hands up, backing toward

the house. “Do me a favor. This time, I don’t want to know. I want to pretend I’m only a fraternity brother tonight.”

With that, he turned around and went inside.

The music went up a few notches.

Shay almost floated to me.

I looked down, but her feet were there.

She seemed less human than she had before. And I certainly didn’t know what I was anymore.

She gave me a serene and loving smile, placing a hand on my cheek. “It’s a Christmas miracle.”