the one at thanksgiving
It’s November by the time they get up to New York and the cold seeps into their bones. Dani’s ridiculously prepared for the cold, but Jamie hadn’t brought all her clothes like Dani had. In the end, Jamie ends up wearing some of Dani’s sweaters over her clothes. Dani thought Jamie may feign irritability, but she just looks and shyly smiles at her whenever Dani makes a comment on it.
Dani ends up being the passenger more often than Jamie. About a fourth of the time ends with her asleep against the window. Jamie never seems to mind. Dani’s woke up more than once embarrassed, because she remembers they were having a conversation before she drifted off to sleep.
So she apologizes. And Jamie waves her off with a joke that makes her laugh and wake up completely.
It’s just that when Jamie’s awake, it seems so easy to fall asleep, more so than when they’re in bed at night. It had been something she had done as a little kid when both her parents would take her on road trips. She would fall asleep to having her father drive them around because it felt safe.
Safe.
It was exactly what she felt around Jamie. There was no fear of the dark and things that may lurk in the shadows, waiting to grab her.
She wasn’t constantly on edge when it was light outside. Her fears came during the dark when all she could think of was what happened in the lake. It was all encompassing terror, even Jamie’s touches could only push away the fear for a while. It was lingering in the back of mind.
Paranoia fills her life in the moments that usually would have peace.
She felt like she was just constantly dragging around this monster, hooked around her ankle like a weight.
And Jamie never pushed her too far and always believed her. She knew that it may sound crazy, but she knew in her heart that one day the lady was coming. She was coming to get her and she could do nothing about it.
So yes, she does fall asleep often when Jamie is driving. But it's only because she feels safe. She feels safe to sleep without the monster holding her down.
Each hotel gives them two beds. One gets converted into a makeshift closet and places to store their belongings, the other bed belongs to both of them. It’s been a few weeks now and they haven’t slept apart. Dani only remembers the bed being cold before Jamie. Jamie brings so much heat and happiness that Dani never wants to sleep alone again.
Some nights they go out for dinner or a drink, but on her favorite nights, they come back to the hotel room with some junk food and spend the evening watching something on the television or talking. There’s so much to talk about, so much to learn about each other.
They spend their days wandering around small towns after one day in New York City, which is too much for both of their tastes.
So they wander. And wander.
Dani learns that Jamie loves to hike, because unlike the UK, there’s so many places to go exploring. Each stop on the map brings them new adventures and new plants for Jamie to look at and touch and experience.
Jamie learns that Dani likes to hike as well, but only for a few hours at a time. They find their stride and end up finding hidden spots on the map. There’s no time limit on this.
It’s one day at a time, afterall.
They end up going out to a diner for Thanksgiving. Jamie knows really nothing of the holiday, but she tries. They order the meal to go since the paranoia is a little louder that day.
It is the first Thanksgiving that she’s had away from her hometown. Her mother never made dinner, but Judy and O’Maras had always invited her. So she had been a part of their family for the holidays since she was young.
So Dani calls them once they’re back at the motel and Jamie is readying the food containers. Judy picks up and she sounds so happy that Dani has called. “Oh, honey.” The words send a warm feeling flooding back through Dani, because it’s of a mother’s affection, something she craves even all these years later.
She tries not to think about Jamie’s non-existent relationship with her mother or any other family figure. Because her heart breaks for Jamie when she does think about it. Jamie deserves to have a family like she had with the O’Maras.
“How is your road trip?” she asks first and Dani shares what they’ve done and where they’ve been. It’s been a few weeks since they’ve left her house, but there are so many things she wants to tell Judy.
“And how is your girlfriend doing? Adjusting to the states alright?” Judy asks.
It comes out so easy and warming. It is enough to bring Dani to tears, because Judy remembers. Because Judy remembers and cares. Blush because she calls Jamie her girlfriend. It isn’t something she’s even called Jamie yet. Excitement fills her as she tries to stay cool on the phone.
Eventually, Judy asks to say hi to Jamie.
Dani knows that this is a little weird for Jamie, but she grabs the phone to say hello. It’s a short conversation before the phone is back in Dani’s hand and she’s promising that she’ll call at Christmas.
It’s a strange holiday for Jamie. Dani is almost as interested in watching her try the new food as she is in eating it herself.
Stuffing is a no for Jamie, which Dani thinks is ridiculous. “I’ll have you know stuffing is a very important part to the entire dinner.”
“Don’t you put it in the bum of the turkey? That’s a serious no, Poppins.”
Dani huffs because it’s obviously not only stuck in the turkey. It’s a dish that can be served itself for all the holidays in her own opinion. “That’s ridiculous. Honestly, I can’t have my girlfriend thinking stuffing doesn’t belong.”
She doesn’t realize she’s said girlfriend until Jamie doesn’t respond. Her hand has stopped midair with some turkey and cranberry sauce on it.
“Girlfriend, eh?” Jamie asks as she sets her fork back down.
And Dani flusters. “No, I mean. Yeah, but um, if you want to, if you want.”
Jamie just smiles and Dani blushes harder, sure her chest is now red. “I think girlfriend sounds good.” And maybe it’s just the dim motel lights, but Dani can swear she could see tears in Jamie’s eyes.
Dani smiles, smiles so brightly because girlfriend. Jamie was her girlfriend. And that seemed like a big fucking deal. “Okay, girlfriend then.”
She abandons her food after that because Jamie has grabbed her free hand and pulled her into a kiss that Dani smiles into. “So no more stuffing nonsense?” Dani questions once she’s kissed Jamie properly, the thought of eating anymore food doesn’t seem important. Instead, she finds herself staring down to Jamie’s lips, wanting to get lost back against Jamie’s mouth.
“You know what, Poppins? I’ll give my stuffing to you from now on.”
“I just, I wish you’d have someone for the holidays. You deserve to have someone for the holidays.”
Jamie looks at her and Dani can’t immediately think of what emotion they are portraying. She hasn’t learned all of her looks yet, but she wants to. She wishes so badly to be able to look at Jamie and know what was happening in that beautiful mind of hers.
“I don’t think this really counts as a holiday, Poppins,” Jamie laughs, motioning to the empty takeout carriers that they’ve pushed off the bed to the floor. An annoying habit that Jamie had and Dani had simply learned to deal with.
“You know what I mean.”
“Well, turns out, I do have someone to spend the holidays with.”
“Oh?”
And Jamie pulls her hand and pulls her back down onto the bed. Maybe it should take Dani less time to figure out that Jamie is talking about her. But it doesn’t. It takes getting pulled into a kiss to make her realize that Jamie had meant her.
Dani blushes at the thought and her heart fills with something she’s beginning to associate with love.