And To All A Good Night [h.s. one shots]

Sugar Plum by pawriter19

Sugar Plum

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23 December

There are so many places Clara Bianco would rather be right now, but she's here - in Vail, Colorado.

Well, technically, she's in the Denver airport, waiting for her father to finish hustling his way with the rental car associate. Mr. Bianco never misses an opportunity to save a bit of money, even while traveling on someone else's dime.

But no matter what, she's not where she wants to be - at the beach, with her friends. Clara got a scholarship to a west coast school for a reason; she liked the warmth, the ocean, and she has made her life there with all of her friends.

Christmas Break has never really been a problem before this year. She would go home, annoy her little brother about high school, work at her old coffee shop job during their busy holiday hours, read a few books, and spend time with her grandparents. She would go right back to school as soon as the New Year hit and she rang in her grandfather's favorite holiday.

She would escape back to the beach, she would let the waves consume her, she would feel light as air in those moments.

But February came, and so did the stroke.

Her grandparents were a little bit older, because her parents had been a little bit older. Mrs. Bianco didn't get pregnant until the eve of her fortieth birthday, and Mr. Bianco was already forty-two.

Grandpa Bianco, Nonno, was eighty-seven when Clara's phone started ringing during her economics class. She quickly dismissed the call from her mother, texting that she'd call back later or as soon as class was over. Her mother knew that Clara deserved more than a text with the news of her grandfather, so she waited. And Clara called her mother back from the comfort of her dorm room.

Clara doesn't remember much about the phone call, only the aching of her body with her mother's every word.

"Clara Marie, what are you daydreaming about?" Her grandmother's hand waves in front of her face, pulling her back to the reality of the airport surroundings.

"Sorry, Nonna." She gives her grandmother a soft smile. "Just tired, I think." The flight was only a few hours, but she knows that the days ahead are coming... and she is dreading them.

"Sleep in the car." Nonna brushes her fingers through her granddaughter's hair. "I'll need some help with the cookies tonight."

"We're making cookies?" Clara asks, immediately regretting the sour tone in her voice. Her grandmother doesn't deserve that. "I mean... where are you going to get the supplies?"

"It's Colorado, sweetie, not the middle of nowhere. They have stores, and the lodge kitchen said they would be fully stocked." Nonna leaves a fragile kiss on Clara's cheeks before walking away to check on her grandson. A large sigh leaves Clara's body, her chest rising and falling with the rhythm of her heartbeat.