Waves

Holidazed: A Waves Universe One Shot

Surprise! We have a little holiday-centric one shot tonight. As always, this is within the Waves universe but not on our current timeline. It is also similar to Spooked in that if you are not a Waves reader or not caught up on Waves (although ya'll better hurry and catch up soon,) you can still read this and not be lost!

Based on an interview I heard on NPR this week, Holidazed is fluffy with a bit of angst. Warning: it contains brief references to addiction and PTSD.

Leaning her forehead against the shower wall, Eve tried to compose herself but failed, the tears mixing with the scalding hot water washing over her. It was the week before Christmas and she was supposed to attend a holiday party with Joe in a few hours. Unfortunately, as it did every year, the seasonal blues were wreaking havoc on Eve's mood, and despite her best efforts, she was struggling.

The majority of her Christmas memories were unhappy ones; her father's drinking was always worse in December and the soundtrack of her parents arguing still played in her head. Once he passed away, the mixed emotions of grief and prior trauma made it difficult for Eve to get excited for things like caroling or ugly sweaters. Still, she always did her best to shrug it off and participate, especially since Joe loved everything about the holidays.

It was remarkable, really, that two people with such dichotomous outlooks on Christmas had found each other, but for over 5 years they made it work; Joe often calling Eve the Grinch while trying to still respect her feelings. Eve in exchange went along with all of his family's silly traditions and admittedly enjoyed a lot of them.

Today was different though. She'd had a bad dream about something that had taken place on Christmas Eve over a decade ago, and the memory had been so vivid that it roused her out of bed before sunrise. Now she was stuck on repeat, playing it over and over again; a grim reminder that even a healed wounds leave a scar.

Eve turned off the water and begrudgingly slipped out of the shower to finish getting ready, smiling to herself as she heard Joe loudly singing along to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. The event tonight was the Bengals organization party; different from the team or WAGS event, this one included the whole staff and media who covered the team. It meant that there would be hundreds of people at the stadium and Eve needed to do her best to be on.

Checking her makeup one more time, Eve came downstairs and was met with a very festive Joe. Wearing a bright green sweatshirt and Santa hat, he was adding even more garland to the mantle. "Honey, any more pine and we're going to come home to squirrels," Eve joked, wrapping her arms around Joe's waist and resting her head on his back.

In any other circumstance, it would seem like a normal display of affection, but Joe could tell by the grip of her hands and the lack of movement that Eve was trying to center herself. "You okay?" he asked, running his thumb against her forearm. When she didn't respond, he turned around in her arms and hugged her to his chest. "We can stay home if it's easier for you. I don't want you to be miserable," he offered.

"No," Eve croaked, "I'm okay. It'll be fun. I'm just having one of those days." She smiled weakly and went to look for her purse, not wanting to elaborate further. Walking out to the car hand in hand, Joe kept his eyes on Eve's face, watching for any signs that she wasn't okay to attend. He knew to not push her when she said she was fine but that didn't stop him from worrying about her.

Once at the stadium, they were greeted by throngs of players, coaches, and staffers; each of them coming up to the couple to wish them a Merry Christmas. Joe did his best to not leave Eve alone, but at one point he was asked by the Browns to visit with the owner of one of the local papers and Eve ended up near the petting zoo that had been brought in for the small children in attendance.