𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐂𝐇 Tiana and Luke had always been in the same class, but never gave each other a second look until they started high school.
[luke dunphy x fem!oc]
[started: 24.02.23]
[ended: ongoing]
🏆: no.1 in #modernfamily (1.3.23)
no.1 in #abc (7...
chapter 25 and they still aren't dating how embarrassing for them!
Gloria had rented a mountain cabin for the whole family (plus Tiana) to celebrate Christmas. She wanted a white Christmas, with snow, and hot chocolate, and sweater that actually stay on.
In her seventeen years, Tiana had never seen snow in real life. Her parents never cared enough to take them on holiday during Christmas, or ever.
However, Gloria seemed to make a mistake. When she checked the weather for the location on her phone, it was set to celsius, meaning she thought it was gonna be freezing, but it was actually hotter at the cabin than at home.
As everyone got settled in, an eccentric woman's voice sounded from the top of the stairs.
"Thank God, you made it," she said, "I thought you'd gotten into a horrible car accident! Wait a second, you're not Trip, Tad, Lois, Darcy and Marlene."
"No, we're other other names," Mitchel said, "Who are you."
"Fig Wilson. My family's been coming here for holidays for years."
"We rented this cabin from the Wilson's," Gloria said, "They are in Hawaii."
"Nobody told me that."
"Okay, well. Bye bye."
"How could they abandon me? I'm the most caring one in the family. I warn them about cancer, I buy their fat kids clothes in aspirational sizes, I invite them all to my dogs' funerals."
"I'm starting to get it," Tiana said.
"Is it possible the invitation got lost?" Phil asked, "I mean... you seem great."
"Well, I guess I'll just get my bags and walk down the hill. Hopefully I'll get to the bus station before nightfall. It's wolf season."
"Why don't you stay here with us?" Cam suggested, "It's Christmas."
"Oh. First time I saw you, I thought you were gonna be a pain in the ass, but it turns out you're my favourite."
Fig agreed to stay, but also keep out of the family's way. Tiana sat alone, trying her best to get signal on her phone. It was her birthday, and Amy usually called her.
"Hey," Luke said quietly, sitting down next to her as he pulled a small box out of his pocket.
"Hi. What's that?" Tiana asked.
"Birthday present. You think I forgot?"
"Luke, you didn't have to get me anything."
"But I wanted to. Seventeen is special."
"How?"
"Because you're closer to twenty-one, duh."
Tiana didn't think she was gonna live to see twenty-one, not if her parents really did decide to move her all the way to New York.
She opened the box, revealing a silver necklace inside, a black crystal hanging from the chain. It shone under the light. There was no way this was cheap.
"Luke! This is beautiful. Here, help me put it on."
Luke took the necklace and pulled it around Tiana's neck. He leaned in slightly to see the claps properly, Tiana shuddering as she felt his breath in her neck. She admired the necklace for a while longer, before turning back to Luke.
Their faces were so close together, Tiana could have sworn she felt the gap closing, before Lily interrupted them, running through the house and up the stairs. Manny appeared, too, and offered for them to look around the cabin. They accepted, brushing off whatever the hell had just happened.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"What the hell are you guys wearing?" Tiana asked, eyeing up Manny and Luke's matching powder-blue sweaters.
"Mom made us put on our Christmas sweaters," Manny said, "Not what's important. We're pranking Lily into thinking there's a ghost in the cabin. You have to come with us. You're not funny, she'll believe you."
"First of all, I'm hilarious."
"She is," Luke said.
"Second of all, I'm in, but I don't think she's gonna believe us. She's smart. Too smart. Come to think of it, I think she's crazy."
The three found Lily riding down the hallway on a tricycle. "Hello, Lily," Manny and Luke said. Tiana scoffed.
"What you wearing?" Lily asked.
"Exactly what I said," Tiana murmured.
"Mom made us put on our Christmas sweaters," Manny said, "But look what we found." Manny handed Lily a piece of paper.
"It's a note," Luke said.
"No," Tiana gawked sarcastically.
"I'm hungry for the blood of a little girl," Lily read, "Signed, the forgotten boy. This is terrifying."
"It's getting real," Luke said.
"The scariest thing is that he spells like a two year old."
"Wait, what?"
Lily handed the note back to Manny, and Tiana read it over his shoulder, appalled by Luke's spelling. Manny made his way back down the hallway, leaving Luke and Tiana alone.
"Why do you keep looking at your phone?" Luke asked.
"I need service," Tiana said, "Every year, Amy calls me on my birthday, and we talk for, like, hours. It's important this year because I really need her advice on something, and this other thing came up that I need to talk to her about, and-" Tiana thought about New York again, which ultimately made tears fall from her eyes.
"Woah, woah. Are you okay? Is this something you can talk to me about?"
"No, it's not. I can't. I don't want to. It's just- It's stressing me out, and I thought I'd get to talk to Amy, and now- Everything's just going wrong, Luke."
"I'm not gonna force you to tell me anything, but I'm sure you'll be fine. Things always work themselves out. I'm here if you need me, okay? Come here."
Tiana hugged Luke, squeezing him right, not wanting to let go. Why was she so adamant about not leaving him?
She felt like she wouldn't be able to move on, like being without him would just make her depressed. Surely you wouldn't feel this way about just a small crush. Maybe it wasn't so small anymore.
