Dedicated to myself bc nobody knows Alec but Raisin said i had to write about my husband.
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"You can sleep, if you want," Alec said, focused on the road.
"I'm not tired," Malia said before yawning.
He laughed.
"Clearly not."
"You're driving, so I'm keeping you company."
"You're so cute," he smiled, and she rolled her eyes.
"There's nothing cute in that. I know how awful it is to drive when it's dark outside."
"It's not that terrible. At least, for now. We're still in the freeway."
"Why do you say that as if Clamart was in the middle of the countryside?" she laughed.
"It is the countryside, contrary to Paris."
"So dramatic," she shook her head, and he laughed.
"Thank you for celebrating Christmas with my family."
"My pleasure. I spent all my other Christmases with mine, I'm really happy to change that. Plus, it's about time that I meet them."
"You know that any other person would be worried about that."
"Oh, I am. But I like to pretend that they are gonna love me."
"They are gonna love you," he shrugged, "you need to stop thinking that you don't deserve people's love."
She didn't say anything, and he sighed. She was way too tired for him to argue about anything with her, especially that particular topic. He turned the radio off, and she finally fell asleep.
🎄
"Malia. Malia. Hey."
"Mmh? Are we there yet?" she blinked, and when Alec didn't answer, she frowned, looking at him.
"We...uh...have a little problem."
She groans.
"What kind of little problem?"
"Well, you know when the little button says that we have to gas up?"
"Alec."
"The little button said it and I thought I still had time so I didn't stop right away and...here we are?"
"Here we are?! Really?!"
"I didn't think the car would stop out of nowhere like that!"
"This is a nightmare," Malia took her face into her hands.
"I'm sorry babe, I'll fix it."
"The car?" she asked before laughing, and he laughed as well.
"No, the problem. I called a tow truck, and they are on their way. They said that there is a rest area a few kilometers away, we should walk there."
"We both have a bad sense of direction, are you sure that it's a good idea?"
"Not to brag about my abilities but I am able to stay in the cold for a long time as long as I run after a ball. You can't."
"Okay, okay," she opened the door to get out the car, knowing that he was right.
They started to walk in silence, and Alec sighed.
"Are you mad at me?"
"Yes," Malia said before taking his hand into hers, and he smiled.
"I can see that," he put his arms around her shoulders to hug her.
"Ew, ew, go away," she pretended to be disgusted, and he laughed.
"Just put your pride aside for two minutes and hug me back!"
She smiled and stopped fighting, hugging him.
"It's cold, let's keep moving," he said, and they stayed quiet until they entered the rest area.
Malia chose a table while Alec ordered drinks. It was almost 11 P.M., so the rest area was pretty calm: there were no children, only couples and friends talking quietly together.
"I've got you a hot chocolate," Alec gave her a cup, "and I've got coffee."
"Three coffees?" she frowned, looking at the two cups left, and Alec laughed.
"Those aren't for me."
She didn't have time to ask for who it was because she heard a voice that she recognized immediately.
"Hey my otp!" Presnel smiled, followed by Julian.
"They are my otp."
"What are you guys doing here?!" Malia went to say hi to them, smiling.
"Your boyfriend called me," Presnel shrugged.
"And I was with him," Julian added.
"He said you needed someone to pick you up," Presnel continued.
"So I decided to tag along."
"Thanks for coming," Alec nodded, "I told my parents that we were going to arrive during the night so they went to sleep."
"Great, I'll meet them in the morning when I am at the epitome of ugliness."
"Did she say ugliness because I'm not sure," Alec asked, and Presnel and Julian shrugged.
"She can't say that because that would be a lie," Julian remarked.
"My parents will love you," Alec said to Malia, taking her hand, and she put her head on his shoulder.
"They are cuter than us," Julian whispered.
"No one is cuter than draxembe," Malia shook her head.
She didn't know if Alec's parents were going to like her or not. She didn't know if she was going to spend a merry Christmas in their company. She didn't know when they would be able to take Alec's car again. But at least he was there, with her, no matter what. Just like Presnel and Julian, who, for one night, managed to make her forget about everything. It was just laughs and smiles.
And it was more than the Christmas spirit: it was the power of friendship.
