Advent Calendar - Dec 20

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*Picture Source: http://makeyourchristmaswish.tumblr.com/post/132933584900 *

Words: 1 223
Warning
: missing family member
Prompt from @fanficy-prompts on Tumblr

Smiling you tucked at your soft sweater; relishing the feeling of wearing your favorite piece of clothing after a relaxing shower. The feeling of contentment did not last much longer though when you discovered Patrick sitting on the sofa. He was bent over, elbows resting on his knees, head propped into his hands, staring at the floor. It was an unusual picture, and not one you wanted to see especially on Christmas Eve, but you knew how he felt, and why he felt like this.

Quietly you walked over, and sat down next to him. A postcard was sitting on the table in front of Patrick, showing a sunrise over a forest, green letters spelling out the word 'Canada' in the top right corner of the card.

"One year," Patrick mumbled, his voice sounding wet from un-cried tears.

You nodded, feeling close to tears yourself, and gently placed a hand on his back.

For most people Christmas was, albeit stressful and most likely filled with annoying relatives, a happy holiday, one that everyone was looking forward to at least a little bit. You had been the same, and so had Patrick. But last year everything had changed when his sister had not turned up to the family Christmas dinner.

You remembered how at first everyone thought she was running late, or stuck in traffic. Then the worries began, and after countless unanswered calls to her mobile, all possible hospitals as well as police stations had been called to find out if there had been an accident in which she might have been involved. It is needless to say that the tranquility of the evening was ruined. Everyone had been out of their minds, worrying for the young woman.

The next day, Patrick's parents reported her missing. You had been at the police station with them, holding Mrs. Stumph's hand as she tried, as calmly as possible, to describe the situation. For an entire week everyone assumed the worst. Every ringing phone, every knock at the door, every notification on a mobile could have been the message that she had been found dead.

And then the police officer had appeared at the Stumphs' house, telling them that there had been a message by Patrick's sister. She was not missing, not dead, not kidnapped. She had run away, wanted to be left alone, did not want any contact to her family whatsoever. On the one hand there had been relief that she was fine, on the other hand, no one knew why she had disappeared without a warning or note.

Then, just a few days ago, this postcard had fluttered into the house. Patrick had been ecstatic to have received a message from his younger sister. You knew he loved her with all his heart. He had always protected her and looked after her, and you had never seen siblings who were as close as those two. When you had started dating Patrick, his sister had liked you immediately, and by now you felt as if she was your own sister. The card only had a few words on it, saying 'Dear Trick, dear (y/n), Merry Christmas and a happy new Year'. It was from his sister, doubtlessly, but when Patrick told his parents about it, it turned out you were the only ones who had received a card, immediately dimming Patrick's hope of his sister coming home for Christmas.

This year, there was no big family dinner. Your parents had decided on spending the holidays in Europe, and Patrick's family preferred grieving on their own, not to mention that the parents' relationship had been strained since the disappearance of their daughter. This left you to look after Patrick, who really could have used some distraction tonight.

You nuzzled your nose against his shoulder, hoping to get rid of the burning sensation in your eyes, but it did not help at all.

"I miss her so much," Patrick whimpered quietly, his breathing fast and uneven.

It was one of the worst feelings in the world, seeing Patrick cry and knowing there was nothing you could do to make the pain in his heart go away. So you did what you always did in moments like these, of which there had been far too many within the last year. You wrapped your arms around him, and pulled him as close as possible against your body, showing him that you were there, that you would always be there for him. Sobs ripped through his body, and you clenched your jaw, trying to hold back tears of your own, but you failed. For you it was not only the sadness of having lost someone who was as dear to you as your own sister, but also being unable to sooth the pain of the man you loved most in the whole world.

Patrick hugged the arm you had wrapped around his chest, and pressed his lips against the soft fabric of your sweater before turning and pulling you into a hug. It felt as if he was trying to hold keep himself from falling into pieces by pressing you so close to his body, but you did not care, you only hugged him tighter, hoping to somehow, somehow make the pain in his heart go away.

For a while both of you sat on the couch, crying. After a few minutes your arms weakened from the steady tension and the crying, loosening the hug. Patrick had his face nuzzled against the crook of your neck, which he kissed gently, once his tears had subsided, and his breathing normalized.

Slowly he sat up, his eyes red from crying, and his lips swollen from pressing them together to muffle his sobs. Tear drops were still drying on his cheeks and a few hung in his lashes. He reached up and whipped tears of your own away with his thumb, before kissing you gently, both to comfort and to thank you. The kiss was short, sweet, reassuring, a promise that you would always stick together, come what may.

When he pulled away, he smiled a sad smile.

"Enough cried for this year," he decided and got up from the sofa, pulling you with him. "It's Christmas and I wanna dance with you in the living room before we have to start cooking."

You chuckled slightly at his comment, shaking your head, wondering how he always managed to find a reason to feel better so fast.

"Do we really have to dance," you asked, rolling your eyes jokingly.

"All night long, dear," Patrick laughed, strolling over to the radio, while wiping away his tears with the back of the hand, "There are never as many cheesy Christmas love songs on the radio as tonight."

He turned on the stereo, and held out his hand to you.

"Dance with me," he asked with a shy smile on his lips.

How dare this dork to still smile at you shyly after having been with you for so long?

"It would be my pleasure," you replied, stepping into his arms.

The lights on the Christmas tree were the only source of light in the darkening living room as Patrick and you gently swayed to the soft tunes of Christmas songs, comforting each other, secretly allowing the hope that his sister would come back home soon.

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