Or Silver Bells May Whisper

{ " Ch. One. " }

It'd been a few weeks since Arthur bumped into the mystery girl, and December was right around the corner. He folded his hands together and placed them on his stomach, lying on his bed and thinking. He couldn't get the girl off his mind. She was intriguing. He shook his head, before pushing himself up to sit on the soft sheets, sinking into them. Arthur sighed, before jumping down from his bed and heading over to his door. It was a cold night, and everyone was tucked up in their beds; warm, cozy. Arthur? He was sneaking out to visit that toy store again. The toy store he loved so much.

Once there, he parked Evie outside the town as he had before, and had left the reindeers in the forest. He headed down into the tranquillity of the night, thrusting his hands deep into his coat pockets to keep them warm; yes, he was wearing gloves, but it was freezing. He felt his nose slowly go numb, body shivering wildly. He headed into the store, looking over all the same dolls as the warm air of the store heated his body up. The albino eyed one was thankfully enough not there anymore, making him let out a sigh of relief under his breath. Having become warm enough, Arthur turned and headed out.

Back into the cold, icey air of the night. He headed quickly down the pavement to the hills surrounding the town, before tripping up due to how fast he was walking. And he landed on top of someone! "Oh no! I'm so sorry!" He quickly got himself up, offering a hand to the person. "Are you alright?" He then froze as he met those same, glimmering green eyes. The girl laughed. "We really need to stop meeting like this. But yes, I'm okay." She said, accepting his offer. He became moving again, pulling her up. "Are you sure you're alright?" She gave that same enchanting smile, nodding. "Positive."

She cleared her throat. "Well, I should probably be going now." He stepped out of her way. "Oh, but before that..." she began, making him turn to her, "how about you meet me here again? Same time tomorrow, and maybe we can get a coffee?" He had no idea what to say, so simply nodded as he felt his chest tighten. "S-sure." He stuttered, making her smile. "Well then, I'll see you tomorrow." She turned back to face where she was originally going, and began to head off. "I'm Arthur!" He called down the street, making her glance back at him. "Emilíe. Nice to meet you." Then, she faded away, out of sight.

He stood there, heart thumping loudly in his ears, like a drum. After a few minutes, his chest relaxed and he walked merrily back to the forest. He hummed 'O Christmas Tree', voice loud yet quiet at the same time. He attempted to sneak back to his room as quietly as he could when he arrived back home. "Lil' bro!" He jumped at Steve's voice, meeting his crystal blue eyes filled with worry. "Where were you?! I was so worried!" He exclaimed, hugging his younger brother tight. "Steve." He said, with a strained voice, "I can't... breathe..." Steve released his brother from the bear like grip.

"Sorry." He said, rubbing the back of his neck and smiling sheepishly as Arthur caught his breath. "It's fine." Arthur said, giving a grin. "You were just worried about me, I get that. I worry about you, too." He said, giving Steve a grin. The older one laughed. "You're the greatest brother, Arthur. Y'know that?" He mumbled into Arthur's ear as they hugged again. He smiled, as Steve then turned to go back to his room. "Get to sleep soon, okay?" Arthur nodded back at his brother, before they both turned away from one another and Arthur entered his room. He let out a sigh, leaning his back against the door.

He then headed over to his bed and wrapped the thick, warm sheets around himself as he lay down underneath them. A smile appeared on his face, as he closed his eyes and drifted off into the land of peaceful sleep. Then, after quite a few sleepful hours, he awoke. He grabbed his HOHO from his bedside table, checking the time. It was 05:56 A.M. "Maybe just..." Arthur let out a yawn, stretching his arms high, "a few more hours." He breathed, returning to his original position, closing his eyes again. This time, he awoke with a slight start, checking his HOHO twice. 07:09, it read. "Well then..." he began.

"Looks like I'm not gonna get much sleep if I go back to it." He muttered to himself as he climbed out of his bed. He opened the door to his bedroom, opening and closing it after him. Arthur then headed into the main quarters, whistling 'Jinge Bells', his joyful smile uplifting the aura of the atmosphere; he was cooking breakfast for everyone. "Arthur?" He jumped, before catching the pancake he had flipped that very moment just before it hit the ground. "Oh, morning mum!" He greeted his mother, smile changing into a wide grin. He was very much in a joyful Christmas mood. "Good morning, son."

Margaret greeted back, voice quiet. She hadn't expected her son - Santa himself - to be making breakfast. "You know, you should really be getting some rest, darling." Arthur sighed, though turned to face his mother. "I went to sleep, woke up at five to six, fell back asleep and woke up at ten past seven. I'm not gonna get back to sleep, I can tell you that much." He spoke truthfully, making her frown. "Well, alright then. Just... get plenty of sleep tonight, okay?" He gave a sad smile and nodded. "I'll try." He hated seeing his mother like this: sad. Once breakfast had been eaten and some time had passed, everyone went to bed.

Arthur hoped no-one would hear as he closed the door quietly after himself, before running down the hallway slightly before then sliding along. He smiled to himself as he arrived in the garage, running over to his large, magnificent sleigh, his boots crunching in the snow. He greeted his reindeer, hugging Dasher's head tight. He jumped down from the sleigh, heading down toward the very same path he'd always go to get to the town. He stopped in the middle of the street, his lips breaking into a grin as his eyes trailed upon her, meeting her own. "Hey, Emilíe."

A/N.

Chapter one - discluding the prologue - is finally up! Enjoy~

C'ya, Peeps!
- Ali.