Chapter Text
6 years old…
“Sabrina! Not so fast!” Zelda exclaimed, narrowly avoiding her niece and thereby preventing the champagne glass she was holding from ending up splashing her evening dress.
“Sorry, auntie Zee…” Sabrina yelled over her shoulder but she didn’t stop her run, she was chasing her friends around the house, but there were so many guests at the Christmas party that she was having a hard time finding them. Also, the Mortuary was so big and offered so many hiding spots, but Harvey, Susie and Roz forgot that she knew every nook and cranny of the old Victorian house like the back of her hand. They couldn’t beat her in there.
“Catch you!” the girl exclaimed when she found her friend Harvey hiding under her aunt’s desk in the study.
“Why am I always the first?” the boy asked, rising from his hiding place and hitting his head as he did so. He rubbed his head but only ended up messing up his brown hair.
“Because you are so tall…” Sabrina replied in a singing tone of voice. Despite being only six years old, Harvey already surpassed his friends by more than a head and his height made him a bit clumsy and also the easiest target to find in the game of hide and seek “Come on, come with me to look for Roz and Susie.”
Harvey nodded still rubbing his head.
“You know where they are?”
“That’s cheating, ‘Brina!”
“It’s not cheating,” she explained in a tone of voice way too serious for a six-years-old girl “just curiosity.”
The boy shook his head, smiling awkwardly towards her.
Roz wasn’t so difficult to find but Susie was a different story, as the smallest of the group she could be literally anywhere.
“I can’t find her!”
“I think Susie wins this time, ‘Brina.”
“Not so fast…” the girl said, tapping her index finger on her lower lip, an idea forming in her mind “The kitchen!”
Roz and Harvey looked at each other in confusion before following her at a slower pace.
“Aha! There you are!” Sabrina said when she found her friend siting on one of the kitchen chairs swinging her legs and eating one of her aunt Hilda’s famous Christmas cookies.
“What took you so long?” Susie asked back, small cookie crumbs falling from the corner of her lips.
Sabrina was opening her mouth to talk when her aunt Hilda appeared.
“Oh, here you are, little devils.” She said “I was looking for you.”
“I didn’t do anything, auntie Hilda.” Sabrina was quick to say, maybe too quick.
“I didn’t say you did something, honey.” Her aunt replied “I was just looking for you to bring you some cookies and hot chocolate.”
Those were like magic words for the four children.
“Why don’t you go to your room? So you can have some cookies and watch a movie while the adults chat a little before dinner.” Hilda said looking at her niece.
Sabrina glanced at her friends who nodded at the promise of cookies.
“Sure.”
Hilda took the tray she had already prepared on the kitchen table. They had to go through the hall, where the guests were gathered enjoying a drink and chatting, to reach the stairs that led to the second floor where Sabrina’s room was.
“Oh, Hilda, there you are.” Zelda said walking towards them, a glass of champagne in her hand “Come with me I want to introduce you to someone.”
Hilda looked from Zelda to Sabrina and her friends, she knew she couldn’t say no to her sister. She turned towards the kids.
“Why don’t you go upstairs first? I’ll go right away with your cookies.” Hilda told them. The children nodded before going upstairs, she left the tray she was carrying in a nearby table before following her older sister.
“Sister, let me introduce you to Mr. Scratch, his wife Anne and their son Nicholas. They have just moved to the town; Mr. Scratch is the new chief of surgery at the Greendale General Hospital.”
“It’s my pleasure.” Hilda said to the newcomers “And welcome to Greendale.”
“Thank you, and thank you for inviting us to your party.”
Zelda waved her hand.
“It’s the least we can do for our new neighbors. We are a small community after all.”
Hilda looked at her sister suspiciously, her openly welcoming attitude was extremely confusing.
They talked for a few minutes, the newcomers proved to be a lovely couple with whom it was easy to converse and Hilda discovered that she and Anne had a lot in common as she was also an enthusiastic cook.
“Emm… auntie?” she heard Sabrina said behind her back and then she remembered that she should bring the hot chocolate and the cookies to her niece and friends. She had completely lost track of time.
“Oh, I’m sorry, honey. I forgot.” She said to her niece, she turned towards the guests next “I was going to take this hot chocolate to the children.” She explained “Would you like to join them, Nicholas?”
He looked at his parent as if waiting for them to tell him what to do. His mother nodded, so he looked back at Hilda and shyly nodded.
“Oh, Mr. and Mrs. Scratch, let me introduce you to my niece, Sabrina.” Zelda told to the adults, her lips slightly pursed at Sabrina's interruption. Her niece smiled at them.
“I’m going to go to the kitchen to warm the chocolate, if you’ll excuse me.” Hilda said before disappearing among the other guests.
“Sabrina, why don’t you take Nicholas upstairs with you?” Zelda asked to her niece.
She nodded. She reached her hand out to him, he hesitated an instant before taking it. Her hand was warm and soft against his.
They headed for the stairs in silence. She didn’t let go of his hand until they reached her room. Harvey, Susie and Roz looked up when the door opened expecting to see Hilda with the promised cookies but they only saw Sabrina and a boy they had never seen before who seemed to be of the same age as them.
“Susie, Harvey, Roz,” Sabrina said entering in the room with Nicholas walking a few steps behind her “This is Nicholas.” She frowned a bit, Nicholas sounded so much like a grown-up name, she turned towards him and with a smile on her lips asked “can I call you Nick?”
He thought her smile was the most beautiful thing he had seen in his short life.
“Sure,” he said “you can call me Nick.”
9 years old…
“Ambrose, have you seen Nick?” Sabrina asked to her older cousin.
Ambrose, who was talking to someone else apologized and turned to look at Sabrina.
“No, I haven't seen him, why?” He narrowed his eyes slightly “Wait, don't tell me they're playing hide and seek again and you want to cheat.”
Her cousin snorted in a way that reminded him of their Aunt Zelda. Sabrina looked at him with her arms crossed over her chest.
“No, I'm just looking for him because I don't want him to miss the movies.” she replied “And I don't cheat.” She added moving away from him before he could add anything else.
Ambrose just shook his head amused.
Sabrina kept searching around the house, stopping by to occasionally said hi to someone, but there was no sign of Nick. Until suddenly she saw something out of the ordinary on one of the tables arranged around the house, she bent down and poked her head out of the folds of the tablecloth.
“What are you doing hiding here?”
Nick looked up from the book he was reading and looked at her, a sad smile on his lips.
“I'm not hiding, I just found this book to read and...”
“Nick, you're under a table.” she stated getting under the table too.
“It seemed like a good place to read.”
Sabrina looked at him with a frown.
“You’re such a nerd.” Sabrina said but there was no malice in her voice “But something else happens to you” she added approaching him, it was a little tight for them so their shoulders collided when they were side by side.
“It’s nothing, Sabrina. I'm fine.”
“Nick, we are friends, don't lie to me.”
She watched as he avoided her gaze, his lower lip caught between his teeth.
“You can talk to me.” she insisted with soft voice. Nick took a deep breath.
“It's just that you guys seemed to be having such a good time upstairs and I felt like… I didn't fit in.”
“Oh, Nick... I didn’t know… but of course you fit in, you are our friend too.” She replied taking his hand in hers “I’m sorry if you thought otherwise.”
He shrugged.
“Actually, I was looking for you to go see a movie together, I will even let you choose this time.” She added, getting up slightly to get out from under the table but then she noticed that he didn't move.
“I'd rather stay here, if you don't mind.”
She considered him for an instant.
“Then I'll stay with you.”
“There is no need, go see your movie, Sabrina, the others will miss you.”
She shook her head.
“I’m staying with you.”
Sabrina settled back down next to him.
“What are you reading?”
Nick held the book up so she could see the cover.
“A Christmas Carol? Ambrose usually reads it to me every year on Christmas morning.”
“I can find another...”
“No,” she answered moving her head “it's okay, you can read it to me now.”
Sabrina rested her head against Nick's shoulder as he began to read in a low voice, hoping that with the noise that people at the party made they wouldn't notice their presence under the table.
Eventually the two of them fell asleep, her head still resting on his shoulder, her hand still holding one of his.
12 years old...
The group of friends had begun to notice the subtle change in the relationship between Sabrina and Harvey some months ago, how he stared at her a little longer than necessary when she spoke, how she blushed slightly when he paid more attention to her than to anyone else.
Nicholas Scratch had no doubt, Sabrina Spellman was falling for Harvey Kinkle and knowing this left an unpleasant and unknown sensation in the pit of his stomach.
The two of them seemed to orbit around each other, sitting side by side when they all went out to Cee's together or went to the movies to see a double feature from one of the horror movies that Sabrina loved so much. And which Harvey seemed to hate but went to watch anyway.
“I brought you some snacks, kids.” Sabrina's aunt Hilda announced, entering the room with a tray.
“Thanks, auntie.”
“Thanks, miss Spellman.” the others responded almost in chorus.
“Well, I should go back downstairs to the party, but if you need anything else you know where to find me.” Hilda told them with a wink before leaving Sabrina's room, closing the door behind her.
“So...” Roz asked looking at her friends “Christmas movie or horror movie?”
“Christmas movie” Harvey said at the same time that Sabrina was saying “Horror movie”.
Sabrina nibbled her lower lip.
“Well, I guess we should see something more related to the holidays.” Sabrina gave in, leaving everyone surprised.
“But you love horror movies.” Nick couldn't help saying.
“We can watch one any other time.” she replied with a shrug.
“And you hate Christmas movies.” He insisted.
“I don’t hate them…” Sabrina said “not really.”
Nick shook his head in disbelief before standing up, he left the room slamming the door on his way out.
“What's wrong with him...?” Harvey asked.
Sabrina was already getting to her feet.
“’Brina, where are you going?”
“I’m going to go talk to him.”
“But the movies...?” Harvey insisted. Susie rolled her eyes. She had a very clear idea of what was happening but her friend seemed to be blind to what was happening.
“Start without me. I'll be right back… with Nick.”
Sabrina went down the stairs two by two still confused by Nick's strange behavior, it was not normal for him to lose his temper and much less for something as insignificant as which movie they would choose to see that night.
“Oh, cousin, sneaking into the grown-up party?” Ambrose said approaching her.
Sabrina rolled her eyes.
“I’m looking for Nick.”
“Ah, yes, the young Scratch.” Sabrina rolled her eyes again, sometimes her cousin was so eccentric. He wasn't much older than them but he liked to act like he was “He came out a while ago like the devil was after him. Did something happen?”
“Nothing that concerns you.”
“Did you have a fight, lovebirds?”
“What? No, we didn't have a fight... And Nick and I are just friends. Good friends.”
Ambrose nodded with an ironic smile on his lips.
“I better go.” Sabrina added before her cousin came up with some other stupidity.
The icy night air hit her in the face as she stepped out onto the porch, and she wished she had put a coat on but now it was too late. She looked around but Nick wasn't there. The night was dark, the lights hanging from the porch did not provide much light, Sabrina approached the railing, she noticed that Nick was leaning against his parents' car. She came down the porch steps and only called out to him when she was a few steps away from him.
“Nick.”
He looked up from the ground.
“What are you doing here, Spellman?”
“I could ask you the same question.” she said back.
“Just leave me alone, Sabrina.”
But she ignored him, stubborn as she was, and continued walking until she was in front of him.
“What happened in there, Nick?”
“Nothing.”
Sabrina looked at him with a frown, certainly something had happened.
“It didn’t look like nothing to me.”
“Why did you change your mind?” he asked instead of answering “I know you don't like Christmas movies anymore, why did you say yes? Just because Harvey wanted to see one?”
Sabrina looked down, in the dim light coming from the house windows, Nick couldn't see the blush that covered her cheeks.
“Sabrina?”
She took a deep breath before speaking.
“I think maybe I… like Harvey, and I know he doesn't really enjoy horror movies.”
There it was, she had said it.
Nick was grateful that she wasn't looking at him, that she didn't see the disappointment and sadness on his face.
“Still, you don't have to change who you are for someone else, Sabrina. That's not like you.”
She nodded, she knew he was right. They stood there in silence, not knowing what to say to each other. After all, Nick thought, what could you say to the girl you had a crush on since the day you met her when she confessed that she liked someone else?
“We should go inside.” Sabrina said “It's cold out here.”
“You go.” He replied to her “I want to stay here a little longer.”
“But Nick...”
“I'll be fine, Sabrina. I just need a few minutes alone.”
“Why?” she asked not really waiting for an answer and he didn’t give her one either.
She looked into his eyes for a few seconds before turning around and going back to the warmth of the house.
Nick asked his parents if they could leave the party early that year.
15 years old…
Nick watched them from afar.
He had to admit that Sabrina and Harvey made an adorable couple, but even so, he couldn't help but feel the sting of jealousy every time he saw them in the hallways of high school, on their outings for milkshakes at Cee's which he went less and less to because it simply hurt too much to see them together.
“Jealous?” Ambrose, Sabrina's older cousin, muttered against his ear.
Nick took a sip of his soda before replying, wishing it was a stronger drink.
“Why should I be jealous?”
“Oh c’mon, Scratch,” Ambrose said “You like my cousin.” Nick opened his mouth to refute his words but Ambrose was quicker “Don't try to deny it because I won’t believe you.”
“Am I so obvious?”
“For everyone except Sabrina, yes.”
“Well, that doesn't matter. She's happy with Kinkle.”
“That’s not meant to last, trust me.”
“They seem very much into each other to me, Ambrose. And it's okay, seriously, Sabrina is my friend, I'm happy that she's happy.”
“Keep repeating that to yourself and maybe one day you'll believe it.” Ambrose said patting him on the shoulder before leaving.
Nick walked up the stairs and took a seat on one of the steps while he watched the rest of the guests at the Spellman party talk and have fun, he didn’t feel in the mood to joining to the party, usually when he felt like that, he could count with Sabrina to keep him company but no more. She was with Harvey now.
She was happy with him.
Suddenly the foyer of the Spellman house seemed too small and crowded for him, so he put his glass on one of the tables and went outside. He needed fresh air.
There were too many things going around in his mind that night.
The cold night air was welcome. Nick walked to the porch railing and leaned his elbows on it, staring into the woods around the house and the dark sky above.
He didn't know how long he was there, admiring the night, thinking about Sabrina, until he heard a voice behind him.
“What are you doing out here?”
Nick turned around.
“Hey, Roz.” He said trying to hide the disappointment in his voice, as he secretly had hoped someone else had been the one who followed him outside “I just needed to get some fresh air. It’s too crowded inside.”
Roz raised an eyebrow.
“Nick…”
“What?”
“You are like this for Sabrina and Harvey, right?”
“What?” he replied, trying to impregnate his voice with surprise “Nonsense Roz, I just needed…”
“Please, Nick…” she asked “We are friends, I know you and I know you like Sabrina.”
For the second time that night Nick wondered how was he so obvious and yet Sabrina hadn’t noticed a thing.
“It hurts, right? Looking at them.”
“Yes.” He admitted because there was no point in lying anymore “It’s does.”
Roz let out a sigh before walking the few steps that separated her from him, she also leaned against the porch railing. Her gaze lost in the woods in front of her.
“Can I tell you a secret?”
Nick nodded.
“Sure.”
“I know how you feel because… I have feelings for Harvey. I’ve always had them, but he’s always only had eyes for ‘Brina.” The girl shrugged “What a pair we are.”
“Don’t even say it.”
“What are we going to do?”
He put one of his arms around her shoulders. A sigh left his lips.
“Support them, be happy for them. We are their friends after all.”
Roz nodded against Nick’s shoulder.
“I guess you’re right.”
None of them noticed that someone else had come out onto the porch too.
Sabrina felt something inside her chest twitch at the image and she wished she was the one with Nick’s arm around her shoulders, resting her head on his shoulder. She shook her head, she couldn’t be having those kind of thoughts, it didn’t make sense. It was Nick, he couldn't make her heart hurt like this. And more over, she was with Harvey, she was happy with him.
With an almost imperceptible sigh she re-entered to the house.
18 years old…
She knew it.
She knew that he was not going to be there, he had told her in a message he had sent her the week before, his parents had told her when they had arrived at the party about an hour ago when she was still hosting the hope that he had decided at the last minute to take a flight to Greendale and yet, she couldn’t help but direct her gaze to the door every time someone knocked only to be disappointed when it was not him who entered.
“Waiting for someone, ‘Brina?” Theo asked her, he passed her a drink and Sabrina took a sip before answering him.
“No, nobody, why you say so?” she lied.
Theo looked at her with a frown. Sabrina was a terrible liar.
“You already know that he is not coming for the holidays.”
Sabrina took another sip of her drink to buy time.
“I don’t know who you’re talking about.” She lied again.
“You are waiting for Nick Scratch to show up through that door, Sabrina Spellman and don’t try to deny it.”
She gave out a forced laugh.
“Of course not, Theo. I know he didn’t come to Greendale.”
“And even so…”
“Theo… I’m not waiting for him.” Sabrina insisted this time in a somewhat more serious tone of voice but her friend still didn’t believe her.
He shrugged his shoulder before disappearing among the guests, Sabrina leaned against the wall. She would not admit it to anyone but she had secretly hoped that at the last minute Nick had decided to come but apparently her hopes were not more than that.
She missed him.
Sabrina sighed, she wasn’t feeling very festive that night. She closed her eyes for an instant.
“Here you are.” She heard Harvey’s voice, so she opened her eyes to see his smiling face which turned into one of concern when he saw her “Is something wrong, ‘Brina?”
She bit her lower lip before bringing her free hand to her temple.
“Actually, Harvey, my head hurts a little.”
“Do you want something for the pain?”
“No, I think I’m going to retire early.”
Sabrina handed him the glass she had and gave him a brief kiss on the cheek before disappearing up the stairs. She wished he didn't follow her.
And he didn’t.
Once in the solitude of her bedroom where the noise of the party down the stairs was barely perceptible she took off her high heels before walking barefoot to her bed and lay down. She closed her eyes for some seconds and the only thing she could see were a pair of dark eyes staring back at her.
“What is happening to me?” she wondered when she opened her eyes.
Why couldn’t she stop thinking about him? Would it be because they hadn’t seen each other for months and she missed her best friend? Yes, she decided, it had to be that.
Sabrina took the phone she had left on the nightstand before the party and typed a short message to him, she didn’t know if Nick would reply but she did it anyway.
Bored of the party, Spellman? His answer only took a few seconds to arrive.
It’s not the same as when Hilda let us eat all the cookies we wanted. The adults’ parties are boring.
Or is it that you miss me?
Her heart skipped a beat.
In your dreams, Scratch.
He didn’t answer again and for a moment she thought that perhaps he had felt offended by her answer but in that moment her phone rang with an incoming call from Nick.
“Spit it out, Spellman, what’s wrong?” was the first thing he said to her when she answered the call.
“Nothing.”
“Your voice doesn’t sound like nothing happened.”
Sabrina let out a sigh.
“I just miss my best friend.”
“Roz isn’t there?”
“Don’t be silly. I’m talking about you, idiot!”
“Spellman…” he said softly.
“I know, I know, you are super busy with your studies and your university is too far for you to come this time but…” she took a deep breath, there was nothing wrong with missing her best friend right? “I miss you, that’s all.”
“I miss you too, Spellman.” He said “So much.”
21 years old…
Sabrina fiddled with the necklace she was still wearing even though she and Harvey weren’t together anymore. It wasn’t as if she still hadn’t gotten over their separation, she suspected that she still wore it out of nostalgia more than anything. Nostalgia for a time in her life that had come to an end.
But maybe it was time to put that behind. It was almost a year since their break-up.
She slid her hands over the chain of the necklace until she found the clasp, taking off that necklace was like taking off a weight that she didn’t know she was still carrying. She kept it in a small jewelry box that was on her dresser.
It was over.
Sabrina ran her hands down the skirt of her black dress to smooth the fabric, she applied some of her signature red lipstick on her lips and looked at herself in the mirror before leaving her room and going to the first floor, surely the first guests had already arrived to the party.
She didn’t expect to see him at the bottom of the stairs. It had been almost a year since the last time she had seen him.
“Nick!” Sabrina exclaimed happily, she descended the last steps of the stairs quickly.
“Hello, Spellman.” He answered, he opened his arms to give her a hug, she didn’t hesitate, she let herself be embraced by him. She had missed being in his arms. So much.
“I didn’t think you could come.” She said pulling back a little to look at his face. He didn’t let go of her waist for a few seconds more, his thumbs gently stroking the soft fabric of her dress. She didn’t want to think about the pleasant chill she felt at the caress.
“Well, I wanted to surprise you.”
“And you did!” she replied, tapping him on the chest playfully “Nick, I’m so happy you’re here.”
“And I’m happy to be here too. I missed you, Spellman.”
She smiled at him with a smiled that left Nick speechless. She was so beautiful. He wanted to continue holding her but it wasn’t appropriate so he let go of her waist.
Sabrina missed his touch immediately.
They continued chatting, catching up on one side of the room as the guests began to arrive, smiling at each other, laughing about Nick’s silly jokes. Sabrina hadn’t felt like this in months, she hadn’t realized how much she missed Nick until he was back with her. Being with him had always been like that, simple, as natural as breathing.
“Nicholas Scratch, what a surprise!” exclaimed Ambrose walking towards them, he put one of his arms around Nick’s shoulders “It’s good to see you, mate.”
“Good to see you too, Ambrose.”
“I’m sorry to interrupt your lovely chat but I came here to warn you, cousin, auntie Zee is looking for you… To introduce you to someone.”
“What?” she exclaimed, Nick could tell by her tone of voice that she was annoyed “Not this again.”
“I’m afraid so.” Ambrose said.
“Could one of you explain me what is happening here?” Nick asked, confused by the exchange between the cousins.
“Aunt Zelda is playing matchmaker with Sabrina, now that she is single, she believes it is her sacred duty to find her… her words, not mine, an appropriate suitor to continue the Spellman’s lineage.”
Sabrina grabbed Nick by the sleeve of his jacket.
“Do you want to go outside with me?”
“Are you trying to sneak out from your aunt, Spellman?”
“Nick, please…”
“I recommend you to go out though the kitchen, I will try to distract auntie Zee for you.”
“Thanks, Ambrose.” Sabrina said, still holding Nick by the arm she led him towards the kitchen.
“I can’t believe we are hiding from your aunt Zelda like we were a couple of kids again.” He commented when they arrived to the kitchen.
“Shut up, Scratch.”
“But you had to admit that it’s funny…”
“It’s not.” She said crossing her arms over her chest. She walked towards the door.
“Oh, c’mon, Sabrina, don’t be mad at me.” He said following her.
Nick closed the door behind his back, Sabrina was already leaning on the porch railing, looking at the woods around the house, he walked towards her and bumped his shoulder with hers.
“Hey, I’m sorry.” He said “Don’t be mad at me, Spellman.”
“I’m not mad at you. I’m mad with my aunt.”
“Have you talked to her?”
“Of course, but you know her, she won’t stop at a no.”
“Sounds like someone I know.”
Sabrina shook her head. She turned to look at him and that was the moment when she noticed what was hanging over their heads, she couldn’t help but wonder who had the brilliant idea of hanging a mistletoe branch on the porch that year. Probably Ambrose, that definitely looked like something her cousin would do. Nick looked up too.
“Ahh… mistletoe.” He said.
Sabrina nodded, still looking at the branch.
“We don’t have to do anything… It’s not like… It’s just some…” he started to rambling.
She looked at him in the eyes.
“We are friends. It’s just a kiss.” Sabrina said although something inside her told her that it was not just a simple kiss.
She didn’t know it yet but that kiss was about to change everything.
Sabrina moved a bit closer to him and Nick couldn’t help but lean towards her, their noses touched, and they both smiled nervously. It only had to be a peck on the lips, one, two seconds and nothing more, but once their lips touched it was as if something woke up inside them, something that had been sleeping for years. Her hands went to the lapels of Nick’s jacket and his held her around the waist.
His lips were soft but insistent against hers, he brought her closer to him, one of his hands went up her arm, her neck, to caress her cheek. She sighed in the middle of the kiss.
Nick rested his forehead on hers as they pulled apart, their breaths ragged, their eyes closed.
“Nick…?” Sabrina asked breathlessly.
He didn’t answer, his thumb tracing the delicate curve of her lower lip making her tremble. He wanted to kiss her again. She wanted him to kiss her again.
She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him again, neither of them noticed how it began to snow, how the snowflakes started to intertwine with their hair.
24 years old…
“Are you ready, cousin?” Ambrose asked poking his head through the half-open door of Sabrina’s room.
Sabrina zipped up her duffel bag before turning around to see her cousin.
“I am.” She replied before turning back to the bed to stroke Salem’s head one last time, he purred with pleasure, Sabrina looked back at her cousin “Will you take care of Salem, right?”
“Salem is going to have the time of his life this holiday season, now that you won’t be here to stop aunt Hilda from giving him all the table scraps that he wants.”
Sabrina frowned.
“You know that’s precisely what you have to prevent from happening, I don’t want you to end up having to visit the vet while I’m not here.”
Ambrose entered into the room, he put one of his arms around his cousin’s shoulders.
“Don’t worry, Sabrina. Nothing bad it’s gonna happen.” He assured her with a smile.
Sabrina took a deep breath before smiling back at her cousin.
“You sure?”
“Absolutely. Now, you’d better go say goodbye to the aunties if you don’t want to lose your flight.”
She nodded before following Ambrose out of her room.
Her aunts were in the kitchen, Hilda was taking cookies out of the oven and putting them on the rack to cool before she decorated them while Zelda smoked a cigarette as she went through the list of guests who had confirmed their attendance to the Spellmans’ Christmas party.
“Aunties…” Sabrina said from the threshold of the kitchen “I’m leaving.”
“Oh, Sabrina, love.” Hilda said, putting down the oven mitts she was wearing “I packed some cookies for you and Nicholas.” She added approaching to her with a box full of Christmas cookies so big that Sabrina wasn’t sure if it could enter in her bag.
“Thank you, auntie.”
“We’re going to miss you here, honey.” Hilda hugged her, she smelled of gingerbread and cinnamon. She smelled like home.
“I will never understand young people in love.” Zelda commented from her seat, lightly shaking her cigarette and dropping some ash on the table. Hilda frowned and shook her head in disbelief.
“Have a safe trip, love.” Hilda said to Sabrina before giving her one last hug.
“Thanks, auntie.” Sabrina returned her the hug, when she pulled away from her, she directed her gaze towards her aunt Zelda “Bye, auntie Zee.” She walked towards her and gave her a brief hug.
“See you after the holidays.”
***
It all started with a kiss under the mistletoe three years ago. And now Sabrina was traveling thousands of miles to surprise him when he thought he would spend the holidays alone. A smile settled on her lips at the thought of Nick. She loved him. And she couldn’t help but think that maybe a part of her had done it since forever and had just been too blind to notice before. But she was glad they had ended up under that branch of mistletoe.
Although, maintaining a long-distance relationship was not easy, Nick had almost no time with med school and his opportunities to travel to Greendale were increasingly rare, she, with her work as teacher at Baxter High, had to stick to the school calendar for free days. But they somehow had managed to make it work, they lived in a time when technology was a great ally after all.
But she missed him so much. She missed to be able to kiss him every day, to take his hand.
So when he told her that that year he wouldn’t be able to make it for the holidays, she took her decision in less than a minute.
The trip was long and she was tired when she got off the plane but all the fatigue she felt disappeared when she found herself in front of the door of the small apartment that Nick had near his university.
She raised her arm to knock on the door and waited for him to open it.
“Sabrina?” he asked between surprise and sleepiness, by his tousled hair and his outfit she could tell that he had been sleeping before her arrival. A small smile came to her lips.
“Surprise!” she exclaimed coming forward to hug him, his arms immediately encircled her, his lips found their way to hers.
When they pulled apart they were both smiling brightly.
“What are you doing here?”
“Well, since you couldn’t go to Greendale… I decided to come.”
“Spellman, you shouldn’t have…”
She brought one of her fingers to his lips to stop him.
“I wanted to do it.” She replied looking him straight to the eyes “There was no way I would let you spend the holidays alone, Nick.”
He shook his head before releasing her waist to close the door.
“You are something else.”
“Didn’t you like that I came?” she asked suddenly unsure, maybe he had other plans, maybe…
Nick walked the few steps that separated them, he brought his hands to her cheeks to cradle her face and searched her brown eyes with his gaze.
“I’m so happy you have come. Don’t you doubt it, not even for a second, Spellman.” He told her before kissing her again.
***
On Christmas day, after a small dinner they prepared together, Nick and Sabrina were sitting on the couch, wrapped in a light blanked, Sabrina’s head resting on his shoulder, a plate with Hilda’s cookies and two cups of hot chocolate on the coffee table, one of her favorite horror movies on the tv. She couldn’t help but remember when they were 12 years old and Nick had gotten angry because she had chosen a movie that she really didn’t like just to make Harvey happy. She couldn’t help but ask herself if since then he felt something for her and she had not noticed before?
Sabrina looked away from the television to look at Nick, his handsome profile illuminated by the brightness of the screen. It took him a few seconds to realize that she was staring at him instead of paying attention to the movie.
“Do you like what you see, Spellman?” he asked her with a smug little smile on his lips.
Sabrina gave him a playful slap on the shoulder.
“Ouch!”
“Don’t be so cocky, Scratch.”
“I’m not.”
“Yes, you are.”
“I’m not.” He insisted. A wicked smiled curved his lips before he launched towards her searching for the sides where he knew she was ticklish.
“Hey, that’s… cheating!” Sabrina said between giggles “Nick, stop!” she insisted but he didn’t stop, suddenly she was with her back leaning on the coach, him over her, theirs lips a few inches from meeting.
“Sabrina?” he asked, his lips brushing hers as they formed her name.
“Umm?” she asked licking her lower lip.
“I love you.” Those three words made her heart beat faster.
She smiled against his lips.
“I love you too.” Sabrina said before catching his lips with hers.
27 years old…
Nick could feel the small jewelry box in his jacket burning a hole in his pocket. He was so nervous and he was not the type of person to get easily nervous, on the contrary, most people admired his ability to stay calm under stressful circumstances.
But tonight was different, he wasn’t facing a surgery ward, that night he would ask the love of his life to marry him.
“Nervous, son?” his father asked him, he handed him a glass of champagne that Nick gladly accepted, he could use some liquid courage.
Nick let the air out of his lungs before taking a sip of his drink.
“A bit.” He admitted because he knew there was no use in lying to his own father.
He patted him on the back to give him support.
“She will say yes, Nicholas.”
“Are you sure?” Nick couldn’t help but ask.
The older man nodded before looking around the room, he stopped at his wife talking with Sabrina’s aunt, Hilda, he dedicated her a small smile.
“You two were meant to be since she took your hand when we came here for the first time.”
“Dad…” Nick said a bit uncomfortable “I didn’t think you were a romantic.”
Nick’s father just shrugged before drinking the rest of his champagne.
“That’s what your mother says, actually.”
Nick smiled shaking his head before taking another sip from his glass.
“You should go find her. Stop delaying the moment.”
“I’m not delaying the moment, Sabrina is talking to Roz, they haven’t seen each other in a while, I’m letting them catch up for a bit.”
“Nicholas…” the older man said in a serious tone of voice “Go ask her.”
Nick took a deep breath. He knew his father was right, his hand went to his pocket, he touched the box with the ring. It was time to do it. He was going to ask Sabrina to marry him.
“You’re right, dad. Well, wish me luck.” He said handing him his almost empty glass.
“You don’t need it, son. You don’t need it.”
He walked to the other side of the room, where Sabrina was chatting with her friend, he took another deep breath before approaching to them. She looked so beautiful that night with that dark red dress that combined perfectly with her lipstick and highlighted the paleness of her skin.
“Sabrina?” he asked.
“Hey, babe.” She replied turning around to see him, she gave him a brief kiss on the lips “do you need something?”
“Actually, yes… Roz, would you mind?” he asked to their friend “I need to talk about something with Sabrina.”
Roz opened her eyes and nodded as though she understood what was happening. Sabrina looked at her boyfriend confused.
“What’s wrong, Nick?” she asked him.
“Not here, do you think we can go outside?”
“Yeah, sure.” She replied “I guess I’ll see you in a bit, Roz.”
Roz smiled back at them before disappearing among the guests.
Nick and Sabrina walked towards the entrance door, Sabrina stopped to took her coat before going out to the porch, it was a cold night. Nick was acting strangely that night and was beginning to worry her. The fact that he wanted to talk to her so urgently couldn’t mean anything good.
“Is something wrong, love?” Sabrina insisted. Nick denied but even so she felt a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach “what is it then?”
Nick looked into her eyes. In his mind, he had rehearsed a thousand of times what he would say to her when the time to propose came but in that instant, looking into her warm brown eyes, he was speechless.
“Do you… want to break up with me?” Sabrina asked suddenly, effectively bringing him out of his trance.
“What?” he exclaimed surprised by her words “No, no, heavens, no!”
Sabrina exhaled relieved.
“So what happens?”
He decided at that moment that big words and big gestures weren’t really necessaries, they weren’t their style after all. He pulled the box he had been carrying all the afternoon from his pocked as he bent one of his knees on the floor. Sabrina widened her eyes realizing what he was doing, what he was going to ask her.
“Sabrina Spellman,” he said presenting her the ring “will you marry me?”
She did not take a second to give her answer.
“Yes!” Sabrina replied, Nick took her hand to put the ring on her finger. She admired the ring under the dim light of the porch as he stood up “Oh, Nick, it’s gorgeous.”
He shook his head.
“No, you are gorgeous.” He replied, his arms wrapping her waist “The most beautiful woman of this world. My future wife.”
Sabrina brought her hands to his neck, her fingers playing with the short curls of his nape, the smile on her face was huge and he wanted nothing more than to kiss her.
“I love you.” He said against her lips.
“I love you too.” She replied capturing his lips with hers, eager to kiss him.
They only pulled away when they heard the whistles and applauses coming from the door, when they looked in that direction they saw their families and friends who had been watching them only God knew since when.
“I guess she told you yes, mate.” Ambrose spoke, a big smile on his lips.
Nick nodded, his arms still around Sabrina’s waist. She extended her arm to show her ring to her cousin.
“I did.”
“Oh, honey,” Hilda said approaching to the couple with tears in her eyes “I’m so happy for you too.” She added before hugging them.
“I think we have a wedding to plan.” Nick’s mother commented to Zelda before going to hug her son and future daughter-in-law.