Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Janis wakes up to the sound of her ringtone.

Not her alarm. She has them set to different sounds. Her ringtone.

She groans and sits up in bed, brushing her dark hair out of her eyes and fumbling for her phone on her nightstand.

She huffs when she sees Damian’s name and stupid picture lighting up her screen; her phone buzzing in her hand in a desperate bid for her attention. She hits the green button and puts her phone to her ear.

“What do-”

“Where the fuck are you?” Damian huffs on the other end. “It is nine fifteen, you are half an hour late for your shift, madam. It is the week before Thanksgiving, you know damn well everyone and their mother is getting coffee before they have to deal with their miserable families-”

“Fuck! Shit, Dame, I’m-” Janis begins, flying out of bed and throwing all her clothes out of the hamper to find her work uniform. “I overslept, I’m- shit!”

“Just get here, I’ll cover for you if boss man shows up,” Damian sighs. “This is the last time, though.”

“I love you,” Janis says. “I gotta go, gimme ten.”

“Ten only.”

“Maybe fifteen.”

“Ten!”

“Ten,” Janis echoes, hanging up the phone and grabbing her work hat off its hook by the door. “Fuck my life.”

—-

Janis manages to make it out the door in three minutes flat. Her uniform is stained and wrinkled since she forgot to wash it, her hair and teeth aren’t brushed, she didn’t eat breakfast, and her shoes are untied, but she made it out the door in three minutes and that has to be enough on a morning like this.

She has her cap hanging out of her mouth as she ties her hair back in a lazy sort of knot, running the four blocks to the coffee shop.

She sighs when she sees it come into her view, bracing internally for… something. Every day is different. None of them are necessarily good. But they’re all different.

She’s about to open the door when it flies open at her. She stumbles backwards to avoid a face full of glass door and trips over her untied shoelaces.

“Watch where you’re fucking going!” she scoffs to the woman who landed on top of her.

“Me?! You should tie your fucking shoes!” the woman yells.

“And you should watch for innocent pedestrians before you take off for your fucking marathon!”

“Do you have any idea who you’re talking to?!”

“A fucking nutcase, clearly!” Janis yells. “Now if you’ll excuse me, your highness, I have a fucking shift I’m late for. Sorry to be in your way with my… common… ness. Look, just leave!”

“For all you know I’m a paying customer!” the woman yells after her as Janis stalks into the shop.

“I’m not on the clock yet!” Janis retaliates. “Have a fucking fantastic day, enjoy trampling people!”

“Hmph!” the woman huffs, rushing off down the sidewalk. Janis shoves her way back through into the employee area to clock in.

“What the fuck have you done?!” Damian yells, slamming the door open after her.

“What?” Janis sighs, swiping her employee ID card through the system.

“Do you have any idea who you just yelled at on the fucking sidewalk?!”

“Some blind businesswoman? She fucking knocked me on my ass, I was well within my right to yell.”

“That was Cady Heron!” Damian insists. “As in heiress to Heron Enterprises and fucking billionaire, Cady Heron!”

Janis freezes mid-step on her way back to the main shop. “You’re kidding me.”

“No! You fucking- oh my god, Janis!”

“I just yelled at the daughter of the person who owns my entire apartment complex.”

“He owns half the city, Janis.”

“I just called the daughter of the person who owns half my city a fucking nutcase.”

“Janis!”

“Alright, look, if I get crucified just… deal with my affairs and I love you dearly. Just don’t… don’t think about what just happened.”

“You yelled at a billionaire!” Damian insists.

“Yes! Continue to remind me of that, thanks a fucking million.”

“Billion.”

“I’m gonna pour hot coffee. All over you. And everything you love,” Janis grumbles, taking her spot behind the counter.

“Tie your damn shoes.”

“Hot! Coffee!”

—————

The next morning gets off to a smoother start. Damian personally set no fewer than fifteen alarms for her, so she’s up well within a reasonable amount of time.

She can walk instead of sprint today, as she carefully adjusts her freshly washed and ironed uniform.

“Ms. Sarkisian?” a voice asks as she fluffs her hair out from the collar of her polo. Janis turns on her heel and sees a man in a full three-piece suit standing by a very fancy car. He’s even got one of those funky little handkerchiefs in his pocket. And little white gloves.

“Maybe. Who’s asking?”

“In the car, please, madam.”

“I don’t think so,” Janis replies, turning back around. “Have a nice day.”

“Miss, I really must insist-”

“Look, I don’t know who you are or what you want with me, but I have a shift to get to. Enjoy your gloves.”

“Ms. Sarkisian,” a woman’s voice says. Janis turns around again and sees a woman standing behind the now open door to the backseat. Janis winces when she sees its her. From yesterday. “Please.”

Janis looks suspiciously between the two of them. The… driver, Janis presumes, gestures gently to the very expensive car. Janis shoots each of them one last look before she slowly makes her way over and gets in. The woman smiles like the cat that got the canary as she takes the far seat.

“Whoa,” Janis whispers as she sees the interior.

“Coffee?” the woman asks as they start driving.

“Oh, um… no, thank you. I, er… get enough of that in my day to day. Listen, I’m so sorry about yesterday, I had no idea who you were and I really can’t afford to be sued right now-”

“I’m not suing you,” the woman says. She sighs and reaches out a hand for Janis to shake. “Let’s just forget all about that, shall we? Cady Heron, pleasure to meet you.”

“Uh… Janis… Sarkisian,” Janis says awkwardly. How often do you get to shake hands with a billionaire just for her to fuck it up? “Same here.”

“Janis, can I call you Janis?” Cady begins, speaking so rapidly that Janis doesn’t even get a chance to interject. “I have a small proposition for you.”

Janis looks as she hands over a manila folder. She opens it and sees a nondisclosure agreement as the first document contained within. What the fresh hell-

“What-”

“Listen, Janis, I’m sure you know by now who I am. And that our… how do I say this delicately, our worlds don’t really overlap. And that is why you are perfect for this,” Cady says.

“And what exactly is this?” Janis asks, continuing to flick through the documents.

“I need you to pretend to date me.”

“I- what?!” Janis says, unable to hold back a laugh. “You- I- what?!”

“Just hear me out, I implore you,” Cady begs. “I’m not exactly young anymore. I’m twenty-four, you know. My family has… expectations. I’m to be married by twenty-six, and the sooner the better. People, and the press, are beginning to talk. And they’re not exactly saying favorable things. When they talk, the common folk talk, and we… we can’t have that, I’m sure you understand.”

Janis blinks at her.

“Anyway, I just need someone to assuage the masses, and my family. And that’s where you come in,” Cady says with a smile that doesn’t meet her eyes. “All I need you to do is pretend to be my partner through Christmas. We’ll be ‘broken up’ by New Year’s and on our own merry ways. I’ll never even come through this part of town in person again if you say the word.”

“I’m still… why… why me?”

“You made it very clear yesterday that you have absolutely no idea who I am. The press will love seeing me dating a poor person, and the fact that we know nothing about one another will make our inevitable breakup much easier. And you’re someone I’ll never have to see again. I can fake our grisly separation, milk that for ten years so my parents won’t try to arrange my marriage to anyone and by that point I’ll be running the business and able to use that as an excuse.”

“Wow, you really have this all planned out,” Janis chuckles. “So… I just… have to…”

“Pretend we’ve been together for about three years. For three weeks. And then I’ll pretend to propose, you say no and leave, I’m heartbroken, we never speak again.”

“Propose?!” Janis yelps.

“Fake propose,” Cady amends. “So. Thoughts?”

“Why the hell would you think I’d agree to this? We didn’t exactly get off on the right foot yesterday,” Janis says.

“Might help if you tied your shoes.”

“Not the time,” Janis hisses. “Look, as much as you think we’d never see each other again, your family owns half this city! They own my work, and-and my apartment building! If anyone knew about this they’d ruin me, and-and I can’t afford to move-”

“Nobody will know but us and a select few people, and everyone will sign a nondisclosure agreement.”

“Then-then your family will actually think I’m the kind of heartless monster who rejects a proposal around the holidays! They’ll- god, I don’t have a lawyer-”

“There’s a contract in there that states I will undo anything my parents will attempt to do in terms of legal or financial action against you for ‘breaking my heart’. And, quite frankly, they will not have a case in the first place. I’ve already signed everything. We may have a lot of property and stake over this city, but I mean it when I say that after that clock strikes twelve on Boxing Day you’ll never hear from any of us again.”

“You realize this is a fucking crazy thing to ask of me, right? Like, this… this is weird,” Janis insists.

“I am aware this is rather unconventional, yes,” Cady nods. “But I’ve covered every possible eventuality and you’re totally protected legally and financially speaking.”

“That’s not what I mean,” Janis says. “Just… you want me, a complete stranger, to spend the holidays with you, pretend we’ve been dating for years, and then reject a proposal?!”

“That was the hope, yes.”

“Why would you ever think I’d agree to this?”

“Because I’m prepared to pay you one hundred thousand dollars for it,” Cady says. Janis balks at her.

“A hundred-”

“Thousand dollars, yes,” Cady says like it’s entirely obvious. “And there’s a clause in your contract that states you’re allowed to leave for whatever reason should you so choose between the date you sign it and the date of our scheduled breakup. And as long as you help me come up with an excuse and make it believable, you still receive full pay. And if you don’t, I’ll give you fifty thousand anyway.”

“So… if I… agree to this,” Janis says. “I basically get a hundred thousand dollars guaranteed, and I just…”

“Pretend to love me for three weeks.”

“I…” Janis stutters. “Jesus. You know what? Yeah, okay.”

Cady hands over a pen. “Excellent. I will need you to sign the NDA before you exit the vehicle just to guarantee nobody else finds out we had this little conversation, but the rest can be handled whenever is convenient for you. I’ve given you the number and address of my lawyers’ office, you can contact them if you have any questions and drop all the documents off there when you’ve signed them.”

Janis quickly skims the NDA, and it sounds reasonable enough. Almost not daring to believe it, she signs on the dotted line and passes the page and pen back to Cady.

Almost like she planned it, they come to a stop right outside the coffee shop practically the second the paper touches Cady’s hand.

“Pleasure doing business with you,” Cady says, giving another half-smile and shaking her hand.

“Yeah, uh… you too,” Janis says, blinking in confusion as she accepts the handshake. Her jaw drops when Cady passes over a massive black binder as well.

“Here’s all the information you should need in the coming weeks. Thank you again.”

“Anytime,” Janis says. Before she knows it, she’s blinking at a dust cloud down the road.

What the Reese’s peanut butter fuck have I just gotten myself into?

—————

“Janis, hon?” Damian asks partway through his walk home from work.

“Hm?” Janis hums softly.

“Why are you following me home?”

“I need you right now,” Janis mumbles.

“Mmhmm. And what’s with the binder?” Damian questions, walking a bit slower to let her catch up.

“Why I need you right now,” Janis explains. Damian nods solemnly and lets her continue to slowly trail after him.

Janis enters his apartment when he unlocks the door, leaving the binder and the folder on his coffee table and face planting into his couch.

“So what’s-”

“Don’t look in the book!” Janis says, rearing upright when she hears him approach it.

“Why not?” Damian yelps, scrambling away like the binder is apt to explode at any moment.

“Because I think that’s a felony,” Janis sighs.

“…Say what?”

“Sit,” Janis says. Damian plops onto his rug like a kindergartener waiting for story time. “Do you have any duct tape?”

“Um… I think I have some tie dye patterned tape left from pride,” Damian says. “Why?”

“So I can stop you screaming,” Janis sighs. “Just promise you won’t?”

“You know damn well I can’t promise that, Janis,” Damian says. Janis sighs and nods.

“So. Did you, by chance, um… happen to see what happened this morning?” she begins.

“Um… no, there was a… young… gentleman in the shop I was, um… quite… focused- let’s just say no, shall we? What happened?” Damian says. Janis raises an eyebrow.

“A gentleman?”

“We’re talking about you at the moment, let it out, doll,” Damian says immediately.

“Fine. But you’ll tell me if he was actually cute later. Anyway,” Janis sighs. “So. Let me set the scene.”

Damian nods eagerly, leaning forward and resting his chin in his hands.

“I’m walking into work, cursing the world like normal, yadda yadda. Then, a guy behind me goes, ‘Ms. Sarkisian?’ and I turn, and it’s this, like… dude you’d see in, like, a movie. Full suit with the little…”

“Pocket square?”

“Sure,” Janis nods. “And the stupid little hat and white gloves and he’s all, ‘Get in the car please’ and I’m like, ‘I have no idea who you are or how you know my name, I’m sure as shit not getting in your car, Mr. Gloves’.”

“Obviously,” Damian nods. “Wait, how did he know your name?”

“Just wait. So I say no and turn to keep going and then someone else says my name and I’m starting to wonder how many people on the sidewalk know my name,” Janis says. “But this one is a woman, so I, er… checked.”

“Checked, eh?”

“Checked,” Janis confirms with a glare. “And… it’s fucking her.”

“Her?”

“Cady Heron,” Janis says. Damian’s jaw drops. “And she seemed… less mad than yesterday, so I figured I’d take the chance to apologize for the whole… nutcase… sidewalk incident. So I got in probably against my better judgement and before I can even say sorry she’s… like, making a business proposal at me.”

“A business proposal?” Damian asks.

“A business proposal! And you know what she wants?!” Janis says. Damian shakes his head, looking at her imploringly. “I can’t tell you, because I signed a fucking NDA!”

“You what?!” Damian says, leaping to his… knees. “Okay, so… legally binding document aside. What the fuck, Jan?”

“I can trust you, right? Like, if I break this… legally binding document I appear to have signed you won’t tell people?”

“No, obviously. We go to prison together or not at all, and orange is clearly not my color,” Damian says. Janis nods.

“You do have a winter complexion. Anyway,” Janis says, handing over the binder and folder. Damian opens it and peeks at the first few pages. “I have to pretend to be her girlfriend!”

“You what?!“

“Calm down,” Janis says, like she hasn’t just dropped a major bombshell. “It would appear… that I’ll be spending Christmas with… the Herons. And pretending that I’ve been dating their daughter for three years.”

Damian tries to speak, but doesn’t seem to be able to form words. Janis doesn’t blame him.

“I…” Damian says eventually. “Huh?”

“I know! What the hell was I thinking?”

“What were you thinking?!”

“She… is paying me a… not small amount of money,” Janis explains.

“How much?”

“Hundred grand,” Janis mumbles.

“A hundred grand?!” Damian yells.

“Shut up! You have neighbors!”

“A hundred thousand dollars, Janis!”

“Shut up! I know!”

“Okay, so the why has been established,” Damian says with a disbelieving shake of his head. “Did she tell you how the fuck she thinks this is going down?”

“No, she just gave me the binder and said it had everything I need to know. I’m supposed to sign everything in the folder and drop it off with her lawyers and then… study, I guess.”

Damian opens the manila folder and starts flipping through the documents. He doesn’t actually read all that much, to leave Janis and Cady with some semblance of privacy. And because Janis may be right about it being a felony for him to lay eyes on them.

“In the event of your early demise?!” he yelps when he sees the phrase on one document.

“What?” Janis says. “It doesn’t say that!”

“It does!” Damian insists. He hands the document over, and, sure enough, this one details what should happen with the money should either of them die during the duration of the contract.

“What the fuck?” Janis whispers. “I can split the money between my loved ones if I list their names and contact information for their lawyers or give it to a charity of my choice if I die. And if she dies then I have to give the copy I keep of this to her lawyer so I can still get the money.”

“Where the hell is she taking you? The fucking moon? How are either of these things a possibility?!”

“I dunno. I really hope it’s a ‘just in case of the worst possible scenario’ thing. She did say she had prepared for every possible eventuality,” Janis says.

“Is she pretty?” Damian asks quietly.

“What?”

“Cady. You saw her up close, is she pretty?”

“I… yeah, I guess,” Janis replies. “She’s not not pretty, but she was so… impersonal, I guess. It kinda put me off a little bit. It really did feel like some kind of business deal.”

“Wow,” Damian says. Janis can tell he’s already lost in his own fantasies, probably already drafting a fanfiction about this whole deal in his mind. Janis takes the moment of quiet to give the binder a first skim over.

“Oh my god, she has five brothers?!” Janis yelps.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, she’s the youngest. First girl, was a big deal when she was born,” Damian says.

“They all have the same initials!” Janis says, frantically flipping back and forth between the pages. “How am I supposed to-”

“Wow, they look really similar,” Damian says, sitting next to her on the couch and peeking over her shoulder.

“Not helping!” Janis insists. “How am I meant to tell them apart?”

“Hope,” Damian says immediately. “Really hard.”

“No, no, I can… I can do this,” Janis says. “Studying. It’s just like the SAT’s, right?”

“…Sure,” Damian nods. “Whatever makes you happy.”

“Oh, shut up!”

—————

Janis is on a plane two weeks later. She settles further into her cushy seat in first class. It’s a long flight to Colorado, two whole hours, so she pulls out the binder to do a last minute crash course.

Damian made flash cards, which helped more than Janis cares to admit. Janis thinks she has Cady’s entire family down to a t, but she knows there’s also a solid chance she’ll be so nervous she’ll forget everything she knows about her own family as soon as she lands. So she does some last minute studying just to be safe.

She looks around suspiciously just to make sure nobody is peeking over her shoulder or anything. Nobody is supposed to know she knows Cady yet, and nobody is ever supposed to know that their relationship isn’t real.

Luckily, she’s in a window seat, so she just leans in closer to the small pane of glass and flips to the first page.

Cady’s oldest brother. Charles Jacob Heron The Fourth. Thirty-seven years old, loves… embroidered handkerchiefs, imported teas, and peanut butter. Interesting sounding guy.

Next brother, Clifton Joseph. Thirty-six, likes boats, spas, and gambling. Janis is more than a little concerned by what that could mean.

Then, Clark James, thirty-two. Janis tries to remember his interests without checking the card. Fancy cars, skiing, and…

She has to check for his third main interest. Scuba diving? Interesting. He certainly sounds more fun than the brothers Janis has read through so far.

Cady’s next brother is Callum Jefferey. Thirty years old, already has three children, and enjoys… his wife and kids. And jet skiing. Huh.

And last but not least is Chester Jeremiah. Closest in age to Cady at twenty-seven and seems to be her biggest competition. Competition in what, Janis can’t be sure, but… something. Chester likes fine art, the opera, and imported chocolates. Sounds like Damian’s kind of man.

Janis intently studies their portraits, trying to find physical tells to keep them separate in her mind. They all look remarkably similar and Janis is not at all panicked. She has a full dossier on practically Cady’s whole family, (including the paternal grandmother she’s supposed to avoid at all costs) but she knows she’ll be spending the most time with Cady’s parents and brothers.

“Clifton has… the ear,” she murmurs out loud to herself. “God, Charles, what are you about?!”

Her seat neighbors are starting to look at her oddly, so she turns closer to the window and returns to her silent studying.

All of the photos look like they were taken by the paparazzi. Maybe they were. How often does Cady actually see her family?

She continues browsing, looking through the very detailed etiquette instructions. Shake hands, introduce yourself, shut the fuck up. Basically what it boils down to.

Cady also gave her a list of ‘acceptable’ pet names and interactions. Baby, sweetheart, love, darling… Janis can put the pieces together well enough. Hugs are to be from the front or back only, side hugs look too platonic. Cheek kisses are acceptable, kisses on the lips will be discussed when they meet up in person. Holding hands is also acceptable, but only if their fingers are interlocked. Apparently, it’s also too platonic if they aren’t.

Janis sighs and flips the book back shut. She frowns in confusion when the pages ripple and a little piece of paper is suddenly poking out the top. She hasn’t seen this before, so she grabs it to see what it is.

A letter.

Janis,

Hi. It’s Cady. Nobody knows I’m adding this to your notes. So please don’t tell anyone, especially not the lawyers. If you’re a lawyer reading this, no you’re not.

I just wanted to warn you. The paparazzi know someone is joining us for the holidays. They will be at the airport, and they will figure out which driver is ours. As soon as you get off the plane, people will be looking at you, and looking for you.

Being in the public eye can be exhausting, especially if you’re not used to it. Just don’t answer any questions and try to ignore the cameras. I’d also advise you to stay away from the internet for the duration of your stay with me. The tabloids can and will be cruel, and having the internet at your fingertips is a blessing and a curse. Just trust me, and avoid them at all costs.

Nobody knows your name yet, so the driver will have a sign with your name on it. Any other name is a fake and you should not get into their vehicle under any circumstances.

If any of this ever gets to be too much for you to handle, please let me know. I’ll do whatever I can to help.

Regards,
Cady Heron

Janis looks oddly at the letter once she finishes, and reads over it a few more times. It’s a bit strange, but either way, Janis decides to heed the letter’s warning. She tucks it back in between the pages and looks out the window she’s next to.

The landscape is beautiful, she has to admit. They’re getting closer to Colorado, so most of it’s covered in snow. She almost can’t tell where the clouds ends and the snow begins.

-

Before she knows it, the pilot is announcing their landing and she’s buckling her seatbelt. She watches the ground get closer and closer. She’s bracing, but she’s not sure what for. Landing has never been her favorite part of flights.

But it goes as smoothly as a landing can. Janis grabs her carry-on and it only takes half an hour for everyone to get off the plane.

She grabs her suitcase from the conveyor and heads out to the pickup area. My name.

She walks past at least three cars bearing Cady’s name. She’s more than a bit concerned by how many people are earnestly trying to kidnap her.

A few other names go by, and then she spies hers. It looks to be the same driver Cady had when she… borrowed Janis that morning last month.

“Ms. Sarkisian,” he says when he sees her.

“Yeah. Hello,” Janis says. “Nice to see you again.”

The man blinks in shock, seemingly amazed that she remembered him. “You as well, ma’am. Miss Heron is expecting you presently.”

Everyone around them starts murmuring at the mention of the H-word. The driver tenses, realizing he’s made a grave error. Cameras begin flashing around them. Janis looks around to see them, tilting her head as people start clamoring for her to look every which way and calling out questions one after another after another, so quickly she can’t pick the words apart.

The driver beckons her into the car. Janis is so overwhelmed that she obeys without a word, desperately wanting out of the situation. Her bag is unceremoniously shoved in the trunk, and Janis is glad she didn’t pack anything fragile. She plops into her own seat with a huff of relief as the driver gets them going. Wherever they’re headed.

“Ah, Janis, fantastic,” a voice says suddenly from behind her.

“Jesus fuck!” Janis yelps.

“My apologies, I didn’t mean to frighten you. I trust your flight went okay?” Cady says as she clambers her way next to her from the very back seat.

“I- yeah, it was fine,” Janis says. “Were you back there the whole time?”

“Oh, yes, of course. I absolutely had to accompany you,” Cady says. “People would talk if we didn’t arrive together. Tinted windows and blankets truly are wonders, aren’t they?”

“Uh… sure,” Janis says. “What-”

“If the paparazzi had seen me you’d never have made it into the car,” Cady says. “But I wanted to be here.”

“Thanks?” Janis says.

“That won’t do,” Cady pleads. “You can’t talk to me as if I’m an alien, nobody will believe us then.”

“I’m sorry,” Janis says. “This is all just so… weird for me, still. I don’t wanna say anything wrong.”

“We can deal with you saying the wrong thing, it’ll be better than you not saying anything at all,” Cady says. “I swear you won’t offend me or anything. You can feel free to speak your mind.”

“Uh… okay,” Janis says. Cady glares at her. “Sorry, I’m sorry! It’s a lot of pressure!”

“If this is going to be too much for you please tell me now,” Cady says.

“No, I can… it’ll just take me a second to adjust to all this, y’know? This is already… a whole new world to me. I’m a fish out of water, I gotta figure out how to breathe.”

“Well, I’d suggest you figure it out quickly. We don’t have a very long drive,” Cady says. “It really shouldn’t be much different from what you’re used to.”

“I’d have to sell several of my internal organs to be able to afford this car.”

Cady purses her lips and nods. “Point taken.”

“I’ll be fine by the time we get there, I just… all I knew about you before this was what my friend Damian told me from reading about you in the magazines and stuff. It’s gonna take me a while to stop seeing you as a celebrity, and everything.”

“I understand,” Cady nods. “Um…”

“You don’t have to tell me anything embarrassing to try to speed up the process,” Janis comforts.

“Oh, good,” Cady sighs. Janis chuckles.

“So, the binder thing said you had some… rules you wanted to go over in person?” she prompts.

“Oh! Yes, thank you,” Cady says. “It is important that this is all believable, but I don’t want to force you into anything you’re uncomfortable with. I felt it would be best to discuss what you’re comfortable with in terms of physical and emotional affection in person rather than just declaring how I’d like it to be.”

“Oh. Thanks,” Janis says. “I mean, I’ll do basically anything for this amount of money.”

“So… if I pinned you against a wall in front of a crowd of society people and started making out with you, you’d be alright with that?” Cady says.

“Uh- is… is that likely to happen?” Janis squeaks.

“I mean, I’d probably pin you to a more secluded wall, but there’s always a chance that may come up and people will see,” Cady says.

Janis ponders this. Cady prepared for every eventuality before even meeting Janis, she supposes there’s a few Janis herself should prepare for as well. “That makes sense, I guess. Maybe, like… we could have a signal, or something. Just so either of us can have a bit of warning before anything, er… intense? But just, like, regular kisses and things I think I’ll be alright being surprised with.”

“A signal may be a good idea,” Cady hums thoughtfully. “How about this? One signal for… erm… naughty things. And one if either of us needs to be removed from public view or discuss something privately with the other?”

“Okay,” Janis nods. “What do you think they should be? I don’t really know what would be a good thing to do. What would be obvious, and everything.”

“Um… maybe a wink, for… you know? If we do it right, that won’t be particularly noticeable. Do you have any nervous habits? We should avoid those.”

“Um… I guess I wring my hands a lot? And I move my lips, but I don’t think I have anything else,” Janis says. “I’ve never really had to pay much attention to stuff like that before, though, so I’m not sure.”

“I tap my fingers, so we mustn’t do anything with that,” Cady hums, crossing her arms and tightening her jaw in thought.

“We both have pierced ears,” Janis says. “If we need to talk we could adjust our earrings. Or tug on an ear, or something.”

“Yes, that’s brilliant!” Cady says, eyes ablaze with delight. “Alright, that’s handled. Now kiss me.”

“What?” Janis yelps.

“People will be able to tell if we kiss for the first time in front of them. Even my parents,” Cady says. “We should get the first out of the way now to get any awkwardness about it out of our systems.”

“Oh. Yeah, uh… okay,” Janis says. “Do you wanna… or should I…?”

“Uhm… do you… want?”

“I’m fine either way,” Janis mumbles awkwardly.

“Oh, to hell with it,” Cady breathes. Janis’ eyes widen briefly as she suddenly winds her arms around Janis’ shoulders and smashes their lips together. Janis squeaks softly upon first contact, but tries to reciprocate. She needs practice, and all.

It’s not a bad kiss, either. Cady’s very clearly inexperienced, which makes sense. She probably hasn’t had a huge amount of opportunities to make out with people in her lifetime, being a billionaire and all. Janis pointedly does not let her bring tongue into their first kiss, and Cady seems to calm down slightly after that.

Eventually, they fade into a sort of rhythm. Push and pull. Cady starts following Janis’ lead. Janis reads Cady’s responses and adjusts accordingly.

Janis almost regrets having to breathe when they’re forced to pull apart.

“Okay, yeah, um… that’ll… that’ll work,” Cady says, strangely flushed.

“Good,” Janis squeaks.

Cady clears her throat and looks out the window, running her hands through her red curls to smooth them down and adjusting her pantsuit back to where it’s meant to be. “We’ll be there in a few minutes, do you have anything else you wish to know or discuss?”

“Um…” Janis hums pensively. The book covered almost everything. “Do people know that I’m… uh…”

“They’re expecting a woman, if that’s what you’re trying to say,” Cady says. Janis nods. “I came out in high school, so everyone’s known I’m queer for years. And I told my family that I’d be bringing my girlfriend for the holidays this year, so they’re expecting you. I was hoping people would focus on that instead of the fact you’re poor.”

“Thanks,” Janis says, grumbling internally. She’s not poor. She’s just… admit it, you’re broke. “Do they not know I’m… not rich?”

“That they don’t know about,” Cady says. “I’d suggest you start learning to tune people out. My parents are going to judge us quite harshly, and my mother will probably say her judgements right to your face.”

“Eh, I’ve heard all the judgements before, it’ll be nothing new,” Janis shrugs. “People always have stuff to say about my makeup and clothes and tattoos and stuff.”

“I’d still brace yourself. Things sting in a different way coming from my mother,” Cady sighs. Janis frowns as Cady seems to start bracing herself too.

“Are you okay?”

“Oh, yes, I’m fine,” Cady blatantly lies. She’s good. Janis almost can’t tell, but there’s an even stronger tension in her shoulders and her jaw is clenched even tighter than normal. “Thank you.”

“Mmhmm,” Janis hums.

They’re silent for the rest of the drive, looking out their respective windows at the landscape going by. Janis thinks they must be here when they pass through an ornate gate, complete with a person in a little box who comes out to let them in.

But they keep going. And going, and going, and going. The road is thin and winding, but long as anything. Uphill, downhill. There’s a bridge at one point over what looks to be a very deep crevasse. Fun.

Eventually, they come to a stop. Janis jumps a bit, having zoned out for most of the drive up, and undoes her seatbelt. The driver opens the door for her, and she climbs out of the car.

“Holy shit,” Janis whispers when she sees the place. It’s absolutely huge. It could easily house a hundred people or more. “This place looks like a hotel.”

“Oh, it is,” Cady says, coming up next to her. “My family owns several. We stay at a different one every year for the holidays. I had to talk them out of the one in Switzerland this year.”

“Jesus,” Janis says softly. “It’s beautiful.”

“Just wait until you see the inside,” Cady grins. “Ready?”

Janis looks between Cady’s small smile and her outstretched hand. She takes it with a nod. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

Cady heads up to the front door; about twice as tall as Janis and roughly eight times as wide. She wonders if the doorbell Cady rings is made of real gold or just plated.

A maid opens the door after a few seconds. “Hello, Miss Heron.”

“Hi, um…”

“Claire, miss,” the maid replies.

“Hi, Claire,” Cady says.

“Please come in. I’ll let your parents know you’ve arrived,” Claire says. She leaves them in the extravagant foyer. Janis turns around to look at everything.

Two sets of marble staircases lead upwards against either wall of the very large room. The ceilings are easily thirty feet high, met by elegant ivory walls and decorated with gold and diamond chandeliers. The rug for them to leave their dirty outdoor shoes on is a deep, rich red, covering a pristine floor tiled in yet more marble.

It’s been precisely decorated, too. Garlands and white lights are wrapped around the railings to each staircase, and elegant silver snowflakes hang from the chandeliers. There’s a few family photos on the walls. If this is actually a hotel, Janis has a hard time believing they’re there all year round. They must’ve been brought in especially for the family’s stay.

“Holy shit,” Janis whispers again. She jumps as a butler suddenly comes up.

“Madam Heron, a pleasure to see you again. May I take your coats?”

“Yes, thank you… um…”

“Simon, ma’am,” the butler says politely.

“Thank you, Simon,” Cady says. She hands him their coats and waves him off with a hand. He shuts the front door behind them and goes off to hang them somewhere Janis can’t see.

Claire makes a return then. “If you’ll follow me, Miss Heron, and your guest. Your parents are expecting you in the parlor.”

Cady takes Janis’ hand again as they follow the maid through the winding hallways of the mansion. Eventually they make it to the back side, and Janis has to hold back a gasp.

A majority of the lower floor of this half of the house is one large room, clearly used to hold dances or parties or other fancy events. The back wall is almost entirely glass; practically floor to ceiling. Janis looks through it to see the mountains a ways in the distance and the lake much closer. It’s all very beautiful covered in snow and ice.

They keep walking until they reach an only slightly smaller room. Janis wonders if this is the rich people’s version of a living room or family room.

Claire opens the doors and leaves them with a polite bow. Cady sighs softly and squeezes Janis’ hand, seemingly without realizing.

“Hello, father, hello, mother,” she says. Two figures who were chatting animatedly but quietly in the corner suddenly stop and look in their direction.

“Cady! So good to see you, dear, how was your flight?” the woman says. Cady’s mother.

“It was fine, thank you Mother,” Cady replies, tone perfectly even. Janis doesn’t like this Cady. She sounds almost robotic, speaking that way, and she’s certainly tense enough to be. “How are the preparations for the party coming?”

“As they always do,” her mother says.

“Hello, daughter,” Cady’s father says, pulling Cady into the stiffest hug Janis has ever been privy to witness. “How has your work been going?”

“I spoke of it to you on the phone yesterday, Father,” Cady says. “The status hasn’t changed since then.”

“Oh, yes, you did, didn’t you? Well, it matters not,” her father replies. Cady bristles at that. Janis squeezes her hand gently, not knowing what else to do. Cady’s father looks at her, suddenly, and Janis rapidly understands why Cady is so tense. God, that’s scary. “May we help you?”

“Um…”

“Mother, Father,” Cady says before Janis is forced to say anything. “This is Janis Sarkisian. My girlfriend.”

Absolute silence. Janis thinks she could hear someone drop a pin on the other end of the house. Cady’s parents scan her like something out of The Incredibles, scrutinizing every detail from head to toe. Janis tried to pick a nice outfit to wear on the flight. Dark jeans without holes, her classiest boots, and a soft cream colored sweater. The sweater is Damian’s, which they seem to take issue with. Among other things.

“Hello, Janet,” Cady’s mother says after several minutes of silent staring. “Cady, might we speak with you for a moment?”

“Yes, Mother,” Cady says. Nobody moves.

“Alone, dear?”

“Oh. Yes,” Cady says. She lets go of Janis’ hand and follows her parents to the far corner of the room. Janis turns around to look at everything in this room. More family portraits on the walls.

They aren’t smiling in any of them. Except one. Five young boys in matching dapper suits with red ties sit in a perfect row side by side, posture perfect even in the youngest who’s clearly no older than four.

But in the very middle sits a tiny, chubby baby; with a wide toothless smile, precious freckles on her chubby cheeks, and fiery red hair to compliment her elegant green dress. Cady.

Janis can overhear bits and pieces of the conversation Cady’s in the middle of with her parents. She looks over without actually turning around, just out of the corner of her eye. Cady is standing a good six feet away from her parents and anxiously tapping her fingers against her arm as they’re folded protectively over her chest.

The words “unacceptable” and “peasant” come up a few times in rapid succession from the mouth of Cady’s mother, paired with burning glares in Janis’ direction. “Heathen” and “dangerous” also come up a few times, along with a hissed, “she’ll frighten the children!” which is a first. Janis quietly delights in the unintentional compliment.

Cady seems to be defending her; much more softly but with just as much intensity behind her words. Janis hears her spit, “You have no idea who she really is. Give her a chance.”

Cady tugs gently on her ear then, looking to Janis out of the corner of her eye. It’s not quite the circumstance she thought they’d be using their signal in, but Janis can understand why she is. It won’t make Cady’s parents like her, but saving Cady is worth it.

“Should I take our bags to our room?” Janis asks, coming up behind Cady and kissing her cheek. Sure enough, Cady’s parents both look quite miffed with her for interrupting their very important discussion.

“Oh, don’t be silly, baby, we have people for that,” Cady replies, resting a warm hand against Janis’ cheek and kissing her jaw in return. Janis feels her heart flutter the slightest bit at the pet name. Stop it, this is fake.

“Oh, right,” Janis says. “I forgot. Not used to… actually being in your world.”

“How quaint,” Cady’s father says curtly. “The two of you may go get settled in. Cady, we expect you to join us for dinner.”

“Yes, father,” Cady says quietly. She takes Janis’ hand again to lead her out of the room. “Come on.”

“Are they always like that?” Janis whispers as Cady leads her to the… elevator?!

“Yep,” Cady sighs. “Fronting as a caring family, frigid behind the scenes.”

“Nice,” Janis says. “Is the rest of your family already here?”

“No,” Cady says, leaning against the elevator wall and crossing her arms over her chest. “I’m not sure of your background, or if you… come from a large family or anything. My parents can be overwhelming enough, and the house is a lot in and of itself. I wanted to be sure you’d have time to acclimate before throwing you into the den with my entire family.”

“Oh. Thanks,” Janis says. Cady just nods and taps her fingers against her elbow.

“Here we are,” she says when the doors open with the fanciest ding Janis thinks she’s ever heard. “This way.”

Janis runs out after her, following Cady at her very brisk pace down the hall.

“My brothers will start arriving at… I’m not sure, but some point next week with their families. I trust you checked the binder?”

“Yeah, I did. Memorized as much of it as I could.”

“Really?” Cady asks, turning briefly to look at her over her shoulder. “I’m impressed. That was quite dense.”

“Yeah, I, er… did my best.”

“Anything will be appreciated, I’m sure. Anyway. My brothers always spend at least a few days with us for the holidays, but we’ll be here by far the longest. So you have all the time you could want to enjoy the area. And my grandparents will probably arrive as close to Christmas day as possible. Beyond that, it’s just going to be us and my parents for quite a while.”

“Sounds nice,” Janis says. “And when are we expected to be, like, in public together?”

“As soon as possible,” Cady sighs. “Here’s our room.”

“Holy shit,” Janis whispers.

“Are you going to say that every time I show you something?”

“Yeah, probably.”

“Well, I’m glad I know that now,” Cady says with a faint chuckle. She heads over and falls backwards onto the bed. “We should try to do something public tomorrow, or the day after at the latest. The media’s probably already buzzing about you at the airport. We need to be seen together in person before too long.”

“Where will we go?” Janis asks. Cady pulls herself back to a sitting position and folds her hands against her knees.

“Wherever you want,” she says with a small smile.

——-

Janis is awake and presentable bright and early the next morning per Cady’s brief. To be fair, it’s ten in the morning, but that’s still early by Janis’ vacation standards.

“Morning,” Cady says when Janis walks into the dining room in hopes of some breakfast. “You took a while.”

“I got lost,” Janis says sheepishly.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Cady says frantically. “I should’ve waited with you, I didn’t even think of that.”

“No, no, it’s totally fine. One of the butlers saved me. Your second parlor is really nice, by the way.”

“Thank you,” Cady says, smiling at her oddly. “I’m sure you saw some of the photos, then?”

“I did,” Janis nods. “You’re the only redhead?”

Cady nods, tugging subconsciously on her auburn curls. Cady’s parents, and all her brothers, have dark blonde hair. Cady’s brownish-red hair is a stark contrast, to say the least.

“I am. My paternal grandmother was a redhead too,” Cady sighs. “I hated it when I was young. And I went blonde for a time in high school, if you can believe that.”

“Really?” Janis chuckles. “Why?”

“It was… just how it went,” Cady says quietly. Janis gets the sense she shouldn’t press this further. It’s clearly an uncomfortable memory for Cady. “Bleaching it did so much damage. I’ve only just gotten it grown out to an acceptable length.”

“What’s an acceptable length?” Janis asks.

“This, basically,” Cady says with a shrug. “According to my mother I look uncivilized if I have it too much longer and like a heathen if it’s any shorter.”

“Your mother seems really judgmental.”

“It… comes from a place of love,” Cady replies. “She wants the best for me and the best of me.”

“Well, if her reaction yesterday was anything to go by, I’m clearly not that.”

“And that’s exactly the point,” Cady says with a mischievous smile. Janis smiles back.

It’s quiet for a bit. Neither of them quite know what to say to each other now. Janis stares at the empty place on the huge wooden table in front of her, as if staring hard enough will materialize some breakfast before her eyes. To be fair, it seems a likely possibility in this house.

“So, um… no family breakfasts?” Janis says awkwardly.

“Oh, heavens, no,” Cady says. “Everyone’s much too busy for that. Dinners are a must, but beyond that we simply eat meals whenever we have the time to. Oh, speaking of which, what would you like? The chefs will prepare you anything you could want. And if we don’t have something, we’ll send someone to fetch it.”

“Anything?” Janis questions.

“Anything,” Cady confirms.

“So… if I wanted… scrambled eggs but made with eggs from Japan?” Janis asks.

“We’d send word to Japan,” Cady says with a nod. “Do… is that what you want?”

Janis almost says yes, just to see how that would work. In actuality, she says, “No, no, I was just curious. Um… normal… American scrambled eggs would be fine, though.”

“American scrambled eggs it is,” Cady says. “Anything else?”

“No, thanks. I’m not really a big eater in the mornings,” Janis says. “Wait, is it… should I just eat what you had? I don’t want the cooks to have to make something special for me.”

“Oh, don’t be silly!” Cady says. “It’s what they’re paid to do. And I didn’t eat breakfast, anyway.”

“You didn’t?”

“I seldom do, I get so distracted,” Cady sighs. “Eggs do sound quite nice, though, I might have to request a portion of my own.”

“How do they know what to make?” Janis asks.

“I’ll just put an order in,” Cady says like it’s obvious. Janis frowns in confusion. “To the app?”

“You have an app?”

“Yes, of course,” Cady says. “My brother, Clark, is quite good with programming and computers and such. So he designed an app for the servants. My mother even uses it. Much more dignified and easy to manage than yelling across the mansion, or… I don’t know, using bells or whistles or something.”

“That’s cool. I kinda would’ve thought whistles would be more your mother’s speed,” Janis says.

“Oh, they were for years. Have you ever seen The Sound of Music?” Cady says.

“She did not,” Janis says, jaw dropping. She has seen that movie. Damian made her watch it before he recreated the entire thing in a one man show just for her. Janis stopped letting him have white wine after that.

“She did! We all had signals,” Cady says with a quiet giggle. “Anyway. Do you have any food allergies? The kitchens will sanitize everything to ensure you get a safe meal.”

“Um… no, I’m just lactose intolerant. But I can handle milk in small doses, so… no need to sanitize just for me,” Janis says.

“Are you sure? It’s a lengthy process, but there’s other kitchens on the premises. I wouldn’t want you to be uncomfortable,” Cady says.

“I’m sure. As long as I don’t, like, eat a block of cheese or pint of ice cream I’ll be fine,” Janis says.

“Alrighty then,” Cady says, pulling out her phone and entering the order. “Two scrambled eggs with no dairy. Anything to drink?”

“Water is fine, thank you,” Janis says softly. She’s not in a restaurant, but it’s too similar for her to feel comfortable ordering anything but water.

“And two waters. Coming right up,” Cady says.

“That’s really cool,” Janis says, peeking at Cady’s screen. “Your brother designed this himself?”

“Yep. Clark’s never been one to accept much in the way of help with his work. He doesn’t care for our father’s business, but he’s done wonderfully with his own freelancing,” Cady says, clearly very proud of her big brother. “He designed these for use when the hotels are actually in service as hotels, but they’re still quite useful for our stays. All I have to do is say what room in the house I’d like a dish or item brought to and then wait.”

“Sounds handy,” Janis says. Cady nods.

“It is, quite. Anyway, it’ll be… er, about ten minutes,” she says. Janis nods. Cady nods back, and they’re back to silence.

-

Breakfast is more than a bit awkward. Janis compliments the food, Cady smiles. Beyond that, they say nothing.

“Oh, hey, um…” Janis says as she takes her last bite. Cady looks up from her phone expectantly. Janis drops her voice to a whisper, just to be safe. “How many people know about this?”

“Oh,” Cady says. “You and I. My drivers, my security guards, and my lawyers.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it. It would be unbelievable if many more people than that had to keep our secret. But they’ll be the people closest to us, so I figured that would make things easier on us. Less… paranoia, I suppose.”

“Makes sense. Um, I’m ready to go. If you are,” Janis says.

“Are you sure?” Cady says. “Forgive me for saying so, but I’m not absolutely convinced you’re aware what you’ll be getting into once we leave the property.”

“I know I’ll have to watch everything I say and everything I do and that I should expect at least ten sets of eyes on me at all times,” Janis says, quoting from the binder almost word for word. “And I know I’m expected to act like I’m in love with you but not too much so it’s still realistic.”

“Okay, I seem to have underestimated you,” Cady chuckles. “You really did memorize it?”

“As much as I could,” Janis nods back with a smirk.

“Nicely done,” Cady says softly. “Then I suppose we should go.”

“My lady,” Janis says sarcastically, offering Cady one of her arms to hold onto.

“Oh, don’t you start. And I should be leading you, Miss Got Lost Half an Hour Ago.”

“Fair enough.”

—————-

“So have you given any thought as to where you’d like to go?” Cady asks as they watch the landscape shift from isolated mansion to populated suburb to cute little downtown area.

“Not really. I don’t really know what’s around,” Janis says. “But… it would be fun to go somewhere you’ve never been before.”

“That impish look scares me,” Cady says.

“Nowhere dangerous. But you don’t seem like you’ve been much of anywhere around this place, quite frankly.”

“I haven’t,” Cady acknowledges. “Shall we just drive around until we find something?”

“That’ll work,” Janis nods.

They both settle in and look out their respective windows, on a hunt for an acceptable Christmassy date destination. Cady’s driver takes them through the winding back roads of the neighborhoods.

“Oh,” Cady gasps suddenly. “What is that?”

“A Christmas market?” Janis says, leaning over to look out Cady’s window.

“How sweet,” Cady says. “It’s beautiful.”

“It is,” Janis agrees. “Should we go there?”

“I suppose it’s as good a place as any,” Cady says. “Lots of people.”

“Yeah,” Janis acknowledges around a lump in her throat. She did know in theory what she was getting into, but the reality of being seen in public with Cady is setting in now. There are a lot of people at the market. Couples, families, people running various booths, single people doing some Christmas shopping at the quaint little stalls. All of it makes for quite a crowd that has Janis shaking in her snow boots.

She has no more time to prepare as Cady climbs out of the car and starts slowly walking towards the market. She pauses after about three feet and turns to look at Janis.

“Are you alright?”

“Mmhmm,” Janis hums, nodding frantically. “Yeah, I-I’m good.”

Cady tenderly picks a bit of lint off Janis’ shoulder before she takes and squeezes her hand. “You’ll be fine, I promise. It’s overwhelming the first few times, but after a while you hardly notice it.”

“I’m more worried about what the media is gonna have to say about me,” Janis says. “They’ll probably think I’m corrupting you or something.”

“Some probably will,” Cady agrees bluntly. “But… you know what is true and what isn’t. As long as you believe that, that’s all that ever truly matters.”

“That’s deep,” Janis says, trying to lighten the mood.

“These people do not actually matter in the slightest, I promise you,” Cady says, slowly continuing their walk over. “You’ll be but a passing trend.”

“That does help,” Janis says.

“Just try to enjoy yourself,” Cady says. “This is just a normal date.”

“Date,” Janis squeaks. “Right.”

Eventually, they’re standing smack in the middle of the center. There’s loads of shopping booths selling all sorts of holiday-related trinkets and food and other goodies to the right, a Santa for the kids to meet straight ahead, and even a few activities like ice skating and an ice slide to the left.

“That tree is huge,” Janis says in awe.

“It is,” Cady says. “It could rival the ones my mother has brought in every year. It’s beautiful.”

They stand and admire the very large Christmas tree for a few moments longer before they start walking over to see what the booths have for sale.

“Oh, these little Santas are darling,” Cady says when they walk past one selling little china figurines. “My mother collects Santa figures.”

“Really?” Janis chuckles.

“Mmhmm. She has hundreds, from everywhere,” Cady says, picking up one with a blue coat covered in snow. “Do you make these?”

“Uh… y-yeah,” the stall attendant says, blinking at Cady in awe. “Um- my-my grandmother and I do. Spend the year making them to sell here.”

“They’re so cheap!” Cady says. “You should charge more for your handiwork!”

“I-I… we… we only charge what we need to turn a profit, ma’am,” the teenage boy says.

“Well, that’s no way to run a business,” Cady scoffs. “What are your markups-”

“We’ll take this one, please,” Janis interrupts before Cady can interrogate the poor kid about his entire business practice. He nods frantically and carefully wraps it in bubble wrap so it won’t break. “Thank you. Merry Christmas.”

Cady protests as Janis drags her away from the booth. “Hey! I was just trying to-”

“Cady, he clearly is not doing this for the money,” Janis says. “He’s doing it to get reactions like the one you had when you saw the figurine. To make people happy, and to do something with his grandmother to bring in a bit of extra money for his family. He doesn’t need you explaining how to turn it into a multi-million dollar Santa Claus making empire.”

“But he really could take it so much further if he just-”

“Cady, listen, I respect you a lot,” Janis says. “But I also have the perspective of a normal person. They don’t want business talk, okay? They want you to say something nice about what they sell and buy something, maybe chat for a bit, and move on.”

“Was I rude?” Cady asks softly.

“…Yeah, a little,” Janis says. “Your heart is in the right place, but… give the business stuff a rest for Christmas, okay?”

Cady is quiet, but she nods and squeezes her hand. Janis squeezes her back.

“You okay?”

“Yes,” Cady says immediately, though she’s still looking pointedly at her boots trudging through the thin layer of snow on the brick path. “When you find somewhere natural to, kiss me.”

“What?” Janis laughs.

“Don’t look, but someone to our left and a bit ahead is filming,” Cady says. Janis dares to sneak a peak, and sure enough, some passerby has her phone out, shamelessly recording them in broad daylight.

“Jesus,” Janis tuts.

Somewhere natural. Conveniently, one of the strands of lights they pass beneath has mistletoe dangling from it. Janis pretends she’s admiring the snow fluttering down and points to the mistletoe.

Cady smiles and stops in her tracks, grinning up at the plant as she wraps her arms around Janis’ waist and stands on her tippy toes. Janis smiles back and gently cups Cady’s neck in her hands before pulling her into a soft kiss.

Neither of them stop smiling even when their lips meet. Janis picks Cady up and spins her around, making Cady squeal with a laugh. “Jay!”

“Jay, eh?” Janis whispers, kissing her again. She leans in to whisper in Cady’s ear. “Should I act like I don’t want to be doing this so it makes more sense when we break up?”

Cady smiles like she’s just whispered something sweet into her ear and leans in to whisper to Janis. “No, we’ll just say you weren’t ready for the commitment.”

“Oh, great,” Janis chuckles as Cady kisses her cheek. “Is this enough to appease the masses or should I start licking your ear or something?”

“Please don’t do that under any circumstances,” Cady giggles. “I think we’re good. Paps will start arriving seconds after she posts that video, though.”

“I think I’ll live,” Janis says. She kisses the tip of Cady’s nose for good measure, and Cady kisses her knuckles as they start walking again; looking pointedly at everything except the camera and trying to act like they never noticed it. “Can you always tell when you’re on camera?”

“Just about,” Cady says. “My security taught me tips to look out for, so now I can almost always pick out who in a crowd is either already or going to start taking photos or recording. It’s just something you come to expect after long enough.”

“Sounds like it would get old pretty quick,” Janis says sadly.

“It does,” Cady agrees. She chuckles slightly, more a loud exhale than much else. “Every time I get dressed in the morning I have to expect billions of people around the world to see it.”

“I’m clearly not used to that,” Janis says.

“No, you look great!” Cady says. “Professional but comfortable. It works for you.”

“I think this is the first time I’ve seen you in anything except a suit,” Janis chuckles.

“Hey, they always match and they always have the professionalism I should,” Cady says. “I like my suits.”

“I like them too,” Janis says. “It’s just nice to see you in something else.”

“I am much more comfortable,” Cady chuckles. “Pantsuits are itchier than you’d think.”

“I can imagine,” Janis replies. “They… er, suit you, though. So to speak.”

“Thank you,” Cady giggles. “God, this place is lovely. I can’t believe I’ve never seen it before.”

“It is really cute,” Janis says. “I’m not usually a fan of stuff like this, but this is really nice.”

“Not usually?” Cady asks.

“I’m not really a huge Christmas person,” Janis shrugs. “Something like this probably would’ve made me nauseous in high school.”

“Really?” Cady giggles. “What’s different about this one, then?”

“…I’m not sure.”

“The company?” Cady teases, knocking gently against her side. Janis turns to look at her with a smile.

“Nah, I think this one just has a better smell.”

Cady gasps indignantly. “How rude!”

“I’m teasing,” Janis chuckles. “Better get used to that.”

“Hmph.”

“Oh, come on,” Janis pleads. “I know what’ll make you feel better.”

“What are you- oh, what is that smell?” Cady says, all her anger fading as soon as she gets a whiff of warm cider and cookies.

“Hi,” Janis greets. “Two ciders and… what kind of cookies do you like, Caddy?”

“They all smell so nice,” Cady says.

“Thank you, Miss Heron,” the woman behind the booth says. “It’s an honor to meet you.”

“Oh, please,” Cady says with a smile. “I’m just as honored to meet you, I’m sure.”

“Much better,” Janis whispers in her ear. She chases it with a kiss on the cheek so it looks natural. “Have you ever had a snickerdoodle?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“It’s a kind of cookie, baby,” Janis chuckles. “Do you have samples?”

“Oh! Oh, um… for you, of course,” the woman says.

“Oh, no, we’ll pay for it,” Cady says immediately.

“No, no,” she says.

“We insist,” Cady says.

“And I’m paying, I don’t mind,” Janis chuckles.

“What? No you aren’t,” Cady says.

“Try me.”

“I’m the billionaire here, honey.”

“And what are people going to say if you don’t let me pay for anything? They don’t know our history, they’ll just think I’m some random person you found on the sidewalk who’s after your money!”

“You might as well be,” Cady says teasingly.

“How long have y’all been together, if I may?” the woman asks as she hands Janis a snickerdoodle.

“Going on three years,” Janis says with a smile. She takes the cookie and pinches off a chunk to give to Cady.

“How sweet. Y’all are just darling,” the woman says.

“Oh my god,” Cady says in awe. “This is delicious!”

“I told you,” Janis chuckles. “And thanks.” she says to the woman. “Two?”

Cady nods eagerly. “How much for the lot?”

“Hm?” the woman replies squeakily.

“My family would love these, how much would it be for all of them?” Cady insists. “And do you have a permanent shop somewhere? I’ll have to mention you to my father.”

The woman looks to Janis in shock, seeming to check if Cady’s being serious. Janis has no idea, and shrugs.

“Um… we sell the cookies for two dollars apiece, so… call it a hundred for… all of them?” the woman says hesitantly.

Janis hands over ten to cover their ciders and cookies, and Cady forks over five hundred.

“Oh, there’s too much-”

“Nonsense. Use the rest on your family if you’d like, or yourself. Maybe make some more of these. Did you say you have a shop?”

“Yes, I-I have a bakery with my daughter-in-law,” the woman replies. “On seventh street. Caroline’s Cookies.”

“I’ll pass along my recommendations,” Cady says. The woman looks around, seeming quite flustered, before she just pulls the entire tray out of their warming bin and offers it to her. Cady motions one of her guards over. “Take this back to the car, please. And feel free to have one if you’d like, they’re quite delicious. Thank you, ma’am. Merry Christmas.”

“Um… Merry Christmas to you as well,” the woman says, waving in confusion as Cady and Janis pick up their more reasonably sized portions of cookie and drink and head off to continue browsing.

“Caddy?” Cady asks as soon as they’re out of earshot of anybody.

“Yeah. No offense, but your name is spelled weird,” Janis says.

“None taken,” Cady says. “My parents were very committed to us all having the same initials.”

“I can tell,” Janis chuckles. “It’s cute, though. But, yeah. You’re Caddy now.”

“I like it,” Cady grins. Janis smiles back until Cady suddenly turns to her in a panic. “Oh, back there, that wasn’t rude as well?!”

“No, no,” Janis says soothingly. “Bit… odd, maybe, but not rude. If you’re gonna do anything to a small business owner, buying their entire stock of something is probably the best option.”

“They’re so good,” Cady says around a mouthful of cookie. “Oh, dear, I know that’s rude. Excuse me.”

“Nah,” Janis chuckles. “Would almost be endearing if it wasn’t gross.”

Cady laughs under her breath as she continues chewing, swallowing before she speaks this time. “Everything here is… amazing. And to think I never even knew it existed until today.”

“Sometimes you just gotta stop and smell the Christmas trees,” Janis shrugs. “Lucky we found it.”

“Lucky indeed,” Cady says. “And the Christmas trees smell wonderful.”

“They do,” Janis agrees. “Kinda makes me want a real tree.”

“You have an artificial one, then?” Cady asks as they wind their way through the rows of Christmas trees for sale by a local tree farm.

“Yeah. Damian and I decided a real one was too much effort for us. And it’s cheaper to just get one that’ll last a few years than blow a bunch of money on a real one that’ll just die in a month anyway.”

“Damian?” Cady asks. Janis looks at her when she hears a slight panic in her tone. “You’re… in a relationship?!”

“No! No,” Janis says immediately. “God, no. He’s just my roommate. He’s too gay to function. And… obviously gay in the wrong direction.”

“Oh,” Cady breathes. “God, I didn’t even think to check that.”

“Well, now you know for next time,” Janis jokes. Cady glares at her. “And… for the record, there hasn’t been anyone.”

“Ever?”

Janis shakes her head. “I was always kind of off-beat in school, so I didn’t have many friends in the first place. And then I made the mistake of coming out when I was in eighth grade, and then I didn’t have any friends at all. So I never really had the opportunity. I had a couple flings in college, but nothing serious. And now I work too much to really have time.”

“Oh,” Cady says.

“What about you? If I may ask,” Janis asks softly. They’ve made sure to whisper any sensitive information, but she’s still paranoid about someone listening in. That woman filming them without a care in the world has really thrown her off her rhythm.

“I’ve never really had much chance either,” Cady says. “Couple brief things here and there, and one girlfriend in high school. There’s more booths this way.”

Well, that’s just about the best non-answer Janis has ever gotten. She decides not to press any further and follows Cady along to look at some more little trinket stalls.

“Do you collect anything?” Janis asks. “Like your mother?”

“…Yes,” Cady says quietly, almost like she’s embarrassed. “I collect snow globes.”

“That’s cute,” Janis says. Cady shrugs.

“Do you have any collections?”

“Not… really,” Janis says. “Um… I collected state quarters in middle school, I still have my special map in my mom’s attic somewhere. Paintbrushes, I guess. I keep all of them even when I can’t use them anymore.”

“You paint?” Cady asks softly, looking at her curiously. Janis nods and swings their interlocked hands between them slightly.

“Yeah.”

“Just yeah?”

“No,” Janis sighs. “I just… after I came out I was bullied, like, pretty severely. Everyone called me a space dyke because some kid asked me what I was one day and all I could think of was to say I was a space alien with four butts.”

“Clever.”

“Yeah,” Janis chuckles. “Needless to say, it didn’t go over very well. I got pulled out of school after a while and put into art therapy. So… that’s where painting started for me.”

Cady hums sadly. “Are you any good?”

“I like to think so,” Janis says. “Not good enough to make anything off it, though.”

“So that’s why you work at the café?” Cady asks. Janis nods. “Hm.”

“Why were you there?” Janis asks. “When we… um… met.”

“I’m currently working for my father,” Cady says. “All of us have. When we graduate from university, or… reach a certain age, in Clark’s case, our first job is working for him. It’s helpful to learn business strategies and how to manage things, as well as working skills in case we don’t launch our own billion-dollar enterprises someday. We do that for a year and then we’re left to our own devices.

“And he owns the café, among other businesses in the city. So he sent me along to check up on things and make sure everything was up to our standards.”

“Was it?”

“Well, there was a certain employee I mentioned among a few strong words,” Cady hums. “But I appear to have judged her too quickly.”

“She did the same,” Janis says softly.

“Did she?” Cady asks. “Hm. We’re being followed, by the way.”

“How do you-”

“Security gave me a signal, it’s not me being a mind reader. I can’t see backwards,” Cady giggles. “It’s nobody dangerous, this time, just some paparazzi.”

“This time?”

“Oh, yeah. I only have security because I was kidnapped when I was seven,” Cady says like that’s perfectly normal. “We all do, now. My father’s had a few close calls with assassination attempts and such.”

“You were kidnapped?!”

“Only for a while. They actually treated me remarkably well,” Cady says. “I had more candy in those four hours than I’d had in my entire life previously, it was awesome. People are desperate, sometimes. Ransom is a good, quick way to earn money. They knew my father had a lot.”

“So your father just paid them off?” Janis asks in shock.

“Oh, heavens, no! No, of course not,” Cady chuckles. “He just called the secret service and they handled it quite quickly.”

“Like… the secret service the president gets?”

“They were friends at the time, it was a personal favor.”

“You should write a book.”

“You should probably kiss me again,” Cady sighs. Janis kisses her mittened knuckles and looks around.

“I have a better idea,” she says, running ahead to the sleigh rides being offered. Cady squeaks in surprise and starts running after her. “How much?”

“Up to you. All we ask is that you make a donation to our animal sanctuary if you think we do a good job,” the sleigh driver replies. “Helps us take good care of the horses and their buddies.”

“And… and the horses are safe?” Cady asks shakily.

“I can assure you they’re very well trained, miss. You’ll have a smooth ride,” he says. “This here is Butterscotch. She’s a little older, so she’ll give you a nice calm trip.”

“Okay,” Cady says softly.

“You wanna go?” Janis asks gently. Cady looks at her, and Janis can see genuine fear in her eyes. “I’ll be right there with you, it’ll be alright.”

“I don’t like horses,” Cady mumbles.

“We don’t have to go,” Janis offers quietly. “If it makes you uncomfortable. But hundreds of people ride these every day and they’re perfectly fine.”

“I want to,” Cady says, a bit bolder. Janis grins and kisses her cheek.

“Good. Hop up,” she says. Cady squeals a bit as she suddenly hoists her up and into the sleigh. Janis hears camera shutters go off a ways away and hopes she doesn’t look too weird lifting Cady practically over her head. Cady pulls her into the sleigh after her and greets her with a sweet kiss as she tosses a blanket over their laps to keep warm.

The driver sets Butterscotch off to a trot. Cady squeals in fright as they start moving, but she calms down as she gets used to it.

“So… does it say anywhere in those contracts that we can’t get to know each other?” Janis asks after a while.

Cady looks at her oddly. “Surely you already know everything about me you’d want to.”

“I don’t,” Janis replies. “Oh, hey. C’mere.”

“What?”

“Just in case,” Janis says. “You said the paparazzi are after us.” Cady still looks confused, but she does rest willingly against Janis’ shoulder. “And… now nobody but us can hear what we’re saying.”

“Smart,” Cady says. She gently laces their fingers together and smiles down at their hands. “Now seriously, there can’t possibly be anything you don’t already know about me, I put everything…” her tone drops to almost a whisper even though nobody can hear them. “In the book.”

“Yeah, exactly. I know book stuff. I know everything I could’ve found on the internet if I cared enough about billionaires to look you up. I know about your family, and your history, and your business, and what we were talking about earlier. But I don’t really know about you,” Janis says. “And I think if we’re gonna convince people for these three weeks, you should know a couple things about me. But I’m a lot less interesting.”

Cady considers this before she nods gently. “Yeah, alright. Have you ever considered entering my field? You have quite a mind for business.”

“Maybe on the surface,” Janis snorts. “I’m terrible at math, though. I think business has too many numbers for my tastes. And I thought you never wanted to see me again as soon as we’re done here.”

“I suppose that’s fair,” Cady giggles. “Not business then. Do you actually make decent coffee?”

“I do,” Janis nods. “Coffee, tea, hot chocolate. Basically the menu at the café, I can do pretty well.”

“Uhhuh. And how much of that is the stock the company purchases?”

“Your father has good taste for his companies. But it takes a skilled hand to be able to turn that into something people can actually drink,” Janis says.

“Really?”

“No,” Janis laughs. “I push buttons on machines and it makes stuff happen.”

“You liar, I was actually starting to believe you!” Cady chuckles back.

“I thought that’s a big business thing, being a good liar?”

“True. You sneak,” Cady giggles.

“I do make good stuff though. Have to make my own at home,” Janis says.

“Hm. Interesting,” Cady hums. “Well, I suppose that was my turn. What do you want to know about me?”

Shit. What does Janis want to know? She wants to know about Cady, but… what about her?

“Janis?”

“Sorry, I’m thinking,” Janis says. “Um… what’s- uh… your… favorite shape?”

“My favorite shape?” Cady chuckles. “What is that gonna tell you about me?”

“You can tell a lot about a person by their favorite shape! Now come on, what is it?”

“Circles are nice,” Cady says. “But I think… stars? I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve ever thought about it before.”

“Stars are pretty good,” Janis nods.

“So… what does that tell you about me?”

“That you… like… stars.”

Cady rolls her eyes. “Brilliant.”

“Well, look, it’s a lot of pressure! Not every day you get to talk to a billionaire one on one!”

“Just pray you never become an interviewer,” Cady replies. “I will answer anything within reason. You have signed an NDA.”

“Anything, huh?”

“Mmhmm. My turn, though,” Cady says. “What’s… something you’d never do no matter how much I offered to pay you?”

“Skydive,” Janis says immediately.

“Really? Not a thrill seeker, then?” Cady hums happily. “I did mean, like, between us, but that’s… good to know, I suppose.”

“Oh! Duh,” Janis says. “I thought you meant, like, in general.”

“No, no, that was a good answer!” Cady says, gently knocking against her. “What else?”

“Hey, that’s two!”

“So you’ll get two, come on.”

“Fine,” Janis huffs. “I won’t… like, do anything that would… hurt. Physically. Like, if you asked me to break my arm or something. Not doing that. And I won’t hurt you. And I wouldn’t… take some mystery drug that might start the apocalypse.”

“What?!”

“I dunno what you billionaires get up to in your free time,” Janis says immediately.

“You think the apocalypse would start with a drug? And that I have it?”

“I don’t know, it could happen!” Janis defends.

“You’re very strange,” Cady hums.

“Says you.”

“And rude.”

Janis just raises an eyebrow. Cady huffs and turns the other way, but she’s still firmly tucked against Janis’ side. “My turn?”

“If you must,” Cady grumbles crankily.

“What makes you smile?” Janis asks softly. Cady tips her head up to look at her.

“Smile?”

“Yeah,” Janis confirms. “I wanna know what kinds of things make you happy.”

“Why?”

“Because heaven forbid I care about you the slightest little bit over the next few weeks,” Janis teases. “I should at least know a couple things so I can do them. Make this seem realistic and everything.”

“Oh.” Cady says softly. “Um…”

Janis feels her heart pang the slightest bit as Cady genuinely has to think about her answer. The slight hurt only grows with every second that ticks by.

“My nieces and nephews,” Cady says eventually. “Always make me smile. And… most of my brothers and sisters-in-law. And I watch videos of animals that are best friends when I get sad.”

“Oh, yeah?” Janis chuckles. “Which one’s your favorite?”

“There’s a… cheetah and a golden retriever,” Cady mumbles sheepishly. “They grew up together.”

“That’s cute,” Janis says softly. “Anything else?”

“I like to eat. I usually smile then,” Cady says. “And I… I don’t know, beyond that.”

“Well, we’ll just have to find some stuff, then.”

“Yes, I suppose we will. My turn.”

“Hey, I get two questions!”

“And you did. If you want to get technical, you got three,” Cady says. “You asked what makes me smile, what video was my favorite, and then if I had any other things.”

“Fine,” Janis pouts. “Ask away.”

“Tell me about… erm… the friend of yours you mentioned earlier,” Cady says.

“Damian?”

“Yes, him,” Cady agrees in such a tone that Janis knows she immediately forgot his name.

“Okay. I met him when I was in first grade,” Janis says. “I broke his nose.”

“You what?!”

“He said girls couldn’t punch. I just proved him wrong,” Janis shrugs. “We were best friends after that. We grew up together. A couple other friends came and went for us, but he was always the one I could count on. When we got older we’d always be each other’s beards when we needed one and stuff. Our parents say we’re platonic soulmates.”

“And you’re both queer?” Cady asks gently.

“Yeah. I’m a lesbian and he’s the gayest man to ever walk the face of the Earth,” Janis chuckles.

“Have you told him about this?” Cady asks. Janis tenses. Will Cady take legal action if she tells the truth? She did sign that nondisclosure agreement. But lying to Cady can’t be a good thing to do either. “It’s alright if you have. If you trust him I suppose I have to as well. And if need comes we can have him sign an NDA too.”

“He’s trustworthy. He does talk too much, but he knows not to tell anyone about this,” Janis says. “We tell each other everything, I had to. And he absolutely loves your family, by the way.”

“He does?” Cady asks, looking up at her.

“I think you’re more important to him than the Kardashians, and that’s saying a hell of a lot,” Janis says. Cady laughs. “He reads all the news stories and watches all your interviews and stuff. You’re definitely his favorite. You can do no wrong in his eyes.”

“Really?” Cady asks. “The news and interviews I’ve done don’t exactly portray me in a positive light.”

“And he is beyond pissed about that,” Janis says. “Every time something new comes out that makes you look bad I’m subjected to him ranting about it while I try to do my job. He’s gone for an entire shift more than once.”

“Maybe I should have asked him to do this instead, then,” Cady says with a small smile.

“He would’ve for your sake,” Janis snorts. “I told him I’d try to get your autograph for his Christmas present.”

“He sounds lovely,” Cady says. “Might need more than an autograph.”

“He can be lovely when he wants to. Most of the time he’s just a pain in the ass.”

“Do you talk about all your friends so kindly?” Cady asks teasingly.

“Yeah,” Janis chuckles. “It’s how I show affection.”

“Hm,” Cady hums. They both startle a bit when they suddenly come to a stop. They look up to see that they’ve finished their allotted loop around the downtown area already. “Oh, it’s over.”

“See? I told you it’d be fine,” Janis says, loud enough for the driver to hear her now. “Come on, we should finish shopping and head home.”

Janis climbs out of the sleigh first, and gently picks Cady out after her. She gives her a spin and kiss before she sets her gently on her feet.

“Thank you,” Cady says to their driver.

“Not a problem, miss.”

“What is your goal for donations this year?” Cady asks, still making sure to stay well out of the horse’s reach.

“We’re hoping to hit ten thousand over this season, that should get us through the next year,” he replies. “Any amount you can give is appreciated.”

“Mm,” Cady hums pensively. “Let me make a call.”

“Um… okay,” the driver shrugs. Janis watches as Cady steps out of earshot and pulls out her phone. She can just about make out the words ‘ten thousand’ and ‘yes, I’m serious’ from this distance.

“Right,” Cady says as she hangs up and returns. “I obviously can’t give you that much money in person, but we can start with… oh, this,” she says, forking over another huge wad of money. “And someone from my lawyer’s office will be visiting your ranch in the coming days to make sure it’s all up to standards and give you the rest of the money, if that’s alright with you?”

“The… the rest of the ten grand, miss?”

“We’ll call it fifteen for luck, and in case the people here are more stingy than you’re accounting for,” Cady hums. “As long as you’ll use it to keep Butterscotch in the manner to which she’s accustomed.”

“Most of it, absolutely,” the driver says, seeming a bit shaken by what he’s just heard. “A-are you serious, ma’am?”

“Why does everyone keep asking me that? Of course I am,” Cady sighs. “Anyway. Merry Christmas, thank you.”

“M-merry Christmas,” the driver replies, waving back at them as they head back towards the market hand in hand.

“Are you allowed to drop this much money on random strangers?” Janis asks quietly. “This is all adding up really quick.”

“I’m a billionaire, Janis,” Cady chuckles. “What we’ve spent today is just a fraction of what I earn in a month. And to answer your question, I may do whatever I like with it once it crosses from my father’s hand to mine, thank you very much.”

“Alrighty then,” Janis nods.

They continue browsing the booths as they slowly start making their way back to the car. They each pick up a few things. Cady gets a small stack of books from a miniature bookstore and explains they’re all for one of her nieces. Janis picks up a few things she hopes, based on what little information the binder provided her, Cady’s family members will like.

They dodge paparazzi as best as they can in the meantime, trying to make their conversation look more interesting than it actually is and adding in the occasional kiss or small cuddle.

With a bottle of wintery artisan perfume for Janis’ mother, they decide to conclude their shopping for the day.

The driver is waiting for them when they return to the car. He helps them deposit their bags of goodies into the trunk next to the cookies and opens the back door for them to climb in.

“Well, that was satisfactory, I think,” Cady sighs as she pulls off her beanie inside the warm car. “Nicely done.”

It’s almost odd, now, being on the other side of the large car from Cady after spending hours practically glued to her side. Or her lips.

“Thanks,” she replies. “How often do we have to do that?”

“Oh, not very,” Cady replies. “If we do it too often it’ll come across as fake. So… once a week at most, if that.”

“Great,” Janis sighs, slumping down in her seat. It took more out of her than she was expecting.

“You can rest now, if you’d like. I’ll wake you up when we get back.”

“Yes, please and thank you,” Janis hums contently, pulling off her mittens to rest over her eyes and settling in for a short cat nap.

God, being rich is exhausting.

—————

Janis calls Damian when they get back to the… hotel? House? Both.

“You’re such a good actress!” Damian yells as soon as she puts the phone to her ear. She winces a bit at the loud noise directly against her eardrum.

“What?”

“The pictures and stuff from the date you went on!” Damian says. “You guys really look like you’re in love with each other.”

“Those are already out?” Janis asks.

“Yeah? When was the date?”

“We literally just got back,” Janis says in confusion. “I mean, it’s like a half hour drive and it took me another five minutes to get up to our room, but… like, literally just crossed the threshold.”

“Seriously? Damn, that is quick,” Damian says. “You guys make a cute couple.”

“Don’t get too attached,” Janis chuckles.

“Where is Cady now? Is she listening in? Are we being spied on?”

“Not by her, but probably. I don’t think the security people trust me,” Janis says. “I’m half expecting them to give me a pat down every time I leave our room. Cady’s… working… somewhere, I dunno. She went off in another direction when we got back.”

“Weird,” Damian says.

“Nobody else is here, we don’t have to keep up appearances,” Janis replies. “So… did the pictures have, like, words? To accompany them?”

“Some,” Damian says casually.

“And am I being slandered? Dragged through the coals?” Janis asks. “I’m too scared to look for myself. You have to be my window to the outside world through all of this.”

“I accept and I am deeply honored.”

“You already talk like Cady does,” Janis snorts.

“Wait, seriously?” Damian asks.

“Yeah, everyone in her family I’ve met so far talks like they’re stuck in a novel or something. Fancy words.”

“Who have you met so far?” Damian asks.

“Just her and her parents. Her brothers are supposed to come over the next couple weeks,” Janis says.

“How are the ‘rents?”

“Some of the tensest people I’ve ever seen,” Janis says. “They hate me.”

“Aren’t they supposed to?” Damian asks.

“Yeah, but not yet,” Janis replies. “What are they saying online?”

“Um… gimme a sec,” Damian says. “Cady Heron in a relationship with… those bitches! You are not trailer trash!”

“They said that?” Janis replies, unable to hold back a laugh. “I mean, I guess I kind of am by comparison.”

“Oh, someone on Twitter says you’re pretty,” Damian says. “Um… have you ever done crack?”

“What?!”

“Never mind,” Damian says. “Might be worth a try, though.”

“What the hell are you-”

“Definitely stay away from the internet for a while,” Damian interrupts.

“Okay? What does that have anything to do with crack?”

“Maybe just avoid both.”

“Noted,” Janis sighs. “Are they all that bad?”

“Most of them,” Damian says. “But hey, what do they know?”

“You are always saying they don’t know anything,” Janis says.

“What is she like?” Damian asks. Janis can practically see him lying on his stomach and kicking his feet back and forth like a teenage girl sharing the latest gossip.

“She’s… she… uh…”

“Beyond words?”

“In some ways,” Janis says. “She’s just… uh… she… I-I don’t know. She’s much different than she sounded in all the news stories you read me.”

“I told you! I told you they’ve always been wrong about her, I knew it!” Damian cheers.

“She’s… interesting. And she’s, like, surprisingly easy to make conversation with,” Janis continues. “And she seems… nice. I guess. She bought all of the snickerdoodles from a baker like it was totally normal.”

“It probably is for her,” Damian says. “Were they at least good cookies?”

“Oh, yeah,” Janis says. “Nothing on yours, but a close second.”

“That is the correct answer,” Damian replies. “I miss you.”

“I miss you too. It’s weird not being home,” Janis sighs. “I mean, this place is amazing, but it’s just… I dunno, not normal.”

“It’s only one year,” Damian comforts. “And you know damn well we aren’t celebrating until you’re here.”

“You guys are ridiculous,” Janis chuckles. “God, what does my mom have to say about all this?”

“She doesn’t know yet,” Damian says.

“Good.”

“She might not even find out unless one of us tells her, your mom’s never been one for social media or anything.”

“That’s true,” Janis sighs.

“What did you tell your family?”

“That I’m spending Christmas with a girl and not to check the news for three business months.”

“Smooooooth,” Damian replies. “You know Julie’s gonna find out.”

“I know,” Janis sighs. “I’ll think of some better way to explain this to them without getting them hounded by lawyers.”

“If today is anything to go by you’re gonna want to get on that quick.”

“It’s scary, honestly,” Janis says with an ironic chuckle. “Don’t they have to edit the pictures first?”

“Gossip waits for no man.”

“Sadly true.”

Janis looks up when there’s a faint knock on the door. Cady comes in behind it, but ducks back out when she sees Janis is on the phone.

“Dame, I gotta go,” Janis says, motioning Cady back in when she peeks through a crack left in the door. “I’ll call you back later.”

“Is it her?”

“Yes,” Janis huffs with an affectionate eye roll. “Love you.”

“Tell her I say hi! And that I really admire her strength!” Damian says. “Oh, love you too. Bye.”

“Hi,” Janis sighs as she hangs up the phone and plops it into her lap.

“Hello,” Cady greets. “Sorry for interrupting.”

“It’s fine. Nothing important,” Janis shrugs. “Just Damian.”

“Your friend?”

“Yeah. He says hi, by the way,” Janis chuckles.

“How sweet. Hello back,” Cady says with a quiet giggle.

“What’s up?”

“Bad news,” Cady sighs. “My parents want you to have dinner with us tonight.”

“Okay,” Janis says. “Is… is that it?”

“I was hoping I could save you a while longer, I did my best to get you out yesterday, but they’re absolutely insistent about tonight and-”

“Cady,” Janis chuckles. “It’s fine. Part of the deal, I’ll manage. How bad could it be?”

—-

Janis quickly learns exactly how bad it can be.

The first ten minutes or so pass in absolute silence, which would be nice if it didn’t feel like an omen of things to come. The only sounds are muffled (and very polite) chewing, forks hitting impossibly fancy plates, and Cady occasionally inhaling like she’s about to speak before she decides against it.

At least the food is good. Really good. Janis is willing to bet something like this would cost her at least a hundred dollars in a restaurant. And she gets it for free every night for almost a month.

She locks eyes with Cady across the table at one point. Cady looks back as she chews a mouthful of her salmon. Janis tries to surreptitiously shift her eyes to Cady’s parents, trying to ask if she should make conversation or something without speaking. Cady shakes her head slightly and gives a small nod in the direction of her mother.

Janis dares to sneak a glance as she cuts off another bite of her own fish. Mrs. Heron’s eyes are firmly on her plate. Janis half expects to see it spontaneously combust under the intensity of her glare.

Her fish isn’t faring much better. For a woman who puts such emphasis on manners and politeness, she’s absolutely mangled her poor dinner. Janis quickly learns why as she sees her sawing at the delicate fish with terrifying aggression. Aggression that Janis knows is entirely aimed at her.

Janis jumps a bit and tries to play it off when Cady’s father suddenly clears his throat a bit and says, “So… um.”

“Janis, father,” Cady supplies quietly.

“So, Janis, tell us about your family,” Mr. Heron continues.

Janis freezes with her fork halfway to her mouth and politely rests it back on her plate. “Oh, um… it’s much less interesting than yours, sir. I have a little sister, she’s eighteen. Graduating high school in the spring. And then there’s my mom.”

“And your father?” Mrs. Heron asks in a tone Janis can only describe as snooty.

“My biological father passed away when I was four,” Janis says softly. “And my stepfather is… erm, we don’t know exactly, but somewhere in Arizona. He left when I came out.”

Mrs. Heron’s eye twitches slightly at the mere mention of a stepfather, especially an absent one. Mr. Heron seems to regret opening a conversation at all and quietly returns to his dinner. Janis looks at Cady apologetically, but she shrugs and mouths, “You tried.”

“The salmon is amazing,” Janis says, giving another feeble attempt at… something.

“Thank you,” Mr. Heron says when neither his wife or daughter respond. “We pride ourselves on our chefs.”

“I see why.”

Everyone gives a small nod and continues eating. It feels almost like a scene in a movie before a car comes crashing through a wall or something else spectacularly dramatic.

But an astounding amount of nothing happens, and the rest of the meal passes in silence.

—-

“So. See what I mean now?”

“Oh my god,” Janis groans as she crawls into the large bed next to her. “That felt like if I breathed wrong some nuclear missile was gonna go off or something. Tensest meal of my life.”

“You’ll want to get used to that,” Cady chuckles.

“I’ll be able to do brain surgery after this trip. Face anything with steady hands.”

“This was actually a more pleasant dinner,” Cady says thoughtfully. “I’m honestly surprised my mother hasn’t torn into you yet.”

“Me too. I’m waiting for it every time I turn a corner,” Janis chuckles.

“I’m sorry,” Cady says suddenly. “I don’t want you to be so… on edge.”

“Part of the job,” Janis replies. “I can handle whatever she says, I just don’t like the whole element of surprise.”

“Are you sure? I knew I should’ve prepared you for them more-”

“Cady, it’s fine,” Janis says. “It’s three weeks. They might be taking years off my life in terms of my cardiac health every time we talk, but I’ll manage.”

“I’m very glad it’s you that bumped into me on that sidewalk.”

“Me too,” Janis says. “But you totally bumped into me.”

“I did not!” Cady scoffs.

“You did! You were off like a shot, you ran me over!”

“Wouldn’t have been an issue if you weren’t standing in the way,” Cady huffs, crossing her arms over her chest as they both stare up at nothing in the darkness.

“I was only in the way because I needed into the building you were catapulting yourself out of.”

“And you could’ve waited your turn!”

“The windows are tinted, I couldn’t see you until the door almost broke my nose!” Janis defends.

“I did not almost break your nose.”

“You could’ve,” Janis pouts. “Or my ass.”

“Your ass is fine.”

“Thanks.”

“Hey!”

—————

The rest of that week passes relatively smoothly. Meals are always awkward, but Janis has close to free reign to explore the impossibly large property at her will. Damian gets lots of pictures of the mountains, and Janis takes a few extra to use as references for paintings later.

The next Saturday, Janis gets to meet the first of Cady’s brothers. She and Cady are chatting in the parlor and munching on the (very few) leftover snickerdoodles from their date at the market.

“Auntie Cady!” a voice calls. Janis watches as Cady smiles and turns around. She smiled with her eyes. Janis hasn’t seen that before. And god, does she want to see it again.

“Who is this?” Cady asks, looking at a young boy and an even younger girl.

“It’s me! It’s Lennox!” the boy says.

“Mm,” Cady hums suspiciously. “I don’t think so. The Lenny I know is only about this tall.” She holds up a hand to demonstrate. “And he wasn’t missing any teeth!”

“I grew! And I lost my tooth, see? The tooth fairy brought me stock in Netflix!”

“You grew?!” Cady asks like it’s the most shocking thing in the world. “Let me see. Same hair.” She ruffles it with a hand. “Same eyes. Same cute smile. Lenny?!”

“Yeah!” Lennox says eagerly. Cady laughs and wraps him in a hug.

“My favorite little guy, I missed you!” she says. “And if that’s Lenny, then… this must be Fifi!”

The little girl shrieks happily as Cady picks her up and spins her around, her blonde braids whirling around behind her.

“Hi,” Cady grins when they come to a stop, looking at the girl still in her arms.

“Hi, Auntie Cady,” the girl replies. “You gotta, um… you gotta… um… meet, um… Nomie.”

“Oh, my god, I do,” Cady says. Janis watches in slight confusion as she kisses the little girl’s cheek and puts her back down. A woman approaches with a tiny baby in her arms. “Oh, she’s beautiful.”

“Thank you,” the woman replies. “Naomi Charlotte.”

“Hi, Naomi,” Cady murmurs, gently stroking the baby’s head. “Happy almost first Christmas!”

“Do you want to hold her?”

“Can I?” Cady asks. The woman nods and gently passes the baby over. Janis is watching curiously until she feels a small finger prodding at her leg.

“Hey,” Janis greets.

“Who are you?” Lennox asks suspiciously. The girl crosses her arms behind him like a hype man.

“I’m Janis.”

“Oh my god,” Cady gasps. “I completely forgot! Janis, this is my nephew Lennox, and my nieces Fiona and Naomi,” she says, gesturing between the girl and the baby. “And my sister-in-law Madeleine, and my brother Callum.”

“But who’s she?!” Lennox insists, pointing to Janis.

“Lennox,” Callum scolds. “Manners.”

“Excuse me miss,” Lennox says politely. “Who are you?”

Callum rolls his eyes fondly. “Apologies, we’re working on it. Callum Heron, pleasure.”

“Janis Sarkisian. Same,” Janis replies, trying not to wince at the very firm handshake she receives.

“Janis is… my girlfriend,” Cady says, walking over and smiling at her. She leans in for a kiss, which Janis returns.

“Girlfriend?!” Madeleine says. Janis braces. Are they homophobic? “And you didn’t tell me?! Cady! What happened to sisterhood?”

“You know how it is, Maddie,” Cady chuckles. “I’ll tell you everything over tea tomorrow. I promise.”

“You’d better. Give me my baby back,” Madeleine says.

“No. My Naomi,” Cady refuses, turning away when Madeline approaches to take her back. “Fine. I’ll just take… this one!”

Fiona squeals happily as Cady picks her back up. “Auntie Cady!”

“What?” Cady says, holding Fiona on her hip.

“Daddy’s mean.”

“Daddy’s mean?” Cady says, grinning at her brother. “Well, we can’t have that. What did he do this time?”

“He maked me sit in my car seat the whole entiwe time!” Fiona says in exasperation. “And! And-and he says I don’t getta have any mowe cookies!”

“No more cookies?” Cady gasps in horror.

“Today! I said no more cookies today,” Callum huffs. “She’s already had six!”

“Six cookies?” Cady asks, looking at the little girl just to put the whole story together.

“Wittle cookies,” Fiona defends.

“Little cookies,” Cady hums thoughtfully. “Well. Far be it from me to undermine your daddy’s parenting.”

“Auntie Cady!” Fiona whines. “Pwease?”

“But I suppose,” Cady says dramatically. “That…”

“I don’t count,” Janis says, catching onto where Cady’s going with this. Something tells her getting into these kids’ good books is very important, so she offers the little girl one of the cookies she and Cady brought. “Here. I’ll undermine your dad’s parenting anytime.”

“Thank you Miss Janis!” Fiona says eagerly, wiggling to be put down. Janis grins and accepts the offered handshake the toddler gives.

“You’re welcome, kiddo,” Janis chuckles. Lennox gets a cookie too, and they both bounce up and down eagerly. “Sorry, Callum.”

“At least Cades gave it a rest,” Callum sighs. “Merry Christmas, baby sister.”

“Merry Christmas, big brother,” Cady replies with a conniving smile.

“We’re gonna go get settled in. Nice to meet you, Janis,” Callum says.

“You too,” Janis nods.

“Auntie Cady, will you play with us?!” Lennox asks eagerly. “I brought my new fire truck!”

“Oh my gosh, of course! But you should go get settled in with your family first. Come find me in a little bit and I promise I’ll play fire truck with you,” Cady replies. Lennox pouts the slightest bit, but he follows his father towards their rooms. She crouches down as Fiona tugs on the leg of her pants. “What’s up, Fifi?”

“I like Miss Janis,” Fiona whispers conspiratorially. She’s not quite gotten whispering down, since everyone around can hear her. Cady smiles.

“I like her too. Go find your family,” Cady whispers back, kissing her niece’s cheek and sending her off to find her parents with a gentle pat on her back. “Sorry about that, I should’ve warned you.”

“No, it was fine. You can’t know when any social interaction is going to happen. They seem nice,” Janis says.

“Yeah,” Cady says, grinning faintly at the carpet.

“You really love those kids,” Janis says quietly. “Was cute.”

“I do,” Cady nods. “They’re exhausting, but they’re sweet kids.”

“How old are they?”

“Lenny’s six,” Cady says. “Crazy. He was born yesterday. Fifi’s three, and Naomi is… ffffffour months? Around there.”

“Cute. Perfect spacing,” Janis chuckles. “Does anyone else have kids?”

“Yeah, Charlie and Clif both have kids too,” Cady says. “You’ll meet them later. They’re slightly less tiring.”

“Cool,” Janis replies. Cady smiles at her and nods.

“Cool.”

—-

Janis gets to meet another brother just before dinner. Cady is doing a last frantic check of their outfits before they head in, making sure every last detail is presentable.

A man steps through the front door behind them. Cady doesn’t notice, absorbed with cuffing the sleeves of Janis’ sweater. Janis recognizes him as… one of the brothers, from the photos in her binder, so she figures there’s no need for alarm. He points to Cady and makes a hush gesture with his finger against his lips. Janis gives a surreptitious nod while Cady isn’t looking.

She smiles when he sneaks up and snatches Cady around the waist, hauling her off her feet and twirling her in a rather aggressive circle. Cady shrieks in surprise and tries in vain to wiggle her way out of the tight hold.

Her brother puts her back down and gives a billion-dollar smile when Cady whirls around in a huff to see which one it was. “You’re such an asshole, Clifton!”

“Oh, man, full named by my own baby sister?” Clifton sighs. “Tough crowd.”

Cady smiles widely and wraps her brother in a tight hug. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too. How’ve they been?”

“Them,” Cady mumbles. Her brother nods and gently pats the top of her head. “I hate you.”

“Look, you haven’t grown since you were eleven and that is not my fault,” Clifton says. “Seriously, though, they’ve…”

“They’ve been their usual uncaring selves, Clif, I don’t know what else to tell you,” Cady sighs. “All father can talk about is the latest tax information and all mother can talk about is the Christmas party and my fucking audacity.”

“Audacity?” Clifton questions. Cady motions vaguely towards Janis, who gives a small wave. “Oh, hello. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to ignore you. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Janis smiles a bit as she accepts his offered handshake. She can tell he has absolutely no idea who she is, but there’s a genuine kindness in his eyes that tells Janis he’d greet her the same way if she was the help or his father’s latest business partner.

“Janis Sarkisian,” she says. “Nice to meet you too, Clifton.”

He had a special note on his page. Exclusively goes by Clif, but let him tell you that. It makes him happy.

“Oh, god, please call me Clif. Only my parents call me Clifton,” he says. Janis smirks and nods a bit. Exactly as the book said.

“Got it.”

Clifton looks back to Cady for an explanation as to how this all comes together. Cady tilts her head and looks at him pityingly, seeing if he can piece it together himself. He frowns for a moment, and then his eyebrows raise quite high on his forehead.

“You’re the girlfriend! Oh! Well, in that case, I’m fucking delighted to meet you!”

“I am,” Janis laughs. “I don’t think I’m allowed to swear back, but I’m… really delighted to meet you too.”

“I have all of Cady’s most embarrassing baby stories, you’ll have to come find me anytime you need something against her,” Clifton says. “And I know all the tricks when she gets to be too much to deal with.”

“Hey!” Cady says. “Dickhead.”

“Brat,” Clifton retaliates.

“That’s uncalled for,” Cady says. “Now come on, where are they?”

“They’re coming, kid, chill,” Clifton chuckles. Janis is briefly confused, wondering who she means, until a blonde woman comes in the door with a baby and a young girl.

“There they are!” Cady squeals. Janis is more confused when she rushes to pull the little girl into a hug, being careful not to crush her thick glasses. “How’s my brilliant niece?”

“I’m good,” the girl replies. “How are you, Auntie Cady?”

“Fantastic now that you’re here! Oh, you’re so tall!” Cady coos. “And look at you, munchkin!”

“Hi!” the baby says happily. Cady gasps.

“You can talk!”

“Hi!” the baby repeats.

“Alright, well, that counts,” Cady says. “Oh, and you have glasses too, you match! You’re both so big.”

“And who’s this?” the woman asks, looking at Janis.

“Hm?” Cady hums. Janis sighs and hopes it comes off affectionately.

“This is Cady’s famous girlfriend, Janis,” Clifton says. “Janis, this is my wife, Hannah, and my daughters Eliana and Elspeth.”

“But we call them Lana and Elsie,” Cady fills in with the baby in her arms. “Don’t we, Els?”

“Hi,” Elsie says, waving to Janis.

“Hi,” Janis chuckles, waving back.

“Hi!”

“Hi!” Janis laughs.

“Yes, that is all she knows how to say for now,” Clifton chuckles. “But we’re working on it.”

“She’s cute enough to make up for it,” Cady says. “But I wanna hear all about what Lana’s been reading lately! Oh, but you guys must be tired. Okay, Lana, we’ll have a chat in the morning. First thing, alright?”

“Okay,” the girl giggles. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, guys,” Cady says. She kisses her nieces and brother on the cheek and hands the baby over. Hannah comes to shake Janis’ hand.

“It is really nice to meet you,” she says. Janis shakes her hand politely, analyzing every inch of the bottle blonde woman. Whereas Clif seemed genuinely fucking delighted to meet her, Hannah looks at her like she’s the absolute scum of the earth. She clearly also came from money. In a far different way than her husband.

“Nice to meet you too,” Janis says. “Have a good night.”

“Enjoy your last night without the parents, Clify,” Cady teases.

“Enjoy your night with them, Cadence,” Clifton retaliates. “Nice to meet you, Janis.”

“You too. Goodnight,” Janis responds. Cady sighs as they head to the elevators and comes to stand by Janis. “Shall we?”

“God, help,” Cady mutters under her breath. “At least we have Callum now.”

—————

Janis yawns as she wakes up the next morning. Cady, as always, is already long gone, her side of the huge bed neatly made and no sign of life to be found.

Janis rolls out of bed and gets dressed. She and Cady are meant to be going out again today, so she dons some cozy but presentable clothes and runs a brush through her hair.

Cady usually waits for her either at the breakfast table or somewhere along her way down so they can eat together. Janis makes her way down through the winding halls and towards the dining room.

She about jumps out of her skin when she sees a large man with long blonde hair sitting there instead of Cady.

She turns around, wondering if she has the wrong room or maybe even the wrong house, somehow. There’s certainly no sign of Cady.

The man looks up when he notices her staring. “Oh, hey!”

“Uh… hi,” Janis responds warily.

“I’m Clark,” he says. “Nice to meet you.”

“You too,” Janis says. “I’m Janis.”

“Janis…” he mutters, trying to figure out where he knows her.

“I’m, uh… Cady’s girlfriend,” she says.

“Janis!” Clark replies eagerly, his eyes practically lighting up as he puts the pieces together. “That’s what’s up.”

Janis isn’t totally sure how to respond to that, so she just nods.

“Cady had a meeting,” Clark explains. “She should be out soon.”

Janis nods again and pulls out her phone to order her breakfast. “Cady said you programmed this?”

“Haha, yeah,” Clark says. “Pretty sick, right?”

“Yeah, it’s amazing,” Janis says. “Really handy.”

“Thanks,” Clark says with a very ‘bro’ nod. Janis looks closer and notices his eyes are a bit red.

“Um… this might be overstepping, but… are you okay?”

“I’m doing just fine on this ride,” Clark responds. “Oh, shit, are my eyes red?” Janis nods. “Damn. Have you seen my parents?”

“Not recently?” Janis responds in confusion.

“I had a looooot of edibles on the flight,” Clark says. “And the way home. And for breakfast. Hey, you want some? These lil’ shits are amazing, they’ll open your eyes to a whole new world of-”

“Clark, stop trying to give my girlfriend drugs,” Cady says as she comes clicking down the hall. She comes up behind Janis and bends down to kiss her cheek. “Good morning, baby.”

“Morning,” Janis replies, gently giving her a peck on the lips. She passes Cady her phone so she can put in her own breakfast order and asks, “How was your meeting?”

“Tedious,” Cady sighs, massaging the back of her neck as she taps in her order.

“Baby sisteeeeeeer?” Clark singsongs from across the table.

“Yes?”

“Will you get me some waffles?”

“You literally have your laptop in front of you, order your own,” Cady huffs.

“If I touch anything the program I’m working on won’t work anymore,” Clark whines. “Pleeeeeease?”

“And where is your phone?” Cady hums.

“In my room,” Clark replies sheepishly, like a toddler with a broken toy.

“You’re a nuisance,” Cady sighs as she adds the waffles to the order.

“With strawberries?”

Cady rolls her eyes and types it into the notes section before sending it off. “Yes, you’re a nuisance with strawberries.”

“Bro, that’s my favorite cologne!”

“What does that even- never mind,” Cady sighs. “Have you two gotten introduced or did he move right into trying to get you high?”

“We got introduced,” Janis chuckles. “And I appreciate it, but I haven’t really been one to get high since college.”

“If you ever want to, he’s your man,” Cady hums. “He’s got all kinds of stuff.”

“You ever done ‘shrooms?” Clark asks.

“What?! No!” Janis says. “Just weed.”

“You should try ‘shrooms,” Clark says. “Shit, dude.”

“He’s kind of the black sheep of the family,” Cady whispers.

“I see why,” Janis whispers back. “He’s nice though.”

“He is. He’s a good brother,” Cady chuckles.

“Do you have them all ranked?” Janis asks. Cady blushes and presses her lips into a thin line before she gives a small nod. “Where’s he?”

“Fourth,” Cady replies softly. “He and Callum are pretty close, though. Callum’s third.”

“Who’s first?”

“Clif,” Cady says immediately. “Always has been.”

“That makes sense. Clif’s a really good guy,” Janis replies.

“Just wait til you meet Chester,” Cady sighs. “Clif will seem like an angel who walks the Earth by comparison.”

“Can’t wait.”

—————-

Janis is violently awoken the next morning by Cady crashing back into their room after a clearly busy morning. She winces when she realizes just how loud she’s being and turns to look at Janis.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers, as if being quiet now will undo the cacophony a mere second ago.

“It’s fine,” Janis says, panting a bit to get her breath back. “Morning.”
“Good morning,” Cady chuckles.

Janis watches as she heads to her closet to pull out an elegant pair of slacks and a sweater. She hesitates, moving to put the sweater back and then changing her mind a few times.

“Do you have any sweaters I could borrow? I promise I’ll take good care of it,” Cady says. Janis yawns and rubs her eyes.

“Uh… sure. Why?”

“Maddie and Hannah and I always have tea whenever we’re all in the same place. They’d, er… really get a kick out of seeing me in something of yours.”

“Have at it,” Janis says, motioning to her own closet. Cady shoots her a thankful smile and heads over to pick something.

“So soft!” she gasps upon feeling the first garment. “Wow, everything is.”

“I’m nothing if not comfortable,” Janis chuckles sleepily. Cady picks the cream colored sweater Janis wore on her flight and looks at her to confirm she can actually borrow it. Janis nods, so Cady pads off to the restroom to change with some privacy.

Janis looks at the clock and sees it’s already 10:30, so she decides she should probably also get ready for the day. She would take a page out of Cady’s book and ask to borrow something, but Cady’s clothes are all probably worth more than Janis’ apartment. And Cady’s also roughly two-thirds of her size.

She dons a pair of dark jeans and a deep berry-colored button down. It’s soft enough to be comfortable through the day, and fancy enough that she won’t have to get changed before dinner with Cady’s family. A win-win.

“Whoa,” Cady says under her breath upon returning from the bathroom.

“Hm?” Janis hums.

“You look nice,” Cady replies, scurrying past her to find some shoes.

“Oh. Thanks,” Janis says, subconsciously tugging at her collar.

“You should wear that color more often,” Cady says.

“I might,” Janis says as she tries very very hard not to blush. “Am I supposed to go with you?”

“Not unless you really want to. You can just enjoy your day,” Cady shrugs. “I’ll catch up with you later. Since there’s more people around now we’ll need to spend a bit more time together or it’ll be suspicious.”

“Sounds good,” Janis says. Cady gives her a nod and a smile as she heads back out the door.

Janis flops back into bed and pulls out her phone. She texts Damian his usual morning update and plays a color by numbers game to pass a bit of time. She’d ordinarily go exploring or find someone to chat with, but it’s very cold this morning and Cady’s family is starting to wear on her just the slightest bit. She needs her own company and the warmth of the indoors for a while.

She startles when she hears a scream.

It sounds like Cady. Without thinking, Janis jumps up and runs off in the direction it came from.

Cady and her sisters-in-law all pause and look at her oddly when she goes bursting in. Janis also freezes in her tracks when she sees everything is perfectly fine. Cady and Madeleine are mid-hug, but there’s nothing concerning. Of course nothing happened, the security around here is nuts.

“Sorry. I heard a scream,” Janis mumbles. “I’ll just- uh…”

“Join us,” Madeleine offers. “We’d love to have you.”

“Oh, I don’t wanna intrude,” Janis says sheepishly. “Sorry for… literally crashing.”

“Nonsense!” Hannah titters. “We’d love to get to know you better.”

Janis looks at Cady to see if she wants her to join. Cady smiles at her the slightest bit, still firmly in the arms of Madeleine, and nods.

“Uh… if you’re sure, I guess,” Janis says. Hannah pulls up a chair for her to join them at the table covered with little desserts, sandwiches, and some a very fancy china tea set. “Thank you.”

“Hi!” Elsie chirps delightedly when she sees Janis. Apparently the littlest ones get to hang out with their mothers, because Madeleine has Naomi asleep in her free arm.

“Hey, Elsie!” Janis greets with just as much excitement. Elsie smiles in delight at the returned greeting, and Janis smiles back. Hannah suddenly hoists her over the table. “Oh, uh-”

“She wants you to hold her,” Hannah says. Janis hesitates, but does take the baby.

“Do you have experience with little ones?” Madeleine asks as she and Cady finally stop hugging and sit back down.

“Not for a long time. I’m six years older than my little sister, so I helped my mom with her sometimes, but she’s… y’know, not a baby anymore,” Janis says with a chuckle.

“You have a sister?” Hannah asks.

“Yeah. Half-sister, technically,” Janis says, bouncing Elsie on her knee. “Her name’s Juliana. Julie.”

“Your parents did the same letter thing too, huh?” Madeleine chuckles.

“There’s nothing wrong with that!” Hannah defends.

“You’re just saying that because you did it too, Han,” Cady teases. “Didn’t she, Els?”

“Hi,” Elsie says.

“Hi,” Cady giggles in reply.

“Can I ask what that scream was about?” Janis asks. Hannah and Madeleine both look to Cady, who hunches in on herself a bit and hides her blushing face behind Janis’ back. Elsie tries to turn and see where her auntie has gone, making Janis struggle to keep a hold on the wiggly little one.

“I’m expecting again,” Madeleine chuckles. “I just told these two, and Cady always gets excited when there’s a pregnancy.”

“Oh, congratulations!” Janis says. “Yeah, she talks about your kids all the time.”

“Thank you,” Madeleine says.

“I do not talk about them all the time,” Cady huffs.

“At least once a day,” Janis retaliates. “That’s all the time.”

“Is not!”

“Is so,” Janis says. “Right, Elsie?”

“Hi!” Elsie declares vehemently.

“Yeah,” Janis nods. “She agrees.”

“With me,” Cady says. “Or she’s a little traitor.”

“That was clearly agreement with me!” Janis scoffs.

“You better learn to say more words quick, Elsie,” Cady warns jokingly. “We’re gonna need you to settle debates for us.”

Elsie’s bespectacled eyes widen the slightest bit as she becomes aware of this new responsibility on her year-old shoulders. Cady giggles and kisses her cheek.

“Do you want some tea or anything, honey?” Cady asks. “I forgot to serve you, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, baby,” Janis replies. “I’m not really a tea person, anyway, you know that. Those sandwiches look pretty good though, I wouldn’t mind one of those.”

Hannah takes the (probably genuine) silver tongs to grab a finger sandwich and rest it on a saucer. Janis takes it and rests it in front of herself, just out of reach of little hands.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” Hannah says. It’s quiet for a few seconds. Cady leans in against Janis’ shoulder and apparently decides to continue their conversation from before Janis’ entrance.

“Do you know what you’re having, yet, Maddie?”

“Yes, but you can’t tell your brother,” Madeleine says warningly.

“I won’t!” Cady whines. “You can trust me, come on.”

“It’s another boy,” Madeleine says. Cady squeals sharply into Janis’ ear and does a very undignified tap dance beneath the table. Janis laughs just seeing her forgo all the etiquette and elegance she normally has. It’s nice, in a kind of strange way. Cady seems free when she’s with her sisters.

“A boy! Really?” Cady asks eagerly. Madeleine nods. “Oh, how perfect! Lenny gets a brother, that’ll be so sweet.”

“He’s been begging for a brother for years,” Madeleine says. “He’s great with the girls, but I know he wants a brother too. We haven’t told the kids I’m expecting yet, though. We want to tell them on Christmas morning.”

“Have you told Mother and Father?” Cady asks.

“Not yet. We might do that on Christmas too, we’re just trying to find the right time,” Madeleine shrugs. “And Callum’s present this year is finding out the sex, so don’t tell him.”

“I won’t!” Cady insists. Janis chuckles and gently rests her head against Cady’s as it still sits on her shoulder.

“How long have you guys been doing this?” Janis asks, laughing as Elsie tries to join the cuddle session and eventually settles for just flopping down over both of their laps.

“We’ve been doing tea in some form or another since Hannah and Clif got married, so I would’ve been… nine,” Cady says.

“Wow,” Janis says.

“A nine year old Cady is hard to bond with,” Hannah chuckles. “But she’s so important to Clifton, I started it just to have some way to get close to her. Madeline married Callum a few years later and joined us.”

“And Charles’ wife Violeta joins us sometimes, but she’s arriving late this year,” Madeleine explains.

“It’s a fun sister thing,” Cady explains. “But never more than the four of us. You know Clark never married, and he got banned after he dosed his own tea with acid one year. And Chester’s wife…”

“…Chester’s wife?” Janis questions.

“She hasn’t told you?” Hannah asks in shock.

“No,” Janis says. “Should-should I be worried, what’s-”

“Chester’s wife and I dated in high school,” Cady spits out. “For a year. And she hates me because I broke her heart when I ended things. So she got her revenge on me by… marrying my brother.”

“We don’t really talk to her much,” Madeleine explains.

“Oh,” Janis says. “Well, she sounds like a real catch.”

“Wait until you meet her,” Cady grumbles. “I never told you about her for a reason.”

“She can’t be that bad,” Janis says.

“She married Chester. Willingly,” Cady says. Janis nods.

“Maybe she can.”

“She can,” Madeleine and Hannah say at the same time.

“She’s a big fashion designer and model now,” Cady says. “She was a millionaire before, but she definitely married Chester for his money.”

“I never liked her,” Madeleine growls. Janis takes that much more seriously. Madeleine always seems so genuine and welcoming; at least in the brief interactions they’ve had so far. Hearing that much venom in her tone tells Janis almost everything she needs to know about this woman.

“My tastes have improved significantly,” Cady hums, leaning up for a kiss. Janis returns it and adds one on the tip of Cady’s nose for good measure.

“To say the least,” Hannah says with a chuckle. There’s a glint in her eye that tells Janis she doesn’t quite mean that. That she’s watching her. Janis doesn’t mind. “How long have the two of you been together?”

“About three years,” Janis replies easily. Cady smiles and cuddles back into her side, booping Elsie’s nose on Janis’ lap.

“In January,” Cady says to fill in the gaps.

“Tell us all about your little meet-cute, then,” Madeleine says as she takes a sip of her tea. Janis and Cady both tense the slightest bit and look at each other.

“I work in one of the branches of the café Mr. Heron owns,” Janis begins, trying to keep any hesitance from her voice.

“And I was doing a locations check with him as part of my studies,” Cady says, following along with their slightly edited story. “I was running behind and left the building in a hurry.”

“And I… was late for work,” Janis admits. “So I didn’t see her and she came flying out the door and knocked me over.”

“I wouldn’t have knocked you over if your shoes had been tied!” Cady insists.

“At the speed you were going, you so would’ve,” Janis teases. “Anyway. I looked up and saw her, and she was just… the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen.”

“And I thought the same,” Cady says softly, looking into Janis’ eyes. Janis feels her cheeks burning and quickly looks away. She takes a bite of her sandwich as a diversion. It’s quite good, but she can feel Hannah’s judgements of her manners from here. “So I snuck back the next day to give her my contact information.”

“And it took a little bit of finagling, but we eventually made things official,” Janis says. “And here we are.”

“Here we are,” Cady echoes softly. She looks at Janis oddly as she adds, “I’ve… never been happier.”

Janis blushes again and decides to hide this one with a kiss. Cady returns it and gently cups her cheek.

“Alright, lovebirds, it’s impolite to make out over tea,” Madeleine says. They did hear a whistle come from her direction, though, so they both know how she really feels about it.

“Sorry,” Janis chuckles.

“Not sorry,” Cady says with a content little wiggle. Janis can’t help but laugh.

“Dork.”

“Hey!” Cady pouts.

“She’s right, Cades,” Hannah chuckles.

“Hmph.”

Janis gently kisses Cady’s pout away before turning to the other ladies. “So… you guys must have little Cady stories. Do you have any favorites I should know?”

“We have small Cady stories, not quite little Cady stories,” Hannah corrects. “Clif’s told me a few, though.”

“Oh god,” Cady groans. “Clif has all the good ones.”

“Do tell,” Janis says eagerly.

“His personal favorite happened… a lot,” Hannah continues, her smile growing as Cady whines and hides in Janis’ lap next to Elsie. The baby giggles and wraps herself around her auntie’s head, and neither of them complain.

“Mmh,” Cady whines.

“All the kids in the family grew up with nannies and also taking language classes, I’m sure you know Cady’s a polyglot?” Hannah says. Janis nods. She didn’t, but she’s clearly supposed to. “How many languages do you speak again, Cady?”

“Seven,” Cady replies, muffled by Janis’ lap. Elsie giggles again as the word tickles her tummy.

“You speak seven languages and never told me?!” Janis gasps. “That’s crazy!”

“She never told you?” Madeleine questions.

“Oh, uh… I mean, I knew she spoke a bunch, but she doesn’t like to brag about stuff like that around me. So she never told me, like, exactly how many,” Janis says. Her teeth are starting to ache lying through them so much.

“Anyway, so when Cady was a little one she was, er… prone to tantrums,” Hannah says as gently as she can.

“She still is,” Madeleine teases.

“Hey!” Cady huffs.

“But she didn’t always know what language she was speaking, so sometimes she would cry and scream for something in Spanish or French or whatever without realizing, and she had no idea nobody could understand her,” Hannah says. “Which only made her more frustrated and escalated everything.”

“Aww,” Janis chuckles. She doesn’t know what to do with her hands while she listens. She eventually settles for combing them through the ends of Cady’s hair in gentle strokes. Her hair is impossibly soft, and Cady doesn’t complain, so she continues.

“But the kicker is that that’s how everyone else picked up all those languages,” Hannah says with a very polite laugh. “Eventually they put together everything she was saying, and now all her brothers and her parents are at least conversational in everything she speaks.”

“From her tantrums?”

“From her tantrums,” Hannah confirms.

“That’s very impressive for toddler you, baby,” Janis says, gently running a hand through Cady’s hair.

“Oh, no, she was about nine by the time she stopped that. Clif and I were dating, I even got to see a few,” Hannah corrects.

“I told you I was a brat,” Cady grumbles.

“I can kind of see that,” Janis chuckles.

“Can we be done with the bullying Cady hour now please?”

“Pfft, no way,” Janis chuckles. “I need to know this stuff.”

“Why?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Elsie,” Cady whines. Elsie giggles. “Tell Janis to stop being so mean.”

“Hi,” Elsie says.

“Yeah, hi. Big help there, kid.”

“Don’t be mean to her,” Hannah jokes.

“You guys are being mean to me, I gotta return the favor on someone!” Cady huffs, finally sitting upright and taking the baby with her.

“Hi?” Elsie questions, patting Cady’s cheeks.

“Hi, Els,” Cady chuckles.

“Now let us tell you about how the first tea time went,” Madeleine says.

“Maddie, don’t you dare!”

—————

Cady gives a truly spectacular groan as she wakes up the next morning. Janis startles a bit from her spot next to her. She’s not used to Cady still being there, and certainly not used to… whatever that was.

“Good morning,” she says softly. “What’s the matter?”

“Chester,” Cady grumbles. “He’ll be arriving today. He’s absolutely insufferable.”

“He can’t be so bad,” Janis says, trying to keep the peace.

“Oh, he is,” Cady sighs in reply, pulling herself into a very slow sit. “He has been since we were children. Everyone treated him like the baby. Because he was. And he probably was supposed to be. And then I came along, and he’s quite literally hated me ever since.”

“Damn,” Janis says. “I’m sorry.”

“I have four other brothers to make up for his lacking,” Cady shrugs. “None of them like him either.”

Janis can’t tell if she feels bad for Chester or not. Her loyalties obviously lie with Cady, but she feels bad for the man who seems to have been moderately ostracized by his entire sibling group.

“What’s so bad about him?” Janis questions. “Just so I know what I’m dealing with, and everything.”

“Oh, just wait,” Cady sighs. “You’ll know as soon as you shake his hand, I promise you.”

Janis tries to contain her panic, and nods. What kind of hell is this going to be?

—-

Cady turned out to be completely right.

Well, almost.

Chester doesn’t so much as shake her hand as… parade through the front door and use her as a coatrack.

“Hey!” Janis huffs, tugging his very nice cashmere coat off her face. “I’m a human person, y’know.”

“Congratulations, now be a dear and hang it up, would you? We’re not paying you to just stand around, are we?”

“We’re not paying her anything,” Cady growls, taking the coat and chucking it back at her brother. “That’s my girlfriend, you blind oaf.”

Chester looks Janis up and down before raising a suspicious eyebrow at his baby sister. “Really?”

“Yes, really, and I don’t care to hear your irrelevant judgements about it. Now piss off,” Cady says.

“Such hostility, Cady darling. Do you really still hold a grudge against me after all these years?” Chester hums haughtily.

“It’s not a grudge if you’re still doing all the same shit, Checky,” Cady says. “Where’s your arm candy?”

“Regina is coming later, she had a previous engagement,” Chester says. Man, can this guy not talk like he’s straight out of a Dickens novel?

“So you decided to have your private jet take three flights instead of the one? Way to help the environment, Check.”

Chester trills his lips in disbelief. “I recycle!”

“Uhhuh,” Cady huffs.

“Where are the blasted maids? Since your beloved is apparently too good to hang up a simple coat.”

“You wouldn’t make Regina hang up my coat! Why should Janis have to?”

“Look at her, Cady,” Chester says pityingly. “She has the face.”

“She does not!” Cady gasps in horror. “Oh, you are unbelievable!”

“You’re getting hysterical, dear sister. Is it that time of the month?”

Janis has to physically hold Cady back at that point. They were meant to go right into dinner once Chester arrived, but Janis feels it’s better to be a bit late so Cady can have a chance to calm down than to subject the rest of Cady’s family to her current state.

“It was nice to meet you, Chester,” Janis says as she slowly drags Cady backwards towards the elevators.

“Yes, whatever. Service, hello?!”

“I see what you mean,” Janis sighs when the elevator doors slide shut and she feels it’s safe to release Cady.

“Urgh! He is such a bastard!” Cady says in frustration. “I hope he is. Would make me feel much better about our relationship.”

“You’re nothing like him,” Janis says softly. Cady looks at her with something almost tender in her eyes. “I promise. You weren’t perfect, but you at least looked at me like a person from the day we met.”

“Because you are,” Cady says softly. Janis isn’t sure how to respond when Cady shuffles up and leans against her shoulder. “I’m sorry to ask this after you’ve spent all this time getting dressed, but can we call out of dinner tonight? I cannot be civil around that… cretin.”

“Sure,” Janis laughs. “Tell them it was my fault.”

“No, no,” Cady says. “You’ve taken too many hits for me already.”

“That’s literally my job, here, isn’t it?” Janis says. “Make them hate me as much as possible?”

“No,” Cady huffs. “Your job is just to be here and try to enjoy yourself in spite of the lot of us.”

“But if your family is upset with you-”

“Then they’ll get over it. They need to see something good in you, if you take all the hits for me then this’ll all be for naught and you’ll be miserable in the meantime,” Cady says.

“Okay then,” Janis nods. “This was entirely your fault.”

Cady chuckles and gently whacks her arm. “Yes, it was. We’ll tell them I wasn’t feeling well and you heroically carried me all the way back to bed.”

“Do you want me to?” Janis asks.

“Hm?”

“How much do you weigh?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“No, not like that!” Janis says frantically. “Just, like… you look small. I could probably actually carry you to the room if you want. Make the story line up or whatever.”

“Could you really?” Cady asks in shock.

“Probably. If you want me to try I will,” Janis shrugs.

“You’re sure you won’t hurt yourself?” Cady asks.

“I mean, I’m not sure so to speak, but I’m pretty strong,” Janis says. “I go to the gym a lot and stuff.”

“Okay,” Cady says. “How should…”

Janis scoops Cady up baby style, linking her hands beneath her for support and desperately ignoring the fact that she’s touching Cady’s ass. Cady wraps her legs around her waist and rests her head on her shoulder with a content hum.

“We’re only doing this because Clark is on this floor,” Cady whispers as the doors open, sounding as if she doesn’t quite believe that herself. “You are strong.”

“Thanks,” Janis chuckles. “You are tiny.”

“Hey!” Cady whines.

“Shh. You’re not feeling well, remember?”

“Oh yeah,” Cady says. Janis chuckles when she yawns after.

“You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“Nooo,” Cady hums. “This is… mm. Purely for the cover.”

“Whatever you say,” Janis says. “Hey, what did Chester mean when he said I had the face? You seemed… pissed.”

“He meant you have the look of a maid. The help,” Cady sighs. “Asshole. He just meant you… look poor.”

“He’s not wrong,” Janis says.

“He is! The way he said that,” Cady growls. “I’m sick of people talking to you like that.”

“Cady, it’s fine,” Janis says. “I knew what I was getting into.”

“Still,” Cady grumbles. “That’s Clark’s room coming up, careful.”

“Oh, hey,” Clark greets when he sees them walk past his door. “Damn. You good, Cades?”

“She’s not feeling very well,” Janis says.

“Oh, dip. What’s up?” Clark asks, clearly concerned for his baby sister.

“It’s just a migraine,” Cady says, adding a tired rasp and the slightest hint of a whine to it. Just to seal the deal. “Will you tell Mother and Father we’ll be missing dinner tonight, please, Clarkie?”

“Yeah, I got you, fam,” Clark nods. “Must be bad if she’s calling me Clarkie. Janis, you… do you, like…”

“I can handle it,” Janis chuckles. “She just gets whiny.”

“I do not!” Cady whines. “I can feel you looking at each other, stop it.”

“I see,” Clark says gravely. “You sure you don’t need anything?”

“I’ll call for someone if we do,” Janis offers.

“Tight,” Clark nods. “Feel better, Cades.”

“Thanks,” Janis and Cady say at the same time. Janis continues walking to their own room, and they both burst out laughing as soon as the door closes.

“You’re a pretty good actress,” Janis says, resting Cady back on her feet.

“You are too! How did you know I get whiny when I’m sick?” Cady giggles.

“Lucky guess.”

“Hey!”

Janis just laughs again and flops backwards onto their bed. “God, this mattress is amazing. I forgot what having my back not hurt every day was like.”

“Really? This is pretty typical for what we use in the hotels,” Cady says. “What’s yours like at home?”

“A rock,” Janis replies. Just thinking about it makes her shoulders tense, so she rolls them out a few times. “I think it came original with my apartment building. Kind of a miracle I don’t have bed bugs or something.”

“My father owns your building,” Cady says softly. “Is it that bad?”

“No, no,” Janis says. It is, but if she lets Cady know that now her entire worldview will be shattered. Janis thinks it needs to be, just not right now. “It’s not a bad place to live, honestly. Roof over my head and all that. I just know I could… y’know, do better. If I made better money.”

Cady frowns thoughtfully. Janis knows that business oriented mind is whirring along, putting the pieces of Janis’ story together. Janis doesn’t want to completely ruin Cady’s perception of her father. She’s about to change the subject to something lighter when there’s suddenly a deafening rumble from outside.

Cady leaps to her feet and looks around frantically. “What was that?”

“Sounded like thunder,” Janis replies nonchalantly.

“It’s snowing,” Cady says in confusion, pointing to their window.

“Yeah. That can happen sometimes,” Janis says. “Thunder snow.”

Cady turns to look at her with a very serious (and unfairly adorable pout) on her face. “Are you messing with me?”

“I would never,” Janis replies, rolling onto her stomach and looking out the window too. A flash goes off practically the second she looks. “Yeah, see? Lightning. It’s just a thunderstorm. But with snow.”

“Fantastic,” Cady grumbles under her breath, falling into bed next to her and hiding under the covers. Janis frowns in confusion and ducks under to join her.

“You okay?”

“You’ll laugh,” Cady whines into her pillow.

“Try me,” Janis retaliates. “What’s the matter?”

“…I’m afraid of thunderstorms.”

“Why would I laugh at that? That’s totally normal,” Janis replies.

“No it isn’t,” Cady says. “I’m nearly twenty-five. Fifi isn’t even scared of thunder. And she’s three.”

“People are scared of different things,” Janis says with a shrug. “Thunder is pretty normal, I think.”

Cady jumps at another thunderclap booming outside. Inadvertently, she winds up in Janis’ arms. Or maybe it was on purpose?

Either way, she blushes a remarkable shade of scarlet when she realizes where she is and what she’s done, trying to pull away. Janis can see the desperate need for comfort in her eyes and doesn’t let her go. The relationship may be fake, but that doesn’t mean everything they do has to be.

“What are you-” Cady begins to ask, getting cut off by Janis.

“Do you want me to let go?”

Cady mulls it over for a second before shaking her head sheepishly. “No. This is… kind of nice.”

“It is,” Janis agrees. Cady nuzzles a little bit closer, tucking herself into Janis’ chest.

“Are you afraid of anything?” she murmurs into Janis’ warm skin.

“Of course I am,” Janis laughs. She feels Cady shudder slightly in contentment as the sound rumbles out of her chest.

“You don’t act like you’re afraid of anything,” Cady replies.

“Because if I didn’t I’d never get anything done,” Janis replies softly. “My mom always said being brave isn’t having no fear, it’s doing the things you’re scared of anyway. So, you know. If I can’t do something without being afraid, I just… do it afraid.”

“Like what?” Cady asks gently.

“Like this,” Janis says. “And… like… our first date. All the cameras. I really don’t like being the center of attention. And like moving out of my mom’s house and leaving her and my sister alone. And nougat.”

“And what?” Cady giggles.

“It freaks me out!” Janis defends. “The word sounds crunchy but nougat isn’t. I hate it.”

Cady laughs outright at that, somehow pressing even closer against her. It’s pushing the limits of platonic to their very bounds, but neither of them really care. Especially as they tangle their legs together and tug the warm duvet higher over them. “You’re a very interesting person.”

“Thanks,” Janis whispers. “So are you.”

“I’m really not,” Cady says. “I was just born into interesting circumstances.”

“That’s definitely one word for it,” Janis chuckles. “What are you afraid of? Besides thunder.”

“Horses,” Cady says immediately. “But you knew that already. And, um… I’m… I’m not sure.”

“You don’t have to tell me. I just wanted to make conversa-”

“I’m afraid of being alone,” Cady says suddenly. “Forever. But I can’t… I’ve never been able to puzzle out how to manage my passion for business and a serious relationship.”

“Well… I mean, I know this relationship is… fake, technically,” Janis says softly. Her chest aches a bit as she says the words, but she can’t quite put her finger on why. “But we’ve had to act like it’s real. I’d argue this takes as much if not more work than a real relationship would. And you’ve still been working on the business stuff. I don’t know how well you think you’re handling it, but from my perspective, you’re, like, totally nailing it.”

“You think so?”

“I do,” Janis says.

“It’s not just that, though,” Cady sighs. “This whole world I live in is too much for most people. I have very little in the way of opportunities for romance in the first place, let alone with anyone I’d… enjoy spending the rest of my life with.”

“If you want them to, I’m sure your perfect person will come along someday,” Janis says. The ache in her chest deepens. “You just gotta… open your eyes from time to time. Look at where you are.”

“You’re very wise, Janis Sarkisian.”

“And you’re very special, Cady Heron,” Janis whispers. “Anyway, this is… heavy.”

“It is,” Cady agrees with a chuckle. “But it’s nice. You’re easy to make conversation with.”

“You are too,” Janis says.

“…What does your ideal future look like?” Cady asks completely out of nowhere. “If your current circumstances wouldn’t affect it at all. What’s your perfect life like?”

“I… I dunno,” Janis says. “No offense to your father, but I fucking hate my job. So I’d like to not do that anymore. But I can’t do nothing or I’d go absolutely nuts. Maybe I’d do something with my art. Sell some pieces, and do showcases and stuff. And I thought about being an art therapist for a while. It really helped me when I was younger. I’d like to pay it forward, I guess.”

Janis isn’t totally sure where they come from, but as soon as she opens her mouth, the words practically drip off her tongue. And they don’t stop.

“What about you?”

“I’m not sure either,” Cady says. “It’s hard for me to say what kind of person I’d be if I hadn’t been born into this family. I can’t really imagine myself doing anything else.”

“So what about… not job related?” Janis asks gently.

“I’m not sure about that either,” Cady says. “Being realistic is tricky.”

“So don’t be realistic. We’re talking perfect world, here.”

“…I’d like to be married,” Cady says. “Don’t tell my parents. I’ve been avoiding looking for a partner half just for spite. But I think deep down I’d like coming home to someone special at the end of a day. And… I’d like pets. I’ve always loved animals. I know it’s cliche, but maybe I’d have a few dogs or cats. Or something a bit more unique like a rabbit.”

“Sounds nice,” Janis says.

“What about you?”

“I wanna get married too,” Janis says, staring at the painting on the wall behind Cady’s head. “Someday. I don’t think I’m ready for it now, just the whole… forever part of it, yet. A serious relationship, maybe, but I’m still scared of anything legally binding. But one day, I think I want that. Like you said, someone who loves me I get to come home to.”

“Someone who is home,” Cady says softly. “Do you want kids?”

“Maybe,” Janis says. “Do you?”

“I’m not sure,” Cady says. “I don’t think I’d make a very good mother.”

“Really?” Janis asks, almost shocked. “You’re a great aunt.”

“Thank you,” Cady replies. “But that’s different. With a child of your own you’re responsible for how they turn out. Who they grow into. And I don’t… I’m not sure I’d be the best model for that. I didn’t exactly have the best myself.”

“That’s fair,” Janis says softly. “Nothing says you have to.”

“My parents do,” Cady says. “Why do you think it’s such a big deal I’m married soon? We’re all expected to continue the bloodline.”

“I can kinda see why you wouldn’t want to bring a child into this,” Janis says. Cady chuckles sardonically against her.

“Yeah. And heaven forbid they turn out like Chester,” Cady grumbles. “Asshole.”

“I mean, your parents had six kids and he’s the only one… like that,” Janis says. “I think your odds aren’t bad.”

“I suppose that’s true,” Cady agrees. “If things were different, I… I do think I’d like to have children. Just… way in the future.”

“Me too,” Janis says. “Just one or two.”

“One of each?” Cady asks.

“I guess,” Janis says. “Whatever sex they are doesn’t really matter to me, but I guess a boy and a girl would be nice.”

“It would,” Cady says softly.

Neither of them say anything else. Janis holds Cady the slightest bit tighter against herself and finds herself lost in her imagination. She supposes it’s only natural to start picturing her future after talking about it in detail for a while.

She’s not sure what to make of it when the vague form of a woman her mind has conjured to be her wife suddenly has Cady’s features.

Mind-Cady opens the colorless door to a house that may or may not actually exist, and greets her with a sweet, loving kiss. Janis returns it eagerly, holding her close to herself.

Suddenly, two little ones run from behind Janis towards the two of them. Their children.

They have Cady’s eyes; a clear bright blue. Her fair skin, her sweet freckles speckled over their cheeks. Janis’ dark hair, and her lopsided smiles. A little boy, and a little girl.

Janis is strangely comforted by this little daydream, though she knows it’s just that. She settles further into it, ready to develop it, when actual-Cady suddenly says, “I think the storm is over.”

Janis jumps a bit and looks out the window. It’s still snowing, but it’s more of a flurry than the practical blizzard it was a while ago. And, sure enough, the thunder and lightning are no longer accompanying it.

Janis tries to hide her slight disappointment as she lets Cady pull out of her embrace. Cady sits up and rests a moment at the foot of the bed. She looks peacefully out the window at the snow for a second before she turns back and says, “Thank you.”

“Anytime,” Janis replies softly. Cady gives her a soft smile before she heads to order their dinner.

What the hot, crispy, Kentucky fried fuck just happened?

—————

It takes another week for the last brother to arrive. Charles, the oldest. Cady has explained that, being the eldest, he’s the most likely to inherit the business, and as such it’s very important for Cady to remain in his good books. Which means Janis should too.

Charles, like several of his brothers, arrives right before dinner. Cady actually squeals when she sees him in the foyer and runs up to hug him. “Charlie!”

“Hey, Cades,” Charles chuckles as his sister collides with him.

“You’re late.”

“I am not,” Charles huffs in reply.

“Chester got here before you,” Cady replies as she crosses her arms over her chest.

“That was on purpose. If he arrives first, he spends the most time irritating the rest of you and gets a good deal out of his system,” Charles replies easily. “Gives my family the best chance of having a peaceful holiday.”

“…Huh,” Cady says. “I might have to start doing that.”

“We do need someone here for him to let it out on.”

“We’ll tell Clark to get here first next year, he’s always too high to deal with Check anyway,” Cady offers.

“Now there’s an idea,” Charles chuckles. “Who’s this?”

“This is Janis,” Cady says as she comes to gently hug Janis’ arm. “My girlfriend.”

Janis watches his face carefully. She sees a flash of disapproval and concern as his eyes flick briefly between the two of them. He looks Janis up and down, for what, Janis can’t be entirely certain. She shivers the slightest bit under his scrutinizing eyes.

But, his face does eventually split into the smallest of smiles, and he comes to shake her hand.

“Nice to meet you, Janis. I’m Charles,” he says.

“Nice to meet you too, Charles. Cady’s told me a lot about you.”

“Uh oh,” Charles chuckles. “Good things, I hope.”

“Of course. I don’t think she’s ever had a bad thought about you,” Janis replies.

“He’s my big brother,” Cady pouts pleadingly. “Don’t tease me.”

“I would never,” Janis chuckles sarcastically, bending down for a sweet kiss just to really sell it. Cady smiles happily against her lips as she kisses her back.

“Cute,” Charles chuckles. “Treat her well.”

“I do my best,” Janis replies with a small smile.

“Are you coming to dinner, Charlie?” Cady asks.

“Suppose I must,” Charles sighs. “How are Mother and Father?”

“Oh, they’re fine,” Cady says. She really is a good liar.

“Good. Oh, Janis, this is my wife Violeta and my sons Hayes and Henry,” Charles says.

Charles’ wife looks closer to Janis and Cady’s age than his own, but she’s beautiful. Janis honestly commends her for marrying so well in spite of the apparent age gap.

“Hello,” she greets politely.

“Hey, boys!” Cady greets, going to pull her nephews into a hug. “How are you?”

“Good,” they say at exactly the same time. Now that Janis looks closer, they’re dressed in identical outfits, too. They aren’t twins, or even close. Hayes looks to be about eight, and Henry close to five. In spite of that, they look and act almost identical.

“Good. I missed you!”

“We missed you too,” they say again. Janis has a feeling she’ll be spending a good bit of time avoiding these two. They’re too much like kids from a horror movie for her tastes.

“A pleasure to meet you, Janis,” Violeta says in heavily accented English.

“Nice to meet you too. I’m Cady’s girlfriend, by the way,” Janis says as she shakes her hand.

“I figured,” Violeta chuckles. She seems to notice Janis trying to place her accent. “Italian.”

“Ah,” Janis says. “That’s really cool.”

“Thank you. I like to think so,” Violeta replies.

“I’m going to have dinner with my family, you and the boys go get settled in,” Charles says. He kisses his wife and hugs his sons before he sends them off to find their rooms.

“Goodnight Father,” the boys say. Janis tries to hide a shudder. “Nice to meet you, Miss Janis.”

“Nice to meet you too,” Janis says. “Goodnight.”

“Yes, they always do that,” Cady whispers in her ear. Janis nods.

“Good to know.”

——————

“Good morning,” Cady says when Janis wakes up on Saturday morning. Janis sits up and rubs her eyes blearily, finding Cady already fully dressed at the foot of the bed. She’s gotten used to this, but she’s not used to what Cady’s wearing. Jeans? “Did you sleep well?”

“Mm,” Janis grunts sleepily. Cady grins.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” she says. Janis nods and yawns. “Are you ready?”

“For what?” Janis asks around another yawn.

“It’s date day,” Cady replies softly. “Are you sure you’re awake?”

“No,” Janis grumbles.

“Well, you should try to quick. Oh, can you swim?”

“I can. We’re going swimming? It’s, like, well below freezing today,” Janis says in confusion.

“No, I just wanted to know if you’ll need a life jacket. We’re going kayaking!”

“Kayaking?”

“Mmhmm! I have something special I want to show you,” Cady says. “If-if that’s alright. We can… go somewhere else, if you want.”

“No, that sounds fun,” Janis says.

“Oh, good,” Cady says. “Dress warm. Lots of layers. It’s cold down by the water.”

“Okay,” Janis yawns again.

—-

Janis is clad in a few cozy layers, her coat, mittens, and hat in less than five minutes, waiting for Cady in the foyer. Cady finds her in a rather similar ensemble. Janis smiles faintly at something as simple as the pompom on her beanie.

“Ready?” she asks, taking Janis’ hand. Janis nods and follows her out one of the large glass doors facing the lake behind the house.

They trudge through the deep, powdery snow down to the water, leaving the only tracks for miles around in the perfect twinkly blanket coating the world.

Cady leads Janis down to the dock, where two little kayaks are tied and waiting for them. “Have you ever done this before?”

“No,” Janis replies. “I went canoeing once at summer camp, but… that’s it.”

“This is a little different. But as long as you’re careful we’ll be fine,” Cady says. “Here, I’ll help you get in. Ready?”

“Nope,” Janis says. She heads to the side of the dock anyway, awaiting Cady’s instructions. Cady carefully holds her hands and lowers her into one of the small boats. Janis can feel every tiny ripple the wind makes across the glistening water. It takes a second to get used to, but after a few minutes it’s almost relaxing.

“Feel steady?”

“I have never felt less steady in my life, Caddy,” Janis says. Cady laughs before elegantly clambering into her own boat.

“You’ll be fine,” she says. “So push the opposite of the way you want to go. One and then one.”

Janis copies her motion hesitantly, and does indeed start moving. “Is it supposed to tip this much?”

“Take it steady!” Cady calls. “Move with the boat.”

“What?!”

“Don’t be so stiff, move with it! It’ll keep you balanced!” Cady says again. Janis tries leaning slightly from side to side with every stroke, and does seem to be keeping the slightest bit steadier. At least she doesn’t seem to be prone to seasickness.

Cady looks behind her to make sure Janis is okay. She smiles when Janis looks back with what must be a rather put out look on her face.

“You’re getting it!” she says happily. “Follow me.”

Janis does. The repetitive motion is quite soothing after a while. Left, right, left, right. The sound of the frigid water splashing around their paddles could lull Janis to sleep under other circumstances.

The lake is just shy of frozen. Chunks of ice float around the edges, covered in snow. A few bump against Janis’ boat as she passes them, but they aren’t large enough to do anything but jostle her gently from side to side.

Janis looks up after a while and sees them pulling up to a small island. They’ve come quite a ways. Large as it is, she can’t even see the mansion anymore.

“Here we are,” Cady says contently. Janis is briefly confused when she rows right up onto the shore and climbs out of her boat, but does the same.

Cady helps her out and leads her to the other side of the island. Janis can tell it would be covered in grass, with a beautiful view of the large lake. A few trees stand around them, barren branches all covered with snow now.

“It’s beautiful,” Janis says quietly.

“Isn’t it?” Cady replies. “I found it the first year my family stayed here for the holidays.”

“When was that?”

“I was sixteen,” Cady sighs softly. “Come here.”

Janis does, following Cady over to a tree. Cady gently runs her hand over its trunk until she feels something and motions Janis over closer. Janis leans in to read the carving.

Cady Heron is here.

“Is?” Janis asks, looking at Cady with a smile as she traces her fingers over the grooves in the wood.

“Yeah,” Cady chuckles faintly. “I am here, aren’t I?”

“That you are,” Janis nods.

“Was made it sound like I wasn’t… coming back,” Cady explains. “Like I wasn’t truly here in the first place. But I was. I am. Is makes it sound like it’s my place.”

“Is it?”

“I think so,” Cady says softly, spinning around to look at everything around them. “The boats aren’t here when we aren’t. I don’t think anyone else could possibly get here.”

“Then I think is fits,” Janis says. “It’s beautiful out here.”

“It is. I’ve spent hours out here,” Cady says. She walks up to the shore and sits down, resting her chin on her knees and looking out over the water. “We haven’t stayed here much, but I came out every day I could when we did. It’s always been freezing, but I loved it.”

“I see why,” Janis says, sitting down beside her. “What were you like then?”

“Horrible,” Cady says immediately. Janis looks at her in shock. “It’s true. I was a massive bitch.”

“Was?” Janis teases.

“Hey now,” Cady laughs. “I’d been homeschooled by tutors until that year. Finally convinced my parents to send me to real school. So I got sent to a boarding school in Massachusetts. I met Regina there. She’d been going since kindergarten, she had family in the area. And I thought, since everyone there had money too, I might be able to have a real friend. She asked me to sit with her at lunch on my first day, so I did. And then it… escalated. Before I knew it I was doing all these awful things in the name of friendship, and then we started dating and I acted even worse. I didn’t realize until I went to university without her what a monster I’d become.”

“That can’t be right,” Janis says softly.

“It is,” Cady mumbles. “I was insufferable. I’m sure you think I still am.”

“Of course not,” Janis says. “You’re just… not from my world. But you’re not insufferable, or a monster.”

“I don’t know that I’m from anyone’s world, to be honest,” Cady says. “But it feels like I have my own out here.”

“I feel like that too, sometimes,” Janis says. “And thanks for letting me be part of it for a while.”

“Thank you for wanting to,” Cady murmurs. She looks at Janis oddly when she lies on her back in the snow and looks up at the sky. “What are you doing?”

“Looking at the clouds,” Janis says. “I used to do this with my dad.”

“What are you looking for?” Cady asks, lying down beside her.

“Nothing, really. Sometimes it’s just nice to do,” Janis says. “You can see the time passing. But you can also look for shapes.”

“Is this gonna tell you something about me as well?” Cady teases, inching the slightest bit closer.

“No. Well, maybe. I guess it’s a better way to get to know someone than by asking their favorite shape. Just look,” Janis says. “What do you see?”

“Clouds,” Cady says.

“Well, duh,” Janis laughs. “Literalist. What do you see in the clouds?”

“…Water?”

“Oh my god, you are such a dork,” Janis chuckles. “Come on. Look at that one. I see… a goose. In a sombrero, holding a strawberry.”

“A what?”

“It doesn’t have to make sense. Just make something up,” Janis says. “Here. What does that one look like to you?”

“Um… uh… um… I suppose it does look rather like a lion, doesn’t it?”

“It doesn’t matter what I think it looks like. But yes, it does,” Janis agrees. “What about that one?”

“A soup dumpling,” Cady says. “Oh, those sound fantastic right now. I’ve never found anyone who can get them quite right, though. I had the most delicious ones when I visited China and nothing I’ve found since even comes close. But I suppose they would be quite hard to make. And it must depend on the soup, too. I’m talking too much.”

“No, you’re not,” Janis grins. “You’re talking just the right amount. Tell me more. Why were you in China?”

“Traveling, mostly,” Cady sighs. Janis looks at her; waits for her to elaborate. “I… opened a wildlife reserve. Pandas, and… whatever else wanders up, I suppose. For their rehabilitation, and all that. I did the same in Australia, and Brazil. And Kenya.”

“Which was your favorite?”

“Kenya,” Cady says immediately. “The people there were incredible. It was the first time I really had my eyes opened to what a life other than mine looked like. And I mean really opened. And the animals… I mean, obviously, the most dangerous I encountered, but they just… I don’t know, something… clicked. That sounds odd. But something about Africa spoke to me in a way I understand more than any other.”

Janis turns her head to look at her. “You have a way with words.”

“Public speaking classes,” Cady mumbles sheepishly.

“Nah. That shit comes from the heart,” Janis says. “Classes only teach so much. You have to have something in you to be able to do what you do.”

“Not enough, I’m afraid,” Cady whispers. “Anyway. Have you done any traveling?”

“Not anywhere like you,” Janis says. “I’ve never left the country.”

“Never?!” Cady gasps. “Not even Canada?”

“Not even Canada,” Janis confirms. “This is the farthest west I’ve been. I grew up outside of Chicago, so I’ve been around the Midwest. And I went to college in New York, so I’ve been a few places around New England too. We went on vacation to North Carolina once when I was little. That’s pretty much it.”

“Wow,” Cady says softly. “Well, you’ve seen more of this country than I have. I go back and forth between home, Chicago, and New York.”

“Nowhere else?”

“Nowhere else,” Cady says.

“Hm,” Janis says. “That’s interesting.”

“If you say so,” Cady says with a shrug.

“Where’s home for you?” Janis asks, turning onto her side to see Cady. Cady turns as well. Neither of them quite know how to handle suddenly being nose to nose.

Neither of them complain either.

“I grew up near San Fransisco,” Cady says softly. “But… I dunno. Nowhere’s ever really felt like home, if that makes sense. We traveled with my father so much, and then I went to school on the other side of the country. Everything was so different.”

Janis hums and nods. “Where else?”

“Hm?“

“Where else have you traveled?”

“Oh. Well, I’ve been all around Europe. England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany. Popped into Russia once, that was quite interesting. Oh, and Spain. France. And I’ve been a few places in Asia. The Philippines, China, Japan, India, Thailand. And… Australia, and New Zealand. I haven’t done much around South America, but I’d like to do more. Mexico is just beautiful, and Brazil was amazing. And I’ve been to Kenya, and Tanzania, and South Africa. That’s, er… that’s it.”

“Oh, is it?” Janis chuckles. “That sounds amazing. I’d kill to be able to experience all of that.”

“I am very blessed to be able to lead the life I do,” Cady agrees. “It gets quite lonely, though. I’m sure, in a strange way, I’d share much the same sentiment about your life.”

“I don’t know about that,” Janis chuckles. “I think you’d get sick of it.”

“Do you?”

“Do I what?”

“Get sick of it?”

“I… sometimes, I guess,” Janis says. “But I don’t… have another option. I got this life. And as much as I used to wish it was a different way, I’ve decided I’m going to stick it out as long as I can. And make the fuckin’ best of it.”

Cady hums quietly and nods. Snow begins to fall, drifting down on and around them, melting off their cheeks and noses. Janis scrunches her nose up when a few tickle. The conversation has dwindled; so much so that they can almost hear the snowflakes fluttering and landing down around them.

“Can I ask you something?” Cady asks softly after a long, peaceful moment.

“Yeah,” Janis whispers back.

“What are you going to do with the money I give you?”

“I dunno,” Janis says. “I should save some, I guess. Retirement fund. I’ll probably use most of it to pay off my student loans. Bills, my mom’s bills. My sister wants to go to college, I’ll probably set something up for her.”

“That’s it?” Cady asks.

“What do you mean that’s it?”

“I mean you-you won’t… use it for you? You won’t travel, or-or… I don’t know, you’re an artist, aren’t you? You could open a gallery, show what you can do! You said this kind of money would change your life, and you’re not-you’re not going to use it?”

“I am using it, Cady,” Janis says. “But I don’t get the privilege of using it on things like that. I’m thousands of dollars in debt. I have an apartment I have to rent and bills I have to pay. My mom has debt. This is gonna change her life too. And this money means my sister isn’t gonna have to worry about things like this.”

“But the whole point was for you to use the money on… on…”

“This means I might get to do things I want someday,” Janis says. “If I use it right, I won’t have debt to worry about anymore, and it’ll cover my bills for a long time. I’ll be able to put my wages to more than just surviving.”

“They don’t even pay you enough to do more than that?” Cady asks sadly.

“I’m lucky I make more than minimum wage, Cads,” Janis replies softly. “My mom told me not to go into art. No money in it unless you’re especially lucky. But I don’t have enough savings to go back and study something different. Maybe I’ll do that.”

“No! You-you’re an artist, you-you-you…”

“It’s how it goes, Cady. I get to do art sometimes still, I just-”

“No! None of this is how it’s supposed to be!” Cady says, sitting bolt upright.

“Cady-”

“You work for my father, and-and you’re barely… you’re barely surviving, Janis. This isn’t how it’s supposed to go!”

“But it’s how it does go. I’ll manage, and this money will truly change my life. You have no idea.”

“No, clearly I don’t,” Cady says. “We-we should be getting back, it’s getting late.”

“It’s barely noon.”

“Exactly, we’ll be late for lunch,” Cady says. “Come on.”

Janis stands in confusion, brushing snow off herself and heading back to their boats.

—————

“This was really nice,” Janis says as she paddles up to the dock.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” Cady says. Janis pauses. Back to the business talk. “Thanks for accompanying me.”

“Anytime,” Janis says. Cady carefully rows up and climbs out onto the dock, tying her boat up. “How do I get out?”

“Carefully,” Cady replies. “Um… I didn’t think this part through.”

“Oh, that’s reassuring,” Janis says. She looks back and forth between Cady and the dock a few times and decides to try just… going for it.

And promptly falls into the icy cold lake. She tries not to gasp at the frigid water so she doesn’t end up with a lungful of it.

“Janis, oh my god!” Cady gasps in horror. She leans forward on the dock and holds a hand out. “Take my hand, come on!”

Janis can’t exactly see, but she blindly reaches for Cady’s hand and does her best not to recreate the infamous scene from the Titanic movie.

The water is so cold that she almost can’t tell when she’s removed from it, but she can breathe, and takes that to mean she’s back on land.

“I got you, are you okay?” Cady asks frantically. “No, who am I kidding, of course you’re not, you fell in the lake- oh my god, you fell in the lake! Okay, um… can you stand? We need to get you inside.”

“Y-yeah, I th-think so,” Janis stutters. She’s shivering so hard her muscles ache. She’ll be stunned if she doesn’t get icicles forming off her nose. So cold.

“Come on, you’ll be alright,” Cady says. Janis slowly shakes after her towards the house. Her blood feels almost slushy as it courses through her veins, and she can hear her hair crackling as it freezes behind her. Her clothes cling to her skin, keeping the frigid water pressed directly against her and chilling her to her core. She releases a shaky sigh when they finally step into the warm house. Janis could easily be convinced it’s heaven. “Simon!”

“J-jesus,” Janis says, jumping as Cady shrieks at the top of her lungs.

“Madam Heron?” a butler asks. Janis is almost surprised. Cady knew his name? Is she learning them?

“Can you… please fetch as many blankets and heaters as you can find around and have them brought to our room? And make some… um, hot chocolate? Anything hot? Please?”

“Right away, miss,” the butler replies. He’s off in a very fancy rush, so Cady turns back to Janis.

“Come on, let’s get you out of those wet things,” she says. Janis follows her to the elevator and tries to stop shivering. “God, your lips are turning blue, you poor thing. I’m so sorry, I didn’t… think. Are you feeling okay?”

“C-cold,” Janis replies.

“Poor baby,” Cady says, looking at her with genuine pity. “Here we go, come on.”

Cady is practically carrying her by this point, but Janis is eventually standing inside their room and dripping water all over the very nice floor. Cady rushes ahead and leaves her there, grabbing as many cozy and warm layers from Janis’ wardrobe as she can.

“Alright, can you move? We need to get you out of those wet clothes as soon as possible,” she says. “Do I put you in the bath? No, that’ll-that’ll put you in shock, don’t let me do that. Out of the clothes, we need to get you out of those.”

Janis tries to grab the zipper of her coat, but she can’t control her shaking fingers enough for such fine movements. “I c-can’t.”

“Is it alright if I help you?” Cady asks, looking at her pleadingly. Janis panics briefly inside. But she has no choice but to say yes. Better Cady than a butler. So, she nods. “Okay. You’ll be fine.”

“I kn-know,” Janis says.

“I’m telling myself,” Cady whispers as she undoes Janis’ coat. Janis tries her best to shrug it off, and out of her heavy waterlogged sweater. “Oh, fuck, towels!”

Janis can’t quite hold back a laugh. She hasn’t heard Cady swear like that since the first day they met. Cady rushes to the bathroom and comes running back with more towels than Janis has ever seen in her life.

“Okay, here we go,” she says. Janis has thawed out just enough to towel herself off. She is, however, still cold enough not to care that she’s standing completely naked in front of a billionaire. Cady doesn’t seem to care either. She starts pacing, peeling off her own outer layers until she’s just left in some leggings and a sweatshirt.

Janis starts pulling on some of the layers Cady found. It’s certainly much nicer than being in cold wet clothes.

“I n-need a mop,” Janis says, which snaps Cady out of her head enough that she stops pacing quite so hard.

“What?”

“I made a m-mess,” Janis says, pointing to the puddle she’s still standing in. “It’ll ruin the floor.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Cady says. “The floors will be fine for a second. Oh, your hair, that’s no good.”

“Hey!”

“No, it looks fine! But it’s dripping on you, that’ll just put us right back where we started,” Cady says frantically. “Come on.”

Janis has no time to protest as Cady shoves her towards the restroom.

“Sit,” Cady says.

“W-why?”

“Because I said so,” Cady says. Janis pouts and sits on the vanity seat in front of the counter. Cady grabs her hair dryer from her side and plugs it in, dragging Janis’ chair where she needs her and turning the dryer on her.

Janis shudders contently at the warm air hitting her frigid skin. Cady moves it around quickly so her hair dries evenly and the heat doesn’t hurt her skin.

“Are you feeling alright?” Cady asks worriedly. “You can breathe okay? And-and your heart? Your heart is okay? Did you inhale any water?”

“No, I’m fine,” Janis says. “Have a good doctor.”

Cady gives a strained smile, but Janis can see the relief in her eyes at the confirmation. Janis sits as Cady tenderly brushes and dries her hair, and doesn’t mention the little extra time Cady spends making sure her hair is completely dried. It feels nice, and something tells her Cady needs this right now.

“Alright, come on. Hopefully someone brought those blankets by now,” Cady says. Janis has stopped shivering quite so hard now that her hair is warm and dry and she’s in several layers of cozy clothing. She follows Cady over to their big cushy bed and settles in under the duvet.

Someone knocks on the door, so Cady rushes to open it. The butler, or… what Janis thinks is a butler stands on the other side with a massive stack of blankets that reaches about a foot past his head. His voice is muffled when he says, “Your blankets, ma’am.”

“Thank you. Over here, please,” Cady says, carefully escorting the butler over to where Janis is resting. Janis doesn’t get a chance to question or protest the situation before they both begin unfolding more blankets and towering them on top of her. Janis suddenly understands how it must’ve felt to be the pea in that famous kids’ story.

“I shall return shortly with your requested beverage and heaters, miss,” the butler says politely once Janis has been sufficiently smothered. Affectionately smothered, but still.

“Thank you, Simon,” Cady says with genuine gratitude in her voice. Janis is briefly confused when she climbs into the bed and presses against her, gently stroking some of Janis’ hair behind her ear. Janis smiles and tries not to actually lean into Cady’s warm, soft hand. “How are you feeling?”

“Warmer,” Janis says softly. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” Cady replies in a whisper. “Tell me if you start feeling sick, or… like…”

“I’ll let you know if I’m dying,” Janis chuckles. Cady laughs. It’s… real. A genuine, sweet, almost goofy laugh.

“Thanks,” she replies. “I appreciate it.”

“Thanks for saving me,” Janis says.

“I wasn’t just gonna let you drown!” Cady says, aghast. “Or freeze. Of course not. I’m so sorry, I should’ve… made sure you knew how to get out before we went. Or just not taken you kayaking in the first place. I never meant for this to happen, I’m so-”

“Caddy,” Janis interrupts. “It’s okay. I really liked it. And I’m guessing the people you usually take can actually get out of the boat.”

“I’ve never taken anyone out there before,” Cady admits softly. “I usually go alone.”

“Never?”

“Never,” Cady says. “Nobody else ever found it, so it was always… my place, I guess. I never had anyone I cared to share it with before.”

“Then I’m honored to be the first,” Janis grins. Cady smiles back and tucks the blankets a bit tighter around Janis’ neck.

Janis looks into her eyes. Cady looks back, something Janis hasn’t seen before lingering in the crystal blue. “You-you don’t have to stay. If you don’t want to.”

Cady frowns. “What do you mean?”

“I dunno. You wanted to leave the island in a hurry, just… if you had something you have to do, or… or something. I’m fine,” Janis says.

“No. No, I don’t… there’s nothing,” Cady says. “I don’t have anything important to do.”

“You always have something important to do,” Janis says.

“Not right now,” Cady says softly. She can’t mean what Janis thinks she means. Nothing more important than you. “Do you want me to go? That’s different.”

“No! No, I don’t… I mean, unless you… want, then…”

“No, I mean… I don’t want, unless you-”

“Then… don’t go,” Janis says. Cady nods. Wiggles the slightest bit closer.

“I won’t.”

“Good.”

“Good.”

—————

The next week is a strange one. Janis wakes up alone every morning and falls asleep alone every night. Cady is with her throughout the day, but not… with her.

Janis feels foolish for thinking something had changed between them. Cady’s just back to her businesswoman self. Every time she looks at Janis, it’s with a faraway look in her eye.

It bothers Janis more than she cares to admit.

But this is how it’s supposed to go. She’s not supposed to get attached. Cady clearly hasn’t. The expectations are the same. Janis will be leaving by the end of next week. Never to… never to see Cady again.

Janis is startled out of her thoughts by Cady barging into the room in a frenzy, yelling at some poor soul on the other end of the line. Janis winces for the poor microphone in Cady’s phone.

“Rawlings, I can’t deal with this at the moment. I have to go,” she huffs. “Enjoy the holiday. Yes, I’ll call you again before the New Year. Now, goodbye.”

Janis sits up in bed, trying to act like she’s just woken up and hasn’t been chasing her own mind in circles for hours. “Good morning.”

“Hm? Oh, yes. Morning. Get ready, we have to go into town today.”

“Why?”

“To pick up our outfits for the party this evening,” Cady says. “My mother wants us to go in person to make sure it all fits correctly. And it’ll be good for the press to see us together again one last time.”

Last time. One last time.

“Oh. Okay,” Janis replies softly. “I’ll, uh… get dressed. And stuff.”

“We’re expected by ten,” Cady says, walking back out of the room and shutting the door behind her without so much as a backwards glance. Janis nods and hauls herself up, wondering distantly if she shouldn’t be keeping some sort of countdown now.

Or maybe she should’ve from the start.

—-

“Are you sure this isn’t too casual? I thought your mother’s parties are always some spectacular occasion,” Janis says. She loves the outfit, but… “Just, are you sure?”

“You look fine. Perfectly Christmassy, that’s all anyone’ll care about,” Cady says, not even glancing up from her laptop.

Janis shrugs and looks at herself in the mirror again. She does look quite dapper in her velvet forest green ensemble. The slacks are tight around her hips, not enough to be uncomfortable, but just enough to flatter her figure, and flare out slightly near her ankles. The tiniest strip of skin shows between it and the matching top, with short sleeves that puff out around her shoulders. She’s also more into the silver sequins speckled tastefully over the whole thing than she thought she would be.

“If you’re sure,” she replies. She gets ushered over to try on her shoes while Cady gets her own fitting finished. Apparently hers is much faster than Janis’ was, because she’s already back out of her dress by the time Janis has chosen a suitable pair of heels. They’re quite high, which is concerning, but she’s honestly more upset that she has to wait to see Cady in her outfit.

“Would you like to get coffee?” Cady asks as she packs up her things and reaches for her. Their driver takes the boxes of their garments and shoes and things to carry to the car ahead of them.

“Sure,” Janis replies, carefully taking and carrying Cady’s bag for her.

She takes Cady’s hand before they leave the tailor’s shop. She’s learned enough in her three weeks to immediately notice the paparazzi across the street.

“Do you come here often?” she asks softly. “Not, like… in a weird way, but for clothes and stuff?”

“I used to,” Cady says. “When I was young and growing they’d send me here to make my clothes last as long as they could. Now it’s a pretty even split between wearing stuff designed for me, or designer brands, or just stuff Regina designs and gives me the reject samples for Tad to fix up.”

“That’s cool,” Janis says with a small nod. Cady nods back and leads them to the coffee shop a bit down the street; another branch of the same one Janis works at. “Oh, this is weird.”

“Why?” Cady asks, looking at her oddly.

“I dunno, it feels like time traveling or something,” Janis says. Cady tilts her head like a confused puppy. “Like, being somewhere you know in a place you don’t. All the café’s look the same, but I’ve never been here before. It’s weird.”

Cady blinks at her. “Alrighty then.”

Janis sighs a bit and tries not to let her embarrassment show. A week ago Cady might’ve laughed at that; maybe she even would’ve agreed with her. But now she’s staring ahead at the faux-rustic chalkboard menu and trying to decide what she wants while Janis hides awkwardly behind her.

The amount of people staring at them isn’t helping. Janis finds herself wishing she really could time travel just to get out of here right now. Or at least a sinkhole. That would do nicely, too.

She jumps a bit when she hears Cady’s voice and realizes they’re at the front of the line. She’s proud of Cady, in a weird way. When Janis first met her she probably wouldn’t have bothered with waiting in line.

She still orders some absurdly complicated chai latte thing that has Janis mouthing an empathetic apology to the barista behind her, but progress is progress. She can only hope it lasts once… once she leaves.

Janis decides to save the poor overworked employees any further strife and settles for a large black coffee. By the sounds of things, she’ll need the energy for tonight.

She lets Cady pay for both drinks, but she takes both to carry them where she wants them to sit. Which is outside.

“It’s cold out here,” Cady complains.

“But it’s crowded in there,” Janis replies. “You have your tea, it’ll keep you warm.”

Cady pouts the slightest bit as she takes her cup and brushes some snow off the bench. Janis does the same and sits down.

“This umbrella doesn’t really do much against snow, I guess,” she says, looking up at the underside of the dark blue picnic umbrella.

“You can say that again,” Cady huffs as she plops down next to her. “I’ll have to let my father know.”

“You do that.”

Beyond that they don’t say anything. Cady doesn’t seem to have much to say to her anymore. Janis doesn’t know if she’s done something wrong; how to fix this. And she doesn’t know what to say.

So they have their drinks in silence. It is freezing, but with just the two of them it’s almost peaceful.

Or it would be, if this were a typical situation. Janis jumps when Cady leans in and kisses just beneath her ear. “Camera.”

Janis leans against her, presses her lips to the top of her head. “Where?”

“Thirty feed ahead and across the street behind us,” Cady whispers. Janis nods and takes her hand instead of leaning their heads together. Cady looks at her oddly for a moment before she seems to go with it, shifting their hands to the table so they’re visible.

Janis drinks her coffee and Cady drinks her tea. They’re back to silence, other than the quiet slurping they’re forced to do with the stupid sippy cup lids on the to-go cups they have. They give each other the occasional glance or kiss or squeeze. Just enough for the cameras.

“They’re gone,” Cady whispers after about ten minutes. The words are barely out of her mouth before she’s pulling her hand out of Janis’.

Janis sighs the slightest bit. Good.

——————

Janis is expecting to have a little bit of time to relax before she’s supposed to have to start getting ready for the gala that evening, but she and Cady are both ambushed practically the second they enter the house.

It feels like a scene from a cartoon, when a character enters a cloud of dust and makeup and beauty products and leaves looking like a whole new person. In actuality the process takes several hours.

Janis knows it’s supposed to be relaxing; being primped and prepped and primed. She even gets a full body massage, but if anything, it just makes her more tense. It’s relaxing enough to completely wipe her mind of everything…

Everything except Cady. What she’s worried about the most.

She knew this was going to happen. She knew that this wasn’t real the whole time. Anything Janis felt between them couldn’t have possibly been real.

No matter how real it may have felt.

Janis felt Cady change. Felt them grow closer, felt Cady become kinder, warmer, better; even as amazing as she was before.

And now she’s feeling Cady pull back. Feeling her walls building even higher and thicker and stronger than they were before. Every little chisel Janis made against them has been patched over. Every yank she’s gotten against the chains Cady carries has been undone.

She knew this wouldn’t end with them together. But Janis was at least hoping it would end with the both of them having grown a bit. Having changed.

Maybe she’s as naive as Damian says.

She tries to let the royal treatment relax her as she gets lotion massaged into her arms and legs and her hair straightened and then curled and makeup coated onto her face.

She doesn’t even have to dress herself, really. She handles her undergarments herself. They really put the measurements she filled out in all that paperwork to good use. She’s never had a bra fit her this well.

She steps back out into the main room and practically into her outfit. She makes a distant comment about how soft the velvet is and laughs under her breath at one of the ladies dressing her replying, “That’s because this is real velvet, dear.”

Before she knows it she’s shoved in front of a full body mirror to see herself. “Wow.”

Her hair falls in loose, dark waves around her shoulders; the front pieces braided in a sort of crown behind her head. With as much as she has on, her makeup looks remarkably natural. Her skin looks even and blush makes her look healthy. It’s much more feminine than she usually chooses to go with her makeup, but she looks… nice.

The outfit is flattering, too. Her legs look fantastic, if she does say so herself, and the dark, emerald green color compliments her pale skin and dark hair.

“Miss Heron should be just about ready,” one of the women says. “It’s up to you where you’d like to wait for her.”

“I’ll go wherever she wants me,” Janis replies with a shy grin.

“I’m sure she’ll want to be with you,” the woman replies with a wink. Janis gives a weak chuckle and follows after her to where Cady’s getting ready. I wouldn’t be so sure about that.

Cady’s on the phone with someone yet again when they walk in. The woman leaves Janis with a small bow. Janis nods back and looks around. Where is she supposed to be?

“Such idiocy,” Cady tuts under her breath as she hangs up the phone. Whatever they were discussing is clearly weighing on her. Cady must’ve gotten the same treatment Janis did, if not better, but Janis doesn’t think she’s ever seen her so tense.

One of Cady’s stylists rushes up with a tiny brush to swipe some unnecessary thing over her eyes, and then Cady stands and turns around. And Janis promptly chokes on her own lesbianism. Holy shit.

Saying Cady’s in a dress feels like an understatement. It’s nothing short of a gown; white and patterned with red poinsettias. It flows elegantly down her body and pools around her feet just so. A slit goes up past her knees and the neckline dips teasingly into her cleavage. Her arms are bare apart from a few elegant gold and diamond bracelets and the short sleeves hanging just off her shoulders.

“Wow,” Janis whispers.

“You look wonderful, baby,” Cady says, approaching for a very very careful kiss so she doesn’t smudge their makeup. Janis is confused until she remembers that all the makeup and hair stylists and the people who got them dressed think this is real.

God, Janis wishes it could be.

“You too,” Janis whispers, gently stroking a hand through Cady’s auburn hair, slicked back to rest over her left shoulder. “You’re so beautiful.”

“You are too,” Cady replies softly. “You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” Janis sighs with a tired smile. She offers an elbow that Cady takes with a smile. Janis grins back and heads towards the elevator.

Cady pulls off like Janis is on fire as soon as the doors ding shut. Janis tries to hide her hurt and leans against the back wall.

“What is this gonna be like?” she asks. Cady put a vague description in the book, but Janis felt that studying her family members should take priority. After the chaos of the last few weeks, it’s kind of slipped her mind.

“Oh, you know,” Cady sighs. Janis is expecting her to elaborate, but Cady doesn’t.

“…No, I don’t,” Janis says gently. “I’m a peasant in your royal presence, remember?”

“I am not a princess,” Cady huffs, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Whatever you say,” Janis says. “Princess.”

Cady humphs again. “It’ll be… around a hundred guests. Business partners of my father and those descended from partners of my grandfather. Plus a few closer friends. And most of my extended family. Grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins. In the parlor, which you’ve seen. All you’ll have to do is shake hands so much your skin will get raw and say a few hellos. Oh, but the food is… revolting until the actual dinner. Don’t eat any hors d’oeuvres, just… trust me.”

“Okay,” Janis chuckles. They both take a deep breath as the doors slide open again. Cady takes Janis’ arm again as they step out.

“You ready?”

“Not in the slightest,” Janis whispers back. Cady nods and starts walking them towards the foyer.

Luckily, they’re not the last ones there. Doubly lucky, they aren’t the first, either. Clifton and his family along with Clark are already there. Cady leads Janis to their proper place, right at the very end of the lineup. In order of their birth, partners to their right followed by any children, against the wall.

Callum, Charles and Chester make their way down and get into their places. Cady’s mother gives a nod to the butlers and maids standing opposite them, and the large doors open.

The air outside is freezing. It has nothing on the atmosphere inside, but Cady leans the slightest bit closer into Janis. For warmth. Just that.

They say their welcomes as the guests come in, shaking a few hands as people hand their coats and hats to the maids and head into the main ball. Cady inhales sharply and presses even closer to Janis.

“You okay?”

“My grandmother just walked in,” Cady whispers. “Brace yourself.”

Janis does, standing up straight and puffing out her chest a little. The mentioned grandparents make their way down the line of brothers in order. Which leaves Janis and Cady plenty of time to stew in their anxiety and wait to see what they have to say.

“Cadence,” Cady’s grandmother greets.

“Hello, grandmother,” Cady says. Janis knows her well enough by now to know she’s forcing eye contact against her own will. Janis does the same. Everything in her is cowering under the powerful gaze of this woman, but she gets the feeling that physically doing that wouldn’t go over very well. So she stands her ground. “Welcome.”

“You’re still short.”

“Yes, grandmother,” Cady says meekly. “I’m not going to grow anymore.”

“Not with that attitude,” the woman replies. “Hm.”

She turns her nose up and turns to look at Janis. Janis is already shaking in her high heels, and this doesn’t help. She’s not sure whether to speak or not. What’s the worst that could happen?

“Uh… hello,” she says politely.

“Mm,” the woman hums. “You’re new.”

“My girlfriend, grandmother,” Cady says carefully.

“I can see that perfectly well, Cadence,” her grandmother replies. “Why?”

“W-why?”

“Basic eyes, stringy hair, working hands, peasant teeth, pallid skin, uncomfortably tall, slightly overweight, masculine shoulders, small ears,” the woman says, listing off every flaw Janis can pack in from head to toe. “Heavens, child, what were you thinking?”

Cady doesn’t respond. Janis doesn’t blame her. There’s not really anything she can say, anyway.

“Nice to meet you as well,” Janis says politely. The woman gives a snooty little ‘hm’ and struts her way off to the gala. “Holy shit.”

“I’m so sorry,” Cady says. “I did tell you to avoid her.”

“Is she always like that?”

“Always,” Cady nods. “She’s my father’s mother, but I’m convinced she taught my mother everything she knows. I’d like to say she’s just senile, but she’s been like that forever.”

“She’s… protective,” Janis shrugs. “But lord. If I didn’t have self confidence issues already.”

“She does have a tendency to do that,” Cady says apologetically. “Always ‘don’t slouch, Cadence, it makes you look like a partridge’. As if I’m not only slouching so she won’t see me!”

“She said it made you look like a partridge? Like, in a pear tree?” Janis chuckles.

“Like in a pear tree! Apparently they’re… chubby. It made me look overweight,” Cady says airily, shaking her head in exasperation. “I think I was about four the first time. Still had baby fat.”

“Jesus,” Janis says. “That’s… damaging.”

“See where Chester gets it from?”

“Definitely,” Janis agrees.

They welcome the last few stragglers before they head through the large doors into the parlor. Janis looks around in awe.

It’s been completely transformed. A Christmas tree that’s easily twenty-five feet tall at the smallest stands against the far wall, with a four piece orchestra playing and singing Christmas carols just beneath it. White lights hang from the ceiling and the wraparound balcony overlooking the room. They twinkle in a pattern, giving the illusion that it’s snowing indoors.

Beyond that, it’s the typical wreaths and holly and ivy and tasteful tinsel that adorn the rest of the mansion. Janis understands why Betsy Heron is so famous for her parties.

“Wow,” she whispers.

“Impressed?”

“Beyond that.”

“Good.”

Cady leads her around to make introductions to some important people. Janis loses count of how many hands she shakes. She can tell that absolutely none of them like her, but she tries not to let it phase her.

“Escargot pâté, miss?” a butler asks, brandishing a tray next to her. Cady said not to eat any of the hors d’oeuvres, and she gives her a warning look. Janis doesn’t want to be rude and takes one anyway.

It’s quite possibly the most vile thing she’s ever put in her mouth. She waits until the server leaves before she spits it into her hand and pulls a face. “God, what is that?”

“Snail paste,” Cady says. Janis has to actively stifle a gag. “I did warn you.”

“You did,” Janis acknowledges, wiping her hand over her mouth in a ditch attempt to get rid of the acrid taste.

“Right. Well, enjoy yourself,” Cady says suddenly.

“What, wait, where are you going?” Janis asks.

“Business never rests,” Cady responds. “I’ll find you in a while.”

“What am I supposed to do?”

“I don’t know, Janis, look around, find something,” Cady says in exasperation. Janis feels her face fall and she nods. Cady walks off to find some businessperson to speak with, leaving Janis standing aimlessly alone in a crowd of hundreds. Of strangers. Rich strangers, nonetheless.

She doesn’t think it’s a good idea to risk speaking to anyone without Cady’s guidance. And she knows now that none of the snacks are to be trusted. She could dance, but the kind of music being played is better suited to dancing with a partner than alone. Doing it herself would just be awkward.

She spies a set of stairs behind a door one of the servants goes through, and decides to see where they lead. She waits for someone else to come through before she ducks around the corner and sneaks up the short flight.

She comes out on the next level up; the balcony level overlooking the room as a whole. It’s arguably more beautiful from up here.

She can see the whole room. Fiona, Lennox, Hayes and Henry are all dancing and creating quite a hazard on the dance floor. The boys all have matching suits on, with ties the same pattern as Fiona’s dress.

Cady’s brothers and their partners are all scattered around chatting, along with her parents and grandparents. Janis watches Cady herself for a while. She’s really in her element when she’s making business discussions. Janis can’t hear what she’s saying, but she knows she’s absolutely tearing the men she’s speaking to to shreds.

“She’s a businesswoman through and through,” a voice says. Janis jumps and whirls around. “Good at it, too.”

“Mrs. Heron,” Janis says. Cady’s grandmother. One of the last people Janis was expecting to (or wanted to) see.

“My name is Jane,” she says. She seems much more… human, up here. Her age is showing as she hobbles her way over to the wall and leans against it next to Janis. “Her middle name. After me.”

“Cady Jane,” Janis says softly.

“Why are you with her?” Jane asks harshly. “You after her money?”

“No! No, of course not,” Janis says. Yes, definitely. “This is the first I’ve… gotten to see her world. I didn’t even know who she really was when we first met.”

“You didn’t recognize the heiress of one of the most famous families in America?”

“No, I didn’t,” Janis says honestly. “I never followed that stuff in the media, it never… interested me, I guess. And she obviously didn’t tell me right away. Looking back, some stuff should’ve clicked as weird, but I thought she was just a little paranoid.”

“They squandered her,” Jane says tightly. “Kept her locked away for years. Poor child never had a chance at a normal life.”

“Do you think she’d be the way she is if she had gotten a normal childhood?”

“I can’t say,” Jane replies. She seems almost sad as she looks at her granddaughter. “She’s definitely a redhead.”

“She said you are too,” Janis says softly.

“That I was,” Jane chuckles. “She’ll turn out alright in spite of what my idiot son has done to her.”

“She’s amazing,” Janis agrees.

“You won’t last.”

“I- excuse me?” Janis stutters.

“You’re clearly uncomfortable,” Jane says. “And Cady did not say a word in your defense when I met you in the foyer. She’s incapable of genuine love.”

“Excuse me?” Janis repeats incredulously. “With all due respect, ma’am, she is. The things she does for me in private tell me plenty about her capability to love. I’m uncomfortable because this is an entirely new universe for me and I have yet to adjust to it. She didn’t say anything because she’s scared of you. She doesn’t want to upset you.”

Jane hums pensively as she considers this. “I see what she saw in you.”

“Thank you,” Janis replies. “I think.”

“Heaven knows what you see in her.”

“So much, ma’am,” Janis says softly. “I see so much.”

Another hum. “I’ll get out of your hair. Lovely speaking with you.”

“You as well,” Janis says. A blatant lie, but… meh.

“You’re brave,” another voice says suddenly, approaching from her other side. Janis about jumps out of her skin and turns around again.

“Jesus, Lana,” she breathes, resting a hand over her pounding heart.

“Sorry,” the young girl says. “Nobody’s ever told great grandmother off like that.”

“I didn’t tell her off,” Janis replies. “Just… told her how things are.”

Lana raises an eyebrow at her. “Where’s Auntie Cady?”

“Down there,” Janis sighs, motioning vaguely beneath them. “Somewhere. Now, why are you up here?”

“Same as you, I’d imagine,” Lana says. “I hate these events. I follow Father around long enough to make him happy and then run away.”

“What do you do up here?” Janis asks. “I’m already bored.”

Lana gets a mischievous smile on her face and motions her over with a finger. Janis frowns in confusion and heads to a corner of the room, completely out of sight of everyone downstairs. She sits on the ground and grabs one off a large stack of books.

“Christmas Carol?” Janis asks, reading the cover. “Classic.”

“It’s great so far,” Lana says eagerly.

“How old are you?” Janis asks as she looks at the large book on the rather small lap.

“Ten.”

“Wow,” Janis says as she sits down. “May I?”

Lana nods and wordlessly opens her book. Janis takes the next off the stack and starts to read.

—-

She looks up from her book when she hears a, “Janis? Are you up here?”

Janis looks to Lana, asking wordlessly if it’s okay to reveal her hiding spot. Lana nods, so Janis calls, “Over here!”

Cady comes clicking her way over to them. “What are you two doing?”

“Reading,” Lana says innocently.

“Hm,” Cady hums. “Janis, we should get back to the party.”

“Okay,” Janis says. “Thanks for the book, Lana.”

“No problem,” Lana replies, already engrossed in her own once more.

Janis follows Cady as she practically drags her back down the stairs and over to the dance floor. Janis doesn’t dance, but Cady either doesn’t know that or doesn’t care as she winds her arms around her neck.

“I can’t dance,” Janis whispers, gently resting her hands on Cady’s hips.

“Figure it out,” Cady retaliates. “Just sway a little bit or something.”

Janis nods sheepishly. “Did I do something?”

“What?”

“You’ve been… distant,” Janis whispers. “Are you upset with me?”

“I’ve just been busy,” Cady says. “The holidays are one of our busiest seasons.”

“You’ve been busy the whole time, but you were still… nice about it, a while ago,” Janis says. “I feel like I haven’t even seen you in days.”

“Well, what do you want from me, Janis?” Cady asks in exasperation. “You’re leaving tomorrow, this is all fake, in case you’ve forgotten.”

“Of course I haven’t forgotten,” Janis says. “I’m just saying, I… I miss you. It’s been nice getting to know you and everything, I’d like to end this on a nice note.”

“This isn’t nice enough for you?”

“Of course it is, but I’m talking about you!” Janis retaliates. “You’re the one who’s not nice anymore!”

“This isn’t real! I’m the same as I’ve been the whole time!” Cady hisses.

“No, you aren’t, that’s the thing!” Janis says. “If you had been that would be fine, but you… you changed! You were amazing for a while, I-I thought… I don’t know, it’s dumb, but we had a connection, and it was really nice! And now you’re right back to ignoring me and treating me like shit.”

“I am not treating you like shit, how dare-”

“You can say whatever you want, but you know it’s true,” Janis scoffs.

“Would you shush? These people are important!” Cady says, ironically being the one to escalate the volume. “I can’t spend every second with you, it’s not my fault you’re, like, in love with me or something!”

“Would it be so horrible for you if I was? Is it that hard for you to interact with another human?” Janis yells. “This place is amazing and everything, but I’m sick of being treated like… like an object, not a person! What happened last week, why have you been pulling away?!”

“Stop yelling, do you have any idea where we are?!”

“Yes, I do, and I don’t really care!” Janis insists. “Because heaven forbid a few important people know that you treat me like shit! And I’m tired of it!”

“Janis, you know how this has to work-”

“No, I know how it does work! You-you could’ve changed the way all of this works, and you decided not to!” Janis says. “And for what? Are you happy, living like this?! So desperate for attention that you’ll drag someone like me off the sidewalk and in here just to get some little scrap of attention?”

“Don’t you dare,” Cady growls lowly.

“I do dare, though, is the thing,” Janis says. Dammit, don’t cry, not now. “I dare enough to tell you I’m tired of this. I’m tired of giving you so much of myself and getting fucking scraps in return. And I hope you’re fucking happy with yourself. I hope your family’s proud. Your grandmother was right, you really don’t love me.”

She hears a few scattered murmurs from the crowd at that. Cady looks frantically between people, as a frenzied Betsy Heron rushes to try to save face.

Janis pushes her way through all the crowds and out the doors into the hall. She has no idea where she’s going as her tears start to blur her vision, but she stumbles her way through the mansion as fast as she can manage.

Cady follows for the first few steps, pleading for her, calling her name softly. Janis ignores it and continues. Cady seems to realize she’s not going to get anything out of this and lets her go.

“Where’s my fucking suitcase,” Janis grumbles as she throws the door to their room open.

She tears through the room, pulling everything out from beneath the bed and ripping through the closet to find her bag before starting to shove all her things carelessly into it. And a few extra things. She’ll be damned if she’s leaving this place with nothing.

She’s around the room in a flurry. She doesn’t even pack her toiletries properly, she just shoves the bottles and containers straight into her bag and leaves it. It’s good enough.

Janis pulls out her phone as she grabs the last few things and shoves them wherever there’s room. “Damian?”

“Jan? What’s up?” Damian grumbles sleepily. “Are you crying?”

“How fast can you get here?” Janis says, unable to hold back her tears any longer. “I can’t-I can’t stay here anymore, I just… I can’t.”

“What happened?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Janis sobs. “I-”

“Hey. Breathe. Is Cady there?” Damian says lowly. Janis takes a deep breath and tries to imagine what he’s doing. Sitting in his bed, probably still in the dark. Or maybe he’s walked into his living room and is sitting by the window, watching the city go by.

“No,” Janis says. “I ran out.”

“Nice going,” Damian teases gently. “Just take a second. And then walk me through what happened. I’m looking at flights right now.”

“She’s just- she’s so! Ugh, I don’t even know! She’s absolutely infuriating!” Janis grumbles.

“Absolutely infuriating?” Damian scoffs. “Babe, you’ve been spending too much time around those people.”

“I know! It’s just, god! Everywhere I go I have to be so… on edge, because everyone is fucking watching my tiniest move! If it’s not her family then it’s the literal paparazzi. I’m not cut out for this, Dame. And then her,” Janis sighs in exasperation, flopping back onto the cushy bed.

“Her.”

“Her,” Janis says, feeling tears well behind her eyes again. “I don’t get her. One minute she’s taking me on these amazing dates and being so sweet and patient and kind that I can almost forget they’re fake dates, and then she’s… we’re… strangers again. She’s so cold, and… harsh. And I know it’s all fake and that I’m meant to leave soon anyway, but… it’s… it’s messing with me a lot more than I thought it would.”

“Mm,” Damian hums soothingly. “Have you… talked to her about this?”

“No,” Janis scoffs. “I mean, I kinda… said a bit of that quite loudly in front of a lot of very rich fancy people.”

“Oh, for the love of god, Janis!”

“You would’ve done the same if you’d been there!” Janis accuses. “But I haven’t… I can’t talk to her. Not really.”

“Why?”

“What the hell do you mean, why? Because she doesn’t care! I’m practically breaking my contract if I bring any real emotions into this,” Janis says.

“I think they’ve already been brought, hon,” Damian reminds her gently.

“I know,” Janis sniffs. “And this bed is way comfier than it has any right to be and it’s pissing me off.”

“Steal it.”

“Yeah, that’ll work out,” Janis snorts.

“Probably better than this situation.”

“Don’t remind me,” Janis sighs. “I just… I-” Her text tone pings against her ear, cutting her off. “Hold on.”

Janis frowns as she pulls the phone back and checks her notifications, and it deepens when she sees the message from Cady. It’s a link, and when Janis clicks it, she’s surprised to see a tabloid article. About them.

“Dame, I gotta call you back,” Janis sighs, starting to skim the article.

“Please don’t,” Damian replies.

“Bye,” Janis says, hanging up on him with a huff. “What the hell is this, now?”

Is the Infamous Ice Queen Finally Thawing Out?

It’s undeniable that there has been a media frenzy around the youngest daughter of Charles “Chip” Heron as of late. Sources have been abuzz at the recent reveal of Cady Heron’s relationship with café employee Janis Sarkisian.

Though their relationship is perhaps unconventional, one thing is instantly clear to anyone observing. The “Ice Queen” Heron seems to be melting.

Heron has previously held quite a reputation for being impersonal and cold, but looking at these two together, it’s quite clear that spring is in the air. Inside sources report that things are going well enough that we may even hear wedding bells in the near future!

Those close to the couple seem to be thankful for it, reporting that the heiress has been kinder as of late, and seems to be much happier than in the years prior.

One thing is certain, and that is that these two are madly in love! We wish them all the happiness and will bring you all of the latest updates on their relationship.

“Fuck,” Janis sighs as she scrolls through, interrupted periodically by her own face smiling at Cady. To anyone outside, it does really look like they’re in love. The look on Cady’s face. Wait, those were taken today. How fast do those get out?

Cady sheepishly enters the room, knocking quietly on the already open door. “Can we please talk?”

“I already said everything I wanted to,” Janis says coldly, tossing her phone to the side and starting to zip her bag up.

“I didn’t,” Cady begs softly. “I know I don’t have a right, but… hear me out, please.”

“… Fine,” Janis says. “Make it quick.”

“Can we, um… go outside, maybe?” Cady asks sheepishly. Janis nods and grabs her jacket off the bed, leaving Cady to fend for herself against the winter chill. Cady doesn’t, and just steps outside in her thin dress.

“You wanted to talk,” Janis reminds her after a few minutes of silence.

“Yeah,” Cady says with a heavy exhale. “I’m so sorry, Janis. Nothing about this has been fair to you. Asking you to do this in the first place… I cornered you. Of course you’d do it for the money, but… it still wasn’t fair of me to ask this of you. And the way I’ve treated you since, is… deplorable.

“The… the tabloids have always been right. I don’t know how to talk to people. I don’t know how to be a person myself. I’m cold, and impersonal, and rude, and haughty, and arrogant, and… I’m-I’m not a good person. I know I’m not,” Cady continues, her voice wavering. “I’ve tried so hard to change the narrative, but every move I make gets twisted. Everything I say, just… turns more people against me.”

Janis is quiet. Where is Cady going with this?

“But treating you, someone who… has no experience with the world in which I live, someone who has no experience with me as an individual, the way I have, is… I think it’s the most unforgivable thing I’ve ever done,” Cady says. “And I’m… so sorry. And I know that’s not enough, and the money isn’t enough, and I know I’ve hurt you, and god, you have no idea how much I wish I could start this whole thing over and undo it all.

“You’ve been beyond gracious, beyond patient with me when I haven’t deserved it. You’re… a far better person than I could ever hope to be. You have the best heart of anyone I’ve ever met, and you’ve… changed me. Forever, and for the better, and I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for me in such a short time.”

“Can you not do the business talk right now?” Janis says, hunching in on herself a bit to keep out the blustery chill.

“I don’t know how,” Cady says with a sob. “I try so hard. To be a person. But I’ve been like this since I was so young, Janis, I don’t… I don’t think that part of me exists anymore.”

“It does,” Janis says quietly. “I’ve seen it.”

“You’re the only one,” Cady says, giving her usual smile. Doesn’t meet her eyes, and this one is paired with tears running down her face in rivers and a rosy pink nose from the cold. “Everything I’ve ever done has been to impress my parents. All I’ve ever done has been to keep up with my brothers. I’ve been dead set on taking over the business since I was six. I need it, more than anything. My brothers would run it into the ground, and they don’t even want it in the first place.

“But I need it. Or I don’t… I don’t know who I am. I’ve devoted my entire life to it. And my parents… don’t care. Because I’m the youngest, and I’m a girl,” Cady sobs. “I’m the one who took… etiquette classes, and went to cotillions and-and did horseback riding so they’d be proud of me even though I’m fucking terrified of horses and studied mathematics so I’d be able to handle the bookkeeping and I triple majored in university so I’d be capable enough and where the fuck has it gotten me? Where am I left? In a place where I don’t have enough humanity left in me not to hurt the one person who’s ever shown me a genuine bit of kindness.”

Janis is quiet as she processes everything Cady’s just told her. She watches the snowflakes land on Cady’s nose and eyelashes, watches them melt and bleed down her face, mixing with Cady’s hot tears.

“I’m so-”

“Why did you send me that article, Cady?” Janis interrupts. Cady looks at her. Janis feels her heart splinter in spite of it all as she looks at Cady’s sweet, sad face.

“Because it’s true,” Cady whispers, followed by another series of quiet sobs. “For once. For once, the tabloids got it all right.”

“All of it?” Janis whispers back. She can see Cady’s lip trembling as she leans against the railing, watches tears drip down her nose and melt perfect little circles into the powdery snow.

Cady nods shakily. “All of it.”

“Then why have you been shutting me out?” Janis demands. “If all of it’s true. If you really… I don’t understand. Why have you been so-”

“Because I know you’re leaving soon and I don’t know how to handle the fact that I’m about to lose you!” Cady yells in a single breath. “I mean it when I say everything in that article was true, I-I… I thought all of this was going to be fake, but it’s not. It’s not fake to me anymore, and I don’t know how to deal with that!”

Janis blinks in shock.

“I’m sorry, I just… I don’t want you to go but I know it’s happening,” Cady sobs. “And if-if I’m not… if I don’t… if I don’t actually love you then it doesn’t hurt when you leave.”

Janis looks at her sadly. Cady’s holding herself so tightly, shaking so hard. Janis can’t tell if it’s a ditch attempt to comfort herself or if the cold is starting to get to her. It is freezing out here.

Before Janis knows what she’s doing, she’s taking slow steps over to Cady. She’s gently worming Cady’s arms away from their vice grip around herself. She’s tipping Cady’s chin up, looking into teary blue eyes. She’s stroking her thumb over Cady’s cheek and wiping her tears away.

“Please don’t leave,” Cady whispers shakily, and that seals the deal.

Janis leans in and gently presses her lips against Cady’s. She feels more than hears Cady’s surprised gasp and the content breath she releases against her cheek. Cady’s lips are cold, and Janis can taste the lingering salt of Cady’s tears. But they’re also warm in only the way Cady can be, soft, her.

They’ve kissed before, countless times, but this one is real. It’s real, and it’s them, and it’s perfect. Cady winds her hands beneath Janis’ coat and grips the fabric of her shirt almost hard enough to tear, like Janis is apt to simply disappear if she doesn’t hold on for dear life.

“Well, how can I refuse that?” Janis whispers jokingly when they break apart. She rests their foreheads together, looking into Cady’s eyes for her response to all of this as they’re both breathing noticeably heavier.

“I’d understand if you do,” Cady whispers back. “I still have absolutely no excuse for everything I’ve done to you.”

“Maybe not,” Janis agrees. “But I understand a lot more now.”

“You do?” Cady asks. Janis smiles faintly as that hopeful twinkle returns to her eyes.

“Yeah,” she whispers. “I think… you’re… protecting yourself in the only way you’ve ever known how. And I’m still hurt, but… so are you. And I understand how those connect a lot more than I did before.”

“Oh,” Cady sniffles. “You can still, like… leave, if you, um… if you want to. And you don’t have to forgi-”

“Stop pushing me away,” Janis whispers, gently kissing Cady again.

“I’m not,” Cady protests against her lips in between kisses. “I’m just- trying to- let you know that- mm, okay.”

Janis chuckles faintly as Cady melts into her, winding her arms around Janis’ neck and eagerly kissing her back.

“We’ll figure it out,” Cady whispers when they break apart again. “Right?”

“Yeah. We can figure it out,” Janis nods. She holds Cady’s trembling form close to her and runs a hand over her rosy cheek. “You’re freezing.”

“You’re telling me,” Cady laughs. She squeals as Janis gently lifts her off the ground and turns to carry her inside. “Jay!”

“Do I need to carry you all the way back down to the party?”

“I should go back, at least,” Cady sighs sadly. “If anyone’s even still here. My mother probably sent everyone away by this point.”

“Betsy Heron ending a party early?” Janis scoffs. “Thought that was unheard of.”

“That’s true,” Cady giggles. “But we did kind of make a scene. Saving themselves from
embarrassment is more important.”

“Should we go check?”

“Fuck ‘em,” Cady says, leaning in to kiss her again. Janis stumbles backwards in shock, trying not to drop Cady as she kisses her back.

“Mm- Caddy,” Janis says, coming to the unfortunate realization that she does have to interrupt this. “Seriously, should we go back?”

“Seriously,” Cady echoes. “Fuck. Them.”

“They’re your family, Cads,” Janis says quietly.

“And my family is exhausting, Jay,” Cady says. “I have a corset under this dress that’s really uncomfortable and I’d very much like to get out of and my makeup is itchy. And I really don’t… I don’t want to deal with them right now.”

She looks close to tears again as she ends the sentence, so Janis decides not to press her further. “Okay. Do we just go to bed, then?”

“I guess so,” Cady shrugs. “I’ve never left one of my mom’s parties early, I don’t know the etiquette for this kind of situation.”

“I don’t know that there is etiquette for this kind of situation, Cads,” Janis chuckles. “I think we’re on our own here.”

“Oh,” Cady says. Janis can practically see the horrified gears turning in her mind. No etiquette is practically unheard of for her. “In that case I would really like to go to bed, yeah.”

“Okay,” Janis says. Cady grins, kisses the tip of her nose and climbs down, grabbing a set of (Janis’, of course) pajamas before she heads to the bathroom to take her makeup off. Janis follows suit, but she decides to get changed in the bedroom. Getting naked in front of Cady isn’t something she’s quite ready for.

She’s also not ready for a knock at the door. She hops over as she finishes tugging her pajama pants up and makes sure she’s presentable before she pulls it open.

“Oh, um… Mr. and Mrs. Heron,” she says when she sees their company. “Cady’s in the bathroom, um… do you…”

“She may remain there, it’s you we wish to speak with,” Cady’s father says. Shit.

They don’t look happy, and the temptation to shut the door in their faces and escape out the window is high. But something tells her that wouldn’t make Cady very happy, and they’ve already had a very emotional evening. So, Janis steps aside and allows them in.

“What do you need?” she asks politely.

“You must leave,” Cady’s mother says. “Immediately.”

“Excuse me?”

“We have been patient enough with the two of you for the duration of this visit of yours. We have tried to be understanding, though we cannot fathom why our Cadence would choose to involve herself with the likes of you,” she continues. “But this little stunt of yours at the party is the final straw. I suppose it’s to be expected from someone of your… status. But we cannot excuse this behavior. You cannot stay here. And you cannot continue to see Cady.”

Janis blinks in shock, trying to process the amount of direct insults packed into a few short sentences. And decide what to do with them.

“Okay,” she says softly. “I understand.”

“We appreciate that,” Mrs. Heron says.

“But may I just say one thing?”

“Absolutely n-”

“Absolutely, yes. Go right ahead,” Mr. Heron says, interrupting his wife.

“The only reason I’m agreeing to this is because of Cady. I don’t know why she chose to be with me either, and I’m… I’m beyond grateful every day that she did. But I’ve gotten to know her pretty well over the last few… years, and I know that nothing matters to her more than the two of you,” Janis says. She tries to maintain her cool, but her voice does pick up volume as she goes on. “Everything she’s done since she was a child has been to make the two of you happy. To make you proud. She’s been so devoted to the business, and she’s beyond capable. Forgive me for saying so, but I think you know she’s more capable than any of your sons.”

“We most certainly will not!” Mrs. Heron huffs.

“That’s your prerogative, but it’s the truth. And Cady wants it,” Janis continues. “More than anything, she wants to help you with that business. Not for the money, or for the status. She wants it because she knows what she’s capable of, and she’s capable of fantastic things. She wants it because all that woman has ever wanted is to impress you. But you overlook her because she’s your youngest. You don’t have to do this traditionally. Give it to the child who wants it and would take it to the next level. I promise you won’t regret it. I’m happy to go, because I’m not going to be the one to stand in her way. All I want is for her to be happy.

“You can do whatever you want to me, but leave her out of whatever action you take against me. For her sake. And at least hear her out. But I’ll start packing now.”

“Thank you, Janis,” Mr. Heron says quietly.

“Jay, who are you talk-” Cady asks as she comes out of the restroom. She freezes in her tracks when she sees her parents standing there and Janis looking forlorn in front of them. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing, dear,” her mother says. “Janis was just leaving.”

“What?” Cady asks. “What do you mean leaving?”

Nobody answers her. Or even looks at her, as they all avert their eyes awkwardly.

“What do you mean leaving?!” Cady insists, louder.

“It’s not-”

“I know it’s not polite to yell, Mother, but I’m going to continue until someone gives me a straight answer!”

“I have to go home, Cads. Something came up,” Janis says softly. In spite of everything, she’s not going to throw Cady’s parents under the bus here.

“Is everything alright?” Cady asks in concern, ever oblivious to the actual situation. Janis tries not to let anything show when Cady heads over and runs a worried hand over her cheek. “Did someone get hurt?”

“No, no, everything’s fine,” Janis says. “Some… distant relative of my mom just died, I have to… go help her out.”

Part of her secretly hopes Cady catches on, hopes Cady understands that Janis wouldn’t just leave after the evening they’ve had together, after everything finally coming together for the two of them. But the rational part of her knows Cady’s relationship with her family is more important in the long run, and Janis has to take a hit here.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Cady says. “Who was it?”

“Um, her… grandma…‘s sister,” Janis stutters. Cady’s brow furrows. Shit.

“Nobody died, did they?” Cady whispers. Janis shakes her head as gently as she can, looking pointedly at the ground and hoping it swallows her whole. I should’ve jumped out the window when I had the chance. Cady nods tightly, lips pursed and thin, before she says, “Mother, Father, may I speak to you in the hallway, please?”

“I fail to see what we have to discuss, Cadence,” her mother says stiffly.

“Then maybe you should open your fucking eyes, for once! Hallway, now, please!”

Janis jumps at the profanity and the volume and is suddenly extra grateful that Cady’s nieces and nephews are all on the floor below them. Cady’s parents follow in concerned confusion when Cady stalks out to the hall outside their room. Neither of them bother to shut the door behind them. Janis doesn’t bother trying not to snoop.

“How could you do this to me?!” Cady insists as soon as her parents cross the threshold. “To her?!”

“Cady, being with someone like her is not good for you,” her mother begins. “We’re simply acting with your best interests in mind, dear.”

“Are you?! You never have before,” Cady scoffs.

“How dare you-”

“No, how dare you, Mother?! How dare you act like you’re doing this for anyone but yourselves?” Cady yells. “You-you never cared about me! Did you even want me, or was I just the accident everyone says I was?”

“You were no accident, Cadence,” her father says softly.

“Then why have you always treated me like I was?” Cady yells around a sob. “Did either of you ever even change a single one of my diapers? Or did you just give me to the nannies as soon as they cut the cord?”

“Cady-”

“No! I’m sick of this, I’m sick of you two acting like-like everything’s fine and we’re this too-big happy family that everyone loves and then we’re so dysfunctional behind the scenes!” Cady insists. “And you two were never around! You aren’t around enough to see what you’ve done to us! Nothing ever changes! Do you even know all the shit I’ve done to make you proud of me? Just to get you to look at me?!

“Etiquette classes I didn’t need, and how to be a good hostess, and- for fucks sake, I started with undergrad level business classes when I was six years old, Father! And you never knew that, did you? As long as I had the most expensive tutors you could find or was going to the most prestigious school you could ship me off to you didn’t care what the hell I studied. You didn’t even care enough to come to my graduation. Either of them! I was valedictorian both fucking times! And-and I triple majored in university figuring that would get someone talking and it would somehow make its way back to you! But it was fucking pointless, wasn’t it?! Because I’m a girl, and your youngest, and you don’t know any of us well enough to know that you shouldn’t give the business to Charlie when you retire?!”

“Cadence, really now-”

“Mother, give it a fucking rest!”

“Why I never-”

“I know this whole scheme you’re trying to pull over Janis was your doing,” Cady says, a terrifying growl in her tone now. “You can’t tell me it wasn’t. And I’m not fucking having it. You know something? Our entire relationship has been fake. We haven’t been together for three years, I met her a month ago. I knocked her over and cussed her out on the sidewalk for all the world to see. We’ve been faking this whole time because I knew that all you’d talk about is how I’m not married yet and how I need to settle down. We’ve been faking to make you happy.

“I’ve known Janis for three fucking weeks,” Cady says with a shaky sob. “And those three weeks have been some of the best of my entire life. And I don’t care that you’ll never approve, I know you won’t. I should’ve given up on trying to get you to notice me a long fucking time ago, let alone be proud of me. I don’t care about any of that anymore because I found someone who makes me happy. She makes me feel a way I’ve never felt before. A way none of this could ever make me feel.

“And as much as I don’t want to admit it, as much as I don’t want to admit you’re right and that having someone I may share my life with someday is amazing, it’s true. It’s true, and I love her. And I am not going to let you ruin this for me. Janis stays.”

“That stunt she pulled at the party, Cadence,” her mother tries to say.

“We argued! So what?! I am sorry we interrupted your precious soirée with our private matters, but it was not Janis’ fault. Everything she said down there was something I had had coming for a long time. I deserved every word she said,” Cady says.

Janis can hear the shakiness in her voice now, and can hardly bear not going to intervene. She knows the reality of what Cady’s doing must be hitting her right now.

“Because all of it was true. I’ve been hurting her to impress you,” Cady continues. “And I’m done. If you actually care about me, as your child, and not about your precious image, now is the time to prove it. Janis. Stays.”

“Absolutely n-” her mother says.

“She may stay until the morning,” her father says at the same time. “At least. She won’t be able to get far at this hour and in this weather anyway. And your mother and I seem to have some things to discuss amongst our own company. I will reconnect with you in the morning to handle the details.”

“Yes, Father,” Cady says, back to her usual meek tone.

“None of that, now,” her father chides. “We do love you, very much. I am… aware we haven’t done our jobs as your parents. If you’ll allow it, I’d like to try to begin now. Make amends.”

“I’d like that,” Cady sniffles. Janis is worried by how quiet Cady’s mother is, but things seem to be going well regardless.

“We’ll discuss more tomorrow. It’s late, now, and we’ve all had quite the melodrama this evening. Get some rest, Cady.”

“Yes, Father,” Cady says, a bit more pep in her tone this time. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight. We love you,” her father says.

“I love you too.”

Janis stands from her spot on the bed when Cady enters. Cady barely clicks the door shut behind her before she breaks completely. Her knees give out beneath her and she sinks to the ground, muffling sobs into her hand as if someone has actually passed away.

She startles when Janis rushes up to hold her. Almost like she wasn’t expecting it. Wasn’t expecting comfort. Someone to be there for her.

Janis leans against the door and pulls Cady into her lap. Cady throws herself at her, clinging desperately to her neck and crying into Janis’ soft pajama top.

“What have I done?” Cady sobs.

“Something amazing,” Janis whispers. “And something that’s needed to be done for a long time.”

Cady doesn’t say anything else. Janis doesn’t either. Nothing she can say will help. Nothing she can say will change anything. But holding Cady close might help. Giving her comfort in this fragile moment might change something. Something small, but something enough.

“Just let it out,” Janis whispers. “I gotcha.”

And Cady does. She just clings to Janis like a lifeline and sobs. Janis’ legs go numb after a while. Her arms begin to ache where she’s gently squeezing Cady against herself. Her pajama top is clinging to her skin uncomfortably now that it’s thoroughly soaked with Cady’s tears.

Janis doesn’t mention a thing. Because, as uncomfortable as it all is, Janis is happy. Cady stood up for herself. And for her. Cady chose them. Cady took the first baby step on the path to healing.

And Cady said she loves Janis.

If Damian could see me now.

—-

Cady tires herself out after about an hour and a half. Neither of them move even after she goes quiet, just relishing in a not-quite peaceful moment they share. Janis does text Damian to let him know things are okay and that he doesn’t need to be on the next flight to Colorado after all. He sends back an eye roll emoji and says to tell Cady he says hi.

Other than that, Janis just holds Cady close, rocks her, gently massages her hip with her thumb, waits for her to speak.

“I’m sorry,” Cady whispers after a long time.

“For what?”

“Everything,” Cady says, fiddling with the hem of Janis’ shirt. “Them. Me.”

“I think you’re worth it,” Janis says. “And they come with the territory.”

“Don’t,” Cady says. “Don’t do that. That was some major bullshit they just tried to pull on you.”

“It was,” Janis nods. “But we’ve known it was gonna happen. They’re never going to approve of me.”

“Then they can suck eggs,” Cady grumbles. Janis can’t help but laugh.

“Hey,” she says, nosing gently against the top of Cady’s head. “That’s not gonna do us any favors.”

“I don’t care,” Cady whines. “They’ve been worse to you than I have, which is saying a lot. And you’re still so… gracious. It’s infuriating.”

“Is it now?” Janis chuckles. “You’ll forgive me for not throwing a tantrum?”

“I suppose,” Cady huffs jokingly. “But really. I’m sorry for everything you’ve been through.”

“Me too,” Janis says softly. “But I’ve gotten a lot of good from it too.”

“Me too,” Cady says. Janis can feel her smile against her chest. “I guess we should actually go to bed.”

“Do you want to?”

“I dunno if I can,” Cady admits. “But you must be exhausted.”

“You must be too,” Janis says. “Emotionally, anyway.”

“That’s the understatement of the century,” Cady chuckles sarcastically. “Welcome to holidays with the Herons.”

“I’d watch that reality show.”

“Don’t you dare,” Cady insists. “Don’t give anyone ideas.”

“I’m kidding. I think I’d probably be on that reality show by this point and I really don’t need that reaction from Damian,” Janis says with a chuckle.

“Does Damian hate me now?”

“God, no,” Janis says, laughing harder now. “I think short of killing me or something you can’t do any wrong in his eyes.”

“Good,” Cady sighs. Janis frowns at the genuine relief in it.

“Why?”

“He’s important to you,” Cady says. “I’d like to meet him at some point, maybe. And I know you’re important to him as well. I just don’t want him to already… have anything held against me.”

“He won’t,” Janis says. “He’s just like… my version of a big brother. But not, because I can’t handle actually being related to him. But he just wants me, like… alive. And moderately happy.”

“He sounds great,” Cady says.

“He is. You’ll like him,” Janis says softly. They’re quiet again, before Janis asks, “Are you okay?”

“I think so,” Cady agrees quietly. “It feels good. Kinda cathartic, I guess.”

“Good,” Janis says. “Overwhelming?”

“Definitely,” Cady nods. “You and I still have so much we should talk over, and that’s not even scratching the surface of everything that’ll come up tomorrow with my parents. And then the rest of my family. And a bunch of other people, inevitably, and then… some part of this is gonna end up in the news, and-”

“Cads,” Janis interrupts. “Hey. Look, it’s… eleven thirty at night. Yeah, a lot of shit is gonna happen soon, but it’s nothing we can’t deal with. And it’s nothing we have to deal with now, so just… forget it, for a while, okay? Focus on right now. Right now it’s Christmas Eve, and we’re together figuring stuff out. Okay?”

“Okay,” Cady says. She gently presses her lips to the underside of Janis’ jaw. “Are your legs asleep?”

“Oh, god, yeah,” Janis says.

“Sorry,” Cady says, climbing carefully out of her lap. “Oh, your shirt. I’ll get that dry cleaned for you, I’m sorry.”

“Cads, it was eleven dollars from Old Navy, it doesn’t need dry cleaning,” Janis laughs. “I’ll wash it when I get home, it’s fine.”

“I’m still perplexed by how soft your clothes are even though they’re so inexpensive,” Cady says, twirling around and looking curiously at the stolen pajamas she’s wearing.

“A wonder of the modern world,” Janis says as she changes into a dry t-shirt.

“It really is! I thought- where are you going?”

“Secret,” Janis says, reaching a hand out for her. “Come on.”

Cady pouts adorably in confusion and takes Janis’ hand, following her down the hallway. Janis runs them right past the elevators and towards the marble stairs. They hurry down them until they’re on the main floor, running a little faster when they pass Cady’s father’s study and hear raised voices coming from within. Cady squeezes her hand thankfully as they continue running through the mansion until they end up in one of the kitchens.

“If you were hungry I could’ve had something brought to you,” Cady says in confusion.

“I’m not. We’re here to make something,” Janis says.

“We’re what?”

“Something tells me you’ve never eaten something you made yourself,” Janis says, patting around the wall. “How do I turn the lights on?”

Cady laughs and heads to the wall she’s examining. She finds a small red light and holds the back of her hand against it. Suddenly, part of the wall shifts and reveals a control panel with a few sliders that adjust different aspects of the room. Cady slides the one for the lights up, and the lights come on above them. “There.”

“How did you do that?” Janis asks.

“Chip,” Cady responds.

“What?”

“The panel can only be opened with a scanner,” Cady says. “I have a microchip in my hand that controls all the scanners on our properties.”

“You-you… what?” Janis asks. “Are you a spy? Why do-”

“It’s silly for things like this, but for security and things it’s quite useful,” Cady says. “The doors can only be opened with chips and things like that.”

“So all the employees have microchips in their hands?”

“No, no, of course not,” Cady says. “Unless they feel they’re going to be working for us for a while and choose to get one. Employees have cards that work for the scanners, but only the ones they’d need access to.”

“That’s fucking insane,” Janis responds.

“Don’t knock it ‘til you try it.”

“I… don’t think I want to, but okay,” Janis says in confusion. “Anyway. Ready to cook?”

“It’s almost midnight, Janis, what could we possibly cook at this hour?” Cady asks in confusion.

“It’s not really cooking, per se,” Janis says as she roots through all of the cabinets for what they’ll need. “But you need something comforting that’ll help you sleep. And I think it’s my job now to teach you what being a commoner is like, so you get to make something you’ll drink yourself.”

“But I don’t know how to do anything,” Cady says anxiously. “I’ll burn the kitchen down.”

“And that,” Janis says, trying not to be too loud as she sets her armful of ingredients down. “Is why I’m here!”

“That’s… a lot of things,” Cady says, eyeing it like it’ll explode at any moment.

“Yeah. Come here,” Janis says. Cady warily pads over to her, squeaking in surprise as Janis turns her to face the countertop and presses against her back. “This okay?”

“Mmhmm,” Cady hums with an eager nod and a flustered blush on her cheeks. “What are we making?”

“Hot chocolate bombs,” Janis says.

“Bombs?!” Cady yelps, trying to jump away.

“Not actual bombs,” Janis chuckles. “They’re like bath bombs, they’re perfectly safe. They’re one of our biggest sellers at the shop.”

“Oh,” Cady says.

“After everything that’s happened tonight, you really think I’m gonna show you how to make a bomb?”

“I don’t know!” Cady defends.

“In your kitchen?”

“I don’t know!”

“Dork,” Janis teases, kissing Cady’s cheek. “Okay, you ready?”

“No,” Cady says.

“Great. Take this,” Janis says, handing Cady a grater and a bar of some fancy imported chocolate from Switzerland or Sweden or whatever. Kälteen. Sounds pretty good. Cady holds them aimlessly in her hands. Janis isn’t phased and moves a bowl in front of her. “Grate that into there.”

“How?”

“Like this,” Janis says, gently demonstrating the motion she should use. “No, no, unwrap it first!”

“Oh. Oops,” Cady says softly.

“It’s okay,” Janis comforts. “It’s your first time. There you go.”

“How much?” Cady asks. “This is satisfying.”

“All of it,” Janis chuckles. “Just be careful you don’t grate your fingers.”

Janis gets to work on her own chocolate bar, because… chocolate. She sneaks a few pieces for a snack and offers Cady one too, which she takes from her fingers and chases with a gentle peck.

“You’re so fast!” Cady whines.

“I’ve done this a lot,” Janis says. “You’re doing good.”

“No I’m not,” Cady grumbles.

“Yes you are, Grumpy, come on,” Janis says. “See, you already finished, and there’s no blood in our chocolate! That’s way better than I did the first time.”

“Oh,” Cady says. She hums contently and gives a small happy wiggle when she looks at her hard work. “Now what?”

“Now we start tempering it,” Janis says. She heads to the stove and gets the boiler set up. Cady watches her curiously, and Janis can almost see the questions burning behind her eyes. “You melt it over a bit of hot water like this so it heats evenly and indirectly. If I put it in the pan right over a burner it would burn and cook too fast.”

“Oh,” Cady says. “How do you know all this stuff?”

“Ask your father what happened to the original location of the coffee shop I work at.”

“Oh,” Cady says solemnly. “Wait, what?”

“Come here,” Janis says, decidedly ignoring the second half of that. “Stir this.”

“Okay,” Cady says. She takes the offered whisk and continues stirring their chocolate around the bowl. “What are you-”

“Just keep an eye on it, you’re doing great!” Janis says as she fills a bowl with ice water and grabs a candy thermometer. She sneakily pulls out her phone to Google the exact temperatures she needs. She may make these once a week, but she’ll be damned if she ever learns those temperatures by heart.

“Is this right?” Cady asks concernedly. “It’s melting quite quickly.”

“It’s supposed to,” Janis chuckles. “Looks great. Here.”

“What is this?” Cady asks, taking the candy thermometer from Janis and gently poking the end into her fingertip. “Ouch.”

“Don’t do that,” Janis says, trying not to laugh. “Put it in the chocolate.”

“Oh,” Cady says. She carefully sticks the end into the melting chocolate and looks curiously at the digital end telling her the temperature.

“Stir it a little bit to make sure it’s all in there,” Janis instructs, pressing against Cady’s back again. Cady does, whisking the last few flakes of unmelted chocolate around until they melt into the puddle of gloopy goodness they have. “Okay, that’s the right temperature. Now put the bowl into the water. But be super careful not to get any of the water into the bowl.”

“What?”

“Here,” Janis chuckles. She gently rests her hands on top of Cady’s and guides her motions. “Keep stirring so it doesn’t seize up.”

Cady does, resting against Janis’ shoulder as she keeps working. The temperature of their chocolate steadily decreases.

“Good. Now put it back over the heat.”

“Why?” Cady asks.

“This is how you temper it,” Janis says. “Temperature up and down and back again. It gives it a really nice texture and makes it shiny.”

“Oh,” Cady says. “Sounds nice.”

“It will be. We don’t really need to do it for something like this, but they’ll look better this way,” Janis chuckles. Cady nods thoughtfully as she brings the temperature back up a bit. “Done! Now… pour it into this.”

“All of it?” Cady asks worriedly, holding the warm bowl of melted chocolate between her hands and looking at the silicone mold in concern.

“Yep. Try to get it into the little sphere thingies as much as you can, but just go for it,” Janis instructs. Cady carefully tips the bowl to fill up each pocket in the mold. “Wow.”

“What wow?” Cady asks frantically.

“Good wow. Your hands are really steady,” Janis says.

“I don’t think so,” Cady chuckles. “What now?”

“Pour it back.”

“This recipe makes no sense,” Cady says.

“It will when you see how it turns out,” Janis says. “Patience.”

“I don’t have any of that,” Cady pouts.

“I think you have more than you think,” Janis chuckles. “Just tip it upside down and let it drip back into the bowl.”

Cady does, draining the extra chocolate out and leaving them with a bunch of perfect shells for chocolate bombs. They fill up a few more molds just so they don’t waste the chocolate, and both of them sneak a taste of the melty goodness from the sides of the empty bowl.

“What do you like in your hot chocolate, Cads?”

“I don’t know,” Cady says as she puts the last tray of molds into the freezer. “I’ve never had it.”

“You what?!” Janis yelps, almost banging her head against the inside of a low cabinet.

“My mother never let me. She said it was for peasants and had too much sugar,” Cady says.

“Of course she did. Well, we’ll just have to try everything, then,” Janis says. “Here we go.”

Cady watches in confusion as she comes back with armfuls of treats the likes of which Cady has hardly seen before. She didn’t even think her family would allow this in the house. Sprinkles, mini marshmallows, all sorts of things.

“What are these?” Cady asks, curiously examining a marshmallow.

“These are… things,” Janis says defensively. She watches Cady for a moment. “You can eat the marshmallows, you know, Cads.”

“It’s food?” Cady asks in shock. “But it’s… like a tiny little pillow.”

“A tiny little pillow made of pure sugar,” Janis chuckles. “Try one.”

Cady picks up a single mini marshmallow and squishes it between her fingers, examining it like a scientific specimen.

“Caddy.”

“I’m nervous!” Cady pouts.

“It’s one marshmallow!” Janis laughs as she pulls a tray of now-solid chocolate spheres out of the freezer.

“It has a very disconcerting texture!” Cady huffs.

“Yeah, they’re better stale,” Janis agrees. “But seriously, try it.”

“…You promise it’ll be okay?” Cady asks. Janis puts the molds down and gently pulls Cady into her, pulling their waists together and smiling at her.

“I promise. And I got you on the off chance you have some horrific marshmallow allergy and fall into a coma at my feet.”

Cady huffs at her, but does finally put the marshmallow in her mouth. She chews interestedly. For much longer than Janis thinks is probably necessary, but Cady can do this however she wants to. Cady’s face shifts from concern, to curiosity, back to concern, then to a smile. But she’s still totally quiet.

“Is it good?” Janis smirks. Cady bites her lip so she’ll stop smiling and shakes her head. “You want more?” Cady nods. “That’s what I thought.”

Cady happily munches on the handful of marshmallows she steals while Janis carefully pops the chocolate out of the molds. Cady’s voice is muffled when she asks, “What now?”

“Now you finish chewing, you heathen,” Janis snorts. Cady nods and continues her very important work. Both of them giggle a bit as it takes a lot longer than is reasonable.

“Okay,” Cady says when she finally swallows. “What now?”

“Take this,” Janis says, brandishing a container of hot chocolate mix and a tablespoon.

“Can I eat this?”

“No!” Janis says, taking the spoon back. “Don’t… don’t do that. Trust me.”

Cady nods gravely and looks suspiciously at the container. “I thought we already put the chocolate in.”

“That’s just for the shells. I don’t care how rich you are, you make hot chocolate with the shitty powder stuff,” Janis says. “Put a scoop in half of the… halves.”

“Mmkay,” Cady hums, happily dumping heaping spoonfuls into the chocolate shells. “Only half of them?”

“Yeah. If you put stuff in the top half it’ll fall out when you put them together,” Janis explains. “Now the fun part.“

“I’m already having fun,” Cady says softly.

The smile on her face gives Janis some hope, in a strange way. The childlike joy and wonder in her eyes as she looks at their handiwork so far, the happy little dances she does seemingly without realizing whenever they finish a step. It’s a genuine joy that Janis enjoys seeing. Cady is happy right now, almost in the middle of the night, in the kitchen of the huge house. Alone, with Janis, making dorky treats. She’s genuinely happy in a way rarely seen. And she’s willing to give Janis a chance just for things like this.

So, yeah. Janis has a bit of hope. Call it naive, but it’s there.

“Me too,” she whispers back. Cady smiles wider and kisses her cheek. Janis squeaks softly and blushes, clearing her throat a bit before she looks back to their hot chocolate bombs. “Okay, um… next step.”

“Yeah, I wanna do the fun part,” Cady replies eagerly.

“Put whatever you want inside. Just go easy on the marshmallows,” Janis says.

“Just me?”

“They’re your chocolate bombs,” Janis shrugs.

“But you’re helping,” Cady pouts. “…Do everything. And you’re a professional. You make some too.”

“If you insist,” Janis says.

“I do,” Cady says authoritatively. “You have to make at least one. And I wanna have yours.”

“Alright, bossy. You wanna make one for me, then?”

“Yeah!” Cady says eagerly. “What do you like in yours?”

“Whatever you put in,” Janis replies. “Have at it.” Cady nods pensively. “No, not that.”

“Jay!”

“I’m kidding. Do what you want,” Janis chuckles. Cady humphs and goes for the marshmallows. Janis appeases her with a kiss on the cheek and lots of marshmallows stuffed into the one she’s making.

They continue working in silence until all of the bombs are stuffed full of various goodies.

“Can we drink it now?” Cady asks happily.

“They’re not bombs, yet, Cads,” Janis chuckles. “Can you look for some white chocolate?”

“Um… mmhmm!” Cady hums.

“Cabinet over there,” Janis says, pointing Cady to where she found the other chocolate.

“Thank you,” Cady sighs in relief. Janis grabs a couple of small pans and sets them both over a low heat. Cady returns with her bar of white chocolate. “Are we doing the thingy again?”

“Nah, this is just to make ‘em look snazzy. That would just be a waste of time. We just need to melt this stuff real quick,” Janis explains.

“Oh,” Cady says. She almost looks disappointed.

“Faster we’re done, faster we get to drink,” Janis says.

“Oh!” Cady says happily. “Okay, yeah.”

“Break it up into this pot here and whisk it,” Janis says. “Just like before.”

“You want me to?” Cady asks anxiously. “I thought this burns it.”

“It’s over low heat,” Janis comforts. “I’m right here, you’ll be fine.”

“But what if-”

“Caddy. I just yelled at your parents about how capable and devoted you are, you can melt some white chocolate. Okay?”

Cady blushes and nods, turning to her pot and breaking the bar into chunks. “I like the sound.”

“Yeah, it’s not bad,” Janis chuckles.

“What are you doing?”

“Putting them together,” Janis says. Cady looks frantically back and forth between what Janis is doing and her melting chocolate. “You can look away for more than a millisecond, Cads, it’ll be okay.”

Cady nods and keeps stirring, but takes a longer peek to watch Janis melt the edges of the spheres together to form perfect little chocolate bombs. “Are they done now?”

“Technically, yeah,” Janis nods. “But… we gotta use this chocolate too. Can you take it off the heat for me?”

“What does that mean?” Cady asks frantically.

“Pick it up,” Janis chuckles. Cady does, holding the little pot in her hands. Janis returns with a baggie and some scissors. “Hold this.”

They switch items, so Janis is now the one with the chocolate and Cady with the bag. Cady carefully holds it open while Janis pours the chocolate into it and then snips a corner off.

“What’s this for?”

“To make ‘em pretty,” Janis shrugs. Cady watches as she carefully drizzles the white chocolate in a beautiful squiggle over a sphere. “You wanna try?”

“You help,” Cady says nervously. Janis nods and beckons her over, gently pressing against her back again as she hands Cady the bag.

“Let gravity do most of it, it’s pretty thin, so you won’t need to squeeze too hard,” Janis murmurs into her ear. “And then just move it back and forth. There, you got it.”

“I did it?”

“You did it,” Janis confirms. “Nicely done.”

“Can I do another one?” Cady asks eagerly. Janis nods and grabs another chocolate ball for her to decorate. They both wince and freeze in surprise as Cady accidentally leaves more of a glob than a drizzle on this one. “Oops.”

“That was too hard,” Janis chuckles. “Gentle. Chocolate’s emotionally fragile. Try again.”

“That one was yours and I ruined it,” Cady pouts. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, sweet thing, don’t worry about it,” Janis comforts. “It’ll melt anyway. And it’ll still taste good. Try again, you got it.”

Cady takes a deep breath and tries again on another one. Janis watches over her shoulder, holding Cady around the waist and absentmindedly stroking her thumb back and forth over the soft skin just beneath the hem of Cady’s top.

“You’re making this quite difficult to concentrate on,” Cady whispers after a while, cheeks burning and her voice much higher than normal.

“Sorry,” Janis chuckles. She doesn’t let go, but she puts Cady’s top back where it’s meant to be and focuses on keeping her hands where they are. “Was it okay, though?”

“Absolutely,” Cady nods. “You’ll know if something isn’t.”

“I had a feeling,” Janis says. “You’re doing great.”

“Yours is better,” Cady pouts.

“I’ve had more practice,” Janis reminds her. “I make these, like, once a week in bulk. And my livelihood depends on it. You get good at it quick.”

“Still.”

“If I’m such a professional you should trust me when I say you’re doing a good job.”

“I suppose that’s true,” Cady says thoughtfully.

“You suppose?” Janis chuckles.

“Shut up,” Cady scoffs with a laugh. “I’m not gonna be talking like a normal person after knowing you for three weeks.”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t make fun of you,” Janis replies.

“You’re quite rude.”

“You know it.”

Cady laughs and keeps icing their hot chocolate bombs until her bag of chocolate is empty. She has made a remarkable amount of progress in a matter of a few minutes. Her swirls have gotten progressively less blobby and more uniform and even as she’s gone on.

“Now can we drink it?” she asks pleadingly.

“Yeah,” Janis says. She pulls away to go find some mugs and milk while Cady handles putting all the ones they won’t be using onto a tray and into the fridge.

Cady watches curiously as Janis pours the milk into the two mugs and looks around for the microwave.

“Where’s…”

“What?” Cady asks.

“The microwave?” Janis asks. “Everything in here looks like an oven.”

“Oh, um…” Cady hums. “I’m… not sure.”

“Rich people kitchens,” Janis grumbles under her breath. “Look around and see if anything says microwave.”

“Okay,” Cady giggles. They both take off in different directions, looking closely at the dials and buttons and screens on all the appliances for what they need. “Oh, this one!”

Janis comes over when Cady calls for her. “How many ovens do you guys need?”

“We have a lot of people to feed,” Cady says defensively. “And normally there’s even more people here.”

“True enough,” Janis says. “How the fuck-”

“Let me,” Cady says with a laugh. “How long do you need?”

“Eh… minute and a half, maybe?” Janis says. Cady manages to enter the time into the microwave and get it going, and they both stare intently at the glass to watch their beverages heat up. Nothing visible actually happens, but it’s still mesmerizing.

They both startle a little bit when it beeps. They look at each other and laugh as Janis opens it to pull the now-warm mugs out. Cady follows her over to the counter and bounces eagerly when Janis hands her her special hot chocolate bomb.

“Ready?” Janis asks. Cady bounces up and down a little bit with a nod. Janis smiles and says, “Go.”

Cady plops hers into the cup. She pouts as it doesn’t seem to do anything for the first few seconds, but it does start to melt as she keeps watching it. She gasps as it suddenly sinks into the milk and reveals all the goodies Janis put into it. A touch of cinnamon, a few Christmassy sprinkles, and loads and loads of marshmallows. “Whoa!”

“What do you think?” Janis asks softly.

“That was so cool!” Cady squeals. Janis laughs and hands her a small spoon to mix it all together. Janis looks over when she feels Cady’s eyes on her.

“Do you wanna do mine?”

“Uhhuh,” Cady mumbles sheepishly. Janis chuckles and passes the supplies over with a kiss to Cady’s cheek. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” Janis replies softly. Cady plops the second bomb into Janis’ mug and watches it do its thing once again. Cady stirs them both up and watches curiously as Janis returns from one of the many refrigerators with a can of whipped cream.

“What’s that?”

Janis looks at her with a mischievous glint in her eye. “Do you trust me?”

“Not when you look at me like that,” Cady giggles. “But yes.”

“Close your eyes and open your mouth.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Just do it,” Janis chuckles. Cady eyes her warily, but does as she says. Janis shakes the can and sprays a little bit of it onto Cady’s tongue for her to taste. Cady yelps in surprise at the noise and sudden sensation, but she hums happily when she tastes it and pokes her tongue out to get the bit Janis missed.

“Mm.”

“You like?”

“Yeah,” Cady says, opening her eyes and wiping the rest of it off her lips with a finger. “It’s really yummy.”

“It’s just whipped cream,” Janis explains. “You want some in your hot chocolate?”

“Yes please,” Cady replies, squishing herself against Janis’ back as she adds a perfect spiral of it to the top of each mug. Janis smiles a bit feeling Cady’s cheek smushed against her shoulder and her arms wrapped tightly around her waist.

“Here you are, my lady,” Janis says as she hands the mug over.

“Thanks,” Cady giggles. “Oh! Come on, I have an idea.”

Janis raises a suspicious eyebrow, but follows Cady out of the kitchen and through the winding hallways of the mansion until they end up in the living room.

All of the lights are off except for the ones on the tree, illuminating everything in a faint white glow just strong enough to see by. Cady shuffles through the cushy rug and turns on the fireplace. The warm glow from the fire doesn’t add that much more light, but it gives it all a comforting ambiance and coziness that has Janis almost on the brink of tears.

“Sit with me?” Cady asks quietly, sitting on the rug and patting the spot next to her. Janis curls up on the ground next to her and holds her mug out.

“Cheers.”

“Cheers,” Cady echoes softly, grinning at her with the joy of Christmas twinkling in her crystal blue eyes. “This is delicious.”

“Good,” Janis grins. “I’m glad you like it.”

Cady gives a small but delighted wiggle as she sips slowly at her warm drink. They’re quiet for a long time, leaning against each other and drinking their hot chocolate. Cady traces faint shapes on Janis’ knee as they’re both deep in their own thoughts.

“I used to do this every year,” Cady murmurs after a while.

“Do what?”

“Sneak out of bed,” Cady recalls fondly. “Every Christmas Eve. I always tried to sneak up on Santa. But I never caught him.”

“I’ve heard he’s tricky,” Janis says with a nod.

“Christmas was one of the only times everyone was actually together,” Cady continues. “Obviously we do it differently than most families, but everyone was at least here. Or wherever we were that year. All my brothers, and my parents. And my grandparents came later in the day to celebrate with us. But, yeah. When I was really little I’d sneak out of bed after my nannies fell asleep and go get Charlie and Clify to come watch for Santa with me.”

“That’s cute,” Janis whispers.

“They hated it,” Cady laughs. “I was such a brat when I was little. But they always did it anyway. Was more convenient for them to be downstairs to put the presents under the tree anyway.”

“No,” Janis says with a faux-shocked gasp. “They were Santa the whole time?”

“The whole time!” Cady agrees. “I didn’t catch on until I was thirteen.”

“That’s impressive on their parts,” Janis chuckles. Cady laughs with her and nods, downing the last glug of her hot chocolate. She places the empty mug onto the stone hearth next to them and leans into Janis’ shoulder. Janis follows suit and holds Cady close to her.

“What’s your favorite Christmas tradition?” Cady asks softly, looking up at her as best she can from the strange angle.

“My family used to bake a different kind of cookie every day from December first until Christmas, that was always fun,” Janis chuckles. “They usually lasted until about February. And my sister and I always got to open one present on Christmas Eve. It was always pajamas, but it was still fun.”

“That’s cute,” Cady grins. “I would’ve loved getting an early present when I was younger.”

“You wanna open one now?” Janis asks mischievously.

“My family will be upset if I open anything without them here,” Cady responds.

“But I won’t,” Janis says. “I wasn’t expecting to still be here when you opened it anyway.”

“You got me a gift?” Cady asks softly.

Janis nods and crawls around to the back of the absolutely massive Christmas tree to grab the small package. She was hoping it would manage to stay hidden through the morning and Cady would be able to open it on her own time after Janis had left. This seems better to both of them.

“But I didn’t get you anything,” Cady says as Janis hands her the box.

“You got me a little vacation in some of the most beautiful mountains I’ve ever seen, and a lot of very nice and very expensive things, and some great meals and fantastic company,” Janis replies instantly. “And a girlfriend.”

“A girlfriend?” Cady asks with a small smile.

“I didn’t go through all of that to not get to call you my girlfriend afterwards,” Janis says.

“Fair enough,” Cady giggles. “I have a girlfriend.”

“You sound surprised.”

“I am,” Cady says, fiddling gently with a loose corner on the wrapping paper. Janis did it herself, so it’s less perfect than it would be if Janis had gotten a servant to do it for her. “After everything that happened between Regina and I, I just… I don’t know, I never expected this to happen to me again. And then I became the whole, you know. Ice queen.”

“No you didn’t,” Janis says. “The media turned you into that. You had no control over it, you were just trying to protect yourself.”

“I guess,” Cady agrees softly. “Anyway. I get this now?”

“If you want to,” Janis nods, sitting back beside her. Cady removes the wrapping paper and opens the small cardboard box her gift came in. She looks at Janis with tears brimming in her eyes when she pulls out the little snow globe. “For your collection.”

“You remembered,” Cady says with a sniffle. “And it’s the café.”

“Yeah,” Janis says shyly. “I know it’s kinda dumb. Especially since your dad owns it. But they sell these around the holidays, and uh… it’s… where we met, and everything.”

“It’s perfect,” Cady says. “I love it.”

“Good,” Janis says. Cady gently shakes the globe to get the ‘snow’ inside to fall, and watches it with a look of childlike wonder in her eye.

She sets it down next to their mugs and flops down into the cushy fibers of the rug. Janis follows suit, and they both turn onto their sides to see each other.

They’re quiet again, nose to nose in the faint light and warmed by each other.

“I’m really glad you’re here,” Cady whispers, tracing the shape of Janis’ jaw with a delicate finger.

“I am too,” Janis whispers back. She watches Cady’s eyes flick back and forth, looking between Janis’ eyes and her lips. Janis leans partway in, leaving Cady to close the gap if she wants to.

And, oh, does she.

Cady surges forward so strongly she practically rolls Janis over, cupping her face in her small hands and keeping them held against each other. Janis’ eyes widen in surprise, but she leans in just as much and kisses her back just as hard.

They settle into a rhythm after a while. The frantic movements slow, the desperate urgency fades. And suddenly, it’s the most amazing kiss; just them, and the warm fire, and the light from the tree, and everything else slowly fading away.

“Merry Christmas, Jay,” Cady whispers against her lips when they break apart and the clocks strike midnight.

“Merry Christmas, Caddy,” Janis whispers back.

-

And if Mrs. Heron happens to walk by the living room on her way to bed and find the pair; her daughter protectively curled around the other woman as they’re sound asleep and dreaming of sugar plums on the ground, she’ll keep that sweet sight to herself.

And if she happens to grab a blanket from the pile next to the sofa and spread it over them, nobody has to know it was anything more than some Christmas magic.

—————

Janis yawns and opens her eyes. She screams when a little face is mere inches from her own.

Cady startles awake next to her and almost clocks herself against Fiona. “Auntie Cady, why you and Miss Janis sweepin’ on the gwound?”

“What?” Cady yawns. Janis sits up next to her and looks around. Cady’s entire family is surrounding them, seemingly waiting for them to wake up. They all chuckle when the couple sit upright and look around blearily. “Oh. We must’ve fallen asleep, Jay.”

“Seems that way,” Janis yawns.

“We were keeping an eye out for Santa,” Cady explains, pulling her niece into her lap.

“Did you sawed him?” Fiona asks eagerly. Cady smiles as Fiona runs her little hands through her hair.

“I think I might have caught a glimpse,” Janis says. Fiona looks at her with a gasp. “Have you checked the tree yet?”

“Mommy said we had’ta wait for-for you to wate up,” Fiona says.

“Well, we’re awake now, aren’t we? Go see!” Cady says, putting Fiona back on her feet and sending her off. Fiona goes barreling to the massive tree and scrambles to find a present.

“Lenny?”

“What?” her brother replies, leading the flock of young cousins over to join her.

Fiona shifts to her usual stage whisper. “How do you spell Santa Claus?”

All the adults chuckle as they go tearing through the large stack of presents to see. Lana suddenly calls, “Like this!”

All the children squeal and go running over to see. “Who’s it for, who’s it for?”

“Lana, what does it says?!” Fiona asks eagerly.

“It’s for Elsie,” Lana says. “Father, I thought you had contacts with Santa Claus, you should’ve told her not to wrap her things. She’ll eat the paper!”

“I’ll keep that in mind for next year,” Clifton chuckles. “Maybe she’ll need some help.”

“I can help her, Uncle Clif!” Fiona offers eagerly. She snatches the gift and runs over to the little one. “Look, Elsie, a present!”

The baby chatters excitedly at the brightly colored box. Her parents laugh as she pats it with her little hands instead of making any effort to open it.

“You take the paper off, see?” Fiona says, gently tugging a corner. Elsie just pats it again. Fiona looks pleadingly at her uncle and grins happily when she gets the go-ahead to just open it in Elsie’s stead.

Until the baby suddenly bursts into tears. Fiona pulls back as if burnt and scrambles away.

“She’s just tired,” Clifton says kindly, comforting his daughter with some pats on the back. “I think she wanted to keep the paper on.”

“I’m sowwy,” Fiona says frantically. “I didn’t-”

She scrambles to her feet and runs towards the grownups. She’s clearly aiming for Cady, but she misses. Janis grunts as a toddler collides with her and starts bawling into her shoulder.

“Oof,” she mutters. She looks hesitantly at Cady, who shrugs.

Janis gently hugs Fiona back and rocks her back and forth a bit. She looks to Madeleine, but she just motions for her to continue. Janis does and tries not to let herself panic.

“Hey, kiddo, you don’t need to cry,” she says softly. “You were doing a very nice thing, helping Elsie.”

“I didn’t-didn’t mean’a make her cwy,” Fiona sniffles desperately.

“I know,” Janis hushes. “But hey, you’ve got your own baby at home, huh?” She leans in to whisper into Fiona’s ear. “Don’t babies cry a lot?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Yeah. And aren’t you a bit sleepy this morning, even though you’re so excited?” Janis continues softly. Fiona nods. “Elsie is too. And all she can say is a couple words, right now, so she cries instead. Just like your sister. And Elsie really liked that wrapping paper. All you were trying to do was help your cousin, that’s a very nice thing. It’s not your fault she got upset, hm?”

“It not?”

“No, it’s not. And hey, it’s Christmas! Look at those presents, we haven’t even figured out how many are for you! You don’t need to be so upset either,” Janis comforts.

“Santa bwinged me a lot,” Fiona sniffles. “Wight?”

“I bet he did,” Janis says. “Now. It’s okay to be sad when you need to, but you don’t need to be right now, alright? You dry those tears and go see.”

“Thank you Miss Janis,” Fiona sniffles. “Auntie Cady should kiss you mowe.”

Janis laughs. “Should she now?”

“Yeah.”

Cady leans in and gently kisses Janis. Chastely, of course, but enough to make her niece happy. “How’s that, Fifi?”

“Miss Janis vewy nice, Auntie Cady,” Fiona says seriously. “You… um… uh… what’s… oh! You must kiss her. Lots.”

“I’ll get on that. Go open your presents, now,” Cady grins. Fiona runs back to her cousins to join in the gift opening.

“Cady,” a voice says softly from the doorway. Cady looks up and sees her parents waiting for her. “Might we speak with you, please?”

“Of course,” Cady says. Janis squeezes her hand for luck. “I’ll be right back.”

“You’re a real natural with children,” Madeline says, taking Cady’s place next to Janis. “Thank you.”

“Least I could do,” Janis replies with a shrug.

“Have you and Cady talked about what you want for the future?” Madeleine asks softly.

“A bit,” Janis sighs. “Not so much between us, but… individually.”

“Individually is important too,” Madeleine nods. “Do you think those individualies match up?”

“Yeah,” Janis nods, smiling and trying not to blush. “Yeah, I do.”

“Good,” Madeleine grins. “I knew from the moment I met you that you’d be good for her. She needs someone like you.”

“I think I need her more,” Janis chuckles. Madeleine shakes her head.

“You don’t strike me as the type to need anyone to be satisfied. Not that Cady does, either. But she… wants you. And that’s a rare thing for her. In this family she’s never had to want anything. And I see why she does. I never thought anyone could be quite right for her, but you… I think you could be.”

“I… uh…”

“Sorry. I know this is all a bit much,” Madeleine says. “Anyway. Just… be careful with what you have with her. I don’t think I have to tell you to be careful with yourself, and certainly not with her. But the thing between you is something rare. Something special. Just keep that in mind.”

“I will,” Janis says. She’s not sure whether or not to be relieved when Cady returns.

“Maddie, I hope you haven’t been scaring my girlfriend,” she hums teasingly, raising an eyebrow.

“I would never,” Madeleine replies. “Janis, she’s all yours.”

“Damn straight,” Cady says quietly. She settles contently in Janis’ lap and smiles as Janis loops an arm over her shoulder. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Janis replies softly. “Everything okay?”

“I’ve been given their blessing to continue as we were,” Cady says. “With regular monitoring.”

“Oh, fantastic,” Janis grumbles quietly. “So… the…”

“To keep up images, we should. We’ll… claim we desire a lengthy engagement to settle things properly,” Cady says. “If you… um…”

“A lengthy engagement sounds appropriate,” Janis whispers back. “How much should I ham this up?”

“Eh, just follow along with what I do,” Cady giggles. “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas,” Janis echoes. Cady leans in for a kiss that Janis happily returns. They stay that way while the young ones open their gifts, cuddled contently close to the fire. Cady lounges against Janis’ shoulder and links their fingers together. Janis strokes her thumb against Cady’s hip and watches along with her.

Cady smiles when Lana comes over to them, kissing her niece on the cheek. “What’s up, Lana? How’s the haul this year?”

“Did you see all the books?” Lana asks excitedly.

“I did! Which ones did you get?”

“The complete Sherlock Holmes series!” Lana says. “Finally! I’ve been asking Mother and Father for ages.”

“I guess someone finally heard your wishes,” Cady chuckles. She looks at Janis in such a way that lets Janis know that one was definitely her doing. Janis smiles back.

“Didn’t Santa bring you anything you wished for, Auntie Cady?” Lana asks in concern. Cady looks at Janis with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. She raises her eyebrows in a half question, and Janis nods back.

“As a matter of fact…” Cady says, a bit louder to draw the attention of everyone else in the room.

Janis takes the opportunity to stand and stretch her legs as Cady roots through her stocking for the ring. Cady said to match what she does, but Janis is a bit concerned as to how much she’s expected to act here.

She snaps back into the scene when she hears Madeleine squeal into Callum’s shoulder, trying in vain to muffle herself. Janis looks to Cady as she makes her way back over with a velvet box in her hand.

Janis doesn’t have to pretend to smile when she approaches and gets down on one knee in front of her. Even for pretend, it’s a remarkably emotional moment for the both of them. Janis even feels herself tear up the slightest bit as Cady flicks the box open.

“As a matter of fact, Santa didn’t have to bring me anything,” Cady begins with a smile. “Because I already have all I want. I have… a beautiful, kind, charming, funny, gracious, brilliant, fantastic person. That I met by chance. And that I fell in love with by choice. And I can only hope she knows how much she means to me.

“Jay, my love. You are… the answer to a wish I didn’t know I was making. I’m forever grateful I did, and so… I’m making another one. On purpose this time. Janis Sarkisian, will you marry me?”

Janis looks into Cady’s eyes while she’s speaking. Cady’s tearing up a bit, too. They’ve only known each other for a short time, and yet, they’ve already been through so much together.

Janis knows that it isn’t truly a marriage proposal. It’s a will you give us a try? Not quite the promise everyone thinks they’re about to make, but a promise nonetheless. To give them both their fair shot. To try to have a true relationship. To communicate, to trust, to love. To try.

“Yes,” Janis whispers shakily. “Yes, of course I will.”

Cady winks slyly as a wide smile grows on her face. Janis sniffles as Cady slides the ring onto her finger. It’s clearly expensive, but it feels… right. The diamond isn’t too large or gaudy even though it’s still probably worth more than a month of Janis’ wages. It’s perfect.

As fake as everything before it has been, the kiss they share is beautifully real. The tears streaming down both their faces are genuine and the sweet nothings, the whispered promises between them are fantastically, wonderfully real.

“Great acting,” Cady whispers faintly into Janis’ ear.

“I wasn’t,” Janis whispers back, kissing Cady again.

“Neither was I.”

“I love you.”

Cady beams as she gently takes Janis’ face into her hands. Janis can practically feel it oozing out of her eyes and her smile before Cady whispers, “I love you so much.”

They break apart the slightest bit when they hear the favorite stage whisper from Fiona. “What’s going on?”

“Shh,” Lennox and Lana hush at the same time.

“But what’s-” Fiona tries to ask again. Lennox covers her mouth with his hand and nods to his cousin.

“Auntie Cady and Miss Janis are going to be married,” Lana explains quietly. “And we mustn’t ruin their perfectly romantic moment.”

“Oh,” Fiona says, muffled by her brother’s hand. “Oh! Den she gonna be Auntie Janis!”

“She might,” Lennox agrees. They all snap to attention when Cady looks at them. “Shh.”

Cady laughs and heads to pull all of them into a hug. “You goofies, you don’t have to be so quiet!”

“But your romantic proposal,” Lana says. Janis comes up and ruffles her hair.

“As romantic as it was, your aunt will never love me as much as she loves all of you,” she chuckles. “Our moment was perfect. Now yours.”

The kids giggle and hug Cady back. Lennox beckons Janis over, so she joins with a smile.

“Auntie Cady?” Fiona asks.

“Hm?”

“I may come to your wedding?”

Cady laughs and crouches down to her height. “Well, it won’t be for a while, yet. Probably a few years.”

“Oh,” Fiona says sadly. “I’ll be all gwown up?”

“Not quite that many years,” Cady giggles. “But Janis and I have… some things to figure out before we get married.”

“Oh,” Fiona says again.

“But… one thing we know for sure…” Cady says. “Is that we want you to be a big part of it. All of you.”

“Definitely,” Janis agrees. Fiona smiles and throws herself at her aunt for the tightest of hugs. Cady hugs her little niece back with a smile.

“Well, now that’s all out of the way, I think it’s the grown-ups turn for presents!”

—————

three years later

“I’ve missed this place,” Janis says, looking around fondly at the snow-covered trees.

“Really?” Cady chuckles. “This didn’t really go in your favor last time.”

“Eh,” Janis shrugs, smiling as Cady comes up next to her and leans against her arm. “It was pretty nice before… uh, the incident. Didn’t enjoy it in the moment, but the after wasn’t bad either.”

“I’ve missed it too,” Cady whispers. “I think it’s the place I came to terms with the fact I’m in love with you.”

“You had to come to terms with that?” Janis teases.

“You know damn well I did, don’t you be the one trying to stir up drama now,” Cady giggles.

“I’ll stir up whatever I want,” Janis retorts. “But I’m kidding. I think I did that here too.”

They stand hand in hand for a while, looking out over the icy lake and reminiscing about how far they’ve come since they were last here.

“It’s like being inside a snow globe,” Janis says softly. She steps a few paces away from Cady to keep looking around the little island.

It’s time.

Cady waits, but Janis doesn’t turn back around. Cady waits some more. It’s a beautiful place, but there can’t possibly be that much for Janis to appreciate. “Baby.”

“What?” Janis hums. She finally turns around, and her eyebrows shoot up her forehead. Cady smiles as she covers her mouth with mittened hands and tears start slowly streaming from her eyes.

“Jay. I know that technically this is a moot point, and everything, but… I have to do this. I have to let you know that you are beyond the most fantastic thing that’s ever happened to me, and that I’m grateful every day that you didn’t tie your shoes that day and you took the time to cuss me out on the sidewalk.”

Janis laughs wetly, smiling at Cady on one knee in front of her.

“And I have to thank you. For showing me how nice it can be to want something, and genuinely work for something important to me, and loving me in spite of everything. For treating me like a person and reintroducing me to what that means,” Cady says with a sniffle. She wasn’t expecting to cry, but she can’t quite hold the tears back.

Janis smiles at her, biting her lip to stop herself interrupting this beautiful speech Cady seems intent on giving.

“And I have to ask. Will you marry me?”

“Yes,” Janis whispers, nodding eagerly. “Yes, of course I will.”

Cady beams and stands, carefully sliding the small band against the one already resting on Janis’ finger. It’s a simple ring, just a thin gold band the same shade as the other, but it somehow holds more meaning. Cady etched a short message on the inside. Just for them to know about.

To the truest love I’ve ever known. Merry Christmas.