(I created this story in 2007 and I think it's time for me to get around to actually writing it. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!)
It was a Christmas that Tyler would never forget.
He sat in his room hearing the happiness of the Murteys as they prepared for Christmas. He had had enough of them ignoring him, or pretending that he didn't exist whenever relatives came to visit. There were no gifts for him, nor even an acknowledgement of his presence for that matter.
So Tyler did what he had to do: run away and never return.
He slipped out the room just as Clarence, Deanna, and Chutney were busy watching some crappy Christmas made-for-TV movie and took off as he went out the door. His dog Angel and his owl Leaf were with him. Angel barked happily as she went bounding off into the snow. Leaf hooted happily as he flew ahead. Tyler smiled, knowing that he was safe. There were no Murteys to make him feel inadequate.
But he had left the house in nothing more than a pair of thin pajamas and worn-out clogs, both of which should have been thrown away ages ago, but the Murteys forced them upon him. Tyler was beginning to freeze to death. Oh well, he thought to himself. If I freeze to death, that'll be one less thing for me to worry about. He smiled, knowing that if Lily Snape found him dead in the snow, she would go thorugh the roof and have the Murteys arrested for child abuse and/or murder.
Hayley Snape sighed; he had opted out when the rest of the family (which consisted of Hilda, Haleth, Henry, Hunter, Howard, Hannah, Harriet, Heidi and their parents Lily and Severus, plus the orphaned Marty McGuire) had decided to visit Hillarie, who had to be sent to a mental hopsital after torturing a wheelchair-bound boy who lived in the house behind the Snapes. Hayley didn't mind staying by himself, as Hillarie never liked him and plus, he needed to keep an eye out for Tyler in case the boy happened to escape from the Murteys.
Which is what happened, because Hayley heard barks and hooting, then saw Tyler, who looked barely alive, walking slowly in the snow. Hayley, said, "Tyler? Why are you out here? Don't you know it's about 25 degrees?"
"Of course," said Tyler. "And I was hoping to catch my death so that your mother can blame the Murteys."
"I see," said Hayley. "Why don't you come inside and I'll make you some hot chocolate. You must be an icicle."
And as Hayley led Tyler into the house, neither boy had any idea that this would be the best Christmas for them...
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Hayley led Tyler into the kitchen and poured him some hot chocolate in a mug. Back at the Murteys, Tyler would be lucky to even get a cup of chocolate milk. But this was the Snape household, and the Snapes made sure that Tyler felt welcomed.
Tyler said, "You've been decorating?" For he saw the mess that the family had left behind; the tinfoil was everywhere, scraps of wrapping paper were strewn about on the floor, and the Christmas tree wasn't even decorated yet.
"Yeah," said Hayley. "But it's hard to get everything ready for the holidays when you have 8 other siblings who refuse to help and your mom wants you out of the way so she can wrap gifts and your dad just isn't too happy with sending Christmas cards. So yeah, I've had to pick up a lot of slack. I hope they give me a break this year."
Tyler sighed and downed the mug. He then said, "Why don't we clean up a bit and make sure that everything's ready for when your family gets home?" Hayley frowned; the family wouldn't be back until very early Christmas Day, and even then it would be noon when they would walk through the door.
He said, "First, let's get rid of your poor old clothes and get you something warmer to wear, and then you just relax and I'll get the house ready." Tyler frowned, but he let Hayley take off the pajamas and clogs and burn them in the fireplace.
Later, in a pair of pajamas that once belonged to Hunter, Tyler and Hayley quickly cleaned house and decorated the Christmas tree; within less than 3 hours, the house was fully in order and the boys were sitting on the couch, resting.
"Where's Marty?" Tyler asked.
"He went to visit some relatives, who would never adopt him even if they were paid," said Hayley. "But such is life sometimes, Tyler. Don't feel too bad." Tyler sighed and stared into the fire, wondering if there was any more family for him to be with at all.
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Meanwhile, at the hospital, Hillarie was angry when she found out that Hayley had failed to show up. "You better have a good reason as to why Hayley is not here!" she snapped.
"Maybe because Hayley decided that he would stay and finish decorating the house," said Lily. "You know how he is about decorating."
"That's not good enough!" Hillarie snapped in anger. "You mean to tell me that Hayley is a selfish, self-absorbed brat who doesn't even give a tinker's hoot about how his sister is feeling? Well, I tell you this: never again will he be allowed to call himself my brother! He who decided to choose the house over his own sister does not deserve anything more than hate and rejection!"
Just then, a doctor rushed in and said, "I believe visiting hours are over."
"But why?" cried Severus.
"Because we have gotten to the root of your problem with Hillarie," said the doctor. "She hates her twin brother and wants nothing else to do with him. I'm afraid that I will have to ban you from seeing Hillarie again."
Lily was shocked. Never to see Hillarie again? What would they tell Hayley?
Hilda said, "Good riddance! I thought I'd never see the back of her!"
"Same here," said Haleth. "Can we please go home?"
"It's very disheartening that we'll never truly become a complete family," said Severus, "but this is the doctor's orders and they must be followed. We shall go home sooner than we had anticipated."
Everyone was upset to hear this, but they knew Severus was right. There was not much hope for Hillarie at this point and it was just time to let her go. But what would Hayley say when they told him about Hillarie?
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Hayley sighed as he and Tyler were preparing for bed. It had been a long and hard day for the both of them, and now it was time to get ready for the so-called excitement of Christmas morning.
Or things went like this:
Hayley was helping Tyler take a much-needed bath, since poor Tyler didn't even get to wash with clean water at the Murteys, and then the phone rang. "Hello?" Hayley asked.
"Hayley," said Lily, "we're just telling you that we'll be home sooner than we thought. Apparently Hillarie got sick with something; it's going around the hospital, and the doctors are sectioning off the place. So we'll be home soon." Lily would never reveal the true reason why they were going home early, not for a very long time.
"Ok," said Hayley, "and if Hillarie is overhearing this..." he hesitated. For a good part of their lives, Hillarie was cruel to everyone and Hayley was just a good boy. Something had gone wrong when Hillarie was born and a mental hospital was no place for her.
"...I wish I could say to her, if I had hurt her in any way, then I'm sorry. I was wrong. But that doesn't mean she can take her anger out on anyone else no matter how much in pain she is..."
Little did he know that Hillarie was overhearing this, but she said nothing, thinking it was Hayley's feeble attempt to win her back. She knew she wasn't fooled. Or was she?
"Very well," said Lily. "But we're still on our way home. In fact, I can almost smell the gingerbread house from here..."
"Right, mom," said Hayley. "See you later."
He hung up and went back to the tub, where Tyler was shivering because the water ran cold. Hayley helped Tyler up and got him some warmer pajamas. Then both boys left the bathroom and went to Hayley's room.
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And as for the Snape family, they received quite a shock on their way home.
"Hilllarie?"
"Well," said Hillarie, "I just had to find out for myself if Hayley is sincere about his apology or if he was just bluffing." For someone had accidentally left their cell phone on when Hillarie went on her tirade regarding Hayley.
"You'll have to ask him yourself," said Hannah, "and I highly doubt if Hayley means anything by it."
"What if he did," asked Henry. "After all, Harriet just had to leave her cell phone running."
"I was waiting for Damon to call me back," said Harriet. "In my defense, I never expected to hear from Hayley. You all know how he is; he thinks off the top of his head and he says things without thinking."
But little did they know that there was more to Hayley than anyone had originally thought...
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Tyler sighed as his bones screamed with relief as he climbed into Hayley's bed. Both boys had cleaned up the whole house and were now ready for bed. But there was one more thing that needed to be taken care of.
"Hayley?" Tyler asked.
"Yes, Tyler?" Hayley said.
"Is that...mistletoe hanging over your bed?" Tyler frowned. A huge sprig of mistletoe had been placed over Hayley's bed. But which of the other Snape siblings had done that would never be revealed.
"Well," said Hayley.
"I don't think you know the whole story about being under the mistletoe," said Tyler, "but if you get caught under it, you have to kiss."
"I know," said Hayley.
Tyler curled up into Hayley's arms and they stared into each other's eyes. Then slowly, they shared their first kiss.
The End!
