Nirvana

She don't just rain she pours, that girl right there is the perfect storm

“Long time no talk stranger.” Harley rolled her eyes at Rich as she put her cellphone on speaker phone and set it on the counter beside her.

She turned the stove on and threw some chopped up chicken breast into the fry pan as she said, “I know, I’m sorry. I just didn’t really know what to say, or if you’d want to talk to me again.”

“I get it, I could have called too but I figured you didn’t want to talk to me any time soon either.” Rich told her, and Harley smiled to herself. She grabbed a few spices and some vegetables, glancing at the clock. James would be home in half an hour, he had told her not to make any plans for tonight and she figured she’d make them both a quick dinner before whatever he had planned for her. She wasn’t sure when she had become such a homemaker so to speak, but she was glad she had James around to make her actually eat better. Emma was right, she wasn’t a very responsible eater. Before she could say anything to Rich he said to her, “I’m sorry. For everything. For causing so many problems and for upsetting you.”

“It’s okay, and I’m sorry for not exactly handling that whole thing very well.”

“I put you in a shitty spot. You were right though, it was all about familiarity. I mean I really did miss you, but not the way I thought I did.” Harley nearly sighed in relief at this, she was so glad he finally realized that. It was easy to pretend she didn’t care about her and Rich’s friendship especially after their little show down at the charity dinner but that simply wasn’t the truth. She was able to push it aside and not think about it as much but their falling out still bothered her.

“Well I mean… I’m not one to say I told you so buuut…. I told you so.” Harley joked, making them both laugh.

After a few seconds of comfortable silence Rich stated, “I hear things are going pretty good with you and Nealer.”

“You checked up on me?”

She could tell he was smiling when he confirmed it, “I’ve checked up on you.”

“Shea?” Harley asked.

“Yup, and just so you know I’m happy for you. For both of you.” Rich told her, adding in once he was sure she wasn’t going to respond, “You deserve someone who’s gonna make you happy, someone who treats you the way I should have in the first place. He will, he’ll treat you better than I ever did. He’s good for you Harley.”

“Yeah I kind of like him too, think I’ll keep him around for a while.” Harley told him with a grin.

Rich laughed on the other end and asked curiously, “Just like?”

“For now.”

“It’s okay if you love him Harley, in fact I hope you do. You deserve to be in love with someone. So if you do love him, you should tell him.” When he said this Harley looked down at the dinner she was preparing and nearly dropped the plastic spatula. He was right. There was no sense denying it anymore, she was completely and unequivocally in love with James Neal. She hadn’t even realized it was happening either, it just crept up on her and all of a sudden was there, and now that she was face to face with that realization it was like going 100 miles per hour down the highway with all the windows open. It felt like she was both safe as can be and on the verge of crashing. Rich took her silence for what it was, her realizing she was in love with James, and pulled her from her thoughts, “You okay there?”

Harley shook her head and said, “Yeah, I’m fine. Just got distracted.”

She heard voices on his end of the line and then Rich told her, “I gotta get going. I’m glad we talked.”

“Me too Rich.”

“I’ll call you again sometime. Tell James I said hi and merry Christmas and what not.”

When she hung up the phone she heard James pull into the garage, and she smiled. Every part of her wanted to blurt it out the moment he walked in the door but she also wanted to wait and figure out a perfect moment to say it to him. She finished cutting up the vegetables and got everything put onto plates as James walked into the kitchen, set his practice bag down and exclaimed, “That’s a nice view.”

“What? Me or the food?” Harley asked, looking over her shoulder with a smirk.

James grinned, “Both.”

She put the plates down on the table and sat across from him, it was a while before either of them spoke, but finally Harley told him, “Rich called.”

James looked up at her with a curious expression, “Yeah?”

She nodded slowly, pushed a few pieces of chicken around on her plate and told him, “He says hi and Merry Christmas.”

James let out a sigh of relief and Harley reached over to give his hand a squeeze. She knew even though he wouldn’t admit it the thought that he had ruined that friendship didn’t sit well with him. He was relieved to know that he hadn’t, and that things could go back to normal now. He thought maybe he’d send Rich a text tomorrow to say Merry Christmas or something of the sort. James cleared his throat, watched Harley for a few moments in silence before he asked her cautiously, “How did the meeting go today?”

She had been a nervous wreck when he left her this morning for practice and she was getting ready for the meeting with an investor about Diosa. She had changed outfits four times, and when he left her she was standing in front of the mirror pulling her brown hair up and down multiple times. She had finally broken down and told James the situation with the bar only a few days after she had told Shea, and as she suspected he immediately offered to help, and as he suspected she refused to let him. He had spent the days leading up to Christmas Eve trying to come up with a plan just in case this thing with the investor didn’t work out.

Harley shrugged and told him, “Doors close on the 29th.”

He let out a sigh, gave her hand a squeeze and told her gently, “I’m sorry.”

- - -

“Where are we going?” Harley asked impatiently as James navigated the dark streets in her car. After Shea had shown up unannounced at their house Harley had been shuffled out and into James’ car, and they were currently following Shea to god only knows where. She barely had time to put her shoes on, which James had noted were sitting on the floor, still not on. She looked down at her attire of plaid pyjama pants and an oversized grey cardigan with her black peacoat on her lap and asked him again, “Seriously what the hell is this?”

James let out a chuckle, kept his eyes on the road and told her, “Patience.”

“Screw that.” She muttered, turning in the seat to face him almost completely, she crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes at him.

“Is that supposed to intimidate me?” James asked her with a smirk, which caused Harley to roll her eyes and pout. James placed his hand on her thigh and patted it gently before slipping his hand into hers and telling her, “Just give me this one Christmas Eve surprise okay?”

She rolled her eyes again and looked out the window with an annoyed sigh to let James know she wasn't happy with this taking her out in her pyjamas late at night for a surprise thing. James couldn't help but smile at her, amused at how annoyed she was by the whole thing, he followed Shea through a yellow light and then came to a stop behind him in the empty parking lane. Harley looked up and the corners of her lips turned down in a frown upon seeing the strip building that Diosa belonged to. She turned to James and asked, “What the hell is going on?”

He smiled again, got out and made his way to her side of the vehicle, but Harley already had the door opened and was getting out on her own so he stood on the curb next to the vehicle waiting. They hurried to catch up with Shea, who was standing outside the door to Diosa with his hands in his pockets waiting for them. He swung the door open and held it for both of them, and when Harley stepped inside she found Pekka and Craig sitting at the bar. They both turned to look when the door chimed, and immediately got out of their chairs and joined the rest of the group by the door.

Harley glanced at each of them with an eyebrow raised and James explained, “We have something for you.”

She kept her eyebrow raised but when Shea placed a stack of legal papers in her hands they crunched together in confusion as she flipped through them. They were building permits for the bar. She flipped back to the page on the top of the pile and Shea placed a card on top, that when she opened she found a cheque inside that made her look up and ask, “What in the hell is this?”

Craig smiled, “You didn't think we’d let you close down our favorite bar did you?”

Before she could say anything Shea told her, “Think of us as silent investors.”

James butted in next to explain Shea’s words, “We don’t want any say in the renovations or the bar, and whatever else you want to do. We just want to help make it happen.”

“Merry Christmas Harley.” Pekka told her with a wide smile, and Harley to overwhelm to make a smart remark about this being about the only serious thing she’s ever heard come out of his mouth.

James watched her carefully, taking in her reaction to see if she was going to flip out and rip the cheque up into tiny pieces. He was shocked when he seen her eyes well up with tears and a small smile grace her lips, even more so when she told them, “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.” Shea told her, knowing he spoke for all four of them when he said that. It wasn't a one person thing, the four of them wanted to do this for her because Craig was right; they wouldn't have let her shut down the bar that was almost her entire life.

He couldn't help but laugh when she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight, before she moved on to Craig, then Pekka and when she got to James she made sure to lean up and kiss him full on the mouth. She smiled against his lips when the cat calls and whistling started, and James leaned down enough to pick her up off the ground nearly by her butt which made Pekka mutter, “Fucking Americans.”

When James set her down he looked over her shoulder to the goaltender who now had his arms crossed over his chest and told him, “Canadian remember?”

“Same thing, you’re all way too into showing off your relationships.” Pekka said with a flick of his wrist to dismiss the topic of conversation.

Harley leaned into James and laughed at the blonde, she looked down at the Christmas card with a laughing Santa on the front of it that held the cheque and smiled. She had no idea how she was going to repay them but she was so beyond grateful, she wasn't about to tell James that she had spent an hour in her car in the parking lot after her meeting crying. It was easy to pretend it wasn’t a big deal but she was dreading having to shut the bar down. Up until James it was the only thing that mattered to her other than friends and family.

She looked at the guys again before pulling away from James and walking back behind the bar and exclaiming, “Well I think I owe you all a round or two.”

Laughing at how quickly they all dropped into bar stools Harley grabbed a glass for each of them and pulled out a bottle of Scotch that hadn't even been cracked open yet. Shea smiled and asked, “Bringing the good stuff out for us huh?”

Harley shrugged, poured them each a drink and held up her own for a toast, but Craig beat her to it by saying, “To still not having to pay full price for alcohol.”

Everyone let out a laugh as they clinked their glasses together, and as Harley raised her glass to her lips her eyes connected with James’. All she wanted to do was go home with him, spend Christmas Eve tangled up in their new sheets, which even James admitted were a nice touch for the bedroom.

- - -

It was nearly ten in the morning when James got back from picking up Harley’s present that he had hidden at Pekka’s for the last 2 days. He sat in his car in the garage for fifteen minutes trying to tie a big red bow onto a squirming puppy’s collar, before he finally got it and picked the dog up and went inside. The lights were all still off, and he heard no noise upstairs so he knew Harley was still sleeping. He tossed his keys onto the kitchen counter and carried the dog quietly upstairs, pushing the bedroom door open just enough to get inside he carefully set the dog down on the bed before letting him go.

He dug around on the bed a little bit before discovering a human body when Harley grumbled, likely thinking it was James trying to annoy her. The dog jumped onto her back and stuck his face into hers, licking her forehead.

Harley’s eyes snapped open the minute she felt something wet touch her face, and she came face to face with a black and white puppy. She sat up, looked over at James and asked, “Why is there a dog in the bed?”

James sat down on his side of the bed and reached over to scratch the dog’s head as he told her, “I think the proper question is why is your dog in our bed?”

“It’s too early for your cryptic bullshit.” Harley informed him, smiling when the dog jumped into her lap and looked up at her, stretching its neck to reach her face enough to give her kisses.

“Merry Christmas babe.”

“Wait what? Are you serious right now?” Harley asked him excitedly, using her both her hands to scratch the little dog behind his ears, his eyes closed and he let out a noise that Harley deemed a content sigh. She looked up at James again, her eyes wide, and asked, “We get to keep him?”

James let out a laugh at her reaction, it was exactly what he hoped it would be, and he nodded, “He’s got all his shots, we have toys, food and anything else we need. He just needs a name.”

“Oh my god. Look how cute he is.” Harley exclaimed, leaning down to the dog’s level, which was when he opened his eyes and attacked her face with puppy kisses.

“Come on, I have another surprise.” James told her, getting up from the bed. He chuckled when she held the dog in her arms and looked up at him with a look he could only describe as annoyance that he interrupted her puppy time. He sighed dramatically and told her, “You can bring the dog.”

She jumped out of bed, handed him the puppy and slipped into the bathroom to quickly get ready enough to go downstairs with James. When she came out of the bathroom the dog was resting his back legs on James’ forearm and his front paws on his shoulders and he was licking his face while James rubbed his back and side. Harley grinned and asked, “My dog huh?”

James looked over at her, slightly startled by her quiet entrance and told her, “Our dog.”

“Our dog, I like the sound of that.” She told him, linking her arm in his free one before they both made their way downstairs.

She found coffee already brewed, and breakfast keeping warm in the oven, which James handed her the dog to go put everything on plates.

As they sat at the table, the dog sitting in Harley’s lap, James told her, “Traditional Neal Christmas morning breakfast.”

She looked down at the plate set in front of her, which had scrambled eggs, toast with peanut butter on it, and both bacon and breakfast sausage. Harley looked up at him and said impressed, “This actually looks edible.”

“Learned from the best.” James told her, and as soon as she smiled lightly he said, “Pauly.”

Harley laughed at time, poked his arm with her fork before she broke off a piece of toast and fed it to the dog. James shook his head at that and Harley simply told him, “At least he loves me.”

James urged her to continue eating by telling her, “There’s something else for you under the tree.”

Harley raised her eyebrow, “The dog was more than enough.”

James shrugged at her response and told her, “But he’ll end up being a gift for both of us. Don’t argue with me, just finish eating.”

She watched as he went back to shovelling his own food into her mouth, and with a smirk she very slowly bit off a piece of bacon, chewing as slowly as she possibly could. She could tell she was annoying him with the way he kept looking up at her and her plate and narrowing his eyes or sighing, but by the time he was done his food her plate was only half empty. She told him, “What if I'm full?”

“In all the time I've known you I've never seen you too full to finish your food. It’s one of my favorite things about you.” James told her with a pointed look.

“What that I eat food?” Harley asked him with a smirk that made him roll his eyes at the joke that she thought was funny.

“No, that you actually eat around me. That drives me nuts, take a girl to a nice restaurant and she orders a salad.” James muttered in annoyance, Harley smirked again.

“But what if it has chicken in it?” She asked him, watching as he looked over at her and laughed.

“The first time I ever had a meal with you, you ordered a cheese burger with fries and an extra side of fries.”

Before he could say anything else Harley interrupted his thought process and said, “And what? It was love at first food order?”

“Something like that.” James said with a chuckle. He kept it to himself how many times she’d used the term love today, it made him feel like maybe she was close to saying it but he didn't want to say anything in case she was. He didn't want to scare her back into being afraid to say it, or worse having her think he was pushing for the words to come out.

Harley went back to eating in silence, and when she was finished James put both their plates in the dishwasher while Harley took the dog and her coffee to the couch in front of the tree. When James joined her he sat on the floor in front of the tree and looked through the small pile of gifts under it, pulling aside a small Santa wrapping paper wrapped present and setting it beside him. Harley took notice but said nothing but, “The big one in the green wrapping paper, open it first.”

James looked around, and pulled the large box from under the tree, he looked up at Harley who was watching him expectantly, it was his turn to torture her now. He peeled the tape back carefully, so not to rip the wrapping paper, and he heard her let out an impatient sigh which made him smile. When he finally pulled all the wrapping paper off, without a single tear in it, he found himself staring at a markless brown cardboard box, so he pulled the tabs and opened the top, pulling out a draw string cloth bag out.

He looked over at Harley, who was smiling still, so when she urged him forward he opened the draw string and when he pulled out a black leather duffle bag he raised his eyebrow at her, “A bag?”

She rolled her eyes and told him, “Your travel one is ugly, and broken.”

He had to admit, he was impressed she noticed the tears in the straps of his usual travel bag and he had to admit the brown canvas bag was not nearly as aesthetically pleasing as this black one. He held the bag up for inspection before turning to Harley and saying, “Not bad Callahan. Thanks.”

She rolled her eyes at him and said, “I thought I did a pretty good job picking it out.”

It wasn't until he looked closer that he saw that his initials were pressed into the top of the duffle, the smallest touch that made the gift that much more sentimental. He set it down, and pulled out the next gift from the tree, handing it to her. It had her name on it, but she didn't recognize the writing, so she looked up at James with her eyebrow raised. She nearly dropped it when he told her, “It’s from my parents.”

“Your parents sent me a gift?” She asked curiously, looking down at the box again. It was neatly wrapped, in a thin enough box that she could tell it was something squishy or soft inside.

“My mom picked it out, I signed both our names on the card for their gift. Figured I’d save you the stress.” James told her with a shrug of his shoulders. He was acting like it was no big deal, but James kept his eyes on her as she looked at the box again and he was reminded again how good of a girl he found when he swore he saw her eyes water. Harley pulled the wrapping paper off the box, and opened it, running her fingers over the thick, soft blanket that was folded neatly inside. She pulled it out and unfolded it over herself and the couch to get a better look at it, it was orange on one side and tied to yellow on the other. James told her, “I mentioned once how you’re always cold but refuse to use heat. She must have remembered.”

Harley flipped the blanket over and over, she couldn't describe the way she felt but it was heart-warming for James to see her reaction to something from his parents as simple as a blanket. Harley looked over at him and asked, “Did she make this?”

“Yeah she’s got empty nest syndrome I think. Keeps her busy.” He told her with a smile as she turned back to the blanket again. He let her stare at it for a few more seconds before he joked, “It’s just a blanket.”

Harley looked over at him and narrowed her eyes, “It’s the thought, and the fact that she thought of me at all. I didn't expect this.”

“I know, that’s my mom though. Plus I think she likes that I have a serious girlfriend, she has 4 sons and 1 daughter, she’s probably excited that there’s another girl in the family.” James told her with a smile, and he raised his eyebrows when Harley stared at him with her eyes slightly wide and a surprised look on her face. He asked curiously, “You okay there?”

She shook her head to shake herself out of whatever trance she was in and asked him quietly, as if she was scared to, “You consider me part of your family?”

“Yeah…would you rather I say you’re no one?” James joked, laughing at himself. When Harley didn't laugh he turned to her and said more seriously, “I meant it when I said I was kind of sort of serious about us, and I meant it when I said I was all in.”

Harley tossed the couch cushion at him to change the mood in the room, she was sure if she didn't she might have started crying and she had to retain some kind of tough girl exterior with James. She then told him, “Open your next gift.”

While he was laughing at her James grabbed the thin and rectangular box with Harley’s writing on it and looked at it and then her before joking, “There isn't gonna be like a bomb in here is there?”

She rolled her eyes, “If I wanted to kill you I would have done it, I've had plenty opportunities by now.”

James grinned at her before he pulled the wrapping paper off much faster than the last time. He pulled the top off of the box and found a deep purple, nearly black tie lying flat in it, and at the bottom was another box that was much smaller. He took it out and opened it, finding a pair of gold cuff links that were flat and square. He looked up at her and said, “Impressive Callahan, you’re on a roll you know.”

“They were my dad’s.” She told him, watching as he looked up at her again with a raised eyebrow. Harley smiled and nodded, telling him, “I'm kind of sort of serious about us too you know.”

After James had opened his own gift from his parents he picked up the small mystery box and handed it to Harley, getting up to sit beside her on the couch. When she opened it her eyes crunched together, laying inside the box were her car keys. James pulled them out of the box and held them out for her, “I hope you like it.”

“You got me my car keys?” She asked in confusion, and when James shook his head she raised her eyebrow. He reached over and pulled a keychain out of the mix, it was a Predators one and she smiled, “You got me your team’s keychain?”

“Try again.” James told her, and when she looked completely stumped he got up and led her to the garage. Harley followed behind him and the dog followed behind her clearly interested in where his new humans were going. She looked down as he sniffed at the floor, and then nipped at her pant legs, and then she looked up at James as he opened the garage door and held it for both of them.

With the dog busy sniffing around the garage James took the keys out of her hands, opened the door of her car and turned the keys in the ignition. When the car came to life Harley noticed it immediately and exclaimed, “There’s no noise!”

“There’s no noise.” James confirmed to her, smiling when she leaned up and kissed him.

“How did you…when did you do this?” She was at a loss for words, though not for the first time that morning. For two weeks her car had been making strange noises that made her sure it was gonna break down on her at some point. She never had the time or the energy to deal with taking it to get looked at.

James told her, “Last week while you were busy with bar stuff.”

“You shouldn’t have-“

James shut her up by kissing her lips gently, and when he pulled back he pushed her hair from her face and told her, “I wanted to.”
♠ ♠ ♠
I title this: Long ass Christmas special

This might actually be a record for the longest chapter I've written. (I'm kind of impressed with myself)

Annnnywhooo
Christmas shenanigans. Rich is their friend again, Harley loves James, they got a puppy, and best of all? Diosa stays open :)

As per usual thoughts and comments would be greatly appreciated.