Home for Christmas

They walked into her parents' house and Zane wasn't surprised at all when he mom was lurking right near the front door.

"Hey, honey," she greeted her, pulling her into a hug. When they pulled apart, Zane saw her eyeing Shannon suspiciously.

"Mom, you remember Shannon Leto," Zane said, and Shannon flashed her mom one of his most brilliant smiles.

"Hello, Shannon," her mom said in a restrained voice, and Zane could tell she was wondering what the hell was going on.

"Is Dad here?" Zane asked, and her mom nodded. "I'd like to talk to you both, if that's okay."

Her mom led them into the living room where her dad was sitting in his arm chair reading a newspaper. He looked up when they walked in, taking off his reading glasses and eyeing them cautiously. Zane moved across the room and gave her dad a half-hug before sitting down beside Shannon on the couch.

"Guys, I've got something to tell you. I know I've been weird most of the time I've been back here, and I know you're both not too happy about me staying at a hotel..." Zane paused and her dad jumped in.

"Are you pregnant, Zane?" he asked, and she had to stop herself from snickering.

"No," she told him, looking him in the eye. "I just... I was stuck in the past, you know? I know you both probably knew that," she said, casting a glance between them. Her mom looked at her like she'd just told her the most obvious thing in the world. "I was stuck, and I was having a really hard time letting things go. I don't know why. But, since I've been back here this time, Shannon and I reconnected, and he's helped me work through a lot of that, whether he realizes it or not. Basically I just wanted to let you guys know that we're kind of... together," she said, and at first neither of her parents really had any reaction. Then her mom put on her best smile and nodded. Her dad stayed stone-faced as he stared at her.

"Zane, I'd like to talk to you in the office," he told her, standing from his chair and walking away silently. Zane shot a look at her mom, who nodded enthusiastically. She looked at Shannon and he gave her a look of encouragement.

She followed her dad down the hallway and into the office that she hadn't stepped foot into since she'd been a little kid and in trouble. Her dad sat down behind his giant oak desk and she sat in a chair across from him.

"Are you sure about this?" her dad asked as soon as she sat, apparently not wanting to beat around the bush at all.

"I'm sure," she told him firmly, smiling slightly. "It took me a while to realize it, but he's good for me, Dad. He makes me feel alive," she said quietly, studying her dad's face.

"You were alive on your own," he said, and she nodded.

"I was. But I'm more alive with him."

"I just don't want you to get hurt again," her dad said, the emotions in his eyes unreadable. She was surprised to be hearing this from him; her mom was usually the one who dealt with emotion.

"He's not going to hurt me, Dad. I'm sure of it. Honestly, he should be more worried about me hurting him based on what an ass I've been the past few weeks. I'm lucky he's even willing to give me a chance."

Her dad was silent for a while, studying her and seemingly thinking. "He makes you happy?" he asked, and she nodded vigorously.

"He makes me ridiculously happy."

"Then I'm on board. But if he hurts you, just remember that I know enough people in enough different professions that I could make him disappear," he said, his eyes sparkling with the joke.

"I know, Dad," she said, smiling as he stood from the desk. She hugged him tightly before going back out to the living room. She wasn't surprised to see that her mom had forced tea and cookies on Shannon.

Her dad walked back to his arm chair, patting Shannon on the shoulder as he passed him. Shannon shot a look at Zane and she smiled at him widely, nodding slightly. He smiled back and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him as he handed her one of her mom's homemade sugar cookies.

"So, that means you're going to be here at the house for Christmas, right?" her mom asked a few minutes later, and Shannon smiled.

"Of course. We didn't force this one to come home for Christmas for nothing, right?" he said, and Zane's mom smiled widely.

Zane looked around between her parents and the man she loved happily, barely able to believe how good things suddenly were. Maybe, just maybe, everything she'd been through and everything she'd been dwelling on all those years hadn't been so bad. She was actually surprisingly glad she'd been through everything she had; if she hadn't, she probably wouldn't have been sitting there, happier than she ever remembered being. Maybe it wasn't so bad coming home for Christmas.