What Happens in Prison

A/N: I don't normally do things like this, especially in stories this dark, but I felt like a little reminder that Ti's life existed before prison would be kinda fun. Especially now, during the Holiday season ^_^ So here's a a little moment between Ti and his father from a Christmas four years in his past. Hope you all like it! And the actual Chapter Three will be coming very, VERY soon. I just didn't feel right posting something so... not cheerful on Christmas Day lol even though I'm about thirty minutes short of the day itself at this point... Heh. I meant to do a drabble for Durden, but I didn't want to give too much about him away too soon, so I'll save him for the next holiday! And without further ado, Tiberius Altridge's Christmas Drabble:

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It hadn’t snowed for five years in a row. He remembered, because the last time it had, he'd been ten years old, unwrapping a semi-complete set of Harry Potter books when he'd looked out the kitchen window and noticed. So, when Ti woke up to find his window frosted over, the fragmented light filling his room with a muddled white glow, he almost shouted with joy. But then he remembered that his parents were still sleeping, so instead, he got out of bed as quickly as he could without making a sound, and ran over to the window. The chill that wafted past as he throw it open was like a shot of adrenaline, a few flurries of snow attacking his face before he could pull back.

It was still snowing.

Ti grinned, opening his closet and ripping out his thickest jacket and warmest pair of pants, changing out of his PJs and slipping on some boots. Then, taking one more excited glance outside, Ti climbed out the window, balancing himself on the windowsill so he could get the full view from the second floor.

It was like a description from a Christmas storybook. The sky was a greyish blue-white that made everything seem crisper, colder, and the air itself was sharp, biting at his nose and cheeks and chasing away the last bit of sleep still lingering behind his eyes. The snow was drifting in spirals, thick and white and feather soft, and Ti was content to simply watch it fall. It was beautiful. In the fifteen years of his life, he had never seen something so perfect, so wonderful. The way the snow stuck to everything, layering the world in a sheet, then a blanket of white… it was magical. Like a fairytale. When it happened, it was bar none his favorite part of Christmas.

“You know,” His dad was suddenly squeezing himself through the window and onto the roof, inching past the layer of snow and onto the downward slope of shingles to sit himself next to his son. “Your mom’s just waiting for you to slip and fall to your death.”

“Don’t worry,” Ti smirked. “I’ll make sure to wait a couple of hours.” Robert Altridge gave him a quizzical look and Ti’s grin grew wider. “Then I’ll have a nice, thick pile of snow to brake my fall.”

Robert rolled his eyes, punching Ti in the shoulder lightly enough that it wouldn’t affect his balance. “How about we keep the roof top diving to a minimum this year, yeah?” He asked jokingly, though the seriousness beneath the question was plain. Ti just shrugged, nudging his father with his shoulder.

“You afraid what you and mom would do without me if I didn’t survive the fall?”

“More than you know,” Robert nudged him back, the two of them huddling beneath their jackets in silence, watching the snow float lazily onto their neighbors’ rooftops and cars, the decorative shrubs lining their driveways.

“Hey, Dad?” Ti mumbled after a moment. Robert offered him a noncommittal, “Hm?” in response, waiting. Ti took a breath. “You know I’m gay, right?”

Surprisingly, Robert chuckled, the sound resonating deep within his throat. “So you’ve implied.”

Ti blinked at that for a second then rolled his eyes, stretching his arms out in front of him to catch the flakes of ice on his ungloved hands. “But you know I mean it, right?”

This time, Robert didn’t laugh, just sitting there instead without response, looking at something that was past the snow, past the neighbors’ houses, past anything Ti could see. Then he sighed. “You know I love you, Tiberius. No matter what you think you are.” He offered, as though that would fix things. Ti opened his mouth to tell him it wasn’t the same, but a slight wind rolled past them in that moment, coating them in tiny droplets of ice and reminding Ti what day it was.

He could argue with his father some other time. It was Christmas.

“I know, Dad,” Ti said instead, leaning his head down on his father’s shoulder. “I love you too.”

Robert took a breath, exhaling a cloud of white that drifted along with the last of the morning’s snow. “Good,” he said, shimmying his way back up to the window. “Now come on inside. There’s a decent pile of presents waiting for us under the tree.” He glanced back at his son with a mischievous look in his eye. “And I think your mom got me a waffle maker.”

Ti smiled, following him past the windowsill and into the warmth of his bedroom. “Fingers crossed.”

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Be it the snow or the season itself, may the Holidays bring us peace, happiness, and a togetherness we may not find otherwise. May it remind us to celebrate despite our differences and despite our doubts. What better time than now to simply be who we are with the people we love and enjoy ourselves?

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays <3