Everything would be perfect when she got back. Eric was making sure of it.
If he had his way, this holiday was going to be as carefully prepared and festive as the Christmas tree shining bright in nearby Boston. He was almost there, he assured himself, eyeing the clock with relief. The tree was the final step, and he was on it, with plenty of time to spare.
Eric had been waiting too long to see his beloved cousin; it had been since Thanksgiving, and before that, since summer. Even Thanksgiving's visit had been bitterly short, due to circumstances beyond their control. Family demands still held some weight even after you turned eighteen, if you depended on family for anything.
As Eric hoisted his obscenely large artificial Christmas tree onto its base in the living room, he allowed himself to ruminate on why it mattered so much: Eric and Caitlyn had been close friends, and maybe more, since childhood. It was hard to put a label on their relationship, because flirtation came naturally when they were together. Just like everything else.
Naturally he'd felt a bit betrayed when she chose to go to college far away, but that was life. In the end, Eric understood the weight of ambition and didn't hold it against her. Heck, her college career was going better than his as a twenty year old independent rapper.
However, circumstance had simply added insult to the old injury of her leaving, when her parents didn't allow her much time with him over Thanksgiving. With a backdrop of the dim living room's lonely silence, Eric pulled the box of ornaments toward himself and began stewing anew over the Thanksgiving fiasco.
Eric had waited since the previous August to see his cousin again; more than two months! The knowledge that she was finally close by had been so important to him that he could feel it, embracing him like a warm blanket. Eric had even bought two cans of cranberry sauce instead of one, fully expecting that her parents would bring her to dinner at their house, just like always. He'd expected someone to share it with, and at the end of the day was left with half a container of leftovers and sadness.
All they'd had time for was "a brief stop." Caitlyn stepped in wearing knee-high boots that covered turquoise jeans. Her orange sweater was decorated with a design of a highly realistic turkey playing one of those dance video games. Its sleeves were so long they covered her hands. Eric had run to the door upon her arrival, sneaking her off to the quiet dining room while their moms distracted each other.
"How have you been?" Eric asked, surveying once more her visage. She looked like some kind of doll in her festive outfit, the loose sweater only hinting at her thin but reasonably busty figure. Her tight pants hugged the hips that held a very round bottom.
Her thighs had a bit of meat, but not so much as to be floppy. Just enough.
"I've been great," she answered. "Missing you, of course. How about you?"
He allowed himself to next eye her extremely toned calves, perfectly accentuated by her boots. Lip gloss sparkled on her plump lips, honey-colored eyes smiling as she looked up at him from her long face, which was somehow even prettier for her somewhat oversized, slightly hooked nose. She was also very tanned, especially for a New Englander; she always had been.
"I've been bored to death," he replied with a smile that said he was half-joking. "But getting by. So, what do you want to do on Thursday?" he asked in thinly veiled excitement.
Caitlyn looked down. Eric continued his line of questioning, oblivious. "Other than dinner? I was thinking we watch football, then dive into the Christmas movies."
"Um, that's kinda why we're here." Caitlyn sighed. "Eric, I'm so sorry, but family from out of the country are coming to my grandparents' house upstate and they're making me go. I won't be able to spend thanksgiving with you. We just had time for a quick stop, so she says."
That was all of that week that Eric cared to remember. Caitlyn had been forced to blow off her favorite cousin for distant, Eastern European relatives whom she barely knew. The fact nearly made Eric drop one of his plastic ornaments.
This holiday, however, fate had conspired to give him more. Eric allowed himself to smirk as he recalled the steps that led him here, while hanging a candy cane on the tree.
A snowstorm was rolling in, just in time. His and Caitlyn's sets of parents had been arranging a trip to a resort over winter break, organizing it since February. They'd been so confident in their plans that they'd nailed them down with reservations.
Eric had originally intended to go, but the storm had, fortunately, thrown a wrench in everything. Their parents were forced to choose: dodge the storm by leave early, without Caitlyn, or lose out on more than a thousand dollars by being trapped in a whiteout.
Initially, they'd intended to give up the money in exchange for spending Christmas with their daughter, but Caitlyn insisted that it was okay if they didn't.
Mostly, she'd made that generous concession because she heard that Eric had volunteered to stay behind to grab her from the airport. It would be just the two of them. Like old times, but better.
The time was almost here, Eric realized, sudden nerves forcing him to juggle another gleaming bauble before finally getting it hung. Eric recalled the moment he'd seen the opportunity to set this whole thing up. He'd given up the resort weekend with eyes blazing. Who wanted a sunburn in December anyway? Eric was a true New-Englander; a creature composed of flannel and cold weather.
"She's back," he whispered to himself, flashing back on the teen years they had spent rescuing each other from puberty's inevitable gauntlet of grim feelings and sadness.
"She's back," he repeated, staring at himself no longer as he darted to get his coat, then his keys.
Eric stopped at the fridge before stepping out the door, triple-checking that everything was already present for the perfect Christmas dinner. He cross-referenced it with the shopping list pinned to the freezer just one more time, then continued out the door.
The air had a distinctly wintry sting, the sort of moist cold that hinted at coming snow.
The idea of the storm coming early might've made most drivers nervous, but it didn't matter to Eric tonight; Caitlyn wouldn't be stuck at the airport on his watch, even if he was forced to hijack a reindeer team.
***
Eric picked at his outfit several times as he stood, awaiting her arrival. Was it a good look, he pondered? Was there a name for the "black jeans and dark green sweater" look?
He bounced on his heels, secure in the knowledge that, regardless, it was too late to change now.
On the other side of the airport, Eric spotted a family in Hawaiian shirts, no doubt headed south for the holiday.
Many people, mostly families, lingered around in the same sort of limbo as he.
Eric had to remind himself that he was, in fact, also waiting for a blood relative. She feels like so much more than that, he mused.
Given the butterflies in his stomach, he could almost have been waiting for his crush.
Which I'm not, he assured himself. He was just nervous about her liking his cooking. Or something.
Eric grew more anxious as time wore on, but finally she appeared. Eric stood up straighter, sliding his hands into his pockets and then out again. Suddenly, under Caitlyn's gaze, Eric wasn't sure what to do with his hands. Or himself in general.
She had arrived in a plaid flannel shirt, as was expected for the region. It was open over a v-neck that showed off her assets as well as just a sliver of midriff. Eric guessed that she may have gained a little weight since buying it, based on its fit, but he wasn't complaining.
He opened his mouth as she approached, but no words seemed adequate. What did one say at the open of a reunion with someone who was more than a best friend?
Luckily, she broke the ice for him.
