Chapter Text
Christmas Eve, the time for compassion, the time for love, and the time for…Bussica?
Jessica shivered, she despised the cold punishment that this holiday brought with it.
Making a snowman out in the cold afternoon didn't help, especially when Tina's warm house was merely meters away.
“Jess, don't you start again" frowned Tina in a manner that warned of punishment if Jessica didn't commit to making snowmen like everyone else.
Afterall, Tina did invite everyone over for some festive fun, even though she knew Jessica would hate it. It was simple to see, Jessica despised Christmas.
“Yeah, come on Jess, please stay?” begged Nick from behind his snowman, who held a particular resemblance to Nick's ultimate daddy, Bowser the Koopa King.
Nick's whine for Jessica to stay had caught the attention of a rather sharp-tongued boy, who smirked teasingly.
“Nick's right, it’d be so weird without you and your complaints here” grinned Kevin, who stood between both his boyfriends, Nick and Garret.
“Kevin, I swear to God, I'll shove this carrot so far up your ass" threatened Jessica, who was especially aggressive during the festive season.
“Oh! You lot are just such a riot!” giggled Garret before wrapping his arms around his two boyfriends.
“You're lucky Jason Matthias isn't around to hear you, Jessica. He'd go right off at you if he heard you use the ‘precious God's name in such a way!’” pointed out Garry as he quoted what Jason had said to them last time when he heard Jessica going off about Christmas.
“Gee, can't we all just build some snowmen?” sighed Tina, who simply didn't want the holiday spirit to be ruined over talking about Jason and his extreme Christian ways.
Jessica couldn't help to roll her eyes, as to her, Tina was worrying over something so little for an event so pointless.
“There, happy?” frowned Jessica, after she aggressively shoved a carrot into her snowman's face.
“Not bad, though it does look a little off-center, Jess" critiqued Rebecca from over her shoulder.
“It's whatever" shrugged Jessica, who from the corner of her eyes, could see Tina shake her head in displeasure.
“How do you like ours?” asked Marvin as he directed Jessica’s attention to two snowmen that held each other's stick hands lovingly.
“I still think Phil's pony is better" replied Jessica, without any remorse for her opinion.
“Of course, you do!” exclaimed Rebecca defensively.
“Hey now Becca, she may be a My Little Pony Lover too, but Jessica just obviously sees the expert craftsmanship made to my pony" bragged Phil as he stroked his not-so-snowman, Rainbow Dash lookalike creation.
Rebecca seemed ready to argue over how Phil's snowman wasn't anywhere near a snowman, but Marvin rested his hand on her shoulder knowingly. His comfort worked, and held her back.
“Eh, to each their own" sighed Rebecca.
The faint sound of jingling carols seeped into everyone’s ears.
“Please tell me that isn't what I think it is…” groaned Jessica in annoyance.
“I think it is, sorry Jess, I thought they already went through my street…I swear they did" apologised Tina, as she looked down her street in the direction of the carol sounds.
The carollers emitted low hums of festive tunes as they left the neighbouring house to Tina's, all cheerily practicing their songs as they strolled. The sound churned Jessica's stomach in all the wrong ways. To her, the inevitability of listening to Christmas tunes made it feel like today couldn't get any worse.
As the carollers grew closer to Tina's house, Jessica recognised who the lead caroller was. His face, all preachy with a grin stretched from cheek-to-cheek, didn't make it hard to tell.
It was Jason.
“Of course it had to be him" groaned Jessica, only feeling worse after realising that Jason was one of them.
Jason hadn't noticed who he was steadily approaching yet, he was too busy chiming with his carolling gang.
“Okay, this is new, I've never seen Jason carolling here before, I guess I wasn't wrong" whispered Tina, who didn't want Jason overhearing her.
“Maybe he’s here to convert?” added Rebecca in a whisper.
“What a Christmas miracle!” exclaimed Kevin sarcastically.
Jason looked out from his group, and up at the Tower household. Then he saw them, the…
“Sinners!” shrilled Jason as flung his judgemental finger out at Tina and Gey’s direction to point out ‘the problem'.
His carolling gang let out a collective gasp of horror at Jason's cry.
“And there's more!” cried out one of the female carollers as she pointed at Nick, Kevin and Garret, whose three-way hand holding made their relationship obvious.
Marvin, Kevin and Jessica all scoffed. All unable to stand such homophobic outcries. Rebecca could only shake her head, unable to look at such idiotic people.
“This is ridiculous” whispered Garry as he kicked some snow with his foot.
“God is lost here!” gasped Jason, which caused his gang to collectively gasp again.
Jessica's patience was wearing out with each preachy Christian outburst, but Tina’s had already worn out.
“Jason, please…don't ruin the Christmas spirit” pleaded Tina, in a rather peaceful tone that Jessica was not expecting.
“Excuse me, Sinnner, but this is God's holiday. Not some Satan worshipping, freak day!” hissed Jason, with no compassion in his blue eyes.
Everyone's attention was on Jason and Tina, but Jessica had lost her patience.
Jason turned away from Tina's house and back at the street as he signaled for his gang of carollers to follow, now over ‘the sinners'. They regained their singing composure as they began to hum their tunes again.
Jessica grabbed at her wonky snowman, too angered to care about destroying her creation. Jessica let out an exhale as she lobbed it.
No one saw it coming…especially not Jason.
The snowball slammed against the back of Jason’s head, its heavy thud of impact sent a satisfied chill down Jessica's spine.
Jason, however, didn't get the same luxury. As instead, the snowball's remnants trickled under his clothes and against his back.
He let out a squeal as he shivered and jumped out of his carol formation.
“You, Jessica Orbeck, will pay for this!” snarled Jason as he bent down and grabbed a clump of snow from the sidewalk.
Jason's snowball whizzed through the air, and past Jessica, missing her completely.
“I hope God didn't see that one" teased Kevin with a smirk.
The carollers let out yet another collective gasp.
“Get the sinners! Punish them! Make them repent!” ordered Jason as he flung his hand out and pointed at them all, as if he was commanding a firing squad.
“Snowball fight!” screamed Nick as he took cover behind his Bowser snowman.
Jessica grinned. Maybe the cold weather of Christmas did have its positives?
Marvin wheeled Rebecca behind their snowmen, before handing her a snowball. Phil hammered a female caroller with a huge snowball, and she collapsed with a grunt. Garret dove to protect Nick from a snowball Jason had originally flung at Kevin, but missed. Rebecca hurled two snowballs at Jason, with one hitting him right in the stomach and the other on his right shoulder. The carollers rained several snowballs on Tina and Gey. Tina could only look at her girlfriend in horror as Gey took one on the cheek. Garry lobbed a snowball right into a carollers face before ducking for cover behind what was left of Jessica's snowman. Phil gasped as his Rainbow Dash snowman was decapitated by the female caroller he hit before. Jessica turned to Tina, her face was completely red with anger.
“Thank your God for this carrot, bitch!” shouted Tina as she hurled her snowman's carrot nose straight into Jason's crotch.
Jason let out a winded grunt as he fell to the ground, completely defenseless.
“Hammer him!” cried out Rebecca through an evil cackle.
No one batted an eye at Rebecca's cry, and within seconds, Jason was pummeled by them all.
Jason's carolling gang came to his aid, and swiftly lifted him to his feet.
“Heavenly Father, forgive me!” pleaded Jason as he fled the street, with his carollers close behind.
Now, with the afternoon sun faded into the earth, everyone sat huddled around the Tower household fireplace. All drinking their hot chocolate in silence as they listened to the ambient sounds of the firee crackle and pop.
“Doubt Jason's going to show his preachy ass around us for a while" smirked Gey as she adjusted the icepack on her cheek, and swigged her hot chocolate with her other hand.
Jessica stared down at her marshmallows that bobbed in her warm, chocolate drink. The mention of them slamming Jason with snowballs earlier made her smile.
“You seem happier now, Jess" noticed Tina, who couldn't help to smile too.
“And all it took to cure our Christmas grouch was hammering Jason with some snow!” chuckler Kevin before taking a sip of his hot chocolate, which in return, fogged up his glasses.
“Speaking of cures, even though it really isn't a cure at all, I heard that Ethan's been diagnosed with BPD, borderline personality disorder" interjected Rebecca, who quickly realised that now probably wasn't the best time to mention their late friend, Ethan, but now later enemy, under the identity of ‘S'.
Jessica sighed.
“Ethan wasn't right, knowing each other's secrets don't keep us closer, and even if he was mentally ill when he came up with those ideas, he was still wrong" clarified Jessica as the doorbell rung.
“I've got it" whispered Tina as if wanting Jessica to go on.
“What makes us close is understanding and acceptance of each other, yes people have secrets, but it's up to them to decide on when to reveal them. Forcing someone to come out, admit to a crime they committed or a relationship they're involved in isn't what a friend does. Understanding that people take time and have their own privacy is something to be accepted” stated Jessica as she looked around at every one of her friends who also went through the pain of ‘S'.
They all nodded, Jessica was right in every way.
“Jess, the door’s for you" smiled Tina as she ran back to Gey and gave her a huge, loving hug.
Jessica went to the door, she wasn't expecting anyone, and every one of her friends were already here.
She peeked around the door as she pulled it back, the cold air seeped into the warm room.
Outside, completely decorated in the Christmas spirit, sat something parked in the driveway.
It was Busulon.
The tinsel, snow and light ridden bus exhaled a spurt of air as Tina's dad exited it.
“She's all yours, Jessica" waved Earl Tower as he jogged into his home.
“No, he's all mine" corrected Jessica with a smile as she wandered up to her lover.
Busulon beeped in embarrassment, it knew Jessica hated Christmas, and now it was basically the Christmas spirit come to life…on wheels.
“Oh, please Busulon! You look handsome in those decorations" blushed Jessica, who for once, found the decorations charming.
Jessica stepped up to the entrance, and looked back at Tina's house, only to notice the mistletoe above Busulon's entrance, right above where she stood.
She smirked before leaning into kiss the metallic, exterior side of Busulon.
Jessica kept kissing the bus, she didn't care that Busulon was cold to the touch. If ‘S’ couldn't tear them apart, then Christmas' freezing weather certainly couldn't either.
One thing Jessica didn't take into account was that the cold certainly would keep them together, as now she stood there…with her lips frozen to Busulon.