The Holiday

Dawn jolted up and stared at their guest. Dawn didn’t know very much about Eliza’s mother. Eliza never talked about her if she could avoid it, though Dawn had picked up a couple things here and there. Those things she had picked up didn’t paint a very good picture. The barely concealed horror on Eliza’s face made that picture infinitely worse.

Dawn instantly jumped up from the bed and sprinted to Eliza’s side. It didn’t matter that it was undignified. It didn’t matter that Eliza was only feet away. None of that mattered. All that mattered was that it got her to Eliza faster. Not that that mattered in the end. Eliza’s mother glanced at Dawn once, then turned back to Eliza. Eliza cleared her throat.

“Mother,” Eliza began, her voice conspicuously flat, “This is Dawn Hampton, my-”

“Leave us,” Eliza’s mother said to Dawn, cutting off whatever Eliza was going to say.

Dawn frowned. She really didn’t want to leave Eliza alone with her mother. If she had a choice, she wouldn’t have Eliza interacting with her mother at all. Not in these circumstances. Dawn was fully prepared to fight Eliza’s mother on this. She didn’t want to leave Eliza alone with her, and no one could convince her otherwise.

“It’s fine,” Eliza whispered, gently pushing Dawn in the direction of the door.

One person could convince her otherwise. However, let the record show that Dawn wasn’t happy about leaving. But Eliza wanted her to, and Dawn was quickly learning of an inability to say no her. Most days, most hours, most minutes, Dawn would say this was a good thing. This was not one of those times. This was one of the times where Dawn was left pacing through the hallway containing her own dorm room. Which she had been locked out of. Which Eliza was locked inside of. With her mother.

Dawn really wished she could say no to Eliza.

If she could, she’d be there with and for her right now. Instead she was locked out while Eliza’s mother was saying… whatever it is she came here to say. Dawn hoped beyond hope that it was something good, but it obviously wasn’t. If it was good, she wouldn’t have sent Dawn away. Besides, Dawn didn’t think she had ever said anything good to her daughter.

Dawn couldn’t keep her mind from replaying the scene with Eliza’s mother again.

She’d knocked on the door and Eliza had been the one to answer the door. Because Dawn had been too slow. She’d fully intended to get the door instead, but Eliza had beaten her to it. That shouldn’t have happened. Dawn had been closer to the door, she should have been the one to answer it. She shouldn’t have just shrugged it off when she saw Eliza was going to beat her to it. If Dawn had been the one to answer the door, she could have delayed Eliza from the horror of facing her mother. Sure, that delay might have only been a few seconds at most, but it would have been a few seconds more where Eliza was happy.

Eliza’s mother had shown no interest in Dawn at all. She’d only acknowledged her presence long enough to demand the lack of it. She’d cut off Eliza’s introduction of Dawn and essentially forced Dawn out of the room. A part of Dawn’s mind couldn’t help but wonder what Eliza would have introduced her as had she not been cut off. Girlfriend(!)? Friend? Roommate? That part quickly dismissed the thought. It didn’t matter. She was Eliza’s girlfriend(!), and Eliza was hers. The two of them knew that, and that was enough for Dawn.

Dawn shouldn’t have needed to be introduced by Eliza. She should have introduced herself. She should have acted as a buffer between Eliza and her mother. She should have still been that buffer. But instead she was locked out of the room with no idea what was going on on the other side of that door. But that didn’t stop her mind from coming up with explanation after explanation.

Maybe Eliza’s mother was announcing that their family would be spending Christmas together. Dawn both hoped that it was the case and hoped that it wasn’t the case. Eliza deserved a proper Christmas with her family. But it wouldn’t be proper. Not with her family. It’d be cold and distant at best. Not to mention that every fiber of Dawn’s being desperately wanted Eliza to spend the holiday with her.

Maybe Eliza’s mother was telling Eliza that she was pregnant. That seemed like the type of thing that a mother should tell her daughter in person. Eliza would be thrilled, of course. And probably equal parts terrified. She’d be a wonderful sister. She would love and dote on any sibling she might have. Even if she spent the whole time doubting herself because she had no idea what to do with a child. And Eliza would almost definitely be the primary caretaker of that child unless her parents had a drastic change of heart.

Maybe the whole thing was a lot worse than Dawn had been imagining. Good news wasn’t the only news that should be delivered in person. Dawn couldn’t help but notice that Eliza’s mother had come alone. From what little she’d gleaned about the Laurent family, that wasn’t uncommon at all. Far from it. It probably didn’t mean anything. But it still could have meant something. Maybe something had happened to Eliza’s father. That would devastate Eliza. The man may not care for her at all, but she still cared about him. Arguably more than he deserved. Eliza was wonderful that way. She cared. Even when she had no reason to care. Even when she had every reason to not care. She cared.

Maybe Eliza’s mother had chosen this moment to tell Eliza she was adopted. That… would be something. Dawn could honestly see Eliza reacting both positively and negatively. Eliza would be ecstatic that she might have another family, a real family, somewhere out there. But the knowledge that another family didn’t want her would break Eliza. Dawn desperately hoped this wasn’t the case.

Dawn kept pacing in front of the door and kept thinking of explanation after explanation. Some were good because Eliza deserved it and more. Some were bad because Eliza’s mother’s presence almost definitely meant something bad. Each and every one of them began with the word ‘maybe.’ Maybe Eliza’s mother was telling Eliza that she was a unicorn in disguise. Maybe Eliza’s mother was setting up a party for Eliza. Maybe Eliza’s mother just genuinely wanted to see her daughter. Maybe Eliza’s mother was pulling Eliza out of school. Maybe maybe maybe. That was the worst part. Dawn didn’t know. She didn’t know what Eliza was going through just on the other side of that door. She had countless theories and possibilities flitting through her mind, but she didn’t know. Dawn hated not knowing if and how Eliza was hurting.

The door creaked open. Without missing a beat, Dawn stopped her pacing and made a beeline for the door. Eliza’s mother walked through bumping into Dawn. She glared at Dawn for that. While Dawn wanted desperately to completely ignore Eliza’s mother, or perhaps scream at her, she couldn’t do either. Despite everything, she was still her girlfriend(!)’s mother. She should at least try not to get on her bad side, right?

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Laurent,” Dawn said.

“The t is silent,” Eliza’s mother said coldly. She pushed past Dawn and walked away. Dawn ignored her and ran into the room.

Eliza was sitting on her bed, staring blankly at the floor. She was shaking slightly. From across the room, Dawn was able to hear her erratic breathing. She didn’t seem to notice Dawn. Dawn recognized the scene. She walked up to Eliza and sat down next to her.

“Hey,” Dawn said quietly, gently reaching out to rest a hand on her shoulder. Eliza jumped at Dawn and wrapped her arms around her. She was shaking more violently in Dawn’s hold. This wasn’t the first time Dawn had seen Eliza like this, and yet she still had no idea what to do. Eliza was hurting, and Dawn didn’t know how to help. She’d never been able to help.

No, that wasn’t true. There was that time before they were dating, before they were even friends. Back when they were still just Picture_Painter and Word’s-Myth.

Can we talk?

What about?

Literally anything.

It wasn’t a bad plan, was it? Dawn hoped not. She gently repositioned herself and Eliza so they were lying down. Eliza was practically on top of Dawn, but Dawn didn’t mind. Eliza tightened her arms around Dawn. Again, Dawn didn’t mind. Eliza needed this. Praying that she wasn’t about to make things worse, Dawn began to speak.

“When I was younger I thought clouds and cotton candy were the same thing. Then I went to a circus and-”

897

Eliza had neither the desire nor the motivation to move. She just wanted to stay right where she was. In her defense, Dawn was an excellent cuddler.

It was one of those rare mornings where Eliza didn’t wake up early. Although, considering… recent events… Eliza hoped she could be forgiven for sleeping in. Dawn didn’t seem to mind, if the way she was (unnecessarily) pretending to still be asleep as an excuse to keep cuddling Eliza said anything. Not that Eliza was one to talk. Eliza was also pretending to be asleep.

As soon as Dawn and Eliza both acknowledged each other to be awake, Dawn would have some questions and Eliza would have some explaining to do. And Eliza really didn’t want either of those things to happen. She’d prefer to just ignore everything that happened and move on. But Dawn wouldn’t let her. And, frankly, Dawn deserved an explanation, so Eliza would give one. She just didn’t want to give it. Not if she could avoid it. Which she couldn’t. Besides, Dawn deserved an explanation, so Eliza would give one.

Eliza kept her eyes closed and tried her best to subtly snuggle up closer to Dawn. Dawn definitely noticed that Eliza was a lot more conscious than she was pretending, but she didn’t say anything. Dawn subtly repositioned herself to allow Eliza more comfort, thereby proving that she was also awake, but Eliza didn’t say anything.

Dawn deserved an explanation, so Eliza would give one.

Just not yet.

Eliza wanted to just enjoy Dawn’s presence for a little bit longer.

~θ~

Eliza sighed and looked up at Dawn. Dawn was sitting on her bed, with Eliza having moved to her own for this conversation. She hadn’t wanted to. Eliza would have loved to stay with Dawn for what was coming, but she couldn’t. Dawn was the most compassionate and caring and loving person that Eliza had ever met. Eliza would barely be able to begin her explanation before Dawn would try to comfort her. Judging by the way she was fidgeting in place, Dawn would love to do so now. But Eliza couldn’t let her. As soon as she received any comfort whatsoever, Eliza would stop her explanation and bask in the comfort instead. And Eliza knew that once she stopped she wouldn’t be able to start again. Better to hold off stopping until the end.

It was a great plan on paper. Stay physically distant so she could be emotionally close enough to actually give Dawn the explanation she deserved. Once that was done, she could stop being distant with Dawn and let herself be held and comforted. There was just one problem with that plan.

“I don’t know where to start,” Eliza admitted. She looked at Dawn again, silently prompting her to choose.

“When I walked in,” Dawn began carefully. “You were… distracted.”

Eliza laughed humorlessly. She was many things in that and similar moments. She’d never even considered saying that she was distracted, but it wasn’t exactly wrong, was it?

“I call it Spiraling,” Eliza explained slowly. She wasn’t sure what to say following that. She’d never actually tried to describe Spiraling to anyone else. She’d always known exactly what it felt like and never had anyone who needed or wanted to know. It was both terrifying and exhilarating to have someone to describe it to.

“My mind kinda… fixates on a topic, or several related topics, and just focuses on them. If I try and focus on anything other than those topics or just stop thinking, my mind Spirals back to those topics. More often than not, those topics tend to be negative.”

Was Eliza’s voice flat and toneless, completely devoid of any and all emotion? Yes. Yes it was. Was that a necessity because she knew if she let herself have any emotional attachment to what she was saying it wouldn’t be good. It would be awful and she needed this to not be awful so she could get through it because if it were awful then she wouldn’t get through it and she wanted to just get this over with and get back to having fun with Dawn and smiling at Dawn and having Dawn smile back and just all around enjoying being with Dawn.

“My breathing gets erratic and almost impossible to regulate without focusing on it. I get very aware of my heart. Not how fast or slow it’s beating or anything, just the spot on my chest where it is. Sometimes my body shakes or moves erratically. Whenever this happens, it generally lasts a few hours. Pretty much anything can cause me to start to Spiral.”

Eliza trailed off in her explanation and very conspicuously did not look at Dawn. She didn’t need to to know what she’d see. Dawn would be looking at her in horror, although it would be for Eliza and not at Eliza. There’d be compassion in her gaze as well. Determination to keep Eliza from Spiraling in the future. And deep sadness that Eliza had ever Spiraled at all.

“Your mother sparked it,” Dawn said.

Eliza closed her eyes tightly. This was the part she really didn’t want to explain. If she were to tell Dawn what exactly her mother had said to cause her to Spiral, she’d have to give context. Rewind. Reveal every sordid detail of her family. The things she wanted to never think about and just ignore, for her own peace of mind if nothing else. But she never could.

“My mother was born to a relatively well off family. If she’d decided to live modestly, she could have gone her entire life without having to work a day. She wanted that, but she wasn’t content with modesty. She wanted extravagance, but didn’t want to work for it. So she devised a strategy.”

Oh, Eliza was letting some emotion slip back into her voice. Or perhaps she was feeling too much disgust to rein it all in. Either way, her voice was now laced with disgust, and she hadn’t even actually said what her mother’s strategy had been.

“She managed to convince her father to send her to a private school. One that had long been known for being the preferred school where all the richest of the rich would send their kids. A few months later, she was pregnant with me.”

Eliza heard the small gasp as Dawn pieced together exactly what her mother’s plan was. Eliza flinched at the small gasp as Dawn pieced together exactly what her mother’s plan was. Already Dawn was horrified, and Eliza hadn’t even finished the story. Not that what happened next wasn’t obvious.

“My father’s parents didn’t like the idea of any grandchild of theirs being born out of wedlock, so they rushed my parents through a wedding. One that my father never wanted and my mother only wanted for all the wrong reasons. It wasn’t for love. They didn’t even like each other. In the end, they were forced into marriage with someone they hated and left with a child that neither of them wanted. I haven’t spoken to my father in years, and I only ever see my mother when she tells me to follow her footsteps.”

There was more to the story. Eliza could go into detail about how her mother had only stuck around long enough to name her before moving on. How she hadn’t even met her father until she was five, and even then it was by complete accident. How she’d been essentially raising herself since she was seven. There was so much she could have said.

Except she couldn’t say any of it. She’d tried. But she could barely even force herself to open her mouth, let alone make any noises that came even close to words. A few drops of moisture landed on Eliza’s hand. She was crying. That was strange. She hadn’t cried about her family in… well, since before she met Dawn. Eliza genuinely thought she’d moved past tears by now. Apparently not.

“Can I hug you now?” Dawn asked quietly.

Eliza looked up at Dawn. Dawn had tears of her own streaming down her face, though Eliza couldn’t be sure why. Dawn shouldn’t be crying over how awful Eliza’s family was. Still, she was. And she wanted to comfort Eliza.

Eliza opened her mouth again, but couldn’t say anything again. In the end, all she could manage was a very small nod. It was enough.

Dawn immediately sprinted across the room and wrapped her arms around Eliza. Eliza just melted into the embrace and let herself be comforted for once.

“Promise me something,” Dawn whispered. “Promise me that if this ever happens again, if you ever Spiral, you tell me. I… I don’t want you going through that alone.”

Eliza didn’t know what to say. She’d never told anyone about Spiraling before. But she’d always been sure they’d scoff or tell her she was faking or just not care. She never thought that they’d want to know when it happened. That they’d want to be there for her. Eliza didn’t know what to say. So she said the only obvious thing.

“I promise.”

897

Life after Eliza’s mother’s visit went on like normal. Everything was normal. And everyone was normal. Especially Eliza. If Dawn didn’t know better, she wouldn’t have believed that anything had happened at all.

The day after Eliza’s explanation, she was acting as if nothing had happened. She’d woken up at her normal time, stayed even quieter than usual so as not to disturb Dawn, and spent almost all of her free time drawing something. The only thing that was even somewhat out of the ordinary was Eliza refusing to show Dawn what she was working on, and even that wasn’t new. While Eliza had been becoming more comfortable with showing Dawn her artwork, she would occasionally regress and keep it to herself until it was done. Even the one thing out of the ordinary had been completely ordinary. Everything, including Eliza, was completely normal. It was unnerving.

The fact that Eliza could have breakdown after breakdown in the space of two days and then act as if nothing out of the ordinary happened… wasn’t great. Dawn did not like what it implied about her girlfriend(!). That she’d done it before. Enough times to act as if it were nothing out of the ordinary. Dawn didn’t want to know how often it had happened. She especially didn’t want to know how often it had happened since they met. Just how many times had Eliza Spiraled that Dawn hadn’t noticed? Even if it had only happened once, it would have been too many times.

Dawn wanted to address this, to talk to Eliza about what she had gone through, but she couldn’t. For one, Eliza clearly didn’t want to. Why else would she be pretending it hadn’t happened? For another, it would definitely upset Eliza. Dawn could see just how hard it was for Eliza to give even the most basic outline of events. How could Dawn knowingly incite anything like that? It would hurt Eliza, and Dawn didn’t want Eliza to hurt. She wanted the exact opposite.

So Dawn had followed Eliza’s lead and carried on as if nothing had happened. It hadn’t felt wrong, but it hadn’t felt right either. It didn’t matter either way. It was Eliza’s choice. She wanted to go on like normal, she Dawn went along with that. If and when Eliza changed her mind, Dawn would be there for her. But it was up to Eliza to decide when that would happen. The ball was in Eliza’s court.

To be honest, Dawn hadn’t expected things to stay normal for very long. And, in a way, she was not wrong. Very abnormal things were about to happen. Just not the kind of abnormal that Dawn was expecting. The good kind of abnormal. The kind she’d been looking forward to. The kind that only came on one day of the year.

Christmas Day.

~θ~

Dawn was never the biggest fan of waking up early. Or perhaps it was that she wasn’t the biggest fan of going to sleep early. Either way, she had a tendency to sleep in. That was true on any day, and Christmas Day was no exception.

Eliza, on the other hand, was half-opposite. She seemed just as capable of staying up just as late as Dawn, and even later on some nights. And yet she always woke up early. In all the time Dawn had known Eliza, she’d only slept in once, and that was a situation Dawn excused as unnatural. Eliza was an early riser, and Dawn very much was not. That meant that Eliza had to wait for Dawn to wake up so they could celebrate the holiday together.

Dawn knew this would happen, so she actively took steps to avoid it. Well, a single step. She set her alarm for earlier than usual so that she’d wake up, hopefully, at the same time as Eliza. Despite how long they’d been living together, Dawn still didn’t know what time Eliza woke up at. The best she could do was take a guess and set her alarm accordingly. Except it didn’t go off.

Dawn woke up far later than she meant to. As soon as she was lucid enough to take stock of the world beyond her warm bed she was aware that she should have been awake hours before. Dawn bolted up into a sitting position and scrambled for her phone, desperate to check the time and see just how much she’d screwed up. As soon as she did, a few things became clear to her.

Her phone wasn’t in the usual spot. Every night, Dawn put it in the middle of her desk where it was just far enough away that she couldn’t grab it while still in bed. She also kept it close to the center so that her fumbling hands wouldn’t push it over the edge every morning. It was neither far enough from her bed nor in the exact center. The third tell was that the screen was facing up. Dawn always put the screen down so she couldn’t just tap the button to turn off the alarm and go right back to bed. She had to put in actual effort and, more importantly, thought into stopping the alarm. But the screen was facing up. It wasn’t hard to figure out what had happened. Eliza had turned off Dawn’s alarm before it went off.

Dawn turned to confront Eliza about turning off the alarm, but as soon as she saw Eliza her mind couldn’t think of anything that did not contain the words ‘pretty’ and ‘girl’ in that order. Eliza was sitting at her desk, a book abandoned on the surface of it as she had turned to watch Dawn. Eliza was, as always, dressed and ready for the day. Dawn took special notice of what she was wearing. Specifically the dark green sweater she was wearing.

It was Dawn’s sweater.

Dawn really liked the way it looked on Eliza. Far more than she should have. She needed to find a way to make sure Eliza never took it off. Ever. It would be a travesty to deprive Dawn of such a sight.

Eliza noticed Dawn’s staring and blushed slightly. She gently picked at the sweater. “I didn’t have anything clean to wear,” she muttered. “I hope it’s okay that I borrowed this.”

Dawn didn’t respond. She was too distracted by just how good Eliza looked in her sweater to respond. Dawn didn’t know if she liked the way this sweater in particular looked on Eliza or if it was the fact that it was Dawn’s sweater Eliza was wearing that she liked. Possibly, probably, both.

“I can take it off,” Eliza offered, having misinterpreted Dawn’s silence. Dawn immediately started panicking. She could not let Eliza change. Never.

“What, that old thing?” Dawn asked, her voice shaky. “I’d forgotten I had it.”

It was her favorite sweater.

“I never wear it, so…”

She wore it at every available opportunity.

Dawn casually cleared her throat. “Y-you should keep it. It looks better on you.”

Much much better.

Eliza smiled softly and looked down at her sweater. “Thanks,” she muttered.

Dawn looked down at her phone, which was still in her hand, and finally remembered what day it was. She walked over to Eliza and gently hugged her from behind. “Merry Christmas.”

Eliza hummed happily and leaned back into Dawn’s hold. It was somewhat awkward with the chair between them, so it didn’t last long. Still, it happened and it was good. “Merry Christmas,” Eliza echoed.

When the hug ended Eliza stood up and pulled open the drawer of her desk. She grabbed a small rectangular package and shyly held it out to Dawn. “I hope you like it,” she muttered, quickly backing away to sit on her bed.

Dawn knew she would like whatever it was that Eliza had given her, but she didn’t open it immediately. She glanced at Eliza. She was quieter than usual. Dawn liked to think that she’d gotten pretty good at deciphering Eliza’s different actions. All signs pointed to Eliza being nervous. With the present still held in Dawn’s hand, it was obvious what she was nervous about. It was also a given that Dawn needed to show Eliza she had no reason to be nervous.

Dawn pulled open the drawer of her own desk and grabbed a slightly larger rectangular package from within. She sat next to Eliza and passed it over. “Ladies first,” Dawn gallantly offered.

Eliza giggled. “We’re both ladies,” she pointed out, still smiling. That was good. Smiling was a good step away from being nervous when there was absolutely nothing to be nervous about.

Dawn hummed dramatically. “You’re right about that,” she said. “Same time?”

That would work. It might not remove any nervousness Eliza felt, but it would keep her from having to just sit and watch Dawn open her present. It would be a great distraction. Dawn knew that because she was also nervous and using it as a distraction. So maybe she was being somewhat hypocritical. Still, if it helped Eliza, there would be no limit to Dawn’s hypocrisy. Perhaps that wasn’t the best mentality to have.

Fortunately, Dawn was pulled from her thoughts by Eliza agreeing with Dawn, relief evident in her voice. So, with that crisis solved, Dawn finally examined the present in her hands. As previously noted, it was a rectangular shape. The wrapping was somewhat clumsy. On the front was a name in Eliza’s neat handwriting. But it wasn’t Dawn’s name. Yet it also was.

Mitzi.

Dawn sighed fondly. It was obvious that Eliza wasn’t going to let go of that particular nickname. That was fine with Dawn. If Eliza wanted to give her a literal pet name, she could. Dawn would just have to come up with something equally as cutesy for Eliza.

Dawn carefully picked the paper off the present. She made sure that the label came out in one piece. It would likely turn out to be an unnecessary gesture, but she made it all the same. Dawn set aside the wrappings and examined the framed picture in her hands.

The picture was of her and Eliza. It was obviously hand drawn. She and Eliza were depicted cuddling on a bench. There were subtle tear tracks on Dawn’s face, but she was smiling all the same. One of her arms was wrapped around Eliza, and the other was stretched in front of her to hold Eliza’s hand. It was a picture of her and Eliza just moments after officially getting together. It was perfect.

Dawn looked over to Eliza. Eliza was curiously looking over the book that Dawn had gotten her. With the picture in hand that book didn’t seem like a very good gift. In fact, compared to the care and time and effort that went into the picture, a book seemed like a completely terrible gift. Then Eliza looked up at Dawn, smiled, and said “thanks.” It couldn’t be terrible if it got a positive reaction out of Eliza.

Dawn really wanted to kiss Eliza. That might be able to convey all the thoughts that Dawn couldn’t verbalize. But she didn’t. She and Eliza had been dating for less than a month. While they had kissed before, Dawn didn’t feel like she could just kiss Eliza with no warning. Not yet. “Thank you,” she said instead, hoping Eliza would understand everything that Dawn didn’t say.

897

“You ready?”

Eliza nodded absently, not even sure if Dawn was looking at her or not. She was too nervous to do anything but sit there, thinking of excuse after excuse to not follow through with her plan. It was one of those plans that seemed perfect when she first came up with it, but then seemed like the worst idea in the world when the time came. It wasn’t too late. Eliza could just not do it and Dawn would never know.

Eliza glanced up at Dawn. Dawn wasn’t looking at her. That was good. If Eliza went through with it, it would be best if Dawn wasn’t looking at her when she approached. That would ruin the surprise aspect. If Eliza went through with it. Which she would. She knew she would, even while trying to convince herself not to. She’d made up her mind already.

Dawn still wasn’t looking at her. Good. Eliza bent down and grabbed the hat from under her bed and marched over to Dawn. She slipped the hat on her head and tapped Dawn on the shoulder. Dawn hummed and swiveled to face Eliza. Eliza cleared her throat.

“What?” Dawn asked.

Eliza very obviously used her eyes to indicate that Dawn should look up. Dawn looked up. She saw the hat that Eliza was wearing. She saw the pole extending from the hat to above the two of them. She saw the mistletoe hanging from the pole.

“Oh,” Dawn muttered, looking back at Eliza.

Eliza just looked at Dawn hopefully. Dawn smiled softly and leaned in to give Eliza a gentle kiss. When it was over, far too soon in Eliza’s opinion, Dawn stepped back so that she was no longer under the mistletoe with Eliza. Eliza stepped forward so the mistletoe was once again above the two of them. This kiss was longer, but no less gentle. Now it was Eliza’s turn to step back. Dawn wasted no time in stepping forward.