Chapter 17: Winter is for Presents and Murder Mysteries

Welllllll...This is pretty late. That extra chapter I mentioned probably won't happen for now...This chapter is kind of short and not too awesome. But it's done, so hooray!

The next day, Blue and company sat in Malik's room, where Blue whined about having to go home early in the morning when her parents picked her up. Malik and Teddy had an early flight as well, so they weren't going to get to speak the next day. This meant they needed to make the most out of their last day together for a while, which they planned on doing in a way they weren't quite sure of yet.

During the middle of the morning, Teddy ran out of the room (Kip and Malik’s, Kip was out with some of his other friends) at a moment Blue thought was random, but when she glanced at Malik he didn’t seem surprised. Teddy claimed he was going to meet Pablo somewhere, but Blue suspected something else.

“So,” Malik mumbled, “I know a lot hadn’t really changed since we became a couple officially, other than some kissing and snuggling and hand holding, our relationship is basically the same. We’ve been dating close to three months now, and I just…I know you don’t celebrate Christmas, and I don’t, exactly, either, but…I got you a gift. Like Hanukah I guess, right? Um…Here.” Blue grinned as Malik pulled a small package out from under his bed and handed it to her.

The package was wrapped with extreme care, and Blue managed to admire it for a moment before tearing the wrapping apart. The small box contained a bracelet with a single charm on it. Blue lifted it up and inspected the charm, which was a blue-green stone. She tilted her head and looked to Malik to explain, and he stumbled over his words nervously.

“It’s a-aquamarine,” he mumbled. “U-um, because blue plus green equals aquamarine, and, I just…I thought, it was like, well…Like you and me together, you know?” Blue nodded.

“It’s amazing, Malik,” she said, and her boyfriend’s breath hitched in his throat as he looked at her. Every so often when the two of them were alone Blue would act like a normal girl and speak to him incredibly sincerely; apparently this as one of those moments. “I love it Malik. It’s perfect. And I can get other charms for it, too?” Malik nodded. “I love it. Malik, I…,” Blue grinned, shook her head and covered her face in embarrassment before declaring, “I love you.”

Malik blinked at Blue in momentary shock, never expecting the girl to beat him to those particular words. This didn’t bother him in the slightest as he whispered, “I love you too.” Blue leaned into Malik and gave him a tender kiss before the young man helped her secure the bracelet to her wrist. Blue crawled into his lap and sat there for a while, completely happy in that moment as she sat in his arms.

Teddy and Pablo walked into the room after a polite knock not too long after that, hand in hand. “He gave it to you?” Teddy asked with a surprisingly sweet grin, and Blue nodded, holding her wrist out on display for all to see. Pablo and Teddy seemed impressed, and Malik watched proudly. To Blue’s surprise, Teddy and Pablo each handed her a small gift as well. Blue opened these gifts, and saw two more charms to add to her bracelet; one a rainbow and one a turtle. All four occupants of the room shared smiles, and Teddy managed to express to her during the contagious tears that once again made their way through Blue to Teddy how grateful they were that Blue had decided to come to their school. Pablo and Malik both somehow ended up crying as well, and they shared a group hug for a little too long.

After all of them were sufficiently happy with what they’d said to each other, Blue asked, “So you two really aren’t having a secret affair, are you?”

Malik and Teddy glanced at each other, knowing she was referring to the two of them, “Of course not.” Teddy spoke in Malik’s stead, “I know sometimes people think we might be, but even though I’m obviously gay and Malik doesn’t constantly assert his masculinity, we’re just friends and that’s all we’ll ever be. I’m happy with Pablo, and Malik adores you.”

“I thought that once too,” Pablo mumbled to Blue, “but we’re being kind of…Judgmental and part of the problem when we do that, I think.” Blue nodded in understanding, and the pair asked Teddy and Pablo where they'd been, so they recounted their relatively short tale.

“So, Teddy,” Pablo said, as they sat in his room where Teddy met him, “I got you something.”

“I got you something too,” Teddy replied. They exchanged a pair of gifts, one overly bedazzled and the other looking like it was wrapped by a toddler. Teddy laughed at the copy of Zoo Tycoon (complete with the dinosaur version and the sea life version as well) he held in his hands, and put on a very cute rabbit hat immediately. Pablo gave Teddy a look that jokingly asked, “And what is this?” as he held up a strange item. Teddy explained it as a “spinny paint art maker thing” and helped Pablo to set it up. They spent a time making designs with the machine, which quickly rotated a piece of paper so when they squirted paint onto it it made fun patterns. For a while they used this machine and were fascinated by it, until they quit and snuggled up to play Zoo Tycoon. After unleashing some dinosaurs onto trapped zoo patrons, they laughed and started a new game. This game dissolved into kissing, which they spent the rest of their time doing until they realized they were supposed to go back to Malik's room.

Blue decided to hand out her gifts then, so Teddy gave her a second gift as well as she handed each member of the room a poorly wrapped gift. Each opened their gift at the same time. Malik got a picture of himself and Blue, and a note that says, “I sat still for this, remember? Teddy took it and I asked him for it and stuff. Now put it up in your room!” Malik laughed and gave Blue a light kiss as he realized there was another picture underneath, with himself, Blue and Teddy.

“I love them,” Malik stated, and Blue grinned. Teddy received drawings of Uni and Blue, Malik and Pega, and himself and what looked like a lamp. Teddy contained his giggles as he tried to figure out what it was, and he finally settled on a unicorn with wings or a pegasus with a horn. Pablo got a CD, with instructions for him to choreograph a dance number for himself and Blue to dance along to them. The other couple thanked Blue for the gift, and pondered what they should do for the rest of the day. Luckily, when they couldn't settle on anything, Kip bounded into the room.

“Emergency last minute our old class plus the extra people we've accumulated along the way meeting!” he shouted, before running out of the room. He called back, “In the lobby!” The set of people in the room headed to the lobby immediately, where they met with their friends and speculated about what they'd been called together for. Suddenly, in the front of the group stood Hakan, a grin on his face, with Gerda by his side.

Gerda spoke up, “Hakan and I would like to invite you all to partake in the activity we have planned. We have reserved the gym, please follow Hakan there.” The group, which included Alec, Kendall, Jenny, Pablo, Estela, and Kakahi besides the regular group followed along. Blue chatted with Teddy on the way, while Pablo ran off to talk to Estela and Kakahi about something nonspecific and Malik talked to Kip.

“What are they doing?” she asked, and Teddy shrugged.

“I don’t know,” he replied, and Blue gasped overly dramatically.

“Teddy doesn’t know something!” she shouted in alarm, but the blond quickly covered her mouth and shushed her.

“Shut up, Blue, don’t tell anyone. Of course I know,” he insisted, waving away the smirk Alec sent him. The two were silent for a moment as Alec slowed his pace just to continue smirking at Teddy. Finally Teddy glared and declared in exasperation, “Oh, like you know what’s exactly going on, Potts!”

“Of course I do, Albrecht,” Alec replied with a smug laugh. Teddy snorted in anger and ran off to catch up to Gerda and Hakan to figure out what they were planning for the evening.

Blue was left next to Alec, by that time entirely comfortable with their companionable silence. To her surprise, he spoke to her, “Since we won’t be roommates in the spring,” he said, causing bafflement in Blue’s part, “I thought I would give you this.” In his hand sat a very small box, wrapped nearly perfectly in chrome colored wrapping paper with a silver bow on top. Handing it to Blue with a rare smile, the girl could detect faint blushing on his face. He sped up so as not to watch her open the gift, but she found herself unable to open it while walking anyway. Teddy faded back in the group to Blue’s side, with a particular look on his face she didn’t understand. Before he addressed whatever it was he wanted to, they arrived at the gym, where a dining room table, fully set, with name cards was set up. The group glanced all around, and Teddy laughed at Alec’s confused quirk of his eyebrow. They were quickly seated, Teddy next to Blue, but on either side of the pair sat Estela and Rashida rather than their significant others. Kip and Kendall sat directly across the table from each of them. Gerda informed them all they would be served something called “Risgryngrot” which was rice porridge, and whoever found an almond would be getting married in the coming year. They ate, playing along happily with Gerda’s game, and Kendall found the almond. Blue showed Teddy the gift Alec had given her, earning her a glare from Alec, and Teddy opened it for her with the use of a fork. Inside sat a small button, which was attached to a battery. Under the button sat a very short note that read, “Push the button if there are monsters or you need my help with anything else. PS Don’t trust Albrecht!” She also told him what Alec had said about no longer being roommates, and Teddy scowled deeply.

“So it’s true…,” he mumbled, and Blue tilted her head to the side.

“What’s true?” she asked, but of course an interruption happened at that very moment. The lights flashed out and then flashed back on. Gerda screamed and pointed at a not very realistically dead Hakan lay strewn out across the floor. Teddy grinned at Blue, and the pair glanced around the room. Blue looked legitimately terrified while Teddy laughed, and Gerda began a rehearsed speech.

“God Jul to all!” she declared, causing Blue to ask “What?” loudly before she went on, “Or as you say here in the America, Merry Christmas! As you can see, my beloved Hakan has been murdered! What you must do on this evening is figure out who the murderer is! It is someone in this room. You have two hours to figure it out. You have been paired with the person sitting to your left. Anyone could be the murderer, however, so don’t rule your partner out! OK, let the holiday festivities begin!” Gerda laughed brilliantly, sparking laughter only to be described as maniacal from both Teddy and Alec, and subsequently, to feel included, Blue and Kakahi. Hakan laughed, too, but tried his very best to cover it up. As soon as Gerda’s laughter cut off, quite abruptly, Teddy’s and Alec’s did as well. Blue and Kakahi looked utterly confused and let their laughter patter off, but Hakan just continued occasionally snorting with laughter.

“A Christmas murder mystery!” Teddy said with a grin, grabbing Blue to go off to investigate Hakan’s body. Some of the other pairs moved much more slowly, and Teddy quickly noted Alec had been paired with Kakahi. This put them on relatively equal footing as far as Teddy was concerned, and thus the great contest began. Clues were strewn about the room, and it became quickly obvious the competition was solely between Teddy and Alec, but everyone hoped their “baggage” (Kakahi and Blue) would drag them down. Malik was paired with Pablo, which was strangely tense considering how much time they’d recently spent together by association. In passing, Teddy and Blue each took turns making fun of their awkwardness as they ran by, tracking clues in a frenzied hurry.

Blue was skipping as Teddy tugged her along, and Kakahi waved at her as Alec rolled his eyes at his partner. Kip and Estela followed the brilliant strategy known as “hanging on to genius coattails” and stalked Teddy and Blue around. Jenny and Rashida followed the same method with Alec and Kakahi. While all of this was happening, Kendall and Austin sat in a corner of the room, Kendall listening to Austin describe exactly why she hated every single person in the room they were in (including Kendall, of course) and how she was not going to play along with this stupid game.

Interviewing everyone in the room while finding clues wherever they happened to be Teddy and Alec sent their partners to do most of the physical work. The clues, scrawled neatly in Gerda’s handwriting, led them on a path of increasingly difficult physical challenges Gerda would do very well at but the two young men and their partners were not quite as expert at. Due to this reason, competition slowed down for a while, and it was Pablo who finally managed to get a clue stored at the top of a climbing rope. For a short time Malik was overjoyed that his team may actually win, but Pablo not only accidentally knocked down a second copy of the clue that Alec pounced on, he simply gave the one he grabbed to Teddy. Pablo’s blond boyfriend presumably promised him something to get it, since he whispered in Pablo’s ear and gave him a suggestive smirk. This caused the clue to be handed over in mere seconds after Pablo had returned from the top of the rope, and put Teddy and Alec’s teams at the front of the contest again. After possessing the last set of clues, Alec and Teddy realized who the culprit was at the exact same moment and sprinted off to tell Gerda their discovery.

Teddy and Alec, with trailing partners who were reciting song lyrics to one another by this point, arrived in front of Gerda and spoke simultaneously, “I know who the—it’s you!”

Gerda pouted and nodded, followed by a smile. “Congratulations! It was never a competition with the others, but between the two of you. Would you like your prizes now?” Teddy and Alec glanced at one another, a quick evaluation of the situation and suggestion of multiple prizes seeming to point to the fact that Gerda had predicted this result. While both were unsettled by this, they still waited patiently for Gerda to produce the prizes they’d been promised. Soon both were holding gift cards to spas, and the Swede in front of them mumbled something about winning these gift cards in a contest but not wanting them.

Teddy laughed, but Alec looked offended. Despite Alec’s mumbling that Gerda had shortchanged them, the rest of the group headed back to their dorms and settled in the TV lounge, watching a movie together for the last time in that year. The next day was filled with tearful goodbyes, as Blue’s parents picked her up and Teddy and Malik headed to an airport together. The last thing Blue and Teddy shouted at one another, as Blue got in her parents car was, “I love you! See you at New Years!”

Yep. So there you go. Done.