Last Christmas

December 21, 2010

A/N: This is a very belated Christmas Story that's a companion piece to LNWU which is still a work in progress. Originally had the idea of it being a collection of one-shots but decided that it'd be better to just have it as a stand-alone thing. The title is based on the title of the Doctor Who Christmas Special and the Wham song "Last Christmas".

Disclaimer: The Persona series is owned by Atlus and its parent company which is currently Sega. JustCharles owns Reiko Setsuka, but I do own any OCs that I will be using including Dylan, Stephen and Roz. Anything else that I reference is the property of their respective authors.

The "Vermont Incident" House

"Last Christmas, I gave you my heart. But the very next day, you gave it away. This year, to save me from tears; I'll give it to someone special." George Michael was, for better or worse, one of the constants of Christmas.

Dylan woke up and stared blearily around the room. His clothes were strewn around the room as if a tornado had dispersed them that way.

Sleeping next to him was his most recent conquest, Yukiko, or at least he thought that was her name. Then, he saw the empty bottles of Jack Daniel's whiskey and Coca-Cola along with what looked like ash and some sort of white powder.

"I think I remember the cocaine. Yeah, I definitely remember taking it. Now my nose fucking burns." Dylan swore aloud.

Unfortunately, this woke up Yukiko who drunkenly but endearingly tumbled out of the bed. "What the hell? What time is it? SHIT! My parents wanted to have lunch with me later but they said they'd check up on me. Did I oversleep?"

"Nope, it's about 9 AM. By hotel do you mean the Lonely Pine resort hotel?" Dylan asked, getting out of the bed himself and feeling like he'd been hit by a bus.

Yukiko reached for her clothes and got dressed in a hurry. "9 AM? But I have to meet my parents in 3 hours or so! I promised them that I'd be back earlier this morning."

"Oh I'm sorry, you should've thought of that before you fucked me. Seriously, there's some stains on the walls in this room that are never coming out. You were NASTY. Hey, you sure that was your second time? Because it seemed like you had a lot of practice to me. If sex was an Olympic sport, I'd have given you a gold medal." He grinned as he gathered his clothes up as well.

Dylan got dressed and he was wearing black boots, ripped jeans, a bullet-belt, a Slayer t-shirt and a denim jacket. He wasn't exactly dressed for snow, but he hadn't left the house except to get alcohol, food and drugs.

Unfortunately, Yukiko punched him in the face in response to his last comment. "Are you done being a pig or do you want me to get back to my hotel by myself? I don't really feel all that comfortable with hitch-hiking. As you can probably imagine."

"You liked it last night, sugar!" Dylan dodged another punch as he watched her hurry down the stairs.

I could get used to that ass. He thought to himself as he followed after her.

He got down to the living room where he found Yukiko putting on her jacket and glowering at him. Dylan also noticed that Stephen, Travis, Eddie and Zack were all still asleep. Well, until they'd wake up.

Sure enough, Travis, who was sleeping on the heavily-stained couch, woke up and shook his luscious mane of strawberry-blonde hair.

"HOLY FUCK! Damn, Dylan, you should've told us you had that fine piece of ass up there! HEY! Steve, Eddie, Zack! He got another one! Golden Boy got another one!" Travis quite literally ran up the stairs.

Dylan pretended to look contrite. "I'm sorry. My friends can be a bit nuts. Actually, Travis is crazier than I am."

"Can we go? Before more of your deadhead friends show up?" Yukiko crossed her arms impatiently.

She swore loudly as Travis returned accompanied by a boy with short black hair, a tanned boy with coffee-coloured dreadlocks and another teenager with green hair who looked like a less hairy and stockier version of Animal from the Muppets.

Dylan high-fived Steven, Travis, Eddie and Zack. "Yeah, I did it. Can someone get my belts? You know, those replica wrestling belts that I carry around?"

After twenty minutes and a pregnant pause, Eddie returned with two championship belts. One of them had "World Heavyweight Drinking Championship" written on it and the other one had the words "Pound-Town Heavyweight Championship". The centre of the former belt was based off of a bottle-cap from a beer bottle.

Dylan hoisted the first belt on to his left shoulder and left the other belt on the stained sofa.

"We've met your friends. So can we go now?" Yukiko's voice had an impatient quality.

Stephen tilted his head at her and looked at her appreciatively. "Shame she can't stay longer, huh?"

"You got that right." Zack spoke up.

Eddie walked over to Yukiko. "You know, I could bring the heat if you want."

"Alright that's IT." Yukiko moved her foot back before Dylan stepped in.

Dylan promptly defused the situation. "Okay, I have to get Yukiko back to her hotel so she doesn't get all pissed off. I'll be back later so I'll be replenishing our supplies. That sound good to everybody?"

"Hell yeah. Oh, I'll just put the footage from last night up! You guys weren't on it though." Stephen grinned.

Yukiko just glowered at Stephen, Travis, Eddie and Zack before opening the door with a huff and slamming it behind her.

Dylan shifted the World Heavyweight Drinking Championship belt around. "Well, I'd better get going. Someone toss me the keys to the Bangin' Wagon. Danke schon."

He twirled the keys in triumph and stepped out the door and saw Yukiko looking at the Bangin' Wagon with an expression of extreme distaste.

"You're not driving me back to my hotel in this." She glared at him angrily.

Dylan whistled. "You don't have a choice. The people who own this house didn't even leave a car so it's not as if I'm going to carjack somebody. I might have broken into someone's house, but I have my limits."

"What limits?" Yukiko remarked sarcastically.

The blonde threw up his hands. "Well, I can hotwire a car but I'm not carjacking some rich dude. Unless it's a Maserati or something."

"Oh. You're the youngest son of that Blake guy. What was his name again? Gregory?" Yukiko leaned against the Bangin' Wagon.

Dylan made a face that looked like he'd bitten into a lemon. "I'm his kid but he's an asshole. I mean, yeah, I got to fuck the daughter of some Mafia guy he's best buddies with…."

"JUST. GET. IN. THE. DAMN. CAR." Yukiko was getting progressively angrier.

Dylan unlocked the door and got in the car as soon as she calmed down. "Getting in. Hey, you want to stop and get breakfast? There's an IHOP near the hotel you're staying at."

"Fine. We'll stop on the way and then you're taking me to the hotel. You got that, Blondie?" Yukiko huffed.

Dylan put on the radio and drove off to their destination, making sure to make the necessary stop for breakfast first. He left the "World Heavyweight Drinking Championship" belt on the back-seat because he couldn't hold it and drive at the same time.

The Aforementioned IHOP near the Lonely Pine Hotel and Ski Resort, Vermont

After about forty to forty-five minutes, they pulled up at the IHOP near the Lonely Pine Hotel and got out of the Bangin' Wagon. Yukiko walked in first, followed by Dylan who brought the belt in with him.

"Could I get a table for 2 please?" Yukiko asked the waitress.

The waitress looked at her and then looked at Dylan. "So that's your boyfriend?"

"She's not my girlfriend. So can we have that table?" Dylan held up a $50 bill and waved it at the waitress, who took it and led them to their table.

The waitress passed them menus and walked off.

Yukiko looked quizzically at Dylan. "What was that supposed to be?"

"I got us a table and I even cleared some confusion about our relationship status without my saying that we hooked up. You're very welcome, Princess." Dylan smirked.

Yukiko was beginning to grow impatient with him again. "Fantastic. Can we just order something now? I'm starving. I'll have bacon and scrambled eggs. Might have some waffles too."

"Awesome. I'll have bacon, sunny-side up eggs and hash-browns on one plate. And I'll have a big stack of chocolate pancakes on a different plate. Plus, I kind of feel like a nice, strong cup of coffee." Dylan gave Yukiko an innocent look.

Yukiko just rolled her eyes. "If you want coffee then get coffee. This has been a big mistake, I didn't want to hook up with anyone since Takeru but you HAD to play the hero."

"It was that or let you get roofied, which would've been a difficult thing to explain because the house we were in isn't mine and I could've gone to jail or juvenile hall or whatever. And you know what happens to guys who look like me in jail right?" Dylan didn't need to elaborate.

The raven-haired girl knew exactly what he was talking about but ignored him in favour of asking a particularly put-upon waitress to take their order, which said waitress did.

The waitress brought back a cup of coffee for Dylan and a glass of orange juice for Yukiko. He reached in his jacket for a hip-flask and poured the contents in his coffee.

Dylan added a little cream and sugar to the mixture and stirred it. "Need a little hair of the dog after last night. Hope you don't mind."

"Not at all." Yukiko looked at the blonde as he stirred. From a purely aesthetic or looks-based standpoint, he wasn't all that bad.

A faint hope stirred in her, a hope that the boy who was sitting across from her was the same boy who wrote her letters almost a decade previously.

A waitress set their plates down in front of them before leaving a container of maple syrup for their waffles and pancakes respectively.

They ate in relative silence, only pausing to notice how the other person ate and making different observations on the other person based on that.

After they finished eating, Dylan asked for the bill, which he paid using a credit card that he'd scammed from his dad, the one and only Gregory Blake. He'd already managed to build up a substantial amount of spending on it in just a week.

Yukiko watched as Dylan unlocked the minibus and stepped in, motioning for her to do the same. With any luck, she'd make it to the hotel in time.

The Lonely Pine Hotel's Lobby, Vermont

Dylan and Yukiko had managed to make it to the Lonely Pine with time to spare.

They were sitting in the lobby and were in the process of saying their goodbyes to each other, or goodbyes that people who met the way they did would say to each other.

"Thanks for getting me back here, and with plenty of time for me to get changed and get the smell of alcohol and whatever else off me." Yukiko sounded quite grateful.

Dylan moved the World Heavyweight Drinking Championship belt to his feet before answering. "You're welcome sugar. Hey, listen, if you're ever in my neck of the woods or if I'm ever in yours then don't hesitate to drop on by. Especially if you want me to clean your pipes again."

"Thanks for the offer but I'd like to respectfully decline. Nothing personal." Yukiko stood up.

Dylan stood up as well, picking the belt up off the ground as he did so. "So this is goodbye?"

"Not exactly. Goodbye is what you say to someone who you'll never see again. I'll just say something else. Auf Wiedersehn." She walked away, leaving Dylan standing there.

Dylan turned around and exited the lobby of the hotel, ignoring the toucan-nosed man who had been observing his conversation with Yukiko.

Yukiko made her way out of the lobby and checked her phone.

Chie: How's Vermont?

Yukiko: It's great! Actually…. I met someone.

Chie: Oh? What was his name?

Yukiko: Dylan Blake. The youngest son of Gregory Blake.

Chie: WHAT? The same guy who you had a correspondence with? Really?

Yukiko: We hooked up.

Chie: Wow. Was he good?

Yukiko: Yes, and he was BIG down there. But that's beside the point. He's a bit of a dick.

Chie: Like Takeru was you mean?

Yukiko: He got me back to the hotel.

Chie: So?

Yukiko: I'll explain when I get home.

Chie: Fair enough. Well, my parents are back with my siblings so I better go!

She stepped into the elevator and pressed the button that would take her to her room.

"Was that really the same person who wrote me letters?" Yukiko wondered aloud.

She knew deep down it MUST have been the same person. But it could have been a weird coincidence.

The "Vermont Incident" House

Eddie let Dylan back into the house after looking around to see if anyone noticed their presence in the house.

"You know, you could help me Lurch." Dylan remarked sarcastically.

Eddie laughed. "No way Jose. You bought the booze, the food, the drugs, you fucking carry them. That'll teach you not to make a pass at my sister again."

"She wanted to suck my dick for $10,000! Yeah, it wasn't MY $10,000 but c'mon!" Dylan griped.

Eddie watched as Dylan carried everything inside the house and put everything on the kitchen table. There was already a strong smell of weed billowing around the house, as well as stubs of joints and ash everywhere.

Stephen got up. "Hey, you got stuff! I'm fucking starving."

"Yeah. I got pizza, beef jerky, potato chips, Pop-tarts, popcorn, everything. Plus the drugs, which include weed, coke and some speed if you're feeling adventurous. Oh, and I got booze! Lots of booze" Dylan placed bags of bottles on the countertop.

Travis looked at the World Heavyweight Drinking Championship. "You defending your title tonight?"

"Hell fucking yes. I'm undefeated!" Dylan slapped the belt with pride.

Stephen muttered something under his breath. "You only made that belt to justify your increased intake after the accident."

"Dude!" Zack whispered.

Dylan was oblivious to all this as he cracked open a can of beer and downed the contents.

Travis, who would normally be trying to outpace Dylan looked worried. "Aren't you going to pace yourself?"

"It's Christmas! I can drink as much as I want. Besides, the only person who I'd listen to is…." Dylan put his head in his hands as if he was going to cry. But there were no tears.

Stephen started to backpedal for Travis despite himself. "He didn't mean it like that. And he's the most irresponsible out of the five of us, apart from you and Zack I mean."

"Awesome. Hey, if people start knocking, let them in because I'm going upstairs to crack one out. Probably in the master bedroom. Just need to get my laptop." Dylan left the room.

The rest of the group took food and dispersed to different parts of the house, leaving Stephen by himself for the first time in eight days.

"I'm worried about you little bro. Shit." Stephen grabbed a beer and chugged it down.

He almost contemplated telling Dylan about that court case a decade ago, or what he remembered of it. But he decided against it.

Pussy. He thought to himself.

Stephen reached for another beer.

"Merry Fucking Christmas, you filthy animals." He said aloud, addressing nobody in particular.

"Every Christmas is last Christmas."

And that was the last Christmas before everything changed for better or worse.