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There’s usually beer at these things, right? Lots of plastic cups, snacks, and laughter? Maybe a speaker or two blaring a remix of a pop song, a dance floor perhaps-am I getting this right? Or am I just blindly following a standard decades of movies had set for me?

Handling magic is one thing, but hosting a party? Yeah no, that just ain’t my forte.

Then as I was wallowing there in my cluelessness, I heard the screech of wheels pulling up at the front of my driveway, and almost immediately, pulling my head out from deep inside a cabinet, I made a mad dash towards the front door.

Amanda never even had the chance to put her fingertips on the door handle before I went swinging it wide open for her.

She looked nice, dressed nice, her bright blonde hair tossed over her shoulder in a braided ponytail. Truly she was a sight for sore eyes, but at the same time, the root cause for why they were even sore in the first place.

“You...” I whispered, darting a trembling finger before her cheery expression. “You will explain yourself, and you will do so now.”

.....

Her smile met my deranged gaze, to which she slowly drew closer, pecking me on the lips with a kiss that smelled of peach and all things pleasant, before quickly pulling back.

“Merry early Christmas,” She said, then lifted a hand up towards me. “I brought some presents.”

She was carrying a hefty and plump bag that I had failed to notice at first glance, and for a fleeting second there, I lost my glare.

“Presents?”

“Gift-wrapped and all,” She proclaimed, shuffling past me and entering the living room like she’s lived here for ages now. “One for you. One for Ash. One for Adalia-Oh, hey Adalia! Having a good day?”

Adalia gave a soft murmur in response, shifting to her side in her sleep. And I guess that was good enough an answer for Amanda.

“Nice jacket, by the way,” She remarked, before advancing a little more to place her haul of goodies atop the dining table. “I see the tree hasn’t arrived yet. Seems I’m the early bird too. That’s fine, I can help set it up with you.”

I remained standing by the entrance, leaning back against the door till it clicked close. From there, I watched her strut about for a bit like she owns the place, alas... in reality, she has some rent due, and she owes quite a lengthy explanation.

“D’you got the coffee brewing yet?” She turned to me, sniffing the air eagerly for any trace of grounded cocoa beans. “It’s been quite the hectic day, I could really do with some of your finest works.”

“Hectic, funny you should say that,” I began walking forward. “Because you seem like the last person to be complaining about things being hectic, y’know? All things considered?”

“Who thinks throwing a party is hectic?” She scoffed, before finding herself an empty mug and waggled it out towards me. “Be a dear, please?”

“Is this punishment? Is this ’cause I was a bad boyfriend? It is, isn’t it, right? Just admit it is, so I can finally stop looking for reasons and-”

She waggled the mug harder. “Please?”

Against her pleading expression, and pouty, batty eyes, it was only a matter of time before I crumbled, and I did... simmering in silence as I swiped the cup from her hands and slowly stomped my way towards the kitchen counter.

“I’d marry you for your coffee-making skills alone, you know?” Amanda remarked, propping up an endearing smile on the other side of the porcelain counter. “Thankfully, there’s a lot more of you than that to love and adore. I’m so blessed.”

Grumpily, I just focused on my work, trying not to burn myself, but I did tear away briefly enough to remark, “Let’s hope your parents see me that way tomorrow.”

Amanda groaned, rolling her eyes before slumping her head flat against the surface. “Don’t even get me started on my parents,” before her eyes poke back up, blinking at me. “Do me a favor, how about we just future-me and you deal with that whole thing, hm? Right now me-me just wants to savor your essence.”

Kinky.

“Then how ’bout you do me a favor...” I said, sliding the now brimming, steamy mug in front of her. “Why don’t you just start-?”

“It’s for you.”

She answered so immediately and started sipping away at her drink so quickly, that I didn’t think she even had said anything.

“What?” I asked.

“The party, the get-together, the despicable act of betrayal I’ve committed,” She said between sips. “I did it for you, obviously.”

Again, once more but with feeling, “What?”

“More specifically, it’s for you and Ash,” Amanda clarified, placing the mug back on the counter with a gasp of relief and pure satisfaction. “Because unless I don’t know my favorite characters of all time, Ash is feeling a little in the dumps, isn’t she?”

“Okay, that settles it,” I proclaimed, both hands slamming firm against the counter, leaning my stare forward. “You are psychic, right? An alien, telepath, Ms. Charles Xavier, how could you have known-?”

“Because arguably, I know Ash a lot more than you do,” She interjected. “And I know anything related to her sister would always get her spirits nosediving. It’s how she is in-game and it’s how she is here. And since you got her to open up to you, had her pulling out all the skeletons in her closet, on a scale of one to ten-how bad does she sound?”

I paused to ponder it, giving the kitchen ceiling a quick-glance desiring once more for magical wall hacks, and gloomily sighed, “Eleven.”

“See?” Amanda cocked her head to the side. “I was gonna hang back. It isn’t exactly my place to interfere with this dilemma, But then I heard about your Christmas tree, and an idea started forming... and it isn’t exactly interfering if everyone else is doing it, right? I wanted to help, because I know you’ll just spend your entire time worrying about it like you always do. So yeah, coming back full circle-I did it for you.”

That’s when everything I felt prior, my outrage, my shock, my indignation-quickly they all melded into one and formed into this abomination of an emotion called guilt.

See, I always knew Amanda had good intentions in everything she orchestrates. But this time, especially this time, I never thought her motives would be this... this...

Touching.

I was touched.

“I... I...” I stammered. “I don’t even know where to begin with you...”

“Um, let’s see,” She grinned at me. “How about thank you?”

“Why are you just the best girlfriend ever?” I asked, completely and utterly dumbstruck, gazing at her lovely loveable figure as if she was the holy angel of all things good in the world. “How do you keep doing these selfless things? With no benefit to yourself-”

“No benefit?” Amanda cocked a brow, her grin turning to a sly smile. “I’d say your undying gratitude is the best thing I could ever reap from this. But then there’s also your attention. The sooner you stop thinking about Ash, the sooner you can start thinking about me too. What more could I want?”

“Ah, so this really is just a greedy ploy then?”

“You bet,” She affirmed, chuckling. “Just one big convoluted plan to manipulate and garner your affections all to myself! What do you say? Pretty dastardly, right?”

“Even if it is,” I reached out, giving her a light tender stroke on the cheek. “I don’t think I can love you any more than I do right now.”

“W-Well,” She stammered, pleased, flushing a rosy red, and took another sip of her drink to recompose herself. “In any case, don’t shower me with flatteries yet. There’s still a party that needs prepping.”

“Yeah, about that,” I said, frowning. “What’s a party gonna do to sort things over between me and Ash?”

“With good vibes,” She declared with resolve. “Fill this empty house with all the cheer we can muster and she’s bound to come creeping out of her shell. Make enough noise that it just completely drowns out all the gloomy things she’s feeling at the moment. Bring her out of her dark place, you know? Stick up old wounds and all that.”

“Stitch up old-?” I attempted to blink my bewilderment hearing her plan finally being laid out before me. “But doesn’t time heal all wounds?”

“Yeah, and what’s a better way of speeding up that time than with an evening of festivities, huh? C’mon, it’s foolproof! You trust me, right?”

Honestly, I did have my uncertainties about the whole thing. This entire operation hinges on Ash succumbing to the jovial atmosphere in a state where somberness is a constant. I mean, really, after reliving memories like hers, does she really seem like the type to go ahead and party those memories all away right after?

I looked at Amanda, and saw her determined smile, her brown eyes gleaming with bright enthusiasm, and after everything I’ve heard, and after everything I’ve done so far... what does it hurt to go and give this a try?”

“It’s your evil plan, evildoer,” I said, relenting with a bow. “And you can consider me your willing, faithful subordinate eager to do your every bidding.”

She gave a rousing leer at that. “Every bidding, you say?”

“To a reasonable extent,” I quickly added.

“And just what is deemed reasonable to you, may I ask?” She inquired, leering even harder.

“Amanda...”

“Alright, alright, I’m done,” and with one last single swig, she gulped down the rest of her drink, gasping, proclaiming. “Now, it’s party time.”