ship: Chrissy Cunningham/Nancy Wheeler wc: 0.9k A/N: this one was suggested by @heroeddiemunson <3 consider this ball of fluff a gift for putting up with all of the angst I forced you to read in the last year lol
When Nancy first started dating her, she realized that there was more than meets the eye when it came to Chrissy Cunningham. She may have been one of the most popular girls in school, but there was so much about her that she kept safeguarded from the people who saw her everyday.
She loved heavy metal music and would headbang in the car if she wasn't the one driving. She was so quiet in groups, but when it was just the two of them, she had the quickest wit and the best sense of humor. She was deceptively strong from years at the bottom of the pyramid and catching fliers, and she was a fierce competitor in all forms of play fighting which made her easily able to pin her girlfriend and tickle her silly. She had to change the channel whenever there was a sad or hurt animal on the TV because she cried if she thought about animals in pain. She read everything she could get her hands on and hide from her mother, so she could talk about horror and fantasy and historical fiction for hours, and she had a book recommendation for every mood. She was the most fascinating girl that Nancy had ever met.
But the biggest thing that Nancy learned - and perhaps the least surprising thing of all - was that Chrissy loved glitter. She always signed her name in a different colored glitter gel pen because she thought those ones were the prettiest. She had a secret collection of glitter eyeshadows that she kept hidden and only wore to parties when she knew she was going to be sleeping over at someone else's house because her mother told her that only hookers wore glittery makeup. If she had to do a school project that required any sort of visual aid, she was going to include glitter lettering in some way.
“I just think things are the prettiest when they sparkle,” she'd said when Nancy asked her about her affinity for it.
Nancy couldn't deny that Chrissy's eyes popped just a little bit more when she wore her favorite silvery glitter eyeshadow, or that her lips looked extra-kissable when she wore this one specific shimmery pink lip gloss. She wasn't just the most fascinating girl she'd ever met - she was the most beautiful, and maybe that was because she sparkled, too.
So, when it came to choosing a Christmas gift for her, Nancy knew that it had to be something sparkly. That posed its own unique challenge of finding something Chrissy's mother wouldn't notice as a romantic gift from another girl but was still as heartfelt as she wanted it to be. When she arrived at Chrissy's house for their gift exchange, she just hoped she'd been successful.
“Mom! Nancy is here to study!” Chrissy called out as she pulled her girlfriend into the house. “We'll be up in my room if you need us!”
Chrissy practically pulled Nancy up the stairs, racing to get to her room. She knew this was because Chrissy couldn't really relax until they were safe behind her locked bedroom door. So, as soon as that lock clicked into place, Chrissy was placing a quick kiss on her girlfriend's lips before bouncing over to her desk to grab a gift box. She moved to kneel on her bed, sitting back on her ankles, and beamed over at Nancy.
“Someone's eager,” Nancy said as she took off her coat and moved to sit on the bed as well.
“I'm just excited for you to see your gift,” she said with what was maybe the largest smile Nancy had ever seen on her face. “I worked really hard on it.”
Nancy pulled a small wrapped box out of her bag and set it in front of Chrissy.
“You open yours first,” she said.
Chrissy made quick work of opening the package and inside was a pair of small, dangly heart-shaped earrings coated with sparkly red glitter. She immediately pulled them out of the packaging and ran over to her vanity to replace the simple gold hoops she'd been wearing with her gift.
“Maybe they're a little obvious, but I figured you could tell your mom that you bought them when we went to the mall last weekend if she says anything. I saw them and instantly thought of you, so I couldn't pass them up.”
“They're perfect. I love them.”
Chrissy climbed back on the bed and leaned in to kiss her girlfriend before sitting back on her heels again.
“Now, you open yours,” she urged as she slid the box closer to Nancy.
Nancy lifted the lid off of the box, and nestled in the tissue paper inside, she found a simple silver Christmas bauble. The focal point, however, was the heart made out of bright red glitter on the side.
“If anyone asks, you can say it represents the Tin Man because I know he's your favorite,” she said, staring down at her hands. “But I made it special for you. I gave you my heart a while ago, so I wanted you to have a physical representation of what's already yours.”
Nancy set the gift down so she could take Chrissy's hands in her own and give them a small squeeze. Chrissy looked up from their hands to see her girlfriend positively beaming.
“I love that our gifts match,” Nancy told her. “I love that you made your heart sparkle, and I love that your gift was homemade. And, most importantly, I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
As Chrissy leaned in to kiss her again, Nancy noticed a stray bit of craft glitter reflecting the light on her cheek. That was her girlfriend. She sparkled.
