A Hargreeves Christmas Carol | Five Hargreeves/ F Reader | Ch5 Final Chapter!
SUMMARY: Luther is the sort of idiot who goes around with a 'Merry Christmas' and a goofy smile on his lips. In your opinion, he should be roasted with his own turkey and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. Who better to teach you the error of your ways than Luther's brother, the man who holds the power of Christmases Past, Present, and Yet to Come in the palm of his hand?
Info/Announcement Post
Chapter Five (Rated E, 4.9k words)
You awoke on Christmas day with a feeling of unreality. Was any of it real? Was this real?
Yet the bedsheets were your own, the bed was your own, the bedroom was your own. And, as what happened solidified in your mind, you realised that, best and happiest of all, all the time ahead of you was your own.
Time to make amends, time to build some bridges, time to live your life.
Today, you had three things to do. As you jumped in the shower, you imagined each of them with a smile. The first was so simple, the second so overdue, and the last so needed.
The first two could be completed almost immediately so, fresh out of the shower, you immediately set about choosing a nice outfit for the day.
As the wardrobe door creaked open, you smiled again. It was a beautiful wardrobe, big enough for a grown man to hide in before taking you on the trip of a lifetime. For that, you’d love it as long as you lived.
Dressed, you cantered into the living room intent on another piece of furniture. The old bureau had been left virtually untouched since the apartment passed into your name. You laid hands on it, smile trembling with emotion, and felt beneath your palms before you unlocked it.
There it all was: keepsakes and framed photographs stacked or stowed away in inner drawers. Your hand went automatically to the topmost drawer, where you knew you’d find what you were seeking. You remembered carrying it numbly back from the hospital and locking it up tight; locking away the fact she was gone.
You picked up her necklace and held it to the light. The silver encrusted with rhinestones still looked like diamonds to your eyes. It sat on her collarbone, twinkling in the light day after day. The pendant was one snowflake-delicate flower hanging from another, leaf detailing leading off them to form Y shape up each side of the chain.
It was her all over, and you kissed the pendant in your hand.
Your heart fluttered with the small moment of feeling, and then soared as you fastened it around your own neck. It was like a talisman: with its comforting weight against your chest, you could honour the past, live for the present, and look with new eyes towards the future.
The first of your three tasks done, you set about the second, pulling out your phone and sitting down to compose a message to Robbie.
When you rang their doorbell later that morning, intent on your third task, you bounced nervously on the balls of your feet, bottles clinking in the stuffed-full bags by your sides.
Sloane answered, and you faltered, remembering what you heard her say yesterday, but when you looked at her face, she seemed more surprised than anything.
“Happy Christmas,” you said, smiling a little awkwardly.
She returned your greeting with a slightly cold smile.
“Is Luther in?” you asked, “He invited me today, but I was pretty rude to him so…”
You tailed off, and her expression softened slightly.
“I brought booze.” you joked tentatively, “A peace offering.”
“Come in, it’s cold out there. He’s in the kitchen.”
“Cooking since five AM I bet?”
She gave a surprised chuckle.
“Yes actually. They’re been working their asses off. Just let me go get him.”
You gave her brief thumbs up and she walked briskly towards the kitchen.
You looked around affectionately at the Academy’s entrance hall. Far from being intimidating, it now felt like an old friend.
Only a few seconds later, hurried footsteps announced Luther’s arrival.
“You came!” he cheered, bounding towards you.
He was wearing an expression of pure, unbridled joy on his face and a comically tiny apron embroidered with poinsettias and adorned with frills. You held out your arms and hugged him.
“Happy Holidays. I’m so sorry about yesterday,” you said fervently, “I was such an asshole.”
“Forget it,” Luther replied, sounding as if life could afford no greater promise for the day than to have you here, “water under the bridge.”
“I don’t deserve you.” you said, hugging him harder, “Thank you so much for putting up with me.”
“I don’t put up with you, I like you.”
When you broke apart, you briefly hugged Sloane too.
“You’ll stay all day, right?” she asked, “And sleep over. We have so many spare rooms.”
Apparently her dislike of you wasn’t so deep that a decent apology couldn’t undo it all, and you were glad for that fact. You knew from Luther that Sloane was his perfect match, and you hoped to find a friend in her too.
“If you’ll have me, I’d love to stay.”
“Gladly,” said Five’s voice.
You broke apart from Sloane to find Five standing in the doorway, clad in his own frilly apron tied over his new sweater and drying his hands on a dishtowel.
Though you said goodbye to him only a few hours ago, it felt like much longer. You felt renewed, joyful, and invigorated, and with it came a new perspective. Every person was a fellow passenger onwards through time, but only you and Five were united in having seen the destination and decided to change it.
Luther and Sloane exchanged a significant look as you and Five moved towards each other.
“Happy Christmas,” you said.
The consciousness of what passed the previous night crackled between you, and you exchanged conscious, conspiratorial smiles.
“Happy Christmas.” he replied, tucking the distowel in his apron pocket, “Nice necklace.”
He gave a self conscious smile, and his arms gave a strange sort of twitch outwards, hands hovering uncertainly at his sides as if he wasn’t sure what to do with them.
You took pity on him and hugged him, which he gladly returned.
So far, most of your touches had been unconscious, unconsidered, or instinctive. This time, you made a conscious decision to kiss him on the cheek. It was platonic enough, but that didn’t stop Five’s grip almost imperceptibly tightening around your upper arm as shivers ran down his spine.
The four of you entered the living room, where you were finally introduced to the people you’d seen last night. Viktor and his girlfriend Annabelle, visiting for Christmas for the first time; Klaus all smiles in his sequins; and Lila and Diego, joined at the hip.
“You’ve been cooking with him?” you said to Five in an undertone the moment you got an opportunity, “That’s sweet.”
One corner of Five’s mouth rose in his lopsided smile.
“He’s a surprisingly good cook, actually. Taught me a thing or two.”
“What are you two whispering about?” asked Lila, honing in on an interesting dynamic with the precision of a sniper.
Five turned to her with the air of a father holding his patience with a bratty child.
“Just making a pact to grin and bear it when one of you idiots inevitably suggests Charades after dinner.”
“Ooh! Charades!” Lila said, boisterously, “Yeah, great idea!”
“Uh. Charades?” grumbled Diego.
“Shut up, Diego,” she scolded, slapping him on the arm, “don’t be a killjoy.”
The day progressed as most family Christmases do: there was Christmas meal in which the potatoes were slightly overcooked (Five’s fault), little squabbles breaking out over the gravy, (Diego and Luther’s fault), and one serving platter broken in the production-line of dishwashing (a mortified Annabelle’s fault).
Afterwards you all retired back to the living room and, while Viktor piled up the fire and the family began to chat, someone mentioned drinks.
“I brought some stuff with me from Maggie’s,” you said, eagerly, “I thought I could say thank you for inviting me by making a few cocktails, if you’d like that?”
“You sure?” asked Luther, looking at you doubtfully, “I don’t want you to feel like you’re at work.”
“I’d love to actually,” you said, earnestly, “mixology never feels like work to me.”
You caught Five’s eye, but continued speaking as if to Luther.
“And I’m taking a step back in the New Year anyway. I’ve asked Robbie to manage the place for me.”
“Really?” Sloane asked, surprised, as you went to grab your supplies from the entrance hall.
“Mm-hm,” you said, re-entering the room, “It’s long overdue. Robbie’s always wanted to manage, and I need to reevaluate what I want in life.”
“Good for you,” said Five, quietly.
You couldn’t help but look at him then. His approval felt good. Very good.
“I wanted to try out a recipe idea I had.” you said, again deliberately addressing anyone but Five, “Tell me what you think: it’s whisky, cinnamon, maple syrup, egg white, and a dash of lemon.”
You turned to catch Five’s eye as you finished, eyes practically sparkling with mischief:
“I call it the Ebenezer Splooge.”
There was a polite chuckle around the room, and Five’s face worked very hard not to draw attention to himself. There was a blush high on his cheek, and his mouth gave a violent twitch.
“Hence the egg white?” he asked, careful to keep his voice steady.
“You’re a quick learner,” you replied.
Five bit his lip, the line bringing back the memories you’d deliberately evoked; that night back in March when you turned his drunk ass down. It hit something inside him.
Up until last night, he’d been content with masochism: drinking in your little touches whenever he could get them, enjoying the flirting and quietly dying inside every time you so much as poured a drink with that elegant poise of yours.
He couldn’t do it anymore, not when he knew what it was to hold you in his arms, to feel your lips on his skin, to be party to your grief and revelations. It was better to look to love that he could have rather than pining after yours. It felt so near sometimes, yet, whenever he reached for it, it was inaccessible.
The promised game of charades came and went. The booze flowed, and the atmosphere got livelier. It was all a whirl of caterwauled Christmas songs, champagne, and late-night turkey sandwiches.
They were a friendly group, and it felt good to be among them. This was what Christmas was supposed to be, spending time with people who made you feel loved and welcome.
By this stage, all of you had been dancing, and you flopped down on the couch beside Five, a stitch in your side.
“I’m going to have to go to bed,” you said, grinning at him, “Klaus is going to tire me out!”
“He has that effect.” Five remarked, glancing fondly at his brother, “Want me to show you to a guest room?”
You said your goodnights, and when you were both out of earshot in the entrance hall, Luther turned to Sloane:
“I bet you fifty dollars Five doesn’t come back downstairs.”
“It’s about time,” Sloane replied, grinning, “he’s been hung up on her for months.”
“How about you and I go upstairs?” he said, with a sly smile.
“Soon, sugarplum,” she promised, and kissed him gently.
“So you’re taking a step back from Maggie’s?” Five said, as you mounted the stairs together.
“Yeah,” you said, with a gentle smile, “I woke up this morning and I just knew. I don’t want to sell the bar, but I don’t want to spend my life chained to it either.”
“So what’s your plan now?”
“The plan is no plan,” you beamed, “I’m just going to build my bridges, follow my heart, have some fun, and see where it leads. I’ve got some catching up to do.”
Five was silent for a few moments.
“And where’s your heart leading you now?” he asked, uncertainly.
“No idea. I guess we’ll see.”
He stopped and opened a nearby door.
“Does this room work for you?” he asked, casting an eye around to check its suitability.
“Are you in love with me?”
He blinked once at the unexpected question, and then answered without hesitation or preamble, as if he was simply giving you the time.
Your arms, legs and sex tingled with the admission.
This was it. You were done with self denial and done with pushing people away. Five was everything you wanted right now, and you wanted to pull him as close as two people could be.
“Then spend the night with me.”
His mouth fell open, and he let out one or two disbelieving breaths. You took each of his elbows and pulled him closer to you.
“This is…unexpected,” he said, and swallowed.
Your eyes immediately flew appreciatively to his Adam's apple bobbing in his throat, and when you raised your hand to touch his face, you were surprised to see a hard expression there.
“I don’t want to be a one night thing for you.”
“I don’t believe you.” he replied, resentfully, “You just said that your plan is ‘no plan’. You’re just throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks. I’m not going to-”
You silenced him with a kiss, pulling him to you by the collar. It was one you’d been holding back for as long as he had, and when your lips connected with his, you felt your body wanting to melt, permeate his skin and sink into him.
You could taste his last scotch on his lips, you could smell that maddening cologne.
But he took you by the upper arms and pushed you away, firmly.
“Five,” you pleaded, “Five, please. Please.”
“No. I’m not going to be some experiment for you. I’ve wanted you for too long to just be some no strings fuck. I’m done.”
“Do you know how long I’ve wanted you?” you pleaded, shaking him slightly by the front of his sweater, “Pretty much since you first came into Maggie’s!”
There was a needy, beseeching tone in your voice. It would have embarrassed you before, but now it just felt good to wear your heart on your sleeve. He opened his mouth to object, but you spoke over him:
“I’ve been hiding from my feelings for years: hiding from Grandma dying, hiding from how I feel about you, and I’m done hiding!”
Five looked down at you, at your pleading face.
To think you were literally begging him for sex - the stuff of his wildest fantasies - and he was turning you down.
He bit his lip again and looked up at the ceiling, away from you, and tried to think.
This didn’t help quell your desire, finally released from its bounds after years of repression and cold showers. His neck looked unbelievable, all stretched and arched that way, and it took some restraint not to dive forward and taste his skin.
He let out a little growl of frustration.
“No. I need to know we have a chance at a future!”
The fragile note in his voice broke through your fever. Guiltily, you loosed your hold on his sweater and backed off.
You closed your eyes for a second or two, and then spoke again:
“Okay. I understand. I’m sorry I kissed you like that.”
“It’s fine,” he croaked, sounding far away.
You put a hand on the spare bedroom door frame, signalling your intent to leave him alone.
“I’m going to go to bed, but let’s talk in a few days, okay?”
He nodded, opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it again.
“Maybe we’ll go for dinner?” you added, tentatively, “We can take it slow. You’re worth the wait.”
He flushed at this, and his fingers moved restlessly at his sides.
You gave him an understanding smile, and then, echoing his leavetaking of the previous evening, you took one of his hands, raised it to your lips, and gave two delicate kisses to the backs of those fingers.
“Goodnight,” you said, tenderly, “Thanks for today. And last night. Thanks for everything.”
With that, you retreated into the bedroom.
But before you could close the door, he was over the threshold.
“I won’t last long,” he said, voice low.
And, before you could process what he meant, he kicked the door closed behind him with a bang, pulled his sweater over his head and cast it away from him.
If his voice smoldered, his eyes were aflame; being the object that gaze felt like being scalded by hot honey. It seared your skin.
With a rush from your toes upwards, you threw yourself at him, sending him falling back against the door with another loud bang.
His tongue was in your mouth: plunging, searching, tasting; teeth clashing against yours with the urgency of desire. You moaned into his mouth and sagged, weak with the feel of it, and he grunted in displeasure. His hand came to the back of your head and held you fast, pressing your face harder against his.
Though you initiated the kiss, though it was you pressing him against the door, though it was you begging for this only a few moments prior, it was his passion that won out, leaving you wilting in his arms, eyes helplessly closed.
At last he came up for air, loosening his hold on you and breathing hard.
He looked too full of lust for words, eyes were darting all over you, teeth exposed. You could relate, your pussy aching like a tuning fork struck too hard.
You dropped immediately to your knees, hands coming up to fumble at his waistband.
He groaned in anticipation, head hitting the door as he slumped back against it, the mere prospect of being sucked almost undoing him.
“You shouldn’t -” he gasped, sounding a little embarrassed, even through the lust-induced haze. “I’ll come. It’s been a long time, I’m already-”
But he gasped again when you took him, hard and heavy, into your hand. It was clear that he hadn’t been exaggerating; his white underwear and pink cockhead were already moist with leaked arousal.
His cock was thick, uncut, and long enough to exceed your grip by half. His shaft was curved and sculptural like his forearms; veins standing out attractively. It twitched invitingly in your hand and, as a little more precome dripped from the slit, you felt yourself gush into your panties.
“I want to taste you,” you said, looking up at him.
“And I want to give you a good time,” he said, fretfully.
“You will.” you smirked, lips an inch away from his tip.
He answered only with another sound, and when you tasted him, he hissed, and bucked his hips immediately into your mouth.
“I’m sorry,” he whimpered, “it’s hard to control.”
You only smiled and took him back into your mouth, tasting the salt of his arousal, the delicate musk of his cock, and yet drinking in his whines more greedily than either.
He was perfect: sensitive and desperate. He writhed, cursed, tensed, and whimpered: one fist contracting in your hair and the other against the door handle as he fought fiercely against the need to come.
You took pity on him then, content with having had him in your mouth for the few moments he could manage.
“You’re going to kill me,” he said, breathlessly.
“Then eat my pussy and calm down.”
His cock twitched, and he gave another small cry.
“That didn’t help!” he yelped, agonized.
You chuckled mischievously and stood, just he started to unbutton his shirt, kicking the pants and underwear off from around his ankles.
Even this momentary delay to getting some part of your body back on some part of his was too much, and you cast your dress away as roughly as Five had his sweater. Meanwhile, he was wriggling out of his shirt, swearing as his wrists caught in the cuffs. Your fingers shook as you unclasped your bra and, as you struggled, his eyes fed on you.
“Can I take off your panties?” he asked.
No sooner had you answered in the affirmative, finally succeeding in removing the cursed bra, Five was on his own knees, shimmying your panties down your legs, and helping you to step out of them.
“Against the wall,” he growled, cock protruding invitingly between his legs and bobbing with his movement.
No sooner had you obeyed than his mouth was inches away from your pussy, helping one leg up onto his shoulder to give him better access.
He looked at you for a moment, fascinated.
“Holy shit,” he said, awed, “you’re so wet.”
“I’ve been wet since the hallway!” you breathed.
With that same expression of fascination, he dragged a single finger between your labia, from your hole all the way to your clit, collecting your juices, and then put it in his mouth.
He let out a low moan as he sucked his finger clean, one hand darting lower to gently roll his foreskin back and forth.
He looked up at you with a cocky grin at the effect he’d already had on you, the appearance of even more thick fluid evidence enough that you liked what you saw.
He leaned forward, nose less than an inch away from you, and lingered there.
“Please!” you said, desperately.
“Call this payback the Ebenezer Splooge,” he said, playfully.
He took another, momentary pause, and then mused:
“You do sound good when you beg.”
His tongue protruded, his breath hot and torturous against your inflamed, excited pussy… and then he paused there, tongue tip millimeters from your clit.
Just as one of your hands came to urge him forward by means of his hair, he gave your clit two or three experimental licks.
You squeaked, hand finding a grip in his hair anyway, and he dragged his tongue deliberately up and down.
He hummed delightedly against you, and started to eat you out in earnest, kissing your labia, slipping his tongue inside you, and alternating between nudging your clit and sucking on it.
You urged him on, trying hard not to moan too loudly, stroking his thick hair, and trying hard not to surrender too much of your weight to the wall as your supporting leg went weak.
His face wormed its way further between your thighs, and his mouth closed around your clit, lips and tongue at work against you, eating you like a ripe fig; sucking your juices down his throat with a snarling, feral sound.
As it turned out, Five didn’t need to worry about his lack of stamina: he might not last long, but neither did you. With only a few minutes of concerted licking, tongue swiping side to side, he only had to introduce a finger for you to keen, shout, and then come.
You flailed and cursed as the pleasure slammed through you like a wave smashing you against the rocks. It floored you, and then that hot-honey was back, engulfing all your senses in a thick, shimmering molasses haze.
As the feeling subsided, Five slowed his licks, kissing your pussy lips and easing you out of the orgasm with increasingly gentle attentions, mercifully avoiding your over-sensitive clit.
When your breathing was back to normal, you unhooked your leg from his shoulder, and he looked up at you, face wet with your juices.
You didn’t need to answer him, your fucked-out haze of an expression was enough.
He smirked and stood so that you were on a level once more. He kissed you deeply, hands coming to cup and fondle each of your asscheeks and holding you up as you slumped bonelessly against him.
“We need a condom.” you said, breathlessly.
“Right,” he agreed, distractedly, setting you on your feet and bending to locate his wallet from his pants pocket.
“Still in date,” he said, sounding slightly surprised as his trembling fingers located the rubber and opened the package, “I haven’t needed one in a while.”
“You can’t get STDs from the cable porn ladies,” you quipped.
“Shut up,” he smiled, rolling the condom down his shaft and leading you to the bed.
He sat down on its edge and looked up at you.
Ride me,” he said huskily, “I promise I won’t take long.”
Though already exhausted from your orgasm, the need to have him inside you overwhelmed it, and you nodded. He guided you onto his lap facing him, your thighs around his waist and his arms around your own.
As wet as you were, it was still a slow, tight slide down onto his cock. Five buried his head between your breasts with a strangled moan at the sensation, intense even through the condom. When you started to ride him, he was beside himself in no time at all, feet planting on the floor and pushing helplessly up and into you.
It felt good; full and intimate with your arms wrapped around each other, eyes and mouths occasionally locked as you thrust into one another, meeting the other’s body and pushing as deep as you could go.
It was his face that made your nipples harden, the feel of his strong, lithe body between your thighs that made you bite your lip, and his pelvis moving against yours that made you bend to finally taste his neck.
“Fuck,” he said, roughly, “Gonna come already. Been too long - thinking about you - can’t believe we’re - oh sh-iii-t!”
He came with a yell, surging upwards in the grip of his orgasm, head thrashing and arms tightening reflexively around you. His thrusts became disorganised, messy and uncontrolled, eyes screwed up, teeth gnashing against the air, and neck once more arching in that delicious way.
He collapsed onto the bed, panting, and you leaned forward to give him a final kiss before climbing off him and wriggling into bed beside him.
You stroked his hair idly as he came down from the high, regaining his breath and dealing with the condom. For a few moments afterwards, he just stared at the ceiling.
“That was amazing,” you said.
“Yeah,” he replied, distractedly.
“Yes,” he said, sitting up but not turning to face you, “I’m gonna go get cleaned up, but I’ll be back, okay?”
Sitting in his pajamas on his own bed, Five plucked another hair and inserted it into the briefcase on his lap.
He’d get over you. If that really was a quick fuck while you rediscovered yourself, then that would suck, but he could face it and survive. What he couldn’t face was becoming that lonely man with the child-molester mustache.
He had to know that it wasn’t inevitable. Because if that wasn’t inevitable, then it proved that the power really was still in his hands.
And maybe it even proved that he had a chance to make you love him back.
He set the briefcase to the same date as last night, braced through the static of time travel, and then immediately regretted not putting on shoes.
Snow was soaking through his socks.
He was standing in the front yard of a little house, alone on a snowy country road, and a quick glance at the briefcase proved to him that it was the same night as before: Christmas Eve, ten years from the present.
It was different, that was for sure.
He hurried as quickly as possible off the snow and onto its covered doorstep, where the light from the front window drew him to it. With a strange sense of deja vu (shouldn't he be standing beside an azelea?), he looked through.
There was a small but cozy living room, a lit wood fire, a Christmas tree with wrapped gifts beneath, and himself.
He was wearing the same sweater Klaus got him for this Christmas, his socked feet up on the coffee table and a book in his hand, reading contentedly. Instead of the pedo ’stache, he sported only a little scruff around his jaw.
It was all he needed to see, and Five let out a deep sigh of relief.
Alone he might be, but with that many presents beneath the tree, he at least had family coming.
It was almost perfect, he thought, as he set up the briefcase for the return journey.
But then something caught the periphery of his vision.
There you were, entering the room and handing him what had to be a glass of Ebenezer Splooge, garnished with a twist of orange zest.
“Hi,” he whispered, climbing back into the guest bed beside you.
“Hey,” you replied, sleepily, shuffling up beside him and laying your head on his shoulder.
For a few moments, he just enjoyed the warmth from inside and out.
“Thank you for tonight,” he whispered, “that was amazing.”
“It was a long time coming,” you mumbled, “and when we wake up, we’re doing it again.”
“Good,” he said, breathing in the smell of your hair.
His future was all here in the here and now: his family downstairs, you held here in his arms, and his resolution to deserve it all by being good to you all.
And he’d do it too. He’d be better than his word. He’d be as good a friend, as good a brother, and as good a man as he could. Perhaps his siblings might laugh to see the change in him - all loved up and cheerful for once - but he found he didn’t care. His heart sang: and that was quite enough for him.
As he drifted off to sleep, the woman he loved in his arms, he barely heard your sweet voice as it observed:
“Your feet are fucking freezing!”
A/N: Did you think I was ending this without smut? Have you met me? Thank you for all your lovely comments and reblogs throughout this fic and all my others this year. They really do make the difference and constitute roughly 80% of my self esteem. Happy Christmas to all who celebrate, and here's to a better 2025, (slim hope, but bring on the revolution etc etc).
Scrooge and Bob Cratchit, or The Christmas Bowl by John Leech, 1843 in Dickens' A Christmas Carol, first edition (1843).
Dickens' A Christmas Carol full text available here.
Read it! It's a much better than this, and you can see how many lines I stole verbatim or clumsily referenced.
Dividers used in this series by @bernardsbendystraws (garland) and @strangergraphics (lights)
Taglist: @nevbrooke-555, @fiannee, @abeeabee6969, @chalametabingbong, @lolawassad, @icantpickanamefromonefandom @thebearmage @kaybreezy3000, @starlitflora (comment to be added or removed)
I take Five requests, I'm fairly versatile in what I write (fluff, smut, angst, psychological character study- I'll try it all) but I will consider them on a case by case basis. See request info + rules for request status and more.
