Epilogue/Holiday Special

 

  The sun shone in Hanna's face and she rolled over to escape its penetrating blindness. As she rolled over, she collided with the warmth of a person.

  Not just a person, Joey. Her person.

  She pulled herself to Joey, tangling herself in him. He was still asleep, but he pulled Hanna into him as if it were instinct. Hanna smiled, smelling him. His scent was one that would be around her forever. The smell had a small hint of alcohol that wove itself through her senses, with a cologne smell that wrapped around her like a blanket. And finally, a hint of mint. It was the most amazing and comforting smell that she had ever smelled. Even after all of the trauma that she endured, Joey's smell had turned into her comfort. It was comforting the first time she smelled it, and she knew that it would be comforting the last time she smelled it.

She leaned over, checking the alarm clock to see what time it was. It was 10:34. Hanna smiled. She loved sleeping late with Joey because they didn't get to do it very often. Saturday's were her favorite.

Suddenly, Hanna shot out of bed.

It wasn't Saturday, it was Friday! She looked around, frantic. Why wasn't Joey at work? She looked at him. He had today off, that's right. They had talked about him having the day off the night before. She layed back down, snuggling back into Joey. Hanna lay there, still feeling like she was missing something. What was today's date? Why did Joey have today off?

"Joey!" Hanna sat up, shaking him. "Joey, it's Christmas Day! Get up!" She crawled out of bed, almost tripping. Joey groaned.

"Hanna we don't have to be at Chandlers and Mon's until 11." He whined in his morning voice. Hanna would have thought it was cute if she wasn't panicking.

"Joey, it's 10:40." Hanna looked at him as he sprang from the bed.

"What? Oh, shit!" He whined as he dug for pants in his dirty clothes hamper. Hanna tossed him a clean pair that she had cleaned for him because she knew that he would forget to wash a pair. He struggled to get them on as he hopped around the room, trying to gather his clothes. Hanna dug through her drawers, finding the outfit she had planned. It was a pair of white high waisted jeans with a turtleneck sweater and a black belt. She had picked out a white button up for Joey so that he could wear his leather jacket over it. She loved the way he looked in his leather jacket.

She put on her clothes and rushed into the bathroom, Joey was hot on her heels. They both squished in together at the sink to brush their teeth. They were almost done when Hanna had a feeling that Joey would forget to say it today.

"Couples who brush together, stay together!" Joey whisper-yelled, his mouth covered in toothpaste. Hanna smiled at him through the mirror, her mouth also covered in toothpaste. She shoved him in the shoulder. Joey has said that same exact sentence every morning that they had brushed their teeth together. It had become Hanna's favorite part of the day.

"Joey, leave, I have to pee." She said attempting to usher him out of the bathroom.

"I do too, I'll just turn around." He said standing in the corner and covering his eyes. Hanna just laughed a bit to herself. She did her business, and finished up, only catching Joey peeking a few times.

"Your turn." Hanna went to the mirror to try to fix her hair as Joey tried to take care of business.

"I can't do it. I have performance anxiety." He whined. Hanna looked over at him, bored.

"Joey, you literally never have performance anxiety about anything else. Just sing something." Hanna laughed, looking back into the mirror.

"Morning's here! The morning's here! Sunshine is here! The sky is clear! The morning's here!" Joey sang dramatically. Hanna giggled at his song choice.

"You are so dramatic. But I guess you are an actor, after all." Hanna fixed her hair in the mirror while Joey washed his hands and his face. Once he finished drying his hands, Joey came up to Hanna and turned her to face him. He placed his hands directly on her waist, squeezing a bit. Hanna leaned up to kiss him gently while wrapping her arms around him. It was a quick kiss, but very needed. Hanna liked the idea of having a few seconds to just take in Joey. Perhaps she made it more deep than it really was, but she still loved it.

Joey stole one more kiss before leaving the bathroom to finish putting on his clothes.

"Joey don't forget to do your hair again!" Hanna reminded him, recalling the time he left for an acting gig and forgot to do his hair before leaving the apartment. He showed up to the gig looking like he had stuck a fork in an outlet.

"Hanna, did you go pick up Chandler, Mon, Ross, and Phoebe's gifts from me?" Joey yelled from his room. Hanna furrowed her brows.

"Um, no. I got their gifts from me, but not you." Hanna frowned in the mirror. Had Joey even told her to get their gifts?

  "Hanna! I don't have any gifts for anybody!" Hanna peeled her head out of the bathroom to peer at Joey. He was being serious.

  "Joey, you didn't tell me to get their gifts, did you?" Hanna smiled. Joey just shook his head.

  "Um...maybe I forgot to mention it." He scratched his head, looking stupidly cute. Hanna couldn't help but laugh, putting a hand on her hip. "Oh come on, you love me, Hanna." He shuffled over to her in his socks, leaning in for a kiss.

  "No, mister. I'm angry with you." She laughed as Joey kissed her face over and over. "Joey!"

  "Say you're not mad anymore!" Joey squeezed his hands, threatening to tickle her. Hanna squealed, attempting to wriggle out of his grasp but his hands held her firmly. "Please?" He pouted, but his hands still squeezed her ribs, starting to tickle her.

  "Joey!" Hanna laughed, squirming within his hands. "Joey!" she breathed again.

  "Are you mad?" He asked, still tickled her.

  "No! Aha Joey I'm not mad!" His hands released her waist. Hanna took a deep breath, looking up at him. She shoved him playfully. Joey lifted his hands and placed them on the sides of her face.

  "I'm sorry Hanna. I don't know why I forgot to get their gifts. I guess it just doesn't feel like Christmas." He whispered.

   "It's okay Joey, my gifts can be from the both of us. We are a couple after all." Hanna placed her hand over Joey's.

  "Couple is such a weird word. I haven't used that very often. Maybe being a couple isn't so bad." He smiled.

  "Oh whatever. You love loving me." She smiled at him, pressing into him.

  "I do." Joey kissed her forehead.

  "Okay, go get ready." She turned around to go back to the bathroom, and Joey smacked her ass. Hanna knew that Joey had been surprisingly mushy for the past few moments. Hanna turned around, pretending to be offended. She scoffed. He just stood there smiling dumbly and looking innocent. "Get ready, Joey!" She yelled, going back into the bathroom.

 

   It was 11:08 and Joey and Hanna opened the door to Chandler and Monica's.

  "Hi guys! What are you doing?" Monica was in the kitchen preparing food.

  "We're here for Christmas!" Joey exclaimed opening his arms.

   "Well, I appreciate your enthusiasm but we're having Christmas dinner tonight. It's 11:00. You still have like 5 hours." Monica laughed. Joey looked at Hanna accusingly.

  "Hanna!" Joey whined.

  "I'm sorry! I thought we were doing lunch." Hanna laughed and smacked her hands on her face. She couldn't believe that she had messed it up.

  "We were going to, but Phoebe and Mike had to go to Mike's friends for lunch."

  "At least I'm not totally crazy." Hanna shook her head. "Oh you know what, Joey? This gives us time to go shopping for gifts for everybody from you." She looked over at Joey. He was about to say something, when Monica spoke first

  "Gifts? Joey you don't have gifts yet?" Monica turned to look at Joey. Joey sucked in his lips and turned towards Hanna, pushing her toward the door.

  "I don't know what you're talking about. Bye Mon, see you later! Love you!" He pushed Hanna out the door and closed it behind him. Hanna and him both looked at eachother and busted out laughing.

  "Let's go grab some gifts and maybe we will make it back in time for a nap." Hanna winked, grabbing Joeys hand and leading him out of the apartment building.

 

   "Okay, Joey. Do we have everything?" Hanna asked, checking the list Joey made. His handwriting was sloppy but Hanna had gotten used to reading it. The curve of his letters and the slanted lines of his writing had become familiar to her.

  "I think so...Wait, let's get picture with Santa!" Joey squealed, looking over Hanna's shoulder. Hanna looked up to see a long line. She followed the line to see Santa sitting in his chair.

  "Joey that line is really long." She mumbled, looking down the line.

  "It's not as long as it looks, I bet." He smiled, his eyes alight.

   Hanna thought, "well what the hell?" She beamed at Joey. "Let's go." Joey squealed again, and they ran to join the line. Joey and Hanna waited patiently as the line moved slowly.

  They waited.

  And waited.

  And waited.

  And waited.

    "What time is it, Jo?" Hanna reached for his wrist to look at his watch. It was 4:15. Hanna groaned. They had been waiting for nearly an hour and a half.

  "Do you think we will make it to Monica's in time?" Joey asked tiredly. Hanna cuddled in next to Joey, resting on him.

  "I don't know." She mumbled. They weren't that far from the front of the line, but they weren't close either.

  When they finally reached the front of the line, it was 4:55. Joey and Hanna were too tired to even worry about being late. They sat down next to Santa tiredly. Hanna was on Joeys lap, and Joey sat on the arm of Santa's chair.

  "Beautiful couple!" Santa cheered in a jolly tone. Hanna and Joey both murmured their un-understandable thanks and shuffled out of the mall.

  "Joey, we are so late." Hanna whined. She just wanted to sit down. Joey was tired too but he was trying to be the stronger one. He lead Hanna to a coffee shop and ordered her favorite for her. She sat in the corner while he brought her coffee over to her, placing it into her hands. She sipped it, the drink slowly bringing her back to life. How was standing in line so exhausting? Both of their legs ached as they sat on a bencn next to eachother silently. They both drank their coffees.

  "We are already gonna be late, might as well just be little bit later." He said flatly. Hanna was staring at her feet, unblinking. She smiled, breaking her gaze and looking over to Joey.

  "Merry Christmas, Joey." She whispered, smiling. He smiled back, leaning over to kiss her. As he leaned over, he knocked his coffee off of the arm of the bench. It fell onto his lap, the lid busted off and of spilled all over him.

  "Ahh! It's hot! Hot. Hot. Ah." Joey launched himself up off the bench, trying to escape the hot coffee soaking through his pants. His clean pants. Hanna tried holding back her laughter.

  "Oh! Joey-" Hanna snorted.

  "It's not funny!" Joey pouted, standing with his legs apart and holding his arms up. Hanna couldn't hold back her laughter.

  "I'm sorry....It's not...funny...I'll go get...I'll get some napkins." She laughed, running to grab the napkins from the counter. She came back to Joey, who was still standing in the same position. She helped him soak up the coffee.

  "I look ridiculous." Joey whined. Hanna looked at him, but his face broke and he started laughing. Hanna laughed too.

  "Its not that bad." She snorted, wiping his shirt.

  "You'll still love me even if I smell like coffee?" Joey asked. Hanna quit wiping his shirt and leaned up to give him a kiss.

  "I love coffee, and I love you. Two of my favorite things all in one? Sounds good to me." She smiled. "Ok you big coffee bean, let's go. Your gifts just won't be wrapped, but that's okay. Wrapping is overrated." Hanna pushed Joey along.

  Joey and Hanna walked into Monica's apartment, greeting everyone.

  "It's about time!" Monica hugged them both. "We saved plenty of food for you, Joey." Monica handed Joey and Hanna their plates.

  They all ate together. They laughed and joked, enjoying Christmas dinner even though the day had beat their butts. Joey placed his hand on Hanna's thigh. Not as a sign of ownership, or to show everyone that they were a couple, it was because Joey loved her. Joey loved everything about her. When they weren't together, he didn't feel like himself. He had never felt like himself more than when he was with her. He placed his hand there because it was how he wanted to convey to her that he was so in love with her in a room full of people.

  "Can you guys believe that the year is almost over?" Rachel asked, clasping her hands together under her chin.

  "Not really, I feel like it went really fast." Ross said.

  "You say that every year." Chandler snorts.

  "I'm ready to start the new year. I love when everyone tries to be better people for like 2 days and then just goes back to being their crappy unevolved selves." Phoebe giggled to herself.

  "What do you guys think is the best thing that happened to you this year?" Monica sat down on the arm of the couch.

  "Ew, Mon! Not the mushy stuff." Rachel wailed, falling back into her chair.

   "I'll go." Hanna volunteered. They all looked at her, a bit surprised. She giggled.

   "Yea, Hanna! Start us off." Monica clapped. Hanna blushed a little bit.

  "The best thing that happened this year is the fact that I started off the year not allowing myself to be loved, fully. And I was convinced that no one would be able to love me the way I need to be loved. And i was convinced that I'd never be able love another person, either. And Im glad that whole mindset has been wrecked." Hanna looked at Joey. He looked like he was going to cry. "I'm glad you were the one to wreck it." She whispered. Hanna expected Joey to squirm from the mushiness. The feelings talk in front of a bunch of people usually made him squirm because of how he wanted everyone to see him as this happy guy who is never serious. But instead of squirming, Joey grabbed Hanna and hugged her. He pulled her onto his lap, burying his face in her neck.

  "Loving you is easy, Hanna"

  "I love you, Joey."

  "I love you."

  Love Is Easy- The Ballroom Thieves.

 

 

  hope you all enjoyed this bonus chapter. i've been getting a lot of new reads lately and i thought i'd give you a little mush to make your insides a little fuzzy. (or make you extremely uncomfortable. one or the other:)

  this past year sucked. i know. but i also have learned so much, and i'm thankful. i hope you all are okay, and take time to love yourself and let yourself be loved.

*NOT EDITED*

  

  "darlin, lovin you is such an easy thing to do  it's such an easy thing to do  so let me do it."