Sweet Valley High | Oneshot: The First Noel
Title: The First Noel
Fandom: Sweet Valley High
Universe: Early canon
Genre: Romance
Rating: K+
Word Count: 2,398
Summary: Steven and Tricia share a heady first Christmas together.
Links: DW | FF.net | AO3
My![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandom_stocking gift for ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mkrobinson was a bit of schmoopy Christmas-themed romance for everyone's favorite tragic SVH couple, Steve and Tricia.
I am thisclose to finishing my longer Steve/Tricia piece (seriously, the last chapter is outlined and partially written, which was, of course, the perfect time for my muse to abandon me), so they loomed large in my mind as I worked onfandom_stocking gifts. Since mkrobinson has been supportive of my efforts to finish said story, I thought she would appreciate some more Steve/Tricia, and they looked like my best bet if I was going to write something holiday themed - and thus, this piece was born.
It's a quite simple piece, really: Steve and Tricia are at his house following a whirlwind Christmas Eve date, and each are thinking about the upcoming holiday and what it means, especially now that they have each other. We don't really think of the Wakefields as wealthy, but to someone like Tricia Martin, they are - not just monetarily, but emotionally as well. It's always been said that the Martins live on the bad side of town, and having a father who only seems to drink and a wild child sister who's never around (and is dressed like the town skank when she is) implies that Tricia is probably poorer than dirt, so even middle class stability seems like Fowler/Patman-like riches to her. Steve has the good grace to feel guilty when he realizes that, but Tricia, angelic Tricia, never pushes it. She's wistful, but not jealous; she's careful to dream, but not to let herself fall into the trap said dreams create. She'll never be a part of their world, as she sees it, so she's content to enjoy the glimpses of it that she gets every so often.
It's interesting, working with a character like Tricia, who is so saintly in canon. I tried to preserve that quality but not necessarily play it up; I tried to look at things from her point of view, and how accepting she can be of her situation. What is there for her to be resentful about, after all? Her mother died young from leukemia, it's not like she could help it. Mr. Martin's falling apart (and Betsy's acting out) are reasonable - if cliched - responses to her death. Tricia's strength comes from her own coping mechanism of getting through life the best way she knows how. She probably sees Steven as some sort of reward she never expected or deserved.
Steven caught a lot of hell when he revealed his relationship with Tricia in canon, not the least of which came from Jessica, who couldn't bear the thought of her name being tied to the trashy Martins in any way, shape, or form. Everyone else eventually grows to like Tricia, but Jessica holds out on her until the very end. (You'd think seeing Liz in a coma after the motorcycle accident would've given Jess some compassion, but nope.) I think all of that pressure makes him defensive, but it also adds a rebellious spice to their relationship, and he throws himself into it wholeheartedly.
I can totally see these two confessing their love for each other at Christmas, with all the holiday magic in the air ♥ I can see Steve being stupidly proud of managing to pick out the right gift for Tricia "all by himself," and Tricia's gushing reaction including the three little words he's longed to hear from her ever since deciding himself that he was in love. I think it would be a sweet, beautiful moment, and I can't think of a nicer place for it to happen than in front of a glowing Christmas tree. How's that for schmoopy, LOL?
It was fun throwing in the other little details, like how Mrs. Wakefield probably goes all out with the Christmas decorations because of her job as an interior decorator; how Liz probably helps because she'd be all into that sort of thing, too, and Jess just breezing along spraying flocking on everything as her contribution to the workload :P
It was fun to write some straight up non-angsty romance for the holiday, andmkrobinson seems to have enjoyed it, so yay! Even better was that I had a bit of a breakthrough on the longer, smutty story. *fingers crossed* I can finish it soon!! The notes post for it will probably be just as long as the story itself, LOL.
Fandom: Sweet Valley High
Universe: Early canon
Genre: Romance
Rating: K+
Word Count: 2,398
Summary: Steven and Tricia share a heady first Christmas together.
Links: DW | FF.net | AO3
My
fandom_stocking gift for mkrobinson was a bit of schmoopy Christmas-themed romance for everyone's favorite tragic SVH couple, Steve and Tricia.I am thisclose to finishing my longer Steve/Tricia piece (seriously, the last chapter is outlined and partially written, which was, of course, the perfect time for my muse to abandon me), so they loomed large in my mind as I worked on
fandom_stocking gifts. Since mkrobinson has been supportive of my efforts to finish said story, I thought she would appreciate some more Steve/Tricia, and they looked like my best bet if I was going to write something holiday themed - and thus, this piece was born.It's a quite simple piece, really: Steve and Tricia are at his house following a whirlwind Christmas Eve date, and each are thinking about the upcoming holiday and what it means, especially now that they have each other. We don't really think of the Wakefields as wealthy, but to someone like Tricia Martin, they are - not just monetarily, but emotionally as well. It's always been said that the Martins live on the bad side of town, and having a father who only seems to drink and a wild child sister who's never around (and is dressed like the town skank when she is) implies that Tricia is probably poorer than dirt, so even middle class stability seems like Fowler/Patman-like riches to her. Steve has the good grace to feel guilty when he realizes that, but Tricia, angelic Tricia, never pushes it. She's wistful, but not jealous; she's careful to dream, but not to let herself fall into the trap said dreams create. She'll never be a part of their world, as she sees it, so she's content to enjoy the glimpses of it that she gets every so often.
It's interesting, working with a character like Tricia, who is so saintly in canon. I tried to preserve that quality but not necessarily play it up; I tried to look at things from her point of view, and how accepting she can be of her situation. What is there for her to be resentful about, after all? Her mother died young from leukemia, it's not like she could help it. Mr. Martin's falling apart (and Betsy's acting out) are reasonable - if cliched - responses to her death. Tricia's strength comes from her own coping mechanism of getting through life the best way she knows how. She probably sees Steven as some sort of reward she never expected or deserved.
Steven caught a lot of hell when he revealed his relationship with Tricia in canon, not the least of which came from Jessica, who couldn't bear the thought of her name being tied to the trashy Martins in any way, shape, or form. Everyone else eventually grows to like Tricia, but Jessica holds out on her until the very end. (You'd think seeing Liz in a coma after the motorcycle accident would've given Jess some compassion, but nope.) I think all of that pressure makes him defensive, but it also adds a rebellious spice to their relationship, and he throws himself into it wholeheartedly.
I can totally see these two confessing their love for each other at Christmas, with all the holiday magic in the air ♥ I can see Steve being stupidly proud of managing to pick out the right gift for Tricia "all by himself," and Tricia's gushing reaction including the three little words he's longed to hear from her ever since deciding himself that he was in love. I think it would be a sweet, beautiful moment, and I can't think of a nicer place for it to happen than in front of a glowing Christmas tree. How's that for schmoopy, LOL?
It was fun throwing in the other little details, like how Mrs. Wakefield probably goes all out with the Christmas decorations because of her job as an interior decorator; how Liz probably helps because she'd be all into that sort of thing, too, and Jess just breezing along spraying flocking on everything as her contribution to the workload :P
It was fun to write some straight up non-angsty romance for the holiday, and
mkrobinson seems to have enjoyed it, so yay! Even better was that I had a bit of a breakthrough on the longer, smutty story. *fingers crossed* I can finish it soon!! The notes post for it will probably be just as long as the story itself, LOL.