Wednesday sighed under her breath as she entered yet another busy department store on Oxford Street to the sound of 'All I Want For Christmas Is You'. Tussling her way past the slow crowds, her arms ached from the bags she'd been lugging around all afternoon as she tried to finish her Christmas shopping.

She'd already got Harry, Gemma and Anne's present sorted, as well as her grandparents. Now, she just needed to finish off her mum and Pongo's presents, as well as the secret Santa present between the band (she'd picked out Mitch) and then she could finally call it a day.

Looking down to her list of things to buy, she read what else she needed to get.

"Pyjamas. Gardening gloves. A new iron. Wellies" she whispered as she read each item out, looking up to the signs and seeing which section to go to first.

Deciding on getting the easiest bit out of the way, she went to the nightwear section first, picking up some floral pyjamas she knew her mum would like. Next, she headed to the footwear section, finding a stand full of wellies and grabbing the nicest pair she could find. Making her way downstairs, albeit uneasily with all the bags in her hands, she looked to the outdoor section, scouring for what felt like ages until she found a pair of gardening gloves her mum had requested. Finally, she headed to the homeware section, picking up a new iron for her that she'd mentioned needing.

She breathed out in relief—just Pongo and Mitch left. Finding the pet section, she grinned as she picked up a doggy Christmas calendar, a new squeaky chew toy she knew her mum would love hearing and a ball launcher.

Now, her secret Santa present for Mitch was all that was left. Scowling, she wandered aimlessly through the sections, wondering what she could get him for their limit of £20.

Taking out her phone, she dialled Harry's number. No answer. She sighed as she called Sarah instead, who picked up on the third dial.

"Let's just hypothetically say that if I was Mitch's secret Santa but had no clue what to get him, what would you suggest?" Wednesday asked down the phone after Sarah had said hello, biting her lip.

She knew telling others who she had was against the rules, but as she stood sweaty and stressed up to the eyeballs amongst the frantic Christmas shoppers, she'd begun to really not care.

"Okay," Sarah laughed, understanding the question. "Well then I would tell you, hypothetically, that Mitch loves collecting weird ceramic animals."

"Oh god," Wednesday laughed down the phone. "Right. Thanks for your hypothetical help."

Wednesday looked around once she'd ended the call, wondering where on earth she was going to find a ceramic animal in the store for £20. Deciding it was better to head to another shop, she exited back out into the biting cold, thankful to not be in the stuffy confines of the department store any more. After a few minutes of thinking where she could go, she had a lightbulb moment and headed off to her favourite homeware store, hopeful there would be something there.

As she walked in, apologising to the people she accidentally hit with her ridiculous amount of shopping bags, her eye was caught by the section of new in items. Walking over, her smile grew as spotted it; a ceramic decoration in the shape of a koi fish, painted pink. It had Mitch written all over it and as she checked the price, her smile deepened. £19.50. Just in budget. Paying for it at the till, she walked out feeling tired but victorious, having now thankfully finished her Christmas shopping.

Hailing a cab, she got in and sat down, her arms feeling instantly lighter as she put the bags on the floor. She still felt exhausted from the jetlag and travelling, having only come back just under a week before, and today's long shopping trip hadn't helped. A cup of tea, biscuits and a hoodie were what she needed when she got back to hers. The car pulled up a few houses down and once she'd paid and dragged all of her bags back out, she started walking towards the house, stopping in her tracks when she noticed Patrick a few steps away, also looking like a deer caught in headlights.

"Patrick? What...what are you doing here?" she said, stumbling over her own words and unable to hide the deep crease between her eyebrows.

He shifted on his feet, looking to her guiltily as he produced his hand from behind his back, holding a medium sized bag.

"I was clearing out my bedroom and I, um—I found a few of your things. I couldn't message you or find any way to get through to you so..."

Wednesday had blocked him on everything the day after that meeting.

"I was just going to post it through your letterbox, I swear. I wasn't...I didn't mean for this..." he gestured between them two. "I was trying to do it quickly, so that you wouldn't have to see me."

Wednesday knew he was telling the truth from the way he was stuttering. Clearing her throat, she stepped forward.

"Thanks," she nodded awkwardly, holding out her hand to grab the bag, but it was weighed under by the weight of the other bags.

"Are you..." he began, looking down to her already full hand as he hesitated to hand it over to her.

"I'll be fine," she replied curtly, mustering all the strength in her arm to hold out her hand.

He nodded, stepping forward and passing the bag to her, but not before their fingers grazed. She recoiled slightly, as if she'd been struck by an electric shock and she felt her heart restrict in her chest. Looking up a moment later, he had taken multiple steps back and shoved his hands into his back pockets.

"Right, well. See you later Wednesday," he said tightly, and she returned the forced smile.

"Bye Patrick."

He turned then after one last look at her, hastening off as she took a deep breath, not sure how many more stresses London could throw at her that day. She hated that as she walked to the door, she kept peeking over at Patrick as he walked away, even shooting him one last glance before she stepped inside. Dropping her bags to the ground, she sat on the bottom step of her stairs for a second, letting her body and mind rest.

Why couldn't the taxi have arrived 5 minutes later? Why had he taken a month to find her belongings? Why did she insist on fucking blocking him? She closed her eyes tiredly, listening to nothing but the silence and faint noise of Christmas songs coming from next door. Sitting up, she rolled her eyes and grabbed the bag Patrick had brought, looking inside to see what she'd left at his.

There were a couple of books, her 'She's All That' DVD, an old football t-shirt and a cardigan she'd been wondering about for months. Her breath hitched when she saw the small teddy at the bottom of the bag and she pulled it out hesitantly, staring at the purple fur, the slightly crooked eyes and the heart it held in its hands that said, 'I love you'. She felt water pool in her eyes, but it wasn't from sadness—it was from anger. Anger that it had ended this way, anger that she'd seen him, anger about the whole sorry affair.

Stepping up determinedly, she walked to the kitchen and opened up the bin, throwing the teddy in quickly and letting it shut. She leaned against the counter, letting her anger simmer for a few moments before a horrible feeling of regret started to sink in. Patrick had surprised her with the teddy and flowers when she'd come back for a short 48 hours from the first tour. After that, it had travelled everywhere with her; on the tour bus, in her hotel rooms. He'd become widely known with not just her, but everyone else on the tour too.

Swallowing as panic set in, she stepped back to the bin quickly and pulled it out, a solitary tear running down her cheek as she looked at it. She couldn't get rid of it. Not just yet. And she felt more anger fill her at that fact. It wasn't just the teddy; it was all the memories attached to it. It represented a time in her life that was gone now. The teddy was her one last link to it.

Laughing without humour at how pathetic she was being, she chucked the now slightly smelly teddy into the washing machine before washing her hands and taking her bags upstairs to her bedroom.

She spent the next hour wrapping all the presents carefully, her tongue stuck out between her lips as she sellotaped and decorated each one. As she wrapped the final present, the annoyingly shaped ceramic koi fish, she smiled down at her efforts and wrote the tag messages for each person before sticking them down onto them.

Getting changed into her hoodie and joggers, she traipsed downstairs, in need of food and a cuppa. She put the kettle on and opened the washing machine, seeing that the teddy was clean before putting him back in and choosing the drying setting, watching as he bumbled about inside noisily. The options for her dinner were dismal, as she looked into the fridge at the empty shelves. The joys of a hectic travelling schedule. Grabbing her phone, she blew into her hot tea as she scrolled through her food delivery app, rationalising that she deserved a takeaway after completing all her Christmas shopping today.

Just as she was ready to press order, her doorbell went. Hopping off her seat, she curiously walked to the door, nerves prickling in her stomach that it might be Patrick once again. Opening the door a crack, she peeked around and sighed when she saw Harry smiling down at her confusedly.

"Oh, it's just you," she smiled, opening it up fully and letting him in.

"Charming, what a welcome that is," he responded sarcastically, placing his hat and coat on the rack.

"Sorry, I just didn't know you'd be coming over today," she called over her shoulder, walking back to the kitchen as he followed.

"Thought I'd pop round. Haven't seen you since we came back."

She picked up her phone again as she sat on the stool, looking back down to her order intently.

"What are you doing?" he asked, leaning on the opposite counter with his arms folded as he stared at her with a curious smile.

"Ordering food. Want anything?" she asked, looking up to him.

"No, I'm good thanks. Just ate."

She looked back down to her phone, pressing order before yawning and stretching, rubbing her face.

"Want a cuppa?"

He nodded, yawning himself.

"What've you done today?" he asked, looking down to his buzzing phone before silencing and locking it, shoving it back into his pocket.

"Christmas shopping," she drawled, turning to him with a look of contempt.

He breathed out a laugh. "Your favourite activity in the world."

"I wouldn't hate it as much, if it just wasn't so busy in the centre every time I went."

"Well, I mean, it is London. Would be pretty hard to find a day when it's empty, especially at this time of year," he grinned as she threw away the teabags. "Did you get everything though?"

"Yeah, took most of the afternoon and my feet are aching as a result, but I managed it."

Harry didn't answer and as she turned around holding the mugs, she saw that his eyes were focused on something to the side of her. She followed his eyesight, spotting the teddy swirling around in the dryer.

He looked back to her, remaining silent as he took the mug from her hand and she cleared her throat.

"I, um...Patrick brought it round earlier and, uh..."

"You gave it a wash," Harry finished, looking back to the teddy with a tight smile.

Wednesday sighed, looking down to her mug. "It's a...it's a long story."

He didn't say anything, seemingly waiting for her to explain, his expression much less relaxed than it was a minute ago.

"Patrick came and brought my things round," she explained, biting her lip. "I didn't know he was going to. He was just outside when I showed up."

Harry let out a laugh devoid of any humour.

"Of course he was," he mumbled under his breath.

"Anyway," she explained, shaking her head and ignoring his comment. "That was one of the things in the bag of stuff."

Harry's eyebrows drew together as he shuffled on his feet, looking up to her inquisitively. "Why didn't you just...throw it away?"

"I...I tried to but..." she trailed off, looking down to her feet.

"You couldn't," he replied quietly.

She felt even more pathetic than earlier now. Harry thought she was stupid for keeping it, she could read it on his face. Why couldn't she just leave it in the bin? Why did she have to rake it out and make a fool of herself. Taking a drink from the tea that was still slightly too hot, she swallowed down the lump that had formed in her throat.

Harry sighed, his face softening. "Wednesday, if you want to keep the teddy, keep it. You don't need to explain yourself to me."

She forced a smile at him, nodding in understanding. A silent, slightly awkward air fell between them as they both stood, not sure what to say.

"So," she began, wearing a happier expression. "What have you been doing today?"

He looked up dazed, as if he'd been brought out of a daydream by her words.

"Oh, nothing really. Just work stuff, marketing meetings for the video release on Friday."

The Adore You video was dropping in two days and meticulous planning had gone into the marketing for it, sending the fans into frenzy. Wednesday had loved it instantly when she'd seen the final cut, mentioning to Harry it was her favourite yet. It was tomorrow when he'd be performing it live for the first time, on the Graham Norton show, and she was excited for the world to finally hear it.

"You excited for the release?" she asked, wanting to keep the conversation going and move on from the topic of Patrick.

"Yeah," he nodded, smiling up to her gently. "I want to see people's reactions to it."

"I'm sure they'll love it as much I do."

He smiled at her thankful for the reassurance, before the buzz in his pocket made him reach for his phone again. His eyebrows furrowed as he looked at the notification, catching his lip between his teeth as he took in whatever the message said.

"Everything alright?" Wednesday asked, looking between him and the phone and he quickly looked back up to her, shoving the phone back into his pocket as he took a long, large gulp from the mug.

"Yeah, everything's fine. Actually Wednesday, I might have to get off," he replied, drinking the rest of his mug as she sat back, surprised at how quickly he was leaving.

"Oh, right," she said, clearing her throat as she watched him put the mug down, trying not to sound as disappointed as she was.

"Sorry, today's been hectic," he smiled apologetically before crossing over to her and quickly kissing the top of her head.

She watched him walk down the hall as she sat at the counter, putting on his coat and hat again before quickly waving bye to her and exiting out the door. All that remained of him was the faint smell of his cologne lingering in the air.

"Right then," Wednesday mumbled into the emptiness, slightly sad he'd come and gone as quickly as he had.

Trying not to focus on the fact that she'd assumed he was staying for rest of the evening, she put the mugs in the sink before walking to the living room and planting herself down, searching through the movie channels for something light-hearted to watch. She sighed as one Christmas movie suggestion after another came up, before she finally gave in and settled for Home Alone. Two years ago, she'd have happily claimed December as her favourite month. Nowadays, she felt disillusioned by the whole holiday.

Not long after, her food came, and she spent the rest of the night on the sofa, eating, drinking and looking at her phone for a text that never came.

The next day, she showed up to the short rehearsals before the recording of the Graham Norton show early, bringing a pack of shortbread for everybody that she'd picked up from the shop on the way.

"You're my favourite person, you know that?" Sarah said as soon as Wednesday announced she'd bought them for everybody.

"I'm everyone's favourite," she smiled sarcastically, placing them down on the table and looking around for Harry, seeing that he wasn't there yet.

Mitch and Adam walked over too, grabbing the shortbread as Daisy followed.

Wednesday's eyebrows pulled together as she noticed the dark circles under her eyes and the gauntness of her face. Daisy had always been skinny, but she'd only just noticed today how much extra weight she seemed to have lost.

"You okay?" Wednesday asked gently, smiling at her.

"I'm finem" Daisy smiled back tightly, grabbing a piece of shortbread. "Just a weird week, that's all."

Wednesday didn't push her anymore, sensing she didn't want to talk about whatever was bothering her.

After 10 minutes, Harry walked in and he didn't waste in any time in messing about or speaking before requesting that they start rehearsing.

They ran through the performance multiple times, until it ran like clockwork and eventually got in the car to go to the studios. As they sat silent in the car, Wednesday looked down to her phone, typing out a message.

She watched as Sarah looked down to her phone, seeing the message. Looking up for a split second to Wednesday, she began typing back. A second later, her phone buzzed with a response.

She locked her phone, looking up before pulling a face at Sarah that said, 'I have no fucking clue'.

When they'd arrived and gone through to the dressing room area, Harry greeting everyone with charm and ease like he always did, she saw the opportunity of him getting his makeup done alone to sit beside him.

"Everything okay?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah, why wouldn't it be?" he replied, looking to her with a small but terse smile.

"I don't know. You've said about 3 words all day and that isn't like you."

He looked back to his reflection in the mirror, letting the stylist powder his face.

Wednesday's brows furrowed as she looked down at him. "Have I...have I done anything to make you upset?" she asked, thinking back to yesterday and how fast he'd taken off after seeing the teddy.

His face clouded with confusion as he looked to her quickly, the crease between his eyebrows appearing.

"No, don't be daft. You've not done anything," he replied, shaking his head.

"Okay," she nodded slowly, relief washing over her.

"I'm just...having an off day," he smiled back tightly.

Wednesday nodded in understanding—she'd had enough of them herself to know he probably just needed to be left alone for a bit.

"Well, I don't think you're the only one today," she said gently. "Daisy seemed a bit quiet earlier too."

Harry shifted in the chair, shooting Wednesday a small smile. "Must be something in the air."

She breathed out a laugh, rubbing his arm comfortingly before going back to the clothing rail and picking out her outfit.