AN: This chapter was written for the One True Podcast 2013 Christmas Charity Fan Fic Drive. The prompt was "Don and Sloan get snowed in at the newsroom

"I'm going to miss my flight," Sloan groaned as she and Don stepped back on the elevator.

"Considering we couldn't even open the door to get outside, I kind of doubt that there are going to be any planes taking off in the next few days," Don said checking his phone. "I'm not getting any service. You?"

Sloan pulled out her phone and gave it a shot. "Nope."

"So we're really stuck here," Don noted neutrally as the elevator reached their floor. He placed his hand on the small of Sloan's back to guide her into the newsroom as she continued to stubbornly press at the buttons on her phone.

"You're awfully chill about this," she noted.

"Not having to go home for Christmas? I'm not going to complain."

"Don't say that!" Sloan practically shouted. "There are still two more days until Christmas! Things might clear up! There might be flights out before then!"

They headed toward Don's office, and he offered her one of his looks that said, "Really?" as he held the door open for her. She dumped her bags on the floor and plopped down in a chair as Don turned on a light.
"How can you be so okay with not seeing your family for Christmas?" Sloan pouted

"Not everyone has the happy family you have," he responded as he took a seat across from her.

"But you adore your mom."

"And if it was just her, that would be great. But it's also my step dad who hates that I work for a company that, according to him, 'sucks Obama's dick', my brother and his wife, who never stop asking me when I'm going to settle down and get married, and my aunt who never fails to pick a fight with my step dad. Then I have to visit my dad who I have nothing in common with and his 28 year old wife."

Sloan was silent for a moment as she let that sink in. "I'm sorry your family is awful."

Don waved a hand. "Don't worry about it. It's no big deal." He started sifting through his papers to distract himself from how uncomfortable sharing that information made him.

Sloan watched him, wishing she could do something to make everything better for him. Her expression morphed to one of suspicion, though, as she thought things through in her head. "Hey, wait a minute. Did you plan this?"

Dropping the papers, Don raised an eyebrow at Sloan. "Huh?"

"You asked me if I could take a later flight so we could finish working on that segment before the break."

"Yeah?"

"Did you… I don't know, did you check the weather and see we were supposed to get a blizzard like this and ask me to work late on the segment so that you wouldn't have to go home for Christmas?"

"Yeah, I did that, because I'm 13 and this actually an episode of Degrassi."

"Hey, it's not that ridiculous."

"It is, actually."

"No, it's -"

"This blizzard wasn't forecasted. Every single weather report said we were only supposed to get an inch or two. So unless I have some sort of super power to see the future… No. I didn't plan this."

"Okay, okay."

"Besides, if I wanted to sabotage my Christmas, I'd just do it myself. I wouldn't drag other people into it."

"Well…" Sloan trailed off, picking invisible lint off her skirt.

"What?" Don asked, not being able to keep the affectionate smile off her face.

"Maybe you just wanted to spend time with me." She couldn't meet his eyes when she said it, so Don couldn't tell if she was joking or not.

A surprised laugh escaped his mouth. The sound brought Sloan's attention to face, so he could finally see that she was smiling, biting her lip, and blushing. He couldn't help the slight blush that spread over his cheeks as he responded, "Again, not Degrassi."

Sloan let out a soft, somewhat nervous laugh as she looked back down at her hands. "Though I have to admit, the company's not bad," he finished. She didn't look back up at him, but he could see her smile grow.

"Hey, wanna go steal some scotch from Charlie's office?"

"Is the Pope Catholic?" Sloan responded.
—-

Sloan giggled, stretching out on one of the chairs in Charlie's office. "People in the building are way too trusting, not locking their doors."

"Tell me about it. Anyone could just walk in here and steal some this very expensive, very delicious scotch," Don said, pouring more of the liquid into his glass.

"Do you think we'll get in trouble?" Sloan asked, her face suddenly growing worried.

"If he even notices any of it is gone, he'll probably think he drank it himself and was too drunk to remember," he laughed.

"I feel a little bad about it, though. I'm going to get him a new bottle as a late Christmas present."

Don raised an eyebrow. "Do you have any idea how much this stuff costs?"

Nodding, Sloan took another drink. "I invested well this year."
Silence fell between them for several moments before Sloan finally asked, quietly, "You don't think we're going to be stuck here for Christmas, do you?"

"No," he replied. "By tomorrow the streets and sidewalks should be clear enough for us to get to our apartments. We might not get to spend Christmas with our families, but at least we won't be stuck at ACN."
"Hey," Sloan said, her eyelids starting to droop. "Since everyone else was able to get home and we're the only two still in the city, we should spend Christmas together."

Don smiled over at Sloan, who was beginning to fall asleep. "Sounds nice."

"Yeah? You wouldn't mind?"

He leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. "Like I said… I like the company."

END