What Happens at Christmas (11 page)

“Bloody hell, I’m knackered. Thank God I’m finally on holiday. But my flight’s tomorrow morning, and the last thing I feel like doing now is packing.” He collapsed beside Sean on the sofa.

“Have you seen the weather forecast?” Sean asked. “Apparently there’s snow coming our way, lots of it. It looks pretty bad.”

“Fuck, really?” Justin sat up and pulled his phone out. “No, I didn’t think to check. We hardly ever get snow before Christmas.”

“Yeah, I saw it on the news at lunchtime. They’re talking about flights being delayed—or even cancelled if the Met Office is right.”

Justin opened his emails and found a message from his mum. He scanned her message, frowning. “They’ve got snow forecast up there too. Mum reckons they might be cut off for a few days if it comes. She says to check with them before I get on the plane, because they might not be able to get out to meet me at the airport even if I
can
still fly up. Bollocks.”

“I’m sorry.” Sean knew Justin had been looking forward to seeing his parents. Used to visiting them more frequently, he must be missing the contact since they’d moved north. “So, I might be stuck with you for Christmas, then?” Sean teased, trying to cheer him up.

“Looks that way.” Justin seemed to perk up at that. “I guess I’ll see what happens with the weather overnight before I make a final decision, but I think I’ll hold off on packing till tomorrow morning. I’ll get up early and see what’s what.”

Sean couldn’t help a flicker of excitement at the prospect of Justin staying here after all. He felt a bit bad hoping that the promised snow would materialise, because he knew Justin would be disappointed not to see his family. Despite what he’d said to Justin, Sean hadn’t been relishing the idea of spending Christmas alone.

The universe came down firmly on Sean’s side. He woke to the sound of the kettle in the kitchen and Justin padding about in his socks.

When he looked at the clock on the TV, it was already half past nine. If Justin was flying out today, he should be on his way to the airport by now.

Sean sat up, yawned, and stretched till his back cracked. He climbed off the sofa bed, dragged a blanket around his shoulders, and went to open the curtains. “Wow!”

The city was covered with a thick white blanket of snow. It was still falling from the slate grey sky in feathery flakes that swirled hypnotically. There looked to be at least four inches already, judging by the tyres of the cars parked in the street below, and the clouds were heavy with more.

Justin came through from the kitchen and joined Sean at the window. “Sorry, I didn’t know you were awake or I’d have made coffee for you too. You can share mine if you want.”

Sean smiled at the giant mug in Justin’s hands. “Looks like you’ve got enough for two anyway.” He looked back out at the white rooftops. He couldn’t remember when he’d last seen snow like this in England. It must’ve been several years, and never before Christmas. “So, you’re not travelling today, then?”

“No.” Justin sighed. “All flights are cancelled. I could go and wait and maybe fly out later today, or tomorrow. But Mum called me earlier, and apparently the roads are terrible up there. They did say they’d try and get to the airport if I could get a flight, but I told them not to risk it. I’m staying.”

“That sucks,” Sean said.

“Charming. I thought you’d be glad of the company.” Justin nudged him.

“You know what I mean, dickhead.” Sean nudged him back. “I know you were looking forward to seeing them.”

“Oi, watch my coffee!” Justin put the mug down on the windowsill where the steam rose, clouding the glass like a warm breath. He met Sean’s gaze and there was a softness to his features that made Sean’s breath catch. “It’s not so bad. I can visit them another time. I’m glad I get to stay here with you.”

“Me too,” Sean said gruffly.

“So.” Justin’s voice turned brisk. “We need a plan. The cupboards are bare, and I don’t know what you were planning to eat for the next few days, but I’m buggered if I’ll eat frozen pizza or Pot Noodle for Christmas dinner. If we’re spending Christmas here, we’re going to do it properly.”

“That’s going to involve me cooking, right?” Sean raised an eyebrow.

Justin’s skills in the kitchen were limited to making wicked coffee and heating things up.

“I think it will go better if you’re in charge. But I’m really good at peeling things.” Justin’s grin was hopeful, and happiness rose in Sean as he started to think about how much fun it would be spending Christmas with him.

“We’ll need decorations too.” Sean sat down on the edge of the sofa bed and picked up a pad of paper and a pen from the coffee table.

“What are you doing?”

“Making a list.”

“Of course you are.” Justin moved to sit beside him, coffee mug in his hands. The bed creaked under the added weight. He leaned in to see, and Sean could smell the scent of his hair. He wanted to turn and bury his nose in it, put an arm around Justin, and pull him close.

Instead he started writing:
Turkey? Or chicken? Potatoes, parsnips, stuffing
—

“We have to have turkey, or it won’t feel like Christmas,” Justin said.

“Turkey crown, then,” Sean suggested. “Unless you want to be eating turkey for the next month.” He put the pen and pad down and took the mug out of Justin’s hands for a sip.

Justin picked up the list and took over the job of writing. “Okay. What else do we need?”

By the time they’d finished, the mug was empty, the shopping list was ridiculously long, and Sean was feeling more excited about Christmas than he had done in years. Maybe since his mum died.

They decided to get all the shopping done that day. There was a supermarket close by where they could get everything they needed.

“What about presents?” Justin said.

They didn’t normally exchange gifts. By unspoken agreement over the years, the most they’d ever done was give each other a card—usually handmade, featuring whichever cartoon or video game characters they were into at the time.

Sean frowned, considering. “It’s Christmas. We need something to open, but can we keep it cheap? I don’t want you to spend much on me.” By the time they’d split the grocery bill, he wouldn’t have much left to play with.

“Okay, how about a ten-quid limit?” Justin suggested, eyes bright with enthusiasm.

“Done.”

Sean was relieved that the grocery shopping didn’t come to as much as he’d expected, thanks to all the Christmas special offers. The decorations were reduced to clear, so they ended up with a metric fuckton of tinsel, some baubles, several sets of fairy lights, and a small fake Christmas tree to set up in the corner of Justin’s lounge.

When Sean got his wallet out at the till to give Justin his contribution to the cost, Justin wouldn’t let Sean pay for half the decorations. “They’re for my flat. Don’t be daft.”

“But they were my idea.”

“I don’t care.” Justin had a stubborn set to his jaw, so Sean gave up arguing.

He did a quick mental calculation as he pulled some cash out of his wallet.

“Well, this is for my half of the food, then.”

“It’s okay. Pay me when you get a job,” Justin said, looking doubtful. “There’s no rush.”

“It’s fine. Take it.” Sean shoved the folded notes into the front pocket of Justin’s jeans, and the backs of his fingers bumped against Justin’s hipbone. Their gazes locked and Justin’s eyes widened, his pupils dark despite the bright supermarket lighting. Sean pulled away and started packing their shopping into carrier bags.

Back at Justin’s flat they unpacked the groceries and then had a quick bite to eat before heading out to buy gifts for each other in the afternoon.

“Let’s split up. Text each other when we’re done, and we can meet for coffee?” Justin suggested.

“Okay.”

Sean wandered the busy shops, hoping inspiration would strike. He had no ideas, but he reckoned he’d find something that would catch his interest if he browsed. There were a thousand different gift ideas on display. He considered books, CDs, mugs, T-shirts with funny slogans, but nothing grabbed him.

Then, walking past the children’s toy section in a department store, he caught sight of the perfect gift— a display of soft toys with every type of animal you could imagine. The ones that caught Sean’s eye were strung along the top of the display. Orangutans, lemurs, and several different types of monkey hung from a fake vine in a variety of positions. Sean went straight for the ones he recognised as gibbons. There was a black one and a golden one, so he chose the golden one because it reminded him of Justin. The price tag said £9.99. It was obviously meant to be.

“Perfect,” he muttered with a grin on his face.

He paid for it, along with a sheet of wrapping paper, and made sure it was well tucked away in the bottom of the carrier bag so that Justin wouldn’t be able to see what it was. Then he texted Justin to let him know he was done.

Justin replied with
Ugh, still looking. Too many things. Meet u back home later instead? All the cafes will be rammed anyway
.

Sure
, Sean replied. He’d had enough of shops for one day. This way he could wrap his gift up before Justin got back.

Snow was still falling as he walked back to the Tube. A gritter lorry roared past, spitting out dirty salt onto the slush where the snow had been churned up by the traffic. More snow was forecast for tonight, and it was supposed to freeze hard too.

Sean was glad they didn’t have to go anywhere for a few days. He’d been blessed with a white Christmas in the company of the person he loved best in the world. It could only be more perfect if Justin loved him back the same way.

Sean gave a wistful sigh. Maybe miracles could happen.

Back at the flat, Sean wrapped his present before Justin came home, and tucked it away in the bottom of his rucksack ready for Christmas.

Justin finally showed up a couple of hours later. He went straight to his room before Sean could catch a glimpse of the bags he was carrying, and then came back and collapsed on the sofa with a sigh.

“Bloody hell, I’m knackered.”

Sean grinned. “All shopped out?”

“Yeah. I’m starving too.”

“Want me to feed you?” Sean asked.

“Yes please.”

Sean cooked pasta for dinner. After they’d eaten, they got sucked into a
Call of Duty
marathon that took up the rest of the evening and went on past midnight. When Sean finally got into bed, he fell asleep almost immediately.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The next morning Justin bounced onto the sofa bed beside Sean. “Wake up!” He prodded Sean’s sleeping form.

Sean raised his head and rubbed his bleary eyes, his dark curls a hot mess and his cheeks flushed with sleep. “Where’s the fire?” he mumbled.

“We’ve got lots to do today,” Justin said. “Fuck, it’s cold. Move over.”

Sean shifted obligingly, and Justin got under the covers beside him and snuggled close, grateful for the heat of Sean’s body as he put an arm around Justin. Dressed only in boxers and a T-shirt, Justin was freezing. The heating took a while to get going in the morning when it was really cold outside.

“What’s the plan?” Sean asked.

“We need to decorate the flat.”

“That won’t take long.”

“But first I want to go and play in the snow. There’s even more today, and we didn’t get to have any fun with it yesterday. We should go to the park and make a snowman, or maybe a snow penis. Oooh, we should totally do that! We could put it on Instagram and see if it goes viral.”

“You’re such a kid.” Sean’s voice was teasing.

Justin poked him in the ribs, meeting firm flesh where Sean’s T-shirt was rucked up. “Adulting is overrated.”

“Shit, your hands are cold.” Sean tried to push him away, but Justin rolled on top of him and shoved his icy hands under Sean’s T-shirt. His skin was warm and the hair on his belly felt good against Justin’s palms.

Sean fought him off, flipping Justin over and pinning his wrists over his head. His knee ended up between Justin’s legs, his thigh pressing down against Justin’s cock. Surrounded by Sean’s sweet, musky scent, with the weight of Sean’s body pinning him to the bed, Justin froze. The heat of arousal combined with embarrassment ripped through him as he felt himself harden against Sean’s hip.

“Um.” Justin squirmed, not sure if he was trying to escape or rub up against that hard, muscled thigh like a randy dog. Maybe a bit of both.

“Oh.”

Sean stared down at him, tangled curls falling into his eyes, his expression suddenly intense as Justin stared back, unable to look away, paralysed by that gaze like a butterfly on a pin.

Sean swallowed, and Justin wanted to lick his throat, to feel the movement under his tongue. He hesitated, trapped by uncertainty. Before he could think of words or actions that might turn this moment into something more, Sean released his wrists.

“Sorry.” He rolled off Justin and lay on his back beside him.

“Morning wood. It happens.” Justin gestured vaguely at his crotch, cheeks still flaming.

“Yeah. Yeah, of course.” Sean scrubbed his hands over his face.

Justin felt the pulse between his legs, his dick throbbing in time to the beat of his heart. He broke the silence before it could get any more awkward. “You want coffee?”

“Please.”

Justin got out of the bed and went to the kitchen without looking back. He needed to get a grip. Sean was his friend, the friend he’d had one amazing night with, but it seemed that was all it was ever going to be. Sean might be moving away soon. Even if he stayed in London, he hadn’t given any real indication that he wanted more than friendship from Justin, and Justin wasn’t brave enough to ask.

They made it to the park a few streets away by about half nine in the morning, early enough that the snow was still relatively unspoilt. A few kids were out with their parents, making snowmen and having snowball fights, but there was still plenty of pristine white snow that hadn’t been marked by footprints yet. It glittered as the pale morning sunshine poured from the blue winter sky.