Oh, my God.

When was I supposed to finish this? Uh, let's see...only about six months ago. Jesus. Well, let's see if I can do this.

--

"Jesus."

I open my eyes in a futile attempt to wake up; God, where the hell was I? There's carpet digging into my side and a pretty boy staring at my face and...

Wait. Double-take.

Ooh, yeah. Pretty, pretty boy. Staring at me. On the carpet. Headache. Wait...wait a minute...it's all coming back to me now...

"Vane?" I say groggily, lifting my head. Ow, I can practically feel where the carpet was stuck to my face.

He chuckles, smiling sleepily at me. I can tell he hasn't been up for long, which is good--no matter how romantic some girls think it is, having someone stare at your face while you sleep is not cute.

Unless it's Vane doing it--no, not even then.

Dammit, I can't even lie to myself anymore. Imagine how well other people are taking my bait.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead," he says, letting his head drop back down on his arm. I yawn and blink hard, finally able to open my eyes all the way.

"Morning," I say, yawning again. Jesus. At least I'm not throwing up; I think I was talking too much last night to drink that much.

Last night...oh my God, last night. When I met the single most beautiful boy I'd ever seen, gotten him almost drunk, and then decided not to make a move. Wow.

I am damn stupid sometimes.

"What time is it?" he asks, arching his back. I don't even notice the cracking of his back--which would normally disgust me--because I'm too focused on that sliver of skin that says hello before he relaxes again.

Uh...how would I know any more than you? You silly, beautiful boy. "Not sure," I reply, rolling onto my stomach before I push myself up. The best way to find out would be to look at the kitchen clock on the microwave...which, unfortunately, was in the kitchen. Damn whoever thought to put it there.

I stick my hand out, unsure if I can actually pull Vane up this early in the morning and being as unbalanced as I was already. He takes it and we both stay upright without any accidents--thank God--and I take his hand again. This time it's to pull him into the kitchen, but I still feel him jolt a little bit. Honestly, I do too; his hands fit well in mine and thank God they're not sweaty or clammy. Just warm and soft.

"Nine-sixteen," I say, marveling at how early it is. I never get up this early, not even on--

Christmas.

Oh, holy fuck, today's Christmas.

"What?" Vane says, raising an eyebrow at me. I turn to him, excitement flooding through my system, eyes wide and what I feel has to be a psychotic grin spreading across my face.

"Today's Christmas!" When he just raises that eyebrow a little higher, I grin and repeat. "Christmas."

"So?" He replies, bobbing his head. "It's just..."

I nod encouragingly as his eyes widen and he laughs. "Christmas...ohmygod!" I let out this little shriek of happiness that makes Vane squeal and we both jump ecstatically in place.

Christmas is one of my very favorite holidays, other than my birthday (the day the world was blessed with my presence) and Halloween. I love the presents and the decorations and the songs and the feelings--not just the happiness, but the camaderie and the sense of belonging that comes with celebrating something as a family.

Today feels different from the other Christmases; maybe it's just because of Vane and Ardina being here. Normally it's just me and Mom, since Dad is usually off gallivanting around with some trashy 'ho, but I don't mind that they're here. Not just because I have someone to spend Christmas with, but..Vane's being here just seems right.

God...that sounded cheesy even in my head.

"We have to go wake them up!" I say, and Vane's face lights up. Without waiting for an answer (which would've undoubtedly been yes anyway) I pull him across the living room and up the stairs. I push him toward the guest bedroom and then stand in front of my mother's, grinning wildly.

Her room is still dark, but I know she won't mind being woken up early. She loves Christmas just as much as I do, honestly; she's like a little kid in a lot of ways.

I launch myself across the short distance from the doorway to her bed and, embarrassingly enough, miss and end up flopping off the edge. But the job is done and she wakes up with a small cry, sitting up in bed.

I pull myself back up, laughing, and tell her, "It's Christmas! Come on, come on, let's go downstairs!"

My mom squeals in delight and I know I sound like a little kid too, but I have to smile at her excitement. It's times like these when I really remember how much I love her, and I lean over and snag a hug from her before as she gets to her feet.

"Love you, mom," I say, feeling a little mushy, but she smiles and hugs me back. "Love you too, Vance. Now let's go downstairs! Are Ardina and Vane up yet?"

"Yeah," I say, following her out of the bedroom. Vane is poised at the top of the stairs, and he looks back at me through a sheen of red hair as my mom goes, giggling, to Ardina's side. Something in his eyes catches mine, and for some reason I can't look away.

He's beautiful, I notice vaguely; of course, with those golden eyes that are pinning me down so intensely right now, and his pretty face and his long figure. But he's pretty on the inside, too; he's kind and he's nice and he's funny and I get the feeling he doesn't kick puppies--the best kind of guy.

God, he's turning me into a sap. But I can't mind when that small smile breaks over his lips as he starts downstairs in that fluid motion he carries himself with. I follow after him, and when he picks the loveseat in the living room to sit on I nudge him over a bit and sit down next to him.

"Good morning, Vance--Merry Christmas, dear!" Aunt Ardina says from behind me, wrapping her arms around my neck. I tilt my head back and smile at her; even if I don't remember her, I really do like her. "Merry Christmas, Aunt Ardina."

My mom, having said good morning to Vane at the same time, hurries over to the sofa. "Well?" She asks, semi-impatiently. "Who's going to go first?"

"Uh, I think I should go first," I say with joking arrogance. Vane elbows me gently, snorting.

"Well, it is ladies first, isn't it," he murmurs sarcastically, glancing at me from the corner of his eye. I roll mine, nudging him back.

"In that case, then, you can both go first," Mom says lightly, grinning when I pretend to be offended. Vane wipes away a mock tear.

"Okay," I say, and topple purposely out of my chair to retrieve two presents--one for me, one for Vane--on my hands and knees. While that wasn't supposed to garner a reaction, by Vane's pink face and our mothers' snickering I could gather it had.

I chuckle and brush his hand in what I hope is an assuring manner as I give him his present. He just shakes his head a bit and accepts the present, shaking the box gently like it'll give him a clue.

It turns out to be a new camera, which Vane 'aww's' over because it's lime green with pink stripes, and immediately he turns it on with the starter batteries in place and snaps a picture of me. I just grin and take a picture of him with my own, almost identical but the stripes on mine are purple instead of pink.

Mom receives a pair of talking slippers next, and Ardina gets a pretty scarf that looks like it suits her perfectly, all yellow and orange and gold and sparkly. They both giggle like little girls and Mom cons me into taking a picture of them together.

This is nice, I reflect as I get up and kneel for a present with Vane's name on it. I pick up one of mine as well, and return to my seat, pressing the package into his hands. We haven't had a real Christmas in forever--not since Dad left.

This thought makes me frown a little, though I'm quick to hide it lest anyone think I was disappointed with something. I glance over to my mother; she seems happy and absorbed in the festivities, and even when she does stop chattering for a moment there's only contentment in her eyes. I smile; I'm proud of her for being able to move on, even if I don't really say anything about it. And if she's happy, then I'm happy.

"Vance, aren't you going to open your present?" Ardina's voice jolts me back into reality and I grin widely, slipping the ribbon off the box before I start pulling at the wrapping paper.

"A new ball? I've been needing one of these for months!"

"Now you'll have something else to play with--"

"Mom!"

"I meant other than on that Xbox you like so much! Jeez, Vance!"

--

"--ah, and the look on her face--"

The sound of Vane's voice fades in and out as I duck under the Christmas tree again, reaching for scraps of glittery paper that are lodged under the tree stand. How they got there, I'm not quite sure, but they're definitely pinned down.

I scoot back, giving up on them, and pull the back of my shirt down from where it's ridden up. I look up at Vane, who's reaching up atop a ladder to pull a ribbon from the Christmas tree. Mom had insisted that she wanted to keep the tree up for a while longer (read: until next March) and she didn't want it defaced. So naturally we were stuck cleaning up bits of wrapping from any and every place that wrapping paper could've ended up in.

"--she looked sort of my Chemistry teacher."

That reminded me of something I'd forgotten to ask so far. "Hey, Vane, where do you go to school?"

"Hmm?" He looked down at me and quirked his lips into a thoughtful pout. "Oh, I go to the IB school out of Harlowe Heights. You know the one?"

Wait.

Wait a minute.

He went to the Harlowe Heights IB?

Oh, my God.

"Vance?"

"Are you serious?" If he was kidding me, I was going to shoot him. But it was possible, seeing as I wasn't superobservant and I didn't run with the smart kids.

"Yeah...I know, I know, I'm a loser. I may not look like it, but hey..." Vane shrugged, half-smiling.

"I go to Harlowe Heights!" I said, grinning. Oh, wow. That meant that technically, we went to the same school. I could actually see him again after today! (It's really sad how excited that made me. It really is.)

"Why have I never seen you around before, then?" He asked, stepping down from the ladder to come stand in front of me like he was looking me over for the first time.

I shrugged. "Why haven't I seen you around before?" Of course I'd never seen him before today; I would definitely remember him if I had. There was no way I'd forget eyes like that. (Or a body like that either, but I'm trying not to get too distracted here.)

"I don't know," he replied. "Maybe it's because we don't have any classes together."

Yeah, that would explain it. Although God must hate me--of course I wouldn't have Vane to drool over (and possibly stalk) during the first half of the school year. But this was definitely a good thing; hell, anything that meant seeing more of him was a good thing.

"Maybe. Oh, wow. That's pretty cool, though," I said, trying not to sound so excited. He leapt back up the ladder, reaching for a shred of wrapping paper.

"Yeah, it is--shit, grab that quick," he gestured to a line of garland he'd brushed from its spot, which I obligingly grabbed before it could come any further undone. I held it back up to him and he looked at it. "Eh...just throw it back up there, I guess. It'll look too neat if I actually put it back."

"Okay..." I said, but did as instructed (all this obeying couldn't be good for me, I'm sure) and threw it back up to where it belonged. Or where it sort of looked like it belonged. Vane nodded in satisfaction and leaned precariously from his perch, surveying the sides of the tree before shimmying back down.

"It looks fine to me," he said, surveying his work. I grinned, surveying something completely different.

"It sure does."

--

Ehh...This isn't my best work ever, but I finally updated. Wow.

Review and the next one will come faster!