FicWad

A/N: Due to the overwhelming school schedule, I can only post one chapter per month, if that. But this story won't die.

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Two days have passed since that morning. Things have slowly gotten back to normal, for some people anyway. Christmas is just around the corner, anyone in Des Moines that hasn’t finished shopping are finishing up (though there have been some people that are doing last minute shopping), and family members from elsewhere are coming home to see their family. Snow is returning, in fact Brenna had to go back inside her home and get her boots, and everyone is seeing each other before they go off to their families when the holiday arrives. Corey is pretty relieved to see his grandmother, mom and sister for the holiday, and having just mailed a Christmas card to his dad and his stepmother (because the man gave the guy a card as well), he returns to the Riverside Apartments.

He tries not to worry about being unemployed right now, since there really isn’t anything he can do to obtain a job right now. This morning he talked to an old neighbor of his grandmother Thelma and asked if he could do something for some cash. Craig assured him that he needed to chill out and wait until January for anyone to call him, so in the meantime, go see his kids and have some good time with them. Besides, Corey still has some money to pay half the rent and utilities for this month, and Craig got a huge raise, so he’ll pay everything until Corey gets back on his feet. Well he had already planned to pick up his children anyway Thursday (so his son Griffin can see Santa again).

His phone rings, and his mind instantly jumps to Jim, but when he picks up the phone to see who’s calling, he sighs when it’s none other than his ex-wife. Jim hasn’t called him lately. He said he was.

“Hey,” he speaks when he puts the phone to his cheek. He’s on his way to the third floor and he sighs when Scarlett asks him about whether he is still coming to pick up Griffin tomorrow. “Not tomorrow,” he replies, “I said /Thursday/.” And when told that is a bit late to see Santa, he mutters, “Well at least I did all the Christmas shopping.” He remembers having Jim join him in Christmas shopping for his kids shortly before that night. Why hasn’t he called?

Anyway, he refrains himself from telling the woman about not having a job. He had decided to wait until after the holiday is over with, to let her know what’s going on with child support. Let everyone enjoy themselves, really. He then asks, “So, are you going to be at home all day then?” When he’s answered with a yes, he nods. “Cool, I’ll see you and Griffin then,” and with a long drawn out sigh, he hangs up the phone. He realizes that he’s at Sid and Jim’s door, and there’s music playing inside. He takes a deep breath and knocks on the door. After a moment, the door is answered by none other than Melissa, who then smiles at the jobless man.

“Corey!” She grins. “I’m so glad you’re here.” Corey peaks into the apartment where the whole group is in either watching television or eating and talking. He smells something good too. However, he really doesn’t want to really hang with them right now. He does have one question to ask, though.

“Is Jim in?” he asks.

Melissa blinks. “No, he’s out right now. He’ll be back later.”

Just as she says this, Sid peaks out and grins at Corey. “Corey! Fucking come in! We were missing you.” He then puts on a puppy dog expression, which only makes Corey stare uninterestingly and raise an eyebrow. “You never hang out with us anymore.”

“Right, and we wanna cheer you up and everything. Shawn’s here, too!”

Corey sighs. “Whatever. Long as you got food and beer.” As the two let Corey in, he asks, “What’s for dinner?”

As Melissa goes to sit by Chris, Sid answers, “I made spaghetti,” he replies.

Corey raises his eyebrow. “Really?”

“Yes.”

Now, because this is Sid, Corey looks more skeptically at him, because sometimes...well...you can never be more careful when some people cooks things. Don’t get me wrong, Sid’s a decent cook, but...

Well anyway, Sid catches on to the look. “Fucking hell, Corey, there’s no weed or any kind of drugs in the spaghetti!” he protests.

Corey backs off with a slightly smug look on his face, before walking over to the kitchen. “Cool.”

Maybe it’s just the Christmas spirit, but everyone of them has watched and loved Christmas movies at some point in their lives, right? Melissa, Shawn, Chris, Craig and Brenna are watching the infamous scene on A Christmas Story where two friends of the main character argue about whether a tongue will stick to a frozen flagpole. Chris just watches this excitedly, because he’s seen this at least ten times, and he tells the others, “This is my favorite part.” Joey and Charlie are sitting at the table, eating. Charlie is trying to watch the movie as well, but Joey keeps to himself for awhile. In fact he hasn’t said much of anything other than having a conversation with Shawn. Mick hasn’t arrived yet and neither has Jim.

Corey has finished fixing his plate and leans forward on the counter, looking over at the television screen. He looks over at everyone and sighs. “Mick ain’t here, either,” he speaks as looks over at the bridge for something to drink. He smiles at a bottle of beer and takes it out before going back over to the counter.

Sid walks over and takes out something from the fridge as well, before he walks over to stand by Corey. He replies with, “Yeah, he’s at his, quote-unquote job, and Jim isn’t here because he’s going out with Cristina.”

Corey slowly stops eating at that, and his facial expression slowly falls at this. He sets his fork down and sighs. “Really?” he simply asks, making it seem more like a statement than a question. Sid nods.

“They’ve been hanging out a lot lately.” Sid suddenly remembers something, and then he looks over the counter for a card. He gives it to Corey and says, “But he wanted to give this to you.”

The latter blinks and gently takes the card from Sid’s hand before the younger man goes to sit next to Brenna. Corey swallows as he tears open the envelope. The card is red with golden text, and it reads, "To a special someone." He opens the card and he nearly blushes at what his tall friend wrote: "Happy Holidays, Corey." Jim had signed his name with a smiley face. It may not have seem such a special card, but then he begins thinking about the way Jim says his name at times, and he read the note again, this time in the man’s voice. He doesn’t even know why he’s blushing either, and he ends up sighing miserably. Why did Jim have to go with Cristina? Maybe he is jealous, but at this point he no longer cares. He agreed to let go what happened between him and Jim that night and pretend it never happened, but when that person tells you he’ll call and doesn’t, finding out later that he’s been with a lady friend, you can’t help but feel a little duped or jealous again. And then you wonder if he wants you around anymore, /as a friend/. To tell you the truth, he kind of feels alone.

A roar of laughter from some of the guys breaks his thoughts. Indeed, one of the little boys in the movie had his tongue stuck on the pole. Chris snickers. “I just love this scene!” Shawn slowly turns to the man, raising an eyebrow at him.

“You’re enjoying this movie a bit too much, aren’t you?” he asks.

“But it’s like, if everyone says that your tongue will get stuck to a frozen pole, /why would you even do it?/”

Craig sighs. “Curiosity.”

“What’s this about tongues and frozen poles?” Corey grins as he sets his plate on the table with Joey and Charlie, before standing behind the couch. He decides not to think about Jim anymore today. It would depress him otherwise.

Shawn smiles. “Glad to have you join us,” he speaks, sitting up some so he can pay attention to the commercials. He’s trying to move on from that debacle of a conversation with Geraldo. At least he does know that the Safari may open again, depending on the inspectors. However, his mind can’t help but jump back to the fact that if Geraldo weren’t such a bastard, they’d all be enjoying their Christmas at the Safari instead of someone’s apartment. “I just don’t think it’s that big of a deal for that scene. No, when that kid met Santa,” Shawn smiles more. “That was a funny scene.”

“Pfft,” is Chris’s response, and Brenna chuckles.

Corey smiles smugly. “Well, I’ve stuck my tongue at a frozen pole lots of times,” he states. Craig simply stares at his roommate’s expression.

“I don’t think that’s anything to be proud of...” he simply responds.

“Yes it is! Nothing better that the feeling that your tongue might get ripped off each time your mom comes to get you out. She used hot water each time. Well, that’s when we were in areas where it snowed anyway.” He then snickers. “I made Barbi do the same thing.”

Melissa rolls his eyes. “I can’t believe you’d make a little girl do that.”

Corey shrugs. “She was being a brat.”

Charlie grins. “I have a question. Has anyone else stuck their tongue at a frozen pole?”

Corey rolls his eyes.

“I think we all have at some point or another,” Chris responds, shrugging.

Brenna smiles and shakes her head. “I didn’t.” She thought that maybe it was okay to visit the group. She certainly had a great time with them that Saturday night, and today she felt lonely again. She does make sure that she spends as much time with her daughter as possible, and if the guys weren’t drinking and stuff she’d have brought the baby over. She becomes worried about her daughter sometimes. Yesterday while driving to the store someone hit her car and she nearly panicked over the baby’s safety. Luckily the woman that hit her not only said she’d pay for the damages, but she ended up taking Brenna and October over for lunch, and she gave the latter her number.

Looking around the apartment, it feels a bit awkward being in it for her, because Paul used to live here, and they used to live in the room where Jim resides in now. No doubt the room is probably different, now. She’s surprised that the apartment is still pretty neat, which causes her to conclude that Jim probably has OCD tendencies as well.

“Well, you’re in a minority,” But then he turns to his girlfriend, who shifts awkwardly. He grins a Melissa, surprised. “Oh no...you actually stuck your tongue at a frozen pole, too?”

Okay, obviously she’s not proud of it, and she simply shrugs. “It was a dare, and these two girls wouldn’t even leave me alone until I did it.” This earns a “loser” comment from Corey, but thankfully Melissa didn’t hear him.

Corey remembers his spaghetti and goes over to the table by Charlie and Joey. Charlie grins at Corey, even though he knows the older man will pretty much brush him off. Joey doesn’t say much of anything. It’s been two days and Sid has already pressured the guy to fix whatever’s going on with Mick so he and Jim could have their apartment back. Joey initially brushed that off, but he knows sooner or later he’ll have to go back to his and Mick’s apartment. Charlie impatiently waits for the commercials to end, and Corey says nothing for awhile as he eats. When he’s half-finished, Corey decides to speak to Joey. “So what’s up? You’re pretty quiet lately.”

Joey glances up at Corey and shrugs. “Nothing that I feel like sharing.” Corey simply rolls his eyes because he knows how Joey is. He’s surprised that the drummer hadn’t told Corey to fuck off. He turns to Charlie, but he decides not to speak to him. He’s afraid that anything the guy says will give him an aneurysm.

Shawn takes a deep sigh and listens to some of his friends talk to each other, and then he looks at his watch. He sighs, it really is getting late. He did promise Chantal he’d be in their house by ten. He supposes that the only good thing that came out of this dilemma is the fact that they both are spending more time together. However their older children miss being able to do what they want. Oh family life. Anyway he stands up and sighs. “It’s been fun. But I gotta get home with the wife,” he says.

Sid looks up and grins. “Are you coming to see us on the New Year’s?”

Shawn shakes his head and replies with, “Probably not, I’d really rather spend the New Year with my family.” He then raises an eyebrow at Sid and continues, “You all should, too.”

Sid shrugs and sits back. “Meh, but I don’t even know if my mom’s coming, know what I mean?” Shawn nods and smiles sympathetically, after all, he’s the first one to know about what the man was going through with his mother. Chris looks up and grins at Melissa before looking at everyone.

“Her son’s coming to stay, and then we’re visiting our parents,” he says, and some of the others wonder why he felt the need to explain this. I mean, this is the fourth time. But hey, he loves his family, girlfriend and potential stepson. Shawn shrugs.

“Okay then,” he replies before heading for the door. “I’ll see you guys sometime. Merry Christmas. Thanks for the dinner, Sid.”

Sid smiles and Melissa grins. “Happy Holidays,” she replies, with everyone pretty much saying the same thing.

Shawn turns to open the door and walks out, right at the same time as Mick walks in. “Hey fuckers,” he speaks to everyone as he sits down, being greeted by everyone else in return. Joey looks up and sighs miserable at his roommate’s presence, and he drops his fork. For some reason, he feels like Mick is watching him at this very moment. However, Mick is eyeing at the television instead. He’ll make a comment about why they’re watching shitty Christmas movies.

Corey sighs. “How’s your ‘job’ Mick?” he calls out, trying to rile him up for some reason.

Mick can only glare at the guy while he sits next to Brenna. He then proudly states, “I’m getting a raise.” Now, the others pretty much stare at him for awhile before most of them shake their head and turn to watch the television again.

Corey can only raise an eyebrow and chuckles, shaking his head. He turns to Charlie and Joey, and he whispers, “Can you fucking believe this guy? ‘A raise’? Pul-lease!”

Unfortunately, Mick has heard that. “You know what, Corey? I did get a raise.” He then continues, “Unlike you, who’s probably going to spend the rest of his life getting unemployed benefits.”

This particular comment angers the hell out of Corey, who really does not need to be reminded of his situation. “You know what? /Fuck off/, Mick!”

Before Corey can say anymore, Sid yells out, “Both of you shut up! We’re trying to have a good pre-Christmas time here. What’s the holiday’s supposed to be about?”

Corey sighs and rests his chin in the palm of his hand. “Presents, Sid,” he mutters sarcastically while Brenna giggles.

Melissa simply stares at Corey and responds, “It’s about peace, Corey.”

“I know what the fuck it’s supposed to be about.”

“You know it’s always about presents anymore because it’s so commercial,” Chris says, leaning back on the couch.

“I’m just sick of people fighting right now,” Sid says angrily. “You lucky I’m cooking for you all. You’re all paying me back for the paper plates.” Some of the others sigh exasperatedly at that last bit. No one’s really going to pay him for the paper plates and plastic forks, anyway.

Mick then notices that some of them are still eating, and feeling pretty hungry (he’s not had time to eat since breakfast), he looks over at Sid and asks, “Where’s the spaghetti?”

Sid sighs and leans against Craig’s shoulder, jerking his thumb behind himself at the kitchen as his eyes are glued to the television. “On the stove, plates are on the counter and beer and soda are in the fridge, help yourself.” Mick rolls his eyes and stands up, thanking the host quite dryly. Joey leans back against the chair and crosses his arms, not really wanting to look at Mick, but he finds himself glaring at him anyway. He really hopes that Mick doesn’t stay here for long, or else he’d have to move back into their apartment. Then this would not a good idea because Mick will probably be back. He knows that he’ll have to face him alone eventually. He just really feels, well, violated right now about what happened.

Not only that but /humiliated/. Joey may have one or two fetishes, but humiliation is not one of them. He can still remember the sounds Mick made when Matthew was going down on him. He shudders and sighs exasperatedly, standing up and walking over to the bathroom.

Mick spots Joey as he opens up the fridge, and he speaks, “Hey, what’s up.”

He’s answered with, “Fuck off,” and a slammed door from Joey. The others notice Joey’s behavior and can only blink for a moment. Mick blinks before he sighs and shakes his head. He was going to apologize to him about what happened, but with Joey avoiding him, how is that even possible. He shrugs it off, then, getting ready to fix his spaghetti.

Brenna sits up and asks, “Is everything okay with Joey, Sid?”

Sid shrugs and shakes his head. “I don’t even know, man.” He turns to Mick and says, “Whatever’s going on between you two, please fix it because I’m tired of him sleeping on my couch.”

Mick sighs exasperatedly and turns around. “I can’t do that when I don’t even fucking see him!” he snaps. He turns back around and mutters, “Jesus!”

Corey raises an eyebrow at this and whispers, “...O/kay/...that was new.” He is now finished with his dinner, and he stands up to put the paper plate and fork in the trashcan. Walking back to take his bottle of beer, he announces, “Well this was good, Sid. I hope I don’t get any hallucinations later.” Sid rolls his eyes at that. “I’m going back to my place, so I’ll see you guys,” he speaks with a smirk before he leaves with his beer.

Melissa shakes her head. “Didn’t even wish us a Merry Christmas,” she mutters.

Chris wraps an arm around her and pulls her close. “Don’t get upset about it baby, he’s just going through some tough times right now.”

She nods, cuddling against her boyfriend. She suddenly remembers something and sits back up. “Oh! I forgot to tell you guys something.” She stands up while everyone looks up at her.

Charlie then asks, “What is it, Missy? Is Chris carrying your child?”

Both her and Chris glare at him for a moment before Melissa sighs. “Well, you know I work at the mall, right? I’m also the head elf. The guy who was playing Santa quit on us, so I need some help finding one for the last couple days. I was wondering if you guys can help me find one?”

Sid blinks and sits up straight again. “Why would he just quit?”

“I don’t even know, something about not getting paid.”

Sid chuckles a little and sits back against the couch again. “Maybe we can get Corey to do that.”

Craig shakes his head. “Forget it, he’s not going to do it.”

“But he’s good with kids. He’s got two!”

“He doesn’t have the right figure, though.”

“He can always put in some pillows.”

Chris smiles and pulls Melissa back to him, having her sit on his lap and wrapping his arms around her from behind. “Wish I could do it. I have to work, though,” he whispers. Melissa smiles sweetly at him and kisses his forehead.

“It’s okay, Chris. I’ll find somebody.” Just then Mick walks over to sit by Brenna again with his dinner and beer. Trying not to think about Joey for right now (he’ll have to talk to him whenever they’re alone. He’s not coming out to any of these people, and talking to Joey about what happened that night with everyone here would do just that. He glances at the television, having not liked /A Christmas Story/, and he rolls his eyes. He’s about to take a bite of his dinner when he just happens to glance at the others. They’re all staring at him.

“Why are you staring at me?” he asks warily. Joey then comes out of the bathroom and looks up at everyone else.

Melissa grins and clasps her hands. “Mick? My friend? My funny porn-watching friend!” Mick can only blink at her. He’s heard the conversation about finding a Santa, and then he glares at her.

“No,” he simply mutters. “No, no /no/!” Melissa sighs exasperatedly as Mick continues, “You’re crazy if you think I’m gonna dress up as fucking Santa!”

Sid laughs his ass off as Craig grins. “It really wouldn’t hurt,” the latter speaks.

Brenna shakes her head and smiles. “It would make a lot of kids happy if you went as Santa for these couple of days.”

“I don’t even fucking like kids!” Mick retorts, glancing back at the television.

“I may even bring October, and she really misses you. She saw a photo of you one day and she kept pointing at it!” Joey looks between Mick and everyone else, and as he leans against the bathroom doorframe, there’s a part of him that really wants to rile him up, humiliate Mick for humiliating him. Nothing like making him do something that he hates—being around children.

“I think you should do it,” Joey speaks as he walks towards everyone else.

Sid blinks at Joey, before he sighs. Mick can only look up at Joey, wondering why he’s talking to him now. “Well, I’m not doing it,” he mutters. He then turns to everyone else and shrugs. “Sorry.”

Melissa sighs. “It’ll only be a couple days.”

“You do realize that I work, right?” Mick mutters, wondering why

“Do it on the days that you work!”

“No!” Mick drops the subject then and glances at the television. Melissa sighs sadly and also glances at the television.

Joey curls his lips for a moment, thinking that maybe this wasn’t a good idea after all and that he’s basically humiliated himself. He realizes that he and Mick can’t be in the same apartment. He sighs angrily, and mutters, “I’m getting something out of my apartment. I’ll be back.” At that, he steps out, making Sid glare at him.

“I don’t want you to come back!” he shouts. He turns to Mick, seriously sick of this. “For the love of god, man.”

Mick sighs miserably and sets his plate down. “Fine,” he mutters, standing up. “I will talk to him, okay? Will that get him out of your apartment?”

“It fucking better!”

“I’m confused,” Chris speaks. Mick shakes his head and walks out, muttering bad words to himself.

Joey swears loudly at the door when he realizes that Mick has locked it and that he forgot his own key. He was about to go back into the apartment when he freezes as Mick walks out and glances at him. Joey doesn’t know what to say, or where to go, and his heart beats somewhat fast. To be honest, he really doesn’t know why he’s acting so weird around the guy, almost afraid. Angry, yes. Scared? He can’t imagine ever being scared of him at all for any reason. He wasn’t even scared of him when they first met, despite the man’s large and intimidating figure. Mick simply sighs and leans against the wall. “I’d have to unlock the door,” he speaks.

Joey shakes his head. “No, nevermind. I’ll just go back to Sid’s.”

Mick sighs exasperatedly. “Sid’s not letting you go back to his apartment,” he’s had to lie. Then again, it is only partial because Sid will probably kick Joey out soon. “What the hell is wrong with you? You say nothing to me for two days, and then you suddenly hide to the restroom, and all of a sudden, you fucking come out and tell me that I should dress as Santa. You know that I hate kids.”

“And you know that I fucking hate being watched like that!” Joey snaps.

Mick simply stares at him, confused. “No I don’t/!” Joey turns away from him with an angry look on his face, and he crosses his arms again. The larger man sighs, running his fingers through his hair out of frustration, and he still doesn’t know why Joey’s /that angry with him that he’s had to stay somewhere else. “Look, I didn’t know that you didn’t like being watched like this, I’m /sorry/! I don’t want this fucking up things between us, all right?” He bites his lip then, and by the look on Joey’s face, he thinks that maybe the shorter man will never get over this. Joey wanted to tell Mick that he’s told him that he didn’t want to give Matthew a blowjob while being watched by the large man. Mick then asks, “Look, what can I do to get this to blow over? To get you to stop being so fucking mad about this?”

Joey sighs, looking over at his boots. He does want to get even with him, that’s for sure. He finally glances at Mick and answers, “Dress up at Santa. I know you hate being around kids, so that’s why I want you to do that.”

The larger man simply stares at him. “You’re kidding me, right?” he simply asks in a low tone.

Joey stares at him with a pretty serious look on his face. “Do I look like I’m joking? It’s going to take me a long time to forgive you. I may do it if you go do this, though.” He almost smirks. He knows that Mick wants this to blow over, so basically the man would have no choice but to go along with this.

But Mick scoffs and crosses his arms, pretty adamant. “Hell no, Joey! I’m not fucking doing this! I know you’re trying to get even with me, but there’s no fucking way I’m doing this. You’re gonna have to give me something else to do because I’m not fucking dressing up as Santa!”

___

“I can’t believe I’m dressing up as Santa,” Mick mutters to himself as he looks down at his white beard. He’s already has on the read suit and everything, and his hair is tied up to the back. It’s two days later at the mall, and he’s taking a break from behind the curtain, and from dealing with the kids. Unfortunately for him, these kids aren’t very nice. From babies crying and being frightened of him as someone takes a picture of him with “Santa” to little girls whining because “Santa” was mean to him, this has got to be the worst job anyone can ever take, in his opinion. As far as he’s concerned, they should all get coal. Melissa comes by and smiles at Mick. She works at Macy’s but has volunteered as the head elf for this occasion. She doesn’t know why Mick finally decided to do it (Joey told him to fuck off and he was not going to speak to him until Mick relented), but she’s damn happy about it.

“I’m sorry the last girl called you the F-word,” she says sympathetically.

“She didn’t say, ‘fuck,’ she called me a faggot,” Mick mutters.

“That’s what I meant.” Melissa doesn’t like to say that word at all. “But don’t worry. It’s only for a couple more hours, and you’ll be done. Someone else called and said that he would come by tomorrow, so I’ll spare you.” She grins.

Mick simply stares at her, before he shakes his head. “You’re really in the Christmas mood. It’s almost fucking annoying.”

Melissa sighs at this, and she replies, “I have a son, Mick. I have to be. Maybe if you have a kid one day, you’ll understand. It’s all about making this a happy occasion for the children, and if it makes my son happy, then it brings me joy.” Mick nods at this. He honestly doesn’t really care, but he knows he needs to respect that some people do actual care.

Meanwhile, Cristina is looking over at the tall mannequins and the latest fashions on the display next to the entrance of /Charlotte Russe/. She then looks down at the shoes and sighs, knowing that she’s had enough shoes already. But she can’t help herself; she loves shoes. She sighs and turns around to look for Jim. The tall man just got done talking to a sales clerk about his phone, and he spots Cristina looking for him. He smiles gently at his female friend and walks over, and he smirks somewhat as he grasps her shoulders. Cristina blinks, somewhat startled and turned around to look up at him. She lets out a sigh of relief as Jim chuckles. “Don’t do that!” she exclaims, giving him a playful slap and a smile. “I thought I was going to be robbed.”

Jim laughs. “Sorry,” he says as he glances at the mannequins that Cristina was staring at earlier. He shrugs. “Were you about to flip me over or something?” he jokes.

Cristina grins. “I could do that,” she replies, giving him a wink, and Jim smiles back uneasily, making a mental note to not do that ever again. Although Jim is at the mall to ask some questions about why his phone hasn’t been working so well lately, he also wanted to do some window-shopping with Cristina, pretty much just to hang out with her. Both of them have bough presents for some people, and Jim just really needed to get out of the apartment. Sometimes, working at a car shop and then spending the rest of the day at his apartment was almost detrimental for him with everything lately, so he’s done everything from going to the movies to hanging out with Cristina’s friends. The only problem is, he doesn’t really like most of his friends because they kept assuming he and Cristina are dating, and some feel awkward about his height.

“You wanna go anywhere else?” he asks, looking at her.

Cristina curls her lips and looks over from one store to another, glancing at the children lining up to see Santa, and then the FYE. She smiles and replies, “We can go there, if you like,” pointing at FYE. Jim raises an eyebrow at the Santa coming out with the head elf, and he wonders if the head elf is Melissa. But then he shrugs it off and grins at his friend.

“Cool,” he says softly as they both walk over to the store.

Mick sighs miserably and sits on the chair, and he looks up at the children and the parents. He knows he has to pretend to act jolly and say, “Ho-ho-ho!” more than a few times. He looks up at Melissa, who smiles at him, and then he sighs. He takes a deep breath and, “Ho-ho-ho, come around, children!” And then in his normal, bored voice he asks, “Who’s first?” A little girl grins and goes up to sit on Mick’s lap. A little boy with his mother is next, and after that is none other than Corey and his son Griffin. Griffin is quite excited about seeing Santa for the last time before the man goes to get his presents. His older sister Angeline is at the music store, getting her favorite CD from there and will join Corey and the kid soon. Corey squeezes the boy’s shoulders from behind and smiles down at him, but then he takes a closer look at Santa.

Apparently, Santa can’t stand the sleeves, so he had them rolled back, and Corey can plainly see parts of the tattoos on the arms. It doesn’t take him long to realize who that was.

Then he starts laughing his ass off, confusing his son. His loud laugh soon annoys the man in front of him, and Mick and the little girl stare at him. Mick tries to hard not to growl in frustration upon seeing Corey, and the latter stops laughing for a moment and calls out, “Hey, hey Santa Thomson! Did Santa take a coffee break or something?” As he bursts out laughing again, Melissa can only bury her face in the palm of her hand, and Mick has to fight every urge to tell Corey to go fuck himself. This is extremely embarrassing for Mick. He certainly hopes that Joey’s happy, wherever he is.

A woman with a toddler behind Corey can only glare at him. Soon Griffin tugs at his father’s sleeves and says, “Daddy, you have to stop laughing at Santa, or he’s gonna give you a lump of coal!”

The boy’s voice causes Corey to remember that he’s around kids that still believe that Santa exists, and he slowly stops laughing and ruffles his son’s hair. “I’m sorry, kid. I don’t want a lump of coal. Wanna be a good boy for Santa, all right?” Griffin grins at his dad, and he eagerly waits to be called up to speak to Santa.

Melissa guides the boy in front of Griffin to Mick, and after the boy sits on the large man’s lap, Mick asks tiredly, “So, um, what would you like for Christmas?”

“Well I want a PS4 and—”

Corey bursts out laughing again, pretty much angering all the adults around him. “Oh my god, I just can’t stop fucking laughing! Fucking Mick Thomson as Santa!” He then calls out to him, “What the hell possessed you to fucking do this?!” While the parents cover their children’s ears, Mick glares at the guy and Melissa shakes her head, pretty much giving up. If Mick wants to beat the shit out of Corey, though, she’ll let him. After awhile, Griffin was taken to Mick (he seriously recognized Melissa and greeted her very politely). And despite the fact that Mick wanted to strangle Corey, he couldn’t take his anger out on his kid; it’s not Griffin’s fault Corey can be a jackass, and he hopes that Griffins doesn’t grow up to be that. Corey decides to go back out and stand at the back, leaning against the railing as he waits for Griffin to come out.

Jim and Cristina have already left the FYE after the latter bought her CD, and they’re standing in under a wide door in another store. She was showing it to him when Jim’s phone rings. He sighs and rolls his eyes to see what it is, and when he finds out that it’s from none other than Jerry, he rejects the phone call. The last thing he wants is to talk to him. He remembers seeing Corey’s messages, but he can’t really bear to listen to them right now. Cristina glances at him and asks, “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, things are fine,” Jim answers with a smile. A man just happens to walk by when he glances at the two, and then above them. He snickers, and Jim looks over at the guy. He gives him a look, raises an eyebrow at him and asks, “Um, what’s so funny?”

The man answers, “Dude, just look up.” Cristina and Jim both exchange glances before they look up. To their horror was mistletoe hanging down right above them, Jim can only blink and swallow while Cristina blushed heavily. The man continues, “I can’t believe they’re so stupid enough to put shit like that up here.” He shakes his head before he walks out, muttering something about having to buy toys with money that he doesn’t have. Anyway, Jim looks between the mistletoe and the guy leaving; he can’t really look at Cristina. He feels awkward now, having never thought that he would kiss her (well okay he did, but still). Cristina feels just as awkward, and she looks down, fidgeting with her gloves. Jim clears his throat then, feeling a blush appear in his own cheeks.

“Um...you know we can always ignore it,” he says softly, shrugging slightly. Cristina is snapped from her thoughts when she’s told this, and she looks up at her friend for a moment before nodding, somewhat disappointed.

“Yes,” she replies and puts up a fake smile. She turns around to face him and says, “We should go out and eat something,” wrapping her arm around Jim’s before releasing him. She begins to walk over to that direction, thinking that Jim is following.

However, she finds herself being pulled back towards him, and she can only blink as her lips are captured by Jim’s. Although the surprise never wears off, she eventually closes her eyes and returns the kiss. As for Jim, he really doesn’t know how this happened. Somehow he managed to have the balls to grab and kiss her. His heart beats very rapidly, feeling like a fifteen year old nerd receiving his first kiss from a cheerleader. However he’s able to put up a front and look like he’s pretty confident at the whole thing. He ignores the looks he and Cristina are getting from some other people, including two giggling children and an older woman who believes that this is inappropriate at this time of year.

It just so happens that Corey was turning around and leaning against the railing while he waits for his daughter. He did tell her that he and Griffin would be over at this area. He takes a closer look at two people standing under the entrance to one store, and it doesn’t take him long that the man is none other than Jim. Of course, he blinks at the woman the tall man has just stopped kissing, and his heart begins pounding even more. He may have seen this kiss for less than a second, but it brings a reaction no less painful. He immediately turns away, trying to block that awful image out of his head. He keeps mentally telling himself that this is best, that things would’ve been complicated if they ended up together, and then he wonders why he’s even thinking about them being together. He’s been trying to ignore the memory of how Jim’s soft lips felt against his skin, but it’s not like he’s really in love with the guy. And besides, Jim doesn’t want him anyway. He wouldn’t have said that they should forget about what they did in the closet otherwise. But the reason he’s been so upset about the distance that’s come between them is because Jim is his comfort, his crutch, his reason to keep on going when he wants to give up. He may have some physical thoughts about him since that night, but it doesn’t matter. He can get past that, and he can find someone else. But he’s still going through a tough time, and without his friend to listen to him and comfort him, the days just seem like a movie in which one dreadful thing happens after another.

It does frustrate him. Jim’s the one that’s been holding giving him water and new clothes when he barfs on himself. He’s the guy that, when Corey freaked out one day about finding jobs, actually sat through and helped him out with applications and found him a few jobs to consider. He gave Corey hope, and now that hope seems to disappear because Jim doesn’t want anything to do with him anymore. Corey didn’t used to be like this, whenever there were problems, he’d talk about it with the other guys, but he really didn’t let them in, really. He was usually able to get through things himself. He has always done that during the years before he met Jim and after the guy left. His thoughts are broken when he’s tapped on the shoulder. He blinks and turns around, smiling at his teen daughter Angie. He hugs her and grins. “Hey, what’cha got?”

“Dad, I can’t tell you that,” Angie replies. “But I did give you and Griffin something. And no, I’m not saying what it is.”

Corey simply shakes his head and chuckles. “All right, I get the message.” He glances back at the store entrance, but realizes that Jim and Cristina are gone. He sighs before sees Melissa guiding the smiling Griffin out of the line.

She grins and says, “And here you go.” She waves at Angie, who waves back. She turns to Corey and frowns. She’ll refrain from telling him off about Mick until much later.

“Thank you, ma’am!” Griffin beams. Corey smiles at the boy and takes his hand.

Melissa gushes and replies, “You’re welcome dear.” She glances at Corey while she continues, “It’s nice to know that your father does something right.” Like teaching his boy manners.

“Whatever,” Corey mutters. He waves goodbye to Melissa, trying not to laugh at the thought of Mick as Santa, and he and the kids left. He turns to Griffin and asks, “You got a chance to ask Santa what you wanted? He didn’t give you any trouble, did he?”

Griffin raises an eyebrow. “He’s not trouble, Daddy. He’s really gonna give you coal if you keep saying bad things about him.” Corey chuckles and ruffles the boy’s head, while Angie laughs and shakes her head.

“Santa knows I’m playing,” Corey simply replies.
___

Jim sighs and unlocks the door to his and Sid’s apartment, feeling a bit sluggish and cold and more than ready to cover himself in his warm blanket. He peeks into his living room and then the kitchen room and the table. He sighs at the slight mess Sid has made. A plate and cup are on the table, and a blanket is messily sprawled on the couch with the television still on. He knows that Sid is here though, because he hears the shower, so as he shuts the door, Jim hopes that the younger man does something about it. He really wonders how did Paul had to put up with the mess. And it’s not even bad mess; it’s just that Jim gets a bit iffy about it. He takes off his coat and hangs it up before the boots, setting them by the door. He turns off the main light of the apartment, and he turns on the lamp before looking at the clock. It’s only nine-thirty, but he’s still tired, having worked more than he usually did today due to a high demand. And he has to work tomorrow.

He remembers that he hasn’t made his lunch yet, so he walks on to the kitchen and turns on the light, and then he opens the fridge to see what’s available for him. He makes a mental note to go to the grocery store. God, it sucks being so busy at times. It never gives him time for himself, and it’s to the point where he drinks two coffees before he leaves to work because of the lack of sleep he’s been getting lately. Of course the last couple nights have gotten to him in more ways than Corey will ever know. He shuts the fridge and glances at the sink, pulling his lips inward and licks them gently, still able to taste the flavored lip gloss Cristina’s wearing. He figures that the reason why he had the balls to really do that might be either because he wanted to see if he can make it with this woman, or because it was a desperate move to forget about Corey.

But when he did kiss her, he felt nothing, /nothing/. That feeling he has had when he sees her face, when he thinks about it now, never came whenever they hung out. Cristina’s cute, fun to be around, and he makes her laugh, and vice versa. But that’s all. It almost frustrates him that the attraction he’s felt for her seems to be nonexistent. He knows that his mother doesn’t like the woman, but he should’ve had some feelings for her.

But instead, there’s Corey. No, he’s not really in love with him. Fucking hell. He just knew he was going to think about that guy. He swears under his breath, hating that he thinks too much. He can’t help but think about how soft Corey’s skin felt against his lips or the way his friend’s voice penetrated his ears. He thinks about what they could’ve done in that closet had Corey not thrown up and what he could’ve done to the guy to make him scream Jim’s name. He quickly moves away from the sink and opens the fridge again to take a pot of macaroni that Sid made. He slams the fridge and sets the pot harshly on the counter, frustrated at himself. If he starts thinking about Corey’s body anymore, he may have to drag Sid out of the bathroom so he can do his business, and if he starts thinking about their past he’s really going to be upset. He just doesn’t want to think about it. Truth be told, what they had back then did not end well. But Jim does and can only blame himself, not Corey. He wonders if he should’ve known this would happen. It’s just, while he was initially hesitant in renewing their friendship, he felt at peace with the guy, and he loved being around him. He just does not want to jump his bones, because it just doesn’t feel right and it’d ruin their friendship. But it doesn’t feel wrong either. They say there’s nothing wrong in feeling lustful thoughts, as long as they’re just /thoughts/. And besides, Corey was drunk and he really wouldn’t have wanted him. He didn’t want him last time.

Thankfully his thoughts are broken when someone knocks on the door. He frowns, dreading to see Corey, but then he sighs. Maybe it’s Joey trying to see Sid, who’s stopped showering. He exhales shakily, needing a cigarette and walks over to answer the door, hoping that it isn’t Corey. Opening the door, he blinks at what’s before him.

See, two men in suits look up at the tall man, and the shorter of the two men in suits glances at the number of Jim’s and Sid’s apartment on the door. He looks around, pretty uneasily, while the taller of the two simply glances at his shoes and then over Jim’s shoulder. The shorter man clears his throat and speaks then, “Excuse me, we didn’t mean to interrupt you or anything. We were told that James Donald Root lives here.”