Dreaming of a White Christmas

Title: Dreaming of a White Christmas
Author: Jet
Fandom: Queer as Folk - Season 1 - Spoilers for the Entire Season
Characters: Brian and Justin
Prompt: Carols

Brian walked into the ballroom of the hotel and scanned the room for hot men. He was slightly late, so the festivities had already started. There were a couple hundred people mingling around the ballroom, which was heavily decorated for Christmas. There were two large Christmas trees on opposite sides of the room, and there were colorful lights, large wreaths, and garish red bows ordaining every wall. Some of the people were dancing to ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ which was blaring from the speakers in the front, some were in line waiting for drinks at the bar or food at the buffet table, and some were sitting at tables eating and talking with friends. Once Brian had made note of the men who were of interest to him, he decided to get down to business.

He was about to step away from the entranceway and go down the stairs to the dance floor when he felt a hand on his arm. He looked down and saw an attractive blond woman with half a martini in her hand. He smiled and said, “Yes?”

She grinned back at him and pointed up, “You’re under the mistletoe.”

Looking up, Brian saw the mistletoe and said, “Guilty as charged.”

“You owe me a kiss.” She said, obviously pleased with herself for having found him.

Playing along, Brian leaned down and gave her a quick kiss. Beaming, she said, “Want to go get a drink?”

“Sorry, I’m spoken for.” Brian often found this the simplest thing to say when trying to get rid of unwanted attention from women.

Frowning slightly she said, “Oh. Oh well, thanks for the kiss.”

As she walked away, Brian looked through the crowd to find his client. He spotted the older man sitting next to his wife at one of the tables. Brian made his way through the crowd, making eye contact and smiling at a couple of potential conquests on his way. Reaching the table, he raised his voice to be heard above the music and said, “Mr. Miller, it’s good to see you again.”

Wayne Miller stood up once he noticed Brian, and held out his hand to shake. “Brian, thank you for coming.”

Brian hated Christmas in general, and hadn’t actually wanted to come, but his boss had made it clear that the party wasn’t optional. After the handshake, Brian looked at the woman sitting next to Wayne’s place at the table. “And this must be your lovely wife.”

Wayne smiled, nodded, and said to his wife, “Judith, this is the young man who wants to take over the advertising for our clothing line.”

Brian shook hands with her as well, and soon they were all talking about some of Brian’s ad ideas for their business.

************************

Justin felt a little twinge of guilt as he closed the door to the house. He’d told Debbie that he was going to go out with Brian, and that he’d probably spend the night at his loft. As he got in the cab, he told himself it wasn’t really a lie. He did plan to spend the night with Brian; Brian just didn’t know about it yet.

Leaning back in his seat Justin envisioned the party in his mind. Yesterday at the diner, Brian had bitched and moaned to everyone within hearing range about having to go to the Christmas party. Justin wanted to surprise him, and could just picture the smile on Brian’s face as they ducked out of the party early to go spend some quality time fucking at the loft.

Soon they were at the hotel, and Justin paid the cab driver. He went to the ballroom and spotted Brian almost immediately. He was sitting at one of the tables and obviously still discussing business with his client. Justin made his way towards the bar biding his time until Brian was done. He looked at the bartender and said, “Scotch and soda.”

The bartender smiled and said, “Lets see some ID kid.”

Justin rolled his eyes and said in his most annoying teenage put upon voice, “It’s for my dad. I wouldn’t drink that crap if someone paid me.” Making a quick scan of the nearby tables, he saw a man and woman sitting together who looked about the right age, and were looking in their general direction. He pointed them out to the bartender and said, “He’s right there.”

The bartender seemed skeptical. Justin waved at the couple, which caught the woman’s attention. He smiled and waved again once he had eye contact with her. She gave a tentative smile and wave back before turning and talking to the man who then also took notice of Justin. Justin smiled and nodded a hello, and the man gave him a short nod back before turning to talk to the woman. Justin turned back to the bartender and said, “So are you going to give me the drink, or do I have to make the old man get up and stumble over here.”

The bartender poured the drink and handed it to Justin. Justin could feel the bartender’s eyes on him as he walked over to the table where the people he’d waved at were sitting. He sat down and set the drink down a little further away from himself then would be normal. He smiled at the woman and said, “Aren’t you Kayla’s mom?”

The woman looked somewhat relieved and smiled, “I’m sorry, you must have me confused with someone else. We don’t have any kids.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, you look a lot like her.” Justin glanced over at the bartender who was helping the next customer and not looking in their direction. Standing, Justin picked up his drink and said, “Enjoy the party.”

He walked towards the buffet table while sipping his drink. He took a couple of crackers with cheese and leaned against a wall while watching Brian. Ten minutes later Brian stood and shook hands with his client. Knowing Brian was close to done; Justin downed the rest of his drink, set it on a nearby table, and waited for his chance to talk to Brian alone.

*****************************************

Pleased with the conversation he’d had with Wayne and Judith, Brian was sure the contract was as good as signed, and he’d set up a time for Wayne to stop by the office before leaving the table. As he walked away he looked around trying to find one of them men he’d spotted earlier in the night, only to find a pair of familiar blue eyes looking back at him. Brian’s automatic response was a warm smile, but he caught himself in time and forced his face into a frown.

Justin smiled up seductively at the frown and said, “Imagine meeting you here.”

Refusing to play the game Brian said, “I’m working. Go home.”

Undaunted Justin said, “You were working, but you’re done. So why not take me home? I’ll let you play Santa.”

Brian had to close his eyes for a second to block out the look Justin was giving him. He refused to admit to himself or to anyone else how much power the eyes of this eighteen-year-old teenager had over him. He refused to admit that Justin’s unexpectedly playful words had sent an immediate jolt to his dick. He refused to admit that spending the night with Justin sounded better then spending the night with any of the other guys he’d seen here at the party. Admitting any of those things would be admitting that he was falling in love, and Brian didn’t do love. He opened his eyes and scowled down at Justin. “I am still working, and I have better things to do with my time then take you home.”

Justin’s smile turned to a pout, “No you don’t.”

Brian was about to steer Justin towards the exit while calling a cab when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Wayne Miller looking at him curiously. “Friend of yours Brian?”

Forcing a smile on his face, Brian turned to Wayne and said, “Not really.”

Getting no further explanation Wayne turned to Justin. Justin smiled and said, “My Uncle’s just pissed because he told me to stay home and I crashed this party. Can’t really blame him though since my mom just dumped me on his doorstep with out warning a few days ago.”

Brian clenched his jaw and said in irritation, “Justin,” hoping that he would get the hint and shut up.

Wayne smiled and clapped Brian on the back and said, “You should have told me your nephew was staying with you. Both of you should stay for a while and enjoy the party. We’re going to sing Christmas carols in just a few minutes.”

Trying hard to keep the sarcasm out of his voice, Brian said, “That does sound like fun, but…”

Justin interrupted, “I love singing carols. Come on Uncle Brian, pleeeeease let’s stay.”

With a tight forced smile and a fake chuckle Brian put an arm around Justin’s shoulders and looked at Wayne. “Well how could I refuse after a plea like that?” Brian said while digging his fingertips into Justin’s shoulder to show him he wasn’t happy.

Looking pleased Wayne said, “The more the merrier!” and headed off towards the front of the ballroom where there was a small stage.

Once Wayne was out of hearing range, Brian turned a furious look Justin’s way. “Uncle Brian?”

Justin wiggled out of Brian’s unfriendly grip, and shrugged with a self-satisfied smile on his face, “Should I have called you my lover instead?”

Brian grabbed Justin’s upper arm and pulled him close to his in his ear, “Listen up you little twat, these stunts you like to pull to get my attention are getting old. We’ll make sure he sees you singing one song, and then you’re taking a cab home to Debbie’s.” Brian pulled a pouting Justin through the crowd to get a spot near the front where Wayne was sure to see them when the caroling started.

While Wayne was onstage trying to get the microphone to work, Justin stood next to Brian and berated himself for going too far. Most of the time he could get what he wanted out of Brian if he worked at it hard enough and long enough, but once in a while his plans backfired and he ended up home alone while Brian took someone else home.

A few minutes later Wayne had gotten the microphone working and was thanking his employees for all their hard work that year, when Justin saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned and saw Brian walking away from him and towards a handsome looking man who was sanding by himself and watching Brian approach with a smile on his face. Justin glared at Brian’s back and thought that he wasn’t going to let Brian just walk away without a fight.

Brian was busy seducing the well built man next to him when the first song started. All around him he heard the crowd singing ‘Deck the Halls’. He talked to the man through the song, and had made arrangements to take the guy home later that night before the song ended. Brian turned back towards Justin for the last few lines of ‘Deck the Halls’, only to see him grinning ear to ear and singing loudly while those around him were looking somewhat concerned. Sighing as he wondered what the kid was up to now, Brian made his way over to Justin.

By the time Brian got to Justin’s side, the crowd had started singing ‘White Christmas’. Once he got there he heard Justin’s voice loud and clear along with the other people around them as he sang:

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the cock tops glisten
So I can lick them
And watch all of them shoot their loads

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
With every thick cock that I blow
May your men be……

Justin was cut off mid sentence as Brian put a hand on the back of his neck and squeezed. He roughly pulled Justin’s ear towards him and said, “Knock it off right now. Grow up, and sing the song right.”

Pleased that he’d gotten Brian’s attention away from the other man, Justin looked up at Brian and said sweetly, “Sing with me and I will.”

Glowering, Brian kept a hand on Justin’s neck, turned towards the stage, and the two of them finished off the song together with the correct lyrics. The instant the song was over, Brian headed the two of them towards the exit. As soon as they were outside of the hotel, Brian got out his cell phone and called a cab company. He gave the pick up instructions and hung up. He glared over at Justin who had his arms crossed and was glaring at the pavement. Brian said, “Go home, I’m tired of your shit tonight. I’m calling Debbie in half an hour to make sure you’re there.”

“Asshole.” Justin tried to put some feeling into the word, but mostly it sounded whiny even to his own ears.

Brian stalked back into the party trying to get himself back in the mood to talk to the attractive man who’s name he couldn’t remember just now.

After five minutes of flirting with what’s his name, Brian was ready to take him home. They were headed towards the exit when Wayne walked up to Brian with a concerned look on his face. Brian’s would be date decided to make himself scarce. Brian said, “Something wrong Mr. Miller?”

Wayne put a hand on Brian’s shoulder and said apologetically, “I’m gonna have to ask you to take your nephew home.”

“I already called him a cab. He’s waiting outside.”

Wayne nodded his head in the direction of the bar, and Brian saw that Justin was in fact not waiting outside. He was instead trying to harass the bartender into serving him, and making a bit of a spectacle of himself.

Shaking his head with disbelief Brian said, “I’m so sorry Mr. Miller. I’ll take him home right now. I hope this doesn’t change your mind about our meeting.”

Wayne smiled at Brian and said, “No need to worry, I have a couple of teenagers myself. You just need to set him down, and let him know his behavior is out of line.”

Scoffing Brian said, “Now why didn’t I think of that.”

Wayne patted his shoulder in consolation and said, “Good luck.”

Sighing Brian headed over to Justin, grabbed him by the arm while he was in mid rant with the bartender and started walking the two of them towards the exit. Justin said, “Hey, I was in the middle of a conversation!”

“And now you’re done.”

Justin rolled his eyes, “Leave me alone.”

“Oh we’re way past that portion of the evening.” Once they were out of the hotel, Brian headed them towards his Jeep.

Justin had trouble keeping the corners of his lips from turning up in a smile of victory. Instead he tried to sound sincere as he said, “Come on Brian, don’t be mad. I just wanted to spend some time with you. It’s gonna be Christmas in a few days.”

Brian was silent as they walked. Justin bit his lower lip while being tugged along, and thought about what Debbie had said. Debbie had told him that Brian wasn’t overly fond of Christmas. She’d told him that it reminded Brian of his family, and that his family had basically sucked. But Justin loved Christmas and wanted to share his happiness with the person he loved.

Once they made it to the Jeep, Brian unlocked the doors, and Justin said, “Take me to your place?”

“No.” Brian got in behind the wheel and waited for Justin. When he didn’t immediately get in too, Brian said, “Get in.”

“Why? You’re just going to take me back to Debbie’s.”

Brian got out of the Jeep and slammed the door. He started pulling Justin to the passenger side, and put him in the Jeep himself as he said, “Damn right I’m taking you back to Debbie’s! How did you see this night ending Justin? You could have wrecked a really important deal for me in there, and for what?”

Justin found himself close to tears of frustration. He refused to look at Brian and looked straight ahead instead. He said, “Never mind. Take me to Debbie’s.”

Brian found himself feeling like a jackass as he walked back to his side of the Jeep. He knew Justin just wanted to spend time with him. He knew Justin was in love, or at least thought he was, and that if he’d just agreed to take Justin home with him in the first place, the night would have been better for the both of them. But he didn’t want to let Justin close to him around Christmas time when his emotions were already on high alert.

Starting the Jeep up, Brian headed towards Debbie’s house. Not wanting the silence of Justin’s sulk to be too overpowering, Brian turned on the radio. Brian and Justin looked at each other as the words of ‘White Christmas’ came out of the speakers. Brian’s lips twitched in a slight smile as he thought about Justin’s earlier rendition. Justin caught the twitch and said with a smile, “It was funny. Admit it.”

“It was a little funny.” Brian conceded.

“It was hilarious, completely inappropriate, and you loved it.”

Brian didn’t comment, and Justin took that as a good sign. He said, “Debbie said you hate Christmas.”

“Debbie has a big mouth.”

“But she doesn’t lie.”

There was a bout of silence, and then Justin said, “Why don’t you take me to your loft, and I’ll show you the best way to celebrate the season.”

Brian didn’t immediately say no this time. He didn’t have anyone else lined up, Justin was there and obviously willing, and in all honesty he’d missed him over the past few days. He made a turn and headed towards his loft instead of Debbie’s house.

Justin’s whole face lit up as Brian turned the Jeep in the other direction. He put a hand on Brian’s upper thigh and moved it towards his groin as he said, “Still want to play Santa?”

“You do have a thing for older men don’t you?”

Laughing out loud Justin said, “Only the hot ones.”

Brian tried to make it playful, but it came out sounding a little too honest when he said, “You’d better be careful what you wish for Sunshine. My guess is that you’re on the naughty list. Playing Santa might end badly for you.”

While working on getting Brian’s pants undone Justin said with a smirk, “I know I’m on the naughty list. Who wants to be nice?” Having said that, Justin leaned his head down and gave Brian a blowjob as they drove the rest of the way to Brian’s loft.
*********

Brian’s mind was busy playing out Santa ideas as he kissed Justin on the way up to the loft. Once inside, he gently pushed Justin away and said, “Strip.”

Justin quickly complied while Brian got a couple of bottles of water out of the refrigerator. He set one bottle on the counter for Justin, and took a drink of his own. Once Justin was naked, he walked towards Brian, but Brian held up a hand to stop him and said, “Wait here.”

Justin watched curiously while Brian went into his bedroom and looked through the drawers. He heard Brian mutter, “Now where did I put those?”

A few drawers later Brian found what he was looking for, grabbed it, and brought it back to Justin. He handed it to Justin who just looked at Brian with confusion. “Pajamas?” Justin noticed the tags and said, “Is this a Christmas gift or something?”

Brian leaned down and kissed the side of Justin’s neck before whispering in his ear, “It was a Christmas gift from my mother last year. I didn’t think I’d ever have a use for them, but if we’re going to play Santa, you need pajamas.”

Justin was already hard, and Brian’s words sent an extra jolt of lust through him. They had screwed often enough, but they’d never actually done any sort of role playing game before, and Justin was more then a little excited by the thought. He ripped the tags off the blue and white striped pajamas, pulled the button down top over his head, and pulled the pants with the elastic waist up over his legs. He looked up at Brian for further instructions.

Leaning down, Brian gave Justin a soft kiss on the lips and then said, “Go get in bed, and close your eyes.”

Hurrying to comply, Justin walked to the bed, got in, and closed his eyes. He heard Brian walking around inside the loft, and impatiently waited for him to come to the bed. A few minutes later Justin opened his eyes and looked around to see where Brian was. Brian was sitting at the counter writing on some paper. Hearing some movement from the bed Brian said without looking up, “If you don’t keep your eyes closed, Santa won’t visit you.”

Justin closed his eyes again, and wondered if Brian was finishing up some work or waiting for him to fall asleep. Soon he heard movement again, and knew Brian was in the bedroom with him.

After what seemed like a very long time to Justin, he finally felt a hand on his shoulder. He opened his eyes and saw Brian had changed clothes. He was wearing black slacks, a red button down shirt with the collar unbuttoned and the sleeves rolled up, and a red fuzzy Santa hat with a white rim and a white ball at the top. Justin noticed that the lights were dim in the loft and that Brian had a black pillowcase slung over his shoulder with something inside it other then a pillow. Justin couldn’t help but smile as he said, “Where in the world did you get that ridiculous hat?”

Smiling back Brian said, “It’s not ridiculous. It’s the only part of my traditional outfit that I’ve kept throughout the years.” He thought that sounded better then the truth which was that Mikey had tossed it at him in a huff two days ago when he refused to join in the Christmas cheer that seemed to surround Michael when he talked about Dr. David.

With a soft chuckle Justin said, “It looks good on you.”

Brian’s countenance became serious as he tapped Justin’s leg and said, “Sit up. We’re going to go over my list.”

Justin sat up, and Brian sat down next to him on the bed, and put the pillowcase on the floor between his feet. Justin noticed that Brian had black biker boots on. He said, “Boots?”

“I have to wear something sturdy to walk through the snow.”

“You really went all out didn’t you?” Justin said both pleased and surprised at the same time.

Brian held out a piece of paper for Justin to see. Written at the top in big letters was ‘Justin Taylor’ and directly under that was the word ‘Naughty’. Justin smiled at that, and then looked at the three items that followed. He lost his smile and his face started to heat up as he read it. He’d expected to read things like ‘Sucked Brian off in the backroom of Babylon 130 times’, but instead the list was real. Once he was done reading it, he found he was somewhat ashamed of the things on the list, and had no idea what to say to Brian. He looked up at the man sitting next to him and said, “Brian I….”

“Shhh.” Brian held a finger up to his lips to indicate that Justin should be quiet. He reached down into the pillowcase and pulled out an unwrapped box. He set it on the bed next to Justin and said, “This is for later. For now I want you to stand up and lay across my lap for a spanking. We’re going to take care of this list so you can start this next year off with a clean slate.”

Justin’s already pink face turned bright red and his voice broke as he said, “S….Spanking?”

Loving the sight of Justin so unsure, but still sitting there and trusting him, Brian caressed Justin’s face with his hand and said, “Were you expecting a gift for your naughty behavior?”

“Well… no… I mean not exactly… but…this isn’t what I had in mind either. Well maybe something like this, but not with this list.”

Leaning down to whisper in Justin’s ear Brian said, “I told you to lay across my lap. I won’t force you, so if you don’t think you deserve it, then we can stop.”

Justin leaned into it as Brian’s warm breath hit his neck. Justin looked at Brian for a second and then stood up. He looked down at Brian’s lap and said, “But… it’s play right? I mean it’s not gonna hurt too much.”

Worried eyes darted over to meet confident ones. “Santa doesn’t reassure or bargain with little boys who’ve been naughty.”

Biting his lower lip, Justin thought about it for a couple more seconds before lowering himself down onto the bed and across Brian’s thighs. Patting Justin’s back, Brian said, “Good boy.”

Brian put the list on the bed in front of Justin’s face and said, “Read number one to Santa please.”

After clearing his throat Justin read, “Lied to Brian about his age and experience when they first met.”

Brian had plenty of experience in both spanking and being spanked for fun, and trusted himself to make it mostly good for Justin. He brought up his hand and slapped it down on Justin’s pajama clad rear hard enough to sting a little, but not to really hurt.

Grunting in surprise at the first swat, Justin quickly settled down and relaxed into it once he realized it was play. He crossed his arms on the bed and rested his head on the crook of his elbow. As the swats warmed him up, he felt himself starting to get hard again now that he wasn’t as nervous about what was going to happen to him.

After twenty swats Brian stopped and said, “Read number two.”

“Manipulates people and vies for Brian’s attention daily, no matter who he may hurt in the process.”

Brian started swatting again and said, “Give me an example of this from tonight.”

“Briaaaaan.” Justin whined, not liking that idea.

Brian swatted him hard enough to hurt.

“Ow!” Justin looked back over his shoulder at Brian accusingly.

“Give Santa an example, or the pajamas can come down early.”

Rolling his eyes Justin said, “Come on Santa, we both know it’s true, why do we need examples?”

Brian put his fingers in the waistband of the pajama pants and started to pull them down. Justin quickly put his hand back and held onto the pajamas so they couldn’t go down as he said, “Okay, okay! I sang raunchy lyrics to a song to get your… I mean Brian’s attention, and it probably wrecked the caroling for the uptight assholes around me who can’t take a joke.”

“Move your hand.”

After a couple of seconds of silence Justin put his hand back up front. Brian left the pajamas in place and started spanking again not particularly hard. He said, “Sing it for me correctly.”

Groaning in irritation before he started, Justin sang ‘I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas’ all the way through. As soon as he got the last word out, Brian stopped spanking. Brian put a hand on the back of Justin’s head and played with his hair as he said, “I usually hate that song, but when you sing it, it’s tolerable.”

Brian looked back at Justin’s ass and pulled the pajama pants down slowly. He said, “Lift your hips for me.”

Justin complied, and soon the pajamas were down around his knees. Brian rubbed the warm pink skin and said, “That was one example from tonight’s fiasco. Give me another.”

Justin was enjoying the feel of Brian’s hand soothing his rear and said, “How about you just fuck me instead.”

Brian gave him a sharp slap, and Justin’s body jumped slightly at the impact. “How about you do what Santa tells you.”

“I told your client that I was your nephew hoping he’d let me stay.”

Brian started spanking again, a little harder this time, knowing it would be on the verge of unpleasant for Justin. As he spanked he lectured, “Manipulating people while they are working is very naughty. Santa doesn’t want to hear about you doing it again.”

As the spanking kept going Justin started squirming a little and said, “Okay, I’ve got it. I said I’ve got it. I’m sorry okay? Come on Santa, I said I’m sorry already.”

Brian stopped and let Justin catch his breath for a few seconds. Then he put the unwrapped box that was sitting on the bed in front of Justin. “Open it.”

Justin did, and found a small leather covered wooden paddle. It was only slightly smaller then a ping pong paddle. Justin looked back at Brian with wide eyes; “I haven’t seen that toy before.”

Shrugging Brian said, “I usually only get it out when it’s time for the leather ball at Babylon. Hand it to me and read me the last one.”

“I don’t want to play anymore,” Justin said with some panic in his voice.

“Because you’re afraid I’ll hurt you, or because you know you deserve it and don’t want to admit it?”

Brian made sure his hands were loose on Justin so he could get up if he wanted to, and let him think it over. Feeling tears in his eyes as he thought that over, Justin picked up the paddle and handed it back to Brian. His voice wavered as he read, “Stole Brian’s credit card and ran away to New York.”

Tightening his hold on Justin, Brian brought the paddle down hard enough to do more then just sting. Justin’s body jumped over Brian’s lap and he yelled out, “OW! That really hurt damn it!”

“Yeah? Well Santa’s really not happy about that one.” Brian glared at the boy across his lap as he remembered worrying about him and trying to find him all those months ago. “Five more, and then we’ll be all done.”

“Five more of those?! OW!!” Justin asked with disbelief before another hard swat landed.

“Stealing is naughty.”

“OW! Please stop!!” Justin begged.

Brian wasn’t swayed. “Running away is naughty.”

“OW!! I’m sorry!”

“You’d better not do it again.” Brian brought the last two swats down quickly, while Justin cried out and kicked his legs.

Setting the paddle down behind him on the bed, Brian quickly flipped Justin over and lifted his upper half into a hug. Justin rested his head on Brian’s chest and after a few seconds said through some tears, “You’re mean.”

“You’re a brat.” Brian said without apology. After a few minutes of quiet sniffling from Justin, and soothing back rubbing from Brian, Brian said, “Santa forgives you, and he’s sure you’re going to be on the nice list next year.”

“I don’t want to play anymore.” Justin said, clearly still unhappy with the way the night had turned out.

“Are you sure about that? Santa brought another gift for you.”

Justin wiped at his eyes and said, “The first gift sucked. I don’t want another one.”

“This is your gift for all the nice things you’ve done this year.”

Justin looked down at the pillowcase that was still on the floor between Brian’s feet. He looked at Brian who was smiling and gave him a wary, “Okay.”

Justin stood up and kicked the pajama pants all the way off. Reaching down into the sack Brian got out a small box that was wrapped in silver Christmas paper and handed it to Justin. Opening the gift, Justin found an expensive watch that he’d told Brian he liked at one point months ago. Justin looked at Brian with surprise; “You bought this for me?”

Turning away from the adoring look Justin was giving him, Brian said, “Well… Santa loves you and wants you to be happy, even if you were naughty this year.”

Justin climbed onto the bed straddling Brian’s lap. He took the hat off Brian’s head and kissed him. After a few seconds of kissing, Justin pushed Brian back onto the bed leaned down on top of him and said, “I love you too.”

Brian rolled the two of them over, so he was on top and started kissing Justin passionately. In the distance Brian heard someone say, “Mr. Kinney?”

Brian pulled his head up and looked towards the sound but saw nothing. He looked back at Justin to kiss him again, but saw that Justin was asleep. While thinking about how odd that was, Brian heard, “Mr. Kinney? It’s six AM.”

Brian jerked himself awake. He heard the familiar sounds of the hospital around him, and saw a nurse at his side trying to wake him up. She said, “His mother will be here soon.”

Brian looked over at Justin in the hospital bed, and the night of the bashing came rushing back to him. Justin looked like he was asleep, but Brian knew better, and even if he hadn’t known better, the bandages on Justin’s head would have been a dead give away. Brian turned to the nurse and said, “Thank you.”

She left, and Brian sat up straight. Stretching, Brian felt his back complain about sleeping in a chair again. He thought about it and said to himself, “Christmas? Where the fuck did that come from?”

Shaking his head in confusion, Brian stood, leaned over Justin and kissed his cheek. Standing back up he said, “It’s been a week Sunshine. Time to wake up.”

He looked at Justin’s face for any kind of response. Getting nothing, he sighed and said, “I’ll see you tonight.”

Brian walked out of Justin’s room and he saw that the person in the next room was watching a Lawrence Welk Christmas special on TV. Brian stopped and stared at the screen for a few seconds watching excessively happy people in ridiculous clothes singing Christmas songs, and thought to himself that his dream must have come from overhearing the show. As he watched, he was struck by a wave of unwanted and unexpected sentimentality. He took a quick look around to make sure no one was watching him, and went back into the room. He leaned down to whisper in Justin’s ear, “I…” He cleared his throat and tried again, “I… Santa loves you, and if you wake up, I promise we’ll spend Christmas together.”

Feeling himself close to hated tears, Brian stood and quickly left the hospital. He stepped into the bright June morning, and in an attempt to push his feelings away muttered, “Stupid fucking Christmas.” as he headed off to work.