This is a
work of fiction; all characters' names are randomly generated, and the places
in this story are complete works of fiction. If you disagree with two men
loving each other, leave now. Yes, this is a Christmas story, so you are
free to move on if you don't want to read it. However, if you're going to
read it, I hope you'll enjoy it.
Copyright ©
2021
From the
North Pole to Indiana
Forever?
Chapter 3,
part 2
Within the
next two hours, a tree and a box of decorations arrive at Mick's
apartment. Nicholas can elf port them
directly into the apartment. Mick
immediately gets to work setting up and decorating the tree. He was worried that all his work wouldn't
matter if the decorations were horrible.
His father and then elves had done a great job. There were some family decorations, some
older-style decorations, and some newer decorations among the decorations. He has to admit that someone outdid
themselves when they picked out the items to send. It really does look amazing.
***
He just
hopes that Shea thinks it looks good. It
just wouldn't look good on the family if the tree didn't look good. Mick loves Christmas, which includes
decorating the tree and the house. Maybe,
the tree was or wasn't meant to impress Shea.
It could be that he just wanted to let him know that he likes Christmas
too.
***
His family
is big on gifts, but this year Shea has his eyes on something else; a
boyfriend. It would be nice if they
could find their way together before Christmas day. It may not happen, but it would be nice to
have someone that he could just have someone to cuddle underneath a blanket. He
doesn't want to spend another year alone.
Mostly, he just wants to be happy and in love.
***
Before Shea
leaves his training, he texts Mick to say that it's over and he's leaving.
"I'm headed
home first, and then I'll pick you up."
A minute
later, he gets a reply back.
"Okay, I'll
see you when you get here."
Both Shea
and Mick have butterflies going on right now. Shea hopes his apartment is clean
enough. Mick hopes he can relax and
enjoy himself once at Shea's place. He
also crosses his fingers to say anything stupid or anything that might put his
family at risk. Shea reaches his
apartment and unlocks it in a hurry, almost forgetting to take his keys out of
the door.
***
Shea wants
to do this right. He pops enough popcorn
to fill a large mixing bowl. Then, he
quickly showers and puts on new clothes.
He gives his place a quick but careful look over and gets ready to
leave. Everything looks perfect; however,
he did forget one crucial detail. He failed
to remove the mistletoe. His
grandparents always put it up, and now so does he. Now, he heads out for Mick's apartment.
***
He reaches
the apartment complex that Mick lives in and heads for the building
itself. He finds Mick's name and then
pushes the buzzer button.
"Hello, can
I help you?"
Shea
recognizes those voices instantly.
"Hi Mick,
it's Shea. Can I come up?"
Mick pushes
the button that unlocks the doors without giving it any thought. At the sound of the buzzer, he enters the
building and heads for the apartment. As
he walks up the stairs, his heart begins to beat faster. Mick even gets a little nervous. Shea knocks at the door to the apartment and
waits for Mick to answer, and Mick does in record time.
"Hi,
Shea! You look great tonight."
Shea smiles
at Mick. Shea's eyes check out the
apartment, the tree, and the decorations.
He's impressed by it. The tree
looked like it had been decorated by a master decorator, and it had been
because Mick is a Claus, after all.
"Thanks,
Mick! That tree is amazing; it's like Santa Claus or Mrs. Claus decorated it."
Was it his
imagination, or did the tree just glow brighter? The tree has a string of lights that respond
to the belief of Santa Claus and the magic of the holidays. Every member of the Claus family has one
string of these lights.
"I think we
should head to my place."
Shea says to
his date. Whenever he's around Mick, he
feels happy and gives him a warm feeling in his belly. The guys leave the apartment, pausing only so
Mick could lock the apartment.
***
When they
arrive at Shea's house, Shea hangs up their coats. Shea shows his date where to sit and then
runs to the kitchen to grab popcorn and eggnog.
Bringing the food and the drink, Shea places them on the coffee table.
"I forgot
the glasses, be right back."
Shea says as
he heads back towards the kitchen. While
he is gone, Mick is looking up looking at the Christmas tree,
`It's
cute and real; that's 2 points for sure.'
Shea smiles
when he sees Mick looking at his tree.
"Do you like
it?"
Shea asks as
the other guy jumps in surprise, making his date chuckle slightly.
"Yeah, I
love it. Do you have any ornaments that
have a story?"
Mick asks
his date. As he stares at one ornament,
in particular, there is a reason why this one stands out because it is older than
the other ornaments on the tree.
"The white
one close to your left hand belonged to my grandmother, and when she died, I
took it and added it to my collection."
Mick is
delighted to hear that his crush treasures his family. Mick moved away from the tree and sat
down. As Mick moved away from the tree,
he passed directly under the mistletoe that Shea hadn't taken down yet. He's not going to push for a kiss, not on a
first date.
"Your
grandmother's ornament is beautiful."
Shea is glad
that he likes the ornament. Once Mick sits
on the couch, Shea gets up and puts in the Blu-ray disc.
***
Shea sits
down and grabs the remote, and starts the movie. Together, they cuddle on the couch. The film is enjoyable, but it's the company
that is the best for both guys. Shea is
content to sit beside Mick. Mick loves
the movie. They're watching "A Christmas
Carol," but Mick would be happy watching anything.
"I am loving
this movie."
Mick loves
that his crush invited him here to see it.
"I'm glad
you like it. It's a tradition for me; I
watch it every year."
Shea has
been hooked on the movie since he saw it for the first time when he was
12. He hasn't missed a year yet. Shea and Mick snack on the popcorn and drink
the eggnog as they watch. The move ends,
and Shea is feeling a bit hungry.
***
With the
movie over, Shea knows that he's hungry, so he invites Mick to stay for
dinner. Mick agrees because he hasn't
had dinner either. Shea pops in a pizza,
and they get busy making a fresh salad.
"Thanks for
coming over; the evening has been great."
The host
says as he stands making the salad. His
guest smiles at his date.
"You're
welcome!"
Mick gives
Shea a hug, and Shea hugs him back. Shea
wants to provide him with a kiss, but it's not happening, at least not
today. As the pizza cooks, Shea takes
his date into the guest bedroom where his keyboard is; he thought they could
play and sing Christmas carols. It is
the season for them, after all. They do
quite a few songs, and when the timer goes off, it ends the singing.
"You have a
nice singing voice."
Mick says to
his host, which gets a blush from Shea.
"Thanks,
Mick, I was going to say the same about you, but you beat me to it."
Mick's
thankful for Shea; he's a blessing in disguise for him. The dinner is filled with laughter and
conversation.
***
After
dinner, they decide that it would be okay to watch another movie since Mick
doesn't work till later in the day tomorrow.
They sit down on the couch and start the movie. It's another Christmas movie, and Mick is
enjoying it. Mick and Shea like being in
each other's arms.
They're pretty
happy to have a chance to be in each other's arms and enjoy a movie. It's around 11:00 pm when the movie
ends. It's getting late, and Shea thinks
that maybe, he needs to invite Mick to stay the night. He doesn't want him worrying about having to
go home. It's still kind of early in
their friendship, but all the same, it is late, and he would rather not go
out. Maybe, Shea is being a bit selfish.
"Mick, it's
late. Are you okay with spending the
night? You can either sleep in my bed,
on the couch, or in the guest bedroom?"
Mick
considers his options, but he quickly makes up his mind.
"Okay, I'll
spend the night but with one adjustment."
Mick was
sure that it would be okay to stay the night with Shea.
"What is the
adjustment?"
Shea is a
bit nervous since he has no idea what his crush wants to do.
"I thought
maybe I could sleep in your room? We
don't need to have to do anything. Literally, we could just sleep."
Shea isn't
unhappy with Mick's adjustment. He is
okay with not having sex.
"Okay, if
you're sure that is what you want?"
His guest is
positive that is what he wants to do.
They clean up whatever mess might have been made, then head to bed.
***
Shea has a
warm fuzzy feeling in his chest. He
can't believe he's going to be sleeping next to him. It seems unreal that he's here against the
man he's been searching for. Maybe, this
friendship, crush, or relationship will work after all. Having him here right here means everything
to Shea. It really feels lovely.
***
Mick has
been sleeping like an angel. He was
anyway until he woke up and he wasn't home.
For about ten seconds, he was in a complete panic. When he looks over at the sleeping man next
to him, the anxiety melts away. What was
left was absolute peace. Mick laid down
his head and fell asleep breathing in Shea's scent, a smell that will ease
anxiety instantly when triggered. He
loves the solace that he feels.
***
I'm going to
start using this email for my stories cbabraham23@gmail.com
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