Merry Christmas Darling

By:  Lara

 

Greeting cards have all been sent, the Christmas rush is through...but I still have one more wish to make...a special one for you...

 

"Dammit!" Lance swore as he yanked the cookie sheet from the oven.  He tugged off the oven mitt and stared at his bright red fingertip. He then inspected the mitt, glaring at the hole in the top.  He gave the mitt one more evil look for good measure, and then quickly moved the cookies off the sheet and onto the wire cooling rack.  He leaned across the counter and flipped on the tiny TV.

 

"Snow showers continue to fall over the northeast, closing down airports one by one.  Though those of you snug at home can enjoy this white Christmas, those of you who hoped to travel to your loved ones may have to settle for a call on your cellphone," the newscaster said.

 

Lance groaned and looked outside.  The sun was shining, the grass was green, and it was a glorious warm Christmas Eve day in Florida.  He then turned back to the television, where a cloud of white seemed to entirely hide the states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Maryland. Maryland.

 

Merry Christmas, darling...we're apart, that's true...but I can dream, and in my dreams, I'm Christmas-ing with you...

 

JC pressed his nose to the glass window of the airport, trying desperately to see a plane pulling up to his little gate tunnel.  "Sleigh bells ring...are you listening...in the lane...snow is glistening..." he sighed and shouldered his bag more comfortably.  "A beautiful sight...we're happy tonight...walking in a winter wonderland..." JC frowned as he looked into the mass of white.  This was NOT supposed to be happening.  He and Lance had next to NO time together, and this snow storm was ruining everything.  They were supposed to snuggle in Lance's house, in front of the fireplace that everyone made fun of.  They'd make cocoa, and they'd listen to Christmas music by Nat King Cole and Johnny Mathis, and they'd maybe even make love by the fire.  They'd welcome the holiday together...not separated by some stupid white fluffy frozen water that continued to fall from the sky.  JC glared at the white flakes savagely, hating every single relative he had in Maryland.

 

Holidays are joyful, there's always something new...but every day's a holiday when I'm near to you...the lights on my tree I wish you could see, I wish it every day...the logs on the fire fill me with desire to see you and to say...

 

Lance arranged the cookies in the pretty new cookie tins he had bought, and strategically placed them on the coffee table in the family room.  He had called JC's mother specifically for this recipe, because it was JC's favorite.  His mother would more than likely send a batch, but Lance liked baking, and he wanted to do something special for JC...since JC made every day special for him.

 

Lance turned on the tree and adjusted a few ornaments before sitting down in front of the fire.  He watched the flames lick around the logs, and he began to daydream.

 

"Don't you think you'd be happy here?" Lance asked JC, smiling as he lay on the bed.

 

"If you're going to prance around naked all the time like you are now, I probably could be happy here, yes," JC teased as he hung a few shirts in Lance's closet.  He hated not having clothing with him, so he started bringing things to Lance's and keeping them there.

 

"I don't prance," Lance said, insulted. "YOU prance.  JUSTIN prances.  CHRIS..."

 

"Chris hops around like an elf," JC interrupted, and Lance laughed. 

 

Lance propped his head up on his hands.  "You could, you know...move in here."

 

"I'd like nothing more," JC said softly.  "But there's so much involved."

 

"Like the group?"

 

"I was thinking more about sacrificing our independence, but yes, the group, too," JC said.  "People would find out, and we'd have to tell the truth. Are you ready for that?"

 

"I dunno," Lance said, shrugging.  "I've been so wrapped up in the idea of us being together all the time that I didn't even think that far."

 

"Mr. Business Lance Bass didn't think ahead?" JC said.  "I'm shocked."

 

"Keep it up and I'll shock you until you can't walk for a week," Lance threatened and JC shivered with fake fear.  "Sacrificing our independence?"

 

"You know I get in those artsy moods where I need my studio and my space," JC said carefully.

 

"And I told you you could have the entire basement for your moods and your space," Lance retorted.  "And I have my office when I need MY space."

 

"Living with you would be like having my birthday and Christmas every day," JC said, and Lance blushed with pleasure.  JC leaned down and gently kissed him.

 

That I wish you Merry Christmas...Happy New Year, too...I've just one wish on this Christmas Eve...I wish I were with you...I wish I were with you...

 

"You don't understand. I'll do ANYTHING!"  JC insisted, pounding his fist on the counter.

 

"YOU don't understand, Mr. Chasez, that we have a lot of people in your shoes right now," the desk clerk insisted.  "There's nothing going out."

 

"Dammit."  JC ran a hand through his hair.

 

"Erica," a man said, walking up to the clerk.  "We have one seat left on a prop plane that's gonna bounce outta here, down to Charlotte, through Atlanta, and into Orlando."

 

"I'll take it," JC said immediately, and the man stared at him.

 

"We can't exchange your ticket," Erica said.

 

"I don't care. I will pay ANYTHING to get back home," JC said.  "I mean it."

 

Lance opened one eye as something tickled at his nose.  The room was dark, which meant it was still sometime before seven in the morning.  He winced and batted at whatever was bothering him. It disappeared, then started again. "What the hell?" Lance mumbled, reaching over to turn on the light. He let out a short scream as he saw JC hovering over him on hands and knees.

 

"Merry Christmas, darling," JC said, smiling as he waved the mistletoe over Lance's head. "You're pinned, baby."

 

"But you're...the snow..."

 

"It's Florida, Lance, it doesn't snow here," JC reminded him.

 

"But it does in Maryland!"  Lance sat up.  "I saw on TV that they closed down BWI."

 

"But NOT before I got on a plane," JC told him.  "And now it's Christmas, and I'm here."

 

"You're here," Lance whispered.

 

"I'm short on cash until I can hit a bank, but I'm here.  You'll have to take me in, poor as I am," JC said, laying down.  Lance wrapped his arms around him. "I had to pay for a special flight."  He whispered the amount in Lance's ear and Lance paled at the total.

 

"You paid that?"

 

"You're worth it," JC stated.  Lance wriggled down under the blankets and molded his body to JC's.  Finally, it would be a Merry Christmas.

 

Merry merry merry Christmas...merry Christmas...Darling...

 

The End

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