ｃｈａｐｔｅｒ ｔｈｉｒｔｙ－ｓｉｘ

Mikey woke up on Christmas day bright and early, but he tried to keep his eyes squeezed shut and curled in the warm cocoon from the night before. He'd fallen asleep watching Hallmark channel Christmas movies from his phone, and now he'd woken up with his phone almost dead. He quickly plugged it in and turned to lay on his stomach, exhaling deeply into his pillow—there was a faint scent of Jasper lingering, but he hadn't slept in Mikey's bed for a couple days and he missed his warmth.

No matter what, the twenty-one year old texted his boyfriend a good morning text and made his way to the kitchen. It smelled like pancakes as he walked down the stairs and he grinned from it, hurrying his steps. In the kitchen, Marlene was humming and flipping a pancake. When she heard the footsteps she glanced over her shoulder and nodded.

"Oh, Mikey," she gasped. "Do you want chocolate chip pancakes?"

There wasn't anyone at the table when he found his seat, but he agreed for some pancakes and dropped his head on the cool table. He listened to his grandmother bop around the kitchen, then setting a comforting hand in his shoulder blade.

He thanked her and dug in, cutting the breakfast food into squares and dunking it in syrup. The chocolate pieces melted in his mouth and he had to hold back the appreciative groan that would follow. Instead he sent his grandmother a thumbs up and stood for a cup of water.

Marlene ended up asking her grandson as he was filling his cup, "is Jasper coming over? I just want to know for dinner tonight."

Mikey simply, nonchalantly, nodded as he came back to his breakfast plate. His best friend/boyfriend would end up at the Balm household after his own family's short Christmas. All he had to do was hand his parents the shared gift and find his sister and her boyfriend, handing over their presents. Mikey couldn't wait for his, secretly hoping it was something with Jasper's body.

.

..

...

The night before Aiden had explicitly told Mikey of his crush on Cadence, and deep down the elder hoped they would make up for the least. He didn't want to get his hopes up and wish for them to date right away, especially with the issue at hand for his younger brother. As long as they made up and Aiden wasn't moping and sad, but Mikey was sure his little brother would be vindictive and give Cadence the same treatment he'd gotten—that was just how the sixteen-year-old was.

Some of his relatives walked in a couple hours after noon and he greeted them if they'd walk into the living room, he was watching more Hallmark movies. He had his feet up on the cushions, his chin resting in his hand and his phone on his thigh. Occasionally a text from either a relative he'd seen over the weekend would text him a 'Merry Christmas' or Jasper would update him on his family situation.

His grandmother had him eat with the relatives, then they left after only being there for an hour. But, Jasper Kirk would be arriving any second then as well, so Mikey wouldn't be bored—he could be around someone he liked hanging around and be in his presence without a problem.

Max and Noah seated themselves beside Mikey on the couch and the oldest leaned against Max to ask Noah, "is your girlfriend coming over?"

His little brother's cheeks reddened and he nodded shortly. Noah told the two brothers near him about her: what her name was, what he'd gotten her, and how long they've been dating.

Mikey asked surprised at the duration, "you've been hiding your girlfriend for months now? How did none of us find out?"

Noah shrugged lazily, "I don't know. You guys don't go through my phone, or look at the texts."

"Wait–" Mikey pointed his fingers at Noah–"is it the girl that you went to the snowball with? You posted a picture on your snap with her. I thought you two were just friends."

Noah laughed and nodded, calling Mikey stupid. He went to defend himself, but extra, familiar, weight leaned against him and he leaned into them, tilting his head back to look up towards who he thought it was. Jasper's face filled his vision and his boyfriend stated, "we've been knew that," with a laugh afterward. He teased Mikey and the older of them was pushed away.

Mikey then sat up straight and rhetorically asked Jasper, "did you know that Noah's been dating his girlfriend for five months now?"

Jasper asked the same stuff Mikey did—what her name is and what she looked like. He came to the same conclusion his boyfriend did about the snapchat story and each felt stupid for not realizing before, it was right in their faces the whole time.

For the next hour until food was finished—their lunch was pasta Marlene had made specifically for those relatives—Jasper and Mikey watched whatever was on tv. Jasper had forced Max to move from his spot, but he let him lay across them all, Mikey having his feet in his lap. Aiden helped Marlene in the kitchen with making the rest of the food for dinner and Mikey wondered if he texted Cadence. He hoped they turned out fine, resolving the issue.

"Nanny," Mikey spoke under the mistletoe hanging from the doorway to the kitchen. "Me and Jasper are gonna be upstairs, call when food is done."

She nodded, but when Mikey turned she quickly asked, "actually, can you and Jasper look for the Christmas plates downstairs real quick? They should be somewhere in the basement."

The two shrugged and walked downstairs, looking in boxes and behind the bar for the plates his grandmother was looking for. They weren't anywhere that Mikey searched, but Jasper found the set in a smaller box with other holiday themed plates and napkins. They handed them over and walked to the stairs, Mikey wanting to take a quick nap beside Jasper before he had to keep his hands to himself.

Along the way to his room, Mikey slipped his fingers under Jasper's long sleeve shirt and grazed his fingertips over Jasper's back. His boyfriend chuckled, but he didn't do anything to stop Mikey. Inside the room, Mikey was faced with Aiden lying on his bed, his phone raised above him. There was a smile on his face, but when Jasper asked who he was texting he shook his head and showed his screen from Instagram.

Mikey made a bored face and dropped on his bed, pulling Jasper down next to him. They laid together, Mikey curling his fingers between Jasper's and closing his eyes. When fingers pulled through his hair he sighed, his body relaxing further into the bed. There was a quiet chuckle above him, but Mikey kept his eyes closed and leaned into Jasper's touch.

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:) christmas!! So I'm feeling impulsive again—a time before I deleted basically every draft I had in my account—and now I want to delete my account. I don't really use this app anymore; I use ao3 for fanfic and I don't read actual books anymore, really. I might just update all the chapters in this book, and just take the app off my Home Screen.

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