My family and I visited both pairs of grandparents during Christmas. On my mom's side I was greeted with large, fluffy dogs and lots of food and relatives. While the time with dad's side of the family were spent with the soft tunes of Christmas music and sweets.

The snow had laid its soft, icy blanket over the town, making each and every nook and cranny glister with the small water diamonds. My younger cousins and I had built countless of snowmen, as well as igloos. We hadn't had this much snow in years. Which meant that the youngest of them had never seen more than a thin layer of snow on the ground. I made it my mission to give the children a lot of amazing memories.

My parents were -as you may already have guessed- pretty rich. So it was not unusual that I was spoiled during the holidays, or my birthday. They had however come to the realization that I wasn't fond of lots of expensive stuff. I did, however, love to get small or big thoughtful things. Some might have been slightly expensive, but since they had actually chosen something that I would like or appreciate I was happy.

Eric had given me a small present that I opened after the celebrations, on the 26th. Mostly because I felt that it was more... personal. The present was small, no larger than ten decimeter in diameter, wrapped in a metallic green paper, not the most neat wrapping, but I can't do much better so I shouldn't complain. He had even used a bright, metallic, red ribbon. My own present to him had been wrapped in an ugly, Christmas patterned paper, topped off with a silver bow. It wasn't something special, just a small notebook with funny quotes on top of every page. I was regretting that slightly right now since it looked like he had put some actual effort into my present.

I carefully opened Eric's poorly wrapped present, it contained a black box. A lot like the kind of box my mum had retrieved from me. I scrunched up my eyebrows in confusion, he knew that I rarely wore any kind of jewelry. Well, I am a guy and it's not really in the "norm" anyways. I opened the box.

A necklace.

He had bought me a bloody necklace. I stared at the small, silvery object that now rested in my hand. It was beautiful. But, I thought dryly, I am not made to wear "beautiful" objects. It had a small charm, smaller than my thumb nail. It was a character, or a couple of them in Chinese, or maybe it was Japanese. I wasn't completely sure what it meant, but I recognized it. I guess Manfred had showed sometime, or maybe Eric had brought it up. The small jewelry rested in the dip of my palm, I wasn't sure that I would suit it. Then again, Eric seemed to have put effort into this piece of silver.

I only took it off when I showered.

The New Year was closing in on us. My parents were planning to visit a couple of friends for the night, and left me in Eric's hands. Manfred and the rest were planning another party; a famous Misfit party. That meant no alcohol, lots of snacks and food, and tons of loud music that no one listened to. I was tempted to go, but I had already promised to go on Eric's teenage party. Eric was my best friend, so I guess it made sense. The party was in only two days, and I had yet to decide what to wear. I mentally slapped myself. Eric wouldn't care if I showed up in my pyjamas! He just wanted me there. I shouldn't care so much!

Manfred and I went shopping later that day. We invited Tor, but he was busy, went on some date or something. Traitor. Manfred had eyed my necklace, a knowing smirk on his lips. I had asked him about it, but he refused to answer me. It made me grumpy, but then he promised to treat me to some sweets and my mood immediately brightened. 10 stores, two cups of tea and a cheesecake later my New Years outfit was complete. I not sure about it, but Manfred had been insistent, and I trusted his instincts. Maybe not the wisest choice I've made. I was afraid when he refused to show me the shirt he had picked out for me. He had told me its color and type, but that was it. I didn't even get to try it on.

Mum and dad were home when Manfred dropped me off. They had really meant it when they said that they had cleared their schedule for the holidays. We came to a stop right in front of my house, Manfred turning down the sound of the radio slightly. I fiddled with the fringe on my sleeves, as I often do when I have a lot to think about. Not noticing that he was looking at me. It wasn't until he put his hand on my arm that I looked up. He smiled at me.

"Call me if anything happens, and I mean anything," he said, voice serious for once. I nodded, a warm sensation spreading in my chest. He smiled again, and gave me one of his typical "momma bear hugs". Not that he could have enjoyed it, being stretched over the gear stick and all.

The whole house smelled of gingerbread cookies, which had become a norm as mum was home. I peeked around the corner, into the kitchen. Mum and dad were dancing, Christmas songs blasting in the background, and both of them covered in flour. I grinned at the scene. It was kind of weird to see your parents play around like that, especially since both of them were close to fifty. They noticed me before I could retreat to my bedroom and made me "help" them out in the kitchen. Surprise that I had to take a shower or two to get rid of all flour that night.

On the day of the party, I arrived at Eric's house around 3 pm. It was almost four hours until the party started, and when I had said I would show up, but I wanted to come early. He opened the door with a smile, larger than usual.

"Hi," he beamed, "you're early!" I smiled and began to fiddle with my fingers.

"Yeah... I wanted to meet up with you before the party starts," I told him honestly. His smiled grew even bigger, and he basically dragged me inside, to the warmth. My shoes were covered in thick layers of snow, which I had to kick off by the door. After leaving my bag in his room, Eric stood with his arms crossed, leaning against a wall, just looking at me. I felt a slight pressure from his eyes. Although, I wasn't completely sure why.

"Do you want some hot chocolate?" Eric asked eventually. I looked up from my shoe, the knot I made on this one was really tight and I had a hard time untying it.

"Yeah, sure," only the thought of the warm, and sweet, liquid made me want to drool. As Eric disappeared around the corner of the kitchen, I called out to him;

"I want marshmallows!"

"I know," he called back, making me grin happily. The knot finally came undone and I hurriedly scattered to the kitchen. Eric put the two cups down as I sat down by the small kitchen table.

"Bon appetit," he said in a broken, french accent and winked dramatically. I laughed out loud and took a small sip of my cocoa. The drink completely covered by marshmallows, just as I liked it.

Time flew by as we talked. Before we knew it the clock was already 6:35. Eric and I stared at each other in horror before bolting upstairs to his room and to our clothes. I took my bag and ran to the bathroom, Eric protesting soundly behind me. I made a grimace at him and locked the door. I still wasn't sure if my clothes were good enough, but it was too late to back out now. It wasn't as if I had any other party clothes with me, and I couldn't be seen at the party wearing a Hello Kitty hoodie.

When I had put on all items, I stared at my reflection. It felt like I was too dressed up, or rather, too revealing. My outfit consisted of a pair of black skinny jeans -Manfred had almost threatened me when I said I didn't want to wear them, as my ass was almost pushed towards my back in them-, I wore a loose fitting, low cut, grey shirt that for some damn reason shimmered in the light of the bathroom. I furrowed my eyebrows, was this Manfred's doing? Most likely. Shit. The only good thing about the shirt was that my necklace was showing, as it wouldn't have in my own shirts. My hair was messy, but with a small amount of water I was able to tame it, a little. To top it all off, I wore a pair of black boots. I looked fancy, but not look like I put a lot of effort in my outfit.

"Are you done?" Eric called from outside the bathroom. I guess that the guests were starting to arrive.

"Give me a minute!" I called back. He answered something inaudible before I heard him throw himself on the bed. I splashed some water in my face. I can do this, I thought as I glanced one last time at myself in the mirror. The necklace Eric had given me hung shimmering around my neck. I couldn't bear taking it off. Eric had clearly chosen that one specifically for me.

When I entered the room, Eric was laying on his back on his bed. He was dressed simply: in a black button-down with short sleeves, white pants and a pair of vans. His dark hair was swept back from his face. To keep it short; he was fricking sexy. He stared at me and I immediately became aware of my clothing. I absentmindedly pulled up the collar to cover my collarbones. Eric stood up and walked towards me.

"I- uhm... wo- just wow. And that's my-," he smiled brightly when he saw my necklace. Well, no regrets then.

We walked downstairs, so close that I constantly felt the heat from him. I wished the collar wasn't so low cut, he could certainly see my red neck.

When we reached the last step, the doorbell rang, making Eric scurry to open the door. In no time guests in all shapes and forms started to flood Eric's house. All of them shattering loudly, shoving each other and making a ruckus. I realised after a couple of minutes that I didn't recognize anyone. Just my luck.

I took a seat on one of the living room's armchairs. Eric had already disappeared in the crowd, leaving me alone. I didn't mind. However, the Misfits party seemed even more tempting now. Without Eric, I finally let my social life die, and hauled up my phone.

All of a sudden, music started blaring through the speaker next to me. I jumped in surprise and then grimaced when I noticed that it was the usual "bitch, bitch, fuck me get money" kind of garbage. The guy standing next to the controller looked like your typical pimp, boasting and loud, even though his mustache looked like someone had sprinkled rat hair on his upper lip. I sighed and sunk deeper into the soft cushions of the sofa. This was about to become a long night.

None of The Misfits responded to my texts, which was understandable as they were probably engaged in some kind of game at the moment, so I was stuck with some games. I had barely finished one game of avoiding green tubes when Eric patted me on my shoulder.

"Do you want something to eat? I have some pizza," he told me with a bright smile. I was slightly startled by the question, although even more so as he had left his other friends. Usually he would let me be as I easily felt uncomfortable around his other friends, especially since Joseph sometimes came around too.

"Sure," I replied and then followed him to the kitchen. People were already pouring themselves cups of all kinds for alcohol, but weirdly enough Eric wasn't holding a cup. Instead he skipped over to the breakfast bar, where four large pizzas were consumed in a rapid pace. He pushed his way past a couple of buff sportsmen, grabbing a single plate and stacking two slices of each pizza on it. I reluctantly walked up to him, snatching a slice of the chicken pizza. Eric gasped dramatically.

"How dare you take the holy pizza?" he asked with an over exaggerated hand over heart gesture. I giggled at his antics before shoving the slice into my mouth, grinning triumphantly. Rolling his eyes, Eric grabbed another slice and started nibbling on the pointy part. A couple of minutes passed just like that, me grabbing the cheesiest, chicken pizza slices, while Eric was stuck with the leftover pizzas. That is, until a tall, lanky guy stumbled into Eric, making him drop his pizza.

"Oh shit! Sorry dude- holy fuck! Eric? Man, I haven't seen you in ages!" The dark-skinned guy slurred. Eric regained his composure and smiled brightly at the newcomer.

"Hi Will," he smiled. Will smiled goofily at him, before he noticed me and instead began inspecting me.

"Yo dude, who are you?" he asked while peering down at me. I felt myself shrink, until Eric threw an arm over my shoulders and brought us closer together.

"This is Lucas! The guy I talked about," Eric beamed. Will looked struck for a moment, before a inhuman smile spread over his lips. He faced me again, his eyes twinkling with something I recognised as bewilderment.

"Oh so you're that Lucas," he said incredulously, smirking all the while. I glanced back and forth between them, both seeming to have information that I didn't.

"I guess," I answered after a couple of moments. Will seemed to be even more bubbly after I said this. Without another word, he punched Eric friendly on the shoulder before walking off into the mass of people and music. I glanced curiously at Eric, his ears were brightly red. He noticed my glance and smiled sheepishly.

"Let's make this a night to remember," he said before dragging me into the living room. And what a night it was.

Somehow I wasn't bored out of my mind for once. Eric had made me dance with him, ignoring the jealous looks of the girls around us. Now, it was no secret that my dancing skills was horrendous, but while dancing with Eric I felt more confident and thanks to some higher power I managed not to step on his toes nor did I stumble over my own feet. Sometime during our dance Eric had grabbed my hands, and now he spun me around, making me laugh out loud.

He spun me around again, and again, and again. Our chests touched. My hands were still in his. We faced each other, feeling the breaths of the other on our faces. I blinked in surprise when his breath didn't smell of alcohol, it smelt like mint. He smiled at me, a genuine smile. He was sober.

I blushed furiously and slowly let go of his hands, mumbling out an excuse, and disappeared to the bathroom. In the bathroom, my inner fangirl came out in full power. I squealed into my hands, skipping around the small room. Am I dreaming? Is this real? I pinched myself, hard. It hurt. I wasn't dreaming. Eric had actually done that. He had danced with me, and refrained from alcohol. The mirror showed a boy, face and neck bright red, eyes large and bright, lips curled into the largest smile I've ever seen and somehow I had a hard time recognising him. My reflection stared back at me.

When cold water dripped down my face and neck, I instantly felt better. My reflection was no longer bright red. Pink, yes. Red, no. I emerged from the bathroom, taking several deep breaths and not paying attention to the people around me. Thus, I screamed out loud when I was slammed against the wall by a large body. Joseph.

"Having fun with your boyfriend? Faggot," he sneered. My eyes widened in fear, but also in surprise.

"Eric isn't my boyfriend," I answered him. Bewilderment flashed in his eyes, before he pressed me even harder against the wall. Almost making me choke as his arm was pressed against my neck.

"Don't fucking lie to me you fucking cocksucker," he growled dangerously. I felt anger flow my veins, with such force that I saw red. With all power I could muster, I pushed him off of me, glaring at him all the while.

"Will you fucking leave me alone?" I roared, pushing him once more for good measure. "I'm fucking done with you pushing me around, doing whatever you want. What is it to you if I'm dating or not? Leave me the fuck alone." With that I left him standing flabbergasted in the corridor.

I made my way back to Eric, still in the same spot where I left him, although he was now holding two red cups. When he noticed me walking towards him he smiled again, offering one of the cups to me.

"I know you don't drink, so I picked up some cider. It doesn't have a lot of alcohol in it," he said with a sheepish smile. Not really caring about alcohol at the moment, I grabbed one of the cups, silently thanking Eric. As expected, the sour undertaste of alcohol was still present in the fruity drink, but at least it was still drinkable. Suddenly some people started cheering loudly. Eric joining in, barely noticing my questioning glance. Then I, myself glanced at the clock. Five minutes until midnight. Five minutes until the new year. I joined in on the cheering. Soon the crowded living room seemed to move. Eric put his hand on my lower back, guiding me through the mass of sweaty teenagers, out to the garden. It barely took a minute for all the party guests to be gathered on the large patch of grass, faces turned to the sky. Suddenly, a warmth spread through my hand. I looked down and saw Eric's hand linked to mine. He was smiling down at me.

The first firework was green. Eric's lips were warm.