Archive of Our Own ^beta

"And... done!" Michael tore the masking tape and pat it down against the wall, then hopped off the stepstool to eye his work proudly. The blue masking tape ran from the top of one wall, down and across the floor, over furniture and everything. It ended at the top of the opposite wall, more or less splitting Michael's house in half.

His parents hadn't been able to afford three tickets to the Philippines this year, so Michael volunteered to stay behind with Jeremy and just facetime his family or something. He was kind of bummed at first, but he planned to make the most of it.

Jeremy stood on the other side of the tape from Michael, laughing at the ridiculous idea. Really, the idea seemed fun, but it was totally spontaneous and not thought through at all.

"Why did you come up with this again?" Jeremy asked, looking up at his boyfriend in amusement as he slid his arm around Jeremy's shoulders.

"Because, man! It's a great way to, like, learn about each other and stuff. Here, you wanted this side, right? Hanukkah here, Christmas there," Michael stated, pointing to either side of the tape respectively. Jeremy nodded, reaching up to grab Michael's hand that rested on his shoulder.

"So, what's the first step?" He asked, grinning up at Michael. The taller male grinned back, taking his wallet out of his back pocket.

"First, we go shopping."

----

"You really don't have to get me anything, you know," Jeremy said, looking around the mall as he spoke into his phone. He was leaning against a wall, done with finding Michael's gift. "You wanting to spend time with me is enough."

"Pfft, no way! I'm getting you a gift and you're opening it Christmas day and then kissing me because of how much you love it. Seriously, dude." He heard some shuffling on Michael's end and couldn't help but smile at the thought of him insisting they buy gifts and wrap them and everything.

"If you say so. We're meeting up at the food court, right? Our table, by the place with the chili fries?" Jeremy had already started walking before he could even finish his sentence. Michael laughed over the phone, sending a pleasant warmth to his chest.

"How'd you know?"

"We go there every single time we split up."

"Right. Love you, Jerebear."

"Love you, too, Mikey."

----

"This looks like a candle holder that took a dip into nuclear waste. Get it? Extra arms? Was that offensive?" Michael chuckled awkwardly before carefully setting the menorah back into the cart. Jeremy laughed and shook his head, throwing some other items into the cart as they walked.

"You're fine. I'll tell you about it later. You needed a new angel for your tree, right?" Jeremy asked, pointing to an aisle with tree toppers.

"Right. Almost forgot I dropped ours last Christmas." Michael chuckled at the memory and left the cart on the side to eye the angel toppers. "We need one that isn't too creepy, but still cool and elegant and shit."

"How about this one? She lights up and everything." Jeremy held one up, testing the "TRY ME" button on the front of the box. The angel's wings and halo lit up with soothing colors, the lights reflecting off of Jeremy's eyes and turning them bright and beautiful and awesome. Yeah. Michael was gay. "Oh, look!"

Jeremy scanned something on the box and pressed the button a second time. The angel started to alternate colors slowly, from yellow to orange to red and so on. Michael focused more on his boyfriend's eyes than the angel, to be completely honest.

"It's a rainbow angel! God loves gays!"

"Jeremy, I'm really in love with you."

"Oh, well, I'm in love with you, too."

----

"Michael, I'm starting to get dizzy," Jeremy whined, adjusting his grip on the plastic wheel of lights with both hands. He was in charge of holding it up and unwrapping the lights for Michael. They both had to go around and around the large tree until they could throw the lights over the top.

"Here, you can just stand still now, then," Michael stated, adjusting some of the lights before leading Jeremy over to the chair he'd placed nearby earlier. "Hold it up for me."

Jeremy hummed in response and grinned when Michael kissed his cheek. The Filipino adjusted his glasses and set the chair closer to the tree, gesturing for Jeremy to continue unwrapping the lights so he could get the last few coils done. Jeremy handed him the end of the lights, then the angel, then stepped back to eye the tree.

"Ta da!" Michael said, taking his hands away once he'd balanced the angel and connected it to the lights. He hopped off the chair and looked up at the tree, then crouched down to find the plug and pushed it into the outlet on the wall. Immediately, the lights and angel shone brightly. Michael laughed gleefully and slid his arm around Jeremy's shoulders again. "Pretty, right?"

Jeremy eyed the tree with a grin, then shifted his gaze over to look up at Michael. The lights reflected off of his glasses, making him look very festive and very cute.

"Very pretty," he agreed, chuckling.

----

"I'm... What even is this? Where does it go? Why is it so big?" Jeremy eyed the huge glass lantern that was (obviously) unplugged, arms out in case it slipped while Michael tried to take it out of the backseat. It had a design right in the middle of the main star, representing some figures surrounding the baby Jesus in his cradle thing. The giant star was surrounded by smaller stars, with everything in a circle of LED lights meant to light up red.

"I told you, it's a parol," Michael laughed, carefully tightening his grip on the lantern. "We hang out outside our house, like, high up. Y'know how, like, the three wise guys--"

"Wise men."

"--followed that star 'til they found Jesus to give him gold and shit even though he was a newborn? This is it!"

Jeremy chuckled at Michael whipping around to grin at him, holding the lantern up proudly. He turned again to close the car door with his hip, then marched up the driveway. He glanced around, then ended up carefully setting the parol down on the grass. Jeremy went over to grab the extension cord Michael had asked him to find before he'd went off to pick up the lantern.

They worked together smoothly, Jeremy uncoiling the extension cord and helping Michael get the ladder from the cluttered storage closet by the driveway. They occasionally stole quick kisses and placed a guiding hand on each other's waist or back.

Once the parol was up, Michael tested it out. He turned the power on and whooped at the glow, bright even as the sun was setting and casting golden light over them.

----

"Ha! Gimel." Jeremy took all the peppermint candies from the bowl, dumping them in front of himself. "Do you have any left?"

The two were sat on the floor of the basement, playing a really intense game of dreidel. Michael groaned and flopped back onto his beanbag, taking his glasses off to rub his face.

"No I don't have any left. You've won, like, three times now. You get the mints, Jeremy, I'll just... die here," he sighed dramatically. Jeremy laughed and Michael grinned at the sound, breaking his act. He moved his arm and sat up again, sliding his glasses back on to see his boyfriend clearly.

"What do you even plan to do with those mints?" "Um, I dunno. Here." Jeremy pushed most of the mints over to Michael, then turned to the side to stretch his legs. Michael gasped and took the mints gratefully as Jeremy unwrapped one and popped it into his mouth.

"You're sharing our winnings? With me?"

"Yeah, dude. You're just that special."

----

Finally, Christmas morning came. Jeremy had slept over at Michael's house. Really, he started to regret it when Michael played airhorn sounds on his phone to wake him up.

"Get up, sleepyhead!" He laughed, turning the volume down considerably before playing another airhorn noise. Jeremy groaned and swatted at his boyfriend, groaning again when Michael just grabbed his arm and tugged him up. "C'mon, I cooked stuff."

Food got his attention. Soon, the two were in the kitchen, pigging out on French toast messily covered in powdered sugar and covered in syrup. Michael had even melted some of the peppermint candies in hot chocolate, then topped them with whipped cream. After a few more rounds of whipped cream, the couple went over to the tree.

"You first," Jeremy said, sipping his hot chocolate. Michael was about to deny the offer, but he continued. "It's your holiday. Go ahead."

"Right. Okay." Michael sat on the floor cross-legged, the other teen following suit. He sipped from his festive mug before setting it down beside him and grabbing the gift labeled with his name. It was small enough to fit in the palm of his hand and wrapped in red and white striped wrapping paper. "It hasn't barked yet, which is disappointing."

Jeremy laughed and had to set his blue mug down so he wouldn't spill his drink everywhere.

"Shut up and open your present, asshole."

Michael grinned and unwrapped the small box. It didn't look like much, but he was practically vibrating with excitement. He took the lid off of the box and eyed the pin inside. When he didn't respond for a few moments, Jeremy started to get kind of nervous. He rubbed the back of his neck, looking away.

"Um, it's a--it's just a Game Boy pin. Remember when we traded games with each other? It was the best I could get, y'know, since we've already got tons of Pokemon stuff and you put a price limit on our presents. It's got stuff engraved on it, but they charged for how many characters you wanted," he pointed out. He watched, sweating bullets, as Michael carefully take it out of the box to eye the back of it.

Love, P2

"It's--Jeremy, what the fuck? I love you so much--maganda! You're so cute, ang cutest, I love this!" Michael looked near tears, holding the pin to his chest. He looked up at Jeremy gratefully. It was a short message and a simple gift, but the thought of it make his heart swell. He launched forward to hug Jeremy, laughing gleefully and barely giving him time to hug back before he pulled away to admire the pin again. "Open yours, open yours!"

"Okay, okay," Jeremy replied in the same, excited tone. He grinned at Michael's reaction, proud of himself for getting a decent present. He reached over to grab the small present under the tree, eyeing the white wrapper decorated with shiny snowflakes. He started to unwrap it carefully, kind of surprised at how similar the boxes were in size. Jeremy took the lid off the box eagerly, looking at the pixelated cherry charm, obviously meant to be from Pac-Man.

"I got mine engraved on the back, too. It way cheesier than yours, so you'll have to deal," Michael said, seeming almost embarrassed. Jeremy turned it over to read the words.

YOU'RE MY POWER UP

LOVE, P1

"Wha--Michael, oh my god," Jeremy laughed, leaning forward to hug Michael tightly, his heart jumping in his chest happily. "I love it! We got the same ideas, what the hell?"

He pulled back to press a brief kiss to Michael's lips, looking up at him in admiration. The taller male gripped his Game Boy pin protectively and smiled back, relieved Jeremy liked the gift.

"Great minds think alike."

"Whatever, you doof. I love you, really."

"Love you, too, Jere."