My Vampire Bromance

Chapter 33: How Many Days Till Christmas?

"Exactly how many days until Christmas?" Victor shouted at me from the kitchen. My foot hit the bottom of the stair landing. I looked up and saw a vase of crimson roses on the coffee table. Victor was always bringing flowers home.

"It's ten!" I yelled back at him. "Why?"

He peeked his head around the corner, shining black hair falling around his face in soft waves. The right side of my mouth twitched up in a grin. How the hell had I landed him? Every day since winter break started, Victor had taken it upon himself to make food for me every night. "Because Phillip! I want to celebrate. Heaven knows it's been forever! Can we get a tree? And garlands? Ornaments? Stockings?" Victor had a list of things he wanted, including over thirty poinsettias.

"I would love to have all that stuff, but I don't really have the money. I'll go broke just over a tree." It was the truth. College was expensive, even on a scholarship.

"I'm not asking you to pay for anything," Victor smiled at me, coming around the corner– a steaming mug of coffee in his hands. I looked down, "It's just coffee, Phillip. Will you truly never let me live that down?" I blinked up at him. "Anyway, I have money. Lots of it, actually. It's stored at that thing you all call a bank."

I blinked again. "You have a bank account?"

He glowered at me, "Yes. Honestly, Phillip, how do you think I've managed to blend in for so many years? Can you imagine if I carried around gold and jewels in my pockets trying to buy things? People would look at me like I am crazy."

"Very true," I laughed. I did not want to ask Victor how he came into income. From my understanding, he was a poor kid once, which meant any wealth he came into must have come from the people he fed on.

"So," he continued, "Will you go with me? To pick everything out?"

I grinned, taking a sip of coffee, trying to imagine what my house would be like once again, filled with a Christmas tree and lights. "Sure."

Victor straightened, "Well then! Finish your coffee, and let's go!"

I nearly spit my coffee out. Did Victor want to go right now? "Okay," I managed. I tried to down my coffee, and he stopped me.

"Take your time, Phillip. There's no rush." I swallowed deeply as he looked at me with his magenta eyes. Victor was stunning and amazingly good at being patient with me. My heart thundered as he gently brushed his lips against mine. I leaned into him, letting his hands wend their way into my hair. I let out a small sound as he pulled away from me. He smiled warmly. I leaned in to kiss him again, and he let me. Breaking away, I took a sip from the coffee mug, "Where do you want the tree?" I asked.

Victor scanned the living room, "Perhaps in the right-hand corner. Where the armchair is." I set the mug down on the table and went to move it. "Finish your coffee Phillip, I'll move it. Where do you want the chair to go?"

I thumbed my lips, "Um, maybe on the other side of the tv? I don't ever watch it."

Victor nodded and then made to move things around. At first, I tried to help him. But he insisted that I sit down and enjoy my drink. He had big plans for tonight.

***

"Ah, Phillip, this is incredible!" Victor shouted in the department store. I tried to stifle his energy, but he was too excited. I'd stopped counting the amount of red and gold ornaments that landed in the cart a while ago, allowing Victor to do as he pleased. There was more garland and ribbon than I had ever seen one person get in my life. Along the way, I picked up the little things he needed to hang the ornaments on the tree. "Phillip, where are the candles?"

"What do you need candles for?" I felt my eyes bulge.

"To light the tree, of course!" he was absolutely beaming.

"Oh no!" I shouted. "No, no! We don't use candles anymore!"

His brows knit together, like a child who'd suddenly been denied ice cream, "Why not?"

"Oh, you know, burning down the house is not on many people's holiday wish list anymore."

Victor nodded, "I see. Well, what do you use instead?" He eyed an example tree beside us."

"Christmas lights," I said. I grabbed his hand and led him down the aisle to them. "See?" His eyes danced across all the different bulb colors connected to the green wire.

"Ah, I see. What color do you want?"

"What?" I hadn't thought that I was involved in his Christmas decorating. I was mostly along for the ride.

Victor wrapped an arm around me, "I said, what color of lights do you want, Phillip?" Instantly I feared picking the wrong color. I knew Victor was most likely used to golden light from candles, but I had grown up with the multicolored bulbs. Victor looked at me, following my eyes as I wrestled with my emotions. "Would you like the multicolored ones?" He lifted my chin up with the back of his index finger.

"Yeah, that sounds nice," I smiled at him. He leaned down to kiss me again, and I tried to back away. Not sure how public affection worked when it was two men together instead of a man and a woman.

"Phillip Kosier, who cares who you are with? If they have an issue with it, it's on them. Not on you." Victor pressed his lips against my head and then my mouth. I smiled at him as he stepped away. "Alright then. Let's take them all. Heavens knows I'm going to need them." I didn't ask questions as over twenty boxes of lights filled our basket, followed by a bright red tree skirt.

The garden section was a whole other ordeal as Victor bought out their poinsettia section. I tried not to feel embarrassed as we checked out with two full shopping baskets. I would have thought Victor was a millionaire by the way he tossed money around. He swiped a credit card without a blink. I began to wonder how much I actually knew about Victor. For god's sake, he'd been carrying around a credit card, and I never knew, assuming he only had the cash from his nightly victims! He'd modernized better than I thought. Again, I wondered why he was with me as we got back into my car together and drove to the Christmas tree lot.

"How big of a tree do you want?" I asked the question, wondering if I would instantly regret the answer.

"The biggest one that they have that will fit in your house. A foot away from the ceiling should be fine." I glanced sideways at him. I had no idea how the hell we were going to get the tree he wanted on top of my car. "Sound good?" he grinned widely at me, which melted my heart. Never mind the chaos that had happened last semester with Thomas Langerty. I was only with Victor now. And so far, there hadn't been any murders reported in over a week.

"Yeah," I breathed, "sounds great."

I stopped the car in the dirt outside the Christmas tree lot. Victor nearly bolted out of the car, so excited to shop I thought that he had forgotten me in the process. I pulled the latch to the driver's side door and saw him standing there on the other side with a black blazer, burgundy sweater, and grey knitted scarf. I beamed. Even when he was excited about something, he didn't forget me.

He reached a hand out toward me to help me out of the car, "Don't look so startled, Phillip. I would never forget you." I looked at him, shook my head, and then took his hand.