My Personal Little Devil (boyxboy)

Epilogue

Luke:

Cerin stands beside me with his scarf nearly covering everything but his stormy eyes and pink nose and his hood pulled tightly around his ears. I laugh a bit at the sight. He truly despises being cold. I knock on the apartment door in front of us and it causes the 'Happy Holidays!' sign to tilt slightly.

The door cracks open and the smell of home cooked food floods the air around me. Jamie stands in the doorway with a goofy looking Santa hat on and a bright red smile to match. "Come in, come in! It's fucking cold out here!" Jamie yells.

"Jamie, babe, that's not how you great guest inside." I hear Jamie's fiancé, Ryan, call out from the kitchen.

"Well, it's cold!" Jamie protests. Cerin pushes his way inside to the warmth and greets Jamie with a hug. She laughs when she notices how many layers he's wrapped in. "You don't like the cold either, do you?"

Cerin unwraps the scarf from around his face so that he can actually speak. "Nope, I am more of a Summer and Spring person."

"Same here!" Jamie says, "I love Christmas and I love the way snow looks, but I like to be able to feel my fingers and toes."

I walk into the kitchen to greet Ryan and see if he needs any help. "How's it going? Anything I can do?"

Ryan looks up from the ham he's cutting. "I can't complain." he says, "I'm about dome here, too. If you want to go ahead and get some drinks out, however, that would be great."

"Drinks, drinks...Yeah, I think I can handle drinks." Ryan smiles a bit. He and Jamie have such different personalities but similar interest, they get along well. I can hear Jamie laughing in the dinning room at Cerin.

I take the drinks to the table where Jamie and Cerin are already seated, all but one of Cerin's layers are removed and I glance over at the top of his head to make sure his horns are gone. He assured me that he would be able to keep them hidden while we were there but I figured it probably took a bit of energy and concentration to alter his appearance, which worried me since he could have a little slip up at any moment. "It's just a simple illusion." Cerin had told me. He seems to have it under control, at least for now.

Ryan brings the ham to the table and sets it down with all of the other dishes he had made earlier. Cerin immediately reaches for it and I shoot him a glare. He slowly pulls his hand away and acts as though he were just grabbing a napkin. We wait for everyone to get settled before passing around the dishes.

It started out as a peaceful Christmas dinner and turned into a debate over what the greatest holiday movie ever made was. The past few days, Cerin has done absolutely nothing except binge watch Christmas movies. I'd leave in the morning for work and he would already have a place on the couch warm, then when I'd come home, he'd still be in that exact spot. This was Cerin's first Christmas, but he'd already seen more holiday movies in the span of a week than I had my entire life.

After the long debate ended and we have a drink or two more, Cerin and I say goodnight to Jamie and Ryan. Cerin puts back on his layers for warmth and we head back out into the cold. Though the city is still busy, as usual, it's oddly peaceful. I guess it's because it's Christmas Eve and so many shops are closed yet there are still colorful lights on and music playing everywhere and soft snow fall. Which reminds me, I need to go pickup Cerin's Christmas present soon.

Cerin run's up ahead of me to get back into our building and out of the cold. He jumps up and down a little to get himself warm again. I take the chance to escape. "Hey, I still want to walk around a little longer, want to come?"

"Are you kidding? It's freezing!" Cerin says. Perfect! I hand him the keys and tell him, "Go ahead and get a shower, I'll be up in a bit." He turns without a complaint. I wait until the elevator door closes with him in it to make my way up to the first floor. There is an older couple on that floor that had a litter of kittens born recently. I was never able to think of anything better to get Cerin and I figured he could use some company while I'm not home. I already picked one out earlier, she's gray and black with little spots of white and she was the smallest of the litter.

I carry her back with me in a small box with a blanket over it. She tumbles around and paws at the edges asking to be let out. As I walk through the door, Cerin comes out of the bathroom, drying his hair with a towel. He spots me and bounces over. "What's that?" he asks.

"A box."

"Okay, yes, but what's in that box."

"Something for you."

"Really? Can I know what that something is?"

"I guess so." I huff and set the box down on the couch. "It's for Christmas."

"I can have it now though?" Cerin questions.

"Yep, it's probably better that you have it now." He raises an eyebrow at me, but turns his attention to the box when it shakes. He runs over to it and pulls of the cover without any hesitation. There's a sudden squeal of joy as Cerin grabs the kitten from the box.

It takes Cerin a moment to form words, "It's so cute!" is all he manages. "Can we keep it?"

I laugh a little and can't help but smile seeing him so happy. "I wouldn't have given her to you if we couldn't keep her." I think he would have let out another squeal if it wouldn't have frightened the kitten.

"Thank you! Thank you!" he says, "We have to think of a name for her!"

"Well, you can take your time to..."

"Angel!" he blurts out. "I think that's cute. Especially since it's Christmas time."

I just sit there for a moment. I'm not even going to try to persuade him to change it. "Yeah, that's cute." I tell him. "I got some basic supplies for her earlier, I put it on the top shelf of the closet." He's not even listening now though, he's too fascinated by the cat, Angel. I leave him in his joy to go get a shower myself. When I get out, Angel is already curled up asleep on one end of the couch and Cerin sits with a small bag in the middle. "Oh, what's this?" I ask him. "It better be a Rolex watch!" I say teasingly.

"Wait, you wanted a new watch?" he says, clutching the bag to his chest.

"No, no, no! It was a joke!" Great, now I've gone and made him insecure about what he got me.

"I was going to give it to you tomorrow, but since you gave me my present already, here's yours." Cerin says. "It's just something little. I saw this and it made me think of you." He hands me the bag and I look inside to fine a small black rabbit charm. I laugh at the memory of me telling Cerin he reminded me of a bunny when we went to my family reunion awhile back.

"Thank you." I whisper and kiss Cerin's warm cheek and sit down beside him. He nuzzles into my arm and I start to doze off to the sound of Christmas music playing on the TV.

"Now I can be with you everywhere you go." Cerin laughs to himself.

Thank You so much to everyone who has read the story, whether you just found it or you've been reading since the beginning! There is a second book, it's called Devil's Child. It takes place three years later with Cerin and Luke. I hope you enjoyed and continue to read if you did! Thanks again!