Jellyfish

9. Happy Holidays

"Of course not," I dismissed that instantly. "I'm surprised either of you are out on Christmas Eve."

Miles smiled brightly at me, gesturing around the place. "Only fools go out to eat on holidays, but the Chats is special. Only locals know what they're missing so it's rarely packed. Plus, I wanted to see you."

For some reason, I felt the pink rise to my cheeks at that. It was hardly as deep as I was reading into it, but my wayward heart took every word so seriously. "I hope the food is good," I said, taking a page from Frankie's book and staring at my menu instead of making eye contact.

Miles shook his head, clearly amused and sighed out, "My shy boys."

Shooting him a curious look earned only a head shake in reply as he took another sip of his coffee. I didn't really consider myself Miles' anything, but he liked to say things like that. In person and over text, Miles was a flirt. He liked attention and affection and would freely give it even if you didn't ask. Sometimes especially if you didn't ask. Being someone who didn't necessarily do affection, it always startled me when he called me his anything. I knew that it was just the way Miles was, that it didn't mean anything, but there was also something very nice about feeling important to someone. About having friends outside of my tiny, fractured family circle. Again, I'd had friends back home, but they weren't real friends. Miles and Frankie weren't quite real friends yet either in truth. We were still getting to know each other and while both were rather forthcoming with information, I knew that I was not. I couldn't say I really trusted them yet. Enough to bring small issues to them, yes, but not anything near the trust I'd need to match their openness.

Still, when Miles smiled at me it made me happy and that was more than enough for now.

We all made small talk over our menus for a bit, them discussing school and I joining when the topic turned to other aspects of life. Eventually the waitress came, a sweet woman whose name tag said Dara in bright pink sharpie. Ever the dominating personality, Miles went first, spewing charm with every joking word. It was amusing to watch, but when I turned to see if Frankie shared my cheer it was softened by the evident concern. He looked up at me only briefly with a tight smile then back at his menu to mentally reread his order. I was suddenly reminded of Frankie's anxiety. I didn't know much about the disorder as I only really experienced panic in situations it made sense to, but I knew that things like communication were harder for him than they were for me. As Miles rounded off his order of practically everything on the menu, I took a peek at Frankie's and began.

"Can I have the blueberry pancakes with a side of hash browns and a sunrise sampler for him?" I glanced across to verify I'd gotten his order right before continuing. "Can I also get a strawberry milkshake?"

Dara didn't bat an eye at the fact that I'd ordered for him, just finished up, took our menus, and left to put in the order. Frankie, however, was startled by the interaction and gave me the most awkward thanks. "I'm sorry, I know it's a stupid thing to get worried about. You didn't have to do that. Thank you."

"Not a problem," I reassured him. Hoping that a change of subject would ease his flustered state, I turned to the other one. "So, what do you guys have planned for the rest of the day?"

"Well," Miles lit up excitedly as he began. "After breakfast Frankie and I were going last minute gift shopping. We normally don't do that, but somebody broke Cain's gift and we have to get something else or he'll never shut up about it."

Frankie frowned at him in disapproval. "We're getting him a gift because it's the kind thing to do and because you broke the one we'd already bought."

"Anyway, gift shopping will lead to gift wrapping because we also haven't done that yet. At twelve or so we have lunch at home-"

"Whose home?"

"Yours, duh. After lunch I volunteer at the hospital for a few hours. I don't know if Frankie's coming this time, he struggles with children," Frankie glared at him for that, insulted. "Then we gather at Isaac's for dinner and that should be the day."

"Sounds busy," I supplied not knowing what else to say. "You two seem to be attached at the hip."

"Oh, Miles is impossible to shake once he's latched into you," Frankie rolled his eyes. "Run while you can."

Miles pouted at him. "I'm a fucking delight, thank you very much." Frankie just made a face at him.

I watched the two bicker for a minute, content to just listen. They were clearly very close friends and it was a curious thing to watch. Frankie was entirely comfortable when it was Miles he was talking to and Miles was never not smiling when he met Frankie's eyes. Again, I wondered if there was something a little more than friendship going on between them. The way they looked just seemed so loving. I almost wanted to ask before I remembered that this was a new friendship, and I didn't know how they felt about that kind of thing. If they weren't gay they could end up offended and then I'd be out two friends just as quickly as I'd gained them. Also, I doubted that they would tell me if they were a couple considering I could be homophobic. It wasn't the safest world out there and while I was far from hateful, there was no way for them to know that until I told them. Understanding this, I simply waited for the small argument to die down before carrying on our conversation.

"So, you spend Christmas Eve with Isaac?" I asked, genuinely curious. I thought it was usually a time to spend with family and such, not your boss.

When the mood dropped, I realized I had not chosen the best question. Unfortunately, Miles answered before I could take it back. "Ah, yeah. My parents died a long time ago and the rest of my family and I kind of had a falling out. Isaac's nice enough to let me invade his Christmas though so it's okay," he tried to finish with a positive attitude, but the sadness was still plain as day.

"Oh god, I'm sorry." I wanted to punch myself in the face. Insensitive much August? Trying to recover, I added, "I'm glad you have Isaac then."

"Yeah, me too," his grin was small, but at least it was still there. "Before I just snuck into Frankie's house at three in the morning and gave his mother a Christmas heart attack."

"He did," Frankie confirmed as if I'd doubt such a thing from Miles. "Imagine someone breaking into your house on Christmas and that being how you find out Santa isn't real."

I chuckled at that. I had never believed in Santa since we hadn't been raised on fairy tales of the sort, but I knew it was an integral part of most childhoods. "How could you ruin Santa for him Miles?"

"I didn't mean to," he quickly defended. "It was his mom! She was the one who was all 'it isn't Santa Frankie, he doesn't exist. We're being robbed'." I barely contained an ugly snort of milkshake at that.

"She really said that to me," Frankie whined, evidently still upset about his ruined childhood.

"To be fair," Miles snickered. "Thirteen is a little too old to still believe in Santa."

Once again, the pair dissolved into harmless argument. Frankie attempted to defend his former beliefs while Miles just did his best to rile him up further. The entire time I watched with a smile, happy just to be a part of what they were together. With it snowing again outside, and a hot stack of pancakes before me, I really thought that this was the best Christmas Eve yet. There may not have been songs and presents. One of us might've been spending their first holiday in jail, and maybe my brother was still asleep, but there was the warmth. There was still hot chocolate. There was the tall, decorated tree in the corner of a quiet diner, and two beautiful boys in the booth in front of me. It would've been a lie to say there wasn't a part of me that wanted to stay in this minute forever. I wanted to stay in this bubble of breakfast with Frankie and Miles, just laughing and talking about nothing in particular. It felt peaceful, and kind, and for the first time in a very long time, I felt like just another normal person and maybe I really, really liked that feeling.