A/N: I hope everyone had a great Christmas! Think of this as a way to end the Christmas season :)
There will be slightly mentioned Levight (Levi x Light) in this chapter.
Credits for this idea goes to lost-iris and MidnightDevilSpy .
Thank you for the phenomenal ideas. I combined your suggestions, so here we go! Happy reading!
Third Person:
Sora stood there, watching the snow fall outside wistfully. Each flake wafted down slowly, dancing around the window and only slightly contrasting against the light gray sky of clouds. All he wanted to do was go outside. He wanted a day to himself, one where he could walk around town or maybe even go visit his friends.
He lived in a small town, and everyone who lived in it knew everyone. Technically, his father married into the family that lived here, but he passed away a few years before. As for his real mother, she died giving birth to him. It was because of that that he was an only child, no sibling to sympathize with.
All he was left with were his step mother and three step siblings. Two of them were girls, and there was one boy. His whole entire step family were rotten people. He knew that they would've thrown him out the day his father died if it wasn't for the fact that he did all their chores for them, as well as cooked all their meals. At some points he was tempted to put something in their food, just for his own amusement.
Alas, he wasn't a bad person, and left the laxatives and other stuff out of the food. For now.
He knew that his malicious step mother only married his father for money. She and her three bratty kids lived in a small house before, and they had obviously blown all their money on stupid junk that they had wanted instead of investing in a home upgrade. So his dad bought them a new house that was much larger, as well as whatever her or her kids asked for.
He thought it was ridiculous that his father couldn't see that he was being completely used, but he seemed so happy, so Sora didn't want to rain on his parade. Instead he kept my mouth shut. The one time he was about to say something to him, he got threatened and beaten by his step mother before he had the chance. At that point he was so angry, but was terrified of what she could do to his father if he turned on her, so he didn't say another word about the matter.
Since then, he'd been treated like a prisoner. He had only been let out a few times to run errands, and on those occasions he got to see his friends that he rarely ever got a chance to see. He met them on his first errand run, and they were interested in him because they had never seen him before, even though he had been living there for two years at that point.
He had explained his situation to them, and ever since they had made a point to keep in touch. His friends' names were Levi and Light. Honestly, he was so confused about their relationship. At some points, it seemed like they were dating, until Light started talking about a girl named Charli. Then Levi seemed to get a little bit upset, but he tried not to show it.
Sora knew that Levi liked Light, but was lost for words when trying to tell him anything. It was up to him ultimately, and even though Sora acknowledged that, he still couldn't help himself from making suggestive comments or even pushing Levi towards Light a few times.
Levi hated him in those moments, but he had always gotten over it. It was actually kind of funny to Sora. He thought that Levi would be scary when he was angry, but when he was angry and flustered when Sora did something like that, it was just funny.
Along with them, he had another friend named Alex. He was introduced to her by Levi and Light, and she was Light's sister. She was super nice too, and the four of them often hung out together. It had been a few weeks since he was allowed to go out of the house though, and he was sure his step mother had her suspicions about his friends.
"Sora! What do you think you're doing?! Dinner isn't gonna make itself!" his step mother's voice screeched from outside his room. Well, technically she was underneath his room, since he lived in the small, dusty attic.
He rolled his eyes, grunting in annoyance as he forced himself off his windowsill where he was sitting, staring outside with his head in the clouds. He basically slid down the ladder, making his way downstairs and into the kitchen. Sighing, he tied an apron around his waist and got to work doing the bidding of his so-called 'family'. He dreamed of a day where he could go as far away from them as possible, but until the day came where he had enough money (which he didn't think was feasible, considering the fact that he couldn't sneak out and get a job any time soon), he wouldn't be going anywhere.
~
That night, Sora was cleaning the downstairs alone. He liked nights - they were quiet, and at this time everyone else was upstairs. Not asleep, just not actively yelling at him. It was peaceful enough for him. So when a distinctive knock on the front door broke his silence, he jumped from being startled.
Knowing that no one upstairs could've heard the knock, as well as the fact that he was practically done with his cleaning, he decided to see who it was. Boy, was he glad he was the one opening the door.
When he did, Levi and Light opened their mouths to speak, but he shushed them, quickly stepping outside and cautiously shutting the front door behind him, careful not to make any noise. His breath rose up into the cold air, and he felt himself begin to shiver pretty fast after stepping outside due to the freezing temperatures. It probably didn't help that he had on a t-shirt and some sweatpants.
"What're you guys doing here?!" he asked his friends in a startled voice, making sure to keep his volume low so that his 'family' wouldn't hear them talking.
"Well, since it's Christmas Eve, we wanted to invite you to a party!" Light said in an excited whisper. He must've gotten the message to be a bit quieter.
"Wait... It's Christmas Eve?" Sora asked confusedly. He knew that he had spent hours putting up Christmas lights by himself a few weeks before, but he didn't know that the next day was actually Christmas. He supposed the days just slipped past him.
Levi and Light both looked completely and utterly shocked about their friend's lack of knowledge regarding the significance of that day, as well as the next. If they hadn't shown up, he would've woken up the next day, unaware of the fact that it was Christmas!
"Yes it's Christmas Eve," Levi scoffed, "and we're taking you out to a party."
Sora did a double-take. He hadn't been to a party in... Well, since high school. It was a relatively foreign concept to him now that he was beyond his school years. Technically he should've been in college, but after his father died his plans went down the drain.
"A party?" Sora questioned. "When? Where? How many people?"
"Ummm... Right now, at our friend's house, there'll be about a hundred people. It's a really big house, so even though it seems like it'd be crowded, there'll be plenty of space," Light explained. Sora could tell he was trying to make the idea sound more appealing to him.
After hearing all that, all the blue haired boy could say was, "Right now?!"
"Mhm," Levi hummed. "So you better go get ready. Alex is already there, the host is a good friend of hers that's around our age."
"Alright..." Sora mumbled, a little reluctantly. However apprehensive he was about the idea of going to a party with a hundred people in it, he just wanted to get out of the house, and this was a perfect opportunity. It was only ten thirty at night, so why not? He knew he needed to be back soon though, before anyone noticed that he was gone. He couldn't get wasted and end up crashing there, as he knew many people would.
He tried to be as quick and quiet as possible while sneaking up into his attic room and tip-toeing past the bedrooms of his step family. He threw on some black ripped jeans and a Christmas hoodie, something casual and festive, yet still good enough for a party.
As he was sneaking back downstairs, he heard arguing from in the direction of the bedrooms. It sounded as though his three bratty 'siblings' were arguing with his 'mother'. Curiosity getting the better of him for only a moment, he allowed himself to listen to what they were saying.
"C'mon! It's Christmas Eve, and this guy's throwing a big party! He's rich, mom! If one of us could get with him tonight..."
"It'll be really fun! Please!"
"We need to go! Everyone's gonna be there!"
"Fine!" his step mother's voice shouted over the arguments. "Fine, go. But do try to get with him, we could use more money. That useless man had to die and now his fortune - the only thing he had to offer - is beginning to die off too."
Sora felt anger surge through him. He knew that she only used his father, but how could she ever say that?! He knew it wasn't good to try and say anything, so he didn't. It was very tempting though, and his fists were balled so tightly that his knuckles had turned a pearly-white. His jaw was clenched, and it took all his self control to not try and go put that evil woman in her place.
Then another realization hit him - his idiotic step siblings would be at the party too! Having to avoid them throughout the whole night wouldn't be easy, but... he supposed it would give him something to do.
He started to head down the stairs and out the door, climbing into Levi's car with him and Light and letting them whisk him away to the party. He felt bad for whoever the host was that one of his 'siblings' were talking about. He felt bad for anyone who had to deal with those heathens.
~
They arrived at the party, and Sora believed that it was safe to say that the house was way nicer than his. It was larger, more modern-looking, and definitely had a pool and at least one hot tub in the back. The front was scattered with people, all having drinks in their hands, some just chatting, others making out, and others chugging drinks. One guy was even puking off the side of the deck, and he was definitely drunk. Gross.
Levi, Light and Sora made their way into the house, where music was blaring, multicolored lights were flashing, and people were dancing. Drinks and food and various other random items were scattered across the floor. There were even some people laying on the floor too, as well as about ten santa hats, and that was just in the first room.
People were dressed in Christmas attire, some more revealing than others. Sora tried not to even look at some of the people with how questionably they were dressed. He basically kept his head down, letting his friends lead him through the rooms and up some stairs.
"Alex!" he heard Light exclaim after a while, and he perked up to see his friend coming towards them, a grin on her face and drink in her hand. He knew it didn't contain anything bad, or even a drop of alcohol - she was responsible enough to not do that, especially when she knew she had to drive.
"You made it!" she said over the music and chatter, pulling them all into a group hug. "And Sora! It feels like forever since I've seen you!"
"I know, it's been a while. I haven't been able to leave in a really long time," he said sheepishly. She waved him off though.
"Don't worry about it. None of us blame you!" she told him. After that, she started chatting with Levi and Light, and Sora checked out for a second to look around. He was on another floor with lights and loud music, but at least this one kept stuff off the floors for the most part. It was also less crowded.
He could see actual Christmas lights, and he noticed that the loud music in the background was holiday themed. A Christmas tree stood in the corner of the room, decorated in golden lights and red ribbons, which he found really beautiful. Mistletoe hung over doorways and archways, and he saw people getting caught under them and being forced to kiss each other.
"Let's go dance!" he heard Alex say, which pulled him back into reality. He began following behind them as they all started to walk into the other room, which seemed to have more lights and louder music.
He felt something collide with his shoulder, and he looked to see someone who was surely drunk stumbling around, a drink sloshing in their hand. They didn't even acknowledge Sora as they tripped on, giggling and hiccuping as they went. He shook his head at them before continuing on, making his way into the other room to find his friends.
He didn't seem to be paying attention to where he was going after that either, because as he was exiting that room, he collided with someone. He ran into them so hard that he fell backwards.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" he apologized, thanking the lord that the person he knocked into didn't have a drink in hand. As he looked up at the person he ran into, he decided right then and there that he was gorgeous. His red hair stuck out of his santa hat, which was sitting lopsided on his head. He had a button down Christmas shirt that had the first few unbuttoned and fit in all the right places, and black pants to accompany it that the shirt was half tucked into.
"Don't worry about it, it's fine," the person said, offering him a hand in getting up. "What's your name? I haven't seen you around before."
"O-oh," Sora stuttered, standing up and trying to regain his senses. "I'm Sora. I'm not really new, I just have an... interesting family. I'm Alex and Light and Levi's friend, if you know who they are."
"Oh yeah!" the guy said after a second, seemingly realizing something. "Alex told me about you. I'm Jaxx, I'm the owner of this house," he introduced, putting out a hand for Sora to shake.
As they shook hands, Sora studied him. So this was the guy that his 'siblings' were talking about... He felt like he should warn him about them, but at the same time, he just met the guy. How would he go about warning him about something like that? "Hey Jaxx, AKA guy that I just ran into, my siblings are going to try to seduce you and use you because you're rich!"
No. No one does that.
"This is a pretty nice party," Sora complimented, offering him a smile. "A little crazy downstairs, but for the most part it's pretty nice."
"You think so?" Jaxx asked with a grin. "And yeah, downstairs is... Well, it's kind of a lost cause at this point, and it's going to be a pain in the ass to have to clean up tomorrow," he groaned in annoyance, but there was an air of playfulness behind it that made Sora laugh a little.
"Sorry. Maybe you could ask someone not too wasted to help you out tomorrow? Of course, it will be Christmas, so that would be a bit difficult..." Sora muttered, then shrugged. "Eh, I'm sure someone would be willing to."
Jaxx was wearing a content smile, and looked at Sora with interest. It looked like he was about to say something more before he looked up above them, and a little bit of surprise flashed in his eyes before he looked back at Sora. His face turned a little pink, and Sora raised an eyebrow at him.
"Erm... Look up," Jaxx told him, and when Sora did, his face turned bright red. Right above them, right in the doorway they were standing in, hung some mistletoe. It reached down, and Sora felt like dying from embarrassment from the fact that he had to kiss some stranger. A beautiful stranger, but still.
"Ah," he murmured in realization, and when he looked back at Jaxx, the red haired boy was looking at him. Jaxx was biting his bottom lip slightly, looking at Sora with interest, debating what he should do in his own mind. After a minute, he shrugged.
"Y'know, what the Hell? It's Christmas, and besides, you're pretty cute anyways," Jaxx told him, a smirk playing on his lips and he gave Sora a little wink, making Sora blush and become even more flustered than he already was. Jaxx chuckled as he drew closer to the cyan haired boy.
Sora's eyes fluttered shut as Jaxx lightly kissed him, and even though it wasn't long, the kiss lingered between the two as they stared into each other's eyes, not even noticing their close proximity for a few moments until Jaxx stepped a bit further away, laughing nervously.
"Um... Wanna go grab a drink?" he asked, and Sora offered him a smile and nodded, the red on his cheeks fading into only a slight pink as the two walked away. Sora followed Jaxx to the nearest place they could get a drink, and Jaxx then led them down a pretty quiet hallway so they could chat and drink in peace.
Sora thought that, after kissing Jaxx (who was basically still a stranger), conversation would be awkward. However, it was exactly the opposite. They just chatted about everything and anything - Alex, Light and Levi were topics of conversation at one point. Sora explained his family situation a little bit so that Jaxx would understand why he hadn't seen Sora around town before.
He didn't know if it was the alcohol or just Jaxx, but he was able to just let his guard down and talk to him. Soon enough, Jaxx knew him better than anyone. Jaxx then talked about his own life in turn, like why he lived in this huge house by himself. He was a bit older than Sora, and since Sora was old enough to legally live alone, so was Jaxx.
His parents had up and left that town though. They had to move to another place for work since they had to follow where the main office building was, leaving Jaxx all alone. He didn't seem to mind it though - he said he liked how peaceful it was. Lonely, but peaceful all the same.
"Although, when it gets to Christmas time, it just feels lonely," Jaxx admitted, smiling at the floor sadly. "It just reminds me that no one is really here. That's why I threw this party, I guess. So I could have some company."
Sora smiled at him, nudging him a little and leaning into him. He loved talking with Jaxx, and didn't mind their close proximity, or the fact that they were somehow getting closer each second.
"Well, now you have me for company, right?" he asked. The two were just sitting next to each other, their backs pushed up against the wall. The hallway now had no one in it but them, and it hadn't for a while. Sora didn't know how long they had been sitting there talking for, but he didn't care. He wanted to talk to Jaxx for as long as he could.
"I wouldn't want anyone else," Jaxx told him in a flirtatious tone, and Sora felt himself blush a little bit.
"I wish I could stay and help you clean up, but-"
"No, that's not on you," Jaxx interrupted him, looking into his eyes. "Considering your situation with your family... Really, that's not on you."
Sora felt a little guilty about not being able to say, and the fact that he probably wouldn't see Jaxx too much - if at all - after tonight. He wanted to spend as much time with Jaxx as possible.
The blue haired boy noticed the slight parting in Jaxx's lips, and the dark red color of his eyes that reflected the dim light of the room. Sora admired all his features, and felt himself leaning in once again, his eyes shutting.
For the second time that night, he and Jaxx shared another soft kiss, but this one lasted a little longer and was more passionate. Sora couldn't explain it, but he felt a weird feeling coursing through him since he met Jaxx. He would describe it as nothing less than love.
As they pulled away, both of them looked away from each other sheepishly. Neither of them knew what to say - after all, they had just met. Though they weren't strangers anymore, it was still unusual for either of them to feel such a sense of attachment to anyone like they were feeling right then.
"Um..." Sora muttered after a while, finally breaking the silence. "S-sorry, I just... I don't know what came over me."
He felt Jaxx kiss him again, surprising him only for a moment before he kissed back.
"It's okay," Jaxx told him, being even closer than they were before. "I'll be honest, something about you is different. It makes me feel a lot different, and I can't really explain it, but..."
"I get what you mean. I feel it, too," he said, feeling relief over the fact that Jaxx actually felt the same. It was good for him to know that he wasn't alone in his odd emotions. The two were silent, both of them trying to think about what this feeling was. Sora thought it was love, but how?
"I should tell you something, though," the younger of the two started reluctantly, breaking the silence that rested between them. "After tonight, I won't be able to go out much again. You know that, so... That means I probably won't see much of you again. I'm so sorry, I don't want to leave you at all, because something about how I feel around you just makes me never really want to leave, and I-"
"-I'll see you again, I promise," Jaxx stated, cutting off Sora's rambling. The red haired boy took the other's face in his hands, cupping his cheek. "Don't worry about it, okay? I don't care if I have to break into your house or something, I'll see you again."
Sora smiled at him, though something behind it was sad. He knew that there would be a slim chance of him actually ever seeing Jaxx again, or of him breaking into the house. Sora hugged the other boy tightly, not wanting to let go. As he looked at his phone though, it was getting late - or perhaps early - at a time of two in the morning. He didn't notice, and he saw multiple notifications from his friends asking where he had run off to.
"I should get going, I have to cook and clean and do a million other things tomorrow for my family. I'm sorry," Sora said sadly, backing out of the embrace and standing up. Jaxx followed suit, and Sora felt their hands brush together slightly before Jaxx grabbed his hand.
"It's okay," Jaxx assured him, kissing his hand lightly as a prince would do. Despite the dismaying situation, Sora couldn't help but giggle slightly at the gesture.
"Merry Christmas, Jaxx," Sora muttered sadly after a few beats of silence. He kissed Jaxx one more time before letting go of his hand and leaving down the hallway, feeling his heart ache and his whole being wanting to turn back and go back to Jaxx. He felt tears form in his eyes.
He shot a text to Alex, knowing that if anyone was sober, it would be her. He asked her to drive him home, and she agreed, but told him to give her a few minutes to finish her conversation. Sora made his way to the chaotic downstairs of the house and out the front door, where he sat on the porch (as far away from where he saw that one person puking as possible).
Sitting on the bench, he swung back and forth. The outside was pretty empty at this point, and it was a lot more peaceful than it was inside, even though you could still hear music and loud conversation blasting from inside. There were only three people out on the lawn, all standing there and looking distressed. He decided that he would listen in on their conversation since he had nothing better to do. Besides, sometimes other people's conversations were interesting.
"He wasn't in there! I looked all over the party and asked people where Jaxx was, but they all said they didn't know," one person basically yelled, her tone shrill and angry.
"Last anyone saw him he was kissing someone underneath some mistletoe. At least, that's what I heard," another voice, a male's voice, said.
"If he's with someone then we have no chance! Ugh, this sucks!" another girl's voice shouted, and she stomped her feet up and down, pouting brattily.
Sora felt his heart drop to the pit of his stomach when he realized who those people were. Those were his siblings, and they seemed to have been looking for Jaxx, but since he had been so occupied with Sora all night, no one was able to find him.
He felt himself cringe when he heard the bench squeak loudly. He was trying to get off and go inside to wait so he wouldn't catch their attention, but that failed as they all turned towards him.
"Oh look, we have an eavesdropper," his 'brother' remarked, the arrogance in his tone evident. Sora tried not to respond, and attempted to walk into the house without another word. He cursed under his breath as he heard footsteps approaching him, and he tried desperately to hide his face. "Hey, respond to me when I talk to you."
He felt a hand on his shoulder and it spun him around. Panic filled him, but he could do nothing as he faced his 'siblings', staring at them with fear in his eyes.
"Sora?!" he heard his 'sister' ask in surprise.
"Oh oh, look what we have here. Mom would be so upset when she hears that you were sneaking out," his 'brother' teased, an evil smirk playing on his lips, malice carved into his every feature. "C'mon, let's go home. Getting to get you in deep trouble on Christmas morning is probably the best present I could've gotten."
~
The four went straight home, and his step mother got woken up immediately. They draped Sora by the arms like a prisoner as they approached her, and once she heard the story, she struck Sora across the back of the face hard with her bony hand.
After that, she made his step siblings leave before hitting him more, leaving cuts and bruises swelling up on his face.
"Go. Make the food now. Then you can stay up in your room for the rest of the day. Better yet, the rest of the week! No meals, nothing. I might leave you in there longer," she spat bitterly, and he quickly obliged, rushing downstairs and beginning to prepare them a Christmas feast.
He was done by five in the morning with everything, and then went up to his room. His phone had gotten broken by his step mother when she beat him, so he had no means of communication. He sat up there, and the only thing on his mind was Jaxx. He would definitely never be allowed out of the house again, and he couldn't even text his friends to let them know of his predicament.
Curling up on his bed, he let himself collapse. He was exhausted from the sleepless night before him, and he felt himself doze off into an uneasy sleep, one he wished that he would never wake up from...
~
Despite his hopes, he did eventually awaken, and the same sinking feeling of dismay and hopelessness returned to him. He knew that, by that time, he was locked in his room, and it would likely stay like that.
He heard the doorbell echo throughout the house. He could hear everything going on downstairs from how still and quiet every other part of the house was. He heard his step siblings laughing, the clanging of plates and forks, and then them opening the door. It was who was there that surprised him.
"J-Jaxx! What're you doing here?" one of his 'sisters' asked after opening the door. He assumed his step mother knew who he was, since she didn't ask any questions about him.
"Um... Well, I'm actually here to see Sora. Do you know where he is...?" he inquired. The whole house went dead silent after that, and it was only broken by his 'brother'.
"Why would you want to see him?" he asked with disgust.
"Because he's an amazing person?" Jaxx said questioningly. "So, where is he?"
"Now now, that's not important. Why don't you stay and eat? It's awfully cold outside, I'm sure you'd want to warm up," his step mother coaxed.
"Where is Sora?" Jaxx questioned, his tone getting dead serious.
"He's in his room because he snuck out last night. To your party, I believe," his 'sister' chimed in.
"I recall you three being there too, so why is he the only one getting punished for being out? That doesn't make much sense," Jaxx argued. "I know his room is in the attic, but I assume you locked it, is that right?"
"Yes, I did," his step mother clarified. He heard footsteps downstairs, and waited with bated breath for someone to say something else. "And he's staying in there until he learns his lesson. You can come back in about two weeks to speak to him."
"Two weeks?!" Jaxx asked in a startled voice. "That's how long you're keeping him in there for?! You're feeding him, right? Water, at least? He could dehydrate and die!"
"It'd be good if he did," his step mother snapped back. "All he does is cause problems and take our money. The world would be better off without him."
"You honestly think that? How sick can you be?! It's my understanding that he does everything around the house for you, and you're the one who stole all his father's money anyways. You married him just for the money, and when he died you probably didn't even feel an ounce of sadness-"
"-How dare you," she said, appalled Jaxx would say something like that. Sora remembered saying some of those things to him the night before when he was explaining his family. "Get out of my house!"
"Let Sora out of his room!" Jaxx yelled back.
"No!"
There were a few beats of silence before more car doors sounded from outside, and multiple sets of heavy footsteps approached the house.
"I guess you don't leave me much of a choice then. I suspected this was going to happen after Sora mysteriously disappeared after asking my friend for a ride home. She came to me and expressed her concern, and already I had begun to come up with my theories. Turns out I was right. So I decided to call in some people that could help me," he explained, and those heavy footsteps entered the house.
"Hey! Stop that! You can't detain me! Hey!" Sora's step mother screamed, but it was no use. A few more sets of footsteps hammered their way up the stairs, right up to the entrance to his room.
"One, two, three!" a voice sounded, and something hard hit his door from below, breaking it wide open. Sora peered down to see a few police officers standing below him, offering him comforting smiles.
He allowed himself to get down from his room, and he made his way into the living room. When he got there, he saw three very shocked step siblings of his standing with their mouths hanging wide open, gaping at him, Jaxx, and the officers. His step mother was outside, being loaded into the police car. She had committed a crime when locking him away with an intention to starve him, so she was going to be tried for it.
Sora flew into Jaxx's arms, wrapping him in a tight hug when he saw him, which made his 'sibling's' mouths only hang open wider.
"Thank you," Sora whispered to him, clinging onto him and not wanting to let go.
"Merry Christmas Sora."
~
After that day, his step mother got some jail time to be served. My 'siblings' tried to keep the house up and running, but he could only guess that they were failing with dwindling money and no cooking or cleaning skills between the three of them whatsoever.
As for him, in light of the holiday season, Jaxx decided to take him in. His house was big enough that it was okay, and he finally got to see his friends on a regular basis. A life like that was only what he dreamed his life could be like, and it was finally happening, all thanks to Jaxx.
About a month after Sora moved in, he and Jaxx began officially dating, and let themselves explore that weird feeling they were experiencing before. Turns out Sora was right - it was love they had been feeling the night of Christmas Eve.
He supposed all he had to thank was that mistletoe above the doorway for bringing them together like it did. That's where he met the absolute love of his life, and every time they passed through that doorway together again, they always made sure to share a kiss, just to commemorate the moment that started everything.
Word Count (Not Including A/N's): 5,693
Onto the next one!