im sorry this is really late i ended up going to a place without wifi so I couldn't finish and post it
hope you had a great new years and other holidays tho!
Jeremy's POV
I stared into the ground, blushing madly. I could barely look Michael in the eye.
I reached for his hand gingerly and grasped it, still avoiding eye contact. We came to Jake's Christmas Party, expecting it to be just the normal group: Jenna, Christine, Chloe, Brooke, Rich, Jake, and ourselves. But it wasn't, so we stood in the corner, awkwardly looking away from the enormous crowd of people.My family's Hanukkah party was more fun than this, with the pushy aunts and drunk uncles.
But Hanukkah was over. And now I had to deal with people from my school.
There also was a mistletoe.
Other couples loved it, like Chloe and Brooke.
Who were. Still. Making. Out. Under. It.
Jenna and Christine shared a light peck, both with a light blush.
Rich full on tackled Jake, and then they left to go upstairs.
*cough cough* they're definitely fucking *cough cough*
And yet here I was, with my boyfriend I had known for like, most of my life, not even talking to him. It was just the fact that this was our first Christmas together as a couple. I was pretty fucking nervous for our turn under the mistletoe, even though it wasn't our first time kissing under it.
Kindergarten, the Mell's annual holiday party. We saw his parents doing that, so we assumed we could too.
"Hey, Jeremy, want to go under the mistletoe?"
"To kiss? Why?"
"Mommy says that you kiss someone when you love them. I love you 'cause you're my bestest friend!"
"You are my bestest friend, too!"
"Also, I don't have cooties 'cause I'm not a girl, so it will be fine."
"Let's go!"
We giggled as he led the way, clearing through adults left and right. There was a little opening beneath the mistletoe. The adults turned their heads to look at us.
The kindergarteners, kissing.
Laughter broke out amongst all of the adults, them being good natured people. Except my mom. She stomped her way over there and dragged me away from the crowd.
I began crying, and so did Michael.
"Mom! No! He's my bestest friend and I love him!"
"Jeremy, you do not kiss your bestest friends," she hissed into my ear.
My dad was close behind us.
"Carolyn, wait!"
I was in so much trouble. I had one of the longest time-outs ever.
"Our son will not become a homo!"
"Carolyn, please."
"He embarrassed us!"
"Carolyn-"
"What is everyone going to think? The Heeres, parents of a future fag!"
"Carolyn, stop i-"
"No! I will not standing up for what's right! That is unnatura-"
"CAROLYN, STOP."
"I can't deal with this."
My mom left. She just left, and she wasn't back around until early in the morning.
After that, my parents relationship, which was already going downhill, got worse. My mom would constantly drink the moment she got home, and was verbally and occasionally physically abusive. She left one day. She just left, and we never heard from her again.'
Michael stuck with me through all of that.
And I couldn't be more grateful.
But enough of reminiscing my tragic childhood story, let's focus on the party. I decided to turn to Michael and say,
"Hey, Michael, want to go under the mistletoe?"
He laughed and smiled. We both remembered that day fairly well, and brought it up occasionally.
"To kiss? Why?"
"Mommy says that you kiss someone when you love them. I love you 'cause you're my bestest boyfriend!"
"You are my bestest boyfriend, too!"
"Also, I don't have cooties 'cause I'm not a girl, so it will be fine."
"Let's go!"
He grabbed my hand and led us to the little clearing. He held my face and whispered,
"I am in love with you, Jeremy."
"Me too, Michael."
We kissed.
It was soft, simple, nothing new. We had kissed before. There was just this additional magic of the holidays, being with your loved ones. I wished for more holidays for this to come.