Chapter Text
3 days until Christmas
7:39 PM
A group of drunk young men who have nothing better to do during the holidays and a mall full of civilians trying to get disappointing deals for Christmas is not a good combo.
If Soap were sober he would’ve slapped himself silly for even thinking it was a good idea.
For the record, it’s not like he and his mates planned to go to their local mall after visiting the pub. It was just a coincidence that the mall happened to be close by and Soap needed to find last-minute presents for his friends and family.
So here he was, arm in arm, unsteady step after unsteady step as he, Gaz, and Roach wandered through a busy corridor. A chorus of shoes squeaked along shiny ceramic while he and his friends sang Christmas jingles obnoxiously loud in their drunken state.
People stared and parents ushered their kids to walk past them as Soap tried to hide his alcohol-fueled red face in the crook of his shoulder. This was mortifying, no doubt at all, probably the most embarrassing thing he’s ever done. But knowing Gaz and Roach he knew that sober or not, the trio of them together would’ve done it anyway.
Gaz stopped in his tracks with Roach following along shortly after. Then with a final squeak of shoes, Soap almost launched himself forward with the abrupt stop. He looked at Gaz with a glare before realizing that the man paid him no mind, instead, he looked forward.
“No way,” Gaz said, there’s a look of disbelief on his face and he grins towards Soap, he points towards a line of little kids accompanied by their parents.
Their destination was an overly decorated set up, employees dressed as elves, with comically large presents and a Christmas tree in the middle. There, in front of it sat a mall Santa, sporting his iconic red hat and outfit.
“Though’ they stopped doing it a couple years back,” Soap says, clicking his tongue. He takes a mental note and thinks about his niece and nephew.
“Guess not,” Gaz smirks as he shares a look with Roach next to him, Soap could practically see the shared light bulb moment between them.
“Bet you won’t take a picture with him.”
Soap’s eyebrow quirks in interest “I’ll bite, how much you bettin’ Garrick?”
“Fifteen quid you won’t.”
Soap scoffs “Only fifteen? Forget it, cheapskate.”
Roach chuckles and Gaz barks a laugh.
“Alright, alright thirty, take it or I’ll give it to Roach for free.”
Gaz looks at him with pleading eyes and Soap bites his bottom lip, truly debating on whether or not he should embarrass himself further.
Thirty quid is a lot just for a simple task. He could buy himself new paint, or a pair of headphones he had been meaning to buy. The possibilities were endless.
“Fine.” He grumbles out as he untangles himself from warm limbs, walking to the end of the line and standing behind a family of four.
Maybe it was the alcohol, the desire for money, or the drive to prove that he wasn’t a pussy, but Soap had agreed without any complaints. The only thing he remotely complained about was the wait of the line and the not-so-enthusiastic teenager working the money.
He watched family after family take turns taking a picture with Santa, the kids sitting on his lap and him asking what they wanted for Christmas. Soap watched as they replied with expensive things like an iPad or a new sibling, he chuckled at the parents' horrified expressions.
When it was his turn to take a picture his nervousness had finally caught up to him and he was a hair's width away from calling it quits, but he sucked in a breath and decided to power through.
Handing the teenager a 10 he made eye contact with the mall Santa who looked at him with an unamused expression before giving a strained smile, patting his lap.
Soap gave a shaky inhale as he looked back at Gaz and Roach who were laughing and giving him a thumbs up, he swore he saw the flash of a phone camera but he brushed it off with a grumble before walking over to the mall Santa.
“Merry Christmas young man, what would you like for Christmas?” He spoke in a deep Manchester accent, not even bothering to put on a cheery facade.
Soap looked at the man and realized that close up, he looked nothing like Santa at all. He questioned what genius would hire this guy.
“Let’s just skip ta’ the picture” Soap muttered before hesitantly sitting on the man’s lap, straining his legs so that his full body weight wasn’t on the poor man.
The man looked up at him with an annoyed expression before straightening up, making Soap realize just how much of a giant this man was compared to him.
Soap's legs were burning as he held up himself up, he silently urged the cameraman to hurry up and take the picture. But he was busy adjusting the settings and angle to notice Soap’s pleading look.
He almost jumped out of the man’s arms when he felt an arm curl around his waist, pulling him closer. He gripped fake Santa’s shoulder for extra support and maybe it was the rush of alcohol but he may or may not have run his hand further down those broad shoulders and the man may or may not have tensed up under his touch.
Oh god, he’s definitely slipping this man a 5, just for the inconvenience.
He snapped his head up towards the camera and saw the disapproving faces of the families in line and the laughing faces of his friends and Soap wanted nothing more than to curl away and die.
His smile was so strained he felt like he pulled a face muscle, and with a flash of a camera, it was over as fast as it started.
Soap had never gotten up so fast in his life, immediately going over to get his picture and take his leave, ignoring the lingering eyes on him.
He approached Gaz and Roach, who were hunched over, cackling at Soap’s red face.
“You guys ‘re lucky ah would never pass up free money.” Soap grumbled as he handed Gaz the printed photo of him and Santa.
Gaz took it merrily, looking at the photo once more and wiping his tears as his laughter died down. He heard little snickers of Gaz and Roach, little whispers of how red Soap looked, or the annoyed expression the employee was sporting.
“Best Christmas present ever.” Gaz chokes out, taking out his phone and snapping a picture before handing the photo back to Soap along with the promised 30 pounds.
Now with that out of the way, Soap prayed that there would be no more interruptions. He prayed that he could get his Christmas shopping done quickly so he could go home and sleep today off, hopefully, he’d forget everything in the morning.
The scene he created caused his friends to mellow out for a bit, allowing Soap to quickly get his shopping done, with no interruptions like he’d hoped.
He used Gaz and Roach as his personal shopping carts and thought that maybe his friends weren’t that bad to have around.
By the end of the night, they ended up at the food court, Roach stuffing his face with crisps that Soap had bought him as he nodded along to Gaz’s rambling about the Liverpool game.
Soap was exhausted, he sat next to Gaz slumping in the hard plastic chair, and swore that by the end of this, his wallet was going to be coughing up dust.
He looked at his watch and realized that the trio had been there for over an hour and it was starting to get too late for Soap’s liking.
“We should get going, aye?” Soap questioned looking over towards his friends.
‘In a bit’ Roach signed with his hands before gesturing towards the food he had in front of him and Soap nodded in acknowledgment.
“Alright..” Soap sighed before standing up, “I'll be back, just gonna use the bathroom.”
He points at Gaz, eyeing him “Watch my stuff bastard.”
Before he could hear Gaz’s confused rambling he walked to the bathroom, chuckling to himself.
3 days until Christmas
9:28 PM
With how late it was getting, the mall was starting to empty and thankfully so were the bathrooms.
What he didn’t expect to see when he exited his stall was the mall Santa, his signature red coat stripped off and folded neatly onto the counter. He was wearing a tank top that showed off his broad shoulders and thick muscles, Soap had to physically stop himself from drooling.
His fake beard was nowhere to be seen and his Christmas hat lay next to the sink on top of his costume. His hair was a dirty blonde, and messy from hat hair, he looked unbearably handsome and rugged without the cheesy Christmas get-up.
He was exactly Soap’s type, but after the foolish stunt he pulled he didn’t think he stood a chance. He thought of leaving the bathroom, not wanting to face the man but the disgust of not washing his hands won him over.
He takes the sink next to the man and from the corner of his eye, he sees him glance at Soap before going back to looking at himself in the mirror. The tips of his hair were a bit damp and it looked like he had just washed his face.
Soap felt tense with awkwardness, the only sound distracting him from his embarrassment was the sink's running water.
He contemplates sparking up a conversation, maybe apologizing to the man. But he remembers that the bathroom isn’t an ideal place to spark up conversation, he cringes at his thoughts as he grabs a paper towel and dries his hands.
He stands in front of the trash can for a minute after throwing away his trash, he probably looks foolish, like he didn’t know what to do. The exit was right there and he could leave, but a part of Soap urged him to say something, anything.
Then, after another excruciatingly long minute Soap decides fuck it he's already embarrassed himself enough today, whats one more? and places a 5 from his pocket onto the counter next to the man.
He looks at Soap, then at the bill before hesitantly taking it, looking at Soap with a raised brow.
Then Soap comes to realize that the man may not even recognize him from earlier, he just gave a random stranger 5 dollars with no explanation, he mentally palms himself so hard he thinks he’ll have a migraine.
“For earlier, sorry bout tha’ by the way..”
The man looks at Soap, studying his features as if trying to remember him before he cracks a small smile, letting out a huff of laughter.
“Right,” The man looks at the 5 before stuffing it into his pocket. “You always feel up your local mall Santa’s or?…”
Soap feels his face burn in shame and he almost fanned himself like a flustered Victorian woman at the sound of the raspy Manchester accent. He tried to think of a tame response but his mouth opened before he had time to think.
“Nae, just you.”
Soap realizes just how weird that sounds and if he could, he’d choke himself out.
If the Guinness World Records had a spot for the ‘world's-biggest-idiot’ Soap would take that spot, piece of cake.
“I meant— No wait—” Soap stutters over himself as he rubs his temples, hoping to hide his red face from the man. “I didn’t— I didn’t mean it like tha’...”
The man gave an amused laugh at Soap, blushing a bit at his comment, the pretty pink beautifully contrasted against his pale features and Soap felt his face burn brighter in humiliation.
“No need to explain yourself,” He huffed with a smile before holding out a hand, after a long moment of silence Soap took it. “...Ghost.”
“John,” Soap pulls his hand away from the handshake “but most of ma’ mates call me Soap.”
“Soap…” The man tests his name on his tongue, “weird but fitting…What kinda name is Soap anyways?”
Soap fakes mild offense, “wha’ kinda name is Ghost?” he questions back.
“Touché..”
Soap rolls his eyes with amusement “Never said you had to call me it.” Soap leans against the sink counter, Ghost follows his actions.
“Never said I wouldn’t.” the man pauses, “Just that Soap feels too casual for a man who sat on my lap a few hours ago.”
“Tha’ was a dare..”
“Was it now?”
Soap gives an annoyed scoff “Aye it was.”
“Right then..” Ghost doesn’t sound convinced at all.
There's a silence between the two and Soap makes a mental note that Ghost is a very weird-mysterious guy, a part of him wants to get to know him better, and another part of him wants to run. Either way, the only thing he could think about was Ghost, he wondered how he could keep the conversation going.
“Are ye’ free tonight?”
“Making moves now? Bold, Soap”
“No’ like tha—” Soap sighs as he feels his face heat up again. Fuck, pretty men are going to be the death of him.
“Was wonderin’ if, you’d like to hang out with me and my mates”
Ghost hums, thinking for a second.
“Not free tonight, got to get home to my cat.”
Soap couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed, it probably showed on his face when Ghost spoke up again.
“Tomorrow, I'm free tomorrow.”
Soap smiles, “Tomorrow then?”
Ghost nods “Tomorrow.”
3 days until Christmas
10:58 PM
Soap had practically skipped out of that bathroom like a child, he had exchanged numbers with Ghost and he was looking forward to hanging out with him tomorrow. He didn’t think he’d be able to sleep tonight without thoughts of the Brit plaguing his mind.
‘You look chipper.’ Roach signs, grinning as Soap approaches the table, Soap rolls his eyes as he tells Roach that it was nothing. The pair were already packed and had been waiting for Soap to get back for a while now.
Gaz hands Soap his bags and boxes of Christmas gifts and Soap grunts at the weight, glaring at Gaz.
“Glad you didn’t fall in, now let's go home, I'm beat.” Gaz sighed as the three walked off to the parking lot.
Soap had been assigned designated driver seeing as he was already sober. Being Scottish had its perks apparently, Soap thought as he drove, Gaz fast asleep in the back as Roach was watching cars pass by.
He soon makes it to Roaches house, dropping him off with a wave of goodbye before driving to him and Gaz’s shared apartment.
Soap was wide awake now, he looked at the time, 11:28 PM. He sighed at the loss of his decent sleep schedule, but with the foggy window, serene chilly night, and quiet Christmas music playing through the radio paired with Gaz snoring in the back, he found that he didn’t mind losing a couple of hours of sleep.
He passes out on the couch that night with a warm and happy heart.