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“Can’t we just...I dunno, buy him some groceries and be done?” Aidan grumbled, dragging his feet as Dean stopped to eye the products in a shop window.
“What? No! No, Aidan, we cannot just ‘buy him some groceries and be done.’ What kind of gift is that?” Dean barked out an incredulous laugh and kept walking.
“A practical one,” said Aidan, falling into step beside him. “Richard is a practical man.”
Dean rolled his eyes. “And just what kind of a practical gift did you get for him?”
“Socks,” Aidan said simply.
“You’re joking?” Dean had stopped again, but this time it was to give Aidan a disbelieving stare.
“Richard likes socks!” Aidan said, motioning for Dean to keep walking.
“No one likes getting socks for Christmas, Aid. The best gifts are the ones you put a lot of thought into. The ones that Richard will look at and immediately think of you.” Dean smiled to himself as stared blankly another window display.
“Richard isn’t the one I wish would think about me,” Aidan mumbled moodily under his breath as he turned to keep walking. How long would he have to suffer before he got over this ridiculous crush? When Aidan had agreed to go with Dean for some last-minute Christmas Eve present shopping, it had been because he wanted to spend extra time with him. He hadn’t realized they would be shopping for Richard. Richard - the man Aidan was almost certain had Dean’s full interest.
“What was that? I didn’t hear you….Where are you going?” Dean said, confused as Aidan spotted a toy shop and made a beeline for the door.
“Let’s go in here!”
“Aidan, I’m not buying Richard something from a toy store!” But it was too late, Aidan had already disappeared inside.
Aidan didn’t really care about browsing the toy store; he just needed a few minutes to get away from Dean and clear his head. It was always hard to think when Dean was nearby.
Aidan spotted a display of licensed Hobbit toys and wandered over to it, if only to make it look like he was actually shopping and not standing around suspiciously in the aisle of a children’s store. Glaring angrily at a Thorin Oakenshield action figure, he poked it forcefully with his finger.
“This is all your fault. How’s a guy like me supposed to stand a chance with Dean when you’re always around with your stupid charm and good looks and outstanding work ethic? Overachiever.”
He picked up a Fili action figure with considerably more care and smiled at the plastic face that, quite frankly, could hardly be called a likeness to Dean. It didn’t matter. Just seeing the toy reminded Aidan of every hour he’d spent with Dean on set. He’d thought about telling him how he felt, of course, but by then, it seemed pretty obvious who Dean was interested in, and it wasn’t Aidan. Dean had been busy after work every day last week, and Aidan was almost certain he had been with Richard. That thought stung more than he wanted to admit.
“Shopping for someone special?” Aidan looked up when he heard someone ask. The store’s hired Santa stood next to him, smiling kindly up at him. Aidan blinked a few times. There was something about him that looked and sounded...oddly familiar.
“Uh...no, no. I’m just here with my friend. He’s trying to find the perfect gift for the guy he likes,” Aidan said, setting the action figure back on the shelf.
Santa studied him carefully for a moment. “Are you sure of that, laddie?”
“Trust me; no one takes this long to pick out a gift unless you’re already in deep,” Aidan mumbled, wishing the Santa would go back to playing with the kids and leave him alone to brood.
.
“Your friend--Is he that man over there?” Santa asked, pointing over the half-shelves to where Dean stood in the corner, admiring a massive Lego sculpture of a Christmas tree, complete with working lights.
Aidan followed Santa’s gaze and his eyebrows rose in surprise. “How did you know?” he asked.
“He was here every day last week, shopping for the perfect gift for someone who is obviously very important to him.”
Aidan’s heart sank when he heard that. Dean had been shopping for this gift for over a week? Christ, he really didn’t stand a chance if Dean’s crush was this developed. “Yeah,” he mumbled, trying not to let his disappointment show. “Richard’s a hard guy to shop for.”
“Richard?” Santa said. “No, it wasn’t Richard. It started with an ‘A,’ if I remember correctly.”
Aidan gaped at him. Was this guy serious?
“It’s not too late, you know,” Santa said, straightening some boxes on the shelves.
“Too late for what?”
“To get him the perfect gift,” said Santa with a wink, and turned to toddle off and find children to greet without another word..
Aidan bit his lip as he stood rooted to the spot. Could he have been wrong? Maybe Dean wasn’t interested in Richard after all. The only way to find out was to take a chance and hope to God it would be worth it in the end.
In another moment he had made up his mind. “A gift that will make him think of you every time he looks at it….” he muttered quietly, turning over the conversation from earlier. Then he grabbed a toy from the shelf and headed for the register.
“Did you find everything alright today, sir?” the cashier greeted with a tired smile.
“Yes, yeah. Your Santa really knows how to make a sale,” Aidan said as he gave the girl his credit card, still half lost in thought over what he was about to do.
“Santa? You’re mistaken; we don’t have a Santa working here,” the girl said, handing over a paper sack with Aidan’s purchase tucked inside.
“What do you mean? I was just talking to him over th---” Aidan turned to point out the Santa, but he wasn’t there. He wasn’t in the store at all.
---
Normally, Aidan loved parties. Nothing was better than kicking back after a long day and cutting loose with a bunch of friends. But as he watched the cast Christmas Eve party in full swing around him, he found himself increasingly regretful that he had chosen such a public place to do this. Nervously, he kept to a corner, barely making conversation with anyone and anxiously chewing his lip as he contemplated making an escape. Even Richard was being more social than he was, padding across the room in his new socks to start a conversation with Evangeline.
Aidan swallowed thickly. He could leave now, before Dean found the gift. He wouldn’t have to deal with the embarrassment when Dean turned him down.
Just as he was about to duck quietly out the door, he saw Dean pick up his gift and look at it curiously. Aidan stood rooted to the spot, torn between getting out of there as fast as he could and snatching the gift back from Dean before he had a chance to open it. This was a mistake; this whole thing was a nightmarish mistake. He was just kidding himself thinking that Dean might actually like him. That Santa in the toy shop was probably a dementia patient who’d managed to give his caretakers the slip. He never should have let him plant false hope in his mind.
Dean was opening the card attached to the gift now, and Aidan couldn’t look away. A crease formed between Dean’s eyebrows as he read. Oh Christ, Aidan thought. I was right; he likes Richard. Why did I ever let myself do this? Stupid, stupid, stupid….
Aidan could hardly watch as Dean bit his lip and briefly glanced around the room to see if anyone was spying on him. Aidan quickly pretended to be straightening the picture frame on the wall next to the door, but he could feel Dean’s eyes burning into his back just the same. When he turned back around, Dean had moved to a more secluded area half-hidden behind the Christmas tree and was slowly peeling the wrapping paper off his gift.
Aidan squeezed his eyes tight shut. Dean was opening his gift. That was good, right? He hadn’t written much in his card, but what he had written had been fairly clear:
Dean,
I have wanted to tell you for months how hopelessly crazy i am about you, but I thought you were interested in Richard. If I was wrong - if you aren’t already attached to Richard, then opening this gift will tell you who I am. I hope, if you decide to open it, that it will make you think of me every time you look at it.
Merry Christmas
Aidan wanted nothing more than to melt into the floor at that precise moment. Forcing his eyes back open, he blinked when he found Dean heading his way through the room. Was there still time to run? Could he even make his legs move? Before he could answer those questions, Dean was in front of him, his cheeks dusted with a faint pink blush.
He held up the Kili action figure and smiled shyly at Aidan. “I got your gift,” he said. “Very subtle.”
Aidan’s heart was pounding in his chest. He still couldn’t tell if Dean was interested in something more or if he had simply come over to try and let Aidan down gently. He swallowed and nearly choked on his own spit.
“Do you like it?” Aidan tried, and his voice sounded a touch panicked even to his own ears.
Dean hummed. “Well, it’s not a very good likeness, is it?”
Aidan’s heart sank. “No. It’s pretty bloody awful, actually. It has a unibrow,” he tried to joke, unsuccessfully. He should have left while he still had the chance. It would have saved them this awkward situation. “I’m sorry. I--I should have just gotten you socks or something. I’ve gone and made everything weird between us.”
Dean shook his head and laughed as he set the toy aside. “No, you haven’t,” he said, taking a step closer to Aidan, who took a step back. “You’ve given me the one thing I wanted most for Christmas. Or you will, here in about ten seconds.” He motioned over Aidan’s head, and when Aidan looked up, he found himself in the doorway with mistletoe hung directly above him. Dean stepped in close and slid his arms around Aidan’s neck as Aidan felt a smile slowly creep over his face. He let his arms thread around Dean’s waist and pull him tight against him before lowering his lips to Dean’s and kissed him like this was the only chance he’d have.
A throat cleared behind them and they broke the kiss, still wrapped around each other as they looked around to find the source of the interruption. “Pardon me, lads, but you’re blocking my way out, and I’ve got a very busy night ahead of me,” Ken said, smiling warmly at them. They hastily shuffled to the side, never separating completely. Aidan turned back to Dean, ready to pick up where they had left off, when he heard Ken’s quiet remark as he walked through the door. “Looks like you found him the perfect present after all.”
Aidan looked up abruptly from where he had been focused on Dean’s lips. Suddenly he realized why the store Santa had seemed so familiar. Turning, he called out, “Wait!” But Ken had already disappeared, and the night outside was as quiet and as peaceful as Christmas Eve always should be.