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Alex sighed as he wandered the streets of Hollywood by himself, his hands tucked into his pockets. He looked around at the tourists crowding the streets, laughing together and taking pictures on their phones in front of the festive lights decorating the storefronts. All happy, alive, and spending time with their friends and family on Christmas. Unlike him.
He supposed he shouldn’t be out here feeling sorry for himself like this. He had great friends, after all, and they were his family. And he loved them, he really did. But Julie was spending Christmas with her dad and brother, obviously, and Luke and Reggie… well, he probably could’ve hung out with Luke and Reggie, but he would’ve spent the whole time feeling like a third wheel. Besides, the couple probably appreciated the opportunity to spend some time together without Alex or Julie.
So he ended up out here, walking aimlessly through the city, all alone on the first Christmas since he died.
Awesome.
Soon enough, though, his mood was lifted when he heard that voice he loved call out an all-too-familiar nickname.
“Hey, Hotdog!” Willie called out as he skated up behind him.
Alex smiled and turned to him. “Hey.”
“What are you doing out here by yourself?” Willie asked. “It’s Christmas. I figured you would be with your friends.”
Alex shrugged. “Julie’s with her family, and Luke and Reggie are probably, like, kissing under the mistletoe, or whatever it is boyfriends do on Christmas.”
Willie laughed. “Well, do you wanna do something?”
Alex grinned. “What did you have in mind?”
***
Just fifteen minutes later, Alex found himself wearing a pair of ice skates Willie had borrowed (AKA stolen) and struggling to remain upright.
“Y’know,” Alex called out to Willie as he inched across the ice rink, holding onto the wall for balance while the other boy skated graceful laps past him. “I’ve never actually ice skated before.”
Willie laughed and skated up to him. “Yeah, I can tell.” He offered out his hands to Alex. “Here, I’ll help you.”
Alex swallowed hard, his heart suddenly speeding up as he took Willie’s hands. The other boy started to lead him away from the wall, slowly moving across the ice and helping him learn to balance. He stumbled and almost fell a couple of times, but Willie caught him each time.
“See?” Willie asked with a smile once Alex started to get the hang of it. “It’s not so hard.” Suddenly, he let go of Alex’s hands.
“Hey,” Alex said, his heart panging with the loss of the warmth from the other boy’s hands as his eyes widened at the realization that there was no one to catch him if he fell. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Willie laughed. “Relax, Alex. You’re doing great. You’ll be fine.”
Alex immediately lost his balance and tumbled down to the ice.
“Okay,” Willie said slowly as he took the blond’s hands and pulled him back up. “Maybe I spoke too soon. But that’s okay, you’ll get the hang of it. Just hold onto me.”
Alex gladly accepted the offer.
Once again, Willie took Alex’s hands and gently guided him across the ice. They continued like that for a while, the brunet boy carefully watching Alex and giving him advice for improvement.
“You think you can do it without me yet?” Willie asked at one point, skating backwards and pulling Alex with him with total ease.
“No way,” Alex said, tightening his grip on the other boy’s hands. It was a total lie, but Willie didn’t need to know that. At some point, though, Willie must have figured out what Alex was doing, because they somehow ended up skating side-by-side with their fingers interlocked.
“You getting the hang of it yet?” Willie eventually asked with a mischievous smile, clearly knowing the answer Alex was going to give him- and probably knowing the real answer, too.
Alex shook his head. “Not yet. I think you should keep holding onto me.”
And he did.
They skated until their feet were sore and their limbs felt numb with cold- and then they skated a little more, just so they had an excuse to keep holding hands.
When they finally left the ice skating rink, they ended up going to the museum they had screamed in together what felt like forever ago. They kept holding hands, though. Neither of them mentioned it.
“So,” Willie said slowly as they sat hand-in-hand on a bench inside the museum. “This is your first Christmas since dying, right?”
Alex looked down at his feet and nodded. “Yeah.”
Willie paused a moment before he spoke again, his voice soft. Alex loved hearing him talk like that. Especially when he realized he had never heard him use that voice with anyone else- he only used it with Alex. “Does that mean it’s your first Christmas without your family?”
“Yeah,” Alex said again. “But it’s not that big of a deal. My parents weren’t exactly thrilled when I came out, and nothing with them was ever the same after that.” He paused for a moment. “I do miss my little sister, though. I feel bad that she’s had to deal with them by herself all these years.”
Willie nodded slowly. “I had a sister, too.”
Alex looked up at him. “You did?”
“Yeah. She was three years older than me.” He looked down. “I went to see her once. She’s married and has four kids.” He laughed softly. “Which, I guess, makes me an uncle.” Willie was silent for a long moment before he finally looked back up. “I never got to tell her I’m gay. She never knew.”
Alex squeezed his hand comfortingly. “I’m sorry, Willie.”
Willie shook his head. “Enough of this sad stuff. It’s Christmas- let’s be jolly, or whatever.”
Alex smiled. “Yeah. Jolly.”
“Let’s talk about your band,” Willie suggested. “How are things going?”
“Great,” Alex beamed. “Really, really great. We have a New Year’s Eve party booked, so we’ve been rehearsing for that. I’m excited about it.”
Willie grinned. “That sounds fun.”
“You should come!” Alex’s face lit up. “I’d love for you to see the band play.”
Willie nodded. “I’m there.”
***
When New Year’s Eve finally rolled around, Alex couldn’t help but be nervous and jittery the whole day.
“Alex,” Luke said at one point when he saw Alex tapping his foot against the ground while the three boys were sitting in the garage. Luke always knew how to tell when he was anxious. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Alex said. “I’m just nervous about tonight, y’know?”
Reggie furrowed his brow. “Why? It’s just a party. It’s not like it’s an arena. We’ve played dozens of parties before.”
“Yeah, but…” Alex’s voice got soft as he looked down at the floor. “Willie’s coming to watch us play tonight.”
“Oh,” Reggie said, his face breaking into a grin. “You’re nervous about Willie seeing you play for the first time?”
Alex shrugged, feeling his face turn red. “A little, yeah.”
Luke laughed. “Dude, don’t be nervous. You’re a great drummer. Willie’s gonna love it.”
Alex looked up at him. “You think so?”
“Totally,” Reggie agreed. “It’ll probably make him fall even more in love with you.”
Alex rolled his eyes as his cheeks grew even hotter. He punched Reggie in the shoulder. “Shut up. He’s not in love with me.”
Reggie chuckled and leaned closer to Luke. “He totally is.”
“Definitely,” Luke agreed.
***
The show went off without a hitch that night. Even though it was just a party, Julie and the Phantoms performed like it was Madison Square Garden. It was one of their best shows yet.
And Willie was in the front row cheering him on the whole time.
Their set ended just a few minutes before midnight to save time for the countdown. Alex immediately jumped down off the stage to go talk to Willie.
“Hey,” Alex said, smiling at the brunet.
“Dude,” Willie said, greeting Alex with an excited grin and a hug that made his heart flutter. “That was insane. You’re so talented.”
Alex laughed bashfully. “Thanks.”
“I mean it,” Willie insisted. “You guys might be my new favorite band.”
Alex smiled. “Thanks.”
Willie suddenly looked over Alex’s shoulder. “Who’s that talking to Julie?”
Alex turned to look and saw Flynn standing next to Julie, twirling her hair around her finger. She looked excited and bubbly, as per usual.
“Oh, that’s Flynn,” he said, turning back to Willie. “Julie’s best friend.”
Willie nodded. “They’re in love, right?”
“Oh, for sure,” Alex nodded. “They just won’t admit it yet.”
Both boys laughed. Suddenly, the crowd in the room started cheering and counting down from ten.
“It’s almost midnight,” Willie said, his voice soft again.
“Yeah,” Alex said. “I guess so.”
The corner of Willie’s mouth quirked up in a smirk. “You ready to ring in the new year?”
Alex grinned. “Of course.”
And then the clock struck midnight, and Willie leaned in.
Alex distantly registered the sound of fireworks exploding outside, but they were nothing compared to the fireworks in his stomach when Willie kissed him.