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When you’re dead for twenty-five years, you miss out on a lot. Alex hadn’t gone to the movie theater since 1995, and it showed. He felt like an old man sometimes in that he never understood Willie’s pop culture references.
“I don’t know who that is,” Alex said when Willie mentioned an actress he liked. It felt like the zillionth time he’d had to say that to his boyfriend.
“Rose McIver,” Willie repeated. “She was in iZombie and A Christmas Prince; she’s really cool.”
“I’ve never seen either of those.”
“Dude,” Willie said. “You’ve never seen A Christmas Prince?”
“What year did it come out?” Alex asked.
“2018, I think,” Willie responded.
Alex hummed. “Yeah, see, I’ve been dead since 1995, so I’m pretty far behind on movies.”
Willie laughed. “It’s my favorite of all the cheesy Christmas romcoms! We so need to watch it.”
“Okay,” Alex smiled. “I think Julie will probably let us use her laptop if you wanna come over sometime and watch it.”
Willie’s face lit up in excitement. “Yeah, totally! We should make a whole day out of it and do a movie marathon date- y’know, get you caught up on the Christmas movies of the last twenty five years.”
Alex giggled. “That sounds fun.”
***
A few days later, Willie came over with a huge stack of DVDs.
“I brought options,” he said as he walked into the studio, which was empty except for him and Alex.
“I can see that,” Alex laughed. “That’s… a lot of movies. And they’re all Christmas movies?”
“Yup,” Willie grinned. “Hallmark really came through for us today.”
Alex giggled and gestured for Willie to put the movies down on the coffee table next to Julie’s laptop.
“Do you wanna look through the stack and pick one to start with?” Willie asked as the two of them sat down on the couch amongst the pillows and blankets Alex had gotten out for them to use.
“How about we just start with your favorite?” Alex suggested. “The one you were talking about the other day.”
Willie grinned. “Right, A Christmas Prince. That one’s on Netflix.” He leaned over toward the laptop and pulled up the website to start the movie. Then, he put his arm over Alex’s shoulders and let Alex lean into him while they watched.
Alex smiled as he watched the movie, fitting his head into the crook of Willie’s neck and reaching out to hold his hand. Willie was right about it being cheesy, but it was still pretty good.
Although, to be honest, he probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much as he did had it not been for Willie holding his hand the whole time.
***
“Wait,” Alex said at the end of the movie. “They’re just gonna get engaged? After they’ve known each other for, like, three weeks?”
“Yup,” Willie nodded.
“Isn’t that a little fast?” Alex asked. “I mean, it took us months to get together.”
“They didn’t have months,” Willie pointed out. “He had to propose in the snow on New Year’s Eve. Think about the aesthetic, Alex.”
Alex laughed and rolled his eyes. “Oh, of course- how could I forget about the aesthetic, which is the most important part of any relationship?”
“Use your head, dude,” Willie laughed. “Hey- the sequel is about their wedding. Wanna watch it?”
Alex grinned. “Hell, yeah.”
***
They finished the trilogy a couple of hours later, and Alex was only a little bit ashamed to admit that he shed a few tears.
They spent the rest of the day watching various Christmas movies, taking short breaks between each one to stretch their legs a bit. They watched The Santa Clause trilogy, The Christmas Chronicles, The Knight Before Christmas, and of course, all the Hallmark movies they could handle. They didn’t finish until around midnight.
By the end of the marathon, Alex was exhausted. He thought he might not watch a movie again for the next five years.
“Thanks for watching with me,” Willie said into his chest. At some point, they had ended up lying down on the couch with Willie resting his head on Alex’s chest and Alex’s arms wrapped around his torso.
Alex smiled and kissed the top of Willie’s head. “Thanks for getting me caught up on the movies,” he said back. “I had fun today.”
Willie tilted his head back to look at him, smiling fondly at him as Alex ran his fingers through Willie’s hair. “I had fun, too. I like showing you the things that I like.”
“And I like seeing the things you like,” Alex smiled at him. “Thank you for showing me.”
“You should make a list of your favorite movies so we can sit down and watch them sometime,” Willie suggested.
Alex laughed and shook his head. “I think I’m all burned out on movies for a while. But maybe I could make a playlist of my favorite music from when I was alive that we could listen to.”
Willie’s face lit up. “That would be awesome! I’d love to listen to the music 90’s Alex was listening to. Y’know, pre-hotdog.”
“I’ll have Julie show me how to use that website she goes on,” Alex said. “I think it’s called Dottify, or something-”
“Spotify,” Willie corrected him with a giggle.
Alex felt his cheeks heating up, and he laughed. “Right. Spotify. Anyways, I’ll have Julie show me how to use Spotify this weekend so I can make a playlist for us to listen to. Do you wanna come over again sometime next week to listen to it?”
“‘Course,” Willie grinned at him. “I think I’m only available on Christmas, though, with my schedule at the club. Is that okay, or do you have plans with the band?”
Alex shook his head. “Nah, Julie will be with her family, and I’m sure Luke and Reggie will be on a date or something. Christmas sounds perfect.”
Willie smiled. “Awesome.”
***
The next week, Willie came over on Christmas Day to hang out.
“Hey,” he greeted Alex as he approached the garage, a small box in his hand. “Merry Christmas.” He kissed Alex on the cheek and offered him the box.
“What’s this?” Alex smiled at him.
“Open it and find out,” Willie grinned.
Alex giggled and opened the box to reveal a bracelet with two heart-shaped charms dangling from it: one engraved with Alex’s initials, and the other with Willie’s.
“This is beautiful,” Alex said softly as he stared at the bracelet. “Thank you, Willie.” He leaned over to kiss the brunet, then took his hand and led him into the garage.
“I have something for you, too,” Alex said. “But I’m kind of embarrassed of it now. I didn’t have any money to get you a gift, since, y’know, it’s kinda hard to get a job when you’re dead. So I had to make do.” He sat down at Julie’s piano and smiled fondly at his boyfriend, then started playing.
He sang the song he had written for Willie flawlessly, his voice low and smooth and his hands graceful as he played the piano.
When it was over, Willie immediately rushed toward him and pulled him into a hug.
“Thank you,” Willie whispered into the hug. “I loved it. That was the most beautiful song I’ve ever heard.”
Alex giggled and hugged him back. “I’m glad you liked it.”
When they finally pulled apart, Alex gestured at Julie’s laptop that was once again waiting for them on the coffee table.
“I made the playlist,” Alex said. “You ready to listen to it?”
Willie grinned. “You know it.”