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The first gift came on Wednesday.
"No way, you got something already?!" Nicholas exclaimed as he came to sit with them for breakfast that morning, immediately reaching to check out the basket Harvard was carrying with him. "I thought we're only supposed to give our Secret Santa gifts on Friday at that party Coach talked about!"
"We are," Bobby said, looking at the basket appreciatively. "You must have a really great Santa this year, Harvard."
"Or his Santa just has a shopping addiction," Seiji supplied, but his focus was on Nicholas, who not very sneakily started to eat some of the chocolate bars from the basket.
Not that Harvard minded, he'd brought it here to share with his friends, but clearly his other teammate had some reservations about it.
"You can't just eat chocolate for breakfast, Nicholas," Seiji seemed appalled.
Nicholas gave his roommate a wide grin before taking another bite, earning himself an exasperated sigh from Seiji. "Watch me."
For a second, their interaction made Harvard really wish his own roommate was there.
Aiden was already gone from their room by the time he woke up, a "morning date, sorry x" text the only explanation he got, and although Harvard knew he'd see his best friend soon enough -it wasn't like they didn't have history class together in less than 10 minutes- it just made him feel.. weird.
Chalking it up to the early hour, Harvard put that thought aside to focus on other things. "Well, whatever the reason is, they sure did their research- those are my favorite candies."
"You have great taste, Captain," Nicholas mumbled between bites, now chewing on some gummy bears from the basket.
Seeing the way his leg bounced, Harvard was beginning to question whether it really was such a great idea to supply him with that much sugar right now, considering how high Nicholas' energy levels already were on a normal day. He sure didn't want to be the poor teachers who had to deal with the freshman on a sugar high.
As if it could read Harvard's mind, the bell for the first class rang through the speakers, the conversation all but forgotten as its sound got them all scrambling to their feet and on their way out of the room, including a reluctant Nicholas half-dragged to class by Seiji as he shoved some of the remaining candy into his pockets.
Harvard chuckled to himself as he made his way to the history classroom. God he loved his friends.
*
The next gift showed up after their last lesson of the day, this time filled with pink-covered cupcakes from Rosie's cafe. Once again, Harvard's favorites.
"Someone's got himself a fan," Aiden grinned at him when he saw the 'for Harvard' note on the basket sitting in front of the door to their room, gracefully moving past it to get inside. "Take it from someone who knows, it's great fun."
"Yeah, you'd know the experience," Harvard smiled as he took the basket inside, debating where to put it. The table, that seemed like a good option. "No, it's from my Secret Santa actually."
"Oh, we're doing this again this year? Totally forgot to be honest."
Harvard rolled his eyes fondly at his best friend. "Of course you did."
"You know me, too busy being beautiful to do boring things like school events and caring about other people-" Aiden moved as he talked, the pillow Harvard threw at him missing his head by an inch- "but of course, you should have fun."
"Thanks, buddy." Harvard bit into a cupcake, holding out his other hand to offer Aiden one. "I am. I actually really want to thank the guy, I don't know how but they just seem to know me really well so far."
Aiden's face froze for a millisecond mid bite before regaining composure and giving him a wide grin, so quickly Harvard would have missed it if he didn't know him so well. "Speaking of having fun, I have to go."
Taking a final bite and putting down his half eaten cupcake on the table as if nothing happened, leaving Harvard wondering if he'd imagined it, Aiden made his way to the door. "Hot date, don't wait up!" He called up at his roommate, slamming the door behind him.
Harvard bit into his cupcake, confused. what was that about?
*
As the days went by, the gifts kept coming, one at the start of the day and another at the end of it, like clockwork. Each one like the last, spot on.
It quickly became a constant topic of discussion during meals, his friends beginning to share their theories about who the gifter might be by the morning of the second day -"I'm telling y'all, the mystery Santa has to be Harry!" Said Tanner at lunch that day, accidentally squashing his burrito as he fiercely tried to make his case. "He's like the nicest guy in school other than you of course, who else would put so much effort into this?"- but no matter how many good points they made, none of their guesses felt.. right. He just couldn't shake that little voice deep inside him that swore he knew who the guy was, like the answer was waiting at the tip of his tongue and he could figure it out if he'd only put his mind to it.
He half-heartedly wished he could consult Aiden about it, surely he'd have the piece of the puzzle Harvard seemed to be missing as the person who knew him better than anyone else, but he'd barely seen his roommate in days. Every morning and every evening that week Aiden seemed to be off to yet another date, leaving Harvard only catching his best friend in short glimpses and missing him more than he could really explain.
It wasn't until Friday afternoon, on his way to the school's dining room for the Kings Row annual Christmas party, that the thought finally occurred to him, stopping Harvard right in his tracks. god, how did he not see it before now?
The party was already at full swing from the sound of it, the laughter and enjoyment of the students inside heard clearly all the way down the hallway to where he was standing, and Harvard chuckled to himself as he changed course and began to walk away from it. He had other plans tonight.
*
"Don't you have some party you should be at right now?" Despite his question, Aiden didn't look surprised to see Harvard entering their room. He was curled up on their bed watching a movie on his laptop, Harvard Paw laying beside him, and when he looked up the smile he gave Harvard felt brighter than the Christmas lights decorating the hallway somehow.
"I could ask you the same," he returned the question, a glint in his eyes as he joked, "what would your poor fan club do without you there to adore?"
"Oh, they'll live. A much less fun life, of course, but what can you do," Aiden shrugged. Teasing him fondly, he added, "but you, Mr. Always On My Best Behavior- missing a school event? My oh my," -Harvard rolled his eyes at that, earning himself a smirk- "and don't forget, how do you plan on formally thanking your secret Santa if you don't even come to see who it is?"
"It's okay, I think I have a pretty good guess."
Aiden's voice revealed nothing. "Oh?"
Harvard lay on their bed beside his best friend, putting his head softly on Aiden's shoulder. They stayed like that for a minute, a comfortable silence surrounding them. Right then, there wasn't a place in the world he'd rather be.
"Thank you for the gifts, Aiden."