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“Red, where are you? We need to leave now to catch the tree lighting in time!” Ash called out into the apartment, running a hand through his hair as he pushed himself off the kitchen island and stuffed his phone back into the back pocket of his pants.
“I can’t find my sweater!” Red’s muffled voice filtered out of their bedroom, immediately followed by a series of concerning crashes and thumps. Ash smacked his forehead.
“It’s on the dresser! You laid it out earlier, remember?”
“Oh, thanks, give me a second!” The reply came a few seconds later, the sound of his boyfriend’s footsteps walking around the bedroom confirming that his sweater, indeed, had been exactly where he had previously left it.
Ash sighed and ambled towards the doorway, grabbing their apartment keys off the hook as he passed the hallway and stepped into his winter boots. Nimble fingers quickly laced up the worn-out shoelaces up to the middle of his lower leg as Red emerged from their bedroom, pulling a thick cherry-colored sweater over the exposed skin of his stomach where his white undershirt rode up against the wool.
The younger man watched his boyfriend grab a white scarf from the back of the couch and wrap it around his neck, standing up straight as Red leaned over the couch again and snatched another one from on top of the cushions.
“Yours,” he simply said as he brandished the deep purple scarf in his hands, smiling as he made his way over to Ash and swung it over his head like a lasso and pulled him closer, planting a light kiss to the corner of his mouth as he tugged it around to the front. Ash raised an eyebrow as he pulled away, nudging his chin into the bundle of soft wool now skirted around his neck.
“As much as I’d like for you to do it properly, we really do need to leave now,” he reminded the older man, “you know how crowded the subway gets during this time of the year.” Red nodded and bent down to grab his own pair of boots, quickly stepping into the warm padding before tucking his pants into the tongue and shaking his legs out.
“Alright, let’s go.”
Ash did one last sweep of the apartment before pulling open the door, Red turning off the light after him as they let the door fall shut behind them.
“Where are your gloves?” Ash asked as he jammed the apartment keys into the keyhole and locked the door, turning around to start patting around his boyfriend’s pockets in search of the garnets.
“Back left pocket, yours are in the right,” Red replied, slightly raising his arms to allow Ash to slip his hands around his waist to pull the lump of black cotton out of his pocket. The younger man gripped the gloves in his fingers and retracted his arms, smoothly tucking them under his arm before pocketing the keys.
“Ready to go?”
“Mhm.”
Letting out a long breath, Ash stuffed his hands in his pockets and began to descend the stairs down to street level, the only sound filtering throughout the silent complex being the soft thumps of their feet hitting the carpet beneath them as they walked down from their fourth-floor apartment.
Living in the city had both its pros and cons, one of the definite cons being that residential apartment complexes were built upwards, meaning that they had to climb a total of 6 flights of steep stairs to get back to their residence due to the building’s severe lack of an elevator.
When the two of them had originally moved in three years ago, Ash having been fresh out of college and Red, who was two years his elder, having recently found a job in the area, the entire lack-of-an-elevator situation had been quite stressful on them. Having to carry heavy bags of groceries and other living necessities up six flights of stairs for the first few months had not been easy on either of their backs, but as time went by and the two of them grew accustomed to their living conditions, the stress eventually faded with time.
Now, as Ash stared at the back of his boyfriend’s head as they rounded the banister to the second floor, all he could think about was how lucky they had been to been given the opportunity to live out the young adult dream, two lovers living in a cozy downtown apartment in the middle of a beautiful city with their pet cat and a stable source of income. Not many people were able to do so, and Ash constantly thanked his lucky stars for opening the door for him and Red.
He pulled the scarf tighter around his neck as they reached the ground floor and prepared to step outside, pulling up the collar of his ankle-length coat to shield the rest of his exposed skin. Red did the same, curling the loose ends of his scarf around his neck another time and pulling down the hem of his sweater to cover his waist.
Fishing the gloves out of his pocket, Ash pulled them over his hands before tucking the ends into his sleeves, flexing his fingers as he reached over to help Red with his.
The pair were immediately hit with a gust of cold air as Ash pulled the door open, the icy tusks of December entering the room and swirling around their bodies in a whirlwind of drafty spirals and invisible icicles.
“Goddamn, I forgot how cold it was outside at this time of day,” Red muttered as he pulled the door closed behind Ash, slightly shivering against the air as their boots crunched in the snow underneath them.
Winter had long fallen over the city, and with it had come the usual month-long snowfall and everlasting bitter cold of the season. The first few snowflakes had fallen in the early weeks of November, to Ash’s absolute delight as it had never really snowed much in his hometown, and had gotten progressively heavier and heavier as the days flew by and the temperature dropped.
By late November, a thick layer of snow had fallen over the skies and treetops, blanketing the tops of buildings and the sides of the road with a whiteout border of tiny icicles. Getting to work every morning had become a slightly grueling task, the seven-thirty am walk to the subway station becoming more of a try-not-to-slip-on-ice challenge as the two of them hurried underground.
The snow would have melted by midday, in which Ash and Red could leave their respective desks for a lunch break in a small nearby cafe without worrying about being pushed into a snowbank by the rush hour human traffic.
By the time they got off work and packed up their bags, another layer of snow would already have fallen over the melted midday snow piles as the temperatures plummeted from the lack of sunlight, in which the two of them would bundle up in their heavy winter coats and earmuffs as they made their way back home.
“We left work yesterday around this time, what are you talking about?” Ash replied, turning around to plant a light kiss to the tip of Red’s nose.
Red tilted his head. “That was like an hour earlier, around dusk. Now it’s just straight up dark and we’re not usually out and about around this hour” he said, huffing out a breath of air and watching it fade out of view. Ash did the same, moving closer to press into the left side of his body into his boyfriend’s as they watched their breaths mingle together in the night air under the cascading shine of the streetlights.
“Alright, you ready to go?” Red asked after a few moments of silence, slipping an arm through the crook of the younger man’s elbow and reaching up to pat his cheek, the fuzzy cotton of his gloves swiping over cold skin.
Ash nodded, adjusting his arm to sandwich Red’s against his body and turning them in the direction of the subway station.
Christmas lights twinkled above their heads as they traversed the busy city blocks, illuminating their faces in hues of red and green as they walked by the bustling stores, cafes and restaurants that were alive with the cityfolk, sitting around little wooden tables and chattering amongst themselves.
Christmas time had always been one of both Red and Ash’s favorite times of the year, with all the joy and comfort the holiday brought along with it. Christmas was the season of lit fireplaces and crackling logs, of peppermint and hot chocolate, of Christmas lights and Christmas trees, and most of all, of gifts and love.
Ash still remembered the first Christmas he and Red had spent together, six years ago while they were still in college. Red had been a senior while Ash was a sophomore, the two of them decorating their shared college dorm room with as many multicolored lights and mini holiday decorations as their tight school-tuition robbed wallets would allow.
It hasn’t been the grandest, Ash would admit, as their poor college-student salaries did not allow for much extra spending outside of the absolute necessities, but it had still been one of the dearest few moments that Ash had kept in his heart over the years. He would never forget the warm feeling spreading through the veins of his heart as he drew Red closer in his arms under the covers of his bed, the absolute euphoria he had felt as they attempted to slow dance under the fall of snow for the first time, and the feeling of his heart being mended back together as he fell asleep in the arms of the one man he loved the most in the world.
The two of them had spent many more Christmases together after that, this time in Red’s new apartment after he graduated and moved out, but the fuzzy feeling that Ash had felt in his heart the first time around never ceased to diminish.
This Christmas Eve was no different, as the smell of fresh pine wafted through the air of the streets and the upbeat chatter of the passerby filtered into their ears, Ash felt that same fuzzy feeling engulfing his being again, full of warm joy and comtemption.
The crowds began to get denser and denser the closer they got to the subway station, and Ash tightly gripped the sleeve of Red’s hoodie in his fist as they traversed their way through the sea of people down underground so as to not get separated.
Long masses of people flew in and out of the station, some of them returning home to their families with bags of gifts hanging off their arms, some traveling out to see loved ones outside of the city, and others, like Red and Ash, going on a date with their lovers.
Ash fumbled with his wallet as he pulled it out within the amiss of the tightly packed crowd, struggling to take out their subway passes with his gloves on. Red noticed his dilemma and unwound their arms, using one to hold open a small gap in the crowd and the other to push open the zipper. The younger man fished the passes out and stuffed his wallet back under his coat, handing one to Red as they approached the gates.
“The subway leaves in three minutes, let’s go,” Red checked his phone as they passed the entrance and escaped the crowds, “it’s going to be crowded, so let’s hope we can find a less cramped car or something.”
Ash sighed. “Fat chance, let’s just not get trampled in the process and I’ll call that a win.”
Red let out a laugh and took ahold of his wrist, pulling them towards their platform.
“You’re six-foot-three, Ash, I don’t think anyone’s going to be trampling you anytime soon,” he said as they whizzed by the white-brick tunnel walls and the colorful advertisements covering them, quickly holding up a steady pace as they weaved through the crowds of people.
Ash rolled his eyes. “The point still stands, we’re going to get squished as hell either way.”
“You’re probably right…” Red mumbled as he looked around at the groups of people crowding the platform, adults and teenagers alike all bundled up in their winter clothing lined up against the wall and on the edge of the yellow border. Ash nodded, looping his arm back around Red’s and pulling them towards a slightly less populated area of the platform, eye scanning over the hordes of people for an empty space.
Subway northbound to Central Park arriving in 1 minute(s) a screen jutting out from the wall read in bright red letters.
Ash sighed in relief.
The two of them stood in comfortable silence as they waited for the subway to arrive, bodies half-tucked against each other as the babble and chatter of the crowds swirling around them filled their ears. Ash craned his neck over to check the subway schedule that Red had pulled up on his phone, eyes sweeping over the multicolored maps and time sheets splayed out across the page.
The subway arrived a minute later, loudly whizzing by the platform in a blur of gray metal and yellow lights. They both grimaced as the doors flew open and a couple people stepped off, looking at the nearly crammed full cart of people in front of them.
“Shit,” Ash cursed as he gripped Red’s arm and stepped into the sardine can of people in the cart, stepping around people’s feet and avoiding elbows as he forcefully pushed his way into the mass. Red follow after him, the two of them ending up chest-to-back somewhere against the door on the opposite side of the subway, Ash reaching up to grab an overhead handlebar to steady himself as Red’s back was pushed into his chest, the other man reaching out behind someone’s back to grasp a pole.
“Well, this isn’t the worst of situations, isn’t it?” Ash lowly muttered into Red’s ear as the subway doors slammed shut and the vehicle began to move, the loud clanging of metal on copper tracks nearly drowning out the sound of his voice. Red smirked back at up him, giving a quick scan of the people around them before craning his head around to capture his lips for a brief moment.
“No, it really isn’t,” he responded after he pulled away, squaring his shoulders to allow Ash to hook his chin over the bone. The younger boy gave his waist a little squeeze with his free hand in reply, fingers digging into the threads of the thick wool as they pushed into his flesh.
“Let’s just hope there aren’t any homophobes in this cart,” Red joked, blue eyes lazily tracing over the features of Ash’s side profile as he stared at him with an endearing smile.
Ash huffed. “Fuck them if they see, I sure as hell don’t care if they do.”
The subway came to a screeching halt a few seconds later, the sliding doors unlatching with a beep and a larger group of people getting off the cart, letting Red move over to Ash’s side with a little more space.
“How many more stops?” Ash asked as the subway started moving again, looking up at the plastic maps plastered on the walls of the tube as Red rested his head against the cold glass of the door.
“Three, I think.”
One stop later, Ash was lazily playing with Red’s fingers in front of them as the doors slammed open once again and two girls, probably around the same age as him and Red, stepped into the cart, the taller one of the pair pulling the other between her arms as she braced one hand against the wall and the other on the other side of the same vertical railing Red was holding, adjusting the girl with her shoulders until she was comfortable.
The shorter one took ahold of the railing with one hand and wrapped the other one around the taller girl’s waist, dark brown hair falling around her face and framing the pale skin with a mahogany border down to her chin. The taller girl looked down at her, dirty blonde ponytail swinging to the side as she tilted her head down and whispered something into the brunette’s ear, making her giggle and nudge her head into the crook of the blonde’s arm.
Ash didn’t realize he was staring until the shorter girl peeked at him from around the other girl’s back, bright brown eyes and smiling pink lips snapping him out of his trance. He flushed and tucked his head at the realization that he had just been mindlessly staring at a random person like a creep.
The girl didn’t seem scared or judgy, though, as she just flashed him a kind smile and looked over to his right, eyes scanning over their close proximity and Red’s left hand clutched in between his palms.
She looked back over at him a few moments later, a mysterious glint in her eyes as she slightly cocked her head towards the redhead, asking Ash a wordless question that he immediately understood.
Is that your boyfriend?
Ash nearly laughed when he came to the realization of what she was asking and nodded, holding up their entwined hands for her to see. Her eyes lit up at the confirmation, patting the blonde girl in front of her and pulling her collar down to whisper something in her ear as Red shot him a confused look.
“Look, over there at the two girls,” he whispered.
The taller girl immediately looked back at them after a few moments, lips pursued in a sort of awe as she caught both of their eyes. She then leaned down to whisper something back to the brunette, who nodded in response and gave them a small wave.
Red took in a surprised breath as the blonde girl grinned and made a pointing motion between herself and the shorter girl before flashing a finger heart, the brunette nodding before reaching up to give the taller girl a small peck on the underside of her jawline.
Ash’s heart jumped when he realized the hand signals meant.
We’re like you, too!
He nearly lost his footing as the subway came to a sudden stop, knee slamming into the fabric-covered bottom of a seat to his left as the intercom announced that it was their stop. Red looked up and immediately began to pull them through the crowd, squeezing between the tightly packed hoard of people to maneuver them off with sheer force.
The cold air of the platform hit Ash in the face as they stepped off the train and avoided the sea of incoming people getting onto the subway, steadying himself on the solid concrete of the platform after escaping the mass. He immediately remembered and whipped back around to catch sight of the two girls waving at them as the doors closed, in which he raised his free hand and sent them a small wave back before the subway sped off again.
He found Red staring back at him when he looked back at him, a happy smile plastered on his face.
“Those girls were dating, weren’t they?”
Ash grinned in reply, giving his hand a little squeeze.
“Must be the gaydar, I told you it was real!” he exclaimed, eliciting a soft laugh and a shake of the head from his boyfriend as they began to exit the station.
“No, I think she just saw your face and immediately realized ‘that man is definitely not straight’” he retorted back as they joined the massive sea of people exiting the station, letting out a laugh when he saw the tired expression on Ash’s face.
“That is genuinely the dumbest thing I’ve heard in a while.”
The exit of the subway station popped up in the outskirts of the city center, right across from a crosswalk leading to the main urban square.
Crystal snowflakes twinkled and fell from the sky as the two of them stepped onto the sidewalk, landing on their clothes and hair like little treasure coves of winter floating down from the heavens. Ash held a hand out and watched as the snowflakes landed and melted in his palm, the sheer joy of watching the small sparks of snow fade into the skin of his palm making him smile.
Red watched him from a few feet away, pupils lingering over his face with a spark of pure love shining in his eyes as he watched Ash bask in the snow. He smiled softly when his boyfriend broke out of his snowflake-induced trance and looked back at him, admiring the way the loose strands of hair falling out of his braid fell around his face, and how the beautifully the dark-purple highlights he loved so much mixed into the thick twist of jet-black hair.
A soft breath escaped Ash’s lips as he reached out to take ahold of his boyfriend’s hands, brown meeting blue as he looked up to hold eye contact.
“Are you ready for our date?”
Red laughed and pulled him closer, eyes pulling into crescent moons as a wide smile spread across his lips.
“You’re so romantic. Yes, yes I’m ready,” he pressed their foreheads together and whispered, reaching up with one hand to cup the edge of Ash’s jawline and run a gloved thumb over his cheek.
The two of them walked hand in hand through the bustling streets, admiring the festive christmas decorations hanging from storefronts and pointing out interesting things that caught their eye in the display windows as the smell of warm cinnamon wafted into their noses. The joy of the season was truly here, Ash thought as Red pointed to a small toy train chugging around a mini christmas tree in a toy store window, happily going on about how he had had one of them when he was younger. The older man looked so happy as they pulled open the door to the shop and ducked inside, the two of them living out their childhood dreams as they walked around the displays picking up and looking at christmas-themed children’s toys.
“How long do we have until we have to be in the park?” Red asked as they exited the toy shop, bidding goodbye to the friendly shopkeeper on their way out.
Ash checked his watch.
“One hour, we can head over to Leo’s cafe and grab something to eat before continuing on our,” he threw up jazz hands, “holiday window-shopping adventure.”
Red laughed before pulling him in for a kiss, their winter-frosted lips meeting each other in the middle as he wrapped his hands around the younger man’s waist. Ash smiled into it before kissing back with just as much enthusiasm, relishing in the way Red’s gentle lips always managed to draw him into their own little utopia no matter how many times they did so.
“The cafe’s just around the corner,” Ash commented as they broke apart, the familiar street signs and red brick buildings confirming his assumption. Red nodded and led them both back out onto the bustling sidewalk, lacing their hands together as they strolled onwards.
“Red! Ash! You’re here!” Leowook’s voice floated into their ears as Ash threw the cafe door open and stepped inside, immediately reveling in the warmth of the heater and the smell of baked goods filling the space. Red shared the same sentiment behind him, letting out a pleased sigh as he ambled in behind his boyfriend.
Ash waved to the tall white-haired man behind the counter, peeling off his gloves and rubbing his hands together as he maneuvered his way around the busy cafe up to him. Leo was dressed head to toe in a cream-colored outfit, his soft sweater and thick fleece pants peeking out from behind the black apron bearing the cafe name and logo, bits of yeast and flour sticking to the cotton from a day’s worth of baking.
“Leo! Great to see you again!” He exclaimed as the other man dusted off his hands and leaned over the counter, giving him a warm hug as he greeted his good friend.
The two of them had originally met Leowook when they had first moved into the city, three years ago when he had still been a college student. Leo was one year Ash’s junior and had been finishing up his senior year at a college in the city when the two of them had stumbled upon the POG Cafe one day. After a long seven straight hours of unpacking their apartment, Red and Ash had decided to hop on a subway and go exploring in the city for the rest of the night as a break, where they had found a cozy little cafe located on the corner of a street near the central park.
Leo had always been a kind soul, a permanent happy aura following him wherever he went throughout his day as he baked his heart out into his pastries and served them to customers, so it had been no surprise when he had taken a liking to the new couple in town and had given them two free chocolate eclairs as a welcoming gift.
He had then introduced the pair to his two friends and coworkers, a shy but intelligent man named Cube and a friendly girl named Mid, and the five of them quickly became good friends as Red and Ash began to return to the cafe more and more frequently over time as they settled into their new lives.
“Are you here on a date?” the younger boy asked as he gave Red a hug over the counter, eyes shining with excitement as he looked between the two of them.
Red nodded. “Yeah, we’re here to see the tree lighting.”
Leo clapped his hands. “Oh, fun! We’re going to see that later too, just after, you know,” he motioned to the sea of people filling the shop, “we close.”
“Oh, is that Red and Ash?” another voice called from behind the counter, and moments later the door to the storage room was pushed open to reveal a shorter man with mint green hair and rounded spectacles, an identical apron to Leo’s tied around his waist as he ran over to them.
“Cube!” Ash and Red said in unison as the man approached, giving him a quick hug over the counter as Leo grinned.
“Cube, they’re here on a date! What do you think we should give them to, you know, enhance the Christmas spirit?” Leo happily asked as he swung an arm around Cube’s shoulders, dusting off a patch of flour off his sleeve.
Cube looked back at the display case, eyes flitting over the wide assortment of pastries lining the glass panes before turning back to them.
“Well, we do have a couple of those gingerbread muffins left, so I say we could get them a pair of those and two cups of hot chocolate, if you wanted to go the festive route,” he said, craning his head back to check if they still had the muffins.
Ash looked at Red before nodding and turning back to the two men behind the counter. “That sounds great, I’ll trust Cube’s intuition with the whole ‘holiday pastries’ thing,” he said, laughing as Cube lifted his right hand to his forehead in a salute.
“Absolutely, you can trust me, boss! I promise not to let you down,” he joked in a mock-serious tone before a wide grin spread across his face and he turned away from the counter, grabbing a pair of tongs from a tray before bending over the display cases to retrieve the pastries.
Red and Ash shot each other a soft look before getting caught up in a conversation with Leo as he made their hot chocolates, quickly catching up with him and how they were managing the cafe during the busy holiday season.
“It’s been really busy, but I love it. There is no better feeling than having to bake extra sets of sweet treats because you know everyone’s going to love them!” Leo said as he capped the drinks and slid them back onto the counter, slipping a sleeve around each of the cups before handing them to the pair along with the paper bag of muffins Cube had brought over.
“That's great to hear, I see absolutely no reason as to why they wouldn’t be flying out of stock,” Red replied as he took the two steaming hot cups and bag out of Leo’s hands, looking over to his boyfriend who had taken out his wallet and slid two twenty dollar bills across the counter at Leo.
“Ash, what are you doing? Put those bills away, this is our gift to you!” Leo exclaimed as Ash handed the money to him, placing a hand on the older boy’s arm as an attempt to have him take it back.
Ash refused, stubbornly extending his arm and holding the bills out closer to the man. “You’ve given us more gifts than I can even count, please just take it for once. We need to pay for such high-quality treats, such delicacies shouldn’t be given out for free,” he insisted, reaching over the counter to stuff the money into the pocket of Leo’s apron when the other man still refused to take it.
“Thank you, Merry Christmas!” he called over his shoulder as he and Red hurriedly shuffled away from the counter so Leo wouldn’t have the chance to give the money back. They waved goodbye at a laughing Cube and a slightly betrayed-looking Leo and as they pushed the door open, the faint calls of ‘Merry Christmas to you too!’ back to them echoing in their ears before the door swung shut.
“Well, that worked out well,” Ash commented as he took his cup of hot chocolate from his boyfriend and took a small sip out of it, humming in contempt as the warm liquid slid down his throat.
Red snorted in reply. “Absolutely, I honestly thought we were going to have to forcibly strangle Leo for him to take the money.”
“If it had come down to that, I genuinely would have done it, too. He’s too nice for his own good, I honestly think we owe him at least a hundred dollars for all the free stuff he’s given us and refused to take money for,” Ash wondered, shaking his head at the white-haired man’s too-good nature.
“We can just buy him a really nice set of baking supplies or something for Christmas tomorrow, he’s bound to accept those,” Red thought out loud.
“I like that idea.”
“So,” Ash looked around as he took another sip of his drink and turned back to his boyfriend, “onwards with the shopping?”
Half an hour later, Red and Ash were walking around a pet shop a couple blocks down the street, looking at funny pet costumes and picking up the ones they found cute. Ash laughed as Red held up a Santa dog costume that even came with a mini white beard, taking it out of his hands and spinning the hanger around.
“Something tells me that that beard wouldn’t stay on the dog for over thirty seconds,” he commented as Red put the costume back and snorted, leaning down to riffle through the rest of the tiny animal costumes.
“Oh, how about this one? It actually looks kind of comfortable,” Red said as he pulled out a small cat elf costume from the back of the rack, holding it up to the light for Ash to see. The lime-green body of the costume was covered in stripes of white-sequened embroidery and little black cloth buttons down the front, in what Ash guessed was supposed to be a copy of a Christmas elf’s uniform.
He tilted his head. “Looks nice, you think she’ll like it?” he asked, referring to the little black cat they had adopted shortly after moving into their apartment.
“I mean, she did pretty well with the other cat sweater we bought her,” Red replied.
Ash looked at him before nodding and taking the little costume under his arm, the two of them heading further into the store.
“Twenty minutes left,” Ash announced when they left the store, ten dollars out of their wallets and a small plastic bag hanging off of Red’s wrist.
Red nodded, looking around at the street signs on the other side of the crosswalk to pinpoint their location.
“Let’s go then, it shouldn’t be too far away.”
The two of them walked hand-in-hand towards the city center, the sights and sounds of Christmas invading and taking over their senses the closer and closer they drew to the central park. The red-and-green lights lining the buildings grew more and more abundant as the trees began to be wound up with strips of twinkling lights twisting up around their trunks, lighting up the dark nights with bursts of color.
Christmas wreaths and bouquets of holly hung from the lampposts lining the trails as they walked through the snowy park, gazing up in awe at the massive unlit Christmas tree in the middle towering over the maze of trees.
“How does this place manage to look better and better every time we come here?” Red wondered out loud as they strolled through the rows of snow-tipped trees and frosted-over ponds, the familiar tune of “Carol Of The Bells” faintly drifting through the air around them. Ash just shrugged his shoulders, lips pursed in a slight look of wonder as he glanced around at the beauty of the moment.
It looked like a scene straight out of a Hollywood movie, two young lovers walking through a snow-lined city park underneath the dark blanket of the twinkling night sky, lovingly smiling at each other as they shared sweet kisses amiss the light shower of snowflakes slowly drifting towards the ground around them.
Ash’s heart fluttered as he watched the lights reflect in his boyfriend’s eyes, bright blue contrasting against pale-white skin as the red hair messily styled on top of his head fell down over his forehead. His eyes drifted down to trace over a sharp nose line and heart-shaped lips, chapped from the cold but pretty all the same in his eyes. He took off a glover and brought his uncovered hand up to Red’s face, relishing in the way his own copper-colored skin looked against his boyfriend’s jawline as he pulled the older man in for another kiss.
“You’ve been staring at me for the past five minutes,” Red murmured against his lips, sprinting towards to capture Ash’s mouth again before the younger man could respond.
“Not my fault you’re just so pretty,” he answered as they broke a part, a trail of saliva dripping out of their lips as they separated. Red seemed to notice this and smirked, swollen mouth pulling into an amused grin as he looked back up at Ash.
“Could say the exact same thing about you.”
The two of them made their way towards each he large crowd that has assembled around the tree as the clock ticked towards the end of the hour, shuffling to the back of the mass of people parallel to the unlit star on top.
Ash’s heart thrummed in his rib cage as the crowd began to count down from ten, gazing over at his boyfriend beside him who was chanting along with them
THREE!
Ash blinked the snow out of his eyes
TWO!
He tilted his chin towards the sky, eyes roaming over the mountainous shadow the tree casted over the dark blue sky.
ONE!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
Ash cheered and clapped alongside the crowd as the tree lit up the park, millions of bright twinkling lights lighting up the world in a fraction of a second. The giant star sitting atop the tree glowed an illuminating yellow against the glimmering ornaments dotting along the branches, catching and backlighting the ongoing shower of snowflakes falling from the sky around it.
He felt Red grab his shoulders and turn him to the side to face him face-to-face, features shining with happiness as he pulled him in for a deep kiss, figuratively and literally taking away all of Ash’s breath as he connected their lips.
“Merry Christmas, Ash,” Red whispered against his cheek.
“Merry Christmas, my love.”