KISS One-Shots

Eric C and Bruce

The phone started to ring and I lunged for it, answering it after the second ring. "Hello this is Eric!" "Hey babe!" I smiled as I heard Bruce's voice, sitting on the couch. "Hey! You excited for tonight? I wanna finally light up the Christmas tree with you!" I said eagerly. There was a pause before he let out a sigh and I felt my heart plummet. "Um...Eric I have some bad news." "Oh no," I murmured, gripping the phone. "My flight got cancelled because of snow. I won't be able to make it home tonight and...and I'm not sure I'll be able to make it tomorrow," he said, and I screwed my eyes shut.

"But...tomorrow's Christmas," I whispered. "Eric I'm so, so sorry. I'm going to do my absolute best to make it home, I promise! I'm going to do everything I can. I gotta go talk with the boarding agent though, I'll call you when I have a chance and I find another payphone. I love you and merry Christmas!" "I love you too, good luck, I'll hopefully see you tomorrow, and merry Christmas to you too!" "Go ahead and light up the tree without me, just take a picture or something." "No no I'll wait until you get home! This is our first Christmas together, I wanna make it special. Now good luck and I love you!" "I love you too!" he said, hanging up, and I immediately sank to the couch, trying not to cry. "D-dammit. It was supposed to be perfect," I choked.

Still hopeful he'd at least make it home for Christmas Day, I had dinner by myself, looking over at the still unlit Christmas tree in the living room, heaving a sigh before rising to my feet and washing the dishes. "He'll be home tomorrow. Hopefully he'll be home tomorrow. And-and even if not! Even if not, we'll have the next day. We'll still celebrate and have a merry Christmas, even if it's a day late," I said, finishing the dishes and walking into the living room. I still didn't light the Christmas tree, since I wanted to do that when he was here, but I made certain the stockings were hung up carefully and taken care of, the presents arranged neatly beneath the tree.

Once all that was taken care of, I started a fire in the fireplace, reading a book for a few hours, cozy but still desperately missing the warmth of Bruce's company. Finally, I rose to my feet, shutting off the fire and setting aside my book, walking back to my room and getting ready for bed before finally sliding under the covers, dropping off into a light sleep which was interrupted less than an hour later.

The phone beside my bed started to ring and I lifted it off the receiver, crossing my fingers and hoping it was Bruce with good news. "Hello this is Eric." "Hey babe, sorry to call so late but um...I c-can't get a flight home until the 26th," Bruce said, sounding like he was about to cry. "Aw Bruce don't cry! It's okay, we'll just celebrate then! We'll celebrate then, it'll be fine, I promise," I said, and he let out a shuddery sigh. "I j-just feel so bad, it was supposed to be our first Christmas together and I didn't even think about the weather and now I'm not gonna make it home," he mumbled. "You'll make it home the day after and that's plenty good enough. So long as I'm with you it'll be merry!" "Y-yeah. I'm so sorry. I love you and I gotta run find a hotel before they're full, I love you and I'll see you as soon as I can, merry Christmas," he said in a thick voice, still on the verge of tears. "I love you too and I can't wait for you to come home! Merry Christmas!" I said, hanging up and immediately sobbing myself to sleep.

I woke up the next morning, staring at the empty half of the bed beside me for a moment before sitting up, stretching with a yawn and rubbing my eyes. "Well, merry Christmas at least," I mumbled, sliding out of bed. I didn't even bother to get dressed, just headed into the kitchen and started to fix breakfast. "Last Christmas, I gave you my heart, but the very next day, you gave it away," I sang aloud to myself as I grabbed a few plates from the cabinet for breakfast. "This year, to save me the tears-"

"I'll give it to someone special."

I nearly jumped out of my skin as a second voice finished the song, whirling around to find Bruce standing in the doorway behind me, giving me a soft smile. I stared at him in shock, too surprised to say anything, before the plate slipped out of my hands, smashing to the floor as I took a hesitant step forward. Still smiling, he opened his arms. I let out a stunned laugh, running the few feet between us and throwing my arms around him, hugging him tightly. He stumbled back a bit as I crashed into him but wrapped his arms around me too, squeezing me.

Laughing and crying at the same time, I reached a hand up, putting it on the side of his face. With happy tears of his own in his eyes, he gave me a kiss, and I returned it, wrapping my arms around his neck, never wanting to let go of him. "You made it! I thought you weren't gonna make it! You told me last night you couldn't make it!" I cried, finally breaking away from the kiss. "I found a family at the airport who was driving this way and they were kind enough to give me a lift as close as they were going, then I was able to call a cab and get here," he said, kissing me again.

I gave him a tight squeeze, burying my face in his chest. "Bastard, you could've at least called," I grumbled, unable to stop smiling, and he just laughed. "I wanted to give you one more surprise for Christmas! Merry Christmas, by the way," he said, giving me another kiss. "Well all I care about is that you're home," I said, reluctantly detaching myself from him and leading him into the living room. "Guess we can finally light the tree!" I said, plugging in the cord. Bruce smiled, eyes glistening in the light from the Christmas tree, before giving me another kiss, pulling me against his side. "Merry Christmas Eric," he murmured, and I went right back to hugging him. "Merry Christmas to you too."

A/N: Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! 🎄❄🎁🎅🤶❤💚