Be Mine

"someday at Christmas // there'll be no tears"

This chapter's lyric is from "Someday at Christmas" by the Jackson 5.

Read as you see fit here- warnings for focus on the Martin problem and forced online outing, plus the emotional strife that follows.

Enjoy!

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SIMON POV

DEC 25

Holidays were simply the best.

Christmas music playing, gift wrapping, snow outside, everyone in a cheery mood.

I was on cloud nine Christmas morning, feeling invigorated simply by the idea of the day, especially because Abby had texted me last night saying that after three weeks, the Martin problem was finally solved. Apparently, he'd seemed to feel blessed just by a two-minute conversation with her, even if she had just been telling him to shove off the whole time. So, Bram and I could finally take a breath now.

Nora was cooking in the kitchen, which was filled with green and red decor and scattered with homemade holiday memorabilia. We all ate a quick breakfast, and when Mom and Dad excused themselves to go wrap presents, I did the same.

Hiking up the stairs to my bedroom, I was antsy to slip my phone out of my pocket and discover why the hell it had been buzzing nonstop all morning. Not that many people wanted to wish me a Merry Christmas, right? During breakfast, I'd narrowed it down to Bram spamming me or ProgressBook telling me I flunked all my semester exams, but I could've only imagined the kind of "talking-to" my family would have given me if I'd been on my phone first thing Christmas morning with everyone.

When I passcoded in and glanced at the screen, my first reaction was confusion. I hadn't been on Tumblr in months. Where the hell would all of these notifications have been coming from?

Hands wobbling slightly with the anxiety this stuff always gave me, I opened my computer as quickly as I could. I opened a Tumblr tab, anticipating that that would be where the spectacle was occurring, as per usual.

I scrolled for twenty minutes.

I could hear Martin's voice in my head, I knew it was him who wrote it all, "anonymous" be damned.

Something in me, in the back of my mind, had worried that this would happen. I'd ignored it.

BRAM POV

I sent the same text to everyone- Nick, Harley, Leah, Abby, Peter.

Thanks for checking in with me, but this is going to hurt Simon more. Go talk to him please? <3

-My Info, 9:03am

Then, I called Simon, but he didn't pick up. I wondered what he's doing right now, if he was even awake, or if he wouldn't know for another hour. I knew it would have been irrational to just get on my bike and pedal down to his house. Knock on the door and basically invade. But I wanted to. Staying home alone like this made me want to throw up.

I could feel the corners of my eyes water the tiniest bit, even though Simon had always been the teary one of the two of us. The tears fell on my face like they carried their own pulse, and I wiped them away hastily, waiting patiently for the next part of this nightmare.