There's Something Happening - Digital Time Fanfic

Chapter 15: Something Meaningful

Colin's perspective: Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and Tony still hasn't come out of his room. I missed seeing him. I had only ever caught short glimpses of him on his way to the bathroom or coming out of the kitchen. Then he would be back in his room in a flash. I wondered if he was even tracking the days in there. I wondered if he knew that Christmas was so close but he was purposely staying in there to get away from it. 

I was out doing the rest of my Christmas shopping with Shrignold. I had presents for everyone but Tony and I had to get something special for him.

"Uh.. Shrig, do you have any thoughts on what I should get Tony for Christmas?" I asked.

"An alarm clock? You know how much he loves those," Shrignold chuckled. I shook my head.

"No, I need to get him something meaningful. Something that he'll remember forever. Something that-"

"Calm yourself, Colin. If you want to give Tony something meaningful, you should give him a kiss," Shrignold smirked. 

"I hope you mean the chocolate kind of kiss," I said, my eyes narrowed.

"I mean the other kind," he said.

"Look, I may have been able to kiss Tony when I was infected with that virus. But now? I- I can't do that. I can't even think of myself doing that!" I ranted.

"Aw, come on. You love Tony, don't you?"

"Y-yes."

"And do you want Tony to know that you love him?"

"More than anything."

"So, in the name of love, kiss him! Take his hand and pull him in close and say: oh, Tony, you hunky man-"

"Ok, now you're making it weird."

"But if you want to give Tony the best present of all, you know what you have to do. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go to the liquor store and get Lars something meaningful," he said, putting the word meaningful in air quotes. While Shrignold went off to the liquor store, I thought about what he had said. Was it even possible for me to kiss Tony? Did I have the courage to do it?

Tony's perspective: I feel like this is all pointless. I've been hiding out in my bedroom for almost a full month now, it's Christmas Eve and I don't have any presents bought. The least I could do present-wise was give them all those poorly made Christmas cards I have. I wasn't sure how to feel about Christmas. I didn't know whether I should be excited for it or afraid of it. I was mostly on the afraid side. I guess it wasn't that I was afraid of Christmas. It was Colin I was afraid of. I had no idea how things would go when we saw each other. I didn't even know if Colin liked me anymore. But I hoped for the best. I hoped he still cared. 

The memory of Colin kissing me messed with my mind. Sometimes it made me forget about the whole virus thing. But I would always come back to my senses. I wanted to love Colin. I did love Colin. But he wasn't capable of love. It would never work out. But oh my god, did I want it to. 

I was sitting on the floor with the flowers that night. I noticed they were starting to wilt. I tried to stand them up properly but they would just droop down again. The edges of the once bright pink petals had faded to brown. I had to cherish the flowers while they were still alive. All of a sudden, I heard a knock at the door. It had been weeks since anyone had come to check on me. I was so startled I couldn't even open my mouth. I just listened closely.

"Hey, uh.. it's- it's Colin," he said. "I know you probably don't wanna come out of your room. I don't blame you. But... oh, you know... it's Christmas Eve and we all want you to come celebrate with us."

He paused. I think he was waiting for me to say something. He let out a sigh and continued on.

"You don't have to come out. But if you do, I'd- I mean... we'd be happy to see you."

Another pause. I didn't want him to walk away thinking I didn't hear anything he just said, so I made the tiniest tapping noise on the floor.

"Just think about it... ok?"

And finally, I took a deep breath.

"Ok," I said quietly. I heard a little snicker from Colin before he left. I was starting to feel a little less afraid of coming out of my room.