James stretched his arms out over his head and pushed himself up onto his elbows. Christian's side of the bed was empty, which in itself was a ridiculous thought since they didn't have designated sides of the bed. Still, James wondered when Christian'd gotten up, whether he'd done anything embarrassing in his sleep, and how long they'd slept in the position they'd fallen asleep in the night before.
He could hear the shower, so he rolled over onto his back and laid there thinking about what he was going to do when they got back home. Their lease was up in January anyway, so maybe they'd just not reup it. There were some smaller apartments closer to the primary school. He could probably move into one of those... alone. He certainly wasn't interested in finding another roommate, not after living with Christian. It just wouldn't be the same.
The water shut off and after a few minutes, he heard the hallway door open, so one of Christians family members must have been in the shower. James hurried into the bathroom and locked the doors so he could take a quick shower in peace. He tried to go over the plan for the day in his head, but he couldn't stop thinking about his gift for Christian. It was starting to seem like the stupidest gift in the history of gift giving, but there was no going back now. They'd put it under the tree already.
Everyone was sitting in the living room when James came downstairs. presents from Christian was on the couch with April and Ambika , and he made them scoot over when James got there. He ended up sitting pressed up against the arm of the couch with Christian's legs draped over his lap.
It was really a wonderful Christmas morning. James had never spent the holiday with anywhere near as many people before. His own family was much smaller and even when they'd spent Christmas with his grandparents and his mom's family, there hadn't been this big of a crowd. Ambika helped everyone unwrap their gifts, which made things take a little longer, but no one seemed to mind and it made for cute pictures.
When it was finally Christian's turn, James started to feel nervous again. All of the gifts Christian opened so far had been perfect, almost as if Christian had picked them out himself, and not one had been something homemade. James couldn't help bouncing his leg faster and faster until Christian pinched him and asked him to stop.
"Last one!" Christian picked up James's package from the floor and laid it on his lap. His mom and sister were right there, helping unwrap it until they got the paper free and it became obvious that it was a book.
He'd opened it upside down, and when he flipped it over, James couldn't help but stare at him, trying to read his expression, hoping that he'd like it. Christian ran his fingers over the cover. "What... Are these..." Christian looked closer. It was custom-made: two tickets from the night they'd met with a picture James had taken that night as the background.
Joji had been in town opening up for another band and James had gone just to see them. He'd literally run into Christian in the bathroom after the main act had started and they'd ended up going to another bar for a beer and some food instead of hanging around at the concert. They'd been practically inseparable ever since.
"Just a copy. The real ones are safe at home. Um... open it."
Christian grinned at him and pulled on his bun , then opened the book and started reading out loud for the entire room to hear, which James hadn't expected. "One back massage after a long day at work, one foot rub (disclaimer: feet must be clean), one meal of your choice cooked for you (must give at least one day notice for shopping purposes), one cuddle on the couch (no time limit)..." He trailed off and flipped through the pages until he got to the back, then he turned to James and whispered, "Did you really make this for me?"
