DECEMBER 22, 2004 - JANUARY 1, 2005
"Are you going home for Christmas?"
Brandon suppresses a groan. He's been lying in bed for quite some time now, trying to get as much sleep as possible even though he knows he doesn't need it. It must be around noon now, but they got in late last night, so he doesn't feel bad about it.
"Did you hear me?"
Brandon opens his eyes and finds Ronnie sitting upright on his side of the bed, laptop in his lap. He's reading emails, for some reason. Brandon never checks his email when he's at home. If something dire is going on, someone will call him.
"No," Brandon murmurs, wiping the sleep out of his eyes but snuggling further into his pillow. "Well, yes, I heard you. No, I'm not going to Utah. I'm too tired."
"Hm," Ronnie doesn't offer his opinion on the matter. "Can I touch you?"
Brandon's brow furrows, but he says, "Sure." He's not sure what he had been expecting Ronnie to do, but the man takes a hand and runs it through his hair. It's a new sensation, now that it's shorter than it had been before. Brandon sighs, "You don't have to ask to do that."
"My parents are actually going to be in California with our family," Ronnie says, returning to the subject at hand. Still, it is hard to concentrate on anything important with Ronnie as his personal masseuse and Brandon finds himself unconsciously scooting closer. "So I'll be here, too."
"Isn't that lovely?" Brandon forces his eyes open again because otherwise, he's going to fall back asleep. The light from Ronnie's screen burns his eyes.
"So we could do something if you want." Ronnie's fingers repeatedly stroke through the hair at his temple, "Or we could stay home."
Brandon watches as Ronnie deletes countless emails from Island. They send a monthly one showcasing what's going on with releases that Brandon stopped reading about three months in. "You know I want to stay home."
"I do," Ronnie laughs a little, his voice light and airy. "And that's fine-you deserve it. Christmas is on a Saturday this year, can you believe it?"
"That's the stuff of legend," Brandon forces himself to speak because otherwise, he'll fall asleep. He frowns, "I need to go to the pharmacy before they close for the holidays."
"We only have two shows in California though," Ronnie points out. "And then we can come home for two more weeks. So I think you'll be good if you don't."
Brandon mumbles, "You're so smart."
"I don't know what we could do, other than just lay around," Ronnie removes his hand so that he can look something up on Google. Brandon whines, petulant, and the hand returns.
"I got you a present," Brandon grins.
"Oh, did you?" He nods. "I got you something as well."
"I'm hiding it in the back of the closet, so don't look," he jokes. "It doesn't matter, I wrapped it already."
Ronnie is trying to figure out which restaurants are open on Christmas, "Are you good at wrapping?" He asks, "You seem like you would be, with how much of a perfectionist you are. I'm not really the best at it."
Brandon has to hold himself back from commenting about how the two restaurants he used to work at appear on the list. "I've been told I'm good at it. I was also good at folding towels at the Coast, so I'm sure the two are related."
"You're not good at folding your laundry," Ronnie comments.
Brandon huffs out a laugh, "Let's eat on Friday night-we'll be more likely to get a reservation that way."
YOU ARE READING
Hopeless Haze - Volume I: Hot Fuss (Remastered)
Romance"If Brandon cared, he would wonder if Ronnie was also deep in thought about something and has only just absentmindedly found something for his hands to play with. But as Ronnie runs his fingers through his hair, Brandon finds that he does not care a...
