The Problem Child

Extra: Christmas' Eve

"Joe, do you think Santa would be kind enough to bring me a dragon this Christmas?" Conner asked enthusiastically as the boys walked through the streets in the cold weather. He knew that Trevor would only give him answers that would disappoint him, so he gave up asking him and decided to ask Josh of his opinion.

Joshua smiled at the other boy's innocence. "Didn't you want him to bring you unicorns earlier?"

"Yeeaaah" Conner sounded somewhat disappointed. "Maybe what Trevor had been saying all along was true. That unicorns aren't real. I mean, how is he supposed to bring me something that isn't even real?" Conner chuckled.

"Maybe you need to restructure that sentence, Conner. How is someone who is not real supposed to bring you anything?" Trevor scoffed and Charlie nudged him on the side of his arm. "Dude, just don't ruin his fantasies"

"Rude, Trevor, Rude" Conner pushed out his lower lip. Trevor clicked his tongue and made his eyes roll back as far back as he could.

"Let's all just hope that he would bring you a dragon this year" Joshua said and Conner grinned from ear to ear. Everyone chuckled at the silly boy.

The weather was so cold that it formed tiny fogs of mist when they spoke.

"Hey, do you think it is going to snow this Christmas?" Charlie asked out of pure curiosity as he gazed up at the trees that were with no leaves and was surrounded and decorated with a lots of christmas ornaments and greetings.

"Hasn't it been a while since it last snowed?" Joshua wondered out loud as he too followed Charlie's gaze. "I really hope it snows this year"

"It would be fun, right? We could even play in the snow!"

"Tt. Conner how old are you to play in the snow?" Trevor swatted Conner's head and the other boy yelped.

"Yo, I'm not the one at fault here. You are just an old man pretending to be a high schooler. What are you, eighty?!" Conner mumbled as he rubbed his head, where Trevor had hit him.

"What are you, eight?" Trevor asked in a mocking tone, only to have Conner bronx cheer on his face.

"Come on, you guys. Can't you atleast just keep it shut for one minute?!" Josh asked clearly having being exhausted by the boys' quarrel.

Charlie chuckled and ruffled Trevor's hair, pulling him closer, ignoring the protests from the other boy. "Dibs on body heat" Charlie whispered in Trevor's ear and he went visibly all red from the sensation of Charlie's lips brushing against his ear.

Conner grinned mischievously and hopped to Josh's side. "Yo, hey, there is a free rom-com movie playing behind us"

Josh turned around and they all fell into a fit of laughter, expect for Trevor who was a little too embarrassed.

•••

"I'm going to buy these two a matching couple outfit for christmas. What do you say, Josh?" Conner asked with a wide  grin as he walked through the infinite aisles in a shop.

"Er.. Aren't you supposed to keep it a secret about what you are buying someone on christmas? I mean, it is supposed to be a gift, right?" Josh asked, raising an eyebrow as he filled his trolley with anything that he literally laid his eyes on.

Everything seemed to be a little too pretty-looking to be left on the aisle untouched.

"Whoopsie daisy. I totally forgot. How could I ruin the suspense like that?!" Conner bit his lip. "Alright let's just forget I said anything"

"Are you for real, Conner?" Charlie chuckled and shook his head out of amusement. It doesn't matter how much time he spent with the boy. He would never get used to his silly little self.

"Oh and hey, I was suddenly reminded of something!" Conner beamed, gathering everyone's attention as he waved his hands vigourously in the air.

"You are all going to go to the Christmas party hosted by Jonah, right?" Conner asked and all eyes immediately turned towards Trevor.

"What?" He asked flatly, not seeming to have been shook by the glances.

"You are gonna go, aren't you?" Joshua asked expectantly.

"Who said I was?" Trevor said and everyone's face visibly dropped.

"Coommee oon, Treeevoor!" Conner started whining and Joshua had to immediately cover his mouth to keep the other's attention to land on them. He then pleaded with his eyes for Trevor to agree and make Conner stop.

"Tt. Just give him a hard whack on his head and he'll stop. No big deal"

"You might give him a concussion if you keep doing that to him, Trev" Charlie said as a matter of fact and heaved a deep sigh when Trevor showed no intentions on changing his mind.

"Come on, Trev. It's our first christmas together, right?" Charlie said smiling as he shook Trevor by the shoulder, in hopes that something like this would melt his mind.

"Well, if that's how you'd like to put it, I would rather we spent our first christmas alone in our room" Trevor said with a lopsided smirk and Conner, who was wailing behind Joshua's hand, erupted into laughter.

Charlie opened and closed his mouth several times to speak, but he just didn't know what to say anymore. Nothing seemed to get its way through that thick skull of his.

"Please?" Charlie asked at last, in hopes that it would somehow change the other boy's mind if he pushed him long enough.

"Crowds are too noisy. It hurts my ears" Trevor said in a dismissive tone.

"We can just stay somewhere where there is less people? Come on, Trev, it would be fun!" Charlie pleaded. He had heard that the fireworks were seen with its utmost beauty from where Jonah's house stood and he wished to see it for once.

But if Trevor wasn't ready to go, he didn't think there was any point in him going. What was he going to do there without him? He just kept staring at Trevor with pursed lips.

"You weren't the type to enjoy parties. What's with the sudden enthusiasm?" Trevor asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Because I wanna go with you?" Charlie shrugged.

Conner whistled, making an amused face.

"Well, Conner, let them sweethearts argue this out while we go fill our trolleys. Come on" Josh winked with a smirk and dragged away Conner with him to the nearby aisle.

Charlie smiled at the boys and turned his back down at Trevor.

Come on, just say yes already!

It took him another whole minute of persuading before Trevor finally agreed to go.

Charlie smiled from ear to ear.

He had to make it worthwhile.