He Says He's Just A Friend

A/N: 500k reads!!! And a little gift to say thanks!

OH MY GOD!! 500,000 READS!!!!!!!!

I truly never thought anything I wrote would come even close to this milestone. I am so grateful that so many people have found this story and not only read it, but embraced it so thoroughly. I've had people tell me this is their favorite thing they've read on Wattpad, and how much this story has meant to them. I can't express how much that means to me. I know I don't reply very often, but I do read all of the comments and sometimes they melt my heart and make me so overwhelmed, especially on days that aren't so great. So thank you to anyone who has ever taken the time to comment, even if it was just an emoji. Or if you did the little reaction things. And thank you to everyone who voted on the chapters. Honestly, thank you for just reading it. Even if you didn't do any of that other stuff. I appreciate you all.

So I hit 500k in December and I had planned to write this as a Christmas gift to all you lovely people, but I got very busy with the holidays and family stuff and then unfortunately I had a bout of Covid. But I didn't want to let this moment pass without thanking everyone.

So I know it's very late, and I'm sorry for that, but without further ado, here's Clay and Emmett's first Christmas.

Bonus Scene: First Christmas (That I Loved You)

— Clay —

After we both did our regular family Christmases, Emmett came over so we could exchange our gifts. Emmett said Christmas wasn't a huge deal in their family. Walking into their house in December you wouldn't even know it was a holiday except for the tree, which Emmett decorated to look like it came out of an ad for a home decor store.

My mom had our house decked out by the Sunday after Thanksgiving. The yard had everything from inflatable snowmen to an animatronic Santa's sleigh, complete with reindeer and a shiny nosed Rudolph. Every line of our house was strung with lights. Typically they'd be clear, but without telling me, this year she went out and got multicolored lights, stating, "If you won't let me put up a Pride flag to show you support, then I'm damn sure making Christmas as gay as I can."

I rolled my eyes at her, but secretly I was overjoyed. How the hell did I get so lucky?

I decided I'd buy her a pride flag and let her fly it. I didn't need to hide anymore. All the people that mattered knew, and then some, thanks to my announcement. I cringed at my past self for deciding to do it that way. God, I was such a drama queen about it. But that me got me here with Emmett and acceptance and even some new queer friends thanks to the LGBTQ+ club at school, so I was grateful to him.

When I opened the door, I couldn't see Emmett past the huge gift wrapped rectangle in his hands. I knew they were his by the Christmas nails he'd just had done last week. The little "CALM" on his index finger made my heart flutter just like it did the first time I saw it. He said, "Not only is calm a Christmas word, it's also your initials so now I always have you with me."

"That's so fucking corny," I told him before giving him the most passionate kiss.

I stepped aside and told him to come in. "That's quite a package you've got there, baby."

He twisted so the I could see him. His smirk did things to me. He leaned in to kiss me. "And it's all yours."

"Aren't I a lucky boy?"

"Depending on what you got me, you might be later."

I looked around, even though I knew the house was empty. My parent had taken Rachel and Teddy to our Grandma's house already. I was supposed to join them with Emmett as soon as he got here.

But they might have to wait a bit longer for us.

I didn't even notice how thin the gift was until he laid it flat on the loveseat. I made him promise not to spend very much on my gift since he'd just gifted me a pair of diamond stud earrings for my birthday two weeks ago.