Fool's Holiday ☾Malum

03

As it turned out, there was a very small window at three in the morning where the roads were finally plowed... Right before snow started falling relentlessly for the next six hours.

Michael walked into the living room to find the scrawny college freshman passing the length of it, usually Michael didn't really bother with human interaction but Calum seemed genuinely worried.

"What's up?" He greeted, not too sure on how to approach the topic.

"I'm missing Christmas." Calum fretted, sounding like he'd just gotten word that his dearest friend had passed away. He bit his lip subconsciously as he thought.

"Technically, it's not missing Christmas. You're just in the wrong place." Michael pointed out like his response was ingenious. He flopped down onto his leather couch and kicked his legs up onto an armrest as he watched the lad pause, before continuing his rut. "Plus, who wouldn't want to spend the most wonderful time of the year with me?"

Calum's hand shot up before Michael could even complete his sentence, to which Michael couldn't help but roll his eyes at the reaction.

"I have a question." Calum muttered suddenly, coming to a stop in front of Michael.

"I know what you're thinking, and yes, this is my natural hair colour." Michael joked, running a pale hand through his hair with a smirk.

"What were you doing at the bed and breakfast? You live in town, down the street even." Calum asked, certain that if he glanced out the window it would be maybe two blocks away in plain sight.

"C'mon," Michael grinned, choosing this moment to look interested in the conversation, switching his stance so he was practically on the edge of his seat with his elbows propped up on his knees thoughtfully. "You know what it's like."

Calum thought it over for a minute or two, although he didn't know what Michael was implying and the longer he took the more intense Michael's gaze felt against his skin.

"Yeah no." Calum said at last, and Michael gave him an exasperated look, as if to say are you serious?

"Jessica's smokin' hot." Michael all but exclaimed, not understanding how Calum looked past it. He'd been trying to get her attention since senior year, two years ago. She was pretty much the most attractive girl Michael had ever seen in his life.

Calum drew a blank, was she? He hadn't thought about it, he didn't usually think about girls in general. Sure, Jessica had long blonde hair and surprisingly tanned skin for this time of year. She had the typical runway model look, now that Calum had thought it over he found it odd that she was living in the kind of town that doesn't even show up on a road map.

"I guess." Calum replied, shrugging like Michael had asked him what he wanted to eat and Calum didn't care.

"You guess? She's angelic, what's wrong with you?" Michael's eyes widened at Calum's comment and he looked like he was about to faint.

"Well I'm gay," Calum replied without thinking, he'd be thrown out into the snow if Michael turned out to be homophobic, but maybe it would be for the best.

"I didn't mean to say that," Michael whispered, hand coming up to cover his mouth like he couldn't believe the words that had left his mouth suddenly. "There's nothing wrong with that, I swear."

The dark haired boy let out a small breath that he wasn't aware he was holding, Michael was turning out to be a pretty good person even if his hobbies included making rude gestures at his neighbours and sort of following his high school crush around even after being out of school for quite some time.

   *  *  *  *

Calum ended up spending the entirety of Christmas Day with Michael, pretty much against his will because of the snow but he tried to look at the positives.

As it turns out, Michael wasn't close with his family and often spent the holiday by himself, Calum felt sorry for the lad but Michael seemed pretty happy about the lonely nights.

Calum also found out that Michael didn't like Christmas, in fact, he more than likely hated it. The spirit, the cheer, he'd said, was annoying and the only thing he did like were the Christmas deals.

Christmas was rather lonely, even with Michael's company because he was so used to big family dinners and having his cousins over by noon.

At the same time it was nice, to just sit around and watch Bones with Michael all day and then when the light left the sky, Michael handed Calum a pizza pocket and they turned to aimless conversation until both of them were blinking slowly with a yawn every few words. Calum kind of liked how laid back Michael was, he'd gone straight to getting a job after he graduated while Calum had opted for college first.

"Will you be leaving early tomorrow?" Michael had been rather quiet for a while, mostly looking at Calum with a spaced out expression while he stirred his hot chocolate.

"Maybe, I don't want to overstay my welcome." Calum joked, but Michael didn't laugh. He did have to leave pretty early in order to spent time with his family before he had to get back to school.

Calum let out a yawn, stretching out as he did. Michael wore a small smile as he teased, "Tired?"

"Nah, I'm just going to rest my eyelids." Calum brushed off with a drowsy smile as he curled up on the couch next to Michael.

"Night then," Michael laughed quietly, already hearing Calum's breathing slow down.

Calum woke up the next morning and couldn't remember crawling into bed, he didn't think much of it because he was pretty used to forgetting certain things.

"You're leaving?" Michael asked, pausing on the stairs in his boxers to stare at Calum who was fully dressed with his bags at his feet.

"Yeah, maybe I'll see you around." Calum didn't know how to say goodbye to the stranger who'd become a pretty cool dude overnight.

"You'll probably come knocking on my door next year," Michael snorted, going as far to impersonate the boy in front of him. "Michael, oh my jingle bells. There's too much snow, can I please stay with you, you ruggedly handsome human being?"

Calum laughed, "Merry Christmas, Michael." His tone came out sadder than he intended, despite not knowing Michael for very long Calum was going to miss him.

"Bye."