Heart of Stone - final revised version :)

Leaf Stars

"Ryan. Ryan, wake up," a soft voice whispers as someone gently shakes my shoulder.

"Hm? What?" I groggily rub my eyes and look up to see Brendon grinning over me.

"It's Christmas!" His eyes shine and his smile stretches even wider.

"Yay?"

"No! You need to be joyful! Come on! Let's sing Christmas carols!" He claps his hands together excitedly and begins singing, "we wish you a merry Chri –"

"No, no, no. I'm not singing Christmas carols." I stand up and head out of the new cave we found yesterday.

"Yes you are, Ryan!" Brendon follows me. "We've been out here for ten days and I think we both deserve a little Christmas celebration."

I turn around and see him smiling hopefully at me. I roll my eyes. "Alright. But what are we going to do?"

"I have ideas." Brendon smiles mischievously.

Oh, this'll be great.

***

I see Brendon in the distance, dragging along a tree behind him. I have no fucking clue where he found a tree, but he did.

He finally joins me, panting and out of breath. He digs a hole in the dirt and stands up the small, scraggly tree.

"Perfect," he says, hands on hips. "Did you get my present?" He turns to me.

"Yeah. I dunno if you'll like it, though." I timidly turn around the small, leaf-wrapped present in my hands.

"Of course I will." He sits down across from me. "I think you'll love yours." He smiles at me softly and my brain stops working.

"But first," he says, turning to the tree. "We need to decorate this thing."

We end up having a contest over who can bring back the best decoration. I find some leaves that I tie together in the shape of a star. Brendon comes back with the same exact thing.

"Oh, come on!" He says, crossing his arms together and trying to look angry.

"You stole my idea!" I accuse him, pointing my finger at him. I smile slightly.

"Well, fine. We'll put them both on the tree. But mine's better."

I shake my head and grin as we place the decorations next to each other on the tree. Two little stars.

"Okay, now we have to sing," he says as he sits back down.

I laugh. "No fucking way."

"I know you can, Ryan! It's not Christmas without Christmas music!"

I sigh in defeat and begin singing, "On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..."

"Two leaf stars in a small tree!" He joins in and suddenly grabs my hands. We dance like idiots around that tree and I don't think I've been happier in my life. He pulls me in for a hug. I hold on to him tightly and bury my face in his hair.

"Do you want to see your present?" Brendon whispers in my ear.

"It better be the greatest present I've ever gotten." I let go of him and he hands me a bracelet. It's made out of braided twigs and has a larger piece of wood in the center with the word "asshole" clumsily carved in it.

I smile crookedly up at him. "It even says my name on it."

"I had it made special." He shrugs, giggling a little.

I put the bracelet on and look back up at him. "Okay, my turn." I grab his present. "Close your eyes." He obeys, so I place the small object in his palm. "Open them."

He does, and gasps when he sees the tiny rabbit carved from wood. "You made this?" He looks up at me, amazed.

I shrug. "I was bored a lot as a kid, so I used to carve things out of firewood."

"Ryan," he breathes. "What the hell!" He laughs disbelievingly then starts closely examining the details of the rabbit.

"I made it so you could always have that rabbit with you, even though it's dead. I know how much it hurt you to kill it." I shyly rub the back of my neck.

"Thank you." He smiles sweetly and hugs me. I feel more at home than I have for the past 28 years.