A New Adventure (a Fiddauthor Fanfiction)

>>Five<<

     Ford and Fiddleford planned out their Christmas meticulously. Neither of them had spent a holiday away from their families, so they were a bit unsure of what to do at first. However, Ford told some stories about how, each Christmas season, his family would go out to buy a Christmas tree.

     So that is exactly what they did.

     Their dorm room was quite spacious. Neither of them had many belongings to bring with to college. Fiddleford had a small, rickety old desk, his bed, and his banjo along with the normal school supplies. Ford had a desk, his bed, a dresser, and three wall-mounted bookshelves full of books on physics, chemistry, engineering, and laws of every kind. Beside all that, the two had purchased their couch and a small TV set along with a few of their favorite movies. There was a corner of the room still left untouched, so they agreed a Christmas tree would definitely complete their shared home.

     Ford dawned a brown jacket with a fluffy, insulated inside, a red winter hat, and a red cashmere scarf, on of Stan's that was left behind when he was kicked out. He inhaled deeply; it still smelled like Stan, like pine and cinnamon. He brushed aside his emotions and waited for Fidds, who was taking more precautions than he had during their camping trip.

     "What? Ya never know! It could start snowin' again!" Fidds defended himself, pulling on snow boots over his wool socks. He resembled the character Randy from A Christmas Story, wearing a winter coat over his sweatshirt over his flannel, long underwear under his jeans, gloves, a hat, and a scarf. It was laughable.

      "Are you under the impression that we're driving to the Arctic for this tree?" Ford chuckled, placing a hand lightly on Fidds' back. "It's at least twenty degrees outside! You're going to overheat."

     Fidds waved a dismissing hand, "Don't be ridiculous, Stanferd. I know what I'm doin'."

     Fidds removed his coat, hat, gloves, and scarf by the time they reached the front door of their building. Ford only grinned, not wanting to gloat. Occasionally Fidds caught him smiling like an idiot, and would smack his shoulder.

     The lot for Christmas trees was only a mile or so away from their home, and much to Ford's surprise they were there in no time at all. The lot was plump full of beautiful, green trees. This whole experience was rather new to Fidds; his family was very festive and all, but in Tennessee they just bought plastic trees instead. He had never experienced this part of Christmas.

     They had pooled together their money and come up with 70 dollars specifically for their tree. They had extra money to purchase decorations and food, but they wanted to get the nicest tree they could find. There were plenty of families there, browsing and pretending not to show interest to see if they could talk down prices as if they were trying to buy a car. Ford acted similarly; if he saw something he liked, he was willing to do anything to get it.

     Fidds had picked out a beautiful, seven-foot tree. There were no bare spots, it was straight, and it was huge. The salesman walked over, noticing their marveled expressions at once.

     "Are y'all interesting in this here tree? She's mighty fine, but she comes at a price!" the man nearly shouted at them, startling Ford.

     "-Erm, yes, we are! How much would it be for this tree?" Ford asked, trying his best to sound like the confident man he wished he was.

     The salesman rubbed his chin theatrically. "Well, I 'spose I could let 'er go for...mm, say 95 bucks?"

     Ford gaped. "95 dollars? There's no way. This tree," he grabbed it in the center and shook it, "the needles are all coming off here! And it is rather short for a tree. I'll give you..." Ford counted out his cash in front of the salesman, pretending he had no idea how much he actually had. "I'll give you 70 dollars!"

     The salesman smirked deviously, "You're quite the go-getter, aren't'cha? Fine, 70 it is! Pleasure doin' business with ya!" The man walked away, counting the cash carefully, then stuffing it in the pockets of his jeans.

     Ford turned to Fidds, who was utterly awestruck by Ford's charismatic persuasion. "I'll be honest, Ford: I've never seen ya talk like that to no one!"

     Ford's cheeks were burning, "Well, he might have been a terrible person, but I learned a thing or two from my father."

*  *  *  *  *

     Ford hauled the tree back to their dorm while Fidds was given the remainder of the money to pick out their decorations and to decide on what they would be eating for their special Christmas dinner. In the McGucket household, the ornaments hung on their tree were homemade, the garland was at least 20 years old, and their tree was starting to go bare from all the little kids pulling out the fake pine needles. He figured Ford's experience was much different; while Ford didn't come from money, his family was a bit more sophisticated than Fidds' embarrassing hick family.

     When he entered the local department store, he found a winter wonderland. Everywhere he looked, there were snowflakes of every color, plastic trees of every size, and garland and tinsel covering everything. The employees all had Santa hats and jingle bells, though their holiday clothing did not match their expressions; each employee looked like they had been on the verge of a mental breakdown.

     Fidds tried not to make eye contact with anyone as he scanned his surroundings, trying to locate ornaments. Running down an aisle, he located multicolored orbs and tree toppers. He decided to pick out gold and silver ornaments, each having beautiful, swirled accents on them. He also picked out a silver star to top the tree.

     Fidds had always been a great cook; when he was young, his ma always had him help in the kitchen since he was so much younger than his other siblings. He knew millions of recipes, though his forte was baking. He decided he would get a honey-glazed ham and make the traditional Christmas feast, but he had also decided to bake an orange cranberry tart.

     Meanwhile, Ford had made it back to their dorm with the tree and had propped it up in the corner of their room. He admired the tall, fragrant beast as he wiped his forehead with the back of his abnormal hand. Fidds will be so impressed, Ford thought, smiling like a teen girl. He reached into his desk, pulling out his journal, and began sketching a scene with the Christmas tree. He drew Fidds, eyes wide and mouth hanging open.

     "I should hang mistletoe..." Ford hummed out loud, sketching it into the scene. "Our first kiss...under the mistletoe on Christmas..."

     Ford's face was heating up and he hid his face in the book, letting out a little squeal. The thought of kissing him... how foolish. Fidds would never kiss a loser like him.

     Suddenly the door opened, and in walked Fiddleford carrying way too many bags filled with decorations and food. "A little help, Ford?"

     Ford hopped up, throwing his journal carelessly onto his desk. He took half the bags into his hands, unloading the various boxes and bundles of garland. "You certainly went all out, huh?"

     Fidds smiled, "Of course! This Christmas is gonna be the best ever!"

     Ford began unpacking the decorations and hanging the lights on the trees while Fiddleford walked over to Ford's desk, setting down all the baking supplies. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the journal laying wide open on the page Ford was doodling on. Fidds began flipping through the book, examining all of his secret thoughts.

     "Oh, hey! Don't look at that!" Ford shouted, jumping up and diving at the book.

     Fidds set it down and grabbed Ford's hands, pushing him back. "Ford, if we're gonna be a couple, you can't be hidin' these things from me."

     Ford blushed, "Wha-what was I hiding?"

     Fidds placed a hand on Ford's cheek, "I love you. Ya know that, right?"

     Ford swallowed, "Of...course!"

     "Then please, don't worry what others think of ya. Ford, I think you're wonderful."

      A tear ran down Stanford's cheek. He looked down at his feet like a child who had been disciplined. "I'm sorry."

     Fidds wrapped his arms around him, "Don't be. Jus' remember how much I love ya."