25 Days of Ambrollins

Day Sixteen - Decorating the House

Dean loathed all festive behavior. Any sign of people being overly cheery just made his skin crawl. The holidays were never the best time of year, certainly not for Dean, and he doubted that would change. No, he usually just spent the merry day in some dive bar and drank away the irritated feeling of Christmas. This year, however, would be much different. Seth was the exact opposite of Dean, he loved Christmas that the man practically ripped down the Halloween decorations at 12:01 am November 1st. He was the type of guy who, if given the chance, would declare the month of November as pre-Christmas, and completely do away with the actual holiday in November.

Back in February, Dean had finally plucked up the courage to be straight with Seth, well, figuratively that is. Dean had been nervous, god, was he nervous, but he just knew in that moment that it was now or never. Seth had looked so good. They had just finished working out, Dean and Roman going about their usual workout while Seth did his Crossfit. Seth was wiping a towel across his forehead and neck, his face beet red and his chest rising and falling as he caught his breath. Roman had a smirk on his face as he watched Dean watch Seth shamelessly, and then the final straw showed itself; Seth net Dean's eyes as his tongue peeked out to wet his lips, and Dean knew he had to know what his lips felt like against Seth's, what it would feel like to have his tongue collide with Seth's. He had taken hold of Seth's face, both hands holding him firmly as his lips pressed to Seth's. Dean smirked to himself at the memory, remembering it like it was just yesterday.

"What are you smiling about?" Dean heard Seth ask. Dean looked up, his gaze having been fixed on the space in front of him, looking at nothing in particular.

"Our first kiss," Dean admitted.

Seth smiled and approached his boyfriend, who sat on the couch of the house that he and Seth shared, "I think about that a lot too." He took a seat next to Dean and relaxed into the comfy furniture. He pulled Dean down back with him so they were leaning against the back of the couch, snuggled up with one another.

"Also just thinking about where I was this time last year, how much as changed. Christmas actually means something to me this year," Dean confessed softly.

Seth hummed, "This is our first Christmas together," he said obviously, "I'm so ready to spend it with the person I love most in this world." Dean's heart swelled at Seth's words and he smiled.

"I just hope I can get as into it as you do," Dean said, "I want everything to be perfect."

"Everything is already perfect. The tree is perfect, the house is perfect, you're perfect. Having you with me makes everything perfect." Dean smiled again at Seth's words, but in his mind, a plan was forming. Seth had mentioned many times that his family would always go all out for Christmas, decorating both outside the house, but also inside every room in the house. Dean, however, didn't own a single decoration in his life, nor were there many house decorations in the house he and Seth shared.

"You still going to the gym soon?" Dean asked casually.

Seth nodded, "Yeah. I've been slacking during this break. I was coming to give you a goodbye kiss. You sure you don't wanna come with me?"

"Your CrossFit would kill me," Dean told Seth with a laugh.

Seth laughed in return, "Fair enough, fair enough," he said. He pressed a kiss to Dean's lips and then shifted to sit up. He pushed off the couch and offered his hand to his boyfriend, who took it to stand in front of Seth. "I love you, I'll be home around dinner, maybe later."

Dean nodded, "Love you too. Work hard, but don't work yourself to death. I promise I'll come with tomorrow." Seth smiled and pressed another kiss to Dean's lips and then left his arms, heading for the door where his gym bag sat waiting for him. Dean checked his phone, it was just turning noon and Dean had to act fast if he wanted to surprise Seth. He bolted up, checking out the window to ensure that Seth had taken off. When he was sure he was gone, Dean grabbed up his car keys, wallet, and phone then took off for his car.

~~~~~~~~~

Dean arrived home about an hour later, having to make a few trips to and from the car, his arms full of Christmas decorations. He decided to start with the outside things and took to grabbing the string lights and the blowup things and headed outside. He moved with a pep in his step, the main thing motivating him (besides the chill in the air) being the need to get all this done before Seth got home. It was approximately 1 o'clock when he got started on the exterior of the house. When he finished, it was somewhere around 3:30ish and he was ready for a year-long nap. He pushed on, however, and made his way into the house to decorate the living room. He began with the garland and lights, stringing them all around the room, then on the large pack of white felt to look like snow, laid it out in any open space, then set in on the beginning of a mini Christmas village, the houses lighting up once he plugged them in to a brand new power strip. After about an hour, he looked around with satisfaction and took a small break before he set back to work.

It was time to plug everything in completely, the sun beginning to set as the clock read a little bit after 5; Seth would be home soon and Dean was so excited to show him the surprise. Everything was plugged in inside the house and Dean flicked on the industrial outside power strip and watched the front yard come to life, a smile on his face.

He turned his head as he heard tired pulling up and a car stopping. Seth hoped out, a look of happy shock on his face, "What is this?" he asked as he walked up to Dean.

Dean shrugged, "I know how much you like Christmas and I wanted to decorate the house for you. Surprise!" Dean said. Seth shook his head, an incredibly large, dopey smile on his face.

"It looks amazing, like something out of a movie!" Seth said as he looked out. There were various blow-ups like a festive merry go round and a snowglobe. Other things lit up with festive lights and traced figures of Santa and presents and Christmas tree.

"There's more where that came from," Dean said. He took Seth's hand and led him inside their house. He heard Seth audibly gasp as took in the sight before him. The stair banister was decorated in garland and white lights, little glowing ceramic houses were littered around the room, little people and animals figurines stood nearby. Dean had found this thing in the store that, when turned in and plugged up to the tree, it played music and made the lights flicker to the music.

"Dean, this is amazing," Seth said softly, his voice full of disbelief. Dean looked over to see his eyes were full of not only love but also tears of joy. "Just amazing."

"There's one more thing," Dean said, "Look up."

Seth did as instructed and laughed, "Mistletoe," he stated as he spotted the small addition above them. Dean leaned forward and planted a kiss on Seth's lips almost desperate to feel Seth's lips against his, having been away from him for longer than he liked. Seth made a noise of approval and pulled Dean closer.

"Thank you for this, it's amazing," Seth said once he pulled away, "You're amazing."

Dean smiled, "Thanks for making Christmas mean something to me, it wouldn't without you to make everything better." Seth put his pointer fingers through the belt loops on Dean's jeans and used them to pull him close again, his lips meeting Dean's once again.

"Thank you for making Christmas even more special for me. I love you, Dean."

"I love you too, Seth."