Vlogmas: a YouTube Christmas Special [YouTube]

Day 22

On the twenty-second day of Vlogmas, YouTube gave to me:

Don't Take the Chris Out Of Christmas (Chris Kendall [crabstickz])

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"So what film are we seeing?" you ask as you lock the front door of your house behind you. Today's the day you pay Chris back for saving your life, and you figure he'll take you to dinner and movie. After all, you're both self-employed, so it's not as though you have change to spare on extravagant romps on the town.

Chris tuts at you disapprovingly. "I'm offended, madam! You just assume I'm going to take you to some cheap cinema?" He makes a haughty hmph noise and hooks your arm around his. "I wouldn't dream of it!"

"Alright, Mr Darcy," you amend, rolling your eyes but allowing him to help you into the waiting cab. "What are we doing, then?"

He doesn't answer your question, just slides in next to you and hands a post-it note to the driver. The cab pulls away from the kerb smoothly. "I'll be honest with you. I don't have much in the looks department. My charm is lacking at best. I never know what to do with my hands. I'm awkward. Pretty much all I have going for me right now is an air of mystery." Chris looks at you from the corner of his eye. "I beg of you, please just leave me this one point in my favour," he finishes, a hint of piteous humour entering his voice.

"Whatever, Chris," you splutter. "You are none of those things, okay, you have charm dripping out your eyeballs, you're a sight smoother than any of your friends, and as for looks..." You trail off, the tops of your ears going red as your companion's face grows smug.

He sniffs arrogantly and leans back against the seat, holding the back of his head in both hands like a douchebag. "Gee, you seem pretty into me for someone who wanted this to be a platonic date. You sure you don't want to take it to the next level? I mean, for your sake?"

"Oh, shut up," you mutter. Chris just laughs.

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You were afraid after his big speech that Chris was going to do something too extravagant and fancy, but thankfully it's not at all. You stop by a cute bakery and then walk around the prettily decorated parts of the city, enjoying each other's company, nothing big or exciting at all. In fact, you're wondering if this is all you're going to do. Then you look around and realise what Chris has apparently been building up to for the epic climax of the date.

"The Eye?" You raise an eyebrow at Chris. "This is a bit touristy, isn't it?"

"Have you ever been on the Eye? It's actually really cool, especially when the city is all snowy like it is right now," he replies enthusiastically. His excitement is borderline childish and extremely cute. He's even bouncing on the balls of his feet like a little boy. You hide a giggle behind your mitten and decide to humour him.

The wait is longer than normal - lots of tourists in for the Christmas holidays - so you try to make small talk to pass the time. "Have you finished all your shopping yet?"

"Yeah, I have. Have you?"

"Just yesterday." You put your hands on your hips proudly. "I got most everyone's ages ago, but I was stuck on Jack's, Jack Howard, that is. Finally I found it, it's a funny story actually..."

Chris hums, cutting you off. "I'm sure it is. D'you wanna go ice skating after this?"

You frown for a moment, but go along with it, not wanting to rock the boat. "Yeah, sure. I went ice skating just the other day with a group of people and some of the girls taught us how to crack the whip. Maybe I can show you. Jack said the funniest thing afterwards, too..."