Golden

twenty-seven | end

By the time Noah and Ian stepped out of the airport small snowflakes were falling from the sky, draping a thin white coat over Noah's hometown.

Ian pulled a face as the cold reached them, not being used to snow sticking to his shoes. "Do you have to live in the north?"

"You should ask my parents," Noah replied with a grin. "Come on, they're waiting."

One hand intertwining with Ian's and the other clutching his suitcase he hurried across the parking lot, dragging Ian with him. They approached one of the parked cars and a rather elderly looking woman stepped out, immediately pulling Noah into a hug.

"Welcome home!" She greeted him, glancing at Ian over Noah's shoulder. "You must be Kilian? I'm Maggy, it's so good to finally meet you."

"Yeah, just call me Ian." Ian shot her a polite smile and held out his hand, but Maggy ignored him and instead pulled him into a hug as well. Noah grinned at them, knowing his mom wasn't one to bother with formalities.

"Did you have a nice flight? Aren't you cold, Kilian?" Maggy asked, glancing at Ian's thin coat. The inability to use Ian's preferred nickname seemed to be running in the family. "Come on, get into the car, you must be freezing. Noah, how could you let him come here dressed like that?"

"I didn't know you live that far north," Ian admitted while Noah heaved their suitcases into the back of the car. "I'll just buy a warmer jacket."

Maggy chuckled as she walked to the driver's side of the car. "Good luck buying anything the day before Christmas. You can have one of Noah's jackets when we're home."

"Glad to get a say in this," Noah said but smiled as he opened the door for Ian.

The drive wasn't long and Christmas music filled the car, almost getting Ian excited for a holiday he usually didn't care about. Maggy kept talking about how stressed she had been the past few days, and how everything needed to be perfect since Noah was bringing a guest. Ian told her he really didn't care about any Christmas preparations but Maggy just waved her hand dismissively.

"Didn't know Christmas is that important to your family," Ian said quietly to Noah once they reached their house and got out of their car. Noah just shrugged and took their suitcases out of the trunk.

"It's not Christmas itself, just the fact that it's a holiday and all our relatives are coming together," he replied and closed the trunk. "Mom wants everything to be perfect and for everyone to enjoy themselves."

"What are you two still talking about? Get inside before you freeze to death," Maggy demanded, ushering them towards the front door. Before they could reach the door it was opened from inside, a tall man carrying a little girl appearing in the doorway.

"Hi dad," Noah greeted as they stepped inside. Ian glanced at the pine branches and red cloths pinned to the walls before directing his attention to the man.

His height was ridiculous – Nancy would probably pass out at the sight – and Ian wondered how much the man had to bow down when stepping through doorways. Single grey hairs were discolouring his brown beard, and wrinkles danced around his eyes as he smiled at Ian.

"I'm Seth, this is Tara," he introduced himself and the small Chinese girl on his arms. The girl smiled down at Ian shyly, and Ian guessed her to be around ten years old.

"Kilian," Ian replied, figuring he might as well go with the family's urge to ignore his nickname. Noah helped Ian out of his coat as Maggy rushed to the kitchen, and not soon after the smell of cookies filled the hallway.

"You look a bit frozen. I just started a fire," Seth said, leading the boys into the living room. An open and lit fireplace filled in most of it, with the couches placed around it and a huge decorated tree taking in a whole corner of the room.