A Home For Christmas - 3. A Home For Christmas 3

I'd like to say that I didn't really get a good look at Blake without his shirt on, because I wasn't trying to be creepy about it or anything...but, hehehe...I most certainly did! Believe me!

Now...don't get me wrong. It wasn't my intention to really scheme on him in some sort of a predatory way...er, at least I don't think it was...but he lifted up his hoodie and all of that sensual teen flesh came into view all at once without warning, and I was sort of like a deer stuck in headlights once my vision was able to focus on him properly.

Omigod...there was like this smooth, porcelain, glimmer to it...and he had just the right amount of thin, athletic, muscle to hold my love starved gaze hostage. It was like it was all happening in super slow motion, even if it wasn't. The fabric kept rising until I was able to see his nipples and his cute little belly button...two things that my eyes were able to linger on for a moment because his shirt was covering his face. Then his neck...oh wow, his neck. Then his sexy pink lips came into view, along with the spark of those electric blue eyes as he pulled the hoodie all the way off...his soft blond locks cascading back down like golden rays of sunshine.

I think I forgot to stop breathing for a moment there.

I didn't realize that I was perving all over him, practically drooling over his mouthwatering body, until he giggled sweetly and turned red in the face. "Sorry." He said. "A hot shower just sounded really good right now. I guess I was in a bit of a rush."

"No way, dude! That's totally cool. I get it. It'll help to warm you up too. Then, with the heat and the hot chocolate and melted marshmallow...you'll be all warm and snuggly in no time. Watch. You'll see." I grinned.

"Cool..."

"Oh! Ummm...the shower head is set on normal right now..." I told him, moving into the bathroom to pull back the curtain and show it to him. "But, you see this little ridge on the side? If you turn that, there's, like, a massage feature too."

"A massage feature? What's that?" He asked.

"It's still a shower, but it comes out...you know...harder. Or whatever. It makes your back and shoulders feel really good."

"It does? Can I use it?"

"Hehehe, yeah! Why do you think I told you about it?" I said.

"Ok. Thanks. I'll give it a try." Blake smiled.

"Alright..."

"Ok..."

I just stared at him for a moment, and then had to shake myself out of my hypnotic trance once I understood that I was stopping him from getting all the way undressed for his shower. "I'll just...I'll get us started on the hot chocolate and stuff. Have a good...a good time." Jesus, I'm a dumbass when I try to improvise my way through talking to a cute boy. I swear, I'm going to die a virgin.

"I'll try. Hehehe!" He said, and I closed the door behind me. But I didn't leave just yet. Honestly, I just sort of leaned in a little bit and listened to the sound of him sliding his pants and underwear off, then turning on the water to get it warm before stepping into the tub.

He was naked. Right NOW...Blake was totally naked on the other side of this door. And I just closed my eyes and pressed my ear against the door as he pulled the shower curtain closed, and started it up. I can't explain why it made me so hard to hear it...but it was almost like I could imagine the water splashing up against him nude form, the sound of it giving me a mental picture of what it must be like to see him completely exposed like that. I sighed to myself, my hand rubbing up and down the outside of that door...just hearing the faint sounds of him lathering up, and I even heard him try the massage feature on the shower head, which made me smile. Omigod, I fel like I'm so in love right now! Hehehe!

Ugh! It hurt me to pull away from that bathroom door, but I had to hurry down into the kitchen and get the hot chocolate warmed up so it would be ready when he came out. I got a pot for the stove and turned it on, put a little bit of extra chocolate into it like I always do, and once I started heating it up, I reached up to the top shelf of a nearby cabinet for the marshmallows. There were only like six or seven of them left, but they were big and fluffy enough where just one would be enough for each cup of hot chocolate that we had to drink.

Hmmm...what else? I turned the TV on and tried to find a decent movie on cable that was just starting. Nothing too sappy. Nothing too kiddy. Nothing too gory. Ugh...come on! I know it's Christmas Eve, but there's got to be more than lame reruns and empty space on these channels in terms of movies. Look at this! "It's A Wonderful Life" is on like fifteen different channels! Can we just assume that most people have seen that one by now? There's got to be something else on. Stupid corporate interests trying to kidnap people's sense of choice by playing the same simple stuff over and over again.

Oh! The hot chocolate!

I rushed back in the kitchen, sliding across the tile in my sock feet before regaining my balance and straightening up again. Just in time. Nothing worse than burnt hot chocolate. I got the big mugs from the cabinet next to the fridge and set them down next to the stove. Nice a steamy, just like I like it.

I poured a little bit more into Blake's cup than I did my own. Somehow it just felt like a slightly romantic gesture. Hehehe, I don't know why. But he's cute enough to deserve some extra. And I was just dropping the big marshmallows into the center of the liquid as I heard the shower shut off upstairs. Damn...had it really been that long? I looked at the clock, and I guess that I had been so tightly wrapped up in my thoughts that I didn't realize it had been about fifteen minutes or more since he started. I hope the water stayed hot the whole time. He's gonna feel so good and relaxed when he comes downstairs. Hehehe, I just know it.

It was hard not to think about him drying his body off. Like...'everywhere'. I swear, I'm going to take his towel and wrap it around my pillow so I can just inhale unrestricted 'Blake' for the rest of the night while I sleep.

It took him a few minutes, but I eventually heard Blake walking down the carpeted stairs in his bare feet, and felt myself trembling with excitement as he got closer. "Aric?"

"Yeah, I'm in the kitchen!" I called out, and he followed my voice to walk in with a smile. Oh geez...even when his hair was still damp from the shower, it was only a slightly darker shade of freshly polished bronze than it was before. And it seemed to bring out the brilliance of his eyes even more than ever before. And he was wearing my stuff! Ahhhhh! Awesome!

Blake was holding his clothes in his arms, along with the towel and the washcloth that he used to wash up with. "I figured you might want to wash these too. You know? Obviously, I don't have a full load of stuff to toss in." He said softly.

"That's cool. It's free. I can just switch it to a small load and it'll save some energy and stuff. Do you have anything else?" I asked, looking over at his bag near the front door.

"Can you...I mean, you can wash them all?"

"Of course I can. Bring them on over. Might as well do 'em all, right?" I said, and while I expected a big smile to appear on his face, I feel like Blake was experiencing more humiliation than anything else. I wasn't sure why. Did I say something wrong? He actually hesitated for a moment, but surrendered to his current needs over his unwarranted feelings of shame instead. He picked up his backpack, and I offered to take it for him, but he gripped it tighter to his chest.

"It's ok. I've got it." He said.

"Alright." Did I make a confused face? I really hope that I didn't make a confused face. "Just follow me. The garage is right through the side door over here."

He followed along, and the garage was pretty chilly, but I only planned to be in there for a few minutes. I put his clothes in the washing machine, and he came down, even in his bare feet, to move me over as he put some of his other clothes in there as well. Some of them were pretty filthy. Not that I minded, but I could tell that it bothered him to let me see that kind of thing, so I just pretended not to notice. I busied myself with pouring a cap full of liquid detergent instead, and then had him step back as I dumped it into the machine. Closed the lid, and got the whole thing started.

"Let's get out of here. It's super cold!" I said, making him grin.

"It's warmer than outside. Trust me."

"I do trust you. But we've got better options inside." I told him, and rushed him back into the house where we could both get warm up again. "The hot chocolate is ready. Help yourself."

Blake's eyes lit up as he saw the big cup waiting for him on the counter, the marshmallow already half melted and creating this thick kind of froth on the surface of the warm liquid treat. "Whoah...this looks amazing." He grinned. "Mmmm, smells great too."

"Well, it's freshly of the stove, so don't burn your tongue or anything." I said. "Hey! Do you wanna see my basement?"

"You have a basement too?" He asked. "Like a serial killer, bodies buried in the crawlspace type of basement or...?"

"Hehehe, NO! It's a finished basement."

He seemed confused. "Aren't all basements 'finished'? How would your house stand up, otherwise?"

I know he was joking, but I just led him over to the door and the steps leading down into our big basement, turning on the light from the top of the steps. He followed me down, and once he saw what was down there, it was like he was discovering his first Christmas miracle. "Wait...are you serious right now? What IS all of this???"

"Hehehe! It's cool, right?" I said. We had a big flatscreen TV down there, with big speakers on either side, an extra bathroom, a couple of couches and a coffee table. But I think the first thing he noticed was the pool table near the back wall.

"You have a pool table? At HOME? What is this? This kind of thing is normal for you? Omigod, Aric...are you guys super rich or something?" Blake asked.

"Super rich? Hehehe, far from it. Believe me." I told him.

"But...you have your own pool table and...oh wow...is that a fish tank?" He said, now tearing himself away from the marvel of the pool table to look at the big fish tank that we had up against another wall. "This thing is huge! Omigod!" He said, bending down to take a closer look at it. "Hey, buddies. What's up?" He was talking to the fish as though they could actually hear and understand him. It was so cute. "I love fish..."

"These are my fishies. Hehehe, I love 'em too." I said.

"Do they have names?"

"Nah. I just call them 'Fishies', hehehe! I guess I wasn't feeling very creative that day. But whatever. They know I love them." I looked at the illuminated lights of the aquarium glowing on Blake's breathtakingly gorgeous face, and was forced to look away before I found myself having to hide another erection. What is WRONG with me 'down there'??? I'm not even thinking about anything sexual! I just...I like looking at him, you know? Something about absorbing his beauty in such copious amounts like this brings me joy. "Say...do you want to watch a movie or something? I've got tons of stuff downloaded, if you're interested. And this TV is much bigger than the one upstairs."

Blake smiled, and said, "Well, that would be cool. But could we go back upstairs anyway? I'm kinda digging your Christmas tree. That's truly blowing my mind, you know?"

"Hehehe, you and your parents never had a Christmas tree before? I find that hard to believe."

"We've had Christmas trees before, but nothing like...yours. With all the lights and shiny ornaments and window frost stuff. That's crazy. I only see that kinda stuff on TV. And on a very small TV at that." He snickered. "Besides, it's the holidays. I like the ambience of it all. It gives me good vibrations."

His smile was cause for an involuntary 'yes' response, no matter what he was asking for. "You're the guest. Let's do it." I told him.

"But we can still come back down here later and play some pool later though, right?"

"Oh, sorry. The pool table is off limits after eight o'clock." I think he actually took me seriously for a second until I started to crack up.

"I'm glad you're enjoying my noob status in a place like this. Hehehe!"

"Dude, this is my home! Everything is free. Everything is at our disposal. Whenever we want. Relax already, it's cool. I'm happy to have you here with me. Otherwise I'd be spending Christmas all by myself this weekend." I said. Timidly adding, "It's much better to be here spending time with you instead. I consider it a blessing."

Blushing again, he said, "Me too..." Then he took a sip of his hot chocolate, which was obviously a little bit too hot to really enjoy to the fullest just yet, even if the marshmallows had completely for the both of us.

"Come on. I can make us some popcorn and we can try to find something to watch tonight." I said, and noticed that Blake and I were sharing this lingering moment of eye contact with one another. I couldn't tell if he was just thankful or if, like...it was something else. But I could practically feel the impact of it in the pit of my stomach. Like...there was this weight on my heart that suddenly got heavier when I saw it, and it almost dared me to keep staring at him, while simultaneously daring me to look away. Emotional conflict settled in, and the only method that I had to deal with it was a flurry of boyish giggles that suddenly came out of nowhere and then refused to stop. I sounded like such a goofball, but the nervous jitters were tickling me all over, and I couldn't get a hold of myself.

The giggles got even worse when Blake began to join in, and it was awkward and weird, but...I loved it. Every second of it. I just let it sweep me up until the moment started to seem a bit too obvious in my mind and I had to force myself to act normal again. I mean...as much as I was ready to swoon and fall right into Blake's arms at that particular moment, I didn't want to let my wishful thinking take control of my common sense. If anything, my doubt and fear began to overcompensate for what I was really feeling inside. Boys this cute are never gay. In a perfect world, they would be. But...I'm not quite convinced just yet.

It's a bullshit excuse, I know. But maybe...maybe I just want to spend more time with him for now, you know? Stuck in this euphoric limbo between total acceptance and total rejection, where anything is possible, and my blood keeps pumping out those feel good Christmas endorphins the way elves push out new toys for Santa's sleigh.

"You wanna...we can just ummm...yeah, ok..." I stammered, and turned around to go back upstairs with Blake walking right behind me. We walked back into the living room, and the TV was on already up there, so I told Blake to just sit down wherever he wanted to.

He raised the big mug back to his perfect lips and took another little sip of his hot chocolate, smiling and giving me a thumbs up. "Perfect. Oh man, this is good. Thanks."

"Yeah. It's my favorite whenever it gets cold outside." I said, still finding it hard to really get enough oxygen in my lungs for more than a single sentence or two at a time. Wow...I still can't believe that he's actually wearing my clothes. It's like having a celebrity from my every cinematic wet dream right here in my house. Heh, this is so surreal. "Do you want, like, a blanket or anything? We've got some really comfy ones. I've got a favorite. It's red." What am I even talking about? Just make the popcorn already!

"That would be cool. Sure. I mean, it's nice and warm in here and all, but I think my bones turned to ice out there today. Hehehe, so I'm still feeling a little bit chilly." He said.

"Oh! Ok! No problem!" I put my hot chocolate down and ran to the living room closet to grab him this big fluffy blanket that I always use when I'm watching movies. I don't know why, but it's just a soothing feeling to be wrapped up in it. Makes me happy. He can have it though. I wanted him to be as comfortable as he is awesome. "Here ya go."

"Dude! Hehehe, this thing is huge!" He said.

"I know, right? And the second you get it draped over your shoulders it's like being wrapped up in the arms of a big ol' teddy bear." I said, and I gave it to him, watching him close it around him. "See what I mean?"

Blake took a deep breath and leaned back against the couch as he closed his eyes. "Aric...this is like the softest most exquisite thing that I've ever felt before in my entire life. Jesus..."

I don't know I almost felt a little choked up at that moment, but it made me feel soooo good to be able to give him a few moments of comfort. Just a few. Watching him melt into those couch cushions gave me this mellow rush that made me want to give him so much more. I'd pamper him with everything that I had to give. Nobody has ever stirred up my emotions like this before, the least I could do was repay him for being such a guiding light for my craving heart over the past few weeks.

"Well, the remote is right there on the table in front of you. You can pick a movie of your choice and we'll check it out. I should probably warn you though...all the channels are pretty much showing the same stuff."

"Let me guess...'It's A Wonderful Life', 'The Charlie Brown Special', and 'Elf'?"

"Pretty much. Yeah." I said.

"So unoriginal. I'll find us something. Don't worry. I just...sighhh...I just wanna enjoy this blanket for a few more seconds."

"Ummm...uhhh, ok. Hehehe! Enjoy away!" I was trembling so bad that I could hear the shakiness in my own voice. Yikes. "I'll be back in like...two minutes."

"Mmm-hmmm..." He moaned softly, eyes still closed and feeling the chill leave his body as the warm blanket sapped the energy right out of him.

I turned the top light off in the living room, but it was still pretty bright in there with the colorful flashes coming from the Christmas tree lights. I almost wished that I could light the fireplace for us too, but my mom told me that she'd literally kill me if I went anywhere near it while she was gone. And she'll check when she comes home. I know she would.

I stood in the right in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room, watching the dancing lights of the tree as they illuminated the face of my sweet angel...looking as peaceful and warm as a newborn puppy in that blanket. It made me smile.

Sometimes it just makes you feel good to do something right for a change, you know?

Wow...