Barry frowned slightly after he sipped from the eggnog. It was funny how it wasn’t until after it could no longer make an effect on him that he noticed just how much booze they put into that. He had the feeling Grandma Esther must have been a blast at parties– either that or an utter embarrassment, but ‘a blast’ sounded a tad more respectful to her memory. That particularly trivial train of thought was suddenly punctuated by the knocking on the door. After after saved the thermos back into the fridge again, he carried the two mugs to the living room, trotting to the foot of the stairs to make sure no members from the West family had woken up.
“Hey!” he greeted the other at the door, nodding inside and stepping aside right away to let him in. “Merry Christmas, by the way.” Admittedly, he wished they had been able to do that at his new place downtown rather than the house that served as home for close to his entire family, but he knew how much Joe would appreciate waking up on Christmas morning with all his kids under the same roof– not to mention his place had literally no pieces of furniture in it except for a bed, so having a gathering there of any kind would have been close to depressing. “Okay, so, uh– make yourself at home.” He took a seat on the couch himself, leaning back as he crossed his legs. “Eggnog’s right over there. I actually took a sip from the Rudolf one, so you might wanna use the Santa one instead.”
Spending Christmas alone was depressing no matter how much he tried to pretend that it didn’t bother him in the slightest and he was okay to anyone who might’ve called him. Honestly, today just had him feeling like his stomach might be permanently embedded into the soles of his slippers. Nighttime only made things worse. That post-Christmas day quiet that has people falling asleep with blissfully full stomachs underneath piles of blankets with someone as they watch the city twinkle beyond their window. That was what Christmas meant to Blaine just a couple years back. This year? Christmas was just lonely and the quiet was deafening. Until..
Barry opened the door and invited him in. Suddenly, the chilly night with a dusting of snow felt warm and welcoming. His bones didn’t seem as hollow. An unerasable smile greeted the other. Along with the wrapped plate of cookies he carried in. “Merry Christmas, Barry.” Blaine sat the them on the coffee table then pulled his gloves off and stuffed them in his pocket. “Right. Thanks for the warning. Don’t need to go for Rudolph and catch your cooties,” he crinkled his nose pretending to be grossed out before grinning sheepishly and fetching the Santa cup. “Wow. Tell your Grandma I think by the smell alone one glass might land Santa and the elves in the drunk tank. So,” he took a sip and dear God he was right. Swallowing it down, he blew a breath through puckered lips and quickly took another. Much easier to down the second time and…it was really good. “Are you sure you’re actually up at this hour? I know I asked once already but..normal people are usually in bed by now.. How was your Christmas?”
pianokeysandbowties 