As he set down the cats’ food bowls, Benji’s phone buzzed insistently in his pocket. His parents had promised to check in when they landed, but they’d only left a few hours ago.

When the phone had been wrestled out of the back pocket of Benji’s skinny jeans, it revealed a much more welcome caller.

“Hey, Benji! How’s it going solo in the house?” Benji’s sister Talia grinned at him from a table outside in an overcast Scotland. She was bundled up in the cold, cheeks pink, scarf up to her chin. A small buzz of satisfaction resulted from the fact that it was colder there.

Benji hadn’t planned it this way, nor did he want to be abandoned on the one “magical” day of the year, but it was still his fault. Christmas wasn’t his favorite holiday, but for every year since he could remember, his sister had insisted on spending Christmas in the family home with or without guests to join them. And he loved his sister, so he followed suit.

Now, his sister had absconded to Scotland for an important archeology dig that would help her achieve a PhD. When his parents mentioned flying there, Benji had protested, citing his sister’s previous insistence on being home for the holidays and the money they would be saving. Why not just pay for her to fly home, rather than pay for three people to fly there?

But during the three months she’d been gone, Benji’s parents had become more detached from him. They’d started talking about things he hadn’t even known they’d been interested in—beer tastings and Eagles concerts and two new kittens. Benji thought his mom hated cats, and now they had two kittens. He didn’t know his parents very well at all anymore. Or maybe he’d forgotten to pay attention as they became new people, because he was too busy becoming his own person.

“Since you don’t want to go to Scotland, we thought it would make sense for you to stay and watch the boys,” his mom had told him.

“It’s only been a few hours,” Benji said, tapping the icon to flip his phone’s camera and show his sister the kittens—Ghost and Nutmeg, gray and brown cats respectively—who were now giving themselves a post-dinner bath. “I haven’t killed the boys yet.”

Talia laughed and awwwed before asking, “So what are your holiday plans? It’s so weird we won’t all be together.”

This comment felt pointed. Before he flipped the phone back to his own face, Benji schooled his expression and sat on the couch. “I’ll probably just spend time here. With a book or something.”

Talia sipped a steaming drink out of a mug and propped her phone up against something. “No, you have to do something fun!”

“Like what?” Benji glanced around the sleek new furniture in the living room, the place that he would be stuck in for twelve days alone. He felt like his childhood home was almost completely foreign. At least his bedroom had been left alone, although that was a room he wished he didn’t recognize. A lot of bad memories in there—lots of good ones, too, but bad memories were always easier to recall.  

“I don’t know. Something festive. You could play Christmas music and dance around. Or put little hats on the kittens. Ooh, or bake cookies!”

“I’m sorry, T, you must have confused me with you,” Benji said with an eye roll. When they were little, the siblings would play in the snow and go sledding on the lot across the street. Now, it rarely snowed around Christmas, and a house had been built on that lot. His sister was almost always the instigator of these activities.

Talia just smiled in the face of her brother’s cynicism. “Promise me you’ll do something festive on Christmas.” A gust of wind crackled through the speakers, blowing Talia’s hair across her face.

“I’ll stick a candy cane in a cup of hot chocolate later,” Benji promised. Ghost jumped onto the couch and tentatively stepped on Benji’s leg. Once Ghost determined Benji wasn’t going to push him off, he climbed all the way up onto Benji’s shoulder and curled up on top of the back couch cushion.

With a smile and a nod, Talia accepted this answer. “We’re all gonna call on Christmas Day, okay? I expect hats on cats.”

With an eye roll, Benji exchanged “I love yous” with his sister and hung up the call. Immediately, Ghost jumped down onto Benji’s lap, curled up, and began purring loudly. Nutmeg was in the same loaf position on a chair across the room. With no hope of moving anytime soon, Benji stretched his arm out as far as he could to grab a book from the side table and held it up awkwardly to avoid making Ghost uncomfortable.

That night, after talking with his parents, Benji sprawled upside down on the couch, drunk on his dad’s whiskey and scrolling through the latest dating app he’d downloaded. On in the background was a Hallmark Christmas movie of the big-city-lady-and-small-town-guy variety.

“Well, you have to do something for Christmas,” the small town guy was saying. “You deserve to have a good day.”

“I don’t have anyone to celebrate with this year,” big city lady responded sadly.

Benji made a noise of disgust and did a sort of clumsy acrobatic maneuver to get the remote and switch to a baking channel. Before he could do anything, his phone buzzed.

Ugh, if that was Talia checking in again, Benji was going to ignore it. Wasn’t it the middle of the night in Scotland? She should be asleep.

His body rolled all the way to the floor so he could lie down on his stomach. Ghost, who had been glued to his side all day, followed him to the carpet and settled on his lower back so that Benji couldn’t properly react to the message on his phone. He wanted to jump up and shout.

Hey, cutie 😉 I’m in town for winter break wanna meet up?

Ashton had been Benji’s best friend for the last two years of high school, and Benji had had a crush on him for almost that entire time. But for the first semester of college, they’d barely talked. Neither were fond of phone calls, and even though they were both at school in the same city, the different schools might as well have been across the country from each other.

Throughout their friendship, Benji had never been able to get a good read on Ashton. He talked the same with everyone—a little flirty, a little weird, a lot charming. Everyone liked Ashton, and several of his friends had admitted to having crushes on him. Benji had just been another person drawn in by Ashton’s aura.

Maybe it was the whiskey or the Hallmark movie or the purring cat on his back, but Benji texted back without thinking too hard about it. Just like that, he’d made a coffee date with Ashton the next morning, at which Benji arrived hungover and exhausted. The boys woke him up at 6:30 for food and affection, and falling back asleep on the couch didn’t exactly make up for it.

The heat in Café Aurora smacked him in the face, making his ears hurt so that he placed his hands over his ears while looking around.

“Ben-Ben!” a voice called out. Even if he hadn’t recognized the voice, Benji would have known it was Ashton. Ashton was the only person who called Benji anything other than Benji, the only one brave enough to give him an unapproved nickname. Even when he was in trouble, his mom called him Benji instead of his full name.

Ashton stood up from a table by the window and walked over to hug Benji. Even though they were the same height and the same age, Ashton looked at least three years older than Benji. His dark hair was longer and he’d grown a bit of facial hair. Benji was still stuck with the same facial hair he’d had at twelve, which was to say, not much.

They settled at the table after getting drinks—a black coffee for Ashton and a latte for Benji—but Benji still didn’t know what to say or how to feel about this meeting. All he knew for sure was that Ashton looked great, and Benji felt like shit.

“So tell me, what’ve you been up to?” Ashton asked, sipping his coffee.

“Not much.” Benji poked at the foam in his drink. He knew Ashton was a biomechanics major and in the honors program and part of a rec soccer league. Benji’s first semester of college had been much less eventful. The most exciting thing he’d done was go watch one of his friend’s slam poetry competitions. Snapping wasn’t exactly exciting. “I haven’t picked a major yet, so I’m just doing all of the required classes.”

“Cool, cool.” Ashton watched Benji lick the foam off his finger. “And for the holidays? Any plans?”

“I’m actually cat-sitting for my parents. They’re in Scotland to see my sister.” Benji didn’t want to say that he was alone for the holidays. This sounded more like he was doing his parents a favor rather than the pitiful truth—he’d been too chicken shit to admit he would rather come along than stay behind.

Ashton frowned and leaned forward, tapping his fingers on the table. “You can come over to my family’s house for Christmas if you want. We’re pretty casual.”

Benji stared at Ashton’s watch, the second hand ticking by. “Oh, um, I still have holiday plans. Big plans.” He sipped his latte to hide his face for a moment.

“Really? What are you doing?” Ashton meant this with genuine interest, but it sounded more like a challenge.

With a pounding headache and uneasy stomach only partially caused by last night’s whiskey, Benji couldn’t think his way out of the lie. So he stole his sister’s ideas and passed them off as truth. “Um, a Christmas party. Christmas music, dancing, fun hats—oh! And cookies! Definitely cookies.”

“That sounds great. When is it? I can stop by.”

~ ~ ~

“Talia, I have to throw a Christmas party in two days. I need your help.” Benji didn’t even bother with a hello when his sister picked up the FaceTime call. He was glad Scotland was six hours ahead; his sister had already had a whole morning to wake up.  

Talia’s phone was close to her face, but this outburst made her jerk her hand back to give her brother the full brunt of her shock. “What do you mean?”

“I lied to a cute guy and now I have to throw a Christmas party. With hats and cookies and dancing.”

“Hats… and dancing?”

“Yes, yes, hats and dancing. And cookies!” Benji couldn’t breathe. Nutmeg was meowing at him. Ghost was still snuggled up on the couch. The coffee in his system was making everything feel a thousand times more urgent.

“Okay, okay, calm down,” Talia said. A door swung closed and her breath became visible. “Walk me through the situation.” Benji did so and then sat with his leg jiggling up and down while his sister thought. “I’ve got it. Do you remember when we were little and we would have those cookie decorating contests with the whole family?”

“Yes?”

“Well, you should do that.”

“You want me to put together a Christmas cookie contest? How is that better than a party?” This wasn’t the quick solution he was hoping for.  

“It’s easy. Go to the store. Use Mom and Dad’s credit card and say you needed groceries. Buy some vanilla icing, food dye, sprinkles, etc. Plus some premade cookie dough. There are cookie cutters in the kitchen for you to use. Dad has that Bluetooth speaker; use that for music. I don’t think anyone will care about hats. What else do you need?”

“People. I need people. I don’t have any friends.” Benji’s leg still didn’t calm down.

Talia shook her head at her little brother’s naivete. He always said he had no friends, but everyone she talked to loved Benji. “Tell your cute guy friend to bring people. Post something online about a contest. Invite people you don’t hate from high school. You can do this.”

Benji took a deep breath. “Okay, you’re right. I can do this.” He paused. “How do you know how to do all this?”

Looking a little ashamed, Talia said, “Remember when you guys went to see Aunt Lu in Kentucky?”

“Yes…?” The lightbulb sparked. “No, you didn’t.”

Talia shrugged, the shame completely supplanted by a smirk. “All I’m saying is, if you need more help, I’ve got experience.”

The rest of that day, Benji tried to become best friends with the Christmas spirit. He bought the meager supplies left at the grocery store, along with Talia’s list. He designed a poster for a cookie contest, which he posted on Instagram for friends to see. In the middle of the night, he woke up and realized he would need some sort of prize for the winner if this was to be a contest. And people would probably expect alcohol. He couldn’t just use all of his parents’ stuff; he would get caught.

With his trusty kitty sidekicks, Benji gave up trying to sleep and went back to work. Editing the poster to tease a prize and adding the letters BYOB. Locating the Bluetooth speaker and playing Christmas music. As soon as the stores opened, buying an Amazon gift card and one of those recipes in a jar.

Because he’d failed to add an RSVP to the invite, Benji had no idea of a headcount. So he cracked a window, cranked up the music, and had a little mini pre-party with the boys while baking and setting up the table. The first batch of cookies were not the shape he wanted. He baked the second batch while snacking on the ugly but still delicious first batch, but they came out burnt. By the third batch, they were recognizable shapes and colors. The house smelled amazing. He let Nutmeg and Ghost have a crumb each before he thought to wonder if cats could eat small bits of human food like dogs could. Whoops.

An hour before the party was going to begin, there was a knock at the door. Both cats froze and stared at the door, but didn’t run away when Benji opened it. The package on the doorstep was addressed to Benji, so he opened it up and immediately burst into laughter. He donned the gift, took a picture, and sent it to his sister.

In the package were a Santa hat and two little Santa-hat-shaped cat toys with little bells on them. After he thanked his sister for her last-minute party gifts, he played a version of fetch with the boys in which he slid the toys down the hardwood hallway floor and the boys sprinted after them. Then Benji would slide in his socks after them and pick up the toys, sending them in the opposite direction.

Soon enough, the doorbell rang again, and Benji slid on over to the door and opened it, heart pounding. He was quickly abandoned by the kittens as three people stepped inside—two high school friends and one of their boyfriends. All three had something in their hands—beer, cookies, potato chips—and hugs to give. They told him Ashton had mentioned the party, so they wanted to stop by and join the fun. Benji’s friends JJ and Kare arrived shortly after, both already tipsy and excited to see Benji even though they were at the same university together.

“Where are the kittens? Didn’t you say your parents got cats?” Kare asked after offloading her coat, scarf, and rum into Benji’s hands. Benji pointed her to his parents’ bedroom, the boys’ favorite hiding spot.

JJ hooked arms with Benji and walked with him to the kitchen. “So… is Ashton here yet? I want to see what he looks like.” Though Benji had been friends with Kare for years, he and JJ had only become friends in college. She’d never met Ashton. “Also, did you really bake cookies?”

Benji hung up Kare’s stuff in the coat closet and put the rum in the kitchen by the paper Santa cups. “I don’t even know if he’s coming. And yes.”

“And these cookies are edible?”

“Look, it was one burned pizza! Everyone makes mistakes,” Benji argued, though he was smiling at the memory. Kare lived off campus, and one night when they were all hanging out, Benji got there early and let himself in to put a frozen pizza in the oven. A forgotten timer and forty minutes later, the pizza was black and Benji was frantically waving a towel in front of the smoke alarm to make it stop beeping.

JJ patted his arm sympathetically. “Okay, Hannah Montana. I’m gonna help Kare corner the kittens.”

Still shaking his head at JJ, Benji poured himself some rum and eggnog. Not really because he liked it, but because he’d heard about the drink in Christmas songs and movies. One sip later and he was convinced everyone was crazy. Then he took another sip and, well, maybe he was crazy, too. Because the drink was starting to taste good.

Soon, the house had a couple dozen people inside. Not a rager, but enough for a cookie contest. JJ and Kare commandeered Benji’s phone and took over DJ duties. They’d already played Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” three times in just one hour. When the fast piano chords began once again, Benji knew he needed to start the contest soon, otherwise the cookie decorations would get stale and gross. More people than expected had brought food along with their alcohol, so there was no danger of a snack shortage, but generally people liked to eat their cookies after the contest. The party was turning out to be more fun and less stressful than expected, especially as he continued to drink his spiked eggnog, but the whole reason he’d thrown it in the first place was for Ashton. The VIP was nowhere to be seen.

So with his heart in his stomach, Benji had JJ and Kare cut the music so he could announce the contest rules. No one was to know what the shape was until the moment it started, so everyone would get a cookie surrounded by two paper plates. There were two decorating stations—the kitchen table and the card table he’d erected in the dining room. Everyone would have the same amount of time, though people could turn their cookies in early if they wanted to. Once these were understood, everyone picked a number out of Benji’s Santa hat so decorations could be judged blind. The judges were the host Benji, the one who barely knew anyone JJ, and the boys. The boys were to pick in the case of a tie. Benji was surprised that both kittens were hanging out in the fray, having been convinced to come out by Kare. Ghost loved any and all attention while Nutmeg stayed on his bed in the corner and surveyed the scene.

For some reason, Benji had expected everyone to scoff at the cookie decorating contest, or to see it as a joke. The group surprised him. Everyone was excited and competitive; there was even some light trash talking going on, mostly instigated by Kare.

The minute hand finally passed the 12 again, and Benji shouted, “Begin!” Everyone lifted the top plate to reveal the shape of their sugar cookie: a house. Some people reached for icing and decorations immediately. Others stared at their cookie and thought for a moment. Benji went to get his phone from JJ, who was still DJing, so he could text his sister. He wanted to have fun, and Talia always knew how to make things better. The cookie contest used to be one of Benji’s favorite holiday traditions. Watching everyone focused on their cookies reminded him of good Christmases when he was younger and family would visit and nothing felt too complicated to handle.

Before he could reach JJ, however, he heard a knock at the door. A knock loud enough to reach him through the music. Benji sighed. Being the host was exhausting.

“Nice hat.” The latecomer reached over and flicked the fluffy white ball on Benji’s Santa hat.

Standing in front of Benji was Ashton, wearing an ugly Christmas sweater Benji could imagine on his elderly high school English teacher. Even on the attractive guy standing in front of him, the sweater was still ugly. “Nice sweater,” Benji responded, grinning at his friend.

“So, I’m sorry I’m late,” Ashton said as the two boys stood awkwardly in the doorway without care for the cold air coming in or the cats that could run out. “I brought presents to make up for it.” Ashton held up a paper bag on two fingers. “Is that okay?”

Benji understood the real question and stepped aside to let Ashton in.

Ashton glanced around the empty living room with a questioning look. “Where is everyone?”

“The cookie decorating contest,” Benji explained, taking the paper bag and the black coat Ashton shrugged off.

“Am I too late to join?” Ashton actually looked a little concerned, like maybe he’d been looking forward to the contest. Or maybe Benji was seeing what he wanted to see.

Instead of acquiescing like he wanted to, Benji decided to keep it fair. He’d already lied for this cute boy once. “You can join, but you still have to finish at the same time as everyone.”

Ashton brushed his hair back and stepped closer. “Fair enough. Why don’t you open the gift?”

Benji shot Ashton a teasing look. “It’ll cut into your decorating time.” But he dug his hand into the tissue paper and came up with what looked like a Ziploc bag of teeny tiny cookies. He lifted them and looked at Ashton, waiting for an explanation.

“For the cats,” Ashton said. “I looked up a recipe for cat treats and made these last night. I was going to make them festive, but…” He shrugged.

The cat treats were quite possibly the cutest thing Ashton could have brought to the party besides himself. Benji had barely mentioned the boys to Ashton, and he’d still gone out of his way to do this. Benji tucked some loose hair back underneath his Santa hat, hiding his smile and pink cheeks. Once he started blushing, Benji couldn’t hide his feelings. “They’re perfect. The boys will love them.” Then he added, “Although, I’ll have to give the treats later. You could be blamed for bribing the judges.”

“There’s something else in there, too,” Ashton said, not too concerned about these accusations.

Setting the cat treats aside, Benji reached into the bag again. His fingers touched something rough, like a blanket, and he wrestled it out of the bag with some difficulty. The gift unfolded as Benji held it up, and for the second time that night, Benji was laughing at a wearable Christmas gift. The front of the sweater showed a 3D black cat head wearing a Santa hat. The back was the cat’s butt and tail. Ashton reached over and squeezed the cat’s nose, releasing a crackly “meow.” Benji laughed again, looking up at the gift giver. “This is perfect. Thanks.” Benji gave Ashton a full hug, glad they were the same height so he didn’t have to go on tiptoes or hunch over.

Afraid that he would say something too sappy, Benji turned to lead Ashton over to the kitchen and gestured toward the remaining cookie plates. “Your blank canvas, sir.”

Ashton smiled and peered at the number labeling the lower plate. “What does this mean?”

“Don’t show me! It’s supposed to be anonymous.” Benji covered his eyes dramatically. When he felt a hand grip his shoulder, he opened his eyes to see Ashton leaning in toward him.

“But you’re the cutest judge. How else will I win favor?” With a wink, Ashton walked over to JJ and introduced himself. Benji watched them chat, both chuckling at something JJ said, until someone called Benji’s name to give him their finished cookie.

Even though Benji was “moderating,” he couldn’t help but hang around by Ashton and watch him decorate his sugar cookie house. Before he could see more than some Christmas-light-shaped sprinkles being meticulously placed on the eaves, JJ dragged him away, reminding him that “this isn’t the Great British Bake-off. You’re not Paul Hollywood.”

“Thank God for that,” Benji replied even as he tried to fight off JJ’s efforts to drag him away. Ashton looked up and caught Benji’s eye, winking as JJ succeeded in removing him from the area.

Once they were both safely behind the kitchen counter, JJ squeezed Benji’s arm, commenting that Ashton was cute, that Benji had good taste, and Benji shushed her. So JJ poured both of them some more rum and eggnog to last until Benji called time and the rest of the cookies were brought up to the counter. While the judging went on, everyone was encouraged to party by Kare and Nutmeg, whom Kare had kidnapped as her buddy for the night.

The cookies were wildly varied. Some were explosions of color, some were decorated like real houses, others looked straight out of a child’s coloring book. Luckily, Benji and JJ agreed on first place and honorable mentions without much argument. Benji suspected she was going to agree with him no matter what, and even though he wanted to be upset with this on principle, he was actually grateful for the quick turnaround. They still fed the boys bits of cookie.

Standing up in front of everyone and fortified by the success of his party, Benji boldly announced the honorable mentions—one decorated like the house out of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, another decorated abstractly and not like a house at all, and another with a Christmas tree iced in front of the house, which ended up being Ashton’s.

“And the winner is… number 12!”

One of the group of three who were first to arrive jumped up and cheered. She hugged Ashton and her friend and boyfriend, before coming up to claim her Amazon gift card and recipe in a jar. She even gave Benji a hug, despite having only just met him. But even when all of that was done, and people had taken pictures of their cookies before eating them, the party kept going.

Benji was exhausted. How had Talia done this even once? And probably with an actual crowd, too. Benji sat down in the kitchen, tuned out the music and gaiety, and began decorating his own cookie. Soon enough, though, someone pulled out a chair next to him.

“Thanks for the honorable mention, Ben-Ben,” Ashton said, scooting his chair in with a loud screech.

Startled out of focus, Benji dropped the snowflake sprinkle he was trying to carefully place on his cookie. Any existing conversational prowess had disappeared with his social battery.

Ashton reached over and repositioned the snowflake right where Benji had wanted it. “What was that first one? The cookie with too many lights on the roof?”

At this, Benji confronted Ashton head on. “It’s from Christmas Vacation.” Ashton looked back blankly. “Oh, my God. Don’t tell me you haven’t seen Christmas Vacation. It’s a classic, a must-see, a full-on cultural moment.”

“I’ll have to watch it then.”

“Definitely,” Benji agreed, shaking some more snowflakes onto his plate.

Ashton watched over Benji’s shoulder for a moment. The snowflakes were soon a heavy storm. “You must really like Christmas.”

“Not as much as my sister,” Benji accidentally admitted. He tried to recover. “But, uh, yeah, I do like Christmas.”

At that moment, Benji’s ever-present wingman Ghost jumped up onto his shoulders as he hunched over the table. He huffed out a laugh, sending the sprinkles everywhere. Unbothered, Ghost draped himself around Benji’s neck like a scarf and started licking his hair. Ashton’s hand brushed the back of Benji’s head as he pet the cat. If Benji looked out the corner of his eye, he could watch Ashton make adoring faces at the cat.

“I haven’t really gotten to see the cats at all. He’s cute,” Ashton said.

“Yeah, he is,” Benji agreed, averting his eyes when Ashton caught him staring.

All of a sudden, a shout arose in the living room. JJ poked her head into the kitchen. She was wearing a headband with antlers that she definitely hadn’t been wearing before. “Someone’s doing fireworks outside! Quick!”

Ashton lifted Ghost off Benji’s shoulders before the two followed everyone outside, making sure to shut the door behind them this time. The boys would have to miss out on this part of the night. Someone a few streets away had decided to do a Christmas Eve eve fireworks show. The amateur fireworks show lit up the sky and the faces of the cookie contestants.

The lights sparkled in Benji’s eyes, his mouth opened slightly. He’d always loved fireworks at Fourth of July. There were so many bad things about fireworks, but he couldn’t help finding them beautiful. Something that was supposed to be a weapon or a practical signal had become a celebration. At some point, he glanced over at Ashton, who wasn’t watching the fireworks at all. He was looking at Benji. And smiling. It was at that moment that Benji realized they’d been holding hands since they left the kitchen. He returned the smile right as a red firework burst overhead, highlighting Ashton’s dark hair. So he reached over and touched the grown-out bits on the back of Ashton’s neck. “I like your hair like this.”

Ashton playfully tugged the Santa hat down over Benji’s eyes. “Thank you.”

The two human boys leaned against each other and watched the rest of the fireworks while the two feline boys watched from the window. By the time the fireworks were done, the party was done, too. JJ, Kare, and Ashton stayed a bit longer to watch Christmas Vacation. When the end credits began, JJ and Kare not so discreetly absconded to leave the boys alone.

At that point, it was well into the wee hours of Christmas Eve. Ashton fed the boys a couple of his treats. At the door, Ashton pulled on his coat while Ghost rubbed against his leg with the hope of more cookies. “This was really fun,” Ashton said. “I’m glad I came.”

“Of course you are. Now you have a new favorite Christmas movie,” Benji responded, too tired to be nervous. He handed Ashton a scarf for the extra nighttime cold; he could always buy another one.

Ashton looped the scarf around his neck and laughed. “Well… you have to promise to come over and watch my old favorite Christmas movie. My parents usually throw a New Year’s Party and I hide in the basement with some friends. Will you come?”

“Yes, but if you have bad taste in movies, we can’t be friends anymore.” Benji leaned against the banister of the staircase, eyes half closed. He opened them wider to look at Ashton, who had gone oddly still and quiet.  

Seeming to come to some decision, Ashton took a confident step forward and kissed Benji so fast that Benji couldn’t believe it had started by the time it ended. Ashton stepped back, cheeks pink and hands stuffed into his coat pockets. “So I’ll see you on New Year’s?” His eyes darted up to see Benji’s reaction.

The banister was now offering support for a shocked Benji. After his brain caught up, Benji nodded yes, surprised at how happy this answer seemed to make Ashton.

~ ~ ~

“Merry Christmas!” Benji’s family shouted at him from across the ocean.

Benji returned the greeting, snuggled up on the couch with the boys and wearing his Christmas cat sweater. Outside, a light dusting of snow was blanketing the lawn, making the house feel even cozier. “How’s Christmas in Scotland?”

“Amazing! We saw this tree lighting ceremony this morning and…” As Benji’s mom and dad continued to detail the things they’d done the past couple days, a text came through on Benji’s phone from Talia. He saw on the computer screen that she was looking down.

How was the party?

Benji looked up from his phone, made sure his sister was looking, and lifted up a cup of hot chocolate with a candy cane sticking out of it. On the mug was a quote from Benji’s favorite Christmas movie: “Hallelujah! Holy shit! Where’s the Tylenol?”

Talia laughed and made him promise to give her details later.

Before he ended the call, he had one more surprise for his family. Benji used Ashton’s treats to coax the boys into doing what he wanted and then rushed them over to the laptop camera. Nutmeg and Ghost reluctantly wore homemade, kitty-sized Christmas hats.

“Cats in hats!” Talia squealed. “You really did get festive. Where did you get those?”

Benji shrugged, for the first time not regretting his decision to stay home. He would have rather been with his sister, but as far as Christmas holidays went, this one was a success. So even though he’d spent hours buying felt and sewing supplies, tracking down simple craft instructions, and struggling to complete those instructions, the answer was simple: “Christmas magic.”

-Ryn PB

This story was inspired by Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares, my family’s old tradition of throwing Christmas cookie contests, “Who Spiked the Eggnog?” by Straight No Chaser, and every YA holiday romance I’ve read/watched. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!