December 25^th 2015

Snow falling and winds howling, a beautiful man gazed up at a full moon and a starry sky. Little did he know that he was being watched as well. Ethan Lorenzo took several photos of him with his camera, as he had done countless times before. He held his breath and quietly admired his latest target from the dark—Isak Holstrom. It had been a while since he had fallen into the pit of obsession. And, just like every other time he had succumbed to such mania, he was fated to do something vile. Ethan smooths the creases of his dark green suit and adjusts his tie before running as fast as possible towards Isak.

“Hey! Sorry I’m late. Did you wait for long?” Ethan huffed worriedly, but Isak simply smiled and shook his head.

“Fifteen minutes at most. Don’t worry about it. I made chocolate brownies for dessert. Hope you’ll like them,” he said as he handed him a golden box.

“That’s really kind of you, Isak. Thank you.”

“Not as kind as you staying back here for me. I still feel bad that you canceled plans with your relatives,” Isak pursed his lips apologetically.

“Don’t be. I’ve been spending every holiday with them for as long as I can remember. I needed a change. Besides, I didn’t want to miss an opportunity like this. Shall we go?”

“Yes,” replied Isak as he took Ethan’s hand in his with a bashful smile.

No words were spoken while they walked through the dark forest; all that could be heard was the crunching of snow underneath their shoes and the rustling of pine trees. Ethan’s heart was pounding as he had never held Isak’s hand before. For all the seven months he had known him, he had never shown an interest in him outwardly. Many times he had tried to ignore his feelings, as falling for a colleague would be far too risky. Eventually, he accepted the fact that he was in love with him and knew he wouldn’t have peace until he had him.

After fifteen minutes of walking, they heard faint music and light emerging from afar. In the glade, surrounded by snow, stood a beautiful two-story house overlooking a frozen lake. Golden light seeped from the windows, dark green streamers with fairy lights adorned the house, Christmas wreaths hung on every window and door, and large glowing candy canes and reindeer embellished the front yard. Christmas carols played on the stereo inside, and an adorable snowman as large as Ethan stood near the porch stairs, welcoming them with open arms. Isak stopped in his tracks and gasped in admiration at the magical display before him.

“Whoa, Ethan! Did you do all this yourself?” Isak let go of his hand and ran to take a closer look.

“Yes. It was all for you. Do you like it?”

“Are you kidding me? This is amazing! I love it! Thank you...!” he said before boldly throwing his arms around Ethan's neck and kissing his cheek in gratitude.

Isak immediately ran off to gawk at the decorations while Ethan stood frozen, still trying to process the kiss he just received. His whole body was set ablaze, and it took all his willpower to stop himself from jumping on Isak. A few minutes later, they decided to head inside and walked up the stairs to reach the front door. Ethan bent down to pull out a key from underneath the rug. He unlocked the front door before returning the key to its original place. Isak’s cheerful visage quickly turns into a disapproving frown.

“What?”

“That’s very unsafe. Someone could easily break into your house,” he states with a raised eyebrow.

Ethan laughs in response and stamps the rug a few times to shake off the snow from his shoes. “I keep forgetting you’re from the city. Haverdale is a safe town. The last crime that happened here was ten years ago.”

Isak remained skeptical, but he decided to let the matter drop. The two of them enter the house, and Ethan closes the door before locking it. He swiftly takes off his shoes and slides them into the rack. He notices Isak struggling to free himself from his coat, so he moves in to help him. Ethan gently lays his hands on him from behind and slowly begins to pull off the red coat. He leans in close to his neck to subtly catch a whiff of his sweet scent. Ethan immediately loses himself to lustful imaginings of him licking a naked and sweat-dripping Isak.

“Ethan, is everything okay?” asks Isak with concern, snapping him out of his lewd thoughts.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Sorry, I was just worried about dinner,” Ethan pulls off the coat quickly and hangs it on a hook on the coat stand. “I think the roast chicken’s going to take a while.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I can wait,” Isak waves reassuringly before heading into the living room.

Isak approaches the grandly decorated Christmas tree towering all the way up to the ceiling. He beams as his fingers gently caress the glittering ornaments. Quite pleased with himself for having impressed his crush, Ethan adds more wood to the fireplace with a smirk on his face.

“Isak, what can I get you to drink? I’ve got white wine, red wine, whis-”

“I’ll have red. Thanks,” interjected Isak with a soft smile.

“Alright, one red wine coming right up,” Ethan announced with a grin, “I’ll be back soon. Make yourself at home.”

Ethan rushes into the kitchen and sets the box of brownies down. He checks the timer on the oven—ten more minutes and the chicken will be done. He pulls out two wine glasses and a dark red wine bottle from the cabinet to place on the counter. His hands suddenly clench the granite, and he exhales with closed eyes. He shouldn’t be doing any of this. It’s sinful, and he could get into a lot of trouble for it. He considered canceling and asking Isak to leave, but his heart screeched in protest at the idea. No, it was too late. Ethan sighs and fills the glasses with the red liquid. When he returns to the living room, he finds Isak staring at a framed photo on the mantel.

“This is you, right? You look so cute!” Isak beamed at a smiling baby Ethan in a blue onesie holding a bunny plushie in his hand. His emerald green eyes shone bright, and his wide grin revealed the lack of teeth.

Ethan groaned and chuckled as he handed a glass to him. “Yes. That’s me. My parents insisted I keep this one.”

“How sweet,” Isak turned his attention to another photo on the mantel and picked it up. “Graduation photo, huh? Whoa. You look just like your father.”

Ethan peers at the chestnut-skinned and bearded man in a suit standing next to the younger version of him. “Yes, I get that a lot. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been mistaken for Pa at family gatherings. It doesn’t help that he looks young for his age either. Some of our smaller relatives still think I’m his twin brother.”

Isak giggles and then averts his eyes to the third person in the photo, standing on the other side of Ethan with both his hands around him. The ecstatic caramel-skinned man was clad in a black suit with curly ebony locks drooping around his clean-shaven face. But what startled Isak was the man’s eyes, which were a replica of Ethan’s.

“Who’s this? Your uncle? You have his eyes.”

“No. That’s my dad,” said Ethan nonchalantly.

“Wait, what?!”

“I was conceived through surrogacy using Pa’s genes. My resemblance to Dad is a pure coincidence.”

Isak’s jaw drops and his eyes widen in surprise as his brain tries to process everything at once. But before he could say anything more, the oven chimes in the kitchen. Ethan takes a swig of his wine before laying the glass down on the coffee table.

“Chicken’s done. I’ll go get it.”

***

Piano covers of Christmas songs play as Ethan and Isak merrily drink through their second glass of wine. Huddled together in front of the fireplace with their plates now empty, they exchange gifts.

“Merry Christmas, Ethan,” wished Isak radiantly before handing him a white bag with snowflakes on it.

“Merry Christmas, Isak,” Ethan accepted his gift graciously and handed him a red box wrapped in a white ribbon.

“Okay, open mine first. I want to see if you’ll like it. If you don’t, I’ll get you something else.”

“I’m sure whatever it is, I’m going to like it,” said Ethan as he reached into the bag and pulled out something soft wrapped in gift wrapping. He peeled open the wrapper carefully and spread out the smooth fabric in front of him. The first thing he noticed was its color—emerald green, exactly like his irises. The full-sleeved sweater was just his size, and at the heart was a beautiful white Christian cross with three rounded edges on all four sides.

“Where did you buy this?” Ethan questioned while staring at the apparel before him.

“I...made it,” murmured Isak coyly as his hands fidgeted with the white ribbon of his gift. “It was a lot of trial and error, but I finally made something good. Since you’re Catholic, I thought you’d like a cross. I hope it’s not offensive or anything. Do you like it...?”

Ethan lowered the sweater down to meet his gaze, but Isak wouldn’t look at him. He recalled how much Isak had struggled with crocheting and how he had given up several times over the last few months. He never expected him to perfect the craft, let alone give his best piece to him.

“It’s perfect. I love it. Thank you so much...” replied Ethan as his heart melted with love for the man before him.

Having always been the giver of gifts and grand gestures throughout his love life, it was nice to receive a thoughtful gift for once. After years of being alone and suffering through messy dates and shallow one-night stands, he finally felt loved and cared for by someone.

“Oh good. I was really worried,” Isak exhaled in relief. “Shall I open yours now?”

“No, no! Please open it later...” Ethan blurted out abruptly.

“Alright...I’ll open it later then,” Isak set his gift aside and tilted his glass up to finish his wine.

“Hey, tell me your biggest secret.”

“No, bad idea. You wouldn’t be able to handle it,” Isak shook his head in refusal.

“Oh come on, try me. I won’t judge, and I can keep a secret. I want to know what kind of skeletons the sweet art teacher Isak Holstrom has in his closet. And, I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours,” Ethan reassured him.

A moment of silence is shared between the two men. While Isak contemplates telling him, Ethan hides his eagerness under a facade of composure. Perhaps it was the wine taking or perhaps it was Ethan’s persuasiveness. Either way, Isak soon relented and decided to reveal his greatest secret to him.

“Alright, I’ll tell you...”