Page 116 of Under the Mistletoe with You

‘Well, come on then.It’s wish time.’

He pulls Christopher up to stand next to him, and of course he has to crouch a bit because the ceiling is too low.

‘I’m not going to say it out loud,’ he says, a little indignantly.

‘This was your idea.’

‘Yeah, and my rules.You don’t share the wish.’

‘Fine.’

Nash cracks open the window a little, as though they might need a direct line to the sky to make it work.It’s cold but the air is so fresh that he could gulp it down.They stand together in silence, watching the stars, and Nash wishes he could remember any constellations.Is the sky here even the same as the one in LA, or above his childhood home?

He’s not sure what to wish for, if he’s honest, and perhaps it’s a cop-out, but he wishes for happiness and for clarity, whatever those two things mean.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Christopher

Christopher wakes early to get started on the busy day of cooking with an unmitigated glee.It’s Christmas.And, even if it’s not the Christmas he had in mind, he gets to spend it with his friends, feeding a lot of people who might have nowhere else to go.That feels right.

On one hand, it feels normal waking up before sunrise, but it’s the waking up in Nash’s arms part that feels strange and a little too comforting.

He decides to wake himself up with a hot shower, but before that, he opens the Spanks Squad chat, where he sees a few post-midnight messages he missed while he was asleep.

Kit:merry christmas dickheads x

Haf:HAPPY CRIMMUS

Haf:Is christmassssss

Haf:MERRY CRISIS

Laurel:Are you all right darling?

Kit:Haf discovered limoncello tonight.She’ll be fine.

Ambrose:merry chrysler!

Haf:see AMBROSE gets it

Haf:ily all

Laurel:Merry Christmas darling.Take a paracetamol before bed x

Haf:where is christopher

Haf:why has he not wished us christmas yet

Ambrose:hopefully he’s celebrating in his own special way

Haf:making gingerbread???

This is followed by several lines of cry emojis from Haf.

Ambrose:if that’s what we’re calling it now

Ambrose:oi oiiiiiii