Archive of Our Own ^beta

Ray woke up to a heavy pressure on his legs.

His eyes cracked open slightly, only able to make out the shape of a person occupying that space since he still didn’t have his glasses on and he literally just woke up. He reached towards the bedside table to his right and felt for his glasses, putting them on to help with his impaired vision. When they were rightfully placed on the bridge of his nose, he was met with the sight of a very, very excited british man. He smiled to match his boyfriends wide grin as he shooed him off in order to sit up.

“Ray.”

“Gavin.”

“It’s Christmas.”

“Fuck yeah it is!”

Gavin was thrown off of Ray as the Puerto Rican sprang out of bed and onto his feet. Before Gavin could recover, Ray was already grabbing at his wrist and pulling him through their apartment and into the dim lighted living room where their decorated Christmas tree stood, shining brightly with all of its stringed lights adorning the whole of it. Ray stood in awe, like a little kid who still believed that Santa existed. Gavin, being the Gavin he is, was even more excited seeming as he was bouncing up and down in place, ushering Ray to sit next to him on the couch.

"You have to open mine first!" Gavin ordered, bending down and gathering the presents nearest him.

Ray smiled at the sight of his boyfriend being so ecstatic about this special holiday, continuing to admire him even as Gavin straightened himself again. Their eyes met for a second before Gavin looked down into his lap again, a small blush covering the lot of his cheeks.

Ray put a hand on his shoulder. "Before that, I have to put the turkey in the oven. We gon' get our food on today son!" He said, standing up even as a hand circled around his wrist followed by a slight tug.

Gavin was pouting.

"But...presents."

Ray smiled softly down at him, shaking off his hand from his wrist and bending down to give him a small kiss on the lips. Ray missed a bit and tried to play it off as a kiss on the chin. Of course, Gavin noted his clumsiness and laughed a little bit, earning himself another sloppy kiss on the cheek.

"After alright?"

Gavin continued to pout even as Ray turned back around, walking to the kitchen that they shared.

Gavin let out a frustrated sigh, setting the presents down next to him and placing his hands on his lap. He was getting very anxious at this point; all he wanted to do was open presents and have sloppy makeouts with Ray. He sighed and laid his head back, not really knowing what to do with himself as he turned to the side, spotting a couple of presents that he had supposedly missed towards the back of the tree. He slipped down onto the floor and crawled over to the tree on his hands and knees, trying to reach for the present without having to actually make a journey under it. To his dismay, they were just a fraction of an inch from hitting his fingertips. Gavin cursed himself for not having long slender arms like Ray, and decided on his next move.

Have his own desolate journey under the pine covered tree.

Ray walked into the kitchen, his sock covered feet softly pattering across the tiled floor as he made his way to the oven. Even as he turned on the oven, his thoughts drifted into the deep reaches of his thoughtful mind; ‘what did Gavin get me for Christmas? I wonder what Geoff got? Ryan? Jack? Michael? I wonder what a dog would want for Christmas? Or what about a cat? Probably animal things. Like rabbit poop.’  He turned his attention back to the turkey, picking it up and shoving it in the oven, not fully realizing that the setting for the heat was too high for it to handle. But in that moment, he could give less than two shits. He shut the door and turned away to walk back to Gavin, when suddenly he heard a few crashes, followed by some bad impersonations of angry birds. He rushed out and into the living room, only to be met with the sight of Gavin’s legs coming out from under the tree and a few places where there was broken glass.

“Gavin I’ve been gone five minutes what happened?!”

“Well, I got the other presents!” Gavin said almost questionably, as if he weren’t sure of the situation himself. Ray walked over to him and bent down, picking up the broken pieces of glass that were painted a deep red.

“Aww man these were the ornaments I made as a little chico!’ Ray exclaimed in a very unethnic accent.

“I’m sorry love…” Gavin replied, letting his once raised feet fall to the floor to emphasis his apologetic tone. Ray only responded by dragging the brit out from under the tree by his ankles after tossing the glass into a nearby trashcan. Gavin stood up once the presents he had searched for were put aside and looked at Ray with apologetic eyes. Ray reached up and ruffled Gavin’s hair. “It’s fine Gav, we needed less ornaments anyways.” Gavin smiled at him appreciating the sympathy he just received from his significant other.

“Hey Ray.”

“Yeah?”

“It’s snowing.”

“Oh. My. GOD.”

And in an instant, Ray was at the window looking out into the winter day as snowflakes gathered up slowly on the ledge of the window.

“We have to go outside.”

“Right now?”

“Uh duh?!”

“But we’re still in our pj’s…”

“Yolo man.”

A smile creeped onto both of their faces as they made a mad dash for the door. They quickly ran down the stairs, skipping every few steps before they reached the snow covered ground. Gavin instantly fell to the ground, just laying there face down until he couldn’t hold his breathe any longer. As soon as he raised his head from the soft, freezing white bliss, he was met face first with a face full of snow. He sputtered everywhere, making more of a dramatic scene then was necessary as he sat up and onto his knees, whipping away the snow from his eyes. When he could actually see, he looked straight at Ray who was already on the verge of making more snowballs.

“You wanna fight mate?”

“Only in the most civilized of ways.”

And Ray threw another ball of snow right at Gavin.

A snowball fight and a few Achievement Hunter looking snowmen later, the two of them finally went back inside, freezing their asses off and heading straight for the closest blanket supply. Ray turned on the fireplace that was directly in front of the couch and sat back down next to Gavin who adorned his own blue fleece blanket that he loved so dearly. Ray wrapped his blanket around Gavin as well, allowing the British man to lay his head on his boyfriends chest. It was warm inside the little cocoon they had constructed and it was exactly how they believed a Christmas should feel.  Warm and loved.Gavin could’ve easily fallen asleep to the sound of Ray’s beating heart if it weren’t for the smoke that he began to smell.

“Ray, what’s that-“

“MY TURKEY!!” Ray shouted, bursting free from the blanket barricade as he bounded towards the kitchen once more. He ran in just as black smoke began to seep out of the corners of the oven, almost thankful for the minimal amount that surrounded it. Instantly, Ray ran in and turned off the oven, soon also opening it to let out all of the black smog that was beginning to get thicker. He coughed as the black mass plowed into his face before he waved it away, squinting to get a glimpse of the overdone turkey. He sighed in defeat before opening all the windows he could find, also running into the living room to do the same.

“Gavin let’s go outside and let this air out.”

“Right…” He replied, standing up and quickly turning off the fireplace to not cause any more of a fire hazard.

As they walked out, Gavin trailed behind due to him reaching down to pick something off the floor. Ray held the door open for him and left it open as he led the way towards the top of the stairs, sitting down and soon after waving down Gavin to sit next to him. Ray sighed and threw his head into his hands.

“Ugh, that was so uncool of me. Sorry for ruining Christmas Gavin…”

“You didn’t ruin it quite yet Ray, you still havn’t opened my present!”

“But it’s still in the apartment…”

Without Gavin even saying a word, Ray felt something hit the top of his forehead, causing him to look up and have a face full of leaves. He retorted back a bit and scrunched up his face, taking a longer look at the item being held in front of him.

It was mistletoe.

Gavin laced his fingers with Rays, having it feel so natural with the way it tied together like a ribbon on the top of a newly wrapped Christmas gift.

“Merry Christmas Ray.”

“Merry Christmas Gavin.”

And then their lips met.