Merry Christmas, everyone! I know that it's a couple of days late - but I really hope you all enjoy this. :) This has probably been the fastest story I have ever cranked out. xD

Homesick

"So… where would you like to put this… sparkly stuff?"

"It's called tinsel, Kindle."

"Well, Logie dear, where do you want it?"

"Don't call me that, Kindle!"

"Then shut up and tell me where you want the damn tinsel!"

Logan groaned and shook his head. He and Kendall were in the middle of what was probably their eighth meaningless argument today, and he was beginning to think that the two of them were more like an old married couple than any real old married couple that he knew. Most of the time he couldn't help but smile just a little at the thought, but at times the fact that he and his best friend bickered so much honestly ground on Logan's nerves – particularly times like today, it being Christmas Eve and all.

The blonde boy had spent the entire morning convincing Logan to allow their tour bus to be decked out with decorations and lights and other frilly things, and then the entire afternoon convincing his friend to help him do it. "It's your bus too, Logie," he'd said, "Don't be such a scrooge, Logie," he'd said; and after so long, the brunette had given in for the sake of keeping Kendall quiet. Essentially, Logan hadn't seen the point in decorating their tour bus… it was Christmas Eve for goodness sake, and they would be tearing everything down in just two days anyhow. But of course, Kendall had had to get a wild holiday hair up his arse and go on a shopping spree for lights and tinsel and ornaments and… god, he had even bought a pathetic looking little Charlie-Brown Christmas tree.

"I don't know, okay? Just stick it to your forehead or something. You could use a little more Christmas spirit," the irritable older boy groaned, sarcasm dripping from every syllable. He sat upon the couch, fiddling with one of the two stockings that Kendall had bought. This one had tohavebeen Logan's – given the fact that it had a large, blue Dallas Cowboys star stitched onto the front of it. Where did he even get something like this? Logan wondered briefly, shaking his head. Sometimes it truly baffled him, the way that Kendall was always all in or all out. A moment or two of silence passed as Logan proceeded to ignore Kendall, and after so long the smaller boy heard a soft sigh from the other side of the room. Just a few seconds later, Kendall spoke up once again.

"Logie, why are you being so grouchy?" Kendall asked sincerely. His tone of voice was gentle and he tilted his head as he pouted his full lower lip outward, awaiting Logan's response. Kendall might have been doing his best to ignore his band mate's touchy mood, but he wasn't stupid – it didn't seem that anything he was doing to cheer Logan up was helping, and quite honestly, it was beginning to bring him down as well. After all, he hated to see the people that he loved upset. Glancing up from the stocking that he had been fiddling with, Logan blinked.

"What do you mean?" he mumbled inattentively, haphazardly shrugging his shoulders as he spoke; he knew that he hadn't been in the best of moods, but being Logan, he would never admit it to anyone. Instead, he would sulk around all day like a child holding a grudge, and instead of talking to anyone about why he was feeling rotten, he would blow everyone off. Kendall sighed – as he knew this about Logan – and after a moment, tossed aside the tinsel that he had been holding in favor of moving to sit beside his friend. The thick-headed boy hadn't left the couch since he had sat down there nearly an hour ago. Slinging an arm around Logan, the taller of the two shook his head.

"Look dude, I know that we bicker – there's no frickin' denying that – but there's something about you that's – I don't know… serious? And I know you. You'd never seriously insult anyone… unless they deserved it or something," Kendall shrugged, sighing softly as he gave Logan a little squeeze.

"What if you did deserve it?" Logan muttered, keeping his gaze down as he tossed his Cowboys stocking aside and folded his arms over his chest tenaciously. Kendall blinked in response to his makeshift-roommate's snappy retort, his brow furrowing as a genuine flash of hurt shone through in his eyes. Sighing softly, he allowed his arm to fall from around Logan's shoulders, and he shook his head slowly. In the next moment, he stood from his place upon the couch.

"Y'know… never mind," he murmured, smiling sadly. "We can just forget this whole decorating thing. Maybe Carlos and James will want all this junk." Kendall kept his eyes down as well, now, as he made his way back toward the tinsel that he had just tossed aside. He stuffed it back into the bag from which it had come, nibbling tentatively at his chapped lower lip the entire time. Reluctantly, he scooted around to all the little piles of ornaments and lights that he had scattered about the bus, packing them all back into the grocery bags that they had come out of. He had kept the receipts for all of these things anyhow (a habit he'd developed thanks to his mother's advice), and he honestly couldn't find it in himself to remain cheerful anymore – at least, not while his best friend sat around, putting him down for everything that he tried to do to make their lives a little more joyful.

However, having heard the discouragement plain in Kendall's voice, Logan was struck by a pang of guilt. He hadn't meant to drag Kendall down with him, had he? Thinking back for a moment, though, he sighed; perhaps the half of him that was currently bothered by the holiday season had meant to spear the blonde boy's spirits. All day, he had sounded a bit like a broken record – muttering things like "Kendall why are we doing this?", "Kendall, do we really have to put all of this stupid stuff up?", and "Why can't you just give it up already?" over and over again. Logan frowned, standing from his place after watching Kendall begin to gather all of his Christmas cheer into plastic bags from the Walmart they had visited.

"Kindle, stop," he mused, shaking his head as he found his way over to his friend. He placed a hand upon his band mate's shoulder, smiling the same sad little smile that Kendall had just a moment ago. Just having finished tying up one of the bags – this one containing a wreath and some holly – Kendall shook his head. He sighed thickly and straightened up, turning to face Logan as he did so.

"Logan... what do you want from me?" he asked, his eyes slightly sad. "You get mad when I try to lighten this place up, but you don't want me to pack the decorations away…"

The shorter boy nodded, raising his hands before him submissively as he chuckled quietly. "I know, Kindle… and I'm sorry. I wasn't mad at you, and I didn't really mean to shoot you down, I promise," he apologized, pressing his lips into a tight line. Quite suddenly, his eyes were just as sad as Kendall's.

Folding his arms over his chest as he gazed at his friend, the ever-hopeful boy sighed. Clearly, something was bothering his band mate, and he intended to find out what that something was. "Well Logie, you sort of pointed a rifle at my head and pulled the trigger, so… do you mind telling me what's wrong? You've always loved Christmas," he stated with a gentle smile, reaching out to ruffle Logan's hair a bit. He hoped that the brunette wouldn't swat at him.

Logan merely huffed as Kendall ruffled his hair, though, shrugging lazily once more as he bowed his head. Shoving his hands into the pockets of his pajama bottoms, the older boy sighed.

"I don't know, I… I guess I just… want to be home. With my family, I mean." he admitted finally. "This is the first time I've ever been away from them on the holidays. My mom and dad and sister, and all the others... even that little dog of Presley's. We weren't touring last year, or the year before that and I… I miss them."

Logan's cheeks began to flush lightly as he spoke, and despite his friend's obvious awkwardness toward the subject, Kendall couldn't help but coo a bit. The little sound wasn't meant to make fun of his friend in any way, however, as he happened to think that it was rather sweet that his best friend felt a little homesick. Logan wasn't the type to admit those sorts of things, whether he felt them or not.

"Logie… it's totally fine to miss your family on Christmas Eve. Believe me, I miss mine – you know how ridiculously close we are. I really miss my dog and Kevin's pig and my idiot brothers and my parents, but y'know… I'm just trying to make the best of things," Kendall explained, reaching out to lay a hand upon one of Logan's broad shoulders. The taller boy's green-eyed gaze was compassionate and sincere as he spoke to his band mate, and after a moment, Logan glanced up, nodding his head.

"I know… you always do. I wish I was more like you in that sense, Kindle," the shorter boy smiled, shaking his head a bit. "But I'm really just… not. And I guess the fact that you were being so sunshiny and happy about the whole thing was bringing out the pessimist in me... ugly as he is."

Kendall chuckled. "Don't worry about it, Logie. I understand," the Kansas boy mused, nodding to his best friend. Tilting his head in a way that was a bit childish, he grinned. "So… do I need to bus-hop and bombard Carlos and James with glitter and tinsel while they're asleep, or…" Having left the end of his suggestion open for suggestion, Kendall waggled his eyebrows at his makeshift roomie. This caused the smaller boy to giggle a bit, and few seconds later, a newly-cheered-up Logan nudged his friend playfully.

"Let's holly-jolly this bus up, you idiot."

As soon as Logan made his statement, Kendall grinned like a madman. He immediately bounced on his toes like an excited child, and within the next second, the blonde boy was on his knees. He began digging happily through grocery bags, humming "Holly-Jolly Christmas" as he drew string after string of tinsel out and onto the ground. The blonde was beginning to resemble a clown with a handkerchief, and Logan shook his head at the sight of his best friend, standing frozen in place as he snickered and grinned.

Kendall ceased his humming as he realized that there was laughter coming from behind him, and after a moment he whirled around, hands on his hips as he stood up in place once again. "Oh, I know you aren't laughing at me." he trilled in his best valley-girl voice, waggling a finger at his snickering friend. This, however, only made Logan snort and giggle more. The goofy boy merely grinned – he had meant to make Logan laugh, and he was certainly glad to see a smile on his handsome friend's face again. After the day they had had, it didn't matter what his band mate was laughing at, so long as he was in high spirits.

After Logan had finally gotten over his fit of laughter at Kendall's sassy line – and had finished calling the younger boy things like "Kendy-Claus" and "Jolly the Elf" – the pair launched into the task at hand. Kendall had certainly bought quite a few decorations for one not-terribly-big bus, and the placement of each and every ornament took a bit of thought.

By the time all was said and done, though, the pair had certainly made the best of what they had. Within an hour, Logan had managed to string lights up about the upper half of the bus – though at one point, they had ended up wound around Kendall instead. The instance had been the cause yet another laughing fit, since Kendall had proceeded to spin about and sing "Oh, Christmas Tree", to which he certainly did not know the words, at the top of his lungs. After the incident with the lights, Kendall had decorated his tiny tree with little plastic balls, tinsel, and a star, and had pinned their stockings to the wall by the door. Logan hadn't expected their decorative stockings to be filled, but they certainly had been; the taller boy had stuffed them to the brim with things such as packaged cookies, candy canes, little chocolate truffles, and mini-doughnuts.

The bus was quite the cheerful sight, and by the time they had finished up Kendall had definitely achieved his goal. Logan was as cheerful as ever, teasing and poking fun at him like always, and the bus was a lovely display of Christmas joy, even if it was a little hurried and messy.

Stretching a bit as he finished pinning a bit of holly to the bus's bathroom door, Logan made his way into the living space and sighed thickly, flopping onto the couch. There was a lazy smile upon the Texan boy's face as he closed his eyes for a moment.

"This is great, Kindle. Thank-you," he murmured as he stretched his legs across the width of their make-shift sofa, feet resting upon one of the arms. Kendall smiled as he glanced over his shoulder at his friend, nodding his head. He was still busy searching bags, making sure that he had found every last decoration.

"Sure thing, Logie. You know I'd do anything to cheer you up," the blonde smiled, shrugging his shoulders as he continued to search. Every decoration seemed to be hung, and he might have given up by now had it not been for the fact that he knew of something specific that was missing – that something being a small gift that he had bought for his friend. Every bag that he had come across so far was empty, and Kendall was beginning to worry.

Meanwhile, Logan yawned quietly, wriggling as he folded his arms behind his head. He was beginning to feel rather tired; the gloomy majority of the day as well as the bouts of energy he had shared with Kendall just now had really begun to wear on him. Honestly, he couldn't wait to slip off into dreamland – though he knew that part of that was thanks to his band mate, who had successfully gotten him excited to wake up on Christmas morning.

However, before the brunette could even think about drifting off, there was a cheer from the opposite side of the bus. "Yes! Found it!" Kendall chortled, smiling as he picked up a bag from the very corner of the room. He had distinctly remembered packing this particular bag into the bus – it had all been a matter of figuring out where he had put it.

"Mm… found what, Kindle?" Logan muttered, shaking his head as he smiled a bit at his friend's endless excitement. Kendall could be such a ball of energy when he was in the right mood. Turning to grin at his sleepy comrade, Kendall laughed softly. He knew that Logan was probably exhausted, but he did want to give his friend the gift he had gotten first.

"Your Christmas present," the younger boy smiled sweetly as he trotted over to the couch, bag dangling from his fingertips as he swung it lazily at his side. Logan's eyes popped open at the mention of a present, and after a moment he sat up, blinking.

"Kindle, you didn't have to do that," he murmured, shaking his head as he smiled up at the cheerful boy, "I didn't get you anything…"

Kendall shook his head, raising a hand to silence his bus-mate. "Shush. You don't get to protest." he smirked, shaking his head as he handed the bag over to Logan. Raising an eyebrow, Logan sighed softly; there was really no arguing with Kendall.

The smaller boy set the grocery bag into his lap, smiling rather sweetly as he untied the handles. It took his clumsy fingers a moment to maneuver the bag, and his sleepy eyes a moment to adjust, but as he finally realized what was in the bag, he shook his head. His expression shifted to something more sentimental in an instant. "Kindle…" he murmured as he plucked a medium-sized, brown cowboy hat from the grocery bag that he held. Placing the hat upon his head, he sighed softly. "This is wonderful."

It was slightly coincidental that he had ended up buying Logan a gift that would remind him of home just as he had been feeling as he had been today, but Kendall supposed that as long as everything working out, it was okay. Smiling affectionately as he reached out to take the empty bag from Logan's lap, Kendall chuckled.

"You're welcome, Logie." he mused, sighing contentedly as he tilted his head a bit. Having swung the grocery bag at his side for a moment as he held it, Kendall raised an eyebrow – it felt as though there were still another item inside, though he didn't remember buying anything else. Blinking, the blonde boy took one handle into both hands so that he could open the sack up and gaze down into it. He laughed softly as he realized what, exactly, the unknown item was.

"What..?" Logan asked with a gentle smile as he noted Kendall's expression, heard his friend's laughter. "There doesn't happen to be some barbeque in that bag too, does there?"

Kendall smiled and shook his head. "No, not at all… in fact, I don't even remember buying this," he murmured. His smile brightened as he reached into the bag, plucking from inside a smile vine of mistletoe. Holding it up a bit to gaze at it, he sighed softly and shook his head. It didn't make much sense; he and Logan were the only ones who were ever in the bus, so why would he have picked up any mistletoe? Looking back, Kendall supposed that he had sort of rushed through the store, pulling everything within reach off of every shelf. He smiled a rather goofy smile as he turned his gaze back to Logan, tilting his head. "Christmas kisses, Logie dear?"

As Kendall had pulled the mistletoe from the bag, the drowsy boy had gazed blankly at it. Of course he knew what the small, dangly vine meant, and he wasn't sure why Kendall would have bought it… But for some reason, as he heard his best friend's suggestion of Christmas kisses, and refocused his eyes upon the face of said best friend not long afterward, he felt the need to fulfill the legend of the mistletoe. He chuckled quietly as he truly registered Kendall's words, and he was shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly seconds later though he did indeed move to get to his feet.

Kendall had drawn his eyes back to the miniature vine that he had been dangling over their heads, having assumed that Logan was only standing to get ready for bed – or something of the like. That, however, wasn't the case at all. Logan stood there before Kendall for a moment, gazing at his friend and contemplating briefly. A part of him couldn't believe that he was even thinking of this, but there seemed to be this little devil on his shoulder; a devil who was whispering into his ear, convincing him to go on and do what he was thinking of doing. After so much internal debate, the brunette shook his head, thinking to himself: "To hell with it all".

He wasn't sure if it was because he felt he owed it to Kendall for cheering him up tonight, or if the mistletoe really did have some sort of magical power – perhaps he was just tired. Frankly, Logan wasn't sure why he was leaning forward, reaching for Kendall, and stretching onto his toes at all.

All that the quiet, dark-eyed boy knew that as his lips touched Kendall's, it felt completely right, and as Kendall's lips began to move against his own, it felt even better. As soon as he was sure that his band mate wouldn't shove him back, Logan pressed close. One arm wrapped around Kendall's waist, and the other found its way upward and around his friend's neck instead.

It took a moment or two of mental adjustment, but eventually, the taller boy did move a body part other than his lips; tossing the mistletoe he still hung over their heads onto the couch, he wrapped an arm around Logan's shoulder and reached to settle the opposite hand onto the smaller boy's hip. Needless to say, he was shocked – he hadn't at all expected Logan to actually kiss him. That wasn't to say that he minded, though – since really, Logan's lips on his own felt rather nice.

It was a moment or two before either boy pulled away, and one finally did, it was Kendall – mostly because as Logan had truly realized the magnitude of what he had done, he had gotten a little spooked. Much to the older boy's relief, though, when he finally opened his eyes, there was a smile upon Kendall's face.

"I didn't expect that," the cheerful boy stated simply, nibbling tentatively at his lower lip as he raised a hand to caress Logan's cheek affectionately. Logan blinked, smiling a sheepish smile after a moment as he leaned into Kendall's palm.

"Me neither. I kinda just… did it," he chuckled quietly, shaking his head as he closed his eyes.

"Well… it was nice," Kendall mused, cheeks a little pink as he stroked his thumb along one of his best friend's cheekbones. He certainly wasn't lying; Logan was a very good kisser.

"It was," the shorter boy half whispered, sighing softly as he kept his place, closer to Kendall than he had probably ever been – in an intimate sense, anyhow. A moment of comfortable silence passed between the friends as they stood there, at the center of a room full of lights and tinsel and cheer, and for a moment, Logan swore that he would be able to hear the drop of a pin, should it have happened. It wasn't long, though, before another odd impulse hit the young Texas, and he smiled a bit. "Kindle… can we do it again?" he murmured, heart fluttering in his chest as he awaited his friend's response.

Having heard Logan's soft-spoken request, Kendall giggled – actually giggled – quietly. Without much thought, the blonde nodded his head, and within seconds was leaning in, lips brushing Logan's tenderly. And this time, having anticipated the affectionate contact, Logan felt his ears go hot. This time around, the kiss was much more passionate. Both participants obviously knew what they were doing, and the gentle touch of lips had gone from innocent and sweet to lips-parted and tongues-brushing within moments.

Eventually, though, one and then both required a bit of oxygen, and pulled apart near simultaneously.

"Kindle, that was…"

"I know,"

"Wow."

The pair chuckled quietly, both shaking their heads slowly as they gazed into one another's eyes. Kendall's hand remained upon Logan's cheek, and Logan kept his arms tight around Kendall. Neither knew exactly what this meant for them, or their friendship; whether or not they could be considered boyfriend and boyfriend, that was. All that either knew was that they very much enjoyed the kisses given by their best friend.

A short bit of time passed before Logan pressed in just a little closer and nuzzled his cheek against Kendall's shoulder, and as he did, Kendall was quick to press his cheek to the top of the shorter boy's head. The pair rested that way for a minute or two before a particularly perky blonde spoke up once more.

"So… I don't suppose those Christmas kisses come with Christmas cuddles…" Kendall murmured, smiling a sweet smile as he breathed in the scent of his closest friend. Logan chuckled quietly… He knew that he should have been just a little scared of the fact that he had just made out with his male best friend, but he wasn't – not even a little bit.

And frankly, he wasn't sure if it was the craving for closeness that he now felt, or the sense of exhaustion swirling within his mind, but as he pulled back a little, he found himself nodding his head. With a brief little peck to the lips and a soft laugh, Logan allowed Kendall to lead him toward the bunk area; and, silly as it might have been, he thanked that trivial little piece of mistletoe the entire way.