"Norm, are you fucking shitting me right now?" Blake asked in disbelief, his eyes wide as he looked over the top of the couch. He wasn't sure what to think of the sight in front of him; Jayden was standing in the doorway, a large jacket covering his body and a wool hat snug on his head. Small flurries of snow fluttered inside and landed on the agent.
"I most certainly am not." Jayden snapped, shrugging off the hat and motioning to the door. "Are you going to help me bring it in or not?" His arms were crossed defensively across his chest, his lips in a pout, and he looked about ready to fight for the right to put a Christmas tree up.
"Hell no." Blake rolled his eyes and slumped back. "Norman, it's November fucking first. Can't you let me forget about Halloween before you bring up Christmas? Jesus, my stomach still hurts."
"It's not my fault that you ate all our candy, Carter." Jayden pointed out. "Maybe forgetting about your stomach ache would help."
Blake turned back around, giving the agent a deadly glare. "I did not. You did."
"I tried to give the candy to the kids." Jayden said. "We were all out by the time Shaun came over. And even when I had to go and buy more on last notice-"
"Okay, okay, I'll help you bring in the tree if you shut the fuck up." Blake groaned, making quite the effort to stand up from where he'd been comfortable on his couch. He ignored the smugly triumphant look on Jayden's face as he yanked on his jacket.
"We are not decorating it, though." Blake snapped as he yanked on his boots, glaring out the door at the stupid tree strapped to Jayden's car. It was a hideous shade of green, huge, and Blake wondered if Jayden would notice if he burned it in the night.
"Whatever you say, Cartah." Jayden said in a sing song voice, planting a kiss on Blake's cheek before he strolled outside.
About an hour later, after struggling to get the damned tree in the house, arguing about the damned tree, Jayden had pulled out boxes from his car and they were decorating the damned tree.
As Blake hung an ornament on the tree, he glared at his reflection in it and thought, When did you become such a pussy? It's November first and you're decorating a Christmas tree with a pretty boy agent.
He wasn't even entirely sure how Jayden had managed to coax him into helping with the decorations. It was as if one second he was on the couch, telling Jayden that no, absolutely not, he refused to help, then the next he was on his feet and helping wrap the tree in tinsel and beads.
Jayden kept giving him huge smiles whenever their eyes met, and Blake just grumbled and looked away, his face burning with embarrassment.
"I still don't understand why you couldn't wait to do this in a month." Blake said angrily as he fished out another pretty ornament, holding it carefully so he didn't break it. He gritted his teeth together as he hung the stupid delicate ornament onto a branch.
"I love Christmas." Jayden said, smiling at the little wooden figurine in his hand. It was a little boy, holding a drum, and Jayden hung it on the tree so softly it was as if he were holding an extremely fragile egg. "I tend to do this pretty early."
"Wonderful." Blake said sarcastically. "Looking forward to the many more Christmases where you drag huge shedding trees into my house and force me to decorate it."
"I did not force you, you actually-" Jayden cut off, a small frown on his face. His cheeks were tinged pink, his eyes slightly wide as he stared at Blake. "Many more?"
Blake stared back, confused, until he replayed in his mind what he'd said. He looked away quickly, paying extra attention to the ornament in his hand. There were some scratches and smudges, but it was a nice, big, red ball that displayed his reflection-which was quite embarrassing. His eyes were wide, his cheeks red (or was that just the ball?) and he looked shocked, to say the least.
He swallowed, trying to regain his pride and fighting to keep down a disgusting blob of words that were too sappy for Carter Blake. Instead, he just shrugged, cleared his throat, and said, "Yeah, 'course."
He saw Jayden giving him a half surprised half suspicious look out of the corner of his eye. "That's pretty optimistic of you, Cartah."
Blake sighed and looked up at the agent. "I'm only optimistic about things I'm serious about. Can we just finish decorating this stupid tree without any embarrassing couple talk?"
Jayden looked away, a small smile on his face, and Blake internally sighed; maybe they were done talking for now, but Jayden would definitely bring it up again later. No way he was getting away with that one.
"Alright, Cartah." Jayden said. He looked up, a big grin on his face, and held out the star. "Did you wanna put it on? Or maybe I should, since I'm, you know, taller."
"Shut up." Blake grumbled, but he stepped back to give Jayden some room. The agent reached up and plucked the star at the top, clapping his hands together in front of his face as he stepped back to admire the tree.
It was obvious which sides they'd decorated. Jayden's side was lovely and organised, every ornament hung exactly where it should be. Blake's side, on the other hand, showed his complete lack of caring. It was mismatched, some were falling off, there were multiple ornaments on one branch when there were more without, but the tree was finished and Blake was incredibly relieved.
"Let's see how it looks!" Jayden said excitedly, dashing to pull the blinds and turn off the lights. When the room was dark enough to satisfy him, Jayden turned on the tree.
It illuminated the room in bright colors, casting shadows of red and green and gold on everything. Blake was about to say how stupid he thought it was, and maybe they should change the lights to just something white, when he saw the look on Jayden's face. His eyes were wide, his smile so wide that his teeth showed, and he looked completely under the spell of the holiday fever that must've been radiating inside of him.
Blake's heart gave a hard thump in his chest, and he didn't hesitate to grab Jayden's shoulder. The agent jumped a bit, a protest coming from him, but Blake silenced him with his lips. Blake kissed him hard, his arms snaking around his waist. The agent tasted sweet, like eggnog; maybe he'd had some on the way, or it was currently sitting forgotten in a bag? Blake didn't care.
Jayden was still for a second, probably surprised, and then he was kissing him back. One of his hands held onto the back of Blake's neck, while the other gripped his shoulder.
"Can I take it that you enjoyed decorating the tree." Jayden mumbled while Blake moved his lips to the agent's jaw, pressing soft kisses against the smooth skin. He must've shaved recently, Blake thought.
"God no." Blake mumbled. "Hated it. Fucking hate Christmas, hate decorating, hate carolers, and fruit cake, and presents, and getting together with family, and the songs are the worst."
"Forgive me if I'm a bit confused then, but you sure seem pretty into it currently."
Blake rolled his eyes and pulled back a bit, ignoring the small sound of protest from Jayden. "Fuck, Norm, I'm into you, and I'll be into Christmas if you want me to be."
Jayden stared at Blake for a long second, until Blake's face was burning and he was pulling away. He grabbed the cop by his shirt, yanking him in for another kiss.
"I love you, Cartah." He said quietly.
Blake scoffed, but pressed their foreheads together. "Yeah, love you, too. For godsakes, I'm putting up with the shittiest holiday for you."
Jayden chuckled. "You're so good to me."
"That better not have been sarcasm."
"It wasn't, I swear." Jayden smiled innocently. "Now, can we be done with this tree? I can think up a few ways I could make it up to you for this time of torture."
"Oh?" Blake said, very interested.
"Mhm." Jayden pressed a soft kiss to the cop's lips, then grinned and said. "We can watch Christmas specials on TV!"
Blake groaned and shoved Jayden away. "You're sleeping in your car tonight."
Jayden laughed. "I was kidding! I was actually going to suggest we have sex, but since I'm sleeping in my car, I might as well go out now."
"Consider this my early Christmas present to you then." Blake said as he grabbed Jayden's hand.
"Okay, Cartah." Jayden said with a smile. "You know, I think we should put mistletoe around the house. That'd be fun. Plus, you always look so cute when you're surprised, and that would give me plenty of opportunities to-"
He didn't get to finish, because Blake kissed him quickly.
Blake decided that maybe he didn't hate Christmas that much. He doubted he could hate any stupid holiday that Jayden got excited about, and he knew that he'd be dragged down into the pit with the agent. And he was perfectly fine with that. He'd decorate a million trees to see the dazzled smile on Jayden's face again. Hell, he'd even sing carols if that's what it took. He'd wrap a thousand presents, sing until his throat ached, smile until his cheeks felt about ready to fall off, and he'd probably enjoy it, too, sick as that might be.
If Jayden enjoyed it, he'd enjoy it. Even if it was Christmas. He thought of getting Jayden a great present and seeing his smile, and thought, Especially if it was Christmas.