All I Want For Christmas (Is You), a pokémon fanfic

Weow, it's been a while since I posted anything! This is for fire-blast over on tumblr who I received as a Secret Stantler this year and I had a lot of fun writing for a pairing that I liked in theory but had never tried to put together before. Special thanks to The Light's Refrain for the speedy and helpful beta and happy holidays, everyone!

It's one in the morning when the lighthouse suddenly goes out.

Volkner only knows this because he's still awake, reviewing a battle video Flint had sent him of a challenger that had beaten Volkner a week and a half ago. The sweeping pulse of the lighthouse had been a soothing relief to the harsh light of Volkner's ancient computer monitor, bathing the entire room in light for a split second before moving away. When it doesn't sweep back around, Volkner leans back on his chair, tilting it precariously to glance out the window. The night outside feels ominous, the cloud coverage blocking out the moon and the stars, and Volkner blinks owlishly out into the night.

The lighthouse does not blink back.

The lighthouse has been acting strangely for the past week and a half, and in all honesty Volkner's just been too busy (doing nothing) to do something about it. Really, all he has to do is call Jasmine and ask her to come out to the city for a quick stop, but she's already come out three times in the past two months and Volkner doesn't want her to think he's completely incompetent. He's been making do by having Electivire shock it back into working, but Volkner knows it's not going to fix it in the long run. Plus, with the stormy weather returning for winter, he's going to want to get that repair done quickly.

The whole thing is really just a lot of thinking and it makes Volkner's head hurt, so he shuts off his computer, crawls into bed, and resolutely decides to deal with it the next day.

Volkner startles awake to the sound of someone pounding on his front door.

"Hey, loser! Get up!"

Volkner spends all of thirty seconds deciding whether or not to ignore Flint before getting up. Ignoring him will just make it worse, and Volkner knows that Flint is not above using the house key under Volkner's house plant to gain entry to the house; he's got to remember to move that thing.

"Give me five minutes," Volkner calls out the window he's just flung open, glancing down into the street. Flint's looking back up at him, a smirk plastered to his face and two cups of coffee in his hands. They're from Volkner's favourite coffee shop, but he doesn't frequent it much since he dated and then broke up with the barista. It's a shame because Volkner really does like they're coffee, but Natasha gives him such dirty looks whenever he walks in he's decided it's not really worth it.

"Make it three," Volkner decides, the smell of the coffee wafting up to the window, and he runs off to the bathroom to comb his hair into something presentable while Flint's laughter drifts up from the street.

"I saw that your lighthouse went out," Flint says around his cup of coffee. It's cool in Sunyshore, the summer weather all but a memory as storms roll in off the ocean and the temperature drops. Volkner's not sure how Candice can stand living up in Snowpoint City where the temperature is forty degrees less than what it is on the coast. Candice just calls him a wimp.

"Yeah, it's been acting up all week," Volkner says.

"Why haven't you called Jazzy about it?"

Volkner scrunches his face. "Jazzy?"

"Hey, you're not the only one allowed to make friends," Flint teases. He slings an arm across Volkner's shoulder, a familiar weight that Volkner has known for years. "But seriously, if it's been shit all week then just ask her to come out."

"I can't," Volkner replies miserably. "She's already been out this month and twice last month. She's going to think that I don't learn anything when she's here and that I can't do anything."

Flint just laughs. "Whatever, man," he says. "No wonder you broke things off with Natasha. You're hopeless with women."

Volkner wants to retort and tell Flint that he's not much better, but that's not actually true. Flint's been dating a girl from Unova since the beginning of the year and has had more long-lasting relationships with both men and women than Volkner can seem to recall. He wracks his brain trying to remember the last girlfriend's name; Kristen or Kirsten or Kristy or something like that. When he mentions her, though (it's Krista) Flint just shakes his head.

"Nah, man," he says, waving his free arm around a little distractedly so that coffee sloshes out of the opening. "We broke up a week ago. The distance wasn't really working for us and she said she wanted to go backpacking around Kanto or some shit; wanted to challenge the gym leaders there."

"She didn't want to come visit you?"

"I think it was just her excuse to break up with me. I don't mind. It's been weird since last month really."

Volkner thinks back to the few times he's seen Flint and Krista together, how happy they looked. She had been bubbly, like Flint, but with a sweeter side that seemed to make Flint's rambunctious behaviour feel a lot more bearable.

And before her had been Jackson, a trainer that had previously been employed in Volkner's gym. Before him it had been Jason, and Monica, and Cara, all people who had seemed to be perfect matches for Flint and had all turned out to be nothing more than a short-term relationship. It puzzles Volkner to no end, but whenever he had asked about them Flint had just said, "Guess they weren't really my type," and left it at that.

"Well, sorry, bro," Volkner says, taking a sip of his coffee. Things feel awkward in a way that it never feels like with Flint, and it makes Volkner's stomach do weird backflips and somersaults. He feels Flint shrug in the way his arm shifts across his shoulders.

"Yeah, no worries. On to the next one, I guess," Flint says, laughing, and suddenly everything is normal again and Volkner is rolling his eyes and it's just a normal day between them.

"So, you don't know what's wrong with it?" Flint asks, eyeing the flashing lights on the control panel wearily.

"Obviously not," Volkner says, toying with a Poke Ball on his belt. "If I did, it would be fixed, yeah?"

Flint laughs, this cackling sound that he's had in all the time that Volkner's known him. It's the kind of laugh that makes everyone else laugh because it sounds so funny, and Volkner can't help the grin that stretches his lips.

"It looks like it's restarted itself or something," Flint says, flicking through the menu on the built in screen.

"Yeah, so whenever I come I give it a bit of a shock and be on my merry way," Volkner says. "I just figured it wasn't getting enough electricity."

Flint sighs, bracing his arms on the control panel and dropping his head. "I thought you were the genius with circuits and shit," he says. "You're like, some crazy-ass architect and electrician and you can't even figure out this lighthouse?"

"Yeah, like you know what's wrong with it," Volkner retorts, shoving his hands into his pocket. When Flint turns around he's got a grin on his face that spells trouble and Volkner sighs. "You do know what's wrong with it."

"Instead of not getting enough electricity," Flint says, tilting to his head to the side, "it's getting too much."

Which means that they have to make a trip out to the power grid and talk to the guy that supplies the electricity for the lighthouse.

"It runs partially on solar power," the guy explains, wrinkling his nose so that his large, bushy mustache wriggles across his upper lift. Volkner has to step on Flint's foot to keep him from laughing out loud. "So I gave it an extra boost because of all the clouds lately."

"I think you've been giving it too much," Volkner says kindly. "The system shorts out every couple weeks and restarts. I think-" he gets an elbow from Flint for that, "-or rather, Flint thinks that the extra electricity is frying the system. Maybe turn the dial back a little and we'll see how it goes?"

"Actually," Flint says, cutting in and digging his foot out from where Volkner's still standing on it. "I have a better idea. If we redirect the electricity from the main circuit board, we'll be alright, yeah?"

"Well, sure," the electrician replies. Volkner notices the flickering of emotions on the man's face; it switches from amusement to nervousness and then happiness. "What did you have in mind?"

There's a sparkle in Flint's eyes that Volkner knows only too well. It's the same sparkle he had when he had suggested who could dive the deepest and Volkner nearly drowned in the ocean, or the one where he had bet Volkner he couldn't yodel louder than him and they had been chased through the market by Old Mrs. Diefenbaker. It's the one that Volkner's learned to be wary of over the years, but when he hears Flint's suggestion he realizes it's definitely not the weirdest thing that Flint could've said, and actually, it sounds pretty nice.

Volkner's opinion on Flint's plans change when he's lugging his fourth box of Christmas decorations up the stairs of the Vista Lighthouse.

"Remind me again why I let you drag me into this?" he complains, tripping his way onto the observation deck and nearly dropping his box. A curse escapes from under his breath and from around the other side of the room Flint laughs.

"Because we're best friends and you think I'm great."

"You're not that great," Volkner replies on reflex, but he's already smiling and turning to head downstairs to get the last box of ornaments.

Flint's suggestion, to keep the circuitry of the lighthouse from frying again, was to channel all the rest of the electricity out the outlets and into Christmas lights. "We're going to make that lighthouse look so nice no one will recognize it!" he had exclaimed, slugging Volkner in the arm hard enough to hurt.

"It might work," the electrician had said thoughtfully. "Either that or you'll just fry everything to pieces."

"No." As much as Volkner loathed to admit it, Flint was right. "I've got a bunch of spare Christmas lights in the gym's basement from that time Johanna tried to decorate."

By the time Volkner returns to the observation deck Flint has already unpacked two large cardboard boxes of Christmas lights.

"Do you have any of those plastic hooky things?" he asks, glaring at the jumbled mess of lightbulbs in his hands.

"Uh, did you check any of the other boxes?" Volkner suggests. There's about ten of them all together (honestly, were had Johanna bought all this crap?) and Volkner has no idea what's in any of them.

"Does it look like I have time to look through all of them?" Flint retorts with a laugh, waving his hands around wildly. They're tangled together with the Christmas lights and Volkner steps forward to gently pry Flint's hands out. When he's done, he's left holding a ball of Christmas lights while Flint looks at him fondly.

"You know," Flint says, scratching his head lightly, "I'll just run down to the market and see if Mr. Hubble's got any of 'em. We're going to need a lot if we're going to make this place look great. And tape. And maybe some other tools."

"Check the gym first," Volkner suggests; he's got a lot of tools left over from the renovation still.

"Aye aye, Captain!" Flint replies. He gives Volkner a jaunty salute before dashing off down the lighthouse stairs, leaving Volkner with a twisted mess of Christmas lights and a twisted feeling in his heart.

Volkner has never been into dudes. It's always been something he's thought about, especially since the summer he turned fifteen and Flint first told him he was bi, but Volkner's always liked girls better. Something about their long hair and their smooth skin and the curve of their waists. He's always just liked them better.

(That's not to say there's never been guys before. Volkner remembers a painfully awkward stage in his senior year when he had pined after Alec Henderson for four months and cried himself to sleep the night Alec asked out Macy Marshalls to prom.)

But he'd be completely stupid to ignore the way how something's changed with Flint. Volkner's not exactly sure what it is, but he ponders about it as he sets up the artificial Christmas tree along a small stretch of wall that is not filled in by window. His heart beats a little quicker as he imagines Flint's smile or the easy way that touches Volkner and that's probably just it. It's been a long time since the two of them had hung out and with Flint staying for the foreseeable future Volkner's pretty sure that's why he's feeling so strange as of late.

When Flint returns with his arms full of tools and and plastic hooks to hang the Christmas lights off of, Volkner ignores the way his stomach turns a somersault and tries to help Flint set everything down without letting the hammer fall on their feet.

Much to Volkne'rs surprise, Roark shows up at the gym a week into the decorating process. Volkner had come back to battle a trainer, but now that battle's over (the chump lost, which Volkner still finds a little depressing) he's working through the mound of paperwork that's built up when Roark sticks his head into the office.

"Hey," he says conversationally, startling Volkner into looking up.

"Hey!" Volkner exclaims, jumping to his feet and shaking Roark's outstretched hand. "How's it been? I haven't seen you since …"

"The last conference?" Roark suggests. He rolls his eyes and Volkner laughs, recalling the last gym leader's conference they had met at. It had been held in Canalave City and Byron had not hesitated to show everyone Roark's most embarrassing photos from home.

"Yeah, I guess it has been that long. What brings you to Sunyshore?"

Roark shrugs, taking a seat on a small stool in the corner of Volkner's cluttered office. "Dad wants to go to Johto for Christmas this year so I thought I'd stop in and say hi to some of you guys before I head off."

Volkner bobs his head as he flips over a folder and glances at the contents inside it. "Yeah, I think I'm just going to stick around this year. Flint's making it his mission to glitz up Vista Lighthouse for the holidays or something."

Roark's eyebrows arch accusingly and Volkner shrugs. "What?"

"You didn't mention Flint was in town," is all Roark says. "What's he been up to lately?"

Volkner shrugs. "Broke up with his girlfriend a month ago, battling trainers, the usual."

"No, I meant here. He can't be spending all his time decorating the lighthouse."

"I guess not," Volkner says slowly. He idly flips through the electrical bill for the month and cringes; he's got to remember to turn the lights off when he leaves. "We play video games a lot back at my place and when he's not eating me out of house and home he's usually at the market."

"So he's …" Roark trails off and waves a hand airily in the space between them, "staying with you then?"

"Well, where else would he stay?" Volkner asks. "We've been friends for ages, Roark, I'm not going to make him stay at the Pokemon Centre."

"Hey," Roark says defensively, raising his hands in surrender, "I'm just saying. But, you know, congrats, dude. Glad to see things have worked out between you two."

"Um." Volkner looks up from his papers and stares at Roark, who seems to have realized that he's said something wrong.

"I, uh." Roark stands abruptly, knocking over the stool in his haste. "Dude, just, forget it. Never mind."

"No, tell me," Volkner demands, but Roark's already straightened the stool and is heading out the door.

"I'll send you a postcard from Johto or something!" is all Volkner gets for a response before the light on his desk goes off to signify someone exiting the gym.

"We should get a ladder for this."

"A ladder? Are you kidding me? Come on, Volkner, where's your sense of adventure?"

"It's not a sense of adventure I lack," Volkner says with a sigh, stooping over anyway, much to Flint's glee. "It's a set of shoulders that I think can hold up your fat ass."

"Them's fightin' words," Flint says, swinging his legs over Volkner's shoulders. On shaking legs Volkner stands, his arms gripping Flint's shins tightly.

"Just hurry up, please?"

Flint works quickly, his hands weaving the lights around the top of the tree easily as Volkner shuffles around the base. They do the top half before Volkner passes up a string of garland and they repeat the process again.

"There, that wasn't to hard, was it?" Flint asks, petting at Volkner's hair lightly. It feels nice and Volkner closes his eyes, hums in response.

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I, boys?"

Volkner whirls around quicker than he intended, and it's only by sheer luck that there's a wall behind them that Flint can crash into. The two of them tumble to the ground in a groaning heap, and Lucian throws them a disdainful look as he strides onto the observation deck.

"Lukey-Boy!" Flint calls out impishly, bobbing his head amiably while attempting to crawl off of where he's crushed Volkner's face into the ground.

"I thought I told you not to call me that."

Flint laughs as he finally disentangles himself from Volkner and leaps to his feet, pumping Lucian's hand in an exuberant greeting. "Aw, you love it, Lucian. Don't even front."

Lucian rolls his eyes before turning to settle his gaze on Volkner, who finally had managed to climb to his feet. He shifts slightly under the attention, wondering vaguely if Lucian could read his mind the same way the Pokemon he trained could.

"Volkner, I do believe it's been a while since you've come around to challenge the League. And lost."

"Hey now, play nice," Flint warns.

"It's alright," Volkner mutters. He straightens, though, and says to Lucian, "But yeah, it has been a while. What brings you into town?"

There's a slight pause and Lucian opens his mouth before snapping it shut again. A faint blush tinges his cheeks and Flint crows in delight.

"Your boyfriend's here, isn't he?"

Lucian's face flushes darker. "I could say the same to you, Flint."

Volkner turns a questioning gaze on his friend. Though they had talked about Flint's breakup with Krista, he hadn't been aware that Flint was dating someone else. So soon. His stomach turns over a little and he leans back against the wall, his hands clenching helplessly at his side.

"I stopped by to see how things were progressing but from what I saw when I came in I can tell that you two still have a lot of work to do," Lucian continues, his composure seemingly gathered. He flicks his hair out of his eyes and says, "And yes, Flint. Adam is in town and we're going to go to Kalos for a research trip."

"Then maybe you shouldn't keep Adam waiting," Flint grits out, glancing at the clock on the wall. "It's already eight-thirty."

Lucian laughs. "So it is." HIs face softens a little and Volkner sees the tension flood out of Flint's shoulders. "Listen, Flint, you know I was just poking a bit of fun, right?" Lucian asks, nervously fiddling with the buttons on his coat.

"Yeah, yeah," Flint replies. "I guess we can still be friends after all."

The grin Lucian flashes at the two of them seems almost sinister in nature, but Flint takes it all in stride, clapping his colleague on the back. "Get out of here," he orders good-naturedly. "And I don't want ten thousand postcards about how loved up you two are."

"Same to you," Lucian retorts, and the back of Flint's neck flushes bright red. Lucian hugs Flint goodbye, waves at Volkner and then retreats out of the lighthouse. Volkner watches him leave through one of the windows, his silhouette fading into the night.

"As much as I love the dude, he can be a real bastard sometimes," Flint mutters, turning his attention back to Volkner. There's a weariness in his face as he attempts at a smile, and Volkner wonders just exactly he's missing in all these conversations.

They have half the lighthouse decorated by the time Candice stops by.

"Boys!" she shrieks, throwing herself at Volkner and Flint, who quickly drop the window paints their holding in order to catch her.

"Candice!" Flint greets enthusiastically, one arm looped around Candice's skinny frame and the other hooked around Volkner's waist. "I was wondering if you were going to come see us."

"Of course!" Candice replies, letting go of the two of them and smoothing out the front of my blouse. "I wouldn't miss seeing my two best friends for anything."

"Anything?" Volkner asks, raising an eyebrow and grinning impishly at Candice. "The last time I invited you down here you said you couldn't come because iJames/i invited you to that ski resort on Mount Coronet."

Candice's cheeks flush and she ducks her head.

"What?!" Flint exclaims, glancing between Volkner and Candice. "My little Candy Cane has a boyfriend?!"

"I've had boyfriends before, Flint," Candice says with a bit of a smile.

"Aren't you, like, sixteen? No boyfriends for you!"

"I'm eighteen, thanks," Candice replies airily, brushing past the two of them and surveying the lighthouse. "This place looks great. It's going to be a pain in the butt to take down though."

For some reason, Volkner really hadn't thought about the fact that they would, indeed, have to take down all the Christmas decorations they were hanging up. "Oh my god," he whispers, the horror clearly painted on his face.

"Ah, suck it up," Flint says, patting Volkner's arm. "I'll help you take it all down again."

"You better, considering this was all your idea anyway. We're going to have to leave this stuff up till, like, March when the weather finally warms up."

Flint laughs at Candice's questioning look. "Oh Candice, let me tell you all about how this started."

Candice sticks around for most of the day, shooting the shit with the two of them and helping by painting snow along the tops of the windows. It's nice, easy, and Volkner remembers the summer days when he and Flint and Candice used to hang out at the beach, doing nothing but laughing and messing around.

"Should I go grab us some dinner or something?" he asks when his stomach growls. It's dark outside the lighthouse but inside all the Christmas lights are turned on and Flint has carols blasting through a set of speakers in the corner.

"Sandwiches!" Flint exclaims, popping his head up from behind a village scene he'd been setting up by the door.

"From that little deli we always go to in the summer!" Candice adds. She's got tinsel stuck to her everywhere and Volkner's not actually sure if there's more on her than on the tree.

"Sure, sure," Volkner says. He checks his wallet to make sure he's got enough cash and heads out into the night.

As he wanders down the street and into town, Volkner recalls when he had first met Candice, at a Sinnoh League conference held by Cynthia. She had been a skinny, knobby-kneed sixteen-year-old with ice in her Poke Balls and fire in her eyes. She was loud, but not obnoxious, friendly, but not over-the-top. Despite her youth, Volkner could tell she was wise beyond her years and had a passion for battling, a trait common in all the gym leaders.

"I like her," Flint had said, halfway through the conference, sidling up to Volkner and pinching his arm. "She's quite-"

"Tenacious?"

"I was going to say plucky, but yeah, tenacious works too."

Volkner had laughed. "Well, you always wanted a little sister, Flint. Here's your chance." He had meant it as a joke, but Flint's eyes had sparkled at the idea and he'd gone bouncing off through the crowd, his flaming red hair a beacon for Volkner to follow.

They made a strange, rag-tag sort of family, but Volkner loved it, loved Candice and Flint. They had helped him the most through his depression and despite the distance, Candice always flew in to Sunyshore for birthdays and vacations and really, just anything. The thought of having them both here around Christmas makes Volkner smile and break into a jog, laughing to himself as he dashes off towards the glowing lights of the deli.

When he gets back Flint and Candice have their heads bent together over a tangle of Christmas lights and they're arguing in low, angry voices.

"Why don't you just tell him?" Candice demands, glancing up from the lights to glare at Flint.

"It's not just that easy," Flint replies, the anger rising in his voice too. This is familiar to Volkner, the bickering between his two closest friends. Despite how friendly they were to each other, Volkner was always reminded that they were opposites: fire and ice.

"Yes it is. Just tell him that you love him. He'd say yes, Flint. He obviously cares about you."

"He doesn't know, Candice. I can't."

"Of course he doesn't know, dumbass. You haven't said anything. "

"No, Candice, I mean. I don't think he knows it about himself."

They lapse into silence and Volkner decides that he's heard enough. His hands are shaking as he sets the sandwiches down on a closed cardboard box and clears his throat. "Dinner is served," he tries to say, his voice shaking ever so slightly.

Candice's head whips around, her eyes widening slightly before her features smooth over into something more natural. "Great, thanks, Vee," she gushes, setting down the lights she had been holding and making a beeline for the food.

Volkner fiddles around with the lighthouse control panel while he eats, pondering the conversation he had overheard. There's a tightness in his belly and his heart beats painfully in his chest; he doesn't know why suddenly he's feeling this way. Flint had had plenty of relationships prior to now and he'd even told Volkner he had been in love with Krista at some point during their relationship. The idea of Flint with someone new, though, someone he had clearly been pining over for some time, makes Volkner's hands shake and his head ache.

Candice gets up to leave after dinner. "I'm glad I came down before the weather in Snowpoint made things too difficult," she says, giving Volkner and Flint long hugs. She tugs her sweater on over her skinny arms and smiles at the two of them.

"Always glad to have you around, Candice," Volkner replies. "You should come back for Christmas."

"Or you guys could come visit," Candice says with a laugh. "It works both ways you know."

"Yeah, but we're both here and you're way up there," Flint says, waving his hand through the air. Volkner catches the knowing look Candice shoots at Flint and flashes back to the earlier conversation, but before he has too much time to reflect on it Candice is kissing both their cheeks and bouncing off down the stairs, promising to be back in the new year.

"Guess it's just you and me again," Volkner says casually, glancing at Flint. Flint won't meet his eyes, but there is a smile playing at the corners of his lips.

"Like how it should be," Flint agrees, before traipsing off to finish untangling the lights he and Candice had been working on either.

Volkner's not exactly sure when he and Cynthia became friends. He suspects it was after one of the many visits he's paid to the League over the months now, struggling past the Elite Four before finally reaching the end.

"You should come visit me in Sunyshore," Volkner offered her once. Cynthia had raised her eyebrow and Volkner realized what he had said and how it had sounded.

"I mean," he stuttered, but Cynthia had just laughed and said maybe she'd come out with Flint sometime.

Still, despite her agreeing to come, Volkner's still surprised when she shows up at the lighthouse a few days before Christmas, smiling at the decorations.

"Candice wasn't lying when she told me this place looked great," Cynthia says with a smile, gesturing to the lights and the ornaments and the paper snowflakes and the toy train zipping around the room.

"Cynthia!" Flint exclaims, promptly dropping his box of tinsel and rushing at his friend. Volkner merely shakes his head, pushing the discarded tinsel into a pile before making his way over to the Champion as well. She pulls him into a tight hug and pats his cheek consolingly when she pulls away. "How about us two go grab some coffees and bring them back here."

"Hey!" Flint cries. He's trying to frown but it has no heat to it, judging from the way his lips turn up at the corners.

"I'll buy you a large one of those disgustingly fancy drinks you always get," Volkner offers, and Flint places a loud smacking kiss on his cheek before pushing him and Cynthia out the door again.

"So," Volkner says once he's wrapped his scarf around his neck again and pulled the hood up on his jacket. "What brings you to Sunyshore?"

Cynthia takes a while to answer, her eyes traversing the beach homes lining the streets near the water. "Just thought I'd pop by and visit," she says finally, but Volkner can already tell she's lying.

"As cool as I am, Cynthia, I don't really think that's the reason," he offers, trying for a joke.

Cynthia laughs a little and then glances at Volkner, tilting her head a little and letting her long, blonde hair blow over her shoulder. "Fine. Candice asked me to come talk to you."

Volkner reels a little at that. "iCandice/i called you?"

"I have friends in the League, Volkner," Cynthia says, sounding amused, "and you do too. She just wanted me to help … move you along, a little, I suppose. She knows that you spent a lot of time out at the League when you weren't feeling well."

A faint blush creeps up the back of Volkner's neck. He hadn't been aware that Candice had confided in Cynthia about his depression. Or maybe it was the other way around. Maybe Flint had talked to Cynthia also. Maybe everyone knew about his quarter-life crisis.

"I'm not - I'm a lot better now," Volkner decides on, the words tripping out of his mouth.

"I know that," Cynthia says, allowing Volkner to lead them into the coffee shop near his house. "And it's probably because you've been spending a lot of time with your friends this holiday season."

"Yeah, it's nice that people have stopped by, and Flint never leaves, of course, so there's that …"

Cynthia regards the menu in front of her closely and Volkner regards her in turn. He can sense that they're beating around the bush a bit, but as much as he'd like to know what's happening there's a tiny part of him that also doesn't want to find out.

They step up and order their drinks and Cynthia pays for Volkner, even though Volkner insists on paying for Flint's ridiculous triple-whip-mocha-candy-cane concoction thing.

"Don't worry about it," Cynthia says, dropping her wallet back into her handbag and stepping out of the way behind them. Volkner shuffles awkwardly after her, thanking Cynthia again before running a hand through his hair. He wants to know, but he doesn't want to ask.

Maybe it's a byproduct from spending so much time with Cynthia over the past few months, but she picks up on his unease right away. "Okay, fine," she mutters. "I didn't know how to lead into it anyway, so I'll just say it. Volkner, have you ever thought about you and Flint?"

"Um." Volkner takes a second to wonder if he's being asked a trick question. "Well, I mean, we're best friends and I've known him since we were, like, ten or whatever, so I guess I think about it sometimes, but also not really?"

Cynthia sighs. "No, I mean, not you and Flint but iYou and Flint/i."

There's a second where the words process in Volkner's brain and then the emphasis in Cynthia's tone hits him and he has to step back a little.

"What? No. I mean. I don't like him like that."

The lie tastes bitter on his tongue and Volkner watches as Cynthia rolls her eyes.

"I know when you're lying to me," she points out.

And the hardest thing about it is that it's not a lie. It's the truth and it makes Volkner so uncomfortable. Flint's been his best friend for fifteen years and and Volkner would never give that up, would never want to jeopardize that. The easiest thing to do had been to just ignore his feelings, push them away. And that had worked, for the most part. He'd dated Natasha for a long time and thought about other guys at night, but he'd never let himself think about Flint.

Until he'd shown up at Volkner's door inquiring about the Vista Lighthouse.

"Okay, fine, but that's not the point," Volkner admits, grudgingly shoving his hands into his pockets. "The point is is that he clearly doesn't like me back. Besides, he just broke up with Krista. I'm sure he's not looking for a relationship with ianyone/i at the moment, let alone me."

Cynthia sighs and accepts the coffees that the barista hands over to them across the bar. "Vee, did Flint ever itell/i you why he and Krista broke up?"

Volkner shakes his head and takes his coffee from the tray Cynthia's holding. "Something about the long distance and whatever. It just wasn't really working."

"He told me he was in love with someone else."

Volkner nearly walks into the door at Cynthia's remark, his coffee sloshing dangerously in it's cup.

"Someone," he repeats, pushing his way back out into the chill of the wind coming off the ocean. "But not me." He can't see Cynthia but he can tell she's rolling her eyes.

"You'd have to be blind to not notice the way he looks at you," she says, falling into step beside him. "He adores you, Volkner, and the feelings are clearly mutual."

"They're not," Volkner says, cutting Cynthia off abruptly. "I don't like Flint like that and he probably doesn't like me either."

"Volkner," Cynthia tries, but Volkner's sharp, "Don't," stops her from saying anything else.

Cynthia stays the rest of the day but there's an underlying tension that fills the room and it leaves Volkner feeling angry and confused at the same time. He wanted so desperately for what Cynthia had said to be true, but Volkner knows he can't put himself out there like that. Not until he knows for sure.

Flint picks up on the awkwardness as well and spends the day trying to make light of the situation. But after Cynthia's left and they're standing in the kitchen of Volkner's house Flint asks, "What's your problem today, man?" and Volkner can only grumble out a, "Nothing," and stalk up the stairs.

For some reason, the closer it gets to Christmas the more uptight Volkner gets about the whole situation. He skirts around Flint at home and works on decorating the opposite side of the lighthouse when they head out for the day.

Flint goes from being wary of Volkner's moodiness to being angry. Volkner sees it in the way his shoulders tense when they talk a little, in the way his eyes seem clouded and far away.

iHe can't love me,/i Volkner thinks, watching Flint edge away from him in the mornings.

But there will be evidence that proves Volkner wrong. Notes stuck on the fridge saying that Flint's picked up milk for them or that the DVR recorded that one reality show Volkner secretly likes. It confuses Volkner to the extent that he lies awake at night thinking about it.

He thinks about the comments Roark and Lucian had made, recalls the hushed conversation he had partially overheard between Flint and Candice, remembers what Cynthia told him. The idea of putting himself out on the line makes Volkner's heart thud painfully in his chest, but the thought that maybe Flint's already doing that makes Volkner breathe a little easier.

By the time the clock rolls over to midnight and Volkner realizes it's Christmas Eve, he's made up his mind.

Flint's making eggs when Volkner stumbles out of bed nine hours later.

"Well, good morning, sleepy head," Flint chuckles. He's got his back turned to Volkner and somehow that makes everything easier. The fact that Volkner doesn't have to look Flint in the eye when he says this means the rejection won't hurt as much.

"It has occurred to me that I've been, um, pretty obtuse lately," Volkner says, more stiffly than he had anticipated.

"Dude-"

"And that I've been missing a lot of your signals, which I don't do very often. And I'm sorry."

Flint turns around, his mouth hanging open in surprise. He takes a moment to compose himself before saying, "Bro, like, it's not really a big deal. I mean, it is, but it isn't, you know? You're still my best friend and that doesn't change at all, but, I mean, if it's not what you want it doesn't have to be."

Volkner shakes his head. "But I do want it," he says quietly into the space between them.

Time seems to stand still for a moment for Volkner. Flint seems frozen in place, his mouth open and his eyes wide, before time starts ticking again. Volkner has approximately two seconds to process what's happening before he has an armful of Flint, who hurls himself at Volkner with such enthusiasm that Volkner thinks they might collapse on the kitchen floor in a minute.

"You're such an idiot," Flint says into his ear, and Volkner shivers involuntarily.

"Yeah, I guess I am," he replies, quirking his mouth a little.

"But I'm an idiot too," Flint says, pulling back a little so that he can look at Volkner properly.

"Yeah, but I already knew that."

A faint blush creeps onto Flint's cheeks. "Well, okay. You already knew I was an idiot, but you'll probably still call me dumb for what I'm about to tell you." Flint must feel the way Volkner tenses in his arms because he laughs a little and soothes his hands down Volkner's back. "No, no, it's nothing bad. I just. I may have told the electrician to overload your circuits a little every few days and then I'd come in and we'd hang out and I'd win your heart over."

Volkner just gapes. It's such an extravagant plan and so like Flint that Volkner's a little surprised that he didn't see it himself. It's also incredibly sappy. "No one's ever done anything so … extensive to try and win my heart," Volkner finally manages to say, swallowing around the small lump lodged in his throat.

Flint grins wildly. "So my dashing plan worked?"

Volkner nods quickly, returning Flint's smile, and that's when Flint kisses him.

It's a bit like taking a breath of fresh air, and it doesn't take Volkner any time at all to return the kiss with feeling. He feels a little silly, standing in the middle of his kitchen with his pajamas on and Flint half clinging to him, but he also feels happier than he has in ages.

"Merry Christmas, you dork," Flint laughs when they pull apart to breath.

"Yeah, Merry Christmas to you too, Flint."