"Erik !" Charles whined from the living room.
"I'm coming," Erik replied. The milk was gently bubbling in the pan. He poured it in a cup, on top of a full spoon of cocoa, and threw two cubes of sugar for good measure. He stirred the hot liquid for a few seconds, before he walked to his lover.
"Here it is," he said, holding out the cup to Charles. Charles who, with a puffy red runny nose and watery eyes, still looked like an angel to a smitten Erik. Snuggled in a large blanket in front of the fireplace, the man freed his right hand to take the cup.
"Tha'g you, darli'g."
Erik smiled. "No problem." That wasn't how he had envisioned their holidays, but at least they were together. The cabin he had rented in the mountain was comfortably warm, in spite of the snow piling up to the roof in some places. Every morning, Erik shovelled up the snow in front of the door. And every morning, he used the snow to build a different snowman that Charles could see through the window, from the sofa he was spending his days on.
Erik bent over and kissed Charles's lips, dry from the fever.
"Be careful, you do't wa't to catch by cold !"
Not the holidays Erik had imagined, but perfect holidays nonetheless.