Bonus Chapter

Sleep was out of the question that night and Eddie couldn't help but rolling his eyes once again when another Christmas carol could be heard inside his head. The dark voice of his symbiote gave the song an eerie touch and he couldn't resist the small grin that crept onto his face at this thought.

What had he just done, by showing Venom the meaning of Christmas and all the habits people tried to cultivate during that time?

And apparently the symbiote seemed to like the Christmas music they had heard at the Christmas market, for he couldn't stop singing it anymore.

But on the other hand, he was also glad to have shown all of this to him, because since that evening, Venom seemed to love this planet a little bit more.

But still...Eddie couldn't hear any Christmas songs anymore; especially not after what felt like listening to "Silent Night" for the hundredth time...

"You're like a tinnitus, you know that? Only with Christmas music..." he teased the alien, as he manifested before him in a smaller version of his humanoid form. He cocked his head questioningly, as he looked at Eddie, who was making himself comfortable on the spacious hotel bed. He had leaned his pillow against the head of the bed and was adjusting it for a cozy evening in front of the TV, because he didn't want to go to bed yet. And Venom didn't look like he was going to fall asleep either...if he ever did that...

"What is a tinnitus?" the curious Klyntar asked, as he climbed onto Eddie's stomach and gave him another questioning look as his host chuckled and ignored the question. Instead of a verbal answer, he simply reached his hand out to him and stroked his back gently, causing Venom to almost melt into the touch (literally). The grin on Eddie's face became so wide that it almost split his face in half. Yes, by now he knew what buttons he had to press to silence his symbiote, for all that broke the silence in the small room was Venom's soft, comforting hum, which sounded almost like a purr as he leaned into the touch.

"You like that, don't you?"

Venom just nodded and closed his eyes in delight, as Eddie scratched him under his chin, which he gladly held out to him. His tongue was already hanging out to one side out of his mouth and his purring echoed all over the room and Eddie couldn't stop grinning anymore.

"Look at yourself, V. What happened to the big, scary, man-eating alien, huh? You little cuddle monster, you..."

"Shut up, Eddie..." he heard the dark voice in his head, making him laugh.

As the journalist pulled his hand away from him after a few minutes, a low growl came from the symbiote's throat and he sat on Eddie's chest and looked at him expectantly.

"Don't give me that look. My hand hurts."

And it almost looked like as if Venom would be sulking upon hearing this.

"Now don't look at me like that. That was only part one."

He cocked his head questioningly.

"Part One? Of what?"

"Part one of your Christmas gift, you dork."

Venom didn't understand anything anymore. Eddie had a gift for him? But it was not Christmas yet...

As if he could read his mind, Eddie smirked and stroked his back again.

"You can give someone his gift before Christmas, you know?" he grinned, before he pulled his hand away again and then leaned over the edge of the bed to get something out of his bag, which he had just bought at the Christmas market. It was a miracle that Venom hadn't had noticed anything, but he had been so fascinated by the lights, the music and the colorfully dressed people that he hadn't noticed anything of his surroundings for a short time and so Eddie had gotten the chance to buy this for him. He had bought a large box filled with Christmas candy, which he now put onto the bed and pushed it into his direction, since the Klyntar had slipped from his chest and now sat on the edge of the bed and looked at him curiously.

"I hope you like them. They all have different flavors. All with Christmas spices. You haven't had them before and I thought you might like them. I know how much you love chocolate."

The symbiote didn't say a word, just staring stunned at the box of chocolate candy and then at Eddie and then back to the box again and Eddie thought he had said something wrong, as he couldn't quite interpret the look in his friend's white eyes. But when Venom turned back to him and grinned at him, he sighed in relief. His eyes widened as Venom jumped at him and only seconds later Eddie lay on the bed, laughing and throwing his head from side to side to escape the tongue that licked over his face in gratitude.

"Nobody has ever done anything so beautiful for me, Eddie! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you... ", it sounded in his head.

"Alright, alright! I got it! You are welcome, V and now stop it! You're tickling me!" the human laughed, as he finally managed to grab the symbiote and push him away from him. He held him at arm's length and Venom grinned at him so wide that Eddie could only roll his eyes.

"If you promise me not to slobber all over me again I'll let you down, okay?"

A nod was the answer he got.

"Good," he said before releasing Venom, who immediately jumped to the box full of chocolate and pressed it to his chest.

"Don't you want to try them?"

"Not yet. Later... " the symbiote purred, still holding the box as if his life depended on it.

"Well, looks like I hit the bullseye, eh?" Eddie grinned and he rolled his eyes playfully again, as Venom looked at him questioningly.

"It's just a saying, man," he smirked as he made himself comfortable again and reached for the remote and turned on the TV. He just managed to turn on the Christmas movie he was about to watch, as he already felt the small claws pulling on his pant leg and as he turned his head in that direction, Venom looked at him with slight grief in his eyes.

"What is wrong, V?"

"I have nothing for you, Eddie," he muttered, hanging his head.

Aha. So that was the problem...

He grabbed Venom under his arms and put him back onto his stomach and began to scratch him under his chin again.

"You know, V. You don't have to give me anything. You already saved my life when we fought Riot. You've made sure that Anne and I are still good friends. You always take care of me and you make sure that I'm not alone anymore. If these are not nice gifts, then I don't know what it is."

He heard the Klyntar laugh softly and he pulled away from his grip and licked his cheek again, which, in turn made Eddie laugh.

"We like to do that."

"I know, buddy. And you know what? Christmas is not about the gifts in the first place. "

"No?"

"No. Christmas is about something else. It's about cohesion, love, friendship; just be there for each other. And you do that all the time. You don't need gifts for that."

"But you also gave me something, Eddie."

"Yes, because I wanted to and because it's a little thank you to you and what you did for me. You are my friend after all. Just accept it without thinking so much about it."

"That's not easy, you know? Nobody on my planet has ever been so nice to me..."

A shadow of melancholy settled over Venom's face and he turned his back on Eddie, not wanting him to see how much the memories of his home planet hurt him. Above all, the memory of the others of his kind and how they mocked him and how they called him a loser still gnawed at him. Sometimes he thought he could still hear their dark voices in his head and how they called him a loser, a weakling, an abomination...

He was roughly torn from his thoughts, as an arm wrapped around his stomach and Eddie lifted him up and a little later he found himself lying in his arms and looked questioningly up at the man who gave him such a gentle smile that his mood instantly lightened up a bit.

"Don't think about what was. Think about what's to come. The past is past. What really matters is the future and the here and now. Especially the here and now and do you know why?"

Venom shook his head and Eddie grinned.

"Because we'll make ourselves comfortable now and watch a nice, cheesy Christmas movie, which will immediately bring you back to other thoughts. And the movie fits perfectly, because it will show you the true meaning of Christmas. Have you ever heard of the Grinch?"

"No."

"Perfect!"

Eddie made himself comfortable again, leaned his back against his pillow, set Venom down on his stomach, and laid the blanket over them both.

"You will like the movie..."

Ohhh, and how he liked it!

He followed the movie with great interest, gradually starting to understand the true meaning of this Christmas and why people behaved so differently at this time of the year. They were more relaxed, happier, more warm-hearted, and Venom liked that. A lot. He had never seen anything so beautiful and gradually he noticed how the dark memories of his past disappeared and were replaced by something new; something much nicer...

For a while, the two silently watched the movie and Venom's mood continued to brighten and it wasn't long before he pulled the box of chocolate candy to himself, opened them and took out a praline. He chewed on it slowly, enjoying the taste of the chocolate and cinnamon, which melted on his tongue and released a core of liquid caramel.

He grabbed one more and held it out to Eddie.

"It's alright, V. They're all for you."

"There are always two of the same flavor in the box. Please, Eddie..."

"Okay, okay...but only one."

Venom's grin showed him that it wouldn't stay by just one praline and with another playful eye roll he accepted his "fate".

What a pre-Christmas party…

He could barely wait to tell Anne if he saw her next week.

And when he saw how Venom was grinning up at him, he knew that the symbiote was looking forward to that day as well.

That would be indeed a very special Christmas for all of them, especially for Venom, since this would be his very first Christmas ever…

The end

And merry Christmas to all of you :)