A/N: Happy!Justin (yes, it's possible)
Chapter 37: The perfect night : O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
Christmas's Eve, Pittsburg
The moments of happiness we enjoy take us by surprise. It is not that we seize them, but that they seize us.
Ashley Montagu
That night, the couple went out. Christmas Eve dinner had gotten cancelled at the Taylor's as Molly and Justin were not in the mood to celebrate. Mel and Lindz had decided to celebrate their first holidays back in Canada with some new friends and Michael had invited his mother and Carl at his house. He did offer them to join in, but Brian and Justin would have felt too much like intruders. Even Ted was out of town, having brought Blake along in order to finally introduce his lover to his mother. He had been extremely stressed out at the idea to introduce for the first time ever a man to his mum. As for Emmett, he was working. The holidays were a busy period for catering and party planning.
It didn't matter to the men though. The next day they were expected at Debbie's house and Jennifer was also supposed to meet up with them there. Justin wasn't sure she would be able to make it as Molly, who was usually sharing her time between her two parents, was having a lot of trouble adjusting.
They went to a nice restaurant and were surprised to find it almost full. Apparently not everyone was having a Christmas Eve dinner at home. They loved the food and appropriately enjoyed the wine as well. They chatted and teased each other frequently. It was almost a regular night for both of them. They wouldn't even have remembered it was Christmas' Eve if it wasn't for the decorations on the table and the walls.
When they left the restaurant, they decided to enjoy the surprisingly not so freezing weather and walked along the river. For a while, their gloved fingers were intertwined –an instant that Justin cherished as it was not something Brian would do often- and for a moment they both appreciated how quiet the town was, how peaceful that night felt, how lucky they were to have time just for themselves, without the usual craziness going with holidays. When Brian stopped at the rail, looking at the moon reflecting in the river, Justin settled under his lover's armpit and was grateful he had decided to come home, and when finally Brian looked back at him and lowered his head, Justin's mind went blank. He did not worry about the people passing by that could make their discomfort known at seeing two men kiss in that part of town; he was not anxious about how he was going to pay the next month's rent or about how he was going to paint. He also didn't think about how he was going to convince his sister to agree to spend time with him or how long he would have to wait until he and Brian could finally be living in the same town again. He also forgot to worry about his grief, if only for a few minutes, and simply admitted that, right at this moment, he was happy.