By Star
Fulton's POVWe walk slowly home from midnight Mass. While Portman's parents aren't entirely religious, they believe very strongly that the meaning of Christmas should be completely forgotten.
His parents are walking some distance in front of us. Every so often his Mom turns around and grins at us, and his Dad will tug at her arm and say, "Leave them alone, Carol."
Yet again Mrs P called my mother, I didn't ask her what was said, she'd obviously tell me if they had rethought their decision about me. She's been extra nice to me (if it's possible), since the call, so I know for certain there was just more name calling.
I just hope it gets resolved somehow. I'm still a minor, which means I need parents, and while Mr and Mrs P are great, they're not mine, and can't be expected to put up with me for every single school holiday for the next two years.
Portman squeezes my hand and brings me out of my sobering thoughts. I realise we're outside of his house, and his parents are shuffling in.
Mrs P gives us another grin and tells us to behave, before Mr P drags her inside.
Portman grins at me. "I think my Mom is a gay man trapped in a woman's body."
I laugh, it sounds about right. I look around, "Aren't we going inside?"
He shakes his head. "No, I'm going to give you your Christmas present, it can't wait until the morning."
"It comes with a time limit?" I joke nervously. I'm really worried about this. There's no way what I'm going to give him will measure up. I don't have a lot of money, and I had even less inspiration.
Strangely Maya gave me the idea, then she and Taz kidnapped Portman for several days so I could work on his present. He couldn't get within ten feet of our front door without the two of them grabbing him and dragging him off somewhere.
He got quite tired of it, and finally picked them both up, one under each arm, and deposited them outside of the guys dorms with the words "Just stay out!"
He puts his arms around me, and I realise I was spacing out again.
"Look up." He instructs softly.
I comply and stare at the sky. "What am I looking for?"
"Pick a star."
I look back down at him and he smiles. I look up again and chose one. "Ok." I point to it, "I like that one."
"It's yours."
I'm speechless. I don't have a single thing in my head to say, I'm stunned.
"Well," he grins. "It's probably not, there's a chart inside that tells you which one is yours, but I couldn't figure it out."
"You bought me a star?" I ask in amazement.
He nods. "Maybe Mr and Mrs Reed don't think that Fulton Reed exists, but I know he does, and now he always will."
I feel the tears start to run down my face. I can't believe he's done this for me.
He looks alarmed. "I didn't mean to bring them up, I didn't want to upset you on Christmas day."
I wipe my eyes. "I'm not crying because of them." I tell him. I am the biggest softie on the planet, I've barely stopped crying for the past month or so. "I just can't believe you got me a star… Thank you seems like such a useless reply."
He kisses me softly, and when we break apart I know what would be a better reply. It's been going round in my brain for a few weeks now, and I've been looking for a time to say it.
"Loveyou." I whisper. I shake my head. I know I can do better than that. I take his face in my hands, and look into his eyes. "I love you." I tell him.
A huge smile crosses his face. "I love you too." He replies.
My grin is threatening to split my face. He loves me. "I've got your gift inside." I say. "It won't measure up to…" I nod at the sky. How can I top that?
He shrugs indifferently. "I didn't get you a star because I wanted something in return, I got you a star because…" he grins, "I love you."
He takes my hand and leads me inside. I sit down in front of the Christmas tree and I try to find his present in the pile of gifts. I notice several with my name on them from Mr and Mrs P and I'm touched.
Portman turns on the fairy lights and turns out the main light. I grin at him.
"I can't help it." He says. "I get all sappy around Christmas."
"I don't mind. It hides my lousy attempts at wrapping this." And hopefully how this gift pales in comparison to what he got me.
He sits down next to me and I hand him his present. I put my head on his shoulder as he carefully opens it. Portman's always like that with presents. You'd think he'd be the type to rip off the paper, but he never does. He considers it a failure if it comes off in more than one piece.
He smiles at me and opens the scrap book.
I worked hard on it. I went to the rest of the Queertet, Bombay, Charlie's Mom, even Mrs P for photos for it. I got Taz to do some sketches when I couldn't find the photo I really wanted. There's news clipping, and underneath I've written what I was feeling at the time. It's a catalogue of us meeting, and all the things that have happened since.
"I know it's not a lot, but –"
He presses his finger to my lips, cutting me off. "If you apologise for this I will break up with you. This is amazing."
We go through it slowly, pointing to various photos and laughing about them.
And despite everything, I think this is the best Christmas I've ever had.