Author's Notes: Ever since June I've had this idea in my head... The reason why I haven't started to write it until now is because I felt I would be too rushed with it and wouldn't get a chance to finish it. Well, I'm going to take the chance, because I know I'll regret it if I don't.
I know a lot of people asked for a sequel, so I really, really hope you guys enjoy it. I know that this isn't going to be nearly as good as "Christmas is a Time...", but I'm hoping, when not compared, it will be a good story, too.
And I'm also sure that some of you are groaning right now. You're probably thinking "No, don't write another story! You'll ruin a good thing/The first one sucked to begin with!" If you're thinking something along those lines, then I'm truely sorry. XD Either suck it up and read the damn story, or get outta here. (I'll love you anyway)
But, anyway you slice it, there IS a sequel and it is being written whether you like it or not. If I get hiddeous feed back on this chapter then I won't write the other two (or possibly three). If you guys like it, I'll continue.
I'm sorry in advance if this sucks like nothing's ever sucked before (and not in the good yaoi way, either.
Try to enjoy it?

Christmas This Time...

"I saw Mommy kissing Santa Clause! Underneath the mistletoe last night! What a sight it would have been/ if Daddy had only seen/ Mommy kissing Santa Clause last ni--"

"What the HELL are you doing?!"

Shindou Shuichi jumped slightly in his seat on the couch. He whipped his head around to an angered blonde in the doorway.

"Oh, hi, Yuki." The singer laughed nervously. "I was just singing," he explained dumbly.

Uesugi Eiri rolled his eyes. "I'm aware of that." He rubbed the towel he had in his hands vigorously against his wet hair and padded bare feet towards the couch.

"Then why'd you ask what I was doing?" Shuichi queried, tilting his head to one side.

Eiri groaned. "Nevermind," he grumbled, flopping onto the couch.

The pink-haired man smiled. He enjoyed irking his lover sometimes - it proved to be highly amusing if done just the right way.

Shuichi looked down at the papers scattered all over his lap and the coffee table. Handwritten music notes stared back at him. These pop-rock arrangments of classic Christmas tunes were Bad Luck's intinerary for the N-G Christmas Concert.

With a nostalgic smile, Shuichi thought back to last year's concert. It was Bad Luck's first Christmas together and, not only that, but it was Shuichi and Eiri's first Christmas as well. Of course, as with anything the singer was involved in, mayhem had insued. Eiri had gone to spend Christmas with his family, leaving behind a bereft boyfriend that vomitted all over the small backstage bathroom five minutes before the performance. Stage-fright, loneliness, and the fact that the band had only arranged their one song four hours prior were the main reasons for said vomiting episode.

Though, as it always did, everything had turned out all right in the end. Bad Luck had performed their song flawlessly (except for when Shuichi had almost broke down crying on stage), and Eiri had returned. The two reunited lovers had spent their Christmas Eve together like originally planned. Gifts had been exchanged, as with a vow of love and the proposition of an engagement.

And now, as Shuichi's eyes roved over the new songs before him, the purple irises stopped on the ring around his finger. The shimmering pink-sapphire blinked back at him. That Christmas had been the best day of his life. Not only had Eiri finally told the boy that he loved Shuichi, but Eiri proposed as well. Nothing could have made Shuichi happier that day.

However, that happiness had begun to fade, the singer realized. After all, it had been a whole year since that day, and nothing had changed since then. Shuichi still sat on the same abused leather couch, looking at Christmas songs, preparing for the concert only two days away... and he was still a Shindou, not an Uesugi.

"Hey, Yuki..."

"Mrr?" the novelist mumbled around his newly-lit cigarette.

"It's been a year," Shuichi stated, tearing his eyes away from the ring. He glanced at his lover.

"Since," Eiri dropped the towel into his pajama-clad lap, "Christmas...?" he finished unsurely.

The younger man frowned. "Yes. And what did you give me on Christmas?" he prodded, as if speaking to a child.

"A ring," the blonde answered blankly. He wasn't sure where this was going, but it was probably going to take a while. He took a long drag from his cigarette.

Shuichi resisted the urge to growl. "What kind of a ring, Yuki?"

"A pink one." Eiri frowned. "It's on your damn finger, for chrissake!!"

The lyricist stood suddenly, papers flying off his lap. "I know that!" he cried. "My God, you're so dense sometimes!"

A slow, steady smirk spread over Eiri's lips. "Now you know how I feel about you sometimes."

Shuichi's angered expression immediately dropped. He blinked. "Is that true?" he whined.

The older man sighed. He didn't want to go down that path now, it was late and he was tired.

"Was there a point to his conversation?" he asked between puffing on his cigarette.

"Yes!" Shuichi exclaimed suddenly, as though he had forgotten if there really was a point. "Dammit, Yuki! You gave me this ring a year ago! You said it would be an engagement ring! Well, it's been a whole year, and we're still not married!" Shuichi shook his head back and forth wildly. "When the hell am I going to become your loving and devoted wife?!"

Ash from Eiri's neglected cigarette fell onto his lap. His eye ticked. "Wife...?" he repeated lowly, face blank.

The pink-coiffed man sighed and slowly sunk to his knees in front of his "fiancee". He was exhausted and was positive he looked worse than he felt.

"You..." Shuichi began softly, "you haven't even told your father yet..." He hung his head sadly, staring at Eiri's feet.

Eiri pulled his wasted cigarette out of his mouth and crushed it against the back of his hand. He flung the scrunched butt to land on the coffee table. Shuichi didn't notice that Eiri was trying to ignore him.

"I told my parents," the vocalist continued. "And, at this rate, Maiko is going to sell the information to the papparazzi." Shuichi's head swung up suddenly, eyes desperate. "Is that how you want your father to find out?! By picking up the news paper one morning and seeing our faces on the cover with the headline 'Engaged?!'"

The novelist didn't speak. He let out a slow breath through his nose, his gaze fixed on the wall. Shuichi only watched for a moment, praying for a reaction. When he didn't get one, however, the singer continued:

"You know, Yuki..." His usually loud voice was almost inaudible now. "Some mornings... I wake up and... I wonder if--"

Eiri's ears perked, waiting to hear the end of Shuichi's sentence that never came. He slowly, hesitantly, swung his golden eyes to his lover. Shuichi was looking away.

"Nevermind," he stated firmly after a moment. He stood suddenly and turned to leave the room. "Forget I brought it up."

The golden-haired man blinked. Shuichi rarely gave up that easily.

"Hey," Eiri called, standing as well. "Wait a second"

Shuichi paused mid-step. "Don't worry about it, Yuki. It's late; let's just go to bed."

With that, Shuichi trudged out of the living room and Eiri didn't make to stop him again.

Eiri swung open the bedroom door a few minutes later. Shuichi had his bare back facing the novelist. The younger man was partially bent over as he finished pulling up his pajama bottoms.

"Hey," the blonde started lamely. He stepped toward his lover and kissed Shuichi on the back of his neck. The latter tensed slightly. "Listen--"

"Don't," the singer interrupted. He turned to Eiri then, his face a mixture of amusement and exhaustion. "I said forget it, didn't I? I was just being selfish."

Eiri cocked an eyebrow in thought. "Well, it's true you are selfish..." Something in Shuichi's eye ticked. "But, in this instance, it's pretty much my fault."

The vocalist beamed. He loved getting Eiri to admit he was in the wrong; it was a rare occassion.

"Look," the older man continued, "it's late. How about we get a good night's rest and talk about this in the morning, when I have more energy and aren't as cranky?"

Shuichi smiled widely. "You're always cranky."

Eiri scowled. "Fine," he spat, stepping away. He sat on the bed, glaring at his fiancee. "So then I won't consider telling my father then, if I'm so damn cranky and such a horrible human being to live with."

"Now, now," Shuichi chided, his smile still curving his lips. He stradled Eiri's lap seductively. "I never said you were a horrible human being to live with." The lyricist pushed his paramour back to lay on the bed. "In fact, you're quite fun to live with - even when you're cranky."

The blonde didn't look convinced. "I'm not fun," he responded blankly.

Shuichi laughed shortly. "Sometimes you are. Not in the fun 'ha ha' way, though."

Eiri furrowed his brow. "Then in what way am I fun?"

The younger man smirked. "More like in the 'ah, God yes!' way," he drawled, making sure to fully act out his little moan to further prove his statement.

The lion-eyed man exhaled through his nose in amusment. "Want to demonstrate that again?" he queried lowly, a dangerous look in his eyes.

Shuichi winked. "Only if you promise we'll talk in the morning."

Eiri pulled his lover down for a long, hard kiss.

"Agreed."

Eiri stretched his arms lazily above his head. He titled side to side, enjoying the little cracking sounds his bones made. He slowly relaxed, a little sleepy smile on his face. Picking up his fresh cup of coffee, the novelist padded barefoot out of the kitchen.

Eiri made his way down the hallway, stopping at his office. He paused in the doorway for a moment, wondering if the man occupying the room would notice his presence.

Shuichi sat, facing his back against the doorframe, at his keyboard. The self-proclaimed synthesizer was perched against the wall farthest from Eiri's desk. The blonde was sure, when picking the large hunk of plastic out for Shuichi's birthday, to get one with really good headphones.

As such, Shuichi never noticed that Eiri had stepped into the room. Whatever little jingle was playing on the keyboard was stifling the singer's hearing through the headphones.

The novelist took a seat on the bench, careful not to spill his coffee. He leaned his back against the instrument and sipped thoughtfully.

Shuichi turned to his companion and smiled warmly. "Good morning," he chirped. He cocked his head to the Eiri's elbow resting on the keys. "You're in my way, and that's making quite the ugly sound in my ears."

Eiri frowned and pulled his arm back. He sat up straight and took another drink. "I thought you said you wanted to talk," the blonde grumbled tiredly.

Shuichi arched and eyebrow and pointed to the headphones over his ears. Apparently he couldn't hear what Eiri had said, but had no problem with speaking himself.

The writer rolled his eyes, something he made into quite the habit recently, and pulled the nearest earpiece off his lover's head.

"I thought you wanted to talk," he repeated, snapping back the headphone.

Shuichi winced. "That hurt," he whined.

He reached up and pulled the headphones down to rest around his neck. "I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause" came through softly.

"I do want to talk," the younger man continued. "But I need to practice, too. The concert's tomorrow night."

Eiri eyed Shuichi curiously. "I thought it was on Christmas Eve - that's not tomorrow, it's the day after."

The singer blinked. "I didn't tell you? It's on... the eve of Christmas Eve." He laughed.

Eiri sighed. "You mean the day before?" he grumbled.

Shuichi nodded. "Yep." He explained, knowing that Eiri probably wouldn't even bother to ask why. "Since it's Seguchi-san and Mika-san's first Christmas with their baby, I'm guessing they wanted to spend all of Christmas day and Christmas Eve together."

The novelist smirked. "Nee-san probably threatened Tohma."

Shuichi raised an eyebrow. "You seem oddly happy about that."

Eiri drank from his mug. "I am," he stated simply between sips, still grinning evilly. He paused for a moment in thought. "Is the line up just you three bands again?"

Shuichi shook his head enthusiastically. "It's Bad Luck, Nittle Grasper, ASK, and..." he beamed, "N-G's new all-girl band, Plastic Chainsaw!"

Eiri swallowed down his coffee hard. "'Plastic Chainsaw'?" he repeated, not quite sure he heard right.

"Yep!" The singer laughed. "I think it's a cool name! Anyway, they just signed up with N-G a litte under a month ago, so nobody's really heard of them too much yet. Singing at the Christmas concert will be their big debut."

The blonde groaned. "Last year each band sang three songs... Please don't tell me there's going to be four bands each singing three. That'll take way to long - I'll kill myself."

"There, there." Shuichi patted Eiri's knee. "Nittle Grasper, Bad Luck, and ASK each have one song, and then a duet. Plastic Chainsaw is only doing a duet, since they were signed onto the line-up only a week ago."

Eiri counted on his fingers. "Which means... the concert will actually be shorter this year than last."

The younger man smiled. "Bingo. Now," he shoved at his lover's shoulder, "let me practice."

The novelist stood compliantly and downed the rest of his coffee.

Shuichi placed his headphones back on his ears. The song had stopped a long time ago. Just as he leaned forward to start the recorded background music again, he felt Eiri's hands on his shoulders.

The pink-haired man smiled as his fiancee leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. His heart always sped up when Eiri did sweet things like that.

Shuichi reached back to take Eiri's hands and yanked them quickly. The older man found himself half-bent to accomodate wrapping his arms around his sitting lover.

"Love you," Shuichi informed Eiri. He craned his neck back and pressed his lips on Eiri's cheek.

The blonde rested his head on Shuichi's shoulder and smiled warmly, knowing that the boy couldn't see it. He put his lips against the headphones that deafened his lover earlier.

"I love you, too," he whispered, nearly inaudibly.

Ever since that last Christmas, Eiri would occasionally tell the singer where his feelings lay, but he would always make sure Shuichi couldn't hear it. Eiri would decree little oaths to stay with him forever when Shuichi was sleeping. Or, he would profess his undying love whenever Shuichi was in the next room blowdrying his hair.

The little ritual had started when he stood just outside Bad Luck's dressing room backstage of the Christmas concert last year. Shuichi had run off to perform his next song, envigorated and pleased beyond belief that his lover had come home to him. The younger man had called out to Eiri, telling him that he loved him. Eiri had responded then with a simple "And I love you", but it was drowned out by the crowd. Ever since that day Eiri would confess his feelings regularly, but only when he couldn't be heard.

Shuichi had only heard Eiri say it once: the second time the words ever passed the novelist's lips, on Christmas day. After that, the singer had never gotten to hear those three little words again.

Until just now.

Shuichi smiled to himself proudly as Eiri strutted out of the room. Unbeknownst to the writer, Shuichi's headphones were playing nothing and Eiri's nearly silent decree was heard as plain as day.

Eiri let out a strangled cry as he was suddenly jostled from his light doze. His eyes flew open and he tensed up from something heavy crashing right on his lap.

The blonde blinked at a pair of big, purple eyes only a few inches from his own. He swallowed hard and resisted the urge to throttle the man on his lap.

"That was quite the way to wake me, you bastard," he grumbled menacingly.

Shuichi leaned back so that he was a normal distance from his moody lover. "It worked, didn't it?" He laughed shortly. "C'mon, you said we'd talk."

Eiri sighed in exasperation and sunk back into the couch. "Yeah, yeah - we'll talk." He ran a hand through his disheveled hair. "I was thinking about what you said last night... and I decided that I'm not really ready to tell my father yet."

Shuichi frowed. He had been expecting that, he really had, but it was quite different when it was actually said.

"But," Eiri continued, "I have considered warming him up a bit, if that's possible." He slid honey-eyes to the nearest wall. He was scowling terrifically. "If you don't mind... I figured we could... spendChristmaswithhim."

Shuichi blinked. "What'd you just say?" he asked, leaning closer.

The novelist sunk lower in the couch. "WecouldgospendChristmaswithhim," he repeated, even softer and more garbled than last time.

The singer's eyes narrowed. "One more time," he demanded, sure that he was hearing his lover's deformed statement improperly.

"God dammit!" Eiri growled. He swung his head to Shuichi. "I said we'd spend Christmas with him, for God's sake! Do you need me to spell it out?!"

Slowly, little inch by little inch, Shuichi's face lit up. By the time Eiri's words had fully sunk in, the lyricist was beaming, his eyes glowing and his mouth spread in a wonderful smile.

"Yuki!!" He threw his arms around his fiancee, laughing merrily. "Oh, Yuki! I love you!" He kissed all over Eiri's face, throat, and jaw. "I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you!!"

Eiri tried desperately to pry the boy away. "If you love me so much, let me go!"

After a few more showered kisses, Shuichi pulled away, still laughing. "Thank you, Yuki!!" he continued.

The writer pushed the boy off of his lap and onto the couch. He stood and trudged towards their bedroom. "Okay, I get it, you're happy. Shut up about it already," he moaned.

Shuichi shut his mouth, but he continued smiling from ear to ear. He knew that Eiri was so grumpy about it because A.) he most likely really didn't want to see his father, and B.) whenever he did something nice for Shuichi, he tried to brush it off with an annoyed facade. However, after their last Christmas together, Shuichi had learned to see through Eiri's masks of contempt.

The blonde came back into the living room, sporting a freshly lit cigarette. He puffed in receeding annoyance and sat back on the couch.

After a sufficient amount of silence, the younger man started again. "Thank you," he continued, voice at a much more calm level. "Really, Yuki, thank you. I know you don't want to go. This really means a lot to me."

Eiri mumbled a "whatever" around the cancer stick. "I'm sure the happily deranged Seguchi family is spending Christmas here, so it's only going to be my old man and Tatsuha. That poor kid is probably going to be driven mad." He took a long drag. "I'd feel bad leaving him there by himself and everything."

Shuichi smiled warmly and snuggled his head on his paramour's shoulder. "You're really soft."

Eiri raised an eyebrow. "My shoulder's are all bony," he replied quizzically.

The other man giggled. He tapped a finger just over Eiri's heart. "I mean here."

The writer blushed. He thanked heaven that Shuichi's eyes were closed.

"Shut up," he mumbled after a moment. He silently hoped that Shuichi couldn't feel his pounding heart.

The two stayed that way for a long while. The vocalist's eyes fluttered open hesistantly. He kissed Eiri's shoulder and stared off at the wall. He frowned slowly at the large empty space where the Christmas tree had been last year.

"I guess this means we're not getting a tree," he stated, crestfallen.

Eiri sighed, catching the dissapointment in his lover's voice. He knew after last year's escapade how much the stupid greenery meant to the boy.

"A small one."

Shuichi looked up at the blonde. "Huh?"

"We can get a small one." Golden eyes narrowed. "Four feet - no more."

Shuichi hopped up immediately. "We better go now, then!" he cried. "I'll go get my coat."

The author watched in amusement as his fiancee ran off. He took one last drag of his cigarette and then put it out. Eiri began to stand to get his own coat when Shuichi came running back in.

The boy clutched his jacket frantically, eyes wide.

"We need to get your father a present."

Eiri fell back down on the couch with a groan.

"Fuck."

Author's Notes: Please, good God, I BEG of you - do NOT mention any spelling errors and/or grammatical errors to me as a fault. Feel free to mention them so that I can find them and fix them but do not say something like "The story was okay, but your grammar was horrible" or "I like that you wrote a sequel, but could you learn to spell?" If you say things like this, I will get VERY annoyed.
My MS Word has decided it shall no longer function. Long story short: I wound up using a version that had been registered too many times (it was a friend's CD of it after I wiped my hard drive - apparently I lost my system restore disk). As such, I can no longer use MS Word. Which means that this chapter was written in NOTEPAD.
So, if there ARE spelling and/or grammatical errors, I apologize. There were no green or red squiggly lines to guide my way and I do not have a beta for a single one of my stories. Feel free to point errors out for me to fix, but that is all. Otherwise I'll get irked. I don't like being irked.
On a lighter and much less homocidal note:
I hope you all enjoyed this. The next chapter will consist of the concert, trying to solve the dilema of Papa Uesugi's gift, and arriving in Kyoto. Chapter three will be the mayhem that ensues at Kyoto. If necessary, there will be a chapter 4 if not everything can fit in three. However, I hope this does not happen. I have myself on a strict "okay, I need to update on Monday night the LATEST, and then I HAVE to get chapter three done by Thursday night, otherwise I'm screwed" schedule.
If you couldn't tell already, I'm currently kind of naturally annoyed at everything in particular and very stressed out. Please, don't hold this bitch fest against me at a later date.

Love, peace, and chicken grease.