Disclaimer: I do not own Saw or either of these guys. But I manipulate them as I please.
Author Note: Thanks for the reviews everyone! And I just want to wish all of you and your families a very happy and safe holiday season! I had to let these guys celebrate it too, in their own chainshipping kind of way. This is my interpretation of Lawrence and Adam's first Christmas together.
First Christmas….
Adam had never been a Christmas person. He remembered, very well, the Christmas when he was five years old and his mom's newest prospect had come towering through the front door with a beer in one hand and the top of a huge evergreen in the other. He'd gotten it in the most illegal way, of course, and leaned the thing clumsily in the corner of their living room. Adam's mom had been ecstatic and went so far as to pretend that they were a family for an entire two days before she took a few slaps from the guy and Adam had sunken his new baby teeth into the mans ankle to stop him.
Christmas that year had involved a police station and a couple of decent cops who gave him hot cocoa and a Twinkie for Christmas dinner while his mom filed the petition for the restraining order.
That being said, when Lawrence had brought down the box of Christmas decorations from the attic Adam was less than excited. It wasn't that he didn't want to celebrate the holiday with his new boyfriend. The problem was that he wasn't exactly sure how to do it.
"So is this what normal people do on Christmas?" Adam pulled the string of tangled lights from the box in a big mess. He sat cross-legged in the middle of the living room floor and looked up at Lawrence – who was currently putting together the artificial tree. Lawrence laughed and looked down at the younger man with the warmth that always made Adam's heart beat faster.
"I guess. It's what I grew up doing. But that doesn't make it any more normal than what anyone else does." He took a step back and looked at the completed tree. It stood slightly crooked and he cocked his head to examine the defect. Adam watched him with wide admiring eyes and chastised himself when he realized what he was doing. He mentally berated himself for acting like such a girl.
"Definitely gotta be more normal than having Christmas dinner with the cops…" Adam muttered under his breath and Lawrence's laugh made him smile despite the fact that there was a seriousness behind his sarcasm.
Adam continued to untangle the knots in the lights – quietly thankful for the distraction. There had been some Christmas's that weren't so bad. There was the year when he was ten and his mom had, for once, decided to spend the holiday with only him. She had made him those sugar cookies with red and green sprinkles on top and he couldn't remember cookies ever tasting so wonderful. She'd even given him a gift that year – his first camera. It was a cheap black 35mm film camera with a red strap on the side. It was his prized possession.
"Adam?" Lawrence's voice crept into his vision and he focused his eyes to see the man he loved staring right at him. He was crouched in front of him with a mixture of concern and amusement on his face.
"Uh, you know you'd better be compensating me for all this work I'm doing here." He held the bundle of tangled lights in the air and raised his eyebrows. "Seriously, man? They make prisoners do this kind of stuff as punishment for shiving their cellmate."
"Shiving?" Lawrence planted himself on the floor in front of Adam and smiled in that amused way he always did when Adam was around. "That a verb now?" Adam shook his head as Lawrence picked up one half of the mess and began to untangle from the other side.
"Since when are you the smart ass in this relationship?" He said with a smirk. He'd never realized what a fun guy Lawrence could be. Though, most people when chained to pipes aren't exactly the life of the party so he figured his and Lawrence's first impressions shouldn't really be counted anyway.
"What can I say? You're rubbing off on me." Adam looked up and met Lawrence's light blue eyes with his own darker ones. Their connection was as strong as it had been the day they were rescued from the bathroom. Even in their worst moments it never waivered. Adam was the first to break eye contact and he looked back down at the lights in his hands. "So, what would you like to do this Christmas? Any traditions that you usually follow?"
It was the question he always hated. Tradition. What was tradition, really? In his family tradition might be counted as the semi-annual bailing mom out of jail party or Uncle Pete's parole hearing. This entire conversation was foreign to him and he searched, nervously, for an appropriate reply.
"Uh….lets see. Well there's the drug dealing – festive because mom always wears her santa hat. Then of course the annual sale at the liquor store where we buy booze with the money we got panhandling. I give the best sad puppy eyes so I always get the most cash." He waited, expecting Lawrence to laugh. There was no sound though. He looked up to see the other man looking at him with a curious expression. Great, now he was going to get all serious again.
The moments in-between seemed to last years and Adam became more and more anxious as he fidgeted with a broken light. He always knew that he and Lawrence were very different as far as their childhoods were concerned. He figured that, at some point, Lawrence would see him for the screw up that he actually was and then things might actually change. Though, there was that small hope that kept Adam still thinking that Lawrence might actually love him anyway. Hope- that was a trait of Lawrence's that had rubbed off on him.
The next sound wasn't of Lawrence being upset with him, though. It wasn't even a word at all. It came from Lawrence's throat and it soon developed into something that sounded like humming. Adam looked up and Lawrence was looking down at the lights as he continued to untangle them. The humming continued until it became a song and Adam, to his own surprise, actually recognized it.
"Lawrence, what the hell is that?" He paused as Lawrence looked up at him with a foolish grin and continued the humming. Adam dropped the light he had been holding and gave him the most exasperated expression. "If you are humming Christmas carols I may actually have to punch you."
Lawrence was clearly trying to contain his laughter as he continued to hum the now very familiar tune. Adam now dropped all of the lights and planted his hands over his ears.
"I mean it, Lawrence. I have a killer left hook."
Now Lawrence had dropped his lights too and the sounds turned from humming to full out singing complete with whatever dancing could be done from a sitting position on the floor.
That was the final straw that turned Adam Faulkner from a scrooge to a full out tiny Tim.
Adam fell backwards onto the floor with laughter that shook his body so hard that he couldn't see straight. He couldn't remember the last time he had laughed so hard. Lawrence continued to sing in the background but it was broken up shortly by his own laughter that joined Adam's. Soon, both men were lying parallel to each other on the floor – tangled lights scattered all around them.
When the laughter had finally died down and Adam was still trying to catch his breath, Lawrence leaned on his side and boasted himself up on his elbow. He looked down at Adam and the connection was there again. Adam smiled with relief. Maybe it wasn't a bad thing to remain hopeful sometimes.
"All I want for Christmas is you." Lawrence stated it with a hint of sarcasm and though it was the most cliché line Adam had ever heard he couldn't help but feel the warmth rise throughout his body. Adam pushed himself up onto his elbows until he was inches away from Lawrence. He leaned in and planted a chaste kiss on his lips.
He broke the embrace momentarily and spoke before Lawrence moved in for another. ""You already have that. But there's still time to ask Santa for a flat screen."
Lawrence's laughter was muffled by Adam as he pinned him to the floor. They connected in a passionate kiss that would lead them to another first soon enough.