A/N. Miss Fenway is still recuperating. So deal with the cavity-inducing fluff okay? Lol. I don't own anything.

"Wait, James." Logan stops as he's halfway out of the car and gives James a troubled look. "What about my face?"

James cringes at the painful reminder and then he pulls a pair of sunglasses from off the dashboard and hands them to Logan. "Here." He says, trying to sound cheerful. "These should do." He watches as Logan slides them on and gives his friend a thumbs up. "You can barely see it now."

At first Logan looks doubtful but when James gives him a thumbs up he smiles and nods. "Okay. Let's go then." He leads the way into the tree lot, James close behind him.

There are a decent number of trees left but after only five minutes of just walking around it's obvious why. They aren't the most beautiful trees the boys have seen. They have bald spots and sparse branches and one even drops a bucket load of needles on James when he brushes up again it.

Logan laughs as James hastily brushes pine needles out of his hair and glares at the offending tree. "Sorry, Logan." He apologizes. "These aren't the greatest."

"What did you expect the week before Christmas.?" Logan points out. He shrugs and shakes his head. "It's not your fault. I'm sure we can find something here. If we can't then it's no big deal."

James doesn't buy the careless tone of Logan's voice for an instant. He knows his friend is disappointed and even though he also knows that Logan is right and it's not his fault, he feels like a bad friend for getting Logan's hopes up only to have them come crashing down at the lack of beauty. "We'll find one." He says confidently.

They continue searching, this time inspecting each tree more closely to see if there are any ways that the defects can be hidden. James again lets Logan take the lead because he has no idea what makes a good Christmas tree when all that is left are a bunch of misfits.

"Here." Logan says suddenly. He stops in front of a tree that's only a little taller than James. "It's small but there's only one bad spot. We can put that side to the wall and it'll be as good as invisible." He gives the tree a firm shake and nods in satisfaction. "See? The needles aren't dropping with this one. That means it's a healthy tree."

"Are you sure?" James asks. The tree is the runt of the lot and he's not sure if Logan is just trying to make him feel better. But then Logan takes of the sunglasses to see the tree better and James can see that his eyes are lit up and that he really does like the tree. He considers taking the sunglasses from Logan because his eyes are so beautiful and it's a shame to have them covered, bruise or no bruise. But then he sees that Logan is waiting for him to respond and he shakes his head to clear his mind of his humiliating thoughts. "Okay then. What now?"

Logan sets the sunglasses back on his face much to James' disappointment and grins at how clueless his friend is about the whole Christmas tree procedure. "You stay here and guard our tree. I'll get the owner to come get it for us."

James obediently stands next to the tree and watches Logan walk off. "Our tree." He's glad that they're in Minnesota and it's the middle of a December winter because he can blame the red of his cheeks on the cold weather. But secretly he loves how Logan referred to the tree. He waits for Logan to return, tensing every time someone approaches the tree as if to look at it more closely. He's prepared to fight for it but fortunately he doesn't have to because Logan returns fairly quickly with a man that reminds James of Paul Bunyan.

"So, this is your tree, huh?" Paul Bunyan asks. He looks the tree up and down. "Not bad compared to the rest of them. A little on the small side."

"That's okay." Logan says quickly.

The man smiles. "Kind of like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree isn't it?"

James doesn't get the Charlie Brown reference but Logan does and apparently it's a good thing to have a tree like Charlie Brown because Logan is smiling. James really likes Logan's smile.

"Okay, well who wants to help me get it over to your car?" The man breaks up James' concentration on Logan's smile.

"I will." James nods. "Just tell me what to do. This is my first Christmas tree." He adds when he receives a skeptical look as if Paul Bunyan can't believe that he doesn't know how to carry a tree.

The man chuckles but not unkindly. "Well, congratulations then. I'm sorry you couldn't have a better first tree. I'll pick it up, you just hold the top part of the ground and lead the way."

They're simple instructions and even a Christmas tree rookie like James understands perfectly. Soon they're at the car and the man disappears to get a rope because apparently the tree won't simply stay on the top the car and it needs to be tied down. Who knew? Everyone but James probably.

"James," Logan says as a thought occurs to him. "I left my wallet at my apartment."

James has forgotten that one also needs to pay for Christmas trees. But it doesn't matter. He shakes off Logan's worry. "I got it." He assures him.

"But-"

"Shhh." James scolds. "It's no big deal, Logie. Let me do this. Let me buy my first Christmas tree."

The man returns and introduces himself as Ralph so James can't mentally call him Paul Bunyan anymore. He skillfully ties the tree to the roof with a little help from Logan while James stands by anxiously, ready to catch Logan if he loses his balance and falls the few feet to the ground. "Okay," Ralph says then. "You're set to go."

"Um. . ." James isn't sure how to go about this. "How much?" He asks bluntly.

Ralph smiles. "Since this is your first tree, how about it's my present to you?"

James' eyes widen. "I can't let you do that!" He protests, digging in his pocket and pulling his wallet out.

"Sure you can!" Ralph practically bellows cheerfully. "And you will." He pats the roof of the car in emphasis. "Merry Christmas, boys."

"Thank you." Logan says shyly. "It's really generous of you."

Ralph shrugs his massive shoulders and James goes back to thinking of him as Paul Bunyan. The only thing that's missing is Babe, the big blue ox. "Well now, it's just a little tree. Enjoy!" Before James or Logan can say anything else he walks off leaving the two to look at each other.

Logan grins. "Wow." He says.

"Wow is right." James gazes at the tree which suddenly looks even better. He likes free stuff. "Well, let's get going."

They climb back in the car and drive the rest of the way to James' house. They lack Paul Bunyan's strength but Logan and James manage quite easily to get the tree through the door. James then learns that one must own something called a "tree stand" in order to actually keep the tree from falling over.

"I didn't realize that Christmas trees are so complicated." He jokes as he tries to make the tree at least lean against the wall for the time being. "You think you can hang on to this Logan? My neighbors love Christmas almost as much as you do and they might have a spare tree stand laying around."

"A spare tree stand?" Logan asks.

James nods. He knows his statement must sound absurd but he might be right. "Let me go check real quick."

So he leaves Logan to hold the tree upright and goes back outside, crossing the snowy yard to his next door neighbor's house. He knocks on the door and then waits.

"Hi, James." Mr. Ferguson greets him as he opens the door. "What can I do for you?"

"I know this is probably a strange question but do you have a spare tree stand I could borrow?" James figures that in the unusual circumstance he has found himself in, it's probably best to cut to the chase. "My friend doesn't have anywhere to spend Christmas this year so he's staying with me and we just brought a tree home."

"I see." Mr. Ferguson opens the door wider and allows James inside. "Wait here. I think we may have one. Mrs. Ferguson bought a few because she wanted to put some smaller trees up and I think she overestimated the ratio of trees to tree stands."

The man disappears down the hallway and James is left alone to look around. His thoughts inevitably drift to Logan back at the house and James smiles contentedly. He's not alone for long because Mr. Ferguson returns with not only a tree stand but a small box in his arms.

"I hope it's the right size." The man dumps his offerings into James' arms. "It's a little small."

"That's okay." James says. "Our tree is pretty small."

Mr. Ferguson smiles. "Good. Oh, and that box has some extra things in it that I thought you could put to good use."

James is grateful. He hasn't even thought of ornaments. "Thanks so much. This will mean so much to Logan."

The two neighbors exchange farewells and James walks back outside and hurries to his front door. He juggles the tree stand and box of ornaments and opens the door and enters. "I'm back!" He calls cheerfully. "I come bearing gifts."

He hurries over to Logan and the two quickly set up the tree. To their satisfaction and delight, the stand is a perfect match for their Charlie Brown tree. They turn it so that the lone bald spot is facing the wall and then James shows Logan the box of decorations. "Ready?"

James turns on the radio and finds the station that has been playing Christmas music since Thanksgiving because he's absolutely determined to give Logan the best Christmas possible. But then again, he realizes how much he's enjoying getting into all the festivities that he's only heard about.

Logan is an expert at tree decorating and soon has the strand of lights that Mr. Ferguson included in the box, wrapped around the tree. "Now we just hang the ornaments on the branches." He instructs James before he begins to sing along with the radio.

James watches him at first and then follows his example. At first he doesn't pay attention to the different types of decorations that he's pulling out of the box. But then he notices how the variety makes the whole experience more interesting. There are glass balls, a string of cranberries, icicles and snowflakes and then there are unique ones. He likes them all and when he and Logan finish, they step back to admire their handiwork.

"Wow." Logan says appreciatively. "See? All it needed was some love."

The tree has been almost magically transformed. It's beautiful. James frowns though. "It's missing something at the top." He says aloud. "I didn't see a star or an angel in the box."

Logan glances around the room and then laughs. "Do you mind if we use that? I think it'd be perfect."

James looks to see that Logan is pointing out the Star of David that he has sitting above the fireplace. It's his one consent to decorating for Hanukkah but Logan is absolutely right. "I agree." He hands the Jewish star to Logan. "Would you like to do the honors?"

Logan carefully takes the ornament from James and approaches the tree. He has to stretch a little bit to set it on the top and James stands by to steady him just in case. But Logan has no trouble and then their tree is perfect. "I love it." Logan declares.

"Me too." James says, realizing that he means every word.

Logan fidgets and then sits down on the couch. "Do you mind if I tell you what happened with my parents?" He asks quietly. "I mean, you don't have to. I just feel like you should know since I'm imposing on you."

"You're not imposing at all." James says as he joins Logan on the couch. "You can tell me anything. You know that."

"Yeah." Logan says with a small smile. The smile fades all too soon and he begins his story. "I broke up with Leah last night because I realized that I don't love her the way she loves me. I care about her and everything but I can't see myself spending the rest of my life with her." He fiddles with a broken strand of cranberries. "I think I'm in love with someone else." He confesses in a rush. "My parents just didn't understand."

James waits for Logan to go on but this doesn't happen and he realizes that Logan is done talking about the incident at least for now. "Okay." He says simply, sensing that Logan wants to drop the whole subject. "If you need to tell me anything else, just let me know. Got that?"

Logan smiles but he looks upset about something. "Got it. Thanks, James." He stands up and looks inside the box. "There are some other things in here. Check it out." He begins lifting items out one by one. "Some candles, a few CD's, 'Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer." He laughs as he pulls the DVD out. "This is one of my favorite movies."

"We'll have to watch it then." James wants the sadness in Logan's eyes to disappear and never ever come back. He joins his friend in emptying the box. He pulls an object out of the box and his face turns bright red because even he knows what he's holding in his hand. "Oh, and that box has some extra things in it that I thought you could put to good use."

"Mistletoe?" Logan squeaks. His face is as red as James feels like his is. He tries to laugh it off though and takes the decoration from James. "Well, Christmas isn't Christmas without mistletoe." He walks away a short distance and hangs it in the open doorway leading from the family room to the kitchen.

Almost as if the DJ on the radio is psychic, 'Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree' starts to play and whoever is singing mentions mistletoe, making both Logan and James blush even more. James tries to ignore the fact that Logan is alone underneath the mistletoe and pretends to sweep up non-existent pine needles.

"Let me help." Logan joins him but there is nothing for either of them to do. They fall into an awkward silence until a new song begins and James suddenly bursts out laughing. Logan tips his head in confusion. "What is it?" He asks curiously. "I've never heard this song before."

James smirks. "This is my song. Adam Sandler wrote it. It's called, 'The Hanukkah Song'." He rises to his feet and walks to the hall closet. "Be right back. Don't go anywhere." When he finds what he's looking for he returns and hold up the two items for Logan to see.

"Yamakas?" Logan asks in amusement.

"Yup." James surprises Logan by setting one of the small hats on his head. "I have a great idea. Let's combine our holidays together. So put on your yamaka like a good little Jewish boy and listen to this classic song."

Logan laughs and shyly takes the extra yamaka. "Like this?"

James bites his lip to keep from laughing and adjusts the hat so that it's sitting on Logan's head correctly. "There." He says, thinking that Logan looks. . . well, adorable.

Logan chuckles. "I can't believe I've never heard this song before. It's um. . . creative."

"I know." James agrees. "So what do you think about my idea?"

"Combining Christmas and Hanukkah?" Logan needs to clarify. "It sounds fair to me."

"Good." James grins. "This will be fun." And for the moment, he's able to put his feelings for Logan aside and simply enjoy his company.

A/N. I think Miss Jagan died of the absurd fluff. Miss Fenway might return next. We'll see. Review?