Chris slammed the car door behind him, trudging into the long grass of a road-side field and waving his cellphone in the air while he peered at the screen. No service.
“We’re not lost!” Darren called out as he tumbled from the driver’s seat, running to catch up. “We’re just - on a detour.”
“Uhuh,” Chris said, still searching for a signal. “Sure, okay. So you know exactly where we are?”
Darren winced, rubbing the back of his neck as he glanced around the empty field and the bare street behind them. The rental car looked like a tiny steel ant in a sea of countryside.
He smiled. “I know exactly where we are,” he echoed.
Chris sighed in frustration and pocketed his phone. “And where’s that?”
“Listen,” Darren instructed with a toothy grin, holding up a finger.
After a long moment of chorusing crickets and a whole lot of nothing else, Chris shook his head and shrugged to convey his confusion.
“We are,” Darren began, waving an arm around, “exactly smack fucking bang in the middle of nowhere.”
Chris’s brow lifted in amusement.
“And,” Darren added, still smiling, “it’s Christmas Eve. And there’s nobody here. In this very open, very public, very bright and shiny space.”
“So?” Chris asked, unable to suppress his smile as he caught Darren’s eyes. He could almost see the excitement building in him, coming like an avalanche.
“This very open public bright and shiny space that we don’t usually get to be in, together,” Darren elaborated, his voice teasing. “Which means I get to do this!”
Chris yelped as Darren pounced, and their mouths crashed together, arms coiling tight around each other on instinct. Chris barely swayed at the impact, keeping them both upright as he pulled him tight to his chest.
They kissed messily through breathy laughs, stopping only to start again after giggling and swaying, neither willing to let go. Finally, both of Darren’s feet found the ground.
“What was that for?” Chris breathed against his cheek. He snickered as they stumbled again, realising they were off balance because Darren’s arms were still around his neck, which meant he had to be standing on his toes. His chest warmed with a rush of affection for the beautiful idiot in his arms.
“That was I love you,” Darren explained, pressing tiny kisses across the bridge of Chris’s nose as he strained up on his feet. “And I’m sorry I got us lost,” another kiss, “And I’m not sorry I got us lost,” he sucked on Chris’s lower lip for a moment, and finally pulled back to smile at him coyly.
“And Merry Christmas.”
