Will’s Dream
I opened my eyes and looked around the half-lit room. To my right, I saw a figure in the blanket. Noticing she was still asleep, I didn’t wake her. I shifted closer, put my arm around her torso and took her hand. I slowly moved to check the clock. It was six o’clock, which was about the time the kids normally woke up to open their Christmas presents. I shrugged this off; it gave me and Marianne more time to sleep. Waking at this hour normally made her quite moody. She then mumbled something I couldn’t distinguish. She shifted closer to me, and we both fell asleep again. A few hours later, I felt Marianne stir.
“William? Are you awake?” She whispered, trying not to wake me if I wasn’t already.
“Yeah I am, what’s wrong, love?”
“The children, should they have not come upstairs already, to wake us up? It is Christmas after all, children usually adore the day!” She ranted to me. I placed a finger on her lips and pointed to the door. At that moment three little brunette children ran through the door.
“Mummy! Daddy! Merry Christmas!” Ava shouted running as fast as her little 3-year-old feet could take her. The twins followed swiftly in behind her. They all jumped on the bed simultaneously and grabbed our hands.
“Juno and Rex got bored of waiting to wake you two up. And I really want to open my presents,” Ava proudly stated.
“Well then, Ava dear, let’s not keep you waiting,” Marianne stepped out of the bed and straightened out her night dress. She grabbed Juno’s and Rex’s hands and pulled them downstairs. I picked up Ava and put her on my shoulders. She squealed as I ran down the stairs past her mother and her siblings.
As the tots opened their presents, Marianne and I watched. I had bought Marianne a simple necklace and four charms to go on them, one to represent each member of our family. She had gotten me a gold wristband. The children had made us miniature statues of the family.
Tonight I had planned a special dinner for the five of us. I had cooked the roast but, Marianne insisted she make the veggies as I “would probably murder them” She believes it, a side effect of being a drummer that makes me destructive. I told her the theory is not correct, as I am very gentle around her and the children.
My wonderful Christmas is interrupted by a knock at the door, looking through the peep hole I see three men, smiling. The band. Just great. In my mind though, I was quite happy to see them. They were my closest friends after all; they would make my Christmas even better. I’ll just make sure not to tell them that, or show it emotionally as I would be pestered about it for as long as I live, or until one of them croaked.
Guy’s Dream
It was a day like any other day, except this morning seemed to be different; like an important date or something. I realized I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but I didn’t care. I awoke next to my girl, Adrianna, who I could tell had been up for at least a few minutes.
“Oh, good morning, honey,” she soothed. She took my hand, and lay on her side. This showed every single curve in her perfect body, which made me bite my lip. I knew what she had in her mind; she noticed my expression and decided to tease. She shifted closer, batted her eyelashes twice and just when I believed she was beginning to undress me, she meekly placed a kiss on my neck. She gave me an intense look, I knew she wanted to go but hesitated for her enjoyment.
She stood and walked over to my bathroom. She was still within my eyesight; the door remained open. I sat up and waited impatiently for her to return. I tapped my fingers and my feet at the same rhythmic tone. Even when waiting, I can’t get rid of those guys, now can I? I thought bitterly, recognizing the beat. When I’d finally thought I could burst with anxiety, Adrianna walked over to me, but stopped at the doorway.
She moved slightly and I noticed she was only wearing her housecoat and matching slippers. I flashed her a sexy grin, and stood excitedly. I placed my hands on either side of her waist. She kissed my lips briefly, and then stood back slightly.
“It’s Christmas, you know,” she paused. I knew today was relevant! “I got you something,”
“Oh, well, you didn’t have to,” I whispered, trying to sound modest. I looked into her eyes, and they read the ‘well I wanted to’ sort of puppy-dog expression. “Well, if you insist,”
She happily smiled at me and took a small box out of her housecoat pocket. I saw more of her perfectly toned thigh and became impatient, more for the imminent contact than the present in her hand. I tried to relax myself as I opened the gift.
It was a note from my tour manager saying ‘enjoy your trip and break, Guy’. Then I looked up; she was smiling extremely brightly, like she needed to announce something or she’d explode into a million bits.
“We’re going to
I thanked her by giving her a kiss. After a three-minute round of tonsil hockey, I led her to bed, and then instructed her not to peek. I walked over to my nightstand and opened the bottom cabinet. I’d bought this a few weeks previous, and I said a quick thank you to the earlier me, as he saved the current me’s ass.
Sitting down beside Adrianna, I handed her my little box. She excitedly, but carefully, untied the bow, and opened the box. She gasped; I took the smaller blue box and opened it. I had bought her a golden anklet she’d had her eye on. She noticed something else in the box. She lifted it and then gave me a suggestive look.
“Guy? A condom?” I shifted closer.
“We could use it right now, if you like,”
“What about the neighbors, honey?” She asked excitedly.
“They can’t complain, unless they wanna walk in,” I smiled and wrapped my arms around her. To the sides went the boxes and ribbons, and our clothes. I opened the condom and thought, Merry Christmas to me!
Jonny’s Dream
I could hear rustling. It kept getting louder and louder, like someone had put a plastic bag to my ear. It kept becoming more and more desperate, or the frustration level increased. My eyes opened to realize it wasn’t a plastic bag, but, Chris.
I could see his curly head sticking out of some Christmas paper. There was tape in various places in his hair. I slowly crept out of our bed and sat on the floor behind him. I put a hand on his shoulder as I pulled the wrapping paper off his ear and started nibbling on it. Chris gasped and turned around to kiss me.
“What’s with this mess? And why is there glue on your face?” I ask him, genuinely curious. He explains that he was wrapping presents at the very last moment and he ran out of tape, so he tried to use glue instead. I laugh at his mess and helped him off of the floor.
“Did you see it?” Chris asks with fear in his eyes. I give him a curious look. “Your…” He dropped his voice down to a whisper “Your present?”
“Is it you? Because you’re the only thing I see wrapped,” Chris shakes his head. “Good, ‘cause that’s not a very fair present. I already have you.” I joke.
“You never know, J, This could be some strange dream.” He thinks for a moment, “Though, I hope it’s not as I’ve got plans for us today…”
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After we finally had gotten ourselves outside our bedroom, Chris and I decided to start making our dinner arrangements for tonight. We were having the band and their families over for the first time since we had moved in together. This meant a lot to Chris as he was into all the sentimental stuff; to me it was just having our friends over for dinner.
Chris set the table as I cooked the dinner, he would occasionally drop in and kiss my cheek while getting another fork or plate. One time he grabbed my hand and placed a little box into it. I look down to see Chris smiling up at me; he left his hands on top of mine as I held the box.
“Jonny Buckland, amazing guitarist and love of my life,” he paused. I smiled slightly and laughed before he continued. “Marry me?” Chris looked as if he’d explode if he didn’t get an immediate answer. He stood, holding out the open box. I looked into his beautiful blue eyes and found the same tenderness as when he says he loves me.
I couldn’t hold out any longer “Chris… yes, I will,” I simply answered him. His eyes lit up and he grinned from ear-to-ear. He took me into his arms and I snuggled into his chest.
“Oh, Merry Christmas, Jonny,” he added.
“Merry Christmas to you too, Chris,” after a few minutes of cuddles and kisses, Chris sniffed around.
“Though, I can’t say your dinner is too merry now,” he laughed. “Run, the ham’s burning!”
Chris’ Dream
I’d been sitting alone for the past few hours trying to work out the lyrics and melodies of a song that had popped into my head with my acoustic. I thought of calling Jonny over, though I knew I shouldn’t ask him to work on Christmas Eve. I sang a line of the chorus, when someone came bursting through the door.
“Daddy!” Apple pleaded. Right behind her was Moses, pouting. “Mummy won’t let us open a present now,” she continued. “I really wanna!”
“Me too!” Moses pouted; following his sister, they simultaneously crossed their arms and frowned. I laughed and shook my head.
“You know we only open presents on Christmas Day,” I started. “But,” I paused. Their eyes lit up with hope. “Mummy never said anything about not opening chocolates before Christmas Day,” I stood and walked over to the kitchen with the tots. I told them in a whisper to stay hidden, that I’d take a few chocolates for all of us, and eat them in secret. They nodded their blonde heads the exact same way.
I snuck into the kitchen and looked at the bowl of chocolates beside the peppermint sticks. After a few seconds of consideration, I decided to take the whole bowl. Besides a few eaten by the tots, I was the only one who really devoured those. Creeping back to where the tots were told to stay, they regarded the bowl completely goggle-eyed. I smiled and as they each took a hold of my pant leg. The three of us skipped down the hallway singing an old Christmas carol, that I believe is called “It’s Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas”.
After I played a few carols for the tots, and a few chocolates were eaten, I decided it was late enough for them to head to bed. “Remember to brush your teeth,” I nagged. Both answered me with a “Yup!” then left. About fifteen minutes later, I made sure to do a bed-check. Making sure both were asleep, I decided to go to bed early, just for the kids.
I curled up and within minutes, I’d fallen asleep.
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I opened my eyes to see everything was still. I sat up; looking to my side I saw Gwyneth sound asleep. Lifting myself out of bed, I walked down the hallway and waited by the Christmas tree for the tots to open presents. In the meantime, I munched on a few cookies that were made the night before.
I heard footsteps and looked on, expecting to see the tots, fully ready for Christmas presents. For some reason, the thought that Jonny might show up smiling at me was more dominant than the idea of anyone else showing up. I shook it off; I knew I’d spent too much time at The Bakery, that’s why I anticipated him.
Gwyeneth appeared, and sat next to me. “I thought you might be here,” she softly said. “Merry Christmas, love,” She snuggled into me, but something didn’t quite set right with me. Sure, we’d done this a million times before but I felt like something was missing… maybe a green hat, perhaps?
I thought I was just being silly. Of course I was missing Jonny, I mean, we haven’t seen each other for a few weeks now that we’re off tour and all… maybe I’m just re-adjusting to not seeing him everyday.
Noticing my mind was elsewhere, Gwyneth spoke up. “Chris… what’s the matter?”
Snapping back from my thoughts of Jonny, I mindlessly answered. “Huh? Oh, no, just thinking about, uhmm… the song I was working on last night,”
“Oh?” she perked, sounding half-excited, half-intrigued. “The one you took a break from and took the bowl of chocolates with the kids?” Shit. She’d seen us on our mission. I laughed slightly attempting to conceal my guilt.
“Well, y’know, chocolates always make up for the inability to open presents on Christmas Eve,” I paused. “Besides, I made sure they brushed their teeth, and were in bed,”
“Ooh, shocker, Chris being responsible for once!” she teased. I thought that perhaps it was my lack of sleep, but I swore she sounded like a bitch right there. I know what Jonny would say if he heard me, “She’s your wife, Chris; you’re not supposed to be calling her a bitch! But you could--”
“Hey, did you hear me?” she continued. She angrily stared at me; seeing she was getting no reaction, she assumed I hadn’t been listening to her, which, coincidentally, was correct. I didn’t want to be listening to her. I’d much rather be listening to Jonny’s guitar, and him softly humming along to my lyrics… “Hello?” she then hit me in the arm.
“Ouch! What the fuck was that for?” I hiss. I make sure to keep my voice down, so the kids wouldn’t hear me. Through my furious look, and while she was answering, I heard another voice I thought I recognized.
“Calm down, Chris… she’s just trying to get your attention… it’s nothing to be mad about,” the male voice crooned. I shook it off; I didn’t really think that Jonny was the angel on my shoulder, did I? Or was he, for real?
“Well, that was still no reason to hit me,” I said. A natural answer to whatever she said, I’m sure. I knew I was out of it, but I felt as if there’s a giant hint of something right in front of my face; could be relevant, could be that my undergarments are all the same color and I didn’t notice. She apologized, but in an extremely moody manner. I accepted her apology, as I really didn’t want to talk to her.
I thought long and hard for a few minutes, as we sat in silence. Did I forget her birthday or something? Our anniversary? Her time of the month? Whatever it was, I didn’t like it. It felt as if she knew, but had bitten her tongue about it, giving me temporary amnesia to this relevant… thing by possibly hitting me in the head with a rolling pin.
While pondering if my wife was secretly abusive, but I didn’t remember because she smacked me upside the head much too hard, I heard the kids coming towards us, then my house phone ringing. I hugged the tots quickly before attending.
“Hello, Martin Residence, who’s this?” I heard a pause.
“Oh, hi, Chris. Merry Christmas,” It was Jonny. I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy to speak to another man, other than when I really needed to discuss a different problem in my life, involving the same woman, but that’s irrelevant! What matters is that I was happy to be speaking with Jonny, other than my wife.
“Hi, J, Merry Christmas to you too,” I paused. Should I tell him I thought I heard his voice as my naysayer? Nah, we’ll probably have a laugh about it over a drink later on in the day, anyways. “So, what’s bugging ‘ya?”
“Well, I was actually wondering if--” before he finished, I interrupted.
“Yeah! Sure, I’m in,” I quickly squawked. Feeling extremely relieved I’d be seeing Jonny later, I went back to open presents with the tots. Gwyneth was still too bitchy to talk to me, so she fake-smiled at the tots as I opened presents with them.
“This is the best Christmas ever, thank you, daddy!” Apple squealed as she hugged me.
“Yeah,” I replied. “It is, now, isn’t it?” Though I still couldn’t think of what was so relevant that I couldn’t, not for a single moment stop thinking about. Though, I did know it was bound to bite me in the ass sooner or later.
Christmas Day- Jon’s Point of View
There was a streak of drool running down my face. After I brushed it away I reached over to Chris. The bed was empty next to me. I looked to see if the man was sitting on the bedroom floor. Once again empty. My life came rushing back to me. Chris wasn’t with me; he was spending Christmas with Gwyneth and their children. I sat with my legs gathered close to my chest, breathing deeply. It had been a dream, and I had let it get to me…
Through my misty eyes, I checked the table next to my clock. There was my scribbled note reminding me I had company later in the day. I wiped my face once more and I looked at my clock. To my horror, I was behind schedule on the cooking. I slowly removed myself from the bed, to the shower and headed to the kitchen.
As I cooked, I half-expected Chris to come bounding toward me with a ring in his hand. I longingly stared out into the nothing, mesmerized by the deafening silence. I didn’t hear his amazing voice filling my house with joy, just my own breathing. I carefully watched the ham, hoping I would not burn it as in my dream. The meat cooked, and then the bell rang.
I walked to the door and smiled as Will, Marianne, Ava, Juno and Rex appeared. The children were playing with their various new toys as Marianne and Will helped me cook. They chatted to me about their morning; they sounded just in love as they were when they got married. Though when they fought, it was nasty.
Next to arrive at my door was Guy and his girlfriend, Adrianna. She was glowing while Guy was giving off this look as if he were in deep thought. The couple decided to play with the children, while waiting for the final family.
The Martins arrived fashionably late; Gwyneth carrying Moses in her arms, with Chris next to her, looking rather stunning, holding Apple’s hand. Chris gave me a joyful smile, happy to see me. They looked like the family on the front of a Christmas card, with Apple and Moses wearing little Santa hats on their heads.
“Sorry we’re late Jon. We were a bit sidetracked…” I nod, and beckon them in. Marianne left the kitchen to converse with Gwyneth and Adrianna. The five children playing with various presents and us, four men left to cook.
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“Hey, Jonny… Can I speak to you for a moment?” Guy asked pointing with his thumb out towards the balcony. I nod and walk outside, wondering what he could need.
“Guy, what is it?”
“You should tell Chris. Tell him about what you feel.” I stood, shocked at the bassist.
“What?! Guy. How did you know?” I surprisingly hissed.
“Lucky guess,” I give him a look of disapproval, “Nah, I can tell… Will knows too. We see the looks you give him. When Gwyneth’s ‘round you have this awful look you give her, like you’re watching something that’s dying. Trust me, even in the studio. You always are all for him and trust me, it doesn’t bug me, but, you may have passed one too many songs that I think should have been b-sides, Jon.”
I merely gawked at Guy… I became afraid; did Gwyneth know? Did anyone else besides Guy and Will notice? I placed my head in my hands, stressing.
“It’s okay, man. He’s too blind to notice anything, don’t worry,” he answered, as if reading my mind. “But, you have held it off for quite some time… you should tell him; you’d be surprised at what he says,”
Guy left me on the balcony to think. I once again stared out into nothingness. Should I tell Chris? Could I even try to tell Chris? He was married after all. I couldn’t possibly ruin his Christmas. He was just so sweet to me, and I couldn’t think of jeopardizing our friendship. If he knew my thoughts and dreams he’d be repulsed. If only I could-
“Hey man, you okay?” The man of my thoughts asked as he walked outside. “You’ve been out here for a bit. Come in, it’s chilly out here.”
“But it’s so beautiful Chris… Look at the snow and all the trees.” I gesture to the surrounding view. Chris nods and puts a hand on my shoulder, he tells me to come in when I’m ready. I follow him in as he goes inside. The moment I’m indoors I have Will pouncing on me demanding we play a round of virtual football.
After a few rounds of intense battle between myself and Will, and Apple cheering us on, we all sat down to have dinner. Meanwhile, the game was going on, the wives rolled their eyes and continued their conversations. Once we finished, they perked up, obviously eager to finally have a proper conversation with everyone.
During dinner, we mainly chatted about useless things. I worried; my gaze fell onto Chris as Gwyneth started speaking. “Jonny, why is it that you haven’t got a girlfriend?” I looked down at my plate.
“Uh, well, I haven’t really met a special girl lately, I guess,” I lied. I was feeling extremely uncomfortable around this new topic. I ate and most laughed. Guy was next to comment.
“It’s okay, mate,” he laughed. “She’s only yanking your ear,” I smiled as genuinely as possible, though I knew it was coated in false.
“Yes…” She replied, “I’m only yanking your ear…” Gwyneth gave me a look, and then continued to eat. Other than that short-lived conversation, dinner passed by uneventful. Our large family then sat around in the living room, Moses constantly pulling little Ava’s hair. As Chris fought to punish him, Gwyneth would not let him and blamed it on love. She pointedly glared at me as she spoke of Moses being in love with Ava. I pretended not to see this look and started a new conversation.
“Did Santa bring you all, what you wanted?” I asked of the children.
They all answered at once “Everything!” they shouted.
“Hells yes!” Guy laughed. I gave him an odd look, “Well, how about you Mr. Buckland.” He then looked toward Chris and back at me.
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“Merry Christmas Jonathan!” Marianne cheered as she left with her family, the children smiling and waving, though tired. Will hugged me and left saying something about the tots getting to bed.
Adrianna came up to me after and said she was leaving with Guy, apparently they had unfinished business to attend to. Guy whispered in my ear as he left. “Tell him Jonny,” he smiled then grab his girlfriend’s waist, before they were out the door they were in a lip lock. Gwyneth made a noise of disgust but showed happiness watching them.
Gwyneth sat with the children as, Chris and I chatted about a new song he was working on. After about an hour she had had enough.
“Chris are you coming?” Gwyneth interrupted our first major conversation of the evening. “We have to go to my mother’s tomorrow remember?”
“Ah, right then. Well JB, the trouble calls.” Chris winks at me and pulls me into a hug, I embrace him tightly and don’t let go. Chris coughs and lets me go. He picks up his son and heads to the door “Merry Christmas Jon.”
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I miserably wash the remainder of dinner’s dishes, feeling empty. Christmas is supposed to be celebratory, but I felt I didn’t have much to be happy about. Sure, I appreciate my friendships, especially with Chris, but I couldn’t help feeling selfish at the fact I wanted to be closer than that.
I just thought of how great Chris is to me. Sure, he could be a little insupportable at times, but I could stand it. I thought not even his wife can put up with him for that long. I sighed deeply, holding back whatever emotions were about to come through. Everyday I think these cursed feelings increased… I should’ve known it would be impossible to even get the courage to tell him something I’ve kept from him for so long.
Amidst my thoughts, I absentmindedly dropped a glass on the floor. In the process, it had cut my hand in several places. “Shit…” I murmured, holding my hand painfully. Whilst looking for a bandage, I caught a glimpse of something in a mirror. I shrugged it off and continued to look for my bandage.
“You know what, I think you need some help,” I heard a voice say. Frightened, I jerked around trying to find where the voice originated from. I’d almost run into a counter while doing so. “Relax, Jonny,” the voice said. I turned and saw who that voice belonged to. “It’s me, Chris.”
“Oh… uhm, hi, Chris,” I meekly replied. “How’d you get back in?”
“Well…” now it was his turn to be in the hot seat. “I still have the backup key from when I had that fight with Gwyneth,” he confessed, then continued. “I got a bandage from the loo; it looks like you could use an extra hand, literally,”
I laughed, but I was still pained. “Yeah, I suppose so,” Chris walked over to where I was standing, and took my hand in his. He carefully wiped off the excess blood with several pieces of tissue before he added the bandages. Occasionally, I would glance up at him. His beauty stunned me, and he didn’t even notice it. Once, I caught myself staring for a beat too long, so he’d noticed also.
He laughed, and then smiled. “Yeah, I know, I’m the hero of the day!” Jokingly I give him a sarcastic glance as he releases my cut hand from his grip. “All cured, J… well, I’m actually here to talk to you about something,” my heart gathered itself around my throat and begun pounding nervously.
As calmly as possible, I replied. “What might that be, Chris?” I was panicked, and my hands begun to shake slightly.
“I know this isn’t easy to say, but, uhh…” Chris started, obviously nervous himself. He sat down upon my couch, and stared at me, hunched over with his elbows rested on his lap, and head in his hands. “I have an additional Christmas present for you, I guess,”
I had a flicker of hope in my heart as he said this. He looked thoughtful as he stared at the floor. I didn’t rush him; he was gathering thoughts. He stood, and walked past me. This made me curious and I trailed after him. He stood near a doorway, and gazed at me in his natural friendly manner. He then gave me a satisfied smile, as if he needed me to follow him for his plan to work.
“Jon…” he looked up. “I know how you feel about me,” before I panicked, he took my hand once more. This time, it wasn’t for a practical purpose. He took it out of caring. “And,” he continued. “You might discover something new in these next few seconds,” he looked up, and I followed.
“Chris… you hung mistletoe here?” he looked innocently, though I knew that was his guilty expression, having known him for too long to be deceived. Before I spoke again, he closed in. His lips finally met mine, and he wrapped his arms around me. I eagerly returned this action, and then he pulled apart, but kept his embrace.
“I love you, Jonny,” he said with a sincere look. I hadn’t ever seen him look so sure of anything else. I blinked, surprised. I answer him by squeezing him tighter and placing my head on his chest.
“I love you too, Chris,” I whisper. I’m overcome with the sudden turn of events, even more so when Chris returns my actions and kisses my forehead.
“Merry Christmas, Jonny,” he uttered happily. Finally, a Christmas where I’d gotten something I truly desired, those simple three words.
The End
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