(This chapter is crossposted onto Static Noise and Pixelated Dreams so you're not missing much if you choose to skip this. Anyway, this is this year's Christmas special! This is NOT part of the BtB canon and hardly takes place in the same universe/au as it. Enjoy da content :D)

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It was Christmas Eve night. The snow was falling outside and the nearly full moon shone brightly. Most would call it beautiful, the perfect ambiance to sit by a fireplace and laugh along with friends and family. The ideal holiday scene you see in the Hallmark movies is a complete contradiction to the sight in MrBeast's bedroom. Tax papers and forms spread across the sheets. None of the companies he had to call were any help, all of them wanting to be home as much as the next guy. Tears threatening to fall from the stress, Jimmy leaned back into a pillow.

"Goddamnit Devon why didn't you tell me about this... No stop being a fucking idiot shifting the blame isn't going to fix everything. Just call Regions and GET them to fix this..." Shaky fingers hovering over the dial button, a light knock brought him out of his panic-induced disassociation.

"Hey, Jimmy! Most of us are heading to bed, you know Santa isn't gonna come if you don't sleep~"

"I..." A loud sigh. "I will later."

"...Can I come in?" Alex's voice dropped lower. His logical side told him the chaotic kid would take him away from his work but he agreed, the desire for someone to assure him high. "You've been working almost all day. When was the last time you ate?"

"This is important stuff. If I can't get us some big tax breaks fast we might go under next year."

"You dodged my question."

"Alex I don't know please just let me get this done with. I wanna be with you guys on Christmas day."

"But I wanna be with you now, you've been locked up all day!"

"Well you also don't need to keep track of multiple million-dollar investments and companies- ...I'm sorry I shouldn't be lashing out on you this is barely anything compared to some of the work my employees do."

"No, no you're fine... Jimmy, please let me at least get you some dinner."

"Wait I can't-"

"Uh uh uh no buts! Or else I'm shredding all these dumb forms!" Genuine fear filled his eyes making Alex tense.

"Ok please don't do that I'll come-"

"You know I wouldn't actually right?"

"Y-ya... I'm just... on edge... Uh, what's your plan for food?"

"I found this pasta dish on the Food Network! I was gonna try it."

"Hate to be the bearer of bad news but I watched your cooking stream. You can't cook man." He began to sweat, fake laughter bubbling.

"Sure I can! You never know until you try a new meal!" The pair ended up at a steak and shake in downtown Greenville. He insisted that despite it being fast food, it tasted slightly better than most types. The retro diner design was nothing special. In fact, the decor was sorta tacky and the entire place just felt sticky and worn. Rarely do you find someone eating inside a Steak and Shake anyway. To anyone with the kind of money and status he had, they might just consider it a quite shitty Christmas Eve.

However, Alex was there.

Across the table milkshake glass and burger in hand, he beamed about one of his recent streams, he radiated a type of raw positivity rare in the modern-day media. 'Be happy'. It seems so easy when some influencer shoves it down your throat. The movies that try to be real about it always seem to fail so it's why Jimmy never found himself to be all that preachy in his videos. It'd be hypocritical of him, growing up quite pessimistically himself. He had hope for his channel sure but he was never positive about anything. His positivity wasn't about being happy, it was about being content. Jimmy certainly wasn't happy, he had work he should be doing. He shouldn't have been so immature to let Alex drag him out to some crappy fast food place that's a 20-minute drive from his house. But he was content. He was content when they speedran their milkshakes, brain freeze biting away at his worries. He was content when Alex insisted they go to the ice skating rink in the middle of a park a few minutes walk away despite Jimmy having not skated in 3 something odd years. He was very so much content when he began to sing softly to keep his thoughts away from his wobbling legs, allowing them to naturally stabilize.

"Oh, simple thing... where have you gone? I'm getting old and I need something to rely on... So tell me when you're gonna let me in? I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin..."

And it didn't matter if he wasn't fully happy with the situation. To most that too much to ask for. To Jimmy, being content was the best way he'd have it.

"And if you have a minute why don't we go... talk about it somewhere only we know... This could be the end of everything... so why don't we go somewhere only we know... Oh hey, you're actually skating po-OG CHAMP!!" His voice cracked because as suddenly as they were gliding, Jimmy ended up collapsing back down, Alex being taken down with him. The two giggled a bit before the taller looked away.

"Maybe this wasn't the best idea..."

"Oh, no back on your feet Jimmy! You're going to get this. I wanna see you skate across the pond at least once."

"But what about-"

"Hush, I'll see to it personally that Devon gets you a better accountant tomorrow that will get this settled. For now just stay with me, right here in the present. It'd mean the world to me." Inhale... exhale...

"Mhm, I can do that."

And that was enough for now...

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