I checked the time and grabbed my jacket, pulling it on and zipping it up. I looked outside at the snow falling down. The roads would be slick, but as long as I drove slowly, I'd be fine.

                My parents wanted me home for the holidays, but the weather was too bad for me to safely drive back. So instead, I was here with Uncle Brian over the Christmas break.

                He hadn't been expecting to have me, so he'd picked up a shift on both Christmas Eve and Christmas. I couldn't blame him; who'd want to sit around with their nephew on Christmas when they weren't close with them?

                I texted Tyson and left the house, brushing my car off and getting in. It was cold out, but I had a beanie and gloves on to stay warm.

                Today was Christmas Eve, and Tyson had invited all of us over. Tomorrow, I'd spend Christmas with just Tyson and his family. I was grateful they'd invited me so I didn't have to sit home alone. My parents had mailed me all my presents, so I'd open those in the morning and then kill time until I had to go to Tyson's.

                I drove slowly, any black ice hidden by the fresh coat of snow the roads had gotten since they were last plowed. Sure, snow made things look pretty, but god did I hate driving in it.

                It took me a lot longer than I thought to get to Tyson's, between the bad weather and the slow drivers on the road. But I got there, hurrying up to the door and ringing the doorbell.

                Tyson pulled the door open, and I didn't miss the way his shoulders slumped a little in relief. "Thought you died on the road. Guess you just drive like a grandma."

                "I drive like a middle aged person," I said, stepping into the house and stomping the snow off my boots. "The people in front of me drove like grandmas."

                Tyson took my coat and hung it up. He led me into the kitchen, where it was nice and warm, the smell of food making my stomach growl.

                "Oh, Nolan!" Mrs. Strazio said, smiling. "Tyson was worried when you were late. I tried to him the weather would slow you down a lot."

                "I wasn't worried. Annoyance and worry are different things," Tyson said. "Is the food almost ready?"

                "If your dad ever brings me up the sauce. I swear, he's the blind one in this family," she said, shaking her head. "Take the cookies you made for now. And for the love of my sanity, ask Vinny what the hell he's doing in the basement for so long."

                Tyson grabbed a plate of cookies and held it out to me. I took one, grateful to have something to eat. We headed for the living room, Tyson stopping by the basement.

                "Dad!" he called. "Mom's impatient. Hurry it up."

                "Mom's also messy," Mr. Strazio called back. "I can't find that jar of sauce she wants."

                "Not my problem. I'm just the messenger," Tyson said, leading me into the living room.

                "Outcast, you made it!" Talon said. "We all thought you died."

                "Alive and well," I said, sitting on the couch. Tyson put the cookies on the coffee table and sat down next to me.

                I forced a smile as I looked out at the others. Holidays had been hard ever since Dylan died. We used to do a gift exchange every year on the 23rd, and it still felt empty without him.

                "Fuck Christmas," Farren said, leaning back in his chair. "I think my parents bought more presents for the dog than for me. And now my sister is home and she keeps hogging the shower."

                "And you have to buy presents for people," Nyssa said. "I bet your wallet is sobbing."

                "It is," Farren said. "But I bought a bunch of shit on Black Friday and I'll resell it after the holidays for full price. So it's not a total monetary loss."

                "And we get a break from Social Action Club," Talon said, grinning a little. "All of our activities."

                "It's only fair. I worked you into the grave before break," Tyson said. And he had. We'd collected money for a local group that bought presents for poor children, we'd helped deliver meals, we'd wrapped gifts, we'd taken on projects for two different nursing homes to make sure the elderly had good holidays, and we'd worked with a group that mailed holiday cards to military members who were away for the holidays. And doing the revenge service in the winter time was a pain in the ass.

                "Hey, let's do our gift exchange," Connor said. He had Jonesy resting on his shoulder like usual.

                "Yea, sure," Tyson said.

                So we took turns passing out the gifts we'd gotten for each other. I didn't know them as well, so my gifts were smaller. The twins gave me a Braxton hoodie and a gift card for a local restaurant, Farren gave me a boxset of a book series, Connor gave me a video game he and the others played together, and Tyson went last.

                He held his present out to me as the others opened the rest of theirs, calling out thanks to each other. I took the present from Tyson and handed him his.

                "You didn't have to get me anything. You're already letting me spend Christmas with you and your family," I said.

                "Shut up and open it. I don't like wasting money," he said.

                I rolled my eyes and opened the present. Inside was a Social Action T-shirt and a digital picture frame.

                "We all have the shirts. We got them the first year we did the club. I had another one made for you," he said, picking at the bow on his present.

                I picked up the picture frame. I could download pictures onto it and set it up in my room.

                "I thought..." He shrugged, still not looking at me. "You could put whatever you want on it. But if you want to put Dylan, you can turn the picture frame on and off."

                If I was having a hard day, I could turn it off so I didn't have to see Dylan. But if I wanted to see him, I could put as many pictures as I wanted on the frame.

                "I want pictures of him and you guys on it," I said, gripping it in my hands. "We should take a group picture tonight."

                "Yea, sure, my mom loves taking a million pictures," Tyson said. He unwrapped his present and lifted it out of the box, shooting me a glare.

                "Seriously? A book of puns?" he said.

                I smiled innocently. "Want to cast me out?"

                "I'm going to in a minute," he grumbled, tossing that aside and unwrapping the rest of the gifts in the box. An organizer, a pair of comfy sweatpants, and three movie passes.

                "So you can go with your parents," I said when he eyed the movie passes. "Maybe it'll get you out of fishing."

                His lips twitched as he fought a smile, setting his gifts down. He reached out, gripping my sweater and pulling me in for a quick kiss.

                "Yea, get me out of fishing," he said, releasing my sweater. "Thanks, Nolan."

                "I should be thanking you. You're the reason I'm not sitting alone today and tomorrow," I said. I leaned against his shoulder a little, and he leaned back into me. The slightest contact. The support we were always ready to offer each other. "Thank you, Tyson."

                "Don't get sappy on me," he said, but I could see the hint of a real smile. "Merry Christmas, you filthy animals."

                "Merry Christmas," the others chorused back.

                Tyson put a hand on my knee, a light touch but a warm one. My own smile slipped through. For once, the holidays wouldn't be so hard.

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A.N.- Merry Christmas everyone! I'm sorry this is so??? Rushed and bad?? I almost didn't write anything at all but I found an hour of free time and hurried to have something. If I can find a little more time, I'll try to do another one, so please let me know what story you'd really want to see one for (just one story, I won't have time for more than that). Have a good holiday and be safe!