I've always wanted to go camping. Ever since I saw this scene in one of my mother's TV shows, I haven't stopped dreaming about it. Usually in my dreams I was either alone, or with Alejo. This time, however, it was Mr. Andonov's misty grey eyes that stared back at me. What the fuck was he doing in my dream?

We were popping corn over the campfire as he told me the story about how he met his wife. It was weird because I've heard this exact same story a year ago and still, Mr. Andonov from my dream said it word by word as he did back then. He even raked a hand through his short dark hair in the same manner as he got to the part where his future wife was dancing in the rain, on a deserted street in the middle of the night, the street lights casting a gentle glow over her elegant form.

"She looked at me with those beautiful baby blue eyes of hers and I swear my heart stopped beating! Only for a few brief seconds but it felt like decades have passed, whole generations have lived their lives and died, and we were still there, gazing at each other's eyes. And her smile... Oh, her smile! She can brighten my whole world with her smile..."

The love in his eyes as he talked about her spoke volumes and I woke up wondering if someone would ever talk about me with the same love and affection as Mr. Andonov whenever he mentioned his wife. Would I meet my one and only? Would my heart skip a beat? Would I have the feeling my whole life up until that point was just a route leading to that person? The one I'm destined to be with. Do I even have a soulmate? It seems unfair only a blessed few to have the privilege of eternal love and happiness.

"Good morning!" Stoyan reminded me of his presence.

No, it wasn't him. My heart did not flutter when he was near.

"Morning," I greeted him back without much enthusiasm. I still haven't forgiven him about cheating on Maxim. But ultimately I've decided I won't be the one to tell him about it. After all, I've known both of them for less than a month. As close as I've felt them right now, it wasn't any of my business. And Maxim was upset enough over his mother anyway. There was no point burdening him even more, considering whatever Stoyan and Noah shared had no future. That, and I didn't want them breaking up and having to pick sides. I would be supposed to side with Maxim, of course, but still... I kinda liked Stoyan more. He reminded me of Pavel in a way. He was like an anchor to my past. The part of it that meant something.

Stoyan's sleepy green eyes settled my worries. I sneaked out of bed and left our room without stumbling over tin foil, the faint pain in my chest subduing as the day went on. There IS someone for me. Somewhere... Probably wondering right now if they'll ever meet me as well.

I brushed my teeth without any issues. No weird colouring substance, or mayo, or anything like that. So far so good.

"Why did you promise them no pranks?" I heard Noah whine as I entered the living room.

Both brothers were sitting on the sofa, still in their pajamas, a mayhem of gift wrappers scattered around them.

"It's not like we had anything interesting planned anyway," Adam answered. "Maybe it's time to... I don't know... Grow up?" Said the man that rose before the rooster crows so he can open his Christmas presents. The same man that found it funny to feed me Sriracha cookies and wash them down with mouthwash.

"Good morning," I greeted them with a fake smile.

"Good morning, fresh meat!" Adam grinned at me, raking his eyes over my body. Only then did I realise that I still had no pants on. "I've got something for you!" He wiggled his brows at me.

I've decided to ignore the double meaning and hesitantly approached the hurricane of gift wrappers with the elegance of a cat. I placed my skinny butt at the edge of the sofa and batted my eyelashes at him. "What did you get me, baby?"

His deep brown eyes widened in surprise at my behaviour but he recovered rather quickly from whatever crossed his mind and handed me one of the presents with a coy smile. "You'll see!"

"Not one of your pranks I hope?" I tilted my head to the side as I took the present from him. It was the size of a thin book but it didn't feel like one in my hands. It was wrapped in plain brown paper, with a little silver star as decoration and the label 'to: radomir'. I loved that he used my real name for the gift tag, even though it was written with a lower case.

"I wouldn't think of it!" Adam stated with such conviction that I believed him.

"I would!" His brother grumbled behind him.

I almost had half of the wrapper off, enough to show there was a photo frame inside, when I realised it probably wasn't very civilised of me to unwrap my present without Stoyan or our hostess, which was probably the one that bought it to begin with.

"Uhm, shouldn't we wait for your mother?" I asked just as Stoyan entered the room, fully dressed, unlike me, with the stupid llama sweater on. "I got a present!" I grinned at my friend like a little kid that experiences Christmas for the first time. And in a way, I did. I somehow felt the Christmas spirit in this family. It was never present in mine.

"Sweet," Stoyan rewarded me with a faint smile, his green eyes still somewhat bored and sleepy.

He took a few steps towards us but made no move to sit next to Noah. I was too ecstatic to overanalyse his actions though.

"Go ahead! Open it!" Adam urged me. "Our mom will sleep at least till noon."

"Ok..." My fingers fumbled with the paper, revealing what I already knew was a photo frame. It was plain and white but the photo that it encased was... Of me. And Stoyan. Sleeping. Together.

And I was the little spoon.

"You were so cute I couldn't resist!" Adam said in a totally non-creepy way. Yes, watching someone as they sleep and taking photos of them is not creepy at all.

I turned my attention towards Stoyan, raising up the invasive photograph so he can see it. I watched for his reaction, especially since I had no idea how I was supposed to respond to this. On one hand, it was kinda nice of them that they even thought about giving me, or us, a little something. On the other hand... I couldn't suppress the chill that ran down my spine when I saw it.

Stoyan just shrugged his shoulders, hands in pockets. Was he not at least a little bit disturbed by this?

I turned towards Adam, very very slowly, blinking once or twice at the intensity of his gaze. "Uhm, thanks?" I uttered, my voice wavering as I spoke. "For the invasion of privacy?"

Noah burst out laughing, clutching at his stomach as he choked on his own breath. The sounds that he made at this very moment could only be compared to a dying seagull. For a second there I thought that socking him in the jaw would fix the sound but... I'm too much of a nice guy for that.

"You don't like it?" Adam looked almost innocent.

"You seem to not be familiar with people's personal boundaries," I stated with a firmer tone. And I spent the next few minutes explaining to a guy a few years older than me how taking photos of people as they sleep, without their permission, was wrong and he shouldn't have done that. Ever!

He seemed to understand. Or at least he nodded his head as a sign that he did as I lectured him.

By the time I was done, even Noah stopped laughing and was paying attention to what I was saying. I felt like their mother, handling naughty children. And they were older than me! Both of them! They were already grown-ups for fuck's sake! And they still acted like little kids? Even if their mother wasn't much of an example, didn't they have classmates or friends they could look up to? Were all of their friends so childish and ill-mannered?

Look at me, sounding like an old man! And it was all these guys' fault! I wouldn't be surprised if by the end of my stay I started spotting grey hairs.

I didn't though. They actually behaved from that point on. For the whole week that we stayed with them. Talk about Christmas miracles!

I've noticed their mother regarding me with something akin to admiration but we never discussed what I said to her children to make them bearable. They even helped her with the cleaning without her having to ask. Ot at least Adam did. Maybe he just wanted to get on my good side. I don't know.

Our whole stay there from that point on was surreal.

They did have some glitter jumping out of one of the presents, straight in Stoyan's face, but Noah swore it was an accident and he just forgot to remove it from the rest. No one believed his excuse but we let it slide. And spent the next few days playing video games and eating yummy dishes prepared by their mother. I think I even managed to gain some weight.

Who would've thought?

•~°•♤•°~•