"I was wondering why you hadn't made it over yet! It's already late afternoon, I thought we met in the mornings." Patton called as he approached his neighbor Roman's front porch. Roman was perched atop the porch banister, clutching the banister to keep himself upright with one hand and a hot chocolate mug in the other. He had been staring forlornly ahead at their neighbors Logan and Virgil, who were both out working on their Christmas decorations for the competition, when Patton had left his house looking for him.

"Right, I'm sorry Patton. I was planning to head over as soon as I'd finished my hot chocolate." Roman said, taking a sip from his mug. "I just... also got a bit distracted."

"I noticed." Patton sent a look across the street, turning back to Roman with a frown. "Y'know, it's still not too late to compete, Roman."

"I know," Roman muttered, hiding behind his coffee mug for a few moments. When he met Patton's eyes again he changed the subject. "Any plans for today then? It's your turn to choose something."

"I didn't realize we were taking turns." Patton said, face scrunching as he started to think of something. Roman smiled at the expression, taking another sip from his cup to hide it as Patton snapped out of it with a happy grin and small hop. "I have an idea!"

"Whatcha got, Puffball?" Roman asked, matching Patton's excitement.

"Well, instead of moping around here looking at Logan and Virgil's Christmas decorations all day, why don't we go look at some other pretty Christmas lights in neighborhoods nearby? Maybe that way you can enjoy some pretty Christmas lights without being reminded too much of last year." Patton suggested, although as he spoke his idea out loud he seemed to grow less and less confident in it. "I mean... unless that'll just make you feel worse. I just figured, maybe you'd like to see some lights just not from-well, I don't know, but-"

"That sounds like a nice idea, Pat." Roman cut him off, smiling. "I'd be happy to do that with you."

"Oh, well, good!" Patton's grin returned, pleased to know Roman liked the idea. "I think this'll be a lot of fun! After all, Christmas lights are the best to look at when you didn't have to put them up yourself. I mean... that's part of the reason for my whole Christmas competition anyways, if I'm being honest."

Roman gasped dramatically, eyes widening. "You mean you, Patton, secretly created this Christmas competition not to bring people joy, or to get everyone excited for the holidays, but for your own personal gain? How could you?"

"It's not only for that reason!" Patton giggled, denying Roman's claim. "Of course I want people to be happy and excited too!"

"No way, you've already admitted it. You, Patton Heart, created your Christmas competition with selfish intent!"

"Oh, fine!" Patton shook his head, still grinning widely. "You're never going to believe otherwise, so let's just get on with looking at the Christmas lights."

****

Not too much later Patton was parking his car outside of a large neighborhood not far from their own, turning off the car and joining Roman on the other side of it to stand on the sidewalk. As soon as he was close enough Roman extended his arm out, making Patton's cheeks warm as he intertwined their arms, standing close by his side.

"These are gonna be the most beautiful Christmas lights you've ever seen!" Patton said confidently as they began their walk down the sidewalk. "Other than your own, of course."

"I'm sure I'll have a great time since I'm here with you." Roman agreed, looking up at the first house with lights they came across. He seemed entirely unaware of the storm of butterflies he had just set off in Patton's stomach or the color that was blooming in his cheeks. He could barely focus on the lights at first, too busy staring at the ground and trying to keep himself together. Even when his nerves did calm down a bit he found it difficult to actually look at the lights that framed the roofs of houses, or the blow up Santas, snowmen, and reindeer. All he saw was the way that the reds, blues, and greens highlighted Roman's face, the way his curly hair shined under the lights.

"Look at their decorations," Roman pointed out excitedly with his free hand, looking towards Patton to see what he thought of it. Patton had to quickly direct his attention to the Disney themed decor and pretend he wasn't just staring at the way the red lights drew attention to Roman's lips, wishing he could kiss him.

"Yeah, they're super cool!" Patton agreed, examining the lights for a few moments before he deemed it safe to look back at Roman. "There's a bunch of cool decorations in this neighborhood. I'm glad we decided to come."

"Me too." Roman agreed as the pair walked further through the neighborhood to look at more lights. "You're right about it being more fun when you didn't have to put them up. I get to enjoy seeing all this cool stuff without having to put any work in to be the best like I usually do. This is... a lot more relaxing. Thanks for suggesting this."

Roman turned to give Patton a smile, stealing the breath from his friends lungs as he did. Patton hummed awkwardly in response, nodding and ignoring the smile he still wanted to press his own lips to. Roman still didn't seem to notice his awkwardness, and the pair continued on walking in silence for some time.

"It's getting colder out here." Patton finally was the one to break the silence this time, wrapping his free arm around himself in an attempt to warm up a small bit.

"I think I can see why!" Roman said excitedly, pointing up in the sky. Patton followed his gaze to find a couple snowflakes drifting gently to the ground, becoming excited himself at the sight.

"It's the first snow of this season! That's amazing!" Patton grinned, letting go of Roman's arm to hold both of his hands out, trying to catch some of the snowflakes on his palm. The two stood and watched for a few minutes as the snow came down, more and more of it slowly beginning to fall.

After a while of trying to catch snow on their tongues Patton shivered and wrapped both arms around himself, smiling over at Roman disappointedly. "I should've dressed a bit warmer today. It's getting a bit too cold already."

"Let's start heading back to the car then," Roman said immediately, stepping closer to Patton and wrapping his arms around his shoulders. He was in a sweater that was much warmer than Patton's thin cardigan, so he figured he might as well try to help Patton stay warm in whatever way he could. "We definitely don't want you getting sick."

"O-Oh, thanks Roman," Patton stuttered, hesitantly leaning into Roman's side. He was a little embarrassed, but Roman was so warm. "Sorry we can't stay out in the snow and see the lights longer though."

"We got to see plenty." Roman assured him, shooting him a smile. He rubbed his hand over Patton's arm, trying to warm him up more. "Now let's just worry about keeping you warm."

"I owe you a hot chocolate for this when we get home." Patton promised. Just because they couldn't stay out longer didn't mean he didn't want to see Roman for longer, and he hoped Roman would like to stay as well.

"I'll definitely hold you to that."