Ok. Last chapter on Christmas.

"Finally!" 2d's mother appeared pleased with the arrival of the rest of the guests. She looked at her husband excitedly, who in turn stood up and headed for the door with a sigh, wondering if the rest of the guests would be better than the demon boy his son was now stuck to. 2d's mom gave one last glance at the two boys and then cheerfully followed. Murdoc could see where 2d got his positive view on life from.

"Who is it?" Murdoc turned to 2d curiously. He spoke quieter than usual, so as not to be heard by the others. 2d just looked at him, he seemed a bit down.

"I've got no idea. Mom wouldn't tell us since she claimed that it was a surprise." Neither of the boys were happy to have more guests join them since it would be more awkward to cuddle; it was already weird when 2d's parents were in the room.

"Marci! Logan!" They heard 2d's father cheer from the hallway. "Long time no see!" 2d's eyes widened as he looked at Murdoc in a panicky way.

"What's wrong...?" Murdoc whispered, slightly worried. "Who is it??"

"Th-They're--" 2d begun but was interrupted by his father.

"Oh! I see you've brought your daughter along too! I'm sure Stuart will be very happy to see her!"

"--Maddie's parents..." 2d looked down, now slightly trembling.

"Shit..." This was bad. Murdoc couldn't let that girl get anywhere near his 2d, not when they were getting so close. It was because of her that 2d finally admitted his feelings to him, true, but before that happened they had to go through a lot of pain and tears. They were good now and didn't need her to come back and fuck things up again. Just looking at 2d's panicked state made Murdoc's blood boil. No, that girl definitely wasn't getting anywhere near 2d...

A switch suddenly flipped in Murdoc's head; "boyfriend mode: activated". He stood up and swapped seats with 2d. By having 2d sit on the edge of the couch, Murdoc made sure that no one else could sit beside him except himself. Murdoc's arm snaked itself around 2d's back to bring him closer, allowing 2d's head to rest on Murdoc's shoulder as they leaned back. 2d was still trembling, wide eyed. He couldn't really understand what Murdoc was doing, but it made him feel a bit safer. Murdoc rested his head on 2d's and watched as 2d wrapped his hands around his torso, cuddling him. The two looked like a perfect couple, Maddie wouldn't stand a chance.

"It's going to be ok..." Murdoc reassured 2d in a whisper as he moved his hand to pet the younger boy's side of the body. 2d exhaled a shaky breath through his mouth in an attempt to calm down.

"M-Murdoc...?" He asked in a shaky voice, to which Murdoc hugged him tighter.

"What is it hon?" The little term of endearment made 2d's heart skip a beat, and planted a toxic thought in his head. I don't deserve such a loving boyfriend... They might have been only technically dating, but 2d liked to ignore the "technically" part.

"My heart hurts..." He looked down. It really did hurt, the guilt from what had happened a few days ago was unbearable.

"No..." Murdoc leaned in and kissed 2d on the head, at the same time bringing his other hand to 2d's face to cup his cheek. "It has no reason to... everything's alright..."

"I'm sorry..." 2d sniffed, on the verge of tears.

"2d--" Murdoc's thumb moved to pet 2d's face. His tone of voice was calm and caring.

"I don't deserve a boyfriend like you..." 2d started trembling more, to which Murdoc just hugged him even tighter.

"No, don't say that. You deserve everything." He spoke, not caring about what as long as 2d felt better. Murdoc was beginning to put his feeling into words, but he had to be careful to make sure that the confession wouldn't slip out... "Stop blaming everything on yourself and for once blame someone else, like her; you can't carry the weight of the whole world on your shoulders. It was a mistake, sure, but you're only human. The important part is that you admitted to it and apologized, and I forgive you..." 2d sniffed again, now further from the tears. Murdoc really had a way with words, that's why he was so good at writing songs.

"Thanks Mudz..." 2d whimpered. "You always make me feel better..." Murdoc smirked and kissed 2d's fluffy hair again.

"It's going to be alright." He stated confidently. "I'm going to be here for you the whole time, and I'm not going to let you go~." 2d sighed and cuddled himself more into Murdoc.

"HAHAHAHA!" 2d's father's loud, over exaggerated laugh snapped them out of their little moment. Logan, also known as mr Barnett, must have cracked a joke. "Come on, let's go to the living room! Why are we all still standing here?" 2d tensed when hearing this sentence, but Murdoc quickly calmed him down. They listened as 2d's father ordered 2d's mom and mrs Barnett to bring two chairs from the dining table to sit on. "And Maddie dear..." 2d's heart sank at the name. "Why won't you go on ahead and sit on the couch by Stuart?" He grinned.

"Ok..." Murdoc noticed that her voice was very shy. Despite what he already thought of her, she sounded nice; definitely like someone who could've been 2d's best friend back in the day.

"I hope they get along." 2d's father laughed to mr Barnett. He had ulterior motives in this; he wanted his son and Maddie to start dating, so that Stuart wouldn't be so miserable all the time and have an actual reason to live. Little did he know that Stuart already had a reason to live, and that reason wasn't going to let 2d's father's plans become reality.

Neither of the boys dared turn around as they felt, and heard, a presence enter the room. The footsteps soon got closer and a girl came into view. She was average height with shaggy brown hair tied into two messy braids, she had a curious face expression. Her dark beady eyes seemed to glow with interest as she eyed the two on the couch. She didn't really look like a threat, just an average girl, and that's why Murdoc made a note to not trust anyone when it came to keeping 2d for himself.

"So you must be the famous Murdoc I've heard so much about, huh?" Upon closer examination, Maddie's voice sounded kinda nerdy. She kept her hands behind her back until she sat down a safe distance from Murdoc, who in turn adjusted his sitting position with 2d to not turn his back to her. For safety purposes.

"Yeah." Murdoc grumbled while staring her down. 2d stayed silent and looked at the ground, acting like it was completely normal for him to be cuddling with a guy. "And I'm guessing you're Maddie." The girl nodded.

"Me and Stuart used to be pretty close before, but I'm not sure he still considers me a friend after what happened recently..." She looked down, faking remorse. Murdoc knew that she was just trying to make 2d feel bad about what happened, probably because he ran away from her. Maddie wasn't a great actor, but someone as innocent and naive as 2d could easily be fooled.

"Yeah." Murdoc cut her off in a mean way. "So I've heard."

"He told you what happened...?" Maddie looked up again, seemingly taken aback. "That we--"

"You." Murdoc interrupted. "Don't pretend 2d was a part of this." He stated sourly.

"S T U A R T." 2d's mother harshly corrected as she and mrs Barnett brought the two chairs. They placed them on either side of the couch to form a semicircle. With the arrival of the adults, the teenagers knew that this was the end of their conversation. "Now." 2d's mom spoke more calmly. "Anyone want a drink?" Mr Barnett requested a coffee and Maddie a tea, the rest politely declined.

"Isn't this great Stuart?" 2d's father turned to him as his mom went to the kitchen to get the drinks. He took a moment to look at the two boys disapprovingly before quickly masking his displeasure with a fake smile. He didn't want the Barnett's to have a bad opinion about their family. The two adult visitors were already exchanging curious glances about the scene in front of them. "The Barnett's were in the area for Christmas and your mother came up with the brilliant idea to have them over. You must be thrilled to see your old friend again, right Stuart?"

"Y-Yeah..." 2d mumbled into Murdoc's chest. The conversation then continued as each of the Barnett parents took a chair, and 2d's father sat on the other end of the couch. He did wonder why his wife decided to invite Murdoc over at the same time as the Barnett's, but it would be impolite to ask right now.

The answer was that 2d's mother saw a potential threat in 2d being alone with Maddie without Murdoc, especially that she knew 2d's father's motives to get the two to date. What set her on track to invite Murdoc, however, was that the day 2d was supposed to meet with Maddie, she found him on top of Murdoc and making out with him. She noticed that her sons face was red from not only a blush, but also tears, and seeing that 2d was the one on top of Murdoc, it must have been Maddie who made him cry.

Soon 2d's mother re-emerged from the kitchen with the beverages, handing them to the appropriate people. She sat down on the armrest of the couch beside her husband and joined the conversation, which 2d and Murdoc weren't necessarily a part of. Maddie looked down at her steaming tea and decided to take a sip. Observing how her head lightly jerked back and she scrunched up her face, Murdoc assumed that she burnt her tongue.

"Burn bitch." He chuckled darkly in a low voice that only 2d and Maddie could hear. 2d smiled and Maddie looked at Murdoc in astonishment. The audacity! She thought.

"Hey Stuart." She suddenly spoke up in a sour voice as she put her cup down, catching the attention of the adults. "I've got a question for you." She spoke confidently, fully aware that all the attention was on her. "You can only answer 'yes' or 'no', ok?"

"S-Sure..." 2d mumbled unsurely. Murdoc didn't support this, she clearly had something bad in mind.

"Ok." She smiled. "Do your parents know that you're gay?" Murdoc raised an eyebrow.

"Uh..." 2d thought for a moment. "Wait a minute...!" He stated as he realised that no matter what he answered he'd have to admit that he's gay. The room was filled with laughter at the joke, with only mr Barnett stating that this was inappropriate.

"Heh, the answer's no." Murdoc chuckled. "He hasn't come out yet." This earned him a bit more laughter.

"H-Hey...!" 2d turned to him with a pout.

"Actually." 2d's mom spoke up. "I know, it's his David that's still in denial." She laughed.

"Excuse me??" 2d's father raised his eyebrows, but soon continued laughing with the crowd. Once the laughter died down, Maddie's parents turned to 2d and Murdoc.

"So how did you two meet?" Her mom asked nicely with a smile.

"He's the punk that crushed his car into my son's face." 2d's father barked before any of the boys had a chance to answer. A gasp or two were heard and the Barnett's exchanged worried, wide eyed looks.

"That's not entirely true." Murdoc spoke up. "I crashed my car into his face twice." He smirked. 2d's mother face palmed.

"Mudz!" 2d scowled at him. "You can't say that!"

"What? It's true." Murdoc shrugged.

"Wh-What?" Maddie's parents seemed taken aback.

"I can't believe you're talking about it as if it's nothing!" 2d's father snapped. "You ruined my son's life!" The room went quiet. 2d glared at his dad.

"I'm getting the feeling you don't want Murdoc to be here." 2d pouted. Uh oh. 2d's mother thought. Now he's offended. I can't believe how overprotective they are of each other...

"You're right! I don't!" 2d's father growled, now noticing his son's angry and disapproving look. All the while, Murdoc didn't even look bothered by this.

"Fine." 2d huffed. "Then we're leaving!" He stood up and grabbed Murdoc's hand, leading him towards the door.

"What? Both of you?" 2d's father shouted after them, surprised.

"Yeah!" 2d shouted back from the hallway as they put their coats on. "I won't sit here and listen to you disrespecting my-- ...Murdoc!" And just as he said that, the door was slammed shut, inviting silence and bewilderment into the house.

- -

2d and Murdoc walked in silence for a while. They were now in a park nearby 2d's house. Worried, Murdoc decided that it was time to cheer 2d up.

"Hey 2d, come on, cheer up!" He grinned and snaked his hand into 2d's. "It's Christmas, no time for a bad mood. C'mon, how about singing a carol?"

"I'm not in the mood for singing..." 2d mumbled while looking down. He sighed, trying to calm down.

"Then I'll sing!" Murdoc suggested cheerfully.

"You...?" 2d looked up at him. "I've never heard you sing before..."

"That's because I'm so good at it that you'd grow self conscious about your own voice!" Murdoc joked.

"Oh yeah?" 2d chuckled, somehow not believing what Murdoc was saying. "Then why don't you sing in the band instead of me, hmm?" He smiled smugly.

"Because I just loooove your voice." Murdoc smirked, momentarily leaning closer. This made 2d blush, especially since he knew that Murdoc wasn't a fan of using the 'L word'.

"O-Ok then, sing." 2d asked as he bit his lip. Murdoc cleared his throat, full of confidence.

"It's beginning to look a lot like~" 2d giggled, Murdoc's voice sounded like a dying seagull. He smiled at the poor Christmas carol, his mood now lifted. "Murder~"

"Murdoc!" The boy in question chuckled. "That's not how that song goes!" 2d complained jokingly, to which Murdoc continued chuckling.

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself." Murdoc looked at 2d, who pretended to pout, but then his face turned into one of astonishment and he stopped in his tracks. Murdoc stopped with him. "2d? What's wrong?"

"Mudz, look..." 2d blinked a few times and looked around. Murdoc followed his lead. "It's snowing..."

"Woah..." Murdoc was a bit surprised too. "Snow? In England? On Christmas??" He questioned. The air was white with flakes, which only just begun settling on the green grass. Few were very visible in 2d's vibrant blue hair.

"It's a Christmas miracle!" 2d cheered, gaining eye contact with Murdoc.

"You know what else is a miracle?" Murdoc stepped closer and cupped 2d's cheek in his hand. "You..." He leaned in and allowed his lips to connect with 2d's warm ones. They closed their eyes, enjoying their special Christmas kiss. Everything around them seemed to stop, and the snow made everything look beautiful. It was truly magical. <3

I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day! If not, here's a picture of my dog!