Mistletoe (Because It’s Christmas)

Cody tapped his foot. He hated waiting for the bus, especially in this bitter cold. Even in two sweaters and a winter jacket, he still felt like his arms and legs were coated in a layer of snow.

He had a lot to think about this Christmas. On top of quarantine, he was thinking about coming out to his parents.

There was a LOVE IS LOVE button on his suitcase. Not very subtle, but Cody was never subtle. Even when he was younger and he wore a dress to his senior prom (lucky his parents hadn't heard about that, he would have been grounded for life). But his conservative parents had passed away of COVID last month.

Cody was torn between grief and a sickening sense of relief. He dreaded his parents finding out about his sexuality. He was always worried about their reaction, their lectures, their horror. And of course, there was the whole mask thing... a bitter part of Cody almost thought they deserved it, going like that.

But every time he dared think like that, it was accompanied by a wave of self-hate and sadness. They were his parents. Even if they were sexist, racist, homophobic shitholes, they had raised him. His dad taught him self defense after a bully pushed him down the steps at school, hospitalizing him for broken limbs and a concussion for weeks. His mom had always made the best Christmas dinners, always going overboard to make everyone's favorites. She made a killer chocolate cake. Now he'd never be able to have any of that again.

But this year, he no longer had his parents to worry about. And he owed it to his brother to come out. These past few months had been hell. He'd lost his job, been evicted from his apartment. And his brother had offered him a place to stay. If Cody was ever going to be in a relationship, he didn't want to scare the shit out of Allen by coming home with a guy. He wanted to make sure he was okay with it first.

Just thinking about it made his heart feel like lead.

Was Allen any different from his parents? Him and Cody were so close as kids, twins usually are, but Allen had always been Dad's favorite. They were so close.

Would Allen accept him?

Cody had thought about just sending an email. A text. But words felt too... impersonal. As awkward as it was going to be, Cody wanted to say things face to face.

Someone tapped on his shoulder, and Cody was so lost in his thoughts that he literally flinched.

"Sorry," he says, spinning around. "Am I in your way?"

He instantly curses himself for being so awkward. The shoulder-tapper is a very good looking man. He was tall, thin but not too thin: you could see that the weight he did have was pure muscle, and he had shaggy dark hair.

"No," says the beautiful man with a shy smile. "I just wanted to warn you that you're standing under the mistletoe. A guy as good looking as you is bound to get kissed sooner or later."

Cody stares at the hot guy, too stunned to speak, a blush creeping up his face. Cody fidgets with his mask, making sure it covers his reddening face.

"You caught me."

"Well, it's Christmas, and we're both under the mistletoe."

Cody's blush deepened, a feat he didn't even know was possible. He imagined he looked like a cherry tomato, mask or no mask.

I'm a grown man, he thinks. Why does this make me feel like a teenager again?

The stranger kisses him, still with his mask on. It's weird, but also sort of pleasant. For a second, Cody is too stunned to react, and it's a moment before he remembers that a kiss goes two ways.

"Well," says the dark-haired stranger. He fiddles with his own mask. "I probably should have asked for your name before I did that."

Cody takes a moment to respond, studying the sly look in the man's eyes. Ever so often, his eyes slide to the suitcase.

The pin. He saw the pin. Cody isn't sure whether this is a good thing or a bad thing.

"Cody," he says. "My name is Cody. Cody Underwood. Yours?"

"I'm Francis. Francis Freedman. Stupid name, I know. Please, call me Frank. We're already so well aquainted."

Despite himself, Cody blushes again.

"Yeah, I guess we are."

"Where you headed for the holidays?"

"My brother's. I've been having a rough time lately. He's offered to let me stay."

"Seems like a nice guy."

"He is. Well, he doesn't know about... me. Yet. I'm going to tell him. So he knows what he's getting into."

Frank laughs. "Hope all goes well."

"Me too," Cody says. He's not sure why he's telling Frank all of this. Maybe because it's Christmas, he's lonely, and it's about damn time something good happens. "If it doesn't, I'm pretty fucked."

"Well, sounds like you need another kiss. For luck."

This time, the stranger pulls down his mask and Cody's, and for a few seconds, Cody is able to forget about the coronavirus altogether. For a few seconds he forgets his anxiety, he forgets about his brother, he forgets about the cold, and all he can think about is Frank.

Which is fine, until he hears a familiar voice.

"Am I interrupting something?"

The voice of his brother.

His brother who lives two hours away and wasn't supposed to be at the bus station.

"Uh.... hi Allen. I guess... no? Maybe?" Numbly, Cody points at the mistletoe, swaying innocently in the winter breeze. "I was standing in... a lucky spot? I guess? Why are you here?"

"I came to pick you up. Didn't want you to be on a bus full of people. But I guess someone picked you up first."

"I was... I was going to... to tell you. Sorry it has to be like this. I wanted to tell you in person, this was sort of unexpected, and..."

Frank looks on in silent amusement.

"Cody, be real. I've known for ages."

"Whaaaaat?" Cody can't control the long drawl in his syllables.

"Cody, I'm your twim brother. I know all kinds of shit Mom and Dad don't know. Didn't know." Allen corrects himself with glazed eyes.

"You caught me." Cody can't think of anything better to say, so he repeats what he said to Frank a few minutes earlier.

"So.. are we inviting this nice fella over for dinner?"

"I just met him," Cody says. "I told you. It was sort of an accident."

"But...." Allen looks at him with a smile on his face. "You are going to add a 'but,' right?"

Cody rolls his eyes with a grin. The whole twin-shared-mind thing must be true after all.

"But he's kinda hot, and we did just share germs, so might as well. Besides, Laura always makes extra."

"Damn right she does," Allen says, snapping his fingers with a grin. "You going anywhere special, Mr. Mystery Man, or do you want to come with us?"

"I'm Frank," says "Mr. Mystery Man," smiling. "And no, I've got no plans. I can call in sick for work; I was thinking about calling in anyway. So yeah, I'll come along. Sorry for the intrusion."

"No intrusion at all," Allen says, still grinning like a toddler on Christmas morning. "Any friend of Cody is a friend of mine. But... not a boyfriend of mine. That would be weird."

Cody laugha and shovae Allen.

"Stop, you asshole, you're embarrassing me!"

"You love it when I embarrass you," Allen says.

"No, I don—"

"Follow me! Let's get away from the crowd!" Allen says with a sleazy wink.

"I'm going to murder you," I mutter, but I tug Frank towards Allen's car anyway.

Even in my fake anger, I'm grinning like an idiot.

Amidst all the sorrow of this year, I think I can still have a great Christmas.