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snazzlie · 10 hours ago

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A Quarter to Something

‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹

Masterlist

Pairing: Zach Hadel x gn!Reader

Warnings: Depression; Burnout; Mentions of Alcohol; Drug use (weed); Angst with happy ending

A/N: Song fic spotted! I guess you could count this as a vent fic? It's a little all over the place but I still hope you enjoy! (Translated lyrics are at the bottom ^^)

‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹

It was okay that no one noticed that you weren’t doing alright.

At least that’s what you kept telling yourself.

You didn’t want to bother them, where were you even supposed to start? Most of the stress that had befallen you was due to your own procrastination anyway. If you were just a little more ambitious- no.

You WERE ambitious.

The problem wasn’t a lack of motivation for the matter. But then again, you couldn’t figure out what the actual issue was.

“Alright, I’m tired as fuck. Think I’m gonna head home.”

Chris’ voice snapped you out of your spiraling thoughts. A quick glance at the monitor nearest to you told you that they stopped recording.

You weren’t an active part of any of the episodes. More so taking the role of a regular viewer that just happened to also be in the room and occasionally joining in on the conversations.

No one forced you to be a part of the channel but you liked just spending time with your friends in this way. Especially if, like today, Tomar, Chris and Zach were playing a horror game. The tension in the room and the nervous jokes or Chris’ attempts at spooking Zach were able to take your mind for a little vacation. Away from all the deadlines and responsibilities. They seemed to melt away in the dark of the room and the soft couch.

For the most part at least.

“Sure, me too, I think. (Y/n), you need a ride?” Tomar stretched after standing up. The session today had been going on for like 8 hours. So naturally his back made a sound which caused everyone to collectively ask if he was alright.

“Uh, no I think I’m gonna stay a little longer. Don’t really wanna go home into my cold room.”

This year’s winter had been surprisingly tough and of course right when you needed it the most, your heater malfunctioned. The worst part is that your landlord was on vacation and like landlords often are, he didn’t want you to call a professional and would rather look at the issue himself. “That’d just be additional costs that aren’t necessary.”. With an eye roll and a shiver you had turned off your phone after he sent you that message.

So that is why you spent the majority of your time at the office. That and the fact that you didn’t feel like being alone.

“Alright then.”

And with that, Chris and Tomar said their goodbyes.

Left were you and Zach. A comfortable silence filled the room as he turned off the game consoles and put everything away as neatly as possible. Meanwhile you stayed on the couch, watching him intently. As if him tidying up was anything special.

“You know, I could take a look at your heater.”

“Huh?”

His back was turned to you as he made his offer. You could only make out his silhouette in the dim moonlight that now flooded the room after Zach opened the curtains and opened the windows for a bit. The air in here was probably horrible now that you thought about it.

“Your heater. I mean, I’m no electrician or whatever the fuck you call the guys that fix heaters but the internet is free so…”

You laughed a little at his ramblings.

“As much as I’d appreciate it, you’d have to look at the whole unit. It’s not just mine that’s broken.”

“Oh”

Again, silence. Although now it was a little more awkward since Zach had already put everything away. Leaving him to awkwardly stand in the room, looking straight at you. Who was awkwardly sitting on the couch.

He looked kind of pretty like this.

“Uh, you wanna like, smoke something?”

“Gods, yes.”

And with that you both left the recording room and opted for the shared kitchen and living room.

You sat down again on one of the black bar stools, waiting for Zach to get his bearings. It had been a long time since you two smoked together. Not just a long time ago.. Almost half a year.

The realization hit you like a truck. Has it really been that long?

“Alright, you want me to roll one for you?” You just nodded. He stood across from you now, getting busy with the joints while you still pondered over what else you had neglected. This whole train of thought seemed surreal although not extraordinary. Most days did feel like a blur after some time.

“Here you go.” He handed the joint to you and you absentmindedly took it from him and put it between your lips.

Your head felt empty as you watched him take the lighter that was on the counter and bring it up to you.

His gaze was unwavering as he lit up the joint, you stared right back at him. A strange melancholy washing over you.

Why did you suddenly have to feel this way? Nothing really changed. Sure, university did get harder sometimes but that wasn’t anything new. Why did you suddenly buckle under familiar pressure?

A shiver ran through your body. Even though the heater in the office worked, it was still cold. The snow outside becoming a visual representation of that very feeling.

Suddenly, Zach sighed, pulling you back to reality.

“What the fuck is going on (y/n)?” He sounded angry. Why did he sound angry? Did you do something?

Of course he was angry. You hadn’t spent time like this together for half a year and now you’re pretending like nothing is wrong. He probably felt like you were just avoiding him.

Tears started to form in your eyes. Why did you always have to mess everything up? Even your friendships you couldn’t properly care for. It wasn’t enough that you were on the verge of missing a dozen deadlines, you also had to push away everyone around you that supported you.

“Hey? Fuck I didn’t mean to- what’s going on?”

His hand was now gripping your arm that was laying on the counter, softly caressing the skin with his thumb while his other hand still held the joint.

You didn’t even notice that you started crying. Frantically you tried to wipe away the tears that were running down your face with the side of your hand that was free.

“You can talk to me, you know? I’m sorry I sounded like a douche just now.”

His thumb never stopped gently going back and forth on your arm. He patiently looked at you and waited for your sobs to quiet down. Waiting for you to be able to speak.

“I’m sorry..”

It was barely audible but it was enough for another wave of sobs to start.

“Shh, shh it’s fine I’m- uhm, just, try to breathe.”

You felt horrible for doing this to him. Overwhelming him and dumping this breakdown onto him while he probably just wanted to have a chill session with the two of you. Why couldn’t you just leave things as they are?

“I just- I hate that I feel so empty.” You said, taking a shaky breath. Your eyes were averting his.

Zach’s hand left your arm and that is when you finally looked up again. He walked around the counter to sit beside you, his body turned to you and his hand finding your again. Touching it lightly, asking you to keep going.

“All this university stuff-” you gulped down another sob. “And I haven’t been handing in work for so long, I think I’m failing so hard right now.”

You took an unsure hit from your still burning joint, hoping it would ease the feelings if only for a little bit.

Zach nodded carefully. “Can I help you with anything? I’m no scholar but maybe if you-”

“No, it’s not that I have difficulties understanding or doing any of the work, it's just that I- I can’t.” You cut him off. Maybe it was rude but you didn’t want him to waste any energy in trying to help you when he couldn’t.

“And I have so many messages from professors and whatnot that are asking me why I haven’t handed something in or why I am so late with everything but I can’t even answer them.”

Zach nodded again, his brows furrowed in an expression of deep concern.

“And the worst part is, I can’t even bring myself to care.” You finished, tears forming once again.

You had no idea if it was burnout or just seasonal depression or both at the same time but it was bad. You felt so empty inside for such a long time that you didn’t even realize how bad you were hurting.

The sudden breakdown in front of one of your friends was the thing that now made you realize how bad you actually were.

For the first time in half a year, you felt something. Even if it was hurt, you were thankful.

“I’m sorry.. I can’t do much to help you then.. If it makes you feel any better though, I noticed.”

You looked up at him and his eyes were meeting yours in a way which was almost too much to bear. “Don’t think I didn't care or just chose to ignore you. I see how you come in here. How every interaction just feels like I’m talking to a shell or a husk or whatever. I just- I didn’t know if you wanted to speak about it at all.”

Now it was his turn to look away.

“You know, I think you’ve just been trying too much. You always try to put like 200% into anything when even 50% would be more than enough.”

It wasn’t funny but it made you chuckle and you could see the little smile which tugged at the corners of his mouth once he heard you.

“I’m sorry I came onto you this strongly before. I just missed you.”

His eyes met yours again and in that moment something clicked.

“Zach?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I do something?”

He nodded with a confused expression.

You slowly leant forward until your lips met his cheek, giving him a small kiss. It was an innocent gesture. The fact that he sat here with you and listened was enough. That is what you had needed for so long and even if it wouldn’t magically solve all of your problems, the fact that there was someone like him that you could turn to, made everything much more bearable.

You noticed the blush that crept onto his face, but you only smiled.

After a second of silence he spoke up.

“Fucking- gay ass interaction.” He huffed, causing both of you to giggle.

You sat there for a little longer, the conversation shifting from one topic to another as you finished the first joints.

Throughout the evening you found yourself actually laughing. And not a forced or pitiful one but actually having the urge to laugh out loud.

You were glad that the high resulted in a giggly one and not circling back around to a melancholy horror trip.

“Fuck dude that’s- no that’s actually so horrible.” You were trying to catch your breath, your body bending over as you were laughing.

“Well- I wasn’t popular I guess, drinking alone wasn’t so bad though.”

Your hand found its way to Zach’s leg, trying to stabilize yourself while also trying to show empathy after the heartbreaking story of his 16th birthday.

“If I had known you back then I would have come!”

“No! Now that would have been sad, imagine inviting like seven people and only one shows up, that's even worse than no one being there.” He was also giggling at the thought.

“Thank you though, I would have shared my bottle that I wasn’t legally allowed to drink.”

“What a gentleman.” You feigned, raising your brows at him.

Zach then stood up, preparing to roll two new joints for the two of you.

As he stood there, you couldn’t help but stare at him.

The shirt that he was wearing was unbuttoned at the top, showing way too much of his chest for your gaze to be an innocent one. You rested your chin on your hand as you continued watching him.

“What?” His fingers were still busy rolling as he questioned you. The slight smile on his face as he spoke looked way too good on him.

“Hm?” Your eyes shot up from his collarbones up to his face, a smug expression now adorning it.

“See something you like?.” He grinned at you.

Fucker.

You snatched the second joint from his hands, earning an amused ‘hey’ from Zach. Quickly lighting that one as well, you tried to block out all of the images that suddenly flooded your head. What a weird thing to think about a friend.

“I know it’s freezing like a bitch out there but do you wanna go outside?”

He almost sounded like a child when he asked that. And who were you to deny him that excitement?

Both of you quickly put on your winter clothes. The emphasis was on ‘tried’ because the both of you were not smart enough to make the process easier by simply putting aside the joints.

As the both of you stepped out on the snowy balcony, you were immediately met with a biting cold. Climate change didn’t come to play it seems.

“Holy shit- when did we go back to my place?” You joked, rubbing your hands together in an attempt to create some minimal warmth.

“I wish you were joking but I genuinely believe you.” Zach laughed but was immediately distracted by the condensation when he spoke.

You stepped over to the edge, arms resting on the railing and looking out into the street. The snow looked really soft in the dim light.

Zach came up right beside you, out of you peripheral vision you saw his face turning to you and him taking another hit from his joint. You didn’t pay any mind to it until you felt him blowing the smoke right back at your face.

“Eh! Fuck you man.” You laughed and returned the gesture, causing his head to jerk back and giggling at you.

You had definitely missed this. Although the atmosphere was different now that it was winter. Usually in summer, Zach and you would sit on the balcony for hours, Adam joining in 99% of the time. Now though, with the silence brought by the dead of night and the noise dampening snow it felt a lot more.. intimate.

“Thank you for opening up to me by the way. It means a lot.”

You nodded, a quiet ‘thank you for listening’ leaving your shivering lips.

Again, you saw Zach’s head turning to you.

“I swear to god, if you blow more smoke into my face I will throw an entire snowball into yours.” You giggled, your gaze still lingering on the snow-covered streets beneath you.

“I didn’t wanna do that.” “Yeah right.”

You could see his smile.

You couldn’t help but blush.

“You’re cold.” He stated, his deadpan delivery causing you to chuckle.

“No shit, sherlock. Got any more wise words of wisdom?” Now you turned to him, a challenging look on your face.

“Hold your horses there buddy, just wanted to ask if you wanted to come closer.”

He removed the hand which wasn’t holding his joint from his jacket’s pocket, slightly lifting his arm- inviting you.

And there it was again, that dumb smug grin that made you instinctively look away in embarrassment.

“C’mon, I know you’re freezing to death right now.”

Fucker.

You sighed internally. You knew that you didn’t have to. You could just ask to go back inside but the choice didn’t really matter. Cause you didn’t want to have the choice.

Without a word you stepped closer to him. Probably the closest that you ever were to him now that you thought about it.

His arms rested on your shoulder and pulled you closer into him. Hopefully he couldn’t hear your heart because you felt like it was gonna jump right out and strangle him in a fit of emotional overload.

It got quiet again and you felt warmer. His smell was intoxicating and as you took the last hit off of your joint you let out a sigh to which Zach looked down at you.

“I like you.”

You forced yourself to look up at him. You swore that you felt him trying to pull you even closer to him when your eyes met.

Maybe it would be okay. Maybe if he stayed with you it would get better.

“I like you too.”

He smiled down at you. No matter how long it would take for you to feel better he’d be there and he’d listen.

You didn’t kiss that night.

Because all that mattered was that you and him stood there, losing yourself in the moment.

For once willingly losing the concept of time as the clock struck a quarter to something.

‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹

(Translated by me so it's rough)

It’s a marvel

How the birds

Sit there on the power line

It surely is a miracle

But somehow

It doesn’t really matter

It’s scandalous

That they’re tearing down the house right here

It surely is a disgrace

But what was here to begin with anyway?

A city demonstrates

But I don’t care

Everything passes by me

I am the epitome of boredom

The only thing I know

Is that I can’t stand myself when I’m alone

A warm breeze blows

It gently lies down on your forehead

A warm breeze blows

Blows through your window at night

And somehow

I wish that I could be that

But it’s all over

I am the epitome of boredom

The only thing I know

Is that I can’t stand myself when I’m alone

When I was at your place

For the very first time

We laid there on the carpet

It was a quarter to something

I can’t remember how it happened

But from then on, nothing else mattered

And now it’s all over

I am the epitome of boredom

A glance at your eyes is all it takes

And I can’t stand myself when I’m alone

#oney plays #zach hadel

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snazzlie · 8 days ago

Text

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹

Masterlist

Pairing: OneyPlays Crew X gn!reader

Warnings: Mentions of Weed; Alcohol Consumption; Sexual Innuendos

A/N: A small little Christmas Fic that is mostly platonic! Does feature some flirting but all in good fun :)

‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹

“Dude be careful. Careful now… CAREFUL!”

“I am careful you annoying critter!”

THUMP

Christmas ornaments rolling over the wet floor and a wide-eyed Lyle standing on top of a shaky and rusty ladder, holding up a christmas star in one hand with the objective of putting it on the now fallen tree.

“You fucking retard oh my god!”

Oh, and Zachs screaming as he stood there with this hands at his hips, looking at Lyle like a disappointed mother after her child inevitably fucked up.

That was only one of the scenes which greeted you as you had entered the office on Christmas Eve. Not to mention Adam and Cory’s attempt at baking cookies which you could smell throughout the entire house.

“You guys need any help?” You laughed as you watched Zach pick up various ornaments. You put the presents you had brought on the couch, seeing as there was currently no tree to put them under.

“Yeah I need you to take Lyle out back and put that dumb christmas star between his eyes and through his skull.”

“Well if someone hadn’t been stressing me out the entire time, maybe I would have done a better job!”

Lyle was still standing on the ladder, looming over the fuming Zach from high up, arms crossed.

“(Y/n), can you please help with the tree for a second? I do not have the mental capacity to put up with Tribal over here..” Zach sighed and looked at you with a defeated expression.

Earning a quick laugh from you, you eventually decided to help after listening to some more of the back and forth between the boys which wouldn’t lead anywhere any time soon.

“You know what, I don’t even care, I’m just gonna help Adam and Cory in the kitchen.” Lyle huffed, stepping from the ladder and making his way out of the room.

“By the smell the cookies are burned already so you can’t do any more damage at least.” Zach spat back as he heaved the tree upright again with you. Lyle only stuck his tongue out at him in response.

Especially during the holidays it seemed as if each and every one of the boys reverted back to high schoolers. The way that they tried to “plan” everything also seemed akin to all those events that the students back at your school tried to do.

The entire building was busy, Chris was on the forefront of frantic. Checking how everyone was doing and if anyone needed any help as well as Tomar who tried to “gentle-parent” every conflict or wrongdoing that occured. Spoiler Alert:

It only worked with Adam.

And although the rooms smelt of burned cookies and wet pine needles; the Christmas atmosphere was surely building up. Everyone was wearing red and green elf caps and Ugly Christmas Sweaters™. Especially Zach’s had you giggling once you got a good look at it.

“Wow, awesome sweater you got there dude..”

He looked down on himself before looking you dead in the eye.

“Well he is my hero sooo ... you got a problem with that snowflake?”

His sweater read: “O.G. Don. Making Liberals Cry One Tweet At A Time.” And of course, a picture of a knit Donald Trump accompanying it.

You laughed at his impression. “Sure, yeah. Sorry.” “Tz, yeah I thought so.”

One by one Zach hung the fallen ornaments back on the tree and you started putting your gifts under it, earning a gasp from Zach.

“Holy shit why are some of them so big, how much did you spend?” He wanted to look at the tags, trying to spy for the one that was meant for him. You swatted his hand away quickly.

“I’m not gonna tell you how much I spent, Zach. Just be happy you’re getting anything with the way you annoyed me this year.” “Fair enough.”

You helped Zach with the decorations and the lights, accidentally spinning them around yourself as you tried to untangle the 4 metres of cable as quickly as possible. The mismatched ornaments were all over the place look-wise. Some of them were classic red and golden spheres with glitter over them. Other ones were… more explicit. Santa was definitely presenting a little more than you were used to from the Coca Cola Ads back in the day.

Zach also tried to debate you on the Sonichu ornament which he wanted to hang up right in the middle so it’d be the first thing that anyone saw when coming in. You really tried to convince him otherwise yet his argument of: “Well Christmas is all about friendships and Sonichu was Chris Chan’s best friend so you’re pretty ignorant if you want me to put him in the background” left no room for further discussion.

Once you made sure that Zach wouldn’t take a peek at any of the presents, you followed the smell of candies and burnt cookies to the kitchen where your gaze immediately found Adam who was sitting on the kitchen floor. Joint in hand, staring intensely into the oven (the light inside wasn’t even turned on).

“Oh, hey (y/n)! You wanna try the first batch?” Cory greeted you excitedly. Your eyes couldn’t help but wander from him pointing at the crumpled-ashy piles on the tray on the counter, to the apron he was wearing.

An arrow pointing upwards at his face with the subtitle: “This Guy rubs his own meat”

A Cory original it seems. He looked quite proud as he noticed your chuckle.

“Uhh- think I’ll pass..” You tried to weasel your way out of trying those science experiments. “The second batch won’t be..” “Akin to burn victims? No, I made sure of that.” Lyle chimed in from behind Cory.

“Burn Victims?” Adam gasped calmly yet with a hint of hurt. “Those are my babies all right? You guys are just judgemental..”

“Adam.” Lyle began, he stopped mixing more batter and turned to his friend on the ground. “Eating one of those would be like smoking 20 cigs at once.”

You chuckled at their little banter. You were just glad that there was no more fighting happening. Although that was probably thanks to the separation of Zach and Lyle.

“And what would be wrong with that?” Adam pouted, his eyes still fixed on the dark oven. You wondered how high he was flying already.

“Nicotine, Adam. Not weed.” Cory said before trying to pick up one of the burnt cookies which turned into something that could be compared to dust. Leaving Cory to blankly stare at his ashy hands.

“Mr Stark… I don’t feel so good.” You mumbled, earning a laugh from Adam who hadn’t even seen what you were talking about.

“By the way, where are Josh and Chris at? I saw them running around when I came in and I thought they’d be here with you guys.” You asked the three men in front of you.

“They’re in the recording room I think” Cory said, running a hand through his hair.

Just as you were about to turn around and make your way to the recording room, Adam spoke up quietly. “Noo, No! Chris and Tomar wanted to get a karaoke machine from one of Chris’ friends.”

“What, when they say that?” Befuddled, Cory looked down at Adam who’s attention was still on the oven.

“They stopped by and told us.” Cory’s gaze met yours, utter confusion apparent on both of your faces.

“How did you catch that but I didn’t?”

Adam just shrugged and took a drag of his joint. At that moment he looked like an Astronaut who experienced Zero Gravity for the first time.

“I think we can take out the second tray now and put these bad boys in.” Lyle spoke up. He held up the whisk. “Who wants to lick?”

“Don’t say it like that dude..” Adam finally got up from the ground, he looked like a toddler while doing so.

“What? I’m only offering my creamy left-over dripping liquid to someone in the room? What’s wrong with that?” A grin spread across Lyle’s face as Adam mimicked gagging at his words.

You and Cory simply laughed at the scene. “Besides, I’m sure (Y/n) would love to help me out with that.” A blush spread across your face, a nervous giggle leaving your lips as you took the whisk which Lyle handed to you with a wink. “You’re disgusting dude.” You said before trying the batter. Surprisingly enough, it actually tasted really dang good.

“That’s genuinely quite-”

“LAST CHRISTMAS I GAVE YOU MY HEART-”

Besides making you drop the whisk and probably waking the entire street, George Michael seemed to want to shatter your eardrum with those vocals.

There was a deafening silence after the sudden jumpscare.

“Sorry!” A muffled apology was shouted from the living room, causing you and Cory to double over in laughter.

“What the fuck, Zach?” Lyle wanted to seem pissed but he couldn’t help the corners of his mouth twisting upwards as he shouted back.

The Man, The Myth, The Goblin then appeared in the doorframe to the kitchen, laughing at Adam’s shocked face.

“I just wanted to set up some atmospheric music”

“Yeah and how’d that work out?” You asked as you turned around to him.

As Zach profusely apologized to specifically Adam. Lyle began to put in the third and probably final batch of cookies.

“But in my defense!” Zach raised his voice along with his finger.

“It is kinda funny how that got you like ‘WHam!’ y’know.”

The silence that followed his wordplay was even more deafening than before.

“Alright yeah I get it, fuck you guys.” And with that he turned around on his heel and back into the living room.

Soon after though you heard the rustling of keys in the hallway, announcing the last two of the bunch who were hopefully coming to stay this time.

A bunch of grunts and huffs later, you and Lyle decided to take a look at what was going on and whether or not you were about to witness some extra Christmas-loving, judging from the sounds of panting.

“Oh (y/n), Lyle, hey there!” Tomar greeted the both of you. He and Chris were currently trying to carry in the karaoke machine that had been mentioned earlier.

“Uhh, do you guys need any help with that?” Lyle said, stepping from one foot to the other.

“I mean if one of you could hold open the door so it stops spanking me that’d be great.”

Chris’ back was turned to you, and the door indeed kept wanting to close on him. You quickly got to holding it open for him.

“Oh c’mon you like getting slapped on the ass though, don’t lie.” Zach suddenly spoke up after he entered the hallway to watch the scene along with you and Lyle.

Chris let out a strained laugh. “Sure, but you can do that later, babe.” He said, his voice dropping a few octaves lower, making Zach chuckle.

As you kept standing by the door, you finally noticed the familiar sound of “Jingle bell Rock” in the background, you were impressed that it took only two tries for Zach to set up something as easy as a stereo system. Although his hard work would soon become irrelevant again because the big-ass karaoke machine was now finally inside the office and on its way to the living room.

“Whoa, great job with the tree guys!” Chris exclaimed, wiping some sweat off of his brow before taking off his jacket and scarf.

“Yeah, wait till you see the first batch of cookies.” Lyle said jokingly, nodding toward the kitchen where Adam and Cory were peeking their heads out. “The cookies look good," both of them exclaimed, almost in unison.

“I’m sure you guys did your absolute best.” Tomar gifted them a warm smile, his fatherly demeanor unmistakable in his words.

A genuine smile broke from Adam’s lips: “Thank you Tomar!” to which the other shot him a thumbs up.

Chris then got to setting up the whole machine and for some reason, everyone including you just decided to watch him quietly. There wasn’t really much to do, the tree had been set up, the cookies were cooki(e)ng and music was playing. All of that combined created a sort of awkward atmosphere with some cover of “Winter Wonderland” playing quietly in the background.

Suddenly, Chris stopped handling the cable to turn around to face the onlookers. “What the fuck are you retards doing? Booze is in my car, Jesus christ.”

Lyle was the first to run outside, you and Zach following swiftly after.

As the first opened the trunk, he let out a sound of astonishment. “Holy shit- how much does he want us to drink?”

The trunk was filled with beer, rum, mulled wine and ingredients for eggnog. There was so much that it was no surprise that none of it had fallen over, there was literally no room for anything to fall over.

You rolled up your sleeves and clapped your hands together dramatically. “Alright, let’s get this stuff inside.”

Zach let out a guttural whine as he heaved the first six pack from the trunk, over exaggerating the physical effort to a maximum.

“Stop whining or I’ll give you something to whine about.” You joked at him. Lyle was already gone with some of the wine and rum under his arms.

Zack spat back at you: “Well maybe I’d like that!”

You both looked at each other for a second, blankly staring into the other ones eyes before bursting out into laughter.

“Alright dude, c’mon let’s get this over with.”

20 minutes and a couple of back’s cracking later, all of the booze was finally inside and the karaoke machine was all set up. The fridge had also been emptied for the eggnog and beer, leaving all of the healthy stuff on the counter, unrefrigerated. Cory’s response to your worry about there being mold was simply: “nah it’ll be fine.” And who were you to argue against such a well-thought-out point. (You tried and were just met with the same response).

Soon all of you found yourselves huddled together in the living room. Adam and you taking the carpet as the others made themselves comfortable on the couch.

“Okay! Who’s gonna bless us first with their beautiful, god-given voice?” Everyone’s eyes landed on Zach who shook his head profusely. “Nu-uh, no way. I’m not gonna go first, I’m not drunk enough to embarrass myself like that!” Cory stuffed a beer into his face and Chris was expectantly looking at him. He was the only one standing, excitedly holding out the mic to his friend.

“I hate you people, all of you.” He said, but gave in eventually (after downing about half the bottle in one go.)

After Zach’s (very sentimental) performance of “Don’t stop believing”, Lyle followed with a very metal rendition of “I want it that way.” Growling his way through the song apparently.

You finally decided to get on the couch between Chris and Cory since your bones did not like the floor as much as you had hoped.

Chris laughed out loud multiple times as he listened in on Zach, Tomar and Adam who were desperately trying to get the latter to understand how the machine worked and what song he wanted to pick.

As he doubled over, his hand landed on your leg as he tried to stabilize himself.

“Sir?” You exclaimed at him in a deep voice.

He realized then where his hand actually was. The alcohol seemingly giving him drunk-courage though with how his hand was moving upwards now.

“Oh- oh I’m sorry, I didn't mean to.” He kept babbling, his hand moving further, sending you into a fit of giggles.

“Chris!” You laughed a little louder as his hand was now dangerously close to your lap.

“Sorry, sorry.” He chuckled and removed his hand, holding it up in a feigned gesture of ‘you got me’.

Just as Cory was about to ask what is taking so long with the next song, Adam suddenly spoke up loudly, pointing outside:

“Oh my god it’s snowing!”

As if you were all connected through some secret hivemind, all of your heads whipped around to the balcony.

It was actually snowing. Holy shit.

In a matter of seconds, everyone put on their jackets, boots, scarfs and hats, storming outside to marvel at such a true christmas miracle.

Zach and Adam tried to catch the flakes with their tongues almost immediately upon arriving outside.

You were astonished as you stood there. Under the streetlights, the snow seemed to dance, each little snow crystal seeming like little stars falling from the sky.

“You alright there kiddo?”

Tomar came up to you, putting a hand on your shoulder as he spoke.

“Yeah just- just really surprised is all..” You huffed, leaning into the touch of the man beside you. The temperature dropped quite quickly.

“As soon as there's enough snow for me to form a ball, y'all better run!” you heard Lyle shout from across the lot, he and Chris were trying to gather as many flakes as possible. They were really hopeful for a snowball fight.

“Me too, I reckon we enjoy the snow for now though, might be gone in like an hour.”

You nodded, following him further out.

It didn't take long for everyone to fully revert back to little kids, you included.

Shaking the snow from one person's beanie into the hair of the other or picking up a little from the ground and trying to stuff it in someone else's face. Truly, no one was safe.

The Presents had long been disregarded, almost forgotten in the Winter wonderland you now found yourself in.

Even if it was a cliché, among the merriment and laughter around you, you realized that maybe the real Christmas was the friends you made along the way

#oney plays #cory spazkid #zach hadel #chris o'neill #Adam #joshua tomar #lyle rath

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