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Fic: All I Want for Christmas is a Puppy (I Already Have My Two Front Teeth)
All I Want for Christmas is a Puppy (I Already Have My Two Front Teeth)
Jon/Spencer | 7500 words | PG
"I'm not getting him a puppy," Spencer said petulantly, crossing his arms over his chest.
Ryan gave a long-suffering sigh as he stood back up. "Would it make you feel better if all of us bought him a dog together?"
Aka, Jon's Christmas Puppy. This is technically a sequel to my baby!Panic verse, i.e. the one you love and that's what counts, only set ten years later. You don't really need to have read those, but it wouldn't hurt, I guess! Merry Christmas, and thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
harriet_vane for putting the idea of Brendon and Marley skateboarding into my head, and to siryn99 for betaing. ♥
"I really want a dog." Jon said it so softly, Spencer almost didn't hear him.
"What?" He turned his head on the giant pillow they were sharing on Spencer's living room floor, watching reruns of Mythbusters.
Jon shrugged and tucked his face a little further into the pillow. "I don't know. I said something to my mom about getting one for my birthday, but that didn't happen, so." He shrugged again, knocking his ankle absently against Spencer's. "I'll probably just ask for an XBox or something for Christmas."
"Maybe she didn't know you really wanted a dog." Spencer scrinched up his nose in thought. He was watching the screen, but he'd seen this episode already; he knew there was no way to break the sound barrier with Chevy Cavalier.
"No, she did. I just don't think she likes dogs." Jon sounded resigned and sad, and his shoulders slumped slightly. "Besides, asking for a dog for Christmas is, like. Something out of a Disney movie. Or the 1950s." He didn't sound all that convinced, though.
Spencer snuck a quick side look at him, then nudged Jon's foot back.
~
Ryan's family didn't really celebrate Christmas, but his dad somehow always bought this really good mint hot cocoa every year. There wasn't a tree up, but Spencer always knew he could have awesome hot chocolate at Ryan's after school, whenever his dad was out.
"So, are you getting me anything for Christmas?" Spencer said as Ryan dumped a huge mass of marshmallows into his mug.
Ryan stopped mid-dumping and raised an eyebrow. "Um. No? Am I supposed to? Your parents get you everything you want, anyway, so what's the point?"
"The spirit of giving, Ryan." Spencer knew this was a bad idea to bring up to Ryan first. Turning fourteen had pretty much turned him into a jerk. Then again, Jon was fifteen and still cool and all, so maybe age had nothing to do with it. Maybe Ryan was just weird. Going to a private Catholic school didn't help, either.
"Product of a capitalist society, Spence. We shouldn't be promoting greed in the name of religion." Ryan shook out the last of the marshmallows and handed Spencer his mug. "Spoon?"
Spencer shook his head, wishing Brendon was there to burst into a round of Jingle Bells just to piss Ryan off. "You never complain when my mom sends you guys her pumpkin bread," he mumbled into his hot chocolate.
"That's different. It's food." Ryan ate his marshmallows straight out of the bag while eating his hot cocoa with a giant plastic spoon that was practically the size of his head.
Spencer rolled his eyes.
~
Sometimes it royally sucked having your best friends all attend different schools. And since Spencer's mom refused to let him have unlimited texting on his phone, he had to limit himself to two texts per school day. He'd started assigning days to everyone, and since today was Wednesday, it was Jon Day.
When Spencer got out of History, he had two texts from Jon. The first one said, tom might b gettin a bugle.
The second message read, sry mnt beagle lk snoopy
Tom went to the same high school with Jon; Spencer had never met him, but he'd stopped being jealous of him the day Jon said, "Duh, Spence, he hasn't known me since I was five, okay," and shoved his shoulder playfully. If anything, Spencer liked knowing Jon had friends outside the four of them to keep him company when they weren't around.
Spencer stood at his locker and typed back, r u goin 2 see it?
no :(, came the reply a few minutes later. Spencer bit his lip; Jon rarely used frowny faces in his texts.
He thought and thought of a good reply on his way to English class, and finally typed, come play mariokrt after skool? u & bden can b on a team agnst me. It pained him to write, as playing against Brendon and Jon on anything was an exercise to patience. Not to mention losing. A lot.
He didn't get a reply until the end of class.
ok :))))
~
Maybe it was the fact that Brendon had been crawling all over Spencer since he was four, but Spencer never had a problem with him showing up at his house, dumping his bag in the foyer, and then immediately climbing onto the couch and putting his head in Spencer's lap.
"I hate school," Brendon sighed, the lights from the Christmas tree reflecting in his glasses. "I'm going to join the circus. Come with me?"
Spencer didn't look away from his fairly awesome round of Halo. "You'd miss your family," he replied automatically. Brendon had been giving this threat for years, ever since preschool when Miss Greta told them (i.e. Brendon) that growing up to be the Easter Bunny probably wasn't a wise career choice.
"True, but I wouldn't be miserable." He tugged at the hem of Spencer's shirt. "You guys need to transfer, seriously."
"Ryan's dad said no way, and Jon's in high school now, anyway. And my mom hates your school because she heard a bunch of kids got caught with weed last year." Some asshole came out of nowhere and shot Spencer down. He swore and threw his controller on the carpet before looking around to make sure his sisters weren't listening.
"It was one kid, and it's not like weed's heroin." Brendon was beginning to pout out his bottom lip big time. It was an on-going discussion that would probably never be resolved until the four of them graduated, no matter how much poking and prodding they gave their parents.
Spencer stretched and patted the top of Brendon's head. "By the way, Jon's coming over to play Mariokart. I told him you two could be on a team."
Brendon beamed up at him. "You should've told me sooner! We could've made strategies."
"It's Wednesday, dude, your day's not until Friday, remember? You picked it."
"Because Friday is the best day." He scrunched up his mouth, frowning. "I miss Jon Walker. He's too busy being, like, in high school and shit."
Spencer poked him hard just in case his mom was listening. "And he's bummed because he's not getting a dog, so no dog talk."
"He wants a dog?"
Spencer shrugged one shoulder. "Yeah, I think so. He keeps bringing it up."
"That's the saddest thing ever. And it's Christmas, too."
The front door slammed, and a moment later Jon was standing by the couch with his backpack hanging off one arm. He toed at the controller on the floor with the edge of his flip-flop (even as kids, Jon wouldn't wear shoes, and he'd never really grown out of it) and said, not looking up, "Soooooo, I get Yoshi, yeah?"
"We get Yoshi," Brendon said, scrambling up from Spencer's lap to tackle Jon in a bear hug.
Jon grinned and finally glanced up, giving Spencer a thumbs up.
~
"You never wanted to come here with me before," Ryan said suspiciously as Spencer wiggled his fingers through the cage door at a Pug puppy. Sometimes Ryan liked to go down to the local Humane Society and look at the new rescues they brought in. The director had told him that as soon as Ryan turned sixteen he could have a part-time job cleaning kennels; rarely had Spencer seen him get so excited, especially about something that involved dog poop.
"I wanted to see what all the hype was about." The Pug panted happily at him, and yeah, Spencer could see why Ryan would want to be here on a regular basis.
"That's Harold. Someone brought him in last Friday."
Spencer smiled at Harold, and Harold smiled back.
"Is this about Jon wanting a puppy?" Ryan asked casually as he crouched down in front of a larger kennel with a black German Shepherd mix.
"What?" Spencer frowned, and for some reason he felt his cheeks grow warm. "Did he tell you that?"
"No, Brendon did. But I think Jon might've said something about it around his birthday." He splayed his hand over the kennel door, and the Shepherd puppy licked his palm. "If you're gonna get him a dog for Christmas, you better check with his mom first. Just saying."
Ryan was always doing this, voicing Spencer's thoughts before he'd completely had them. It was frustrating and a little creepy sometimes. "I never said I was gonna—"
"Brendon thinks you should get him a Labrador, but that's totally unoriginal. Besides, a mix doesn't have all the annoying pure bred traits in it." He made a couple of kissing noises at the puppy, and the Shepherd barked once, happily.
"I'm not getting him a puppy," Spencer said petulantly, crossing his arms over his chest.
Ryan gave a long-suffering sigh as he stood back up. "Would it make you feel better if all of us bought him a dog together?" He shook his head. "You can be such a whiny douchebag sometimes, you know that?"
"I'm not the one that said we shouldn't give presents."
"I don't think we should give presents because it's promoting consumption in our society. You don't want to give Jon a puppy because you think he'll think you like him. That's two different things." Ryan held up two fingers.
Spencer glared. "That's not it at all." He sounded a little pouty, but he didn't care. He concentrated on Harold's puppy smile and ignored the uncomfortable twinge in his stomach.
"Okay, whatever." Ryan pointed to the black Shepherd's cage. "He just came in yesterday, I think—they found him abandoned in a ditch all by himself. No one's named him yet, although I think they wanted to go with Chase, which is kind of dumb." He raised an eyebrow at Spencer. "Also, it's fifty dollars to adopt him, and twenty-five to get his shots and tags."
Spencer totally didn't do the math in his head to see how much of seventy-five dollars he had. "That's nice. I want to look at cats now."
Ryan rolled his eyes and mumbled, "Such a baby," under his breath as he lead Spencer out of the dog area.
~
On Tuesday, Spencer got a text from Brendon during lunch: when ru buyin jwlk a dog??
Since it wasn't Friday, Spencer didn't reply back.
But at three-fifteen, as he waited for his mom to pick him up from school, Brendon called his phone.
"Can I pick out his collar, please?" he asked almost breathlessly before Spencer could even say hello.
"There's no dog. Ryan tells lies."
"I saw this purple plaid one at Petsmart, Spence, Jon would love it."
Spencer hung up just as his mom pulled up to the curb.
~
He didn't think about puppies or Jon with puppies or anything remotely related to puppies for three whole days.
But then at dinner his mom came in with a photo in her hands. "I found this going through some old boxes!" she said, and handed Spencer the picture.
It was of the four of them, right around the time Jon was starting kindergarten. Jon had cried and cried on his last day of daycare, and his mother had decided to take them all to the city's monthly Puppies in the Park. But even in May, the day had been colder than normal, and in the photo they were all bundled up in coats and clutching a group of matching Golden Retriever puppies. Brendon's puppy was thoroughly licking his face, making him laugh, while Ryan had his cheek pressed to his puppy's muzzle and smiling contentedly. Next to Ryan, Spencer was watching Jon, seemingly oblivious to the puppy in his lap, while Jon had his face scrinched up in deep concentration as he looked intently at the dog sitting patiently at his feet.
"Do you remember that day?" Spencer's mom asked.
"Yeah," Spencer said slowly, softly. "Jon was trying to get the puppy to tell him his name."
"And I think Brendon nearly made himself sick wanting to take his home so badly." His mom laughed as she took the picture back, looking at it fondly. "I swear, if you boys aren't attached to each other, you're attached to some animal."
Spencer stared at his half-eaten dinner and tried not to hear Ryan's voice in his head quoting tags and shots prices.
~
Spencer knew better than to interrupt Brendon's Bible study time at home, but he went ahead and risked Mrs. Urie's reprimanding.
"It's gotta be quick, dude, I got five minutes," Brendon said, although Spencer knew he'd be more than happy to sneak out in a heartbeat if Spencer asked him to.
Instead, Spencer said, "Do you have twenty dollars?"
"Um." There was a snuffle on the other end, like Brendon took the phone into a more private location in the house. "Maybe? I still have some of my allowance for the month, so I've got about that. Why, are you—"
"You can pick the collar, okay?"
"YES!" Spencer was fairly certain Brendon nearly dropped the phone. "Oh my god, awesome, yeah, you can totally have all of it, Spence, we're getting Jon a dog, he's gonna die!"
Someone yelled Brendon's name in the background, and Brendon mumbled something about the circus again before hanging up.
~
He didn't want to ask Mrs. Walker's permission, but Ryan insisted that if something went wrong and she decided to not let Jon keep the puppy, they'd be stuck with a dog none of them could keep, although Spencer was pretty sure Ryan would find a way to keep the thing if push came to shove.
Still, Spencer rode his bike down to Jon's house after dinner, wrapped up in his big puffer coat and gloves at his own mom's insistence. Jon's house was the only one on the block with Christmas lights that actually played Christmas songs, and they flashed in time with the reindeer that lit up on the front lawn. Spencer secretly loved Jon's house at Christmas; it was the closest thing to the house from Christmas Vacation he'd probably ever see.
He tapped on the front door, knowing that Jon wouldn't answer first because he could hear Bob Dylan coming from Jon's room on the second floor. When Jon's mom came to the door, she smiled and said, "Hi, Spencer, did you smell my brownies down the street?"
His eyes flared, and he said, "Oh man, can I have some?" without thinking.
Mrs. Walker laughed and held the door open for him. "Of course. Jon's upstairs."
"Yeah, uh, actually...I had a question for you." He followed her into the kitchen, his cheeks growing warm again, much to his chagrin.
"That sounds important." She dished out three brownies onto a plate and handed them to Spencer, one eyebrow raised.
"I, um." Spencer poked at his brownie, suddenly nervous. What if she said no? Then his idea would be blown, and Jon would stay unhappy and mopey and Spencer wouldn't know how to fix it. "I was wondering if, like, I could, maybe. Y'know." He started picking apart the brownie, one hand braced against the kitchen island, his foot tapping a frantic rhythm against the tile.
"Goodness, Spencer, you're all red! Whatever it is, I promise you I won't bite." Mrs. Walker reached across the counter and patted Spencer's hand. "You sure you don't want me to call Jon down?"
Spencer shook his head. "No, it's—it's a surprise. I want..." He took a deep breath. "Can I give Jon a puppy for Christmas? I mean, not just me, Ryan and Brendon are going in on it, too, but it's my idea, and I know you told Jon no before and he didn't get one for his birthday, but I didn't want you to be mad, so that's why I'm asking and I just really want to do this, so." Spencer inhaled one half of a brownie, not looking up in the hopes that chewing would distract him from Mrs. Walker saying no.
But she didn't say no. She just grinned really big and squeezed Spencer's arm. "That is so sweet of you, Spencer, really. And for the record, I never told Jon no on the dog. It just never happened because we didn't really have time to go pick one out. But if you boys want to give him one as a present, then I'm sure it would mean twice as much to him."
Spencer swallowed his mouthful of brownie. "So, you'll let us do it?"
"I think it's a wonderful idea, and Jon's old enough to take on the responsibility, I think."
A gigantic weight flew off his shoulders. "Thank you," Spencer said softly, cheeks still pink.
Mrs. Walker shook her head. "Only now the XBox I bought him is going to be completely trumped. Thanks a lot." She winked at Spencer, who laughed as he ate the rest of his brownies.
~
Ryan talked him into adopting the black German Shepherd mix. Spencer thought Brendon would've totally gone for the little Dachshund puppy, but he hadn't been able to meet up with Spencer and Ryan at the Humane Society after school.
"Make sure he's a happy puppy, Spence, some dogs are just, like, really mean and grouchy," he said when he'd called to tell Spencer he had a last minute church choir practice.
"Puppies are puppies, dude."
"You can just tell, trust me. Ryan knows what I'm talking about."
Which, as it turned out, was true. Ryan had evidently had his heart set on adopting "Not-Chase," as he took to calling him, and when Spencer wavered a little, he said, "This dog's been through a lot, he deserves a good home at Christmas." There was a finality in his voice, like Spencer really didn't have a choice, but then Spencer glanced down into Not-Chase's kennel and looked into the puppy's wide brown eyes staring up at him.
He had eyes kind of like Jon's. Spencer didn't know whether to blush or be creeped out.
It was too cold to ride their bikes, not to mention Not-Chase's carrier was too bulky, so Spencer's mom drove them back home while Ryan and Spencer sat in the back seat with the carrier. Spencer leaned in close and whispered, "I promise you'll like your new home, Jon's awesome," and Not-Chase blinked once and gave him a slow, panting smile, his big black ears perked and alert.
From the other side of the carrier, Ryan smiled.
When they got back to Spencer's, Brendon's bike was in the front yard, and he was inside watching Hannah Montana on the couch with Spencer's sisters. He was twirling a purple plaid dog collar around his wrist.
"Oh my god, is that him?" Brendon cried the moment they walked in with the carrier. He nearly scaled the back of the couch to get a closer look. "He's perfect!" He held the collar up as Spencer opened the carrier door and Not-Chase slowly trotted out. "D'you like purple, big guy?"
Not-Chase barked, knocking his tail against Spencer's leg.
Brendon scrubbed his hand between Not-Chase's ears. "I'll take that as a yes."
Spencer helped his mom lay out newspaper and a water bowl for the puppy while Brendon and the twins played with Not-Chase as Ryan watched with a very satisfied look on his face. Not-Chase was full of the typical puppy energy, but he was more mellow than most puppies; he seemed perfectly happy to flop onto his back and let Brendon scratch his belly forever.
"I'm going to teach him to skateboard," Brendon announced, kissing Not-Chase on the nose.
"He's not even housebroken yet," Spencer said dubiously as he ran his hand over Not-Chase's soft fur. "And shouldn't you let Jon start with, like, sit and stay first?"
"Jon can do whatever he wants, but I'm going to teach him to skateboard, and he'll be the best damn skateboarding dog in the universe."
Spencer heard one of his sisters giggle, and he swatted Brendon's arm, mostly for show.
"I dunno," Ryan said slowly, narrowing his eyes thoughtfully at the puppy. "He probably doesn't have the balance yet for skateboarding, and it's probably too dangerous to—"
"Just because you tried a kickflip a couple weeks ago and almost died doesn't mean I can't teach the puppy," Brendon said in a cooing baby voice at Not-Chase. "You're gonna be a better skater than Uncle Ryan, right, Puppy?"
Spencer covered his mouth and swallowed a snort. Ryan glared, kicking Brendon hard in the ass.
"I hope Not-Chase chews up your deck," he grumbled, and Brendon shook his head and replied brightly, "Not possible, Jon'll teach him manners."
~
It was a Tuesday night, and Spencer wanted to wait until the next day to give Not-Chase to Jon, since it would be Christmas Eve then and Jon hated getting presents too early before Christmas Day. This was because Jon was secretly a girl, and Spencer would never a million years admit to being just as sentimental about the holidays as Jon.
Both Brendon and Ryan went home around nine o'clock with the promise of being at Spencer's the next morning to take Not-Chase to Jon's house. He wanted to put the puppy in his carrier for the night, but the twins insisted on letting him stay out so they could cuddle with him as they watched the end of A Christmas Story on TV.
"Don't worry about it, I'll make sure he gets put up for the night," his mother assured him. She mussed his hair affectionately. "You did good. I'm sure Jon will be ecstatic tomorrow."
Spencer glanced over at Not-Chase sprawled over his sisters' laps and hoped she was right.
But then he took two steps out of the room and Not-Chase suddenly scrambled off the couch and skidded across the wood flooring, nearly colliding into Spencer's heels. He yipped once and looked up at Spencer with those same wide, searching eyes.
"I gotta go to bed, dude," he said, holding out his hands. "You can't go with me, you'll pee all over everything."
Not-Chase barked again, and this time added some tail wagging for effect.
Spencer huffed. "You're not sleeping with me."
"You know," his mom said, "you could take some newspaper up to your room and—"
"He'll get attached to me, Mom, and he's not even mine. He's Jon's, I can't have him—"
Not-Chase whined and put his front paws on the knees of Spencer's jeans. If possible, his eyes got wider and more pitiful.
"Aww, look at that face," his mom cooed. "He really wants to stay with you, Spence."
This dog truly belonged to Jon Walker; Spencer recognized that look from many times in the past, like when Jon talked him into riding roller coasters of doom, or asked to eat the last of Spencer's fries. "Okay," he sighed, and went to scoop up an armload of newspapers. Not-Chase barked and nipped at his ankles the entire way up the stairs to his room.
It was a quarter to ten when Spencer got everything situated and prayed the puppy didn't eat every pair of Nikes he owned. He turned his TV on to a rerun of Friends and curled up in his bed, picking up Not-Chase and setting him on the pillow beside him. The puppy sniffed around for a bit before flopping ungracefully onto the covers, his nose propped on Spencer's arm.
His phone rang a few minutes later.
"Brendon said he and Ryan were at your house?" Jon said, and Spencer could hear the higher-than-normal pitch in his voice that meant he was trying not to sound hurt.
He heart beat a little faster; he really hated lying to Jon. "It wasn't a big deal," he replied vaguely, and yawned to distract him. "They just, y'know. Happened to be over." Spencer rolled onto his side facing Not-Chase and ran his fingers over the plaid collar and the smooth metal tags that were still blank, waiting on Jon to pick a real name. Not-Chase snuffled and stretched to show Spencer his belly.
"Oh." There was a long pause. Spencer could hear the same episode of Friends echoing through his phone. "D'you do anything cool?"
"Naw, just played Halo. I think Brendon was mostly just hiding out from his mom, anyway."
"Oh." More than lying, Spencer really hated hurting Jon's feelings. He wasn't like Ryan, who wouldn't let you know he was hurt until days later, or Brendon, who flat out told you immediately when he was sad and pissed off. No, Jon just mostly kicked around the hurt and tried to make everything seem fine and dandy when it so obviously wasn't.
"I was gonna call you," Spencer said quickly, "but my mom didn't want me to invite anyone else over." His stomach made that uncomfortable clench again, and he tried not to picture Jon lying on his bed and frowning at his phone.
Jon sighed. "Look, I know I probably haven't been around as much lately, but that's only because my classes are really hard this year, and I want to keep my grades up so my mom'll let me take guitar lessons, and I just. I don't." He trailed off, sighing again. "I don't want you to think I'm, like, forgetting about you or anything," he added softly.
There was a "you guys" in there, Spencer knew there was, except he found himself hoping that Jon was talking to him and him alone, which didn't make any sense. Only it totally did in weird, confusing way that made him blush and his hand sweat a little around his phone, and suddenly he wondered if giving Jon a puppy was horrible, horrible idea.
"Spence?"
He blinked a couple of times and realized he hadn't spoken at all. "You." Spencer swallowed and tried again. "You know I don't—we don't think that, it wasn't anything like that. Don't be mad." Not-Chase was gnawing on his finger, but his big Jon Eyes were staring straight at Spencer.
"I know, I just get paranoid sometimes. Tom asks me all the time why I still hang out with junior high guys, and I always tell him it's because you all are my best friends."
"We are, okay?" Spencer wanted to add always, but that sounded desperate and girly. "You don't forget about us, and we won't forget about you, got it?" He couldn't imagine for a second forgetting about Jon, ever, especially when his soon-to-be puppy was staring up at him. And beginning to chew really hard on his fingers.
Not-Chase bit down sharply, and Spencer hissed, "Ow, damn it," and jerked his hand away, making Not-Chase bark.
"Was...was that a dog that just barked?" Jon asked.
"Um." Spencer stuck his wounded finger in his mouth and tried frantically to think of a cover story. "Just the TV," he finally replied lamely.
"Thought you were watching Friends. It's the one where Rachel gets that hairless cat."
Before Spencer could think, he replied, "Yeah, I know." He winced, poking Not-Chase in the belly.
Another long pause stretched out on the other end of the phone, and then Jon asked, very quietly, "Did you get a puppy and not tell me?"
Oh, man. "No, no, I—"
"You could've told me, Spence. You didn't have to lie about it, or get Brendon and Ryan to keep it a secret." Now Jon was going from hurt to pissed, and Spencer wanted to bang his head against the wall.
"I didn't get a dog, Jon, it was only—" Not-Chase took that moment to bark again, and Spencer shushed him before he could stop himself.
"Right. I get it. Whatever, I'll talk to you later." And Jon hung up before Spencer could think up anymore stupid excuses.
Yeah, this was a spectacular idea. Spencer threw his phone on the floor and shut his eyes when Not-Chase tried to lick his chin.
He barely slept at all that night.
~
Spencer had told Jon's mom that the three of them would be over at ten o'clock. But the bad luck from the night before seemed to be spilling over, because Brendon called him at nine to say he was being forced into attending a morning Christmas Eve service at his church, and there was no earthly way he could get out of it.
"I tried, Spence, I really did, you have no idea," he said miserably. "Please tell Jon Merry Christmas and that I picked out the collar, okay? And I'm totally coming over ASAP to start skateboarding lessons."
Then, not ten minutes later, Ryan texted him with, got grnded cant leave house.
Spencer wasn't about to text a reply to that. He hit speedial, and the second Ryan picked up, he blurted out, "You've gotta be kidding me, Ry."
"Sorry, sorry, there was a big fight with me and Dad, and basically I can't go anywhere until after Christmas." He sounded bored, but Spencer knew better; he was still riding out the anger. "At least you still got Brendon to go with you, right?"
"Not exactly." He relayed Brendon's church woes.
"Shit, okay, well. Wait until after Christmas?"
The thought of taking care of Not-Chase for another day and half while Jon sat at home thinking Spencer hated him was enough to make his heart drop into his feet. "It has to be today, Ry, it just has to be." He dug his thumbs into his eyes hard enough to see stars.
"I'm sorry," Ryan said again, and this time there was a hint of contriteness in his voice.
"I'll deal. It was my idea to begin with, anyway." He finished tying his shoes and hung up, listening to Not-Chase bark downstairs.
Spencer grabbed his coat on his way downstairs and thought Ryan might've had a point about the evils of present-giving after all.
~
It wasn't quite as cold that morning; the frost was already melting off the cars on the street, and the sun was shining brightly. Spencer's mom offered to drive him the three blocks to Jon's house, but at the last minute Spencer decided to walk Not-Chase, see how he handled a leash.
"Spencer, he's only four months old," his mom said. "He'll wear out fast, long before you ever get to Jon's."
"That's okay, we'll manage." He fidgeted with the big red bow his mom had insisted on tying to Chase's collar. "He needs the exercise anyway, right?"
She handed him the tote bag with the puppy's food and toys. "Sure. He'll be nice and exhausted for Jon when he gets to meet him."
Actually, Spencer just wanted the extra time to think of what he was going to say to Jon when he finally saw him. Hi, sorry I had to lie to you, here's a puppy?
Naturally, Not-Chase ran about a quarter of a block before collapsing in the cold grass and refusing to budge any further.
"C'mon, we've still got two more blocks, dude, seriously." Spencer tugged at his leash, but Not-Chase just gave him a puppy pout and whimpered.
Spencer was convinced the universe hated him. In the end, he switched the tote bag to his other arm and scooped Not-Chase up with his other. Four months old or not, the dog was heavier than he looked, and carrying him for two more blocks with his cold, wet feet pressed against Spencer's scarf wasn't Spencer's idea of a great Christmas Eve morning.
By the time Spencer arrived on Jon's doorstep, his fingers were slightly numb in his mittens, and Not-Chase's paws had soaked through his scarf, not to mention his arms were killing him. Not-Chase was beginning to wiggle and want down again, so Spencer dropped him unceremoniously on the door mat and watched as the bow fell off his collar, rumpled and damp.
Spencer's shoulders slumped as he rang the door bell. He'd been so distracted with carrying the puppy, he'd totally forgotten about what he was going to say to Jon.
It wasn't a total surprise that Jon was the one to answer the door, considering how Spencer's morning was going. Jon took one look at Spencer's red cheeks and nose and frowned, then glanced down at the puppy pawing at the screen door.
He frowned harder and glared at Spencer, who immediately held up his hands and said, helplessly, "Wait, don't shut the door, I can explain!"
Jon came outside, still in his pajama pants and t-shirt. He leaned against the door and folded his arms across his chest. His feet were bare. "Okay, so talk," Jon said, shivering a little in the cold.
Spencer pulled his wet mittens off and jerked a hand through his hair before grabbing Not-Chase and practically thrusting him at Jon. "Here, he's yours," he said, and really, really wished he could have a do-over for the last forty-eight hours.
Jon blinked and held the puppy with both hands, away from his body like he was unsure what it was. "Um?" Not-Chase wiggled and panted at Jon, letting one paw rest against the hollow of Jon's throat.
"I didn't get a dog, Jon, I got you a dog. Well, we all did, Brendon and Ryan helped pay for him. And Brendon picked out the collar." He flailed his hand weakly at the puppy, feeling stupid and embarrassed.
Jon didn't say anything right away. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around Not-Chase and cuddled him into his chest, suddenly oblivious to the cold. The puppy seemed to understand, and he calmed down enough to look up at Jon and give him a doggy grin that was all pink tongue.
"You really did this?" Jon asked softly. "He's really mine?" He finally looked up and met Spencer's eyes, and it was like everything inside him suddenly lit up, his smile was so bright.
For some reason, it was kind of hard to breathe for a moment. "Yeah, I did. He doesn't have a name, either, the tags are blank. You get to name him." He knew he was blushing really hard, but he hoped the cold could be blamed for most of it. "I asked your mom and everything, it's totally cool."
Jon held Not-Chase up and squinted at him. "Hey hey, little guy, what's your name?" he whispered, and the look on his face reminded Spencer so much of that day in the park, when Jon was five and tried so hard to get the puppy to tell him his name. His chest felt tight, like it was too small for his body all of a sudden.
Not-Chase woofed softly and licked Jon's thumb, making Jon laugh. "All right, then. Marley it is," he said, hugging the puppy back to his chest.
"Marley?" Spencer asked. "Where'd that come from?"
"As in Bob, Spence. He looks like a Marley fan." He kept beaming at Spencer over the top of Marley's head, his nose tucked between Marley's ears. "So, 'm sorry about last night."
Spencer shrugged and ducked his head. He knew they should really go inside, where it was warm and Jon wouldn't die of frostbite. "Don't worry about it, you didn't know."
"Yeah, but I was all thinking you were moving on or whatever, and it. Y'know." He kissed Marley's muzzle, then looked up at Spencer, his hair all messy and hanging in his eyes.
"Yeah," Spencer said, and concentrated on scratching his fingers through Marley's fur. "It's okay, we're good."
Jon bit his lip, then reached up and cupped the back of Spencer's neck. "Thanks," he whispered, and kissed the corner of Spencer's mouth, just a quick, dry brush of his lips. It was over in an instant, not to mention there was a puppy pressed between them, but Spencer still went warm all over and gasped softly, his eyes fluttering closed for moment as his hand curled just a little into the sleeve of Jon's t-shirt.
"Merry Christmas," Spencer whispered back, and Jon laughed quietly and nudged the tips of their noses together before leaning back.
"This is just like a black-and-white movie," he said, his voice softer than Spencer was used to hearing it. "Like, Tiny Tim's gonna come out and bless us all and shit."
"You're a dork and you love it," Spencer said, letting himself smile big and wide.
"You can't prove anything." Jon paused and scrinched up his nose. "Where're Ryan and Brendon, anyway?"
"Ryan got grounded, and Brendon's at church. He also wanted me to tell you he's gonna teach Marley how to skateboard."
Jon didn't even blink. "Like, do actual tricks, or just ride with him? 'Cause if he teaches him tricks, I'm totally videotaping that to put on YouTube, no joke. That would be awesome."
"I'm pretty sure he meant tricks. Ryan got all glary."
"Yeah, he had that bad wipe-out a few weeks ago, didn't he?" Jon said, and nodded solemnly. "That's okay, he doesn't have to watch if he doesn't want to." Marley wiggled free from Jon's arms and landed in an awkward puppy pile on the mat before barking at the door to be let in.
"He's freezing, and I am, too," Spencer said, remembering that he still had a tote bag full of puppy food and toys slung over his shoulder. He handed it to Jon and added, "Can I come in now?" He smirked, but there was a strange shyness in his words; something had shifted, somehow, and Spencer felt like he needed to ask permission for the first time in his life to be invited into Jon's house.
Jon opened the door and laughed when Marley slid a bit over the ceramic tiles. "I guess if you bring me dogs for Christmas, I can let you inside." His returned smile was also a little shy, a little hesitant, like he was just now realizing he'd kinda sorta kissed Spencer on his front porch. The bridge of his nose was pink, and Spencer thought, Oh man, are we flirting? Is this what flirting even is? And that was a strange thought to be having suddenly about your best friend on Christmas Eve, especially one who knew better than most that Spencer had never been kissed before.
Marley ran down the hall to the living room, barking gleefully, and Spencer heard Jon's mom call, "Oh, they brought the puppy! Let me get the camera..."
"You are really stealthy, dude," Jon said, watching as Marley charged into a stack of presents and started intensely sniffing them. "I really didn't know you were doing this."
Spencer shrugged and carefully didn't look at Jon as he knocked their elbows together. "Not really, since I almost had you thinking I was a gigantic asshole."
"Maybe you shouldn't've talked to me while Marley was right there, duh." But when Spencer glanced over, Jon was grinning hard enough to make his eyes crinkle at the corners.
"Keeping presents a secret is hard, okay?"
"I can't believe Brendon didn't spill it."
"I told him he couldn't hang out at my place for a month if he did."
"Okay, so you're not stealthy, you're just really mean." Jon set the tote bag in the hallway, and maybe, possibly, let his hand brush over Spencer's when he came back into the room. Spencer couldn't think very clearly with his heart beating so hard, and when Jon tugged on his thumb, Spencer felt his face flush all the way up into his hairline.
"Hey," Jon whispered, eyes suddenly serious. He didn't let go of Spencer's thumb right away, and Spencer couldn't decide if he wanted him to or not. "Are you gonna stay and watch Elf with me? " His voice wavered a little and he was chewing his bottom lip pretty hard. Not that Spencer was watching or anything.
Behind them, Marley had discovered the Christmas tree itself, and started barking ferociously at a crystal angel ornament.
"See? Marley thinks you should stay."
"He peed on my Rolling Stones t-shirt this morning. I don't think he cares." But Spencer wasn't looking at the puppy, he was too busy waiting for Jon to stop touching him and looking at him like Spencer was going freak out and leave in five seconds.
"Don't make the puppy sad, Spence, c'mon." Jon squeezed Spencer's thumb and finally let go. "And obviously Marley's a Doors fan, so you can't really blame him."
Spencer huffed, but he couldn't hold back his smile. "That's not even funny, god. I'll make your dog listen to good music while Brendon teaches him halfpipes, and Ryan can, like, read him Moby Dick or something."
As if on cue, Jon's phone went off. Marley nearly tripped him on the way to grab it off the coffee table. Jon flipped the screen open and read the text, then looked over his shoulder to beam at Spencer. "Brendon wants to know if the puppy's in love with me yet," he said, holding up the screen for Spencer to see.
"Tell 'im it's too soon to tell."
But when Jon got down on his knees and held his arms out to Marley, making puppy kisses at him, Marley flung himself at Jon and licked his face thoroughly, knocking Jon onto his back.
"Yeah, we definitely need some time," Jon replied a few minutes later, breathless from laughing so hard.
~
They curled up on the couch together under Jon's favorite fleece blanket that was king-sized and bright red, Marley tucked somewhere between them. Spencer got about thirty minutes into the movie and promptly fell asleep on Jon, his cheek pressed against Jon's shoulder. He remembered their fingers tangling together ever so slightly under the blanket just before he passed out, only to startle awake with Marley's barking and Brendon yelling, "Marley Walker, c'mere, you!"
"When did he get here?" Spencer asked sleepily, rubbing at his eyes and wincing at the spot of drool on Jon's sleeve.
"He texted me a while ago, said he got out of church early." Jon was watching Brendon tackle Marley to floor and growl at him before kissing his belly. Their hands weren't touching anymore, but Spencer felt warm and cozy and half-awake, sprawled against Jon's side.
"Spence, wake up and come help me get Marley to do a grind!"
Spencer hummed and shut his eyes. "No, I stayed up with him all night. You teach him."
The couch suddenly dipped, and Spencer had a Brendon in his lap, nosing at his cheek. If the nose had been wet, Spencer would've easily mistaken him for Marley. "Spencerrrrrr, you're no fun, it's Christmas."
He wanted to point out that Christmas didn't have a whole lot to do with skateboarding dogs, but right about then Jon's mom showed up with four mugs of hot chocolate, and a smiling Ryan trailing behind her.
"Look who showed up," she said. "Good thing I figured the four of you would somehow all be together and made enough cocoa."
"Wait, I thought you were grounded," Jon said, already eating the marshmallows out of his hot chocolate.
Ryan shrugged. "Doesn't mean I don't still know how to sneak out." He raised an eyebrow at Spencer and the way he was tucked into Jon's shoulder, but Spencer rolled his eyes and held open the blanket for him. Or he held it open as much as he could with Brendon laying across his and Jon's lap, sipping his cocoa with both hands.
Before getting under the blanket, Ryan picked Marley up and cuddled him close for a second. "You doin' okay, Not-Chase?" he asked quietly.
"It's Marley," Spencer said. "And he hates the Rolling Stones."
Ryan narrowed his eyes at the puppy for a moment, then nodded thoughtfully. "Of course he does," he replied, whatever that meant. He didn't put Marley down as he crawled under the blanket, and eventually Marley squirmed free and flopped across all of them to get to Jon, where he butted his head up against Jon's chin and panted contentedly.
Eventually Jon's mom put in Christmas Vacation, and the four of them, puppy included, watched the movie piled into each other, wrapped up in blankets and each other.
Spencer could feel himself starting to nod off again, but just as his eyes closed he felt Jon gently rub his nose against the top of his hair.
"Best Christmas ever," Jon whispered. Marley gave a soft little puppy sigh in reply.
"What he said," Brendon mumbled, and Ryan tapped his knuckles against Spencer's knee, which in Ryan-speak meant really, really great idea, Spence.
"Yeah," Spencer sighed, smiling into Jon's shoulder. "Pretty much."
**simplemitosis made some fanart for the story!
Jon/Spencer | 7500 words | PG
"I'm not getting him a puppy," Spencer said petulantly, crossing his arms over his chest.
Ryan gave a long-suffering sigh as he stood back up. "Would it make you feel better if all of us bought him a dog together?"
Aka, Jon's Christmas Puppy. This is technically a sequel to my baby!Panic verse, i.e. the one you love and that's what counts, only set ten years later. You don't really need to have read those, but it wouldn't hurt, I guess! Merry Christmas, and thanks to
harriet_vane for putting the idea of Brendon and Marley skateboarding into my head, and to siryn99 for betaing. ♥"I really want a dog." Jon said it so softly, Spencer almost didn't hear him.
"What?" He turned his head on the giant pillow they were sharing on Spencer's living room floor, watching reruns of Mythbusters.
Jon shrugged and tucked his face a little further into the pillow. "I don't know. I said something to my mom about getting one for my birthday, but that didn't happen, so." He shrugged again, knocking his ankle absently against Spencer's. "I'll probably just ask for an XBox or something for Christmas."
"Maybe she didn't know you really wanted a dog." Spencer scrinched up his nose in thought. He was watching the screen, but he'd seen this episode already; he knew there was no way to break the sound barrier with Chevy Cavalier.
"No, she did. I just don't think she likes dogs." Jon sounded resigned and sad, and his shoulders slumped slightly. "Besides, asking for a dog for Christmas is, like. Something out of a Disney movie. Or the 1950s." He didn't sound all that convinced, though.
Spencer snuck a quick side look at him, then nudged Jon's foot back.
~
Ryan's family didn't really celebrate Christmas, but his dad somehow always bought this really good mint hot cocoa every year. There wasn't a tree up, but Spencer always knew he could have awesome hot chocolate at Ryan's after school, whenever his dad was out.
"So, are you getting me anything for Christmas?" Spencer said as Ryan dumped a huge mass of marshmallows into his mug.
Ryan stopped mid-dumping and raised an eyebrow. "Um. No? Am I supposed to? Your parents get you everything you want, anyway, so what's the point?"
"The spirit of giving, Ryan." Spencer knew this was a bad idea to bring up to Ryan first. Turning fourteen had pretty much turned him into a jerk. Then again, Jon was fifteen and still cool and all, so maybe age had nothing to do with it. Maybe Ryan was just weird. Going to a private Catholic school didn't help, either.
"Product of a capitalist society, Spence. We shouldn't be promoting greed in the name of religion." Ryan shook out the last of the marshmallows and handed Spencer his mug. "Spoon?"
Spencer shook his head, wishing Brendon was there to burst into a round of Jingle Bells just to piss Ryan off. "You never complain when my mom sends you guys her pumpkin bread," he mumbled into his hot chocolate.
"That's different. It's food." Ryan ate his marshmallows straight out of the bag while eating his hot cocoa with a giant plastic spoon that was practically the size of his head.
Spencer rolled his eyes.
~
Sometimes it royally sucked having your best friends all attend different schools. And since Spencer's mom refused to let him have unlimited texting on his phone, he had to limit himself to two texts per school day. He'd started assigning days to everyone, and since today was Wednesday, it was Jon Day.
When Spencer got out of History, he had two texts from Jon. The first one said, tom might b gettin a bugle.
The second message read, sry mnt beagle lk snoopy
Tom went to the same high school with Jon; Spencer had never met him, but he'd stopped being jealous of him the day Jon said, "Duh, Spence, he hasn't known me since I was five, okay," and shoved his shoulder playfully. If anything, Spencer liked knowing Jon had friends outside the four of them to keep him company when they weren't around.
Spencer stood at his locker and typed back, r u goin 2 see it?
no :(, came the reply a few minutes later. Spencer bit his lip; Jon rarely used frowny faces in his texts.
He thought and thought of a good reply on his way to English class, and finally typed, come play mariokrt after skool? u & bden can b on a team agnst me. It pained him to write, as playing against Brendon and Jon on anything was an exercise to patience. Not to mention losing. A lot.
He didn't get a reply until the end of class.
ok :))))
~
Maybe it was the fact that Brendon had been crawling all over Spencer since he was four, but Spencer never had a problem with him showing up at his house, dumping his bag in the foyer, and then immediately climbing onto the couch and putting his head in Spencer's lap.
"I hate school," Brendon sighed, the lights from the Christmas tree reflecting in his glasses. "I'm going to join the circus. Come with me?"
Spencer didn't look away from his fairly awesome round of Halo. "You'd miss your family," he replied automatically. Brendon had been giving this threat for years, ever since preschool when Miss Greta told them (i.e. Brendon) that growing up to be the Easter Bunny probably wasn't a wise career choice.
"True, but I wouldn't be miserable." He tugged at the hem of Spencer's shirt. "You guys need to transfer, seriously."
"Ryan's dad said no way, and Jon's in high school now, anyway. And my mom hates your school because she heard a bunch of kids got caught with weed last year." Some asshole came out of nowhere and shot Spencer down. He swore and threw his controller on the carpet before looking around to make sure his sisters weren't listening.
"It was one kid, and it's not like weed's heroin." Brendon was beginning to pout out his bottom lip big time. It was an on-going discussion that would probably never be resolved until the four of them graduated, no matter how much poking and prodding they gave their parents.
Spencer stretched and patted the top of Brendon's head. "By the way, Jon's coming over to play Mariokart. I told him you two could be on a team."
Brendon beamed up at him. "You should've told me sooner! We could've made strategies."
"It's Wednesday, dude, your day's not until Friday, remember? You picked it."
"Because Friday is the best day." He scrunched up his mouth, frowning. "I miss Jon Walker. He's too busy being, like, in high school and shit."
Spencer poked him hard just in case his mom was listening. "And he's bummed because he's not getting a dog, so no dog talk."
"He wants a dog?"
Spencer shrugged one shoulder. "Yeah, I think so. He keeps bringing it up."
"That's the saddest thing ever. And it's Christmas, too."
The front door slammed, and a moment later Jon was standing by the couch with his backpack hanging off one arm. He toed at the controller on the floor with the edge of his flip-flop (even as kids, Jon wouldn't wear shoes, and he'd never really grown out of it) and said, not looking up, "Soooooo, I get Yoshi, yeah?"
"We get Yoshi," Brendon said, scrambling up from Spencer's lap to tackle Jon in a bear hug.
Jon grinned and finally glanced up, giving Spencer a thumbs up.
~
"You never wanted to come here with me before," Ryan said suspiciously as Spencer wiggled his fingers through the cage door at a Pug puppy. Sometimes Ryan liked to go down to the local Humane Society and look at the new rescues they brought in. The director had told him that as soon as Ryan turned sixteen he could have a part-time job cleaning kennels; rarely had Spencer seen him get so excited, especially about something that involved dog poop.
"I wanted to see what all the hype was about." The Pug panted happily at him, and yeah, Spencer could see why Ryan would want to be here on a regular basis.
"That's Harold. Someone brought him in last Friday."
Spencer smiled at Harold, and Harold smiled back.
"Is this about Jon wanting a puppy?" Ryan asked casually as he crouched down in front of a larger kennel with a black German Shepherd mix.
"What?" Spencer frowned, and for some reason he felt his cheeks grow warm. "Did he tell you that?"
"No, Brendon did. But I think Jon might've said something about it around his birthday." He splayed his hand over the kennel door, and the Shepherd puppy licked his palm. "If you're gonna get him a dog for Christmas, you better check with his mom first. Just saying."
Ryan was always doing this, voicing Spencer's thoughts before he'd completely had them. It was frustrating and a little creepy sometimes. "I never said I was gonna—"
"Brendon thinks you should get him a Labrador, but that's totally unoriginal. Besides, a mix doesn't have all the annoying pure bred traits in it." He made a couple of kissing noises at the puppy, and the Shepherd barked once, happily.
"I'm not getting him a puppy," Spencer said petulantly, crossing his arms over his chest.
Ryan gave a long-suffering sigh as he stood back up. "Would it make you feel better if all of us bought him a dog together?" He shook his head. "You can be such a whiny douchebag sometimes, you know that?"
"I'm not the one that said we shouldn't give presents."
"I don't think we should give presents because it's promoting consumption in our society. You don't want to give Jon a puppy because you think he'll think you like him. That's two different things." Ryan held up two fingers.
Spencer glared. "That's not it at all." He sounded a little pouty, but he didn't care. He concentrated on Harold's puppy smile and ignored the uncomfortable twinge in his stomach.
"Okay, whatever." Ryan pointed to the black Shepherd's cage. "He just came in yesterday, I think—they found him abandoned in a ditch all by himself. No one's named him yet, although I think they wanted to go with Chase, which is kind of dumb." He raised an eyebrow at Spencer. "Also, it's fifty dollars to adopt him, and twenty-five to get his shots and tags."
Spencer totally didn't do the math in his head to see how much of seventy-five dollars he had. "That's nice. I want to look at cats now."
Ryan rolled his eyes and mumbled, "Such a baby," under his breath as he lead Spencer out of the dog area.
~
On Tuesday, Spencer got a text from Brendon during lunch: when ru buyin jwlk a dog??
Since it wasn't Friday, Spencer didn't reply back.
But at three-fifteen, as he waited for his mom to pick him up from school, Brendon called his phone.
"Can I pick out his collar, please?" he asked almost breathlessly before Spencer could even say hello.
"There's no dog. Ryan tells lies."
"I saw this purple plaid one at Petsmart, Spence, Jon would love it."
Spencer hung up just as his mom pulled up to the curb.
~
He didn't think about puppies or Jon with puppies or anything remotely related to puppies for three whole days.
But then at dinner his mom came in with a photo in her hands. "I found this going through some old boxes!" she said, and handed Spencer the picture.
It was of the four of them, right around the time Jon was starting kindergarten. Jon had cried and cried on his last day of daycare, and his mother had decided to take them all to the city's monthly Puppies in the Park. But even in May, the day had been colder than normal, and in the photo they were all bundled up in coats and clutching a group of matching Golden Retriever puppies. Brendon's puppy was thoroughly licking his face, making him laugh, while Ryan had his cheek pressed to his puppy's muzzle and smiling contentedly. Next to Ryan, Spencer was watching Jon, seemingly oblivious to the puppy in his lap, while Jon had his face scrinched up in deep concentration as he looked intently at the dog sitting patiently at his feet.
"Do you remember that day?" Spencer's mom asked.
"Yeah," Spencer said slowly, softly. "Jon was trying to get the puppy to tell him his name."
"And I think Brendon nearly made himself sick wanting to take his home so badly." His mom laughed as she took the picture back, looking at it fondly. "I swear, if you boys aren't attached to each other, you're attached to some animal."
Spencer stared at his half-eaten dinner and tried not to hear Ryan's voice in his head quoting tags and shots prices.
~
Spencer knew better than to interrupt Brendon's Bible study time at home, but he went ahead and risked Mrs. Urie's reprimanding.
"It's gotta be quick, dude, I got five minutes," Brendon said, although Spencer knew he'd be more than happy to sneak out in a heartbeat if Spencer asked him to.
Instead, Spencer said, "Do you have twenty dollars?"
"Um." There was a snuffle on the other end, like Brendon took the phone into a more private location in the house. "Maybe? I still have some of my allowance for the month, so I've got about that. Why, are you—"
"You can pick the collar, okay?"
"YES!" Spencer was fairly certain Brendon nearly dropped the phone. "Oh my god, awesome, yeah, you can totally have all of it, Spence, we're getting Jon a dog, he's gonna die!"
Someone yelled Brendon's name in the background, and Brendon mumbled something about the circus again before hanging up.
~
He didn't want to ask Mrs. Walker's permission, but Ryan insisted that if something went wrong and she decided to not let Jon keep the puppy, they'd be stuck with a dog none of them could keep, although Spencer was pretty sure Ryan would find a way to keep the thing if push came to shove.
Still, Spencer rode his bike down to Jon's house after dinner, wrapped up in his big puffer coat and gloves at his own mom's insistence. Jon's house was the only one on the block with Christmas lights that actually played Christmas songs, and they flashed in time with the reindeer that lit up on the front lawn. Spencer secretly loved Jon's house at Christmas; it was the closest thing to the house from Christmas Vacation he'd probably ever see.
He tapped on the front door, knowing that Jon wouldn't answer first because he could hear Bob Dylan coming from Jon's room on the second floor. When Jon's mom came to the door, she smiled and said, "Hi, Spencer, did you smell my brownies down the street?"
His eyes flared, and he said, "Oh man, can I have some?" without thinking.
Mrs. Walker laughed and held the door open for him. "Of course. Jon's upstairs."
"Yeah, uh, actually...I had a question for you." He followed her into the kitchen, his cheeks growing warm again, much to his chagrin.
"That sounds important." She dished out three brownies onto a plate and handed them to Spencer, one eyebrow raised.
"I, um." Spencer poked at his brownie, suddenly nervous. What if she said no? Then his idea would be blown, and Jon would stay unhappy and mopey and Spencer wouldn't know how to fix it. "I was wondering if, like, I could, maybe. Y'know." He started picking apart the brownie, one hand braced against the kitchen island, his foot tapping a frantic rhythm against the tile.
"Goodness, Spencer, you're all red! Whatever it is, I promise you I won't bite." Mrs. Walker reached across the counter and patted Spencer's hand. "You sure you don't want me to call Jon down?"
Spencer shook his head. "No, it's—it's a surprise. I want..." He took a deep breath. "Can I give Jon a puppy for Christmas? I mean, not just me, Ryan and Brendon are going in on it, too, but it's my idea, and I know you told Jon no before and he didn't get one for his birthday, but I didn't want you to be mad, so that's why I'm asking and I just really want to do this, so." Spencer inhaled one half of a brownie, not looking up in the hopes that chewing would distract him from Mrs. Walker saying no.
But she didn't say no. She just grinned really big and squeezed Spencer's arm. "That is so sweet of you, Spencer, really. And for the record, I never told Jon no on the dog. It just never happened because we didn't really have time to go pick one out. But if you boys want to give him one as a present, then I'm sure it would mean twice as much to him."
Spencer swallowed his mouthful of brownie. "So, you'll let us do it?"
"I think it's a wonderful idea, and Jon's old enough to take on the responsibility, I think."
A gigantic weight flew off his shoulders. "Thank you," Spencer said softly, cheeks still pink.
Mrs. Walker shook her head. "Only now the XBox I bought him is going to be completely trumped. Thanks a lot." She winked at Spencer, who laughed as he ate the rest of his brownies.
~
Ryan talked him into adopting the black German Shepherd mix. Spencer thought Brendon would've totally gone for the little Dachshund puppy, but he hadn't been able to meet up with Spencer and Ryan at the Humane Society after school.
"Make sure he's a happy puppy, Spence, some dogs are just, like, really mean and grouchy," he said when he'd called to tell Spencer he had a last minute church choir practice.
"Puppies are puppies, dude."
"You can just tell, trust me. Ryan knows what I'm talking about."
Which, as it turned out, was true. Ryan had evidently had his heart set on adopting "Not-Chase," as he took to calling him, and when Spencer wavered a little, he said, "This dog's been through a lot, he deserves a good home at Christmas." There was a finality in his voice, like Spencer really didn't have a choice, but then Spencer glanced down into Not-Chase's kennel and looked into the puppy's wide brown eyes staring up at him.
He had eyes kind of like Jon's. Spencer didn't know whether to blush or be creeped out.
It was too cold to ride their bikes, not to mention Not-Chase's carrier was too bulky, so Spencer's mom drove them back home while Ryan and Spencer sat in the back seat with the carrier. Spencer leaned in close and whispered, "I promise you'll like your new home, Jon's awesome," and Not-Chase blinked once and gave him a slow, panting smile, his big black ears perked and alert.
From the other side of the carrier, Ryan smiled.
When they got back to Spencer's, Brendon's bike was in the front yard, and he was inside watching Hannah Montana on the couch with Spencer's sisters. He was twirling a purple plaid dog collar around his wrist.
"Oh my god, is that him?" Brendon cried the moment they walked in with the carrier. He nearly scaled the back of the couch to get a closer look. "He's perfect!" He held the collar up as Spencer opened the carrier door and Not-Chase slowly trotted out. "D'you like purple, big guy?"
Not-Chase barked, knocking his tail against Spencer's leg.
Brendon scrubbed his hand between Not-Chase's ears. "I'll take that as a yes."
Spencer helped his mom lay out newspaper and a water bowl for the puppy while Brendon and the twins played with Not-Chase as Ryan watched with a very satisfied look on his face. Not-Chase was full of the typical puppy energy, but he was more mellow than most puppies; he seemed perfectly happy to flop onto his back and let Brendon scratch his belly forever.
"I'm going to teach him to skateboard," Brendon announced, kissing Not-Chase on the nose.
"He's not even housebroken yet," Spencer said dubiously as he ran his hand over Not-Chase's soft fur. "And shouldn't you let Jon start with, like, sit and stay first?"
"Jon can do whatever he wants, but I'm going to teach him to skateboard, and he'll be the best damn skateboarding dog in the universe."
Spencer heard one of his sisters giggle, and he swatted Brendon's arm, mostly for show.
"I dunno," Ryan said slowly, narrowing his eyes thoughtfully at the puppy. "He probably doesn't have the balance yet for skateboarding, and it's probably too dangerous to—"
"Just because you tried a kickflip a couple weeks ago and almost died doesn't mean I can't teach the puppy," Brendon said in a cooing baby voice at Not-Chase. "You're gonna be a better skater than Uncle Ryan, right, Puppy?"
Spencer covered his mouth and swallowed a snort. Ryan glared, kicking Brendon hard in the ass.
"I hope Not-Chase chews up your deck," he grumbled, and Brendon shook his head and replied brightly, "Not possible, Jon'll teach him manners."
~
It was a Tuesday night, and Spencer wanted to wait until the next day to give Not-Chase to Jon, since it would be Christmas Eve then and Jon hated getting presents too early before Christmas Day. This was because Jon was secretly a girl, and Spencer would never a million years admit to being just as sentimental about the holidays as Jon.
Both Brendon and Ryan went home around nine o'clock with the promise of being at Spencer's the next morning to take Not-Chase to Jon's house. He wanted to put the puppy in his carrier for the night, but the twins insisted on letting him stay out so they could cuddle with him as they watched the end of A Christmas Story on TV.
"Don't worry about it, I'll make sure he gets put up for the night," his mother assured him. She mussed his hair affectionately. "You did good. I'm sure Jon will be ecstatic tomorrow."
Spencer glanced over at Not-Chase sprawled over his sisters' laps and hoped she was right.
But then he took two steps out of the room and Not-Chase suddenly scrambled off the couch and skidded across the wood flooring, nearly colliding into Spencer's heels. He yipped once and looked up at Spencer with those same wide, searching eyes.
"I gotta go to bed, dude," he said, holding out his hands. "You can't go with me, you'll pee all over everything."
Not-Chase barked again, and this time added some tail wagging for effect.
Spencer huffed. "You're not sleeping with me."
"You know," his mom said, "you could take some newspaper up to your room and—"
"He'll get attached to me, Mom, and he's not even mine. He's Jon's, I can't have him—"
Not-Chase whined and put his front paws on the knees of Spencer's jeans. If possible, his eyes got wider and more pitiful.
"Aww, look at that face," his mom cooed. "He really wants to stay with you, Spence."
This dog truly belonged to Jon Walker; Spencer recognized that look from many times in the past, like when Jon talked him into riding roller coasters of doom, or asked to eat the last of Spencer's fries. "Okay," he sighed, and went to scoop up an armload of newspapers. Not-Chase barked and nipped at his ankles the entire way up the stairs to his room.
It was a quarter to ten when Spencer got everything situated and prayed the puppy didn't eat every pair of Nikes he owned. He turned his TV on to a rerun of Friends and curled up in his bed, picking up Not-Chase and setting him on the pillow beside him. The puppy sniffed around for a bit before flopping ungracefully onto the covers, his nose propped on Spencer's arm.
His phone rang a few minutes later.
"Brendon said he and Ryan were at your house?" Jon said, and Spencer could hear the higher-than-normal pitch in his voice that meant he was trying not to sound hurt.
He heart beat a little faster; he really hated lying to Jon. "It wasn't a big deal," he replied vaguely, and yawned to distract him. "They just, y'know. Happened to be over." Spencer rolled onto his side facing Not-Chase and ran his fingers over the plaid collar and the smooth metal tags that were still blank, waiting on Jon to pick a real name. Not-Chase snuffled and stretched to show Spencer his belly.
"Oh." There was a long pause. Spencer could hear the same episode of Friends echoing through his phone. "D'you do anything cool?"
"Naw, just played Halo. I think Brendon was mostly just hiding out from his mom, anyway."
"Oh." More than lying, Spencer really hated hurting Jon's feelings. He wasn't like Ryan, who wouldn't let you know he was hurt until days later, or Brendon, who flat out told you immediately when he was sad and pissed off. No, Jon just mostly kicked around the hurt and tried to make everything seem fine and dandy when it so obviously wasn't.
"I was gonna call you," Spencer said quickly, "but my mom didn't want me to invite anyone else over." His stomach made that uncomfortable clench again, and he tried not to picture Jon lying on his bed and frowning at his phone.
Jon sighed. "Look, I know I probably haven't been around as much lately, but that's only because my classes are really hard this year, and I want to keep my grades up so my mom'll let me take guitar lessons, and I just. I don't." He trailed off, sighing again. "I don't want you to think I'm, like, forgetting about you or anything," he added softly.
There was a "you guys" in there, Spencer knew there was, except he found himself hoping that Jon was talking to him and him alone, which didn't make any sense. Only it totally did in weird, confusing way that made him blush and his hand sweat a little around his phone, and suddenly he wondered if giving Jon a puppy was horrible, horrible idea.
"Spence?"
He blinked a couple of times and realized he hadn't spoken at all. "You." Spencer swallowed and tried again. "You know I don't—we don't think that, it wasn't anything like that. Don't be mad." Not-Chase was gnawing on his finger, but his big Jon Eyes were staring straight at Spencer.
"I know, I just get paranoid sometimes. Tom asks me all the time why I still hang out with junior high guys, and I always tell him it's because you all are my best friends."
"We are, okay?" Spencer wanted to add always, but that sounded desperate and girly. "You don't forget about us, and we won't forget about you, got it?" He couldn't imagine for a second forgetting about Jon, ever, especially when his soon-to-be puppy was staring up at him. And beginning to chew really hard on his fingers.
Not-Chase bit down sharply, and Spencer hissed, "Ow, damn it," and jerked his hand away, making Not-Chase bark.
"Was...was that a dog that just barked?" Jon asked.
"Um." Spencer stuck his wounded finger in his mouth and tried frantically to think of a cover story. "Just the TV," he finally replied lamely.
"Thought you were watching Friends. It's the one where Rachel gets that hairless cat."
Before Spencer could think, he replied, "Yeah, I know." He winced, poking Not-Chase in the belly.
Another long pause stretched out on the other end of the phone, and then Jon asked, very quietly, "Did you get a puppy and not tell me?"
Oh, man. "No, no, I—"
"You could've told me, Spence. You didn't have to lie about it, or get Brendon and Ryan to keep it a secret." Now Jon was going from hurt to pissed, and Spencer wanted to bang his head against the wall.
"I didn't get a dog, Jon, it was only—" Not-Chase took that moment to bark again, and Spencer shushed him before he could stop himself.
"Right. I get it. Whatever, I'll talk to you later." And Jon hung up before Spencer could think up anymore stupid excuses.
Yeah, this was a spectacular idea. Spencer threw his phone on the floor and shut his eyes when Not-Chase tried to lick his chin.
He barely slept at all that night.
~
Spencer had told Jon's mom that the three of them would be over at ten o'clock. But the bad luck from the night before seemed to be spilling over, because Brendon called him at nine to say he was being forced into attending a morning Christmas Eve service at his church, and there was no earthly way he could get out of it.
"I tried, Spence, I really did, you have no idea," he said miserably. "Please tell Jon Merry Christmas and that I picked out the collar, okay? And I'm totally coming over ASAP to start skateboarding lessons."
Then, not ten minutes later, Ryan texted him with, got grnded cant leave house.
Spencer wasn't about to text a reply to that. He hit speedial, and the second Ryan picked up, he blurted out, "You've gotta be kidding me, Ry."
"Sorry, sorry, there was a big fight with me and Dad, and basically I can't go anywhere until after Christmas." He sounded bored, but Spencer knew better; he was still riding out the anger. "At least you still got Brendon to go with you, right?"
"Not exactly." He relayed Brendon's church woes.
"Shit, okay, well. Wait until after Christmas?"
The thought of taking care of Not-Chase for another day and half while Jon sat at home thinking Spencer hated him was enough to make his heart drop into his feet. "It has to be today, Ry, it just has to be." He dug his thumbs into his eyes hard enough to see stars.
"I'm sorry," Ryan said again, and this time there was a hint of contriteness in his voice.
"I'll deal. It was my idea to begin with, anyway." He finished tying his shoes and hung up, listening to Not-Chase bark downstairs.
Spencer grabbed his coat on his way downstairs and thought Ryan might've had a point about the evils of present-giving after all.
~
It wasn't quite as cold that morning; the frost was already melting off the cars on the street, and the sun was shining brightly. Spencer's mom offered to drive him the three blocks to Jon's house, but at the last minute Spencer decided to walk Not-Chase, see how he handled a leash.
"Spencer, he's only four months old," his mom said. "He'll wear out fast, long before you ever get to Jon's."
"That's okay, we'll manage." He fidgeted with the big red bow his mom had insisted on tying to Chase's collar. "He needs the exercise anyway, right?"
She handed him the tote bag with the puppy's food and toys. "Sure. He'll be nice and exhausted for Jon when he gets to meet him."
Actually, Spencer just wanted the extra time to think of what he was going to say to Jon when he finally saw him. Hi, sorry I had to lie to you, here's a puppy?
Naturally, Not-Chase ran about a quarter of a block before collapsing in the cold grass and refusing to budge any further.
"C'mon, we've still got two more blocks, dude, seriously." Spencer tugged at his leash, but Not-Chase just gave him a puppy pout and whimpered.
Spencer was convinced the universe hated him. In the end, he switched the tote bag to his other arm and scooped Not-Chase up with his other. Four months old or not, the dog was heavier than he looked, and carrying him for two more blocks with his cold, wet feet pressed against Spencer's scarf wasn't Spencer's idea of a great Christmas Eve morning.
By the time Spencer arrived on Jon's doorstep, his fingers were slightly numb in his mittens, and Not-Chase's paws had soaked through his scarf, not to mention his arms were killing him. Not-Chase was beginning to wiggle and want down again, so Spencer dropped him unceremoniously on the door mat and watched as the bow fell off his collar, rumpled and damp.
Spencer's shoulders slumped as he rang the door bell. He'd been so distracted with carrying the puppy, he'd totally forgotten about what he was going to say to Jon.
It wasn't a total surprise that Jon was the one to answer the door, considering how Spencer's morning was going. Jon took one look at Spencer's red cheeks and nose and frowned, then glanced down at the puppy pawing at the screen door.
He frowned harder and glared at Spencer, who immediately held up his hands and said, helplessly, "Wait, don't shut the door, I can explain!"
Jon came outside, still in his pajama pants and t-shirt. He leaned against the door and folded his arms across his chest. His feet were bare. "Okay, so talk," Jon said, shivering a little in the cold.
Spencer pulled his wet mittens off and jerked a hand through his hair before grabbing Not-Chase and practically thrusting him at Jon. "Here, he's yours," he said, and really, really wished he could have a do-over for the last forty-eight hours.
Jon blinked and held the puppy with both hands, away from his body like he was unsure what it was. "Um?" Not-Chase wiggled and panted at Jon, letting one paw rest against the hollow of Jon's throat.
"I didn't get a dog, Jon, I got you a dog. Well, we all did, Brendon and Ryan helped pay for him. And Brendon picked out the collar." He flailed his hand weakly at the puppy, feeling stupid and embarrassed.
Jon didn't say anything right away. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around Not-Chase and cuddled him into his chest, suddenly oblivious to the cold. The puppy seemed to understand, and he calmed down enough to look up at Jon and give him a doggy grin that was all pink tongue.
"You really did this?" Jon asked softly. "He's really mine?" He finally looked up and met Spencer's eyes, and it was like everything inside him suddenly lit up, his smile was so bright.
For some reason, it was kind of hard to breathe for a moment. "Yeah, I did. He doesn't have a name, either, the tags are blank. You get to name him." He knew he was blushing really hard, but he hoped the cold could be blamed for most of it. "I asked your mom and everything, it's totally cool."
Jon held Not-Chase up and squinted at him. "Hey hey, little guy, what's your name?" he whispered, and the look on his face reminded Spencer so much of that day in the park, when Jon was five and tried so hard to get the puppy to tell him his name. His chest felt tight, like it was too small for his body all of a sudden.
Not-Chase woofed softly and licked Jon's thumb, making Jon laugh. "All right, then. Marley it is," he said, hugging the puppy back to his chest.
"Marley?" Spencer asked. "Where'd that come from?"
"As in Bob, Spence. He looks like a Marley fan." He kept beaming at Spencer over the top of Marley's head, his nose tucked between Marley's ears. "So, 'm sorry about last night."
Spencer shrugged and ducked his head. He knew they should really go inside, where it was warm and Jon wouldn't die of frostbite. "Don't worry about it, you didn't know."
"Yeah, but I was all thinking you were moving on or whatever, and it. Y'know." He kissed Marley's muzzle, then looked up at Spencer, his hair all messy and hanging in his eyes.
"Yeah," Spencer said, and concentrated on scratching his fingers through Marley's fur. "It's okay, we're good."
Jon bit his lip, then reached up and cupped the back of Spencer's neck. "Thanks," he whispered, and kissed the corner of Spencer's mouth, just a quick, dry brush of his lips. It was over in an instant, not to mention there was a puppy pressed between them, but Spencer still went warm all over and gasped softly, his eyes fluttering closed for moment as his hand curled just a little into the sleeve of Jon's t-shirt.
"Merry Christmas," Spencer whispered back, and Jon laughed quietly and nudged the tips of their noses together before leaning back.
"This is just like a black-and-white movie," he said, his voice softer than Spencer was used to hearing it. "Like, Tiny Tim's gonna come out and bless us all and shit."
"You're a dork and you love it," Spencer said, letting himself smile big and wide.
"You can't prove anything." Jon paused and scrinched up his nose. "Where're Ryan and Brendon, anyway?"
"Ryan got grounded, and Brendon's at church. He also wanted me to tell you he's gonna teach Marley how to skateboard."
Jon didn't even blink. "Like, do actual tricks, or just ride with him? 'Cause if he teaches him tricks, I'm totally videotaping that to put on YouTube, no joke. That would be awesome."
"I'm pretty sure he meant tricks. Ryan got all glary."
"Yeah, he had that bad wipe-out a few weeks ago, didn't he?" Jon said, and nodded solemnly. "That's okay, he doesn't have to watch if he doesn't want to." Marley wiggled free from Jon's arms and landed in an awkward puppy pile on the mat before barking at the door to be let in.
"He's freezing, and I am, too," Spencer said, remembering that he still had a tote bag full of puppy food and toys slung over his shoulder. He handed it to Jon and added, "Can I come in now?" He smirked, but there was a strange shyness in his words; something had shifted, somehow, and Spencer felt like he needed to ask permission for the first time in his life to be invited into Jon's house.
Jon opened the door and laughed when Marley slid a bit over the ceramic tiles. "I guess if you bring me dogs for Christmas, I can let you inside." His returned smile was also a little shy, a little hesitant, like he was just now realizing he'd kinda sorta kissed Spencer on his front porch. The bridge of his nose was pink, and Spencer thought, Oh man, are we flirting? Is this what flirting even is? And that was a strange thought to be having suddenly about your best friend on Christmas Eve, especially one who knew better than most that Spencer had never been kissed before.
Marley ran down the hall to the living room, barking gleefully, and Spencer heard Jon's mom call, "Oh, they brought the puppy! Let me get the camera..."
"You are really stealthy, dude," Jon said, watching as Marley charged into a stack of presents and started intensely sniffing them. "I really didn't know you were doing this."
Spencer shrugged and carefully didn't look at Jon as he knocked their elbows together. "Not really, since I almost had you thinking I was a gigantic asshole."
"Maybe you shouldn't've talked to me while Marley was right there, duh." But when Spencer glanced over, Jon was grinning hard enough to make his eyes crinkle at the corners.
"Keeping presents a secret is hard, okay?"
"I can't believe Brendon didn't spill it."
"I told him he couldn't hang out at my place for a month if he did."
"Okay, so you're not stealthy, you're just really mean." Jon set the tote bag in the hallway, and maybe, possibly, let his hand brush over Spencer's when he came back into the room. Spencer couldn't think very clearly with his heart beating so hard, and when Jon tugged on his thumb, Spencer felt his face flush all the way up into his hairline.
"Hey," Jon whispered, eyes suddenly serious. He didn't let go of Spencer's thumb right away, and Spencer couldn't decide if he wanted him to or not. "Are you gonna stay and watch Elf with me? " His voice wavered a little and he was chewing his bottom lip pretty hard. Not that Spencer was watching or anything.
Behind them, Marley had discovered the Christmas tree itself, and started barking ferociously at a crystal angel ornament.
"See? Marley thinks you should stay."
"He peed on my Rolling Stones t-shirt this morning. I don't think he cares." But Spencer wasn't looking at the puppy, he was too busy waiting for Jon to stop touching him and looking at him like Spencer was going freak out and leave in five seconds.
"Don't make the puppy sad, Spence, c'mon." Jon squeezed Spencer's thumb and finally let go. "And obviously Marley's a Doors fan, so you can't really blame him."
Spencer huffed, but he couldn't hold back his smile. "That's not even funny, god. I'll make your dog listen to good music while Brendon teaches him halfpipes, and Ryan can, like, read him Moby Dick or something."
As if on cue, Jon's phone went off. Marley nearly tripped him on the way to grab it off the coffee table. Jon flipped the screen open and read the text, then looked over his shoulder to beam at Spencer. "Brendon wants to know if the puppy's in love with me yet," he said, holding up the screen for Spencer to see.
"Tell 'im it's too soon to tell."
But when Jon got down on his knees and held his arms out to Marley, making puppy kisses at him, Marley flung himself at Jon and licked his face thoroughly, knocking Jon onto his back.
"Yeah, we definitely need some time," Jon replied a few minutes later, breathless from laughing so hard.
~
They curled up on the couch together under Jon's favorite fleece blanket that was king-sized and bright red, Marley tucked somewhere between them. Spencer got about thirty minutes into the movie and promptly fell asleep on Jon, his cheek pressed against Jon's shoulder. He remembered their fingers tangling together ever so slightly under the blanket just before he passed out, only to startle awake with Marley's barking and Brendon yelling, "Marley Walker, c'mere, you!"
"When did he get here?" Spencer asked sleepily, rubbing at his eyes and wincing at the spot of drool on Jon's sleeve.
"He texted me a while ago, said he got out of church early." Jon was watching Brendon tackle Marley to floor and growl at him before kissing his belly. Their hands weren't touching anymore, but Spencer felt warm and cozy and half-awake, sprawled against Jon's side.
"Spence, wake up and come help me get Marley to do a grind!"
Spencer hummed and shut his eyes. "No, I stayed up with him all night. You teach him."
The couch suddenly dipped, and Spencer had a Brendon in his lap, nosing at his cheek. If the nose had been wet, Spencer would've easily mistaken him for Marley. "Spencerrrrrr, you're no fun, it's Christmas."
He wanted to point out that Christmas didn't have a whole lot to do with skateboarding dogs, but right about then Jon's mom showed up with four mugs of hot chocolate, and a smiling Ryan trailing behind her.
"Look who showed up," she said. "Good thing I figured the four of you would somehow all be together and made enough cocoa."
"Wait, I thought you were grounded," Jon said, already eating the marshmallows out of his hot chocolate.
Ryan shrugged. "Doesn't mean I don't still know how to sneak out." He raised an eyebrow at Spencer and the way he was tucked into Jon's shoulder, but Spencer rolled his eyes and held open the blanket for him. Or he held it open as much as he could with Brendon laying across his and Jon's lap, sipping his cocoa with both hands.
Before getting under the blanket, Ryan picked Marley up and cuddled him close for a second. "You doin' okay, Not-Chase?" he asked quietly.
"It's Marley," Spencer said. "And he hates the Rolling Stones."
Ryan narrowed his eyes at the puppy for a moment, then nodded thoughtfully. "Of course he does," he replied, whatever that meant. He didn't put Marley down as he crawled under the blanket, and eventually Marley squirmed free and flopped across all of them to get to Jon, where he butted his head up against Jon's chin and panted contentedly.
Eventually Jon's mom put in Christmas Vacation, and the four of them, puppy included, watched the movie piled into each other, wrapped up in blankets and each other.
Spencer could feel himself starting to nod off again, but just as his eyes closed he felt Jon gently rub his nose against the top of his hair.
"Best Christmas ever," Jon whispered. Marley gave a soft little puppy sigh in reply.
"What he said," Brendon mumbled, and Ryan tapped his knuckles against Spencer's knee, which in Ryan-speak meant really, really great idea, Spence.
"Yeah," Spencer sighed, smiling into Jon's shoulder. "Pretty much."
**
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