| His stocking was hung, alone on the fireplace. It wasn't the way it was supposed to be. She was supposed to be there with him. Her stocking was supposed to be next to his. They were supposed to exchange gifts on Christmas Eve, then spend Christmas Day entertaining his family. But she was gone. Chris took another sip of his whiskey. He batted at one of the Christmas balls on the tree and sighed. Surely she didn't think he'd fallen out of love with her. One fling didn't mean that. Shit, it was just so much pressure to be good on the road, and all his friends were out getting laid everynight, and they'd had that big fight about Fumanskeeto, then it all came crashing down. She moved out, left him. She broke her promise. She said she'd never leave him. Liar. When the phone rang, he didn't move, only intensified his gaze into the sparkly red lights. Whoever it was, whatever they wanted, they could go away now. He didn't care. He didn't even want to fucking tree in his house. Chris knew in the back of his mind that soon, his entire family would be banging at his door, anxious to see him and spend some quality time. After all, he'd been absent for most of the year with the tour, and surely they missed him. Even if she didn't seem to. Grabbing an ornament from the tree, he studied it, rolling it around in his hands. "1999" it said in bright red letters, and their names entwined with gold lettering. He thought maybe, just maybe, she would have gotten over this little infidelity of his by now, and return to him, to his arms. But no, she was far to stubborn for that. She had pride, one of the reasons he'd fallen in love with her to begin with. Taking the dogs had gone too far, though. She marched right out with them. They were his. Chris blinked back tears of lonliness, and gently placed the ornament back on the tree. Looking back on his night of cheating, he knew it was wrong. It didn't mean anything, and Joey told him not to tell her. But, fuck, what did Joey know about truth in relationships? Exactly nothing. So he'd come clean, on Justin's advice, and she didn't stick around for any apologies or anything. The pained look in her eyes had killed him, and she was gone. He hadn't even thought about what he was going to tell his family yet. They loved her and were looking forward to a 2001 wedding, even though he hadn't officially popped the question yet. The little box sat unopened at the foot of the tree and he shook his head when he saw it there. It was supposed to be so different. The phone rang again, and this time, Chris listened with interest when he heard the machine pick up. "Honey, it's mom. We'll be in around seven am or so. Call me if you need anything. Love to you both. Bye." The both his mother spoke of didn't exist, and the sound of her voice made Chris even sadder. He wished at least his dogs were there to make the hurt fade a bit. But she'd taken that too. Depressed, he headed to his bedroom, wanting to just sleep the night and next day away. Curling into their bed, he slept on her side, wanting desperately to capture her scent, her being. Anything that might make the pain ease up. He drifted off, sleeping soundly. "Chris?" The voice was so soft and tiny, he was unsure it was real. "Chris?" There it was again, forcing him to open his eyes. She was there, sitting next to him. He blinked the sleep from his eyes and sat up a bit, speachless. "I brought the dogs back. They missed you," she said, laying her hand on his leg. Her eyes sparkled in the darkness, and Chris wanted to jump in her arms, never let her go. "God, I'm so sorry. I missed you so much. Are you staying?" He knew he was begging, but damn, he wanted to make it all better with her. She smiled. "Yes. I'll stay. We have to work through some things. And I need to let you know something as well." She stood up and stripped her clothes off, grabbing one of his tee shirts and pulling it on. "Anything. Whatever you need me to do, I'll do. Therapy, whatever. I love you." She crawled into bed on his side. "Chris?" "Yeah?" He was so happy, nothing could crush him. Wrapping his arms around her with hesitation, he sighed. "I cheated on you too." Chris moved back instantly, his mouth dropping open. "What?" he hissed. "That's right. I got so pissed off at you, I wanted to make the sides even. The only way I knew was to cheat on you as well. So I did." He clutched at the comforter, shards of pain ripping at his heart with the images of his love with another. "Who was it with?" he growled through gritted teeth. She rolled over, facing him. "Joey," she said casually. "He assured me it was the only way to make things right." Chris jumped from the bed, screaming. "I'll fucking kill him!" She blinked, enjoying his moment of agony. Maybe she was playing a nasty trick on him, but after several days of tears and heartache, he deserved this. She let him rant for a few minutes before climbing out of bed, hugging him tightly. "I didn't cheat, baby. I just wanted you to know how much it hurts." Cradling his face in her hands, she nuzzled his nose. "Therapy starts right after Christmas. I love you Chris. But you can never do this to me again. Forgiveness is only this once. Next time, I will be gone." Chris' body shook and he collapsed into her. "I love you so much. Thank you, thank you for not cheating." |
| HOLIDAY CHRIS by Destiny |