Patches

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

-Tatum-

Oops, I did it again. I made a fool of myself and invited myself to his house for Christmas. I mean, who does that? We were dating -kind of- so surely it's normal? But were we even dating in the first place? The uncertainty that filled my veins turned into anxiety not long after Patches left for his class.

Exam season didn't help. I enjoyed my classes, but Patches was getting stressed with the end-of-semester exams that he had to do. I didn't know how they were difficult, they were multiple choice questions and had to be done online. He booped my nose and told me that's a trap that many people fell for. So, he had been studying almost every chance he got.

I suppose it helped get some answers out of him. I learned that if you asked him things when he was studying, you'd usually get an honest answer. I hadn't taken full advantage of it, just the fact that he likes orange chocolate, and he wouldn't like alcohol as presents. He also admitted to liking the bath products he receives at Christmas, which is a controversial opinion amongst males...I've heard.

I didn't want to be stereotypical though. I wanted to get him something special. I may have other friends now, but he's still the first person I've actually opened up to. I wanted to show him just how much that means to me by getting him something thoughtful.

I think nobody wanted to be around me by the time I had figured out what exactly it was I was going to get him. I had torn apart magazines and spent hours on Amazon trying to find something even remotely inspiring. It all worked out in the end, but it didn't stop me being anxious until Christmas Eve.

Before I was picked up by Adia, I may have had a few shots by myself. I wanted to give myself the confidence and the energy I pretended to have on the daily, without the overpowering anxiety of what the next day will bring. I didn't really do anything but give me a nice taste in my mouth, but it at least gave me a few minutes of distraction.

When we arrived, I was immediately brought up to Patches room whilst Adia hoovered and dusted.

"Hey," Patches greeted with some Sellotape stuck on the edge of his lip. "Happy Christmas Eve." He held up a hand, which I high-fived.

"Happy Christmas Eve," I replied and looked around his room. "Last minute wrapping?" I asked rhetorically. If it wasn't last minute wrapping, then I would go to the roof and dance with the reindeer.

"Yeah," he said as he took the tape off his lip and sealed the present. "I'm done now though. What's Ads doing?"

"Cleaning." I sat on the floor next to the paper-covered bed. "She seems very stressed about it all."

Patches nodded. "It's the first time that my parents are coming over here for Christmas."

That didn't help my confidence at all. "So, it's usually celebrated in Sweden? Is it any different?"

Patches barked a laugh. "Incredibly different. My dad dresses up as Tomte and gives out the presents. Our version of Santa, you know? Well, he's a gnome. I think that this year I would've been Tomte if I wasn't...here. Thank goodness. Adia would usually be St. Lucia, though we only tried to do that with the candle crown once," he started to ramble.

I didn't know a lot of what he was talking about, but it was fascinating. His hands moved as he explained, creating many strange gestures.

"Crown of candles?" I interjected. "Please tell me that's not with real fire."

"Not anymore," Patches said with a grin. "Poor tablecloth." He shook his head and picked up the rolls of wrapping paper.

"Elaborate, please," I begged as I followed him to the doorway of his room and leaned on the door frame. "You can't just tell me that a tablecloth was set on fire and then not explain."