Idiots to Lovers (bxb)

50 | Caramel Candycane Christmas Candle ™

I finished assembling and even decorating the tree with, really, no such help from Everett. He sat crosslegged beneath the branches like a present. At one point I had tied a little present shaped ornament to his antlers and—albeit cheesily—called him a gift. I can't bring myself to feel cringey about anything anymore.

Everett sucked on a red and green striped candycane as he watched me work. He had brought a few for the tree but none of them actually had the honour of making their way on to the branches.

My curly haired boyfriend peeped into the last cardboard box. "Ooo there's only one decoration left! I can't believe we finished this fast, feels like we got a lot done."

"It just felt like the tree got made by itself, didn't it?" I joked, burying a hand deep in his curls and mussing them up. I didn't realize my fingers were glittery from touching decorations till it transferred to his hair. Black locks sparkled with the determined specks of glitter that don't wash off. "Oops."

"What?" he asked innocently, shaking his head. A shower of golden glitter rained upon his open palms. Everett paused, and for a single moment time stood still. Then he yelled out at the top of his lungs, "Glitter fight!" and lunged himself at me.

"It was an accident," I squeaked out as he barreled into me. I lifted him off the ground, trying to get him away from the weapon-laden tree. Everett opted to instead shake his curls for ammunition, letting glitter rain over us both.

My grip loosened and he slipped from my arms. His feet stood over mine as I leaned against the staircase railing, and he pulled me into a glitter-flavoured kiss.

"If you say so." Everett smiled into my mouth.

I mumbled something that I couldn't quite understand myself. He let go and plucked the last decoration from the box. "This is my favourite one."

It was a pair of upside down elf feet wearing striped stockings and pointy green shoes that ended in golden bells.

Everett stuck it into the tree in a way that made it look like an elf had fallen into it. "That's you," he said.

"I think it's you," I objected. "You're the one that's always falling into things."

"But you're elf-like." He placed a kiss over my ear before nipping the tip of it with his teeth.

I beamed when I looked at the tree. I couldn't remember the last time there had been a tree in this living room—maybe back when dad was here. It transformed the entire space, bringing a sense of festivity to the air. For the final touch, I flicked on the switch and the tree lit up in golden lights.

"It's so pretty." Everett leaned on me with his head on my shoulder, arms wrapping around my waist.

"Yeah." I smiled into the black curls that filled my face. "Thank you...for bringing Christmas."

"Oh, there is one last thing." Everett scanned the floor for something. "I brought a scented candle to make it smell Christmassy in here."

"What does Christmas smell like?" I asked.

He procured the little glass jar that had rolled under the leg of the sofa. "Caramel Candycane Christmas Candle™," he said, pronouncing it as 'tee-em' as he read out the label on the candle.

"That's a mouthful...is caramel Christmassy?" I asked.

He opened the lid and sniffed it. "Oh it actually smells more like cinnamon and gingerbread."

I leaned in for a whiff and then moved back to read the label again. "Huh."

"I think they just wanted to phrase it to have a sharp 'C' sound on every word." He sniffed it again. "I can't tell if there's candycane in here though, it's not very strong." 

"Let's light it and see."

I found a box of matches in the kitchen, but unfortunately wasn't quick enough to stop Everett from snatching it. His tongue poked out of the corner of his mouth as he intently rubbed the tip of the match against the side of the box.

"You have to swipe it fast." I tried to reach for it but he waved me off.

Everett started swiping so enthusiastically that he bent about twenty matches before finally lighting one up.

"Okay, that's the last one," I said, peeking into the now empty box. "Be careful not to let it blow off."

"I'm always careful, Clementine, my darling."

His bold assurance did nothing to persuade me. Nevertheless, Everett did manage to light the candle without further ado.

My breath of relief paused midway as he leaned in to sniff it again. "Don't sniff the flame!"

"I'm just seeing if the smell is stronger now."

"But don't put your face into it." I pulled him back gingerly. "And put that match out," I added, glancing at the match still burning in his hand. It seemed Everett wouldn't be satisfied until he had started a fire in every room of my house. The kitchen had been ticked off so there were only four more to go.

Everett shook the match in his hand and when the flame didn't extinguish he blew on it. Hard. In the direction of the candle. It extinguished along with the match.

A little wisp of smoke lifted sadly from the Caramel Candycane Christmas Candle™. Everett stared at it for a moment before tossing the used match aside.

"Do you have anymore matches?"

I sighed. "No."