Darkness in the Neon Lights (H2OVanoss)

Chapter 32

"Did you work tomorrow," Jon asks as he looks down at me.

Him and I are watching a movie at his apartment, and I'm curled up next to him with my head on his shoulder. Unfortunately, Ze had to work tonight while I had tonight off, so I won't be able to spend the night. To make it even better, I am actually suppose to work tomorrow. However, I do know that one of the other waiters owes me for a lot of covered shifts, so with that over their head, "I don't have to. Why?"

"Well, it's almost the end of November, and I was thinking, maybe we could go to the mall together."

I pull away from him a bit and raise an eyebrow at him. "Exactly how do those mix together?"

"What do you think? Hello? Christmas is literally a month away."

"Oh," I say, feeling my face heat up. "Right. I knew that."

"Evan, what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Seriously? Evan, just tell me what's wrong. Do you not celebrate Christmas? You celebrate a different winter holiday?"

I look away, shyly, before I say, "No, it's not that... I- Well... I haven't really celebrated Christmas since I was a kid."

"What do you mean?"

I sigh and think of the best way to put this without telling him about my past. As much as I love him, and I want to be with him and be honest with him, telling him about the worst of my parents isn't something I really want to do. The longer he doesn't know, the better.

"When I was ten, my dad lost his job. That year was the first year I spent without celebrating any holiday, and it has really changed ever since. The only holidays I've celebrated since I left my parents house are Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July. Any other holiday, I don't do shit."

"I thought you guys did something for Christmas though. At least, that's what Tyler said."

I chuckle. "Oh yeah, we meet at the club, do a few shows before we close early, and then we all have a meal together. Just like Thanksgiving. Not only that, but it isn't a Christmas thing. Its a winter holiday thing. We also wrap New Years in with that so no one asks for the day off."

"Well, what about the employees? Don't you guys trade gifts or something?"

"Why would we do that," I ask with a light chuckle. "We make more in a week than what most people make in a month. If we want something, we can get it whenever we want."

He looks at me, confused for a minute, before he asks, "Then why are you stressed about moving out and quitting your job?"

"Because I know that it's going to cost a lot for me to get out of there. Plus," I pause as Brock's words from last week play through my mind. His experience at the hospital, what he said about trying to get a job outside of the club... "Plus, it's going to be difficult for me to get another job. Once you're in the sex industry, it's hard to break out. Not to mention college. It's just-"

"Evan," Jon says, stopping me. "You're over thinking this. Yes, you're going to have to work hard at finding a job, and yeah, it's hard to break away from the sex industry once you're in it, but it isn't impossible."

He grabs the back of my head and pulls me close to him so he could kiss my forehead. "Knowing you, I'm sure you'll be able to get out. I'm not going to push for when you make that move. I just want you to do it. I can tell that everything is dragging you down, and I want to see you happy."

I smile and lean up, kiss him and wrapping my arms around his neck. As he kisses me back, he starts to run his hands up and down my body before he pulls me on top of him. I can't help but moan as he does this, knowing what he wants to do. As we continue to kiss, he slowly turns so that I'm facing away from the couch before he slowly lays me down on my back and gets in between my legs. His hands quickly make their way to my thighs and he starts rubbing them before he pulls away.