You Light Up My Life

As beautiful and as clichéd it sounds, Andrew and David's lives had problems underneath the surfaces. Their relationship had been pushed and tested to its limit, binding them together closer than before.

It wasn't always easy and their love wasn't a fairytale, though the way they met and the memories they created - and continue to make - may just feel like something from a bestselling romance novel. It was something for people to see and for people to read, but no one would ever truly know the deeper secrets and the deeper meanings of the story. Those were for David and Andrew only.

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THREE YEARS AGO:

Over the winter months, the Starbucks in which David worked at only got busier.

Men, women, children, teenagers, elderly - all types and all ages of people showed up to purchase anything that'd keep them from freezing in the harsh English winters.

David and his other co-workers,  worked their asses off serving these people. From the time of frosty sunrises to the time of chilly sunsets (unless it was a school day, then it'd be from the moment school ended until the moment the shopping centre closed), they worked as a team to provide each and every customer with overpriced caffeine from a mainstream chain of coffee stores.

As Christmas grew nearer, David noticed the amount of workers in the shopping centre starting to set up all the decorations. The tallest Christmas tree he'd ever seen was put up in the main centre, covered with festive baubles, tinsel, lights, fake snow and the traditional gold star on the very top.

Other decorations covered the square and Christmas music played, putting David in a more festive state of mind. More families came to the coffee shop and they even bought in a brand new stock of Christmas themed cups. Call David overexcited, but he loved Christmas more than anything.

Especially when 'Santa' and the 'helpers' came.

Every year, a workshop was built in the centre by the Christmas tree. Santa, or who the kids thought was Santa, came every year, and the children would go into Santa's workshop to talk to him about what they wanted for Christmas before Santa gave them a small gift each and sent them away with their families again.

The 'helpers' were always lovely too. The girls dressed up in elf costumes would often come to the coffee shop after their work shifts, and David would serve them and talk to them. This happened every year, and it was the period of time when David loved his job the most.

His favourite year though was three years ago.

David was working his shift on a Saturday – the first day that 'Santa' and the 'elves' came that year – when he looked up to see them walking in.

One of them, he noticed, was shoved to the side. He also noticed that this particular one was male unlike the others, which made him warm to the boy almost straight away.

He served the girls first, making small conversation, before serving the boy.

He noticed the painted blush on his cheeks and the red on his nose. He noticed the elf hat he was forced to wear and the stupid but cute costume. But, he also noticed his feathery brown hair and the way it poked out of his hat; covering his ears, forehead and constantly falling into his eyes, which were a bright shining brown.

And David liked him as soon as he laid eyes on him.

"I'll just have a hot chocolate..." he said, voice high but soft and innocent. He sounded shy, unlike the other girls. David thought it was just because Andrew hadn't been to the shop before.

He nodded anyway, and put in the order.

"Name?" David asked him, and Andrew swore he completely forgot his name at that point, as well as forgetting to breathe.

“A-A-A Andrew.." He stammered.

"You sure?" David  joked.

Andrew  just nodded quickly in response, blushing redder than the face paint on his nose.

He watched as David wrote his name on the cup and made the drink for him, taking in the sight of the bright blue eyed, lanky, blonde haired boy behind the counter. Andrew  wanted to pounce on him.

"Here you go..." David smiled warmly as he handed Andrew his drink.

He then handed David the exact money and nearly fainted when their hands touched. Andrew smiled awkwardly though, taking the drink and the receipt before brushing his fringe out of his eyes and glancing at the name on the cup.

Written on there was his name, spelt in the only possible way that annoyed him and in all caps:

ANDREW.

After Christmas was over, Andrew still came to the coffee shop every day. It turned out that he worked as a waiter in one of the restaurants on the other side of town, and worked in the mall's centre extra hours at Christmas.

Andrew and David started dating at the end of January. It turned out their feelings for each other were in fact mutual, and Andrew happily agreed to be David's boyfriend after their first two dates.

After that, Andrew and Davif both came out to their families. David's father was extremely happy for him and accepted them. It was lovely to see and experience, and gave Andrew a boost of confidence for coming out to his own family.

But, he wasn't so lucky. His mother turned her nose up and gave up making effort to talk to them on a regular basis  which took an indescribable toll on Andrew.

However, David then decided it was best for them to move in together. They both found a small apartment building to suit them, and moved in as soon as possible. They were both a lot happier after that.

️- - - - - - - - - -

Over time, David left his job and struggled to find another. Andrew was the only one to bring in any money and David was under a constant strain to find a job.

He eventually got a job as a cashier at Tesco, but with rises in energy and water bills and even taxes, the money they both brought in was barely enough.

After moving into a cheaper apartment building, they both found it a little easier and payed off their debt, but still had little money for food and other things they wanted for themselves.

Sacrifice after sacrifice they made, and eventually they both fell into a routine of non stop exhaustion. David was stressed, and Andrew blamed himself.

They both lost contact with their families, who wouldn't have been able to help them anyway and it got to the point where they had one phone between them both and one laptop they had to share. They couldn't afford a TV and sometimes had to sing in the shopping centre to scrape in some money so they could afford food.

Andrew was often reduced to tears every night and David's sweet nothings were the only thing that could calm him.

It was tough, but they were both still happy when they were together. Because, sure, getting by and having to deal with a crippling financial stability was difficult, but it didn't stop them from being in a happy relationship. They were content together, and neither could get by without the other.

They were like a unit, and one couldn't progress without the other. Without each other, they were like broken machines waiting for a purpose, and when they were together the machine would come to life again - fully functional and strong.

David loved Andrew endlessly and Andrew loved David more than anything.

David was determined to ask Andrew to marry him some day, but knew he couldn't afford it. He just knew that he had to get them on steady feet first, and decided that Christmas was the perfect time to propose, supposing that he could manage.