His hands were warm, but his cheeks were not. The hot chocolate was still too warm to drink, but Luke kept sipping it regardless. It burnt his tongue and made him hiss, but the sweet cocoa flavor hit his taste buds like nothing else. Luke's pink mittens were not enough to keep the cold, New York air from chilling his hands. He had decided to stop by a coffee shop, just a few blocks from his house.
Luke was very absent-minded on that day. His feet seemed to have a mind of their own, what with the pleasant snowflakes collecting along the railing and the lights of the city guiding him into a new adventure. He was enchanted by the beautiful, white blanket that covered the Northern states around this time of year. Oh, December. Though it was one of the coldest months of the year, Luke always felt so warm around the holidays.
He noticed some of the lovely presents waiting to be gift-wrapped and sent to friends and family. There beautiful dresses, sugarplum-colored sparkles, and Christmas decorations as far as the eye could see. A variety of classic festive music played from each shop. It made Luke hum along, putting him into a further daze.
His hazy walk was so bad, in fact, that he accidentally tripped over his laces. He gasped and struggled to try and catch himself, but it was too late. Luke's sacred hot cocoa fell out of his hands, and he fell to the ground. Luke rubbed his knees, dusting the snow off. He hadn't realized that his styrofoam cup had landed upon the sweatshirt of some man walking. The man hissed in pain and let out a disgruntled noise.
Luke forgot about the pain in his legs and quickly stood to his feet.
"Oh, sir, I'm so sorry. Oh no, I-I didn't mean to...I..." Luke panted and picked up the empty cup. The man had a nice-looking, beige sweater on. Only now, it was covered in a splotch of hot, brown liquid. A pair of round glasses were falling down his nose, and a few snowflake-covered were resting in his curls.
When their eyes met, "I'll Be Home For Christmas" was playing. Luke's romantic side took over, and he felt even more nervous at that moment.
"I guess it's fine. I was only going to my very judgemental family's house for dinner tonight, but I suppose I'm not mad," The man spoke with the warmest voice Luke had ever heard in his life.
"Oh, please, forgive me. I'll get you a new sweater. I'll do anything!" Luke wailed. He stepped closer. People were walking around them with evil looks. They were blocking the main path to the shops.
"It's fine. I was being sarcastic," He said, laughing, "I'm not mad."
Luke swallowed and fumbled with a string on his mittens.
"I'm Luke," He looked up hopefully. The song had changed into another slow, Christmas song. The shop's golden lights lit up Luke's eyes.
"Ashton," The taller boy said. He gently pushed Luke out of all of the pedestrians' way.
"Are you sure I can't do anything?" Luke whimpered and crushed his cup nervously in his hand. Ashton took off the beige sweater. Underneath was a red flannel. Luke breathed a sigh of relief.
"It's fine. I'll just freeze, Luke," Ashton smirked when Luke got nervous again.
"Stop doing that!" Luke whined. Ashton chuckled again.
"Hey, you're kind of cute. I like that you can't take sarcasm," Ashton winked and clutched his sweater to his chest.
+
That sweater soon became a staple of their relationship. Luke wore it when they came home from their first date. There was a fireplace burning, and Ashton's coffee table was covered with books. They were listening to more Christmas music and the proximity of their bodies created the most comfortable warmth.
