Chapter 28:
Christmas Special 2020
This Christmas, the YMtK cast was transported into a modern setting, where they all will be attending a Christmas party hosted by Charlotte. This is not cannon and not at all related to the main story. Happy holidays, Merry Christmas, and stay safe, all ♥
The temperature had already fallen below freezing, but the soft, cold wind of winter made the air feel colder than it had earlier in the day. Silas lowered his head to keep the drifting snow flurries out of his eyes. The flakes that fell into his lashes glittered around his eyes as they melted, and he had to blink them out of his long lashes before he could see properly.
As he walked, alone in the busy city night, people bustled by him, preparing their gifts and final Christmas shopping in the brightly lit night. The street lamps lit up, as if on cue, as Silas trekked past them, his boots crunching across the icy, salt-covered sidewalk. Pulling up the collar of his stiff winter jacket, Silas tucked his chin to his chest as he held the gift he had wrapped in his arms tightly to his chest, taking great care to ensure the wrapping was not soaked with the wet snow falling from the sky.
Each breath Silas took, the warmth of his breath leaked out, sending out a puff of air into the dark air around him. Seeing these puffs, Silas smiled and continued to walk at a slightly faster pace, attempting to make it to Charlotte's party before it began. He had promised to come early to help Adora and Charlotte cook some of the dishes, but with the poor weather, he left a little later than he would have preferred. Silas sighed to himself as he picked up the pace, walking faster on his feet, as much as the ice would allow.
Looking down, Silas was oblivious to the wonderful and colorful Christmas displays in the store windows. Wreaths wrapped in delicate red ribbons, toys chiming and singing in the display windows, white Christmas lights wrapped around trees like clothing, it was truly a beautiful sight. Some of the lights flashed a variety of colors, making the lights displays even grander than the last.
While he walked, Silas grabbed his phone out of his hand and touched the screen with his bare hands. The time flashed on the home screen and read, "6:00 pm" on the dot. Silas was only minutes away from Charlotte's apartment complex, but it felt like hours in the cold chill. Stuffing his phone back in his pocket, Silas adjusted his pom-pom hat, one he had received years ago from Emmeline while she was still alive. To him, wearing it today had a special meaning, as it was so close to Christmas.
It wasn't until Silas reached the tall, modern apartment building did he stop. Stamping off the extra snow and salt on his boots, Silas walked to the entryway and grasped the cold metal handles of the door and swung it open, getting inside the warm building and out of the cold. The lobby was open to visitors, but going upstairs required either a key or being buzzed in. Silas was warned by Charlotte ahead of time, and he was able to quickly text her and Adora that he had arrived at the building and was waiting just outside the doors to the elevator.
"I'll buzz you in now! Hold on just a moment!" Charlotte was quick to respond.
As Silas stood by the door, waiting patiently for it to open, he heard the sound of running, followed by a familiar young voice he could easily recognize. "H-hold on!"
Silas turned his head and looked over his shoulder to see Clarence running towards him frantically, holding a delicately wrapped gift under his arm as he ran, stretching out his other arm to stop the person by the door in hopes of getting inside without having to text the wordy Charlotte. Seeing it was Silas, Clarence felt embarrassed and stood up straight, hustling over to his side with an awkward flush on his face as he looked at Silas, whose face was still flushed red from the winter air.
"Ah," Silas said, feeling a little awkward standing with him. "Hey." He could only fallback on simple greetings, attempting to put aside his disdain for the man for at least one day.
Clarence scratched the back of his neck with his gloved hand. The black earmuffs on his head made him look particularly innocent. "Hi."
The door to the hallway clicked, and Silas held it open and waited for Clarence to get inside before he shut it behind them.
The pair was silent as they walked down the hallway. To their left was the doorway to the stairs and to their right was a set of elevators. Silas clicked the button for the elevator. Fortunately, the elevator dinged as it rapidly descended to the ground floor. Because Charlotte lived on the fifteenth floor, neither of them were particularly excited to walk up all those stairs. Instead, they both silently decided to take the elevator as the elevator door dinged, and the doors opened, revealing an empty elevator. Both glanced at each other before they both quickly boarded.
Clarence stood by the elevator door, so he was able to hit the button for the fifteenth floor. After hitting the button, it lit up with a warm yellow light, and Silas stood to the other side of the elevator with a plain expression, looking unbothered, though he was not thrilled to be in the elevator with Clarence. Clarence could feel this and pressed the close doors button on the elevator, tapping it a few times before the door shut with a loud squeak.
Silas raised his eyebrow at the door while Clarence stared at the closing doors with a sigh of relief, happy to see them moving.
A holiday jingle began to play as the elevator chimed and began to move up, playing a bellish rendition of a popular Christmas carol the two had heard before. Standing on opposite sides of the elevator, the Christmas tune played, making the elevator feel emptier than before.
"So, how was your week?" Clarence asked as he glanced over at Silas with a weak smile.
"Fine." Silas said, keeping his gaze forward and his tone cold, "How was yours?"
"Good, good." Clarence answered with an awkward nod. Silence filled the elevator as Clarence tried to nonchalantly look at what floor they were on.
Third floor? Clarence thought to himself, It feels like we've been riding on this for hours! Clarence shuffled his feet and looked down, Ugh, this is awkward. I wonder what I should say?
"How do you know Charlotte?" Silas asked, glancing over at Clarence, who perked up like a dog. He smiled as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Her dad knows my dad."
"I see." Silas said with a nod, gripping his gift in his hands.
Clarence let the silence fill the elevator before he cleared his throat and asked, "So, how do you know Charlotte?"
"I worked for her dad before I moved companies." Silas said shortly, praying the elevator would get to the fifteenth floor quickly.
"I see." Clarence said with a small smile. As the first Christmas song ended, and another one began, Clarence perked up, "Man, I love this song!"
Silas looked over at Clarence, bewildered, until he faced forward again. A heavy blush grew all over Clarence's face as he realized how childish he sounded to his mature companion. Clarence looked at his feet as his shame became overbearing, which caught Silas's attention. Without moving his gaze at all, Silas mumbled, "It's not a bad song." These simple words caused an embarrassed, but overjoyed smile to spread on Clarence's lips.
Silas glanced up at the elevator, where the number fourteen was lit up in bright digits above the elevator's doors. Closing his eyes, Silas sighed in relief. Only a few seconds more, Silas thought to himself, And this ride will be over.
It was then that the elevator loudly screeched and shook, forcing the two young men to grab onto the railing as they squeezed their eyes shut. After a few moments, the elevator stopped moving, and both of them slowly opened their eyes and looked around.
"What was that?" Silas asked as he looked up at the floor number above the elevator. It now said fifteen, but the elevator doors were still shut, and the elevator was eerily quiet. Clarence glanced up too, before he pressed the button to open the elevator doors. They both waited, watching for something to happen, but the elevator remained quiet, and the doors remained unmoving.
"What's happening?" Clarence asked as he pressed the button again. Again, nothing happened.
"Okay, no need to panic." Silas said calmly, "Press the button with the little phone, it should get us in contact with someone who can help." Silas then pointed to the small button. Clarence nodded and pressed it, waiting. Again, nothing happened.
"This has to be some sick joke." Silas said as he slipped in front of Clarence and pressed the button himself. As he leaned, Silas's exposed neck passed by Clarence. As Silas pressed the button once, then twice, Clarence closed his eyes and took a small sniff of Silas's cologne. Clarence moved back and snapped back to his senses as Silas straightened up and sighed angrily.
"I don't know what happened, but at least we have electricity and cell phones." Silas said, shaking his head as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Charlotte's number. As he hit the call button and held it up to his ear, the lights in the elevator suddenly went out. Both men screamed as they were plunged into darkness, causing Silas to drop his phone into the dark abyss.
"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Silas snapped in frustration as he dropped to his knees, spreading out his arms as he tried to find his phone.
"Are you okay?" Clarence asked, squinting his eyes trying to see through the dark.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Silas said with a heavy sigh, "I dropped my phone when the lights went out."
"Let me help." Clarence said as he dropped on his knees, patting the ground around him.
"If you want to," Silas said reluctantly, sweeping his hands around him, "Just be careful. You don't want to knock it away on accident."
"Right." Clarence said with a resolute nod. As the two began to sweep the ground, they slowly inched closer to each other without realizing it, until Silas stuck his hand out and grasped Clarence's hand in his own. Suddenly, the emergency lights in the elevator clicked on, and in the dim red light, both looked up to see their faces mere centimeters away from each other. Clarence gasped as Silas's eyes bulged before they both jumped back, their faces growing red as seconds slowly dragged out. It took them both a minute to even form words in their minds.
"I'm sorry for grabbing your hand." Silas said as he glanced to the side. To the right of them, against the elevator wall opposite the doors, was his phone. As Silas made quick work grabbing it, Clarence's turned back towards the button panel as his face grew red,
"Oh, uh, no, it's okay." Clarence stammered out. Silas did not even hear this though, as he redialed Charlotte's number. They both waited in silence as Silas's phone rang a few times until Charlotte answered. Silas sighed in relief before he quickly explained what had happened, to the horror of Charlotte and the other people who had arrived early to the party. Charlotte said something over the phone that made Silas sigh and nod before he hung up, which caught Clarence's attention.
"She's going to call the building manager and try and get us some help." Silas said with a sigh, "And if that doesn't work, we can always call the fire department, I guess."
"I wonder how long that will take." Clarence said as his heart began to race. Silas shrugged and took a seat on the elevator floor, his back resting against the wall. Clarence also took a seat, but stayed near the elevator panel. He glanced over at Silas, wanting to sit next to him and smell his cologne again, but he could not bring himself to do it, especially since he knew Silas would kill him if he even tried. Instead he stayed put and hummed to the Christmas song that was playing over the speakers.
Silas glanced up at the speakers, "I haven't heard this one in awhile."
"Really? This one is so popular!" Clarence asked as he nodded his head to the music, "My siblings love this one, so it makes me think of them."
Silas laughed lightly, "I can see why. It's catchy." Silas said before humming to the music too. Clarence could not help but blush as he listened to Silas's deep humming voice. Though his voice was soothing, it did not help calm the rapid beating of his heart. Instead, it made it worse.
Heart, please stop racing. You're going to give me a heart attack, and I can't get medical attention right now! Clarence thought to himself as he squeezed his eyes shut.
Suddenly, Silas's phone rang, and Silas reached in his jacket pocket to grab it out, answering it immediately. After a minute, Silas's face dropped, and he bit back a slew of foul language as he listened to the bad news coming from Charlotte. He nodded, running his hand through his hair before saying goodbye and hanging up.
"That was Charlotte. She said they're on their way here, but she has no idea how long it's going to take them to get us out."
Clarence's eyes opened in surprise before he nodded and stuck his head between his knees, trying to hide his excitement at the thought of being so close to Silas for an extended period of time. He almost could not contain his joy. Bashfully, his ears burned red at the thought, leaving him to curl up in an awkward ball in front of Silas.
Silas looked over at Clarence, mistaking his excitement for sadness as he said to Clarence, "Hey, don't worry too much about it. Charlotte promised to wait for us, and I'm sure they are hurrying to get here."
"Right, of course." Clarence said, trying to mask the excitement in his voice. Silas leaned his head back and closed his eyes, as if willing time to move faster, and Clarence tried to sneak glances at his longtime crush without being too obvious. Thankfully, Silas's eyes were closed, so it was not difficult to sneak a few short peeks at Silas through the corner of his eyes.
"What do you usually do for the holidays?" Silas asked, keeping his eyes closed. Clarence's face flushed at the random question, and he paused for a moment before he stuttered,
"Uh, you know, what people usually do. Going to parties, watching Christmas movies, drinking too much eggnog." Clarence stammered out, which caused Silas to smile.
"Those things are fun, aren't they?" Silas said, his voice low, deep.
"Wh-what do you usually do?" Clarence asked, "I mean, for the holidays?"
"I used to spend it with my family, but the last few years have been hard to do it."
"Why?"
"I, uh," Silas started as he opened his eyes and sat up, "You know what, never mind, it's nothing."
"Oh." Clarence said, pulling his gaze back down to his feet, feeling embarrassed that he had brought up a subject that was obviously very tender for Silas. As if trying to change the subject, Silas's phone buzzed, and he looked up to read the text he was sent.
��They're here." Silas said with a happy sigh, "I don't know how they got here so fast, but we should be out of here soon."
"That's good to hear." Clarence replied, trying to keep his tone chipper as his heart sank. The elevator shifted and groaned, and both young men glanced up nervously before voices rang out from the other side of the elevator doors.
"Hey, anyone in there?" A voice called out. Silas and Clarence both jumped up and Silas shouted,
"Yeah! There's two of us in here! Are you here to get us out?"
"Sure am! Steer clear of the door, we're going to force it open!" The voice shouted back, which caused Silas and Clarence to stand in the back of the elevator, waiting. Soon, a groaning came from the door as it was forced open, and two people were standing there, one holding a device keeping the door open, another signalling them to get out of the elevator. Without another thought, both men hurried out of the elevator, ducking around the two people. After both exited the elevator, the person holding the elevator open released the device slowly, and the doors slowly shut.
"Are you two okay?" The older man, who had signaled them to get out of the elevator, asked.
"About as good as I can be." Silas said with a relieved sigh as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Thank you for saving us." Clarence said with a smile. Within moments, Charlotte was hurrying down the hallway to where the small group stood. She raced over to Clarence and jumped at him, wrapping her arms around him tightly.
"I'm so glad you're okay!" Charlotte said, her arms tightly wound around Clarence as he slightly faltered.
"Thank you for your help too, Charlotte." Clarence said with a forced smile as Charlotte's large green eyes stared up at Clarence. She quickly let go and profusely thanked the older man, the building manager, for his quick response.
"Not a problem, ma'am!" He said happily, "I'm just glad Beau and I could get here in time."
"Thank you very much too, Beau!" Charlotte said with a brilliant smile. The elevator technician nodded solemnly before the two excused themselves to work on the elevator.
"Well, c'mon you two!" Charlotte said before grabbing Silas's and Clarence's hands in her own, "We've got a party to get to!"
"Alright, alright!" Silas said with a playful roll of his eyes as he let Charlotte drag him along. Clarence, however, pulled back on Charlotte's hand, which surprised both Silas and Charlotte.
"Clarence?" Charlotte asked as she dropped her hands.
"I-" Clarence started, startled by what he did, "I just need a second."
"Alright," Silas said as he glanced Clarence over, "We'll head in, make sure to come when you're ready."
"Right." Clarence mumbled as he headed to a set of double doors, where a hallway balcony sat. It was empty, but Clarence did not mind. Instead, he walked over to the railing and leaned his elbows on it, looking out at the bustling city and the snowy night sky. He breathed out, and watched as his breath dissipated in front of him, which caused him to weakly smile.
It felt like hours had passed while Clarence stood out there, and it was only when he heard the double doors open behind him that Clarence snapped out of his daze.
"You okay?" A warm voice rang out from behind him, which caused Clarence to turn. Behind him was Silas, holding two mugs in his gloved hands. As Silas approached Clarence, he held out one of the steaming mugs for Clarence to take, "Charlotte asked me to come check on you. She wanted to come herself, but everyone's keeping her pretty busy."
"You didn't have to. I'm fine." Clarence said as he took the hot mug in his cold hands, "Thanks for the drink though."
Silas nodded as he stood next to Clarence, copying his pose of leaning on the railing. They both stood in silence for a few moments, sipping at their cups of eggnog, until Silas broke the silence,
"How are you doing? The elevator scare you?" He asked as he glanced out at the sky.
Clarence laughed weakly as he shook his head, "No, I'm fine. Just appreciating the nice weather."
Silas raised his eyebrow as he glanced at Clarence, "I guess we have different definitions of 'nice weather'." Clarence laughed at this and shook his head.
"Maybe." Clarence then stared down at his mug, looking at the ripples in the mug as he moved his warm mug around.
"Well," Silas said as he stood up from the railing, "I'll let Charlotte know you're okay." Clarence nodded as Silas turned around and began to walk back to the doors. As Silas grabbed the doorknob and twisted it, opening the door, Clarence turned and called out to him.
"Silas, wait!" Which caused Silas to turn back. Clarence looked away as he chided himself. Before he was able to control himself, he had called to Silas, and now he was unsure of what to say, "I-I wanted to say thank you! For the eggnog!"
Silas smiled gently, "Don't worry about it. See you inside." His words were short, but still contained the same warmth as earlier, warming up Clarence's cold-battered cheeks.
"Yeah." Clarence said as he looked down at his feet, trying to hide the blush on his face.
Silas opened the door and walked in, the door quietly clicking shut behind him. After a moment, Clarence squatted down and put his head between his knees, biting back a scream as he thought about how awkward he had been, "He must think I'm such a weirdo!" Clarence loudly whispered to himself as he shook his head. He went to tousle his hair, but noticed the cup of eggnog still in his hand. He gripped it tightly as he looked at it, thinking of how Silas brought it out to him. Clarence then stood up and shook the snow off himself as he glanced up into the sky,
Maybe it's not much, but it's something. Clarence then smiled to himself as he thought of Silas humming in the elevator, I just have to keep going. Maybe one day. Clarence glanced at the door back into the apartment before he nodded and hurried back inside.
"The night's still young." Clarence said to himself as he hurried to the party, closing the double doors behind him before he joined his friends in a night of fun and lots of eggnog.