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The thick enveloping drowsiness settled throughout his body, pushing its weight down on his tired muscles, the sensation of being half-awake half-asleep blurring his vision. He could hear a quiet knock on the door down the hall, soft murmurs of the McCalls speaking to one another with words Isaac couldn’t be bothered to decipher. The guest room - his room – was still dark even through the thin curtains draped along the window. Throwing a hand out to his bedside table, he patted around aimlessly until he found his phone. Peaking one of his eyes open, he caught the time.
“Eugh,” he groaned as the back-light of his cellphone practically burned through his corneas. 6:07 AM. Great. Dropping his phone back onto the nightstand, he pulled the duvet above his head, trapping his warmth beneath the covers. The chilled December air didn’t bother him so much anymore, not like when he was a human, but that didn’t mean he liked it any more. Derek and Scott always acted like the cold air didn’t affect them at all, but Isaac knew that was bullshit. He was just man enough to know when he needed a jacket and scarf. So what if it was autumn or spring? Cold was cold.
The knocking was back, but this time it was on his own door. He sighed, knowing it was Scott and knowing he could hear the attentive beating of his heart and shallower breaths. “Huh?” he called out, pushing his face back into the pillow when Scott opened the door. He felt two hands pushing at his back, shaking him lightly.
“Isaac. Hey, come on, get up.” Scott sounded way too happy for the morning, which just made Isaac more tired. He sunk his body further into the bed, hoping to somehow mold himself into the mattress. Scott grabbed at the blanket, trying to pull it off of Isaac’s head, but he wouldn’t budge. Heaving a sigh, Scott climbed onto the bed, plopping himself along Isaac’s back so that his whole body covered the others.
“Hey,” Scott whispered into his ear before pressing a kiss to his left temple. Isaac smiled into his pillow before slowly rolling over, Scott now draped over his front so that their noses pressed together. His dark black hair was mussed from sleep, the smile playing at his lips sticky from exhaustion. Isaac leaned up slightly to press a kiss to his lips, sighing happily when Scott chased after him as he pulled back, pulling his arm out of the warmth of the blanket to run his thumb across Scott’s cheek.
Isaac crooked his eyebrow. “What’s going on? Is there a fire? Did Timmy fall down a well?”
Scott squinted his eyes and shook his head. “Who’s Timmy?” Isaac waited a beat, searching Scott’s eyes for a sign that he was joking. Please be joking. Scott’s confusion was slowly turning into concern, and Isaac knew if he let this go any longer, Scott would send out a search party for some kid that didn’t even exist.
“Never mind.” Isaac wound his arms around Scott’s shoulders, their breathing synchronizing with one another as the birds outside of the window sang their first songs of the morning. It was strange, something that Isaac used to not want to dwell on when Scott and Allison were still an on-again, off-again couple, how being trapped under Scott’s weight didn’t send him into a panic attack. It used to take even the most minor circumstances of claustrophobia to send him into a fit, but somehow, with the solid dead weight of Scott resting on his body, the extra heat from his body warming Isaac just a little too much was more comforting than anything. Maybe it was that Scott was his boyfriend. Maybe it was because he was his Alpha. Regardless, he couldn’t help but know he was safe, and that sense of security, mixed in with the fact that it was six o’clock, God dammit, Scott was enough to send him into a light doze.
The moment, however, was short lived when Melissa called out from downstairs. “Boys! I really hope the hold-up is because you are both waiting to use the bathroom and not because you’re doing something that you wouldn't want me walking in on! I know you’re both adults but please at least wait until I’m not in the house!”
Scott perked his head up and called toward the door, “We’re coming!” Isaac scrunched his nose at the thought of getting up.
“Seriously, though. Why are we up so early?”
“Wait, really? I thought you were joking! It’s Christmas!” Isaac froze as Scott pressed a kiss to his forehead and climbed off of him, his socked feet lightly padding along the floor as left the room to lean over the banister to call down to his mom.
Oh, right.
Christmas.
It wasn’t really that he forgot. Stiles and Lydia had been talking nonstop about Christmas shopping and organizing get together parties that they could all go to with their busy college schedules. It was just…for the last five years of his life, Christmas wasn’t really much of a holiday.
It really started when his brother died, but even then, it was pretty easy to pretend to care on Christmas. But then his mother was gone and his father became a monster. Then Isaac became a werewolf and there was just a lot of shit to deal with. Christmas wasn’t exactly a top priority when your friends had been murdered left and right for years, your old Alpha becoming a Beta and your new Alpha becoming your boyfriend and, oh yeah, realizing that you might like guys more than you originally considered.
Sitting up, Isaac watched as Scott turned back into the bedroom, feeling the side of his mouth lifting in a small smile at the way Scott practically beamed at him. Now that he was more awake, he could fully appreciate the way the elastic of Scott’s pajama bottoms had stretched over years of use, revealing the dip of his hipbone as it hung loosely around his waist. The soft green material complemented the tan expanse of skin along his chest and abdomen.
He reached his hands out toward his boyfriend, not needing to be helped up but wanting to be, regardless. At full height, Isaac had a few inches on Scott, and he couldn’t help the way it sent a thrill down his spine. So what if Scott was his Alpha? The surge of protectiveness he got whenever he draped his arms around Scott’s shoulders as Scott hooked his chin over Isaac’s shoulder made him feel like he could protect him against anything.
They stood there for a few more moments, Isaac running his fingers through the short hairs near the back of Scott’s neck before Scott pulled back with a smile, moving back out of the room and heading down the steps, taking them two at a time. Isaac reached into his closet and pulled a hoodie over his head to cover his bare chest, digging around the bottom of the closet for the presents he stashed there weeks ago. The wrapping paper was covered in snowflakes, the words Let It Snow! repeating across the light blue paper. It was either that or the gaudy Christmas tree paper from the 99 Cent Store, and thanks but no thanks on finding glitter all over his clothing and room all the way into April.
Gathering the gifts, he headed downstairs where the saccharine scent of nutmeg and hazelnut coffee greeted him. A warm mug was placed in his hands once he deposited the gifts on the couch, Melissa pressing a kiss to his cheek in greeting. “Merry Christmas, Isaac.”
“Merry Christmas, Mel.” Melissa scrunched her face in a smile at the nickname, herding him over to the living room where Scott was already sat cross-legged in front of the relatively small synthetic Christmas tree, sorting the presents into small piles. They had agreed to only give one gift each between the three of them, but that didn’t stop Stiles or Allison or even the Sheriff from sending over gifts of their own. Scott’s pile was the largest mostly because Agent McCall resorted to trying to buy Scott’s love while his grandparents continued to dote on him regardless.
Melissa sat across from her son, patting the spot between she and Scott for Isaac to sit while gesturing her hand out toward the pile for Scott to choose first. “Well, go ahead, Scott. There’s no point in pretending like you’d be patient enough to let Isaac open his first.” Obviously unaware of her sarcasm, Scott plucked the first gift from the pile, tearing into the paper with his unnecessary claws.
“Oh. I got socks and an… Angry Birds t-shirt. Mom, abuelo and abuelita know I’m 20 and not 12, right?” Melissa leveled him with a look and Scott shrunk a little, mumbling an apology that Isaac smirked at.
Reaching behind him, Isaac pulled Melissa’s gift off of the couch, handing it to her almost timidly. “Your turn.” He chewed on his bottom lip as she un-wrapped the gift with little finesse, gauging her reaction.
Even though he’d been living with the McCall’s since he was barely 17, he had only managed to convince Melissa to let him contribute to paying the bills once he turned 20. He got a part-time job at the community college’s radio station organizing the music and whatever other loose odds and ends he found piled haphazardly in the back offices, getting another part-time job at the grocery store as a stock boy. The pay wasn’t much, and the hours didn’t leave much time for anything else during the day, but it was better than nothing if he wanted to stay in Beacon Hills and not feel like a free-loader.
Because of this, though, he didn’t really have the money to buy gifts this year, so he scrolled through hundreds of those DIY websites to find gifts he could make instead. He was actually pretty proud of how they turned out, to be honest, but that didn’t stop the inkling of doubt that was crawling its way to the forefront of his mind yelling Oh, God. She’s not going to like it! She’s going to give you that look that just says ‘Oh, you…made this? How…nice.’ I’m such an-
His thoughts were cut off when Melissa grabbed for his hand, smiling widely with the handmade clock resting on her lap. “Honey, did you make this?”
He nodded his assent, leaning forward slightly as she looked the clock over. “You said you needed something to put on your bookshelf, and I figured that everyone needs a clock, so…” he trailed off. He watched as she traced over the orange and blue fabric he used for the clock face, feeling the smile take over his face when she smiled down at it.
“I love it, Isaac. Thank you.”
Isaac nodded once in a sort of “you’re welcome” gesture before turning to Scott, his eyebrows rising slightly at the pout on Scott’s face. “What?”
“Isaac! You aren’t supposed to go first when you know your gift is better! It’s against, like, the rules!” he cried.
“The rules?” Isaac teased as Scott continued to pout while he handed over his rather poorly wrapped gift to his mother, plucking the ribbon off of the top first. Isaac went cross-eyed as a shiny plastic bow was taped to the end of his nose, his eyes refocusing on Scott whose phone was poised to take a picture. He barely had time to squeeze his eyes shut to cancel out the light flare that would undoubtedly show up on the photo before he heard the tell-tale sound of a faux camera shutter go off. This seemed to appease Scott who merely shrugged when Isaac removed the ribbon from his nose and placed it on top of his boyfriend’s head.
“Scott, I love my new lunchbox. Thank you, sweetie.”
Isaac took a sip of his coffee, letting the flavors swirl around his tongue as he listened to Scott explain the insolation and merits between fashion and function that sounded an awful lot like something he heard Lydia explain and decided to repeat back to his mother. Melissa smiled and nodded politely through her son’s explanation. “Scott, you really need to leave the rambling to Stiles,” she said when he finished. “Anyway, it’s Isaac’s turn.”
Tucking his feet under him so that he was sat on his heels, he dragged the admittedly large present over to him, trying to be polite as he ripped off the paper, his movements slowing even further as Scott started bouncing in place, huffing dramatic sighs when Isaac carefully peeled back the Scotch tape. He only relented when Scott looked like he was about to reach out and unwrap the gift himself.
The label on the box read Bed Bath & Beyond with a black and white photo of what looked like-
“Curtains!” Melissa smiled, he eyes going a bit wide the same way Scott’s did when he got excited. “Now, I know it’s kind of boring but hear me out, alright? You’ve been using your room for over 3 years now and you still treat it like you’re a guest. So I figured with these curtains-“
“Which cancel out light by the way!” Scott chimed.
“Yes, they cancel out light, thank you, Scott. Anyway, I figured that the curtains might be the push you needed to finally make the room your own. This is your home, Isaac, no matter what. Even when you boys decide to move out and get your own places…or place…I want you to know that you can always come back here.”
He couldn’t look away from the box. He couldn’t look up at Melissa’s sweet and assuring smile, or Scott’s pleased grin. If he looked up, he would cry, and fuck that I will not cry on Christmas. Not this year. He swallowed down the lump in his throat. “Thank you.” It was all he could do to mumble out the words without sobbing.
It’s just….Look, he knows that the McCall house is his house, too. He’s not some kind of self-deprecating ass all the time. But knowing something and knowing are two very different things.
God, his life is becoming some kind of Hallmark movie.
“Hey.”
Steeling himself, Isaac looked up at Scott, immediately locked onto those huge brown eyes that made Isaac want to do whatever Scott said, no matter what. Sometimes, he thinks those eyes are more effective than the Alpha red. Sometimes. “Mine next?”
Scott handed his gift over to Isaac and Isaac dropped all pretense and ripped the paper off, revealing a dark blue scrapbook, a photo from last year of Isaac, Allison, Scott, and the side of Derek’s face taken by Stiles on the campus tour they took together. The only picture of them after everything. One of the only few where they’re all smiling and forgetting all of the relationship baggage between the three of them. Just three best friends (plus Derek’s huge ear) looking at a college. Normal.
He opened the book and flipped through the pages, each one decorated by someone different. One by Stiles, two by Allison, one from Lydia and one by… “Did Derek really do this one?” He saw the familiar fabric of the pillow case he used when he used to stay with the former Alpha, along with other random bits of memorabilia.
“Yeah!” Scott said quickly, then, “Well, no. But, I mean he gave me the stuff. Technically I made it but he did what he could?” Scott rolled his eyes and pushed the book farther into Isaac’s lap. “Keep going.”
The last few pages were done by Scott. A few ticket stubs from movies they saw together mixed with doodles and pictures taken from phones and photo booths. It was like a chronicle of their relationship from the past months and even some things from their friendship before.
Nope. Definitely not crying.
He smiled through the very manly quiver of his lips, scrubbing his face with his hand. “Here,” he said as he shifted his weight so that his legs were now bent in front of him, his arms circling around his knees. He toed the box closer to Scott, burying his head in his arms before peeking up as Scott tore through the paper. He bit his lip to stop his smile at the confused look on Scott’s face.
“Uh…a book? Uh, Isaac, not that I don’t love this book because I do! But…I already have it?”
It was a large book of fairytales, ones by the Grimm brothers that Melissa mentioned that Scott used to love when he was younger. The book itself wasn’t that uncommon, and it was sort of perfect for what he wanted to make.
“Pull it out of the box, Scott.”
Scott squinted in confusion but did as he was told. Isaac watched as the confusion changed to a different sort of confusion as he felt the zipper along the sides of the book where the pages would usually show. That confusion turned to recognition when he unzipped it open, the hollowed out book making room for a laptop case, instead.
“Oh, Isaac, it turned out so well!” Melissa cooed as Scott’s giddy smile grew larger. Isaac let out an “oof!” as Scott launched himself at him, knocking them both over. “Guys, watch the mugs, please!”
Scott pressed a very loud smooch on his cheek before lifting himself off of Isaac. The rest of the morning passed in a blur of opening the presents from friends, moving to the kitchen to make blueberry pancakes at Scott’s insistence, before retiring to the couch again to watch The Year Without a Santa Claus. They’d be going to the Stilinski’s for dinner so they left the morning to themselves.
Scott jumped up off the couch at his mother’s call from the kitchen, and Isaac let himself sink lower into the couch. It was only half passed 11, but Isaac could feel his eyes start to droop, his body feeling more content and safe and relaxed and everything of the sort than it had in years. Maybe ever. He let himself curl into the sofa, finally drifting off as the seat dipped under Scott’s weight, his scent calming Isaac further, fingers combing through his hair.