If you'll be my star, I'll be your sky - Gregory and the Hawks (Boats and Birds)


"This one?" Jamie asked me from somewhere behind me.

I turned and looked at the tree he was pointing to, "No," I said, stressing the word, "it's not the one," I said before turning and looking down the next row of tress.

He laughed from behind me, "What was wrong with it?" he asked me.

I sighed and touched the branch of a huge Douglas fir, "I dunno," I mused, "it wasn't...it just wasn't the right one, Jamie."

"What are you, a connoisseur of Christmas trees?" he asked, slipping his arm around my waist.

I smiled up at him, "In my spare time, yes," I told him as he laughed.

"A lady of many talents, I like that," he teased as I began walking again.

I laughed, "What can I say, Jamison," I said, "you got yourself a winner right here."

He laughed, causing me to shake from his laughter which in turn only made me laugh, "What a dork," he said, squeezing my hip through my sweater.

I smacked his chest, "And yet you still wanna hang around with me."

"You're mildly entertaining."

"Hugely entertaining."

"More than mild and less than huge."

"I'll take it!"

We both began laughing as I continued leading us around the Christmas tree lot. He had dropped his hand from my waist only for me to grab his hand and pull him along behind me. Not that I really had to pull him along, he followed along with me as we continued to joke around.

"This is it!" I said, letting go of his hand and walking quickly over to the tree, inspecting it up and down.

"You sure?" he asked playfully, "There's hundreds of tress you haven't checked over with a microscope. You sure this is it?"

I smiled and looked back at him. He was wearing a black beanie which covered his un-gelled hair, a pair of dark blue jeans and a Dallas Stars shirt covered up by a black zip up hoodie and a pair of his worn in sneakers. He was ultimately perfect.

"I'm sure," I said pushing his arm, "you can pick the other one, my concern was the tree for the living room," I said, looking back at the tree which was full and beautifully green with long branches and thistles.

He picked the tree up and we began walking back towards his Range Rover, "You’ve gotta help me decorate it, you know that eh?"

I laughed, "I figured I would!"

We walked together back to the little shop to get the tree wrapped up and tied to the roof of the car, before going back and picking out one more tree for his front hallway. Jamie picked it quickly and we went and had that one wrapped up and tied to the roof of the car too before he paid for them.

"It's a shame you can't get a real one," he said once we were back in the car.

"It's okay," I said with a small shrug, "I'll get my fill of real tress at your place and then when I go back home," I said as he started up the car. In my apartment we weren't allowed to have real trees in case someone was allergic, so we wouldn't be able to take it into the stairwell or elevator.

"Well you can come by anytime and see this tree," he told me with a grin, looking away from the road and at me quickly.

I smiled back at him, "I'll take you up on that."

We filled the rest of the car ride with Christmas music which we both sang along terribly to. We were laughing together the whole time. Just us, singing and laughing and it was wonderful and it was what I wanted so badly. But I knew that I didn't want to start something and then be away from each for a week or so. I was gonna wait and tell him and that was okay, because we had been waiting months and nothing was gonna stop me on New Year’s.

We finally got back to his house a little while later, and I jumped out of the car and tried to reach the roof to help untie the ropes that had the trees bundled up there. I could hear him laugh from behind me.

"Almost got it?" he asked with a laugh in his voice.

I looked back at him and frowned, "You do it then, hockey star!" I said, backing up from the car.

He smiled at me and dug into his pocket, pulling out a Swiss army knife and flipping it open, he cut the rope and the trees feel to the ground at my feet. He turned back to face me with a gigantic smile and I shook my head.

"Not everyone had a knife in their pocket, bud," I told him, putting my hands on my hips.

"You're hot when you're all feisty," he said walking over to my after he put the knife away.

I smiled up at him when he put his hands on my waist, "Well, you're hot all of the time."

He laughed softly and bent down to kiss me gently for just a moment before we pulled apart.

"Thank-you for coming with me," he told me.

I smiled again at him, "Thank-you for inviting me!"

"What other crazy person would I rather have helping me look for a tree?" he asked.

"Tyler," I said in all seriousness.

He began laughing and I let go of his neck with a small smile, "That's true!" he said, dropping his hands from my waist.

"Ty wouldn’t have been able to pick this one, though," I said as Jamie picked up the two trees.

"Fair enough, you're the only one that woulda been able to find such an amazing tree after an hour of looking. So much talent," he told me, walking towards his doors.

"I mean, I know that was sarcasm but I'm gonna take that as a compliment because my actual calling in life is a tree picker," I said, following closely behind him.

"I'm glad you've realized your talent," he told me, he stopped in front of the door and looked behind at me, "Can you get my key?" he asked.

I nodded and dug into his zip up pocket, grabbing the set of keys, and using the house key to open the door swiftly.

"You putting them into the back yard?" I asked him.

I saw him nod, "Yeah, can you get the door?" he asked me.

I nodded and ran ahead of him, through the kitchen and opened the sliding glass door to let him out. He went out and placed the trees against the house, cutting off the twine that was holding them together so that we could get everything ready in the house before bringing them in.

I closed the door behind him when he came back in, "I don't think I'll ever get used to it being warm in mid December," I said, taking off my scarf and Dallas Star toque.

He chuckled, "Usually it’s well below zero," he said in agreement.

"And I'd be at Tim Horton’s with all of the hot chocolates," I said leaning against the counter.

He was across from me, leaning against the island, "I'd be at the pond near my place back home playing hockey every second I had."

I smiled at him, "We'd go to Nathan Phillips Square and skate all the time. That's always a highlight of going home."

"In the New Year we're gonna have a family skate at the arena," Jamie mentioned, "would you wanna come with me?" he asked with a small smile.

"Of course," I told him, "you didn't even need to ask me."

He shrugged, "I thought you'd like me asking more than just trying to kidnap you to bring you."

I sighed, "I do like the element of surprise."

He laughed and shook his head, "You're amazing, and did you know that?"

I giggled, "Well, I think you're pretty amazing too, Jamie."

We smiled at each other for a few seconds more before I pushed myself away from the counter and walked the few steps to him and wrapped my arms around his waist, laying my head against his chest, as he wrapped his arms around my shoulders.

"Thank-you for the last few months, Jamie," I whispered.

"I'm the one that should be thanking you," he whispered.

I smiled and held him tighter, before letting him go, "Come on," I said, taking a step out of his embrace, but grabbing his hands with mine, "let’s get the decorations!"

Notes

Let me know your thoughts! A few more chapters before it gets real :)