Status: On hiatus
No Such Thing as Too Young
Chapter 14
“You were the song stuck in my head,
Every song that I’ve ever loved,
Played again and again and again.”
“Favourite Record” – Fall Out Boy
“MERRY CHRISTMAS!!”
“Jesus Christ, Vic, I was asleep!”
“Get up!”
“Vic Fuentes, it’s midnight. I’m not getting up.”
“But it’s Christmas!”
“It’s not Christmas until the sun comes up! You haven’t even slept yet, have you?”
“I’m too excited.”
I sighed. Of course he was. These past few days I’d been worrying that Vic was going to shit himself with excitement over Christmas. He was constantly talking about it and the awesome gift he got me, even though he wouldn’t tell me what it was. He kept wanting to go out places too, just to see all the Christmas decorations in the shops and the lights on people’s houses. He said that he’d never really had a proper Christmas since his parents never bothered, and when Mum offered for him and Mike to stay for Christmas, he was really excited. His excitement was kind of infectious too, and it was definitely very cute. Not that it would be cute if he shat himself, of course. And him waking me up at twelve in the morning wasn’t very cute either.
“Vic, go the fuck to sleep.”
“No thanks.”
“I swear to god, I will punch you in the face.”
“You can’t do that on Christmas!” At that I sat up and whacked him as hard as I could with my pillow.
“OW!” he cried.
“Shh, you’ll wake Mum!”
“Well, I’m getting up. You coming?”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine. I hate you.”
“No, you don’t,” he said smugly. “Hey, do I get a Christmas kiss?”
“I don’t think you deserve one,” I said grumpily.
“Oh, you know you want to.” It might be dark, but I could practically hear the smirk in his voice.
I rolled my eyes and leaned in, aiming for just a quick kiss since I was still cranky and we both had morning breath, but instead Vic took my head in his hands and held it there so he could kiss me longer.
“Hey, I’m trying to be angry at you, asshole,” I laughed.
Vic winked and jumped out of bed, dragging me with him. “You know you can’t stay mad at me. Come on, I have to give you your present!”
We headed downstairs as quietly as we could to where the Christmas tree was in the lounge room. I couldn’t really believe it was Christmas already. I also couldn’t believe that Vic had been staying with us for nearly two weeks now. It had felt weird having him there all the time at first, but it didn’t take long to get used to and now I can’t imagine not having him there.
I was almost dreading the day that Vic left for rehab. We’d organised for him to leave at the beginning of January, and he’d stay there for a month. The centre wasn’t too far away and it allowed visitors, but I’d still miss him. I know it was selfish to not want him to go, but still.
“Here you go!” said Vic, dragging me out of my thoughts. He was pushing out a big, long box from behind the Christmas tree, wrapped up in Christmas themed wrapping paper.
“Vic, what the hell is this?”
“Just open it.”
I ripped off the wrapping paper to reveal a large brown box with no markings or hints as to what might be inside. Giving Vic a puzzled look, I opened up the box and pulled out an acoustic guitar.
“Wow, Vic!” I exclaimed. “Thank you so much! But… I don’t know how to play guitar.”
“I know. That’s why I’m going to teach you.”
“Are you serious?” I said excitedly. “Wow, you’re amazing! I’ve always wanted to learn guitar!”
Vic laughed. “Merry Christmas.”
I leaned over and attacked his face with kisses. “But…” I hesitated, pulling away. “This would have been expensive. Where did you get the money for it?”
“Well, it wasn’t really that expensive. I’m sorry but I had to get you a second-hand one, which means it was pretty cheap. But I’ve been saving for a while, and I was busking a lot before I started staying here to try and earn money for it.”
“Wow… just… thank you so much! I love it!” I couldn’t wipe the smile of my face. What song would I learn first? I was already running my favourite songs through my head, imagining myself performing them on guitar whilst singing. I couldn’t wait to start.
“I think my present for you is going to be a bit of a let-down after this though…” I said anxiously as I rummaged around under the tree, eventually pulling out a small, square package wrapped up in the same Christmas themed wrapping paper as the box my guitar was in.
I handed it to Vic, who excitedly unwrapped it to reveal a plain, plastic CD case. Inside was a white disc with “Vic’s Mixtape” scribbled on the front with black marker.
“It’s got all the songs on it that remind me of you, and of us,” I said awkwardly. “Here, this is the track list.” I pointed out a little bit of paper stuck in the CD cover. “You already know some of the songs, but there’s others you don’t. I think you’ll like them though. Uh, sorry it’s so lame.” I scratched the back of my head, looking away.
“Kellin… this is such a great idea! Thank you so much, I love it!” he said, beaming. “And hey, we could pick one of these songs for you to start learning on guitar! This is perfect!”
“So… you actually like it? I mean, it doesn’t really compare to a guitar…”
“Of course I like it; it’s so sweet and thoughtful. No one’s ever done anything like this for me before. And some of these bands are my favourites! Blink-182, New Found Glory, Pennywise… Which song do you think we should we start learning first? How about… “Stay the Night”, by Green Day?”
“That’s a good one, but actually… I want to learn one of your songs; one that you wrote. Like the one you performed in music class the day we met. What was it called?”
“Bulletproof Love,” he said softly. “I dunno, Kellin... That song’s stupid. Nothing I write is really worth learning…”
“Hey, yes it is! I liked that song. That’s the one I wanna learn and you’re gonna teach it to me, okay?”
“Well… alright,” he sighed. I grinned and hugged him tightly.
“Thank you so much Vic! Thank you for my guitar, and for teaching me how to play! I’m so excited to start!”
“I’m glad you like it. And thank you for my mixtape; I can’t wait to listen to it!” he replied excitedly. “And if you like, we could start your guitar lessons today.”
“Yes! Yes please!” I exclaimed. “But… we should probably go back to bed first.”
At that moment a light clicked on upstairs. Shit.
“Boys!” my mum called, heading down the stairs. “What the hell are you doing up at this hour? We were supposed to open the presents together! Go back to bed right now! It’s almost one o clock!”
“Sorry, Mum,” I said, taking Vic’s hand and leading him past Mum and up the stairs.
“Sorry, Lisa,” Vic squeaked.
We hurried back into my room and shut the door before jumping back into bed, trying to stifle our giggles.
“Sorry for getting you into trouble, Kellin,” Vic whispered after a minute.
“Oh, it’s fine,” I assured him. “She’s not really mad. She’s not allowed to be; it’s Christmas!”
Vic giggled. “Goodnight, Kellin. Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas,” I replied, pecking him on the lips before falling asleep.
Every song that I’ve ever loved,
Played again and again and again.”
“Favourite Record” – Fall Out Boy
“MERRY CHRISTMAS!!”
“Jesus Christ, Vic, I was asleep!”
“Get up!”
“Vic Fuentes, it’s midnight. I’m not getting up.”
“But it’s Christmas!”
“It’s not Christmas until the sun comes up! You haven’t even slept yet, have you?”
“I’m too excited.”
I sighed. Of course he was. These past few days I’d been worrying that Vic was going to shit himself with excitement over Christmas. He was constantly talking about it and the awesome gift he got me, even though he wouldn’t tell me what it was. He kept wanting to go out places too, just to see all the Christmas decorations in the shops and the lights on people’s houses. He said that he’d never really had a proper Christmas since his parents never bothered, and when Mum offered for him and Mike to stay for Christmas, he was really excited. His excitement was kind of infectious too, and it was definitely very cute. Not that it would be cute if he shat himself, of course. And him waking me up at twelve in the morning wasn’t very cute either.
“Vic, go the fuck to sleep.”
“No thanks.”
“I swear to god, I will punch you in the face.”
“You can’t do that on Christmas!” At that I sat up and whacked him as hard as I could with my pillow.
“OW!” he cried.
“Shh, you’ll wake Mum!”
“Well, I’m getting up. You coming?”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine. I hate you.”
“No, you don’t,” he said smugly. “Hey, do I get a Christmas kiss?”
“I don’t think you deserve one,” I said grumpily.
“Oh, you know you want to.” It might be dark, but I could practically hear the smirk in his voice.
I rolled my eyes and leaned in, aiming for just a quick kiss since I was still cranky and we both had morning breath, but instead Vic took my head in his hands and held it there so he could kiss me longer.
“Hey, I’m trying to be angry at you, asshole,” I laughed.
Vic winked and jumped out of bed, dragging me with him. “You know you can’t stay mad at me. Come on, I have to give you your present!”
We headed downstairs as quietly as we could to where the Christmas tree was in the lounge room. I couldn’t really believe it was Christmas already. I also couldn’t believe that Vic had been staying with us for nearly two weeks now. It had felt weird having him there all the time at first, but it didn’t take long to get used to and now I can’t imagine not having him there.
I was almost dreading the day that Vic left for rehab. We’d organised for him to leave at the beginning of January, and he’d stay there for a month. The centre wasn’t too far away and it allowed visitors, but I’d still miss him. I know it was selfish to not want him to go, but still.
“Here you go!” said Vic, dragging me out of my thoughts. He was pushing out a big, long box from behind the Christmas tree, wrapped up in Christmas themed wrapping paper.
“Vic, what the hell is this?”
“Just open it.”
I ripped off the wrapping paper to reveal a large brown box with no markings or hints as to what might be inside. Giving Vic a puzzled look, I opened up the box and pulled out an acoustic guitar.
“Wow, Vic!” I exclaimed. “Thank you so much! But… I don’t know how to play guitar.”
“I know. That’s why I’m going to teach you.”
“Are you serious?” I said excitedly. “Wow, you’re amazing! I’ve always wanted to learn guitar!”
Vic laughed. “Merry Christmas.”
I leaned over and attacked his face with kisses. “But…” I hesitated, pulling away. “This would have been expensive. Where did you get the money for it?”
“Well, it wasn’t really that expensive. I’m sorry but I had to get you a second-hand one, which means it was pretty cheap. But I’ve been saving for a while, and I was busking a lot before I started staying here to try and earn money for it.”
“Wow… just… thank you so much! I love it!” I couldn’t wipe the smile of my face. What song would I learn first? I was already running my favourite songs through my head, imagining myself performing them on guitar whilst singing. I couldn’t wait to start.
“I think my present for you is going to be a bit of a let-down after this though…” I said anxiously as I rummaged around under the tree, eventually pulling out a small, square package wrapped up in the same Christmas themed wrapping paper as the box my guitar was in.
I handed it to Vic, who excitedly unwrapped it to reveal a plain, plastic CD case. Inside was a white disc with “Vic’s Mixtape” scribbled on the front with black marker.
“It’s got all the songs on it that remind me of you, and of us,” I said awkwardly. “Here, this is the track list.” I pointed out a little bit of paper stuck in the CD cover. “You already know some of the songs, but there’s others you don’t. I think you’ll like them though. Uh, sorry it’s so lame.” I scratched the back of my head, looking away.
“Kellin… this is such a great idea! Thank you so much, I love it!” he said, beaming. “And hey, we could pick one of these songs for you to start learning on guitar! This is perfect!”
“So… you actually like it? I mean, it doesn’t really compare to a guitar…”
“Of course I like it; it’s so sweet and thoughtful. No one’s ever done anything like this for me before. And some of these bands are my favourites! Blink-182, New Found Glory, Pennywise… Which song do you think we should we start learning first? How about… “Stay the Night”, by Green Day?”
“That’s a good one, but actually… I want to learn one of your songs; one that you wrote. Like the one you performed in music class the day we met. What was it called?”
“Bulletproof Love,” he said softly. “I dunno, Kellin... That song’s stupid. Nothing I write is really worth learning…”
“Hey, yes it is! I liked that song. That’s the one I wanna learn and you’re gonna teach it to me, okay?”
“Well… alright,” he sighed. I grinned and hugged him tightly.
“Thank you so much Vic! Thank you for my guitar, and for teaching me how to play! I’m so excited to start!”
“I’m glad you like it. And thank you for my mixtape; I can’t wait to listen to it!” he replied excitedly. “And if you like, we could start your guitar lessons today.”
“Yes! Yes please!” I exclaimed. “But… we should probably go back to bed first.”
At that moment a light clicked on upstairs. Shit.
“Boys!” my mum called, heading down the stairs. “What the hell are you doing up at this hour? We were supposed to open the presents together! Go back to bed right now! It’s almost one o clock!”
“Sorry, Mum,” I said, taking Vic’s hand and leading him past Mum and up the stairs.
“Sorry, Lisa,” Vic squeaked.
We hurried back into my room and shut the door before jumping back into bed, trying to stifle our giggles.
“Sorry for getting you into trouble, Kellin,” Vic whispered after a minute.
“Oh, it’s fine,” I assured him. “She’s not really mad. She’s not allowed to be; it’s Christmas!”
Vic giggled. “Goodnight, Kellin. Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas,” I replied, pecking him on the lips before falling asleep.