Cheery Thanksgivings and New Beginnings

Vincent waited for Lucas against the car he knew belonged to his friend. He stood awkwardly hugging his arms to himself, wishing he had brought a sweater. A drop of water fell and landed on his forehead, he cursed quietly; it was going to start raining. Slowly more and more drops began pounding down and there was no sign of Lucas anywhere. Vincent held his hand over his face hoping to shield himself at least slightly, but by then it was pouring.

"Oh shit. I'm sorry. I got caught up at the door." Lucas called running up, soaking wet himself.

"I'm fine." Vinny said smiling at Lucas, but in truth he was freezing, and soaked.

"You'll catch a cold. Here." Lucas said handing Vincent his burgundy bomber jacket, and unlocking the car. Both climbed in, and Lucas grabbed towels from the back for them to sit on. "Good thing I bring these for after practice!" He mused.

"Good thing you've got leather seats." Vincent chuckled. "Thanks for driving me."

"Aw no problem... besides we're both alone for Thanksgiving, so I figure why not be alone together?" Lucas pushed the gear shift and pulled out of the rainy parking lot. Vinny liked watching him drive; he was so focused, and yet carefree at the same time. Vincent felt safe in the passenger seat, safer than he did in the driver's seat.

They passed by the empty streets of the small town in a comfortable silence, and Vinny found himself staring over at Lucas. His dirty blond hair curling from the water, with rain drops hanging from the tips.  His green eyes showed brightly against the dim backdrop of the rain. It reminded Vinny of all the things he had always loved about his friend. Lucas was more loving and generous than any other person Vincent knew, and he had been that way since they were kids.

"Sounds good to me." Vinny smiled. "We did always used to spend the holidays together."

"Yeah." Lucas smiled wistfully. "My family's never been big into holidays. Aside from church on Christmas morning we never do much, but you guys always had such nice holidays..,"

"We did." Vincent matched Lucas' smile remembering fondly the red and gold Christmases of past, old holiday music, and delicious food that shaped his childhood, that and Lucas' constant presence. "I guess my mom was really into that sort of thing."

"Yeah.. hey I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up your mom, I'm sure it must be hard to be apart."

"No.. you're good." Vincent assured. "I'll see her for Christmas anyway, and besides I'm glad to have gotten to have what I've had, not everyone is so lucky."

"I'm glad you let me share in on your luck." Lucas grinned. "Want to go have a little Thanksgiving feast?"

"I'd love to." Vinny agreed eagerly. Lucas passed by a restaurant advertising a Turkey dinner and circled around the parking lot, but the lights were off and it appeared to be closed.

"How do you like that? Turkey dinner, but closed on Thanksgiving." Lucas chuckled. "Chinese?"

"Sounds great."

....

At Lucas' house the rain had slowed down to a slight drizzle. The pair sat on the floor of Lucas' living room eating sesame chicken and fried rice for Thanksgiving dinner, but still having the best holiday either had in a while.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but... I'm sorta glad your plans fell through." Lucas admitted, taking a bite of his Lo Mein.

"Me too." Vincent grinned. "Sometimes things have to fall apart to make way for better things."

"Cheers to that!" Lucas lifted his coke, "Cheers to our old friendship falling apart in order to make way for a better one."

"Cheers!" Vincent clinked his drink with Lucas. "You always were good with the metaphors like that."

"Let's..." Lucas' tone turned serious. "Let's not talk about the past tonight. No falling outs, no used to bes, just you and me enjoying a meal together."

"I'm sorry.. I didn't mean to-"

"And no apologies!" Lucas messed up Vincent's hair. "You don't have to be sorry, I'm just ready to move forward."

"Me too."

"Good. So tell me about yourself Mr. Chance." Lucas teased.

"What do you mean?" Vincent's brow furrowed.

"Forgetting that we ever knew each other, I want to know what you've been up to! Like your friends and everything." Lucas' green eyes sparkled.

"Oh?" Vincent laughed. "Well I live in a dorm... I'm from Erie... my roommate is named Dustin."

"I know all that stuff."

"Well... one of my closest friends is named Hailey.. she's a bit boy crazy! She actually thinks you're very attractive. You remember Hailey, right?"

"No." Lucas said with a perfectly straight face. "I remember nothing. We've never met before, but this Hailey, she sounds like she has great taste."

"In most things. Not in guys."

"Harsh." Lucas joked.

"I didn't mean it like that. She's obsessed with Ryan, that boy from your team... I find Ryan to be not very attractive, and she just thinks he's gorgeous." Vincent shrugged.

"That's fair. So you've thought about that type of thing?" Lucas' voice grew quiet.

"What type of thing?"

"You've thought about whether or not guys are attractive?"

"I dunno." Vincent shrugged. "I guess I haven't thought much about it... I think I probably have an understanding of what's attractive in a guy and what's not."

"So.. not Ryan?" Lucas chuckled.

"No. Not Ryan."

"Uh.." Lucas paused to clear his throat. "Marty? Do you think he's attractive."

"No. I do not think Marty is attractive." Vincent assured. Lucas gave a small warm smile wrought with something like relief.

"And... me? Do you.. do you think I'm attractive?"

"I-"

Vincent leaned back to look at Lucas. It wasn't as though he hadn't thought about it before. Lucas had a strong jawline, deep dimples, a beautiful smile... he had everything you could want. His blonde hair always fell just right with the perfect amount of curl and his green eyes sparkled like gems.

In his maroon t-shirt, Lucas offered a perfect view of his arms, being as the shirt had quite short sleeves. They were perfectly tan and and sculpted to reflect their powerful work in pumping Lucas forward on the field. Judging from their size, Vincent assumed Lucas must also have lifted weights and worked out constantly to maintain his body.

Under the tee, Lucas' pecs were visible as well... his nipples poking just enough to be seen under the thin fabric. Below there the top of a six pack was cut off by the flow of the fabric growing looser around Lucas' perfect 'V.'

Being a D1 soccer player was clearly hard work and it was paying off for Lucas.

Upon being inspected, Lucas' lightly freckles cheeks received a dusting of pink that perfectly matched his plump pink lips. Lucas had a strong nose and jaw, but still with his friendly smile, rosy coloration, and large joyful eyes, he didn't look severe, but maintained use of the word cute, rather than being confined to just handsome, though denying him handsome would be a lie.

Lucas' eyes were bright with hope. Vincent didn't know why, but Lucas clearly wanted him to say he was attractive... and he was.

"I-" Vincent attempted again, stopping to swallow briskly. "You know you're very good looking Lucas."

Riddled with insecurities caused by lack of parental approval, Lucas did not know that and was therefore hardly able to contain his glee at the object of his affection admiring him to be handsome. Still, Lucas longed for deeper affirmation.

"I asked what you thought."

Vincent allowed the words to hang in the air. It was a fair request, that had been what Lucas had asked for, but Vincent was nervous.

"I think you're incredibly handsome, Lucas."

Lucas attempted once again to conceal his utter bliss, but was able to slide beneath the radar based on the extreme mortification Vincent was under. Red as his ginger hair, his face betrayed he was deeply embarrassed by admitting such a thing to the person he was speaking of.

"I uh... um..." Vincent mumbled. "Do you uh.. do you think Hailey is attractive?"

"No."

"Sarah?"

"No."

"Megs?"

"No."

"And... uh.. Lucas... can you tell when another guy is attractive?"

"No." Lucas said plainly, and Vincent felt his spirits sink, though he was unsure why. "I can't tell when another guy is attractive. There's only one person I've ever found attractive in my whole life."