Shen looked out the window, it was really cold outside, it would probably start to snow soon.

He sighed, he wished he had agreed to go to Yunlan's Christmas dinner but he had been afraid of meeting his relatives, especially his parents.

Maybe his friend was oblivious to the feelings he had for him, but his mother would have understood by the way he couldn't avoid looking at him whenever he saw him that Shen was in love with her son.

He had been in love with him for so long but had never found the courage to tell him. What if he didn't feel the same things, would he lose his friendship too?

He went to the kitchen sighing again.
Had he been braver, he would at least be able to spend Christmas with him, instead of being here all alone.

He stood lost in his thoughts until he heard the doorbell. Who could it be at 6 pm on Christmas day?

As he opened the door he found himself in front of a grinning Yunlan. It had started to snow, Yunlan's jacket and hair were already covered in it.

He hurried to let him in receiving a thank you from his freezing friend.

"I was just making tea, it'll warm you up," he said, disappearing into the kitchen.

He came back with a teapot and two cups. He poured the steaming liquid for both and gestured towards the couch.

The fireplace made the place warm and cozy, and Yunlan thanked him again.

"What brings you here?" Shen asked. "I thought you'd be at your parents' tonight."

"Yeah, actually they are waiting for me," Yunlan replied. "But I still haven't had the chance to give you your gift."

He showed him a packet saying, "Merry Christmas Shen."

Wei thanked him and got up to get a small box. "This is for you," he said. "Merry Christmas Yunlan," and he sat back next to him.

"Open yours first," Yunlan said, and Wei expressed his delight in uncovering a book in a very nice hardback edition.

Yunlan was glad that he liked it, and now he opened his own. It was a watch, a very beautiful one.

"Last time we spoke on the phone you said your old one was broken, and knowing you I guessed it'd be a long time before you remembered to buy a new one."

Yunlan looked at the old broken watch still on his wrist. "You're right," he said laughing. "I only remember when I need the hour, and every time I have to check my phone."

Shen smiled pleased when Yunlan switched them, admiring the new shiny watch on his wrist.

They looked at each other for a couple of seconds, then Yunlan muttered that he had to go or his mother would yell at him if he arrived late.

They reached the door but after opening it they saw that the weather was much worse now. "You can't drive in this weather!" Shen said. "There's a storm out there, it's better if you wait for it to calm down."

Yunlan was hesitating, his mother would really be angry, but the storm was getting scary. He decided to call her to tell her he'd be late, he only regretted having to do it in front of Shen, he knew his mother well...

"What do you mean you'll be late? Everyone's here already!" she yelled on the phone.

"I'm sorry but you don't really want me to drive in this storm, do you? I could have an accident..." Yunlan tried to reason with her.

"If you stayed the whole day with us, you wouldn't be in this situation, the weather was fine earlier," she retorted.

"Sorry mom, I really couldn't." He tried to explain, horrified at the suggestion. He loved his mother deeply, but now that he was an adult and could decide for himself, he'd rather have her in small doses at a time.

"Where are you anyway? You didn't stop at a bar, did you?" She sounded suspicious, as if he had a drinking habit, which he didn't.

"No mum, I'm at... Shen's house, I brought him his gift."

"... did you remember to give him ours?"

Shen could hear everything she said, and Yunlan blushed for having forgotten about that, but he told her, "Of course I remembered, he really appreciated it."

"Good... you should have invited him so you'd both be here by now, he's never late!"

Yunlan gave him a look then ended the conversation with, "I'll be there as soon as I can, don't you worry about me." Then he hang up before she could say anything else.

"I'm sorry, I forgot, I'll get it now."

"Wait..." Shen wanted to stop him from going out under the snow, but Yunlan ran out the door to retrieve the gift from his car.

He came back drenched, worse than when he arrived.

"Get in quickly and take off that jacket," Shen told him and he obeyed.

Yunlan handed him another gift, and Shen smiled. "She was right though, I would have told you to get here sooner to pick me up, so we could avoid the snow.  I've seen the warnings on tv about tonight's weather."

Yunlan chuckled and watched him unwrap his mother's gift: a homemade scarf that wasn't exactly his style, but Shen appreciated the gesture more than anything. He liked Yunlan's mother a lot: she was caring, loving, but he had been avoiding her since he realised the depth of his feelings.

He had always liked him. Yunlan was handsome: tall, broad shoulders, a small beard that gave him a certain 'bad-boy' look, but Shen knew that he was just the opposite, and he loved Yunlan for his good heart.

Yunlan warmed himself by the fire then Shen suggested they'd watch a movie while they waited for the storm to end.
Shen checked his dvds until he found 'It's a wonderful life."

Yunlan protested. "It's old!"

"It's traditional!" Shen corrected him.

He wondered if he should make something to eat, but Yunlan still had to eat dinner with his family, as soon as he could get there, so he simply grabbed some chips and popcorns and put them on the small table between the couch and the television.

The film started, Shen switched off the lights and sat down.
Side by side, their shoulders touching, Shen felt rather grateful for the storm.
They watched the movie but Shen's eyes would often wander towards Yunlan's figure. A couple of times he was caught and hurried to bring his eyes back on the screen, embarrassed.

Yunlan didn't care for old movies, but he enjoyed being there with Shen.

When James Stewart said, "What do you want Mary? The moon?" he thought, 'I'd give you the moon' and turned his head, and saw Shen looking at him.

Shen was fast and in a flash his eyes were back on the screen, but Yunlan had seen it already, that look in his eyes. 'Could it be...' he wondered, but he wasn't sure.

He dared to hope and then he caught him again, he had noticed it at the corner of his eyes but as he turned Shen averted his eyes again.

He thought about it for a while but he felt encouraged by what he had seen, so he turned again towards Shen staring at him until their eyes met.

This time Shen gasped and stayed still, and for a few seconds nobody said a word or moved a muscle.

Then Yunlan started leaning down slowly, observing his reaction.

Shen's eyes descended on his lips, Yunlan smiled and kissed him.

Slowly, cautiously, but then Shen opened his mouth and put a hand behind his neck, and there were no more fear or doubts.

It was a long kiss, neither wanting to break the moment, but it couldn't last forever and they had to part eventually.

They looked at each other silently, then the wind caused a window to burst open and Shen got up to close it.

"What a frightful weather out there," Yunlan said looking outside. "Good thing you've got a delightful fire in here."

Shen seemed worried. "It's even worse than before, how will you..."

"Just let it snow," Yunlan said, and pulled him back to the couch. "The movie is not over yet."

They sat holding hands to watch the rest of the movie, but the warmth of the fire, the tension he had felt before the sudden kiss, the silence only broken by the characters who were setting their new home, combined with how good he was feeling now slightly leaning against Yunlan on the comfortable couch caused Shen to fall asleep.

Yunlan noticed and smiled at the sleeping figure. He liked his new watch, but the real gift was knowing that his feelings were requited. Shen was always so kind to everyone that he had never dared to hope having a special place in his heart.

After their kiss he wanted him to know how much he meant to him.
He had kept his eyes on Shen the whole time and now noticed that the movie had ended, but he didn't want to wake him.

He stayed still for a while then slowly helped him lie down and be more comfortable.

He got up and looked around, he saw the bookshelf and curiously watched where his book had been placed.

He found it, and frowned noticing that Shen already had that book, although his was a paperback.

He had thought he had found the perfect gift, something he'd really like, but he had messed up as he always did, he should have imagined Shen would have it already, it was from his favourite author after all.

He wasn't sleepy so he took the book and began reading it, while Shen slept like an angel.

When Shen woke up, feeling embarrassed at having fallen asleep like that, he noticed that the weather sounded like it had calmed down a bit, and went to look.

"It's better now, as soon as they clean the streets you'll be able to go home," he said.

"I don't want to go home."
"But ..."
"Will you at least give me a goodbye kiss?" Yunlan asked putting down the book.

Shen looked at him, still finding it hard to believe that they had really kissed before.

Yunlan got closer, they looked into each other's eyes then Yunlan kissed him again.

It got passionate, they didn't have to worry about ruining their friendship anymore because they knew now that they both wanted the same thing.

The kiss lead to shy hugs and touches that quickly became bold, it continued while hands sneaked under clothes wanting, needing more contact, and it ended when they landed on the bed, allowing something else to take its place.

They made love cherishing each other, caring for their partner's pleasure more than their own.

~~~~~

They laid in each other's arms for a while, enjoying this development in their relationship.

Suddenly Yunlan said, "I'm sorry about the gift, I should have known you already had it."

Shen felt bad, he didn't want him to know, but he loved the new one more because it came from the man he loved.

"Your edition is much better, I love it," he said, then added, "Besides, all I want for Christmas is you." Yunlan hugged him tight and placed another sweet kiss on his lips.

Yunlan rested his head on Shen's chest and closed his eyes in bliss. This Christmas had turned out much better than he ever expected.

Outside everything was quiet now, and Shen reluctantly spoke.
"Do you think your mother will be worried? Maybe you should check the road and see if it's been cleared."

"Yeah, I probably should," Yunlan agreed. "What about a goodbye kiss before I go?"

Shen laughed and kissed him, and they kept kissing goodbye for a long long time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Winter song contest asked to use max 2k words to retell a holiday song, and I chose Let It Snow.
I used 1991 words.