Page 25 of Fortress
Tobias was so long staring at them, absorbing the magnitude of the gift, that Jake’s cough startled him. Looking up, he found Jake leaning toward him, looking worried.
“It’s a bitch to find a decent Walkman these days, so I figured I’d get you what all the kids have now.” He nodded to the package in Toby’s hands. “You’ll have to build your own CD collection, but I thought I’d get you started—just the basics, I know it’s not—”
“Jake,” Tobias interrupted, “this isawesome.”
The relief that broke across his face twisted Tobias’s heart. Without thinking, he leaned forward, spilling presents to either side, to catch Jake’s jaw in his hand, and kissed him hard. It was meant to be quick, but Jake made a pleased sound and caught Tobias’s hand, holding him there. When they broke apart, Tobias stayed close, staring into Jake’s gleaming eyes. “You didn’t open my present yet,” he whispered.
Jake glanced down at it, and Tobias sat back, forcing his attention back to the CDs in their pristine packaging as Jake finished tearing off the paper. Tobias counted to ten, then let himself peek up.
Jake was closely examining the black plastic case, decorated with exclusive stickers of Jake Hawthorne–approved rock bands.
“I thought it could hold your cassettes,” Tobias said quickly. “See the indents—you have that shoebox now, but it’s not... neat, and they always get jumbled. I thought this might, but if it doesn’t—”
“Dude,” Jake said, holding the case up and grinning wide as he ever had. “Awesome.”
The next presents came easier. Tobias was delighted with the comic book encyclopedia, and Jake was thunderstruck by the boots, demanding to know when Tobias had hustled up the cash to get them. Tobias insisted he’d just gotten a good holiday sale.But Jake’s third gift to him, a curved knife inlaid with silver, almost brought Tobias to tears—not because of the knife itself, but the leather sheath withT. H. stamped into it.
Jake’s lips parted when he saw the compass necklace, and he held it up to his eye.”Holy shit,” he breathed.”Where did you get this?”
“Oh, you know, I just picked it up.” Tobias found himself risen anxiously to his knees, watching Jake’s initial reaction. “It’s okay?You like it? See, it’s got a magnet holding it together, so it’ll come apart if anyone grabs it—”
“Likeit? Toby, this is the most badass gift since the Eldorado.”
“Oh.”A warmth suffused Tobias, flushing down his face to his neck, and he sat back.
Jake tugged the cord over his neck, dropping the compass in front of his chest. The sight of it there did something funny toTobias’s chest. It was hard to breathe, but nothing like a panic attack.
Then Jake leaned across to catch his chin with one hand, bringing him in for a kiss, just how Tobias had earlier. At last he broke the kiss, lips curved against Tobias’s as he breathed, “How’s that for a first Christmas?”
Tobias touched his forehead to Jake’s. “It was the best.” He looked around at the tree, the presents—his heart doing a double-step again at the sight of the compass on Jake’s chest. “But...” He hesitated, not sure he dared add anything to this perfect day.
“What’d we forget?” Jake raised his eyebrows. “Don’t think there’s enough white out there to build a snowman.”
“No.” Tobias paused before rushing ahead. “Christmas isn’t just about presents—it’s about family, right?”
Surprise wiped out everything else in Jake’s face, and apprehension flickered past, followed by wariness. “That’s what I hear on the Hallmark specials, yeah.”
“Well,” Tobias said, nails digging into his palms, but he’d already taken the plunge, “I think you should—why don’t you call Roger?”
Jake’s mouth actually fell open, and Tobias bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. “That,” Jake said slowly, “is an awesome idea.”
Tobias relaxed, relieved, while Jake went to the bedroom to find his phone. When he came back and flipped it open, he paused.
“You wanna say hi too?”
“Oh,” Tobias said, startled. “If—you think he’d want to talk to me?”
“’Course he would,” Jake said and put the phone to his ear. “Hey old man, you didn’t get stuck down a chimney last night, did you?”
Whatever Roger’s response was made Jake snicker, then he said, “Hey, here’s Toby,” and held out the phone.
Roger heard Tobias’s soft voice, breathless, but without the level of nervousness from every time before. “Hi, Roger. Merry Christmas.”
Oh,balls. In that moment, Roger Harper realized that there was room enough left in his soldered-together heart for another messed-up kid alongside that smart-ass, reckless, and heartbreakingly passionate Jake Hawthorne.
“Hey, kid! Merry Christmas to you too. You making sure Jake spikes his eggnog with bourbon and not the other way around?”
Tobias laughed—the first time he’d laughed at something Roger had said—and told him about their tree, the carols and cookies, the nice woman who owned the bagel shop and had remembered them after all these months. Roger listened, slowly forming a picture of arealChristmas, the kind hunters and their families almost never got. The last time he’d gotten a call from any Hawthorne on Christmas, Leon had been bleeding from the head and three sheets to the wind.
