Sweep Me Off My Feet

The next event that came up for the group was not one connected to the wedding, but to the Lennoxes. It was their annual Christmas event, which Brinxton had usually been away for. This year, though, he was around for it, and found out it was the event to go to around the holidays. Everyone was dressed to the nines, and the Lennox children did not disappoint anyone when they walked in after everyone was already in attendance and milling about getting food.

Zev and Amelia Lennox walked into the room first, with Zev dressed in a black tux and Amelia looking stunning in a red sequined gown. It was then that she announced her children, and everyone seemed excited to see what they came up with this time. Elias was included with her children, as he had always been.

Elias had grown up in a single parent house, and while his mother was well off, she shied away from society events. Elias still sometimes saw his dad, but his dad had chosen his new wife over his kid with Elias' mom. Still, Elias' mom wanted her child to take part and do well in life with their help, so she had asked the Lennoxes to act as surrogate parents to get him out there, and they took that job very seriously.

Brinxton was standing with Brielle and Daniel when all four of them came out of one of the hallways at the top of the stairway. It was only then that Brinxton could see why everyone had been excited about their entrance. The Lennox kids went all out for this party.

This year they allowed Elias and Aspen to take the lead while Zach and Zayne brought up the rear. Elias in a deep red suit that looked like it was made of velvet. The lapel of the suit jacket was covered in white suede, and he had a Santa hat on his head which sparkled on the white part in the light. Aspen had on a red gown, also made of a velvet material and clung to her curves. The velvet was covered in glitter and she had white fur around her neck, wrists, and white feathers on the end of the gown. Her auburn hair was up in a fancy braided bun and the two were holding hands as they made their way down the stairs.

Zach came next, with a suit of deep green. The pants of the suit were red, white, and green striped, like candy canes, and the lapel of the jacket had white fur on it. He looked like a high end elf, ready for a night of dancing. He also had a Santa hat on, but his was green with white, and he was carrying candy canes with him while one hung out of his mouth.

Zayne walked down the stairs last, slower than the others had, but with just as much confidence and a smile on his face. His suit was a rich brown with white fur on the lapel of the jacket. Underneath his suit jacket, which was unbuttoned for both comfort and in order to show his vest off, was a leather vest that was fashioned to look like the harness Santa would put on his reindeer.

Zayne had two antlers coming out of his auburn hair that had been placed perfectly to look like they weren't attached by string because the string went under his ear length hair. There were Christmas lights all around the antlers, twinkling in various colors as he walked.

Zach brought out his wheelchair, which was a different one than Brinxton normally saw him in. This was still a sports model, but it was done in black and cherry wood, and they had it fashioned to look a little like a sleigh and had more Christmas lights attached to it. It was only once they were all standing down there that Amelia gave her toast and then sent everyone to enjoy the food and drinks.

Brinxton mingled around until he could get down to the same floor as Zayne. Fortunately, no one was around when Brinxton walked up and said, "Now there's a sleigh I'd like to ride!"

That earned Brinxton a sly grin from Zayne as he turned the wheelchair so he could face him. "Oh, I'll give you the grand tour of it later. I'll let you ride it so well you won't walk for a week."

"Sounds like a challenge!" Brinxton said with a sly grin.

"Oh it is," Zayne replied suggestively, his voice low. Then he noticed Brielle and Daniel heading towards them with Zach and Elias, and Zayne's voice shifted to its normal tone. "You'll have to keep that thought in your mind until later, though."

"We were thinking of taking some food and drinks up to the attic," Zach said once they got over to them. "Have some fun, play some games. What do you two think?"

Brinxton nodded his assent, looking to Zayne. "I'm game if Zayne is."

"Sure, why not?" Zayne said.

Elias led most of the group to the stairs, but Zach led Brinxton and Zayne over to an elevator. They hit the third floor button and waited until they could get out, then went down a hallway where they found an old set of pull down steps were. There was no other way to get up to the attic, but that was okay. Zayne could do it so long as it was a good day, and it was. Zayne motioned to the others, telling them that he would have to go slow so they should all go up first.

Brinxton motioned Zayne ahead of him, muttering about catching him if he slips on the stairs. Zayne grinned at that and then started up the stairs, holding onto the sides to better support himself. At one point, he stopped on the steps and lightly pressed back into Brinxton with a low chuckle. Brinxton ran a hand evilly up the inside of Zayne's thigh and along his crack. Brinxton heard Zayne's breath hitch and then he let out a low hum only Brinxton could hear before he went up the rest of the stairs.

When they got up into the attic, Brinxton could see that the whole place was set up as a hangout area. There were bean bag chairs and pillows spread all around, as well as fairy lights strung along the walls to gently light the room. Zach and Elias had already brought up a fair amount of snack foods and they had sparkling cider and apple cider, as well as an array of alcoholic drinks for them to choose from.

Zayne sank down into one of the bean bag chairs that was a little oversized and purple in color and took a mug of cider that Zach handed to him. Brinxton sat on the floor at Zayne's feet after pouring himself a mug of cider.

"I think we should start with one of my favorite getting to know you games, since we don't know Brielle and Brinxton as well, and they don't know us as well," Elias said as Aspen came over to sit down next to him. "Never have I ever. So you know the rules. If you have done it, then you take a drink, but our rules are that if it's a juicy story, you have to tell us."

"You can plead the fifth but you'll get shit for it," Zayne pointed out.

"I'll start and show exactly how it works," Zach said and held up his glass. "Never have I ever gotten hurt showing off."

Zayne laughed and flipped his brother off before taking a sip. "Fuck you, that was an amazing flip and you know it."

"Yeah, until the landing," Elias replied, but then he took a sip, which got the brothers' attention. "I was trying to show off to Aspen recently with a bartender trick and the bottle I was throwing around fell on my head."

Zayne looked over at his sister with an amused grin. "You're going to be the death of our best friend."

Brinxton quickly took a sip of his cider while everyone seemed to be distracted making fun of Elias but he should have known that he couldn't hide the motion from Zayne in this position.

Zayne gave him a knowing look and leaned forward before saying, "Don't worry, yours can't be worse than mine."

Brinxton smiled warily and quietly told Zayne, "I have ridden skateboards before," with a shrug that indicated that practically everyone has to have injured themselves while showing off with that sport.

Zayne, having been an avid rollerblader, knew what that was like. Then he looked up at Zach with a smirk. "Alright, if you're going to play like that. Never have I ever had a threesome."

Zach grinned and took a big gulp. "That was so worth it though. They were hot."

To everyone's surprise, especially her fiancé's, Brielle took a long drink, her face instantly going red as soon as she felt all of the eyes swing toward her. She let out a cough of annoyance, something Brinxton had seen her do a lot, and said, "It's not a big deal. It was alcohol induced. Anyway, this is boring." Before Daniel could ask her anything else about it, she got up and gave him her drink before going back down the steps.

Everyone now looked at Daniel, who seemed unsure of what to say. While the silence kept on, Aspen cleared her throat and then took a sip, which took the attention off Daniel and onto her as both brothers immediately started asking questions over each other.

"Who?" Zach demanded.

"When?" came from Zayne. "Only once?"

"WHO?" Zach demanded again.

"I'm not telling you who because you'd murder them," Aspen pointed out. "It happened at school, after a party, and it was fun but not my thing, I came to find. And besides, why are you two allowed to be sluts and I'm not?"

"Because you're our baby sister," Zach replied. "And Zayne isn't a slut. That title goes to me. Zayne is a serial monogamist."

"I've had plenty of casual relationships," Zayne argued.

Zach turned towards Zayne with an expression that seemed both unimpressed as well as skeptical. "Yeah, but you usually go one of two ways with those. They either fizzle out in a few months because you get bored of them, or you get feelings and then things get awkward. Or you freak out and run once you realize you have feelings."

Brinxton watched all of this with an expression that could only be described as if he were taking notes interestedly. Zayne rolled his eyes at that and then motioned to Elias to go next, as he didn't want to stay on this topic for long, especially around Brinxton, though Zach offered to tell Brinxton all of Zayne's idiosyncrasies later, which earned a light slap from his twin on the arm.

Elias laughed. "Alright, we're making Zayne annoyed. Never have I ever...had my ass played with."

"You cheater," Zach cried before taking a drink, as did all the other men there.

"That will change, Elias," Aspen said knowingly, and everyone started laughing as the twins whooped and whistled at Elias, whose face turned bright red.

Brinxton figured it was probably his turn and with his sister gone, he felt a little more comfortable sharing, though Daniel still being in the room gave him pause. Thinking quickly, he said, "Never have I ever broken up with someone because of circumstances beyond their control."

Zach practically choked on his laughter while Elias and Aspen looked at Brinxton in surprised amusement before shifting their eyes over to where Daniel was. Daniel looked down into his glass with some sheepishness before he took a sip.

"You're right, it was beyond his control," Daniel said after he drank and he looked at where Zayne was sitting, but Zayne was looking at the floor near Brinxton's leg now. "And I regret hurting him over something he couldn't change. You didn't have to watch the accident happen though, so it's easy to think it was a flippant decision. I still remember the blood on the ice and can picture it in my head."

Brinxton cleared his throat uncomfortably and mumbled "Sorry," to Zayne.

Zayne shifted his eyes up to look at Brinxton's face and smiled. "It's okay. It was going to be brought up eventually. I mean, it is what broke up our friend group into two sides." Then he looked over at Daniel thoughtfully. "I don't remember the blood, to be honest. I never saw what the slope looked like after. I do remember the smell of it though, and I remember the doctor yelling in another language for medicine just to be able to examine me. I think our problem was that you were always so focused on how much the event hurt you, while I was focused on how the event hurt you without realizing how much it hurt me, other than physically."

"You know, Elias and I had to watch it from up close," Zach pointed out. "I heard his back break, and I've been to every single surgery every single time. Neither of us ran though."

"You're his twin, it's different," Daniel replied.

Elias looked at Brinxton then. "Has Zayne ever let you see his back?"

Brinxton shook his head, saying, "No, but there's no rush if it makes him uncomfortable..."

Daniel looked down again while Elias said, "Someone made a comment about how it would be creepy taking him from behind when he could see how butchered Zayne was, so Zayne doesn't show it because he thinks it will scare guys off."

"That's just stupid. Our scars are proof that we went through hell and are still here, nothing more or less," Brinxton said.

Zayne shifted in his seat a little, considering Brinxton's words. He had never considered it like that. There were times, during surgeries or right after, or during a particularly difficult procedure, that Zayne was amazed he had survived as much as he had, but when he saw his scars, it made him feel almost inhuman, and not in a good way. Like he was broken beyond repair.

"You're right, that comment was wrong to have ever made, and I'm sorry," Daniel said, sounding genuine. "It was cruel and I had never wanted to hurt you with it. I never wanted you to internalize it. I was being an idiot, and I fucked up. I really don't have the words that are good enough to apologize for the things I did wrong at the end."

Zayne looked at Daniel again and gave a tight smile. It wasn't exactly happy but it wasn't angry either, just tense. "I appreciate that. Honestly, despite whatever issues I took away from how everything was done, if you couldn't handle being with me as I am now, then it was better that you left. And you and Brielle seem happy, so I'm happy for you."

"And you seem to be having...fun," Daniel commented, his eyes glancing over at Brinxton.

This time, the smile was genuine, and Zayne reached up and flicked at his reindeer antlers, making the little bells attached to the lights jingle. "Well, you know I like all of my little reindeer games, and they've been extra pleasurable lately."

Daniel's eyebrows raised a little bit. "It must be pretty casual though, if you two don't do any PDA. You always loved being touchy feely with the person you were with."

"Says the guy who barely touches his fiancée!" Zach pointed out.

"I touch her plenty in private," Daniel responded. "Our lack of physical contact in public is about her family and their image, and how they prefer it."

Brinxton had a laugh in his eyes, but he didn't voice it. He didn't think Daniel would appreciate knowing that none of Brielle's other suitors had been shy about touching her in public. Zayne looked a little incredulous about that too. His lack of affection in public with Brinxton had more to do with Brinxton's comfort, though he had done light touches here and there where he could. During their pillow talk, Brinxton had shared that his family was uncomfortable with his sexuality and preferred that he not "flaunt" himself in public. He mostly kept in line so that he wouldn't have to listen to them complain about their image and because he hadn't really been in a relationship worth standing up to them over.

"I'm not sure I'd let someone's familial expectations decide whether I touch the person I'm in love with, but you do you, man," Zach said as he poured some more spiked cider for himself.

Zayne cleared his throat. "I suppose in much the same way how you act with your fiancée is of no business of ours, the way I act with the person I am sleeping with is also none of yours. If it ever becomes your business though, I'll answer your questions. Deal?"

"You're awfully touchy about this, don't you think?" Daniel asked.

Aspen took a long sip of her drink to not say anything while Elias and Zach looked at Zayne to see what he would say. Zayne narrowed his eyes and stared at Daniel like he was staring right into the man's soul and possibly lighting him on fire in his mind. He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly through his nose and took a sip of his drink before placing it in his lap between both hands.

"We may be in a casual situation but I also view him as a good friend, so I'm not about to put my wants ahead of his needs," Zayne commented. "I'll change my tactics if we become something more substantial, but until then, I'll put his comfort first. I don't need to prove anything to anyone."

Brinxton looked between them, considering his own position on not rocking the boat with his family and the fact that his relationship with Zayne had already blurred the lines a bit between friends with benefits and was starting to encroach on actual dating.

Elias and Zach shared a look between each other that would have said a lot to Zayne about what they thought about which direction Zayne was going in when it came to feelings towards Brinxton, but Zayne was still looking at Daniel so he missed it.

Daniel put his hands up in a placating way. "I guess I just always pictured you as someone who wanted romance rather than sex. It's hard to change my view of you."

Zayne gave a wistful smile. "I still want romance. Red roses, romantic dates, rose petals on the bed, little presents because he was thinking of me, the whole shebang. I'm just realistic about my chances of actually getting that."

Brinxton frowned internally but carefully kept it off his face. He thought to himself that he could probably swing those things if it would make Zayne happy to experience it. Zayne didn't seem to like the attention on him like this, as he cleared his throat and suggested they play a different game. They settled on a game of confession, which had one person spin a bottle around the circle, and whoever it landed on got to ask a question that the spinner had to answer.

That took them to a much more lighthearted place than they were at before, and everyone relaxed into the game, laughing and drinking all the while. Zayne had a little bit of alcohol, though he didn't drink much. It seemed to get him tipsy easily, and Brinxton noticed he laughed a lot more and his face turned red when he was drinking.

They played games until it was getting late, and the party downstairs was beginning to break up. Brielle came back up to collect her fiancé, and the others slowly filtered out. Zayne was careful as he took the stairs down and got back into his wheelchair.

"Will I see you soon, or will the next time we see each other be at the big New Years party?" Zayne asked Brinxton as they took the elevator back to the main floor of the house.

Brinxton seemed to give that a great deal of thought. Entirely too much thought for Zayne's preference. Just as Zayne was about to start worrying, though, Brinxton cracked a smile and said, "Oh, I'm sure we'll bump into each other again."

Zayne chuckled. "Well, I hope so. You have a sleigh to ride, remember."

"Whatever you say, Rudolph!" Brinxton quipped.

Zayne grinned and went to get some food and water so he could sober up enough to drive. When they got home, he slowly got out of his dress clothes while sitting on the bed. He stopped when he got to his shirt and reached back to run his hand along the scars there. He was thinking about what Brinxton said, but it would take more time to feel comfortable with them.

Still, once he was in his pajamas, he didn't automatically put a shirt on. There was a chance that Brinxton would come over but Zayne was taking the chance by not putting the shirt back on that he would have to face Brinxton's reaction to that. His phone chirped to notify him of a message from Brinxton, "Feel like some company?"

"Yes," came the reply without any hesitation. Zayne got into his wheelchair and went to the front door to unlock and open it. Zayne smiled at Brinxton as he walked up the front walkway and into the house. Brinxton was carrying something behind his back. As he got closer, he brought it out and handed Zayne a vase with a dozen roses in it.

Zayne looked at it in surprise before his face blossomed into a smile as he took them from Brinxton. "What's this for?"