Lance woke still, but very warm in his sleeping bag on the living room

floor. He could see the fire was almost out. The light coming in through the

window had a gentle glow to it, and he figured it must be snowing. The smell of

pine intermingled with the mouthwatering smell of turkey. He inhaled deeply, and

grinned.

Turkey?

Lance fully wakened, and sat up.

"Morning, Lance," Pietro chirruped brightly. He was sitting on his sleeping

bag, looking cheerful. He pointed. "Lookee what we have here!"

Lance looked over to see a huge, decorated tree in the corner, brightly lit,

sparkling with coloured globes of glass and tinsel. Underneath, festively

wrapped packages mixed with the not-so-perfectly wrapped gifts they had gotten

each other.

On the mantle of the fireplace, five stockings were pinned up, all fairly

bursting with treats. Their names were painted on the cuffs and a huge candy

cane came out of each one.

There were decorations of pine boughs everywhere, decorated with tinsel

and mini candy-canes of many colours.

There was definitely heat, and Lance realized the lights of the tree were

electric.

"There's a turkey half cooked in the oven, full of stuffing. Vegetables are

chopped and in pots of water on the stove-top. There's pies and puddings in the

refrigerator along with a bunch of other foods, too. The cupboards are full of

food, Lance. There are cookies and squares, and chocolates and nuts... it's like

Christmas!" Pietro grinned.

"Electricity..."

"And running water, too."

"Mystique..."

"Nah, I doubt it. And before you even say it, Magneto would never do this

kind of thing. The presents are all from 'Santa'. This is definitely awesome, Lance."

Lance looked over at the others. "We should get em up." They were all

snuggled in their beds, fast asleep.

"Soon," Pietro crawled over to him. "Just wanted this first," he added,

kissing Lance deeply.

Lance chuckled and pulled him into his lap. "Merry Christmas, Pietro.

"Whatever it was, it put us to sleep, and kept us there."

"What?" Lance asked, startled.

"I don't sleep much, Lance. Usually 3 to 4 hours, depending on

circumstance. After we came back down last night, we pretty much went to sleep

right away. We were all tired at the same time. We all slept at least 8 hours. I'm

gonna be buzzing for a few days," he laughed, locking his mouth on Lance's.

"Mf!" Lance laughed, grabbing onto the passionate Pietro before they

toppled backwards. "Boy, you're horny in the morning."

"Thanks," Pietro grinned, and lightly smacked him on the arm.

"Who could put the entire house to sleep?" Lance mused.

"Dunno."

"Isn't Number One X-Geek a telepath?" Lance asked, referring to the

Professor.

"Damn, yeah," Pietro nodded.

"Do you think?"

"Probably," Pietro nodded, remembering his tea time with Rogue.

Chances were she told the others. He looked up at the sparkling tree, smelling

strongly of pine, and smiled. He closed his eyes briefly and thanked her.

We have presents to open!" Pietro got up. "Come on guys, wake up! It's

Christmas!!!!"

Lance sat on the floor, grinning as the group opened presents. Most of

the ones from the Institute were pretty functional. Blankets, robes, winter coats

and boots - everything remarkably fitting - with the occasional good thing thrown

in, like a Discman and disks, or a Gameboy and games.

Pietro absolutely loved the leather pants that Lance had bought him.

He began to open his last present, the one he knew came from someone

in the house, if just because it was wrapped in used birthday print, and not very

well.

The tag read 'The Merriest Christmas to Lance, from Santa' in Pietro's

perfect penmanship. It amazed him that someone that can write a 500 word

essay in about 2 seconds had the best writing of anyone he knew.

He stopped and stared.

"Whoo hoo, those look hot on you, Speedy!" Tabitha crowed.

"Pietro," Lance called.

"I like em," Pietro grinned.

"Pietro, I have to talk to you," Lance got up and left the room.

Pietro glanced over at the present sitting on the floor. "Yeah, sure." He

called, thinking that Lance hated the present, that he was mad at him for

something...

He zipped after Lance , following him into his bedroom. "What's going on,

Lance? Is something wrong?"

"You got me the train set," Lance said quietly, more a statement than a

question. He faced outside, looking into the swirling snow. The world was a

white wonderland.

"Actually, yeah," Pietro grinned, trying to look as if he were happy, while

he was just plain anxious. He's mad at me, he thought. Why? I thought he'd l

ove it! "You gave me the pants, right?" he ran his hands down the soft black

leather, over his hips. "I love em."

"How'd you pay for the set, Pietro?" Lance asked quietly.

"I can't tell you that," Pietro put his arms around Lance's waist.

"Pietro, I'm serious. You heard what I told you about that shop, right?

That I'd never steal from it, right?"

"Ordinarily I'd be more than a bit offended by what you just said," Pietro

pulled away, and stepped back. "But I have a crappy record. Don't worry,

Lance, it was paid for," he said, sounding a touch bitter.

"But how?" Lance turned around to look at Pietro.

"I sold myself on the street," Pietro rolled his eyes.

"You did WHAT?!"

"Lance, reLAX. I just sold some dumb watch I had stashed away," Pietro

sat down. Pulling one knee up, he put his arms around his leg, resting his chin

on his knee. He was trying not to get upset. He really didn't have a good record

for this kind of thing... But still... "My dad gave it to me when I was a kid. If I

meant more to him... if he meant more to me than you, maybe then I wouldn't

have sold it. But hey, I got enough money to buy the set. Your buddy gave me a

good deal, too."

"I'm sorry," Lance touched Pietro's arm. "I should have trusted you." He

was silent for a moment, dreading that he had to bring up the subject... "You know-"

"I'll think I'll ask Rogue out," Pietro smiled a bit. "I always liked her. She

has fire the other girls on that team don't."

"I thought you liked..."

"Just guys? Nope. Like girls too. And she's really pretty. We can double

date, me and her, you and Kitty. 'Specially when the others get really anal."

"Yeah. That's Scott's middle name," Lance nodded, relieved. He didn't

have to bring it up at all. Pietro wasn't expecting anything.

"Scott Anal Sumner," Pietro giggled.

He still cared for Lance, but knew he was hooked on Kitty. He would bide

his time and maybe get another chance, someday. Or even find someone new.

He had started out the day before by hating Christmas, remembering all

he had lost, though loving it for all he had. Now he just loved for all there was in

his life at the moment.

It was definitely one awesome Christmas.

**Disclaimer**
I do not own any of the characters within this fic. This is just a fic, not gospel, and situations that may be within the show don't necessarily make their way here. And vice versa.