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“Shit, shit, shit, shit....”
“C’mon, hurry up! Start the car already!”
Dom jammed the key into the ignition and cranked the engine to life. He slammed his foot on the accelerator and the car screeched, tires skidding on the slightly wet road. His fingers tightened on the steering wheel, knuckles almost turning white from the grip as he quickly shifted gears, speeding through the street. He could hear the sound of sirens in the distance, but he kept his eyes on the road ahead.
“You’ll have to go faster,” Matt commented from beside him. He shuffled on the passenger seat, turning his body so he could look behind them. “Fuck, I can see them.”
“I can’t go any faster without running over someone!” Dom exclaimed as he drove through the crowded streets. “Besides, whose brilliant idea was it to pull this stunt during Christmas! You absolute wanker!”
“Hey, don’t pin this on me,” Matt argued. “You could’ve called it off, but you went with it.”
Dom grunted. “Let’s just find a way out of here.”
“Where the fuck are we gonna go?”
“I know a place. It’s outside of town, a few hours’ drive. They won’t find us there.”
“And how the hell are we gonna make it there with the police on our tail?”
Dom didn’t know the answer to that. To make it out of town, they would have to switch cars, even though the police didn’t have their license plate number. Yet. He cursed under his breath. Oh, how he hated a car chase. He made a sharp left turn and the town square came into view, where dozens of people were milling about through the Christmas stalls that had been set up.
“I’ve got an idea,” he said suddenly, his eyes lighting up. “Are the police in sight?”
Matt glanced behind and shook his head. “No. What’s on your mind?”
But Dom remained silent as he turned into an alley full of parked cars. To his relief, there was an empty spot where he quickly parked the car. “C’mon,” he ushered Matt as he stepped out of the car, before tossing his black beanie in the backseat. As Matt walked around the car to join him, Dom regarded their black clothes. “We’ll have to blend in. We can find something in one of the Christmas stalls,” he suggested as they began walking towards the square.
The sound of sirens was loud and clear now. They quickened their pace, walking into the throngs of people. Dom quickly spotted a stall selling colourful scarves and made a beeline for it. He picked two at random, and reached for his wallet when Matt slithered to his side.
“Why are you stopping to pay for it?” Matt whispered, eyeing the shopkeeper who was engaged with another customer. “Just snatch it.”
Dom gave him a look. “Since when are we petty thieves, stealing from regular folk?” He pulled out some cash and handed it to the shopkeeper, who smiled and waved them ‘Merry Christmas.’
“Always with a conscience,” Matt remarked, taking the scarf with reindeers on it and wrapping it around his neck.
“Fine, we are high profile thieves who only steal from pretentious collectors, and stealing from regular folk is completely beneath us,” Dom deadpanned.
Matt grinned. “That’s more like it.” He linked his arm with Dom as they strolled through the brightly lit stands and stalls. They could still hear the sirens, but the people around them didn’t seem to be unnerved by it, too busy enjoying the holiday cheer.
They walked around aimlessly, momentarily distracted by the festivity around them, but all the while keeping an eye out for anyone in a uniform. Dom glanced at his watch and realized they were slowly running out of time. He knew they wouldn’t be able to hide out in the square all night and there would be cops hovering around every exit. They needed a plan. As he racked his brain, his eyes fell on a stall selling Christmas trees.
“Oh, that’s just perfect,” he said, dragging Matt towards it.
“What’s perfect? What are you thinking?”
“We’ve never gone tree shopping before, have we?” Dom asked as they entered the stall, which was lined with trees of various shapes and sizes. “Let’s buy a tree.”
“Why?”
“Just go with it, yeah? Too many people around, so I’ll explain later,” he muttered in a low voice.
Matt frowned, unconvinced, but nodded as they walked amongst the firs and spruces. “Smells rather nice, doesn’t it?”
Dom inhaled deeply and he had to agree. The scents coming off from the trees were pleasantly earthy. It smelled as if he were walking through a winding forest path, trees whispering in the wind and dew rising from the soil. They walked back and forth a couple of times, pointing at the ones they could buy. And Dom actually couldn't remember the last time he had gone tree shopping. His line of work didn’t usually leave time for something like that. But he was secretly glad that they now had an excuse, even if it was to help them escape.
“How about that one?” Matt asked, pulling Dom out of his thoughts. He was pointing at a traditional balsam fir.
“It’s a bit big, isn’t it?” Dom commented, eyeing the nearly ten-foot tree.
Matt huffed. “You wouldn’t even tell me what it is for, so don’t complain.”
Dom rolled his eyes. “Just look for something that isn’t too big, yeah?”
They separated, with Dom going in one direction and Matt the other. Matt weaved through the different trees, occasionally running his fingers over the spiky needles. But none in particular caught his eye. He wasn’t really sure what he was supposed to be looking for, and all of them looked like good Christmas trees. Moreover, his mind was running a mile, wondering what Dom was planning and what did they needed a bloody tree for.
He had made a full circle when he caught sight of Dom standing in front of a tree, his eyes wide and a small smile playing on his lips. As he joined the other man, Matt glanced at the tree in question.
The tree wasn’t the typical deep green like all of the others. The needles were a faded icy blue, tinged with a bit of green, making it look frozen and yet fresh and alive.
“What do you think?” Dom asked.
“It’s lovely. What’s it called?”
Dom thumbed the small paper tag hanging from one of the branches. “Blue spruce.”
“Let’s take it then.”
They paid for it and some decorations to go with it. Since the tree wasn’t too big, the two of them could easily carry it back to the car. They reached the car without drawing too much attention to themselves, and tied the tree to the top of it.
“The cops are less likely to suspect a car with a tree tied to its top,” Dom explained as he checked to see if it was tied securely. “Hopefully, we should be able to get away without being noticed.”
Matt met his gaze, a smile stretching across his lips. “Now that is rather brilliant.” He stepped closer and placed his hands on Dom’s hips before placing a quick kiss on his lips. “Oh, I just remembered something. I’ll be right back,” he said quickly and left Dom staring after him.
He arrived ten minutes later, carrying two brightly coloured tins.
“Where the hell did you run off to? And what’s that?”
“I was hungry, so I got cookies.”
Dom shook his head resignedly and gestured for him to get in the car. He pulled out of the alley, making his way towards the main road, which would then take them out of the city. As expected, there were police cars and several policemen milling about. But thanks to the tree on the roof, they were able to go through without suspicion. Both men heaved a sigh of relief as they made it to the highway and were now speeding away from the city.
“That was close,” Dom admitted. “I don’t think I’d have liked our streak to end just before Christmas.”
“I don’t want it to end period.”
“We’ll have to quit sometime, Matt. We have racked up quite the reputation and the police know who to look for.”
“They only have our aliases,” Matt argued.
“Only a matter of time until they have our real identities. C’mon, we’ve had a great run and it’s not like we need the money.”
“It was never about the money, you know that.”
They fell silent. Steady snow was beginning to fall as they drove through a winding mountain road. Dom hoped they would make it in time before they got caught in a snowstorm.
Sometime during the drive, Matt had reached for the cookie tin from the backseat and was now munching away, dropping crumbs all over him and the seat. “You still haven’t told me where we are going,” he said, biting into a cookie shaped like a snowman.
“You’ll know when we get there,” Dom replied.
“No, tell me now,” Matt protested and skittered his fingers against Dom’s neck.
Dom yelped, swatting Matt’s fingers away whilst keeping one hand firmly on the steering wheel. “You wanker! Do you want us lying in a ditch somewhere?”
Matt giggled and caught Dom’s fingers between his. Dom glanced at their entwined fingers before meeting his eyes. “Eyes on the road,” Matt said with a smirk, “Wouldn’t want us lying in a ditch somewhere.”
Dom snorted, turning his gaze back on the road, but their fingers remained entwined, now resting on his thigh. “Give me one of those, will you? Before you polish it off.”
“There’s a whole other tin,” Matt protested, but he grabbed a cookie shaped like a candy cane and brought it to Dom’s lips, who took a bite.
A few hours and an entire cookie tin later, Dom stopped the car. He turned off the engine, but kept the headlights on. He gently nudged Matt, who had nodded off. “Wake up, we’re here.”
Matt’s eyelids fluttered open. He yawned and rubbed his eyes for his vision to clear, which then widened with surprise when his gaze followed the light from the headlights. “You brought us to a cabin in the mountains?”
“I did indeed.” Dom got off the car and walked up to the cabin. He climbed the front stairs and turned on the patio lights. “What do you think?”
Matt stepped out, shivering as the cold, winter breeze enveloped him, but he had a wide smile on his face. “When did you even buy this? And why didn’t you tell me?”
“Bought it a couple of months ago. It was meant to be a surprise,” he added, scratching his neck sheepishly. “I was going to bring you here for Christmas. And looks like we made it.”
“More like we got away,” Matt laughed.
He joined Dom on the patio and wrapped his arms around the other man’s back. He leaned in and pressed his lips against Dom’s in a slow kiss. Dom kissed back earnestly, his arms coming around Matt’s shoulders. Matt tilted his head, deepening the kiss, licking Dom’s bottom lip. He moaned as Dom caught his tongue with his own. They eventually parted for breath and the air around them was starting to get colder.
“Let’s get inside,” Dom suggested.
They quickly unloaded the car and dragged the tree inside. The cabin was cold, but Dom quickly had warm fire going. He yawned as he let Matt drag him into the bedroom, where they fell asleep almost as soon as their heads hit the pillows.
~
Sunlight was pouring in through the large windows when Dom woke up. He cracked open an eye and glanced at the empty space next to him. With a sigh, he got off the bed, rubbing the remaining traces of sleep from his eyes and walked towards the living room. He caught sight of Matt, standing up on a stool, decorating the tree.
“That looks nice,” he remarked, regarding the blue and silver tinsel and baubles.
Matt jumped off the stool and gave him a wink. Dom smiled and stepped closer, wrapping his arms around him. “Merry Christmas,” he whispered.
“Merry Christmas, Dom,” Matt replied, placing a quick kiss on his cheek. He grabbed Dom’s hand and dragged him towards the door. “You should see this.”
Outside, they stood on the patio. The cabin was surrounded by a thick blanket of white. The sky was cloudless, snow glistening under the morning sun. The branches of the trees and shrubs were thick with snow, with bits of green peaking from underneath. A cold breeze blew from the mountains in the distance, making them shiver as they retreated back inside the cabin, cheeks and noses red from the cold but matching smiles on their faces.
“Tea?” Dom asked, rubbing his palms together.
“I already had some, but I don’t mind another cuppa. How is the kitchen fully stocked by the way? Your doing?”
Dom nodded. “Made some calls a couple of days ago.”
When Dom returned with two mugs of steaming tea, Matt was stoking the fire. He set the mugs on the floor before they settled down on the soft rug in front of the fireplace.
“Not quite the traditional Christmas, is it?” Matt asked, taking a sip of his tea.
“Heist gone wrong, chased by the police, getaway to a cabin in the mountain... We could’ve done a lot worse.”
“Yeah, it does sound rather romantic, doesn’t it? And I don’t think we could’ve done any better seeing as the heist wasn’t a complete fuck up,” Matt said as he reached inside his pocket and pulled out a palm sized black opal.
Dom’s mouth fell open as he snatched the stone from Matt’s hand, examining it with awe. “How.... when... did you...” He sputtered for lack of words.
“Palmed it just as the alarm system went off,” Matt explained with a smug grin, his eyes twinkling mischievously.
“Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“And ruin all the fun?”
“You absolute wanker!” Dom exclaimed, but he was beaming.
“Still think we should quit?” Matt asked tentatively, shifting closer as they watched the blues and greens glint within the black stone.
Their eyes met and Dom smirked. “Nah.”