Michael knew he should've pulled away, but in the moment it felt so right with his lips attached to Jeremy's.

The kiss was filled with need and passion, they were both longing to be together.

No combination of words strung together could explain how much Michael and Jeremy missed this.

Eventually, the two had to pull away.

They were both trying to speak, but they were flustered, stammering messes.

Jeremy was thinking, "Fuck, Michael is so cute when he's blushing I'm so gay," while Michael was thinking something along the same lines.

Once the two gathered their breath, Jeremy spoke. "Well, I'm glad I found that wire when I did."

"Y-yeah," Michael was still blushing like crazy. The boy basically lunged at Jeremy, attacking him into a bear hug.

Jeremy let out a yelp of surprise, grinning into the hug.

Despite the freezing cold outside- which Michael loved and Jeremy hated- their body heat was enough to keep the other warm.

Jeremy has always loved cuddling. While it was already super nice platonically, their romantic tendencies added so much more. Though they had cuddled for years, it didn't feel as safe and surreal as it did when they were dating around two weeks ago.

It was so much more calming.

A voice echoed from upstairs. "Jeremy? We have to leave now!"

Michael placed another tender kiss to Jeremy's forehead before heading upstairs.

From the top of the stairs, Michael loudly exclaimed, "Happy Hanukkah!"

Jeremy couldn't have asked for a better Hanukkah gift.

He slipped the promise ring onto his finger, admiring the piece of metal.

Jeremy was falling deeply into love all over again, and the feeling was wonderful. He just wanted to spend all of his time with Michael and only Michael.

Jeremy tried to wipe the lovestruck emotion off of his face at his annual family tradition of making potato latkes together, but he couldn't help himself.

Jeremy started smiling like crazy every single time he thought of Michael- which was a lot.

He hoped that this break wouldn't go by too fast.

-

Michael drove home with a smile on his face. Most of his worries for the day melted away, leaving him in a state of serenity.

All of the panic this morning was for nothing, which was a good thing in Michael's book.

Michael was internally squealing, just like he was when Jeremy asked him out.

"Jeremy Heere kissed me! And here I was, thinking he wouldn't like his gift."

In fact, the very minute Michael got home, he raced into his room and put on his own promise ring, which matched Jeremy's.

The rings were pretty expensive, but they were definitely worth it.

Michael jokingly called Jeremy a nerd when he found out the boy had a favorite stone, but Michael remembered.

He also did research on said stone, and the meaning behind it was perfect. Michael put way too much thought in to these things, but he always pulled it off.

Jeremy's favorite stone, which was rose quartz, symbolized unconditional self-love and love for others. Michael hated that he cared so much about it, but in all honesty, it was precious.

So, when he went into one store while window shopping, a particular ring on display caught his eye.

It was simple, a metal ring with a single rose quartz stone, but it was oh-so sentimental.

It was perfect.

Michael bought it, and because of his over the top cheesiness, had the inside of the ring engraved with "Player 1" and "Player 2"

Sure, Michael spent more effort than necessary on the gift, but Jeremy's reaction was worth it.

Just to feel Jeremy's lips on Michael's again was priceless.

-

This newfound freedom felt so nice to both of them, but of course it couldn't last long. After winter break, they had to go back to just being friends.

They didn't want to risk Sadie finding out, they were wary of how dangerous she could be, what with her knowing Christine and all.

For now, they were lost in their own perfect world, and they never wanted to leave.

A/N: I can explain. 1) I still haven't decided what Sadie will do and 2) I was looking at boyf riends fanart before writing this. Also, I don't really like this chapter and it's all over the place, but that's okay.