“Isn’t this romantic?” Nick said, turning to Jackson with a smile. “It’s a shame we’re not really a couple, because this is the stuff soppy movies are made of. It’s sadly wasted on us.”
Jackson chuckled, hoping he sounded convincing, and looked away quickly. “Yeah. Right. Look at the sun, you idiot, or you’re going to miss it setting after making us stop and watch.” Eye contact was too much when they were standing so close. It made him want to do something crazy, like tell Nick how beautiful he looked, or kiss him, or something.
They waited in silence until the last sliver of gold disappeared, and Nick pulled away.
“Come on, then. Let’s head back.”
It was only then that Jackson realised how dark it was, even more so as they followed the path into the woods. Hurrying along behind Nick, he tripped over an invisible obstacle. “Fuck!” Throwing his arms out, he managed to catch his balance. “Slow down.”
Nick stopped and got out his phone to use as a torch. “That’s better. Have you got yours too?”
“No. I left it charging when we came out.”
“Give me your hand then.”
Jackson hesitated a second before taking Nick’s hand. They were both wearing gloves, and Jackson found himself wishing they weren’t so he could have felt Nick’s skin warm against his own.
With the light of Nick’s torch they made their way carefully through the woods until Nick stopped by a huge tree. He left the path and circled around it, shining his torch at the base.
“What are you doing?”
“Just checking something.” There was a scuffling sound and the light disappeared.
“Nick?” Jackson asked, alarmed.
“Hang on.” Nick’s voice was muffled and distant. Jackson felt his way around the trunk. As his eyes adjusted he could just make out the trees around him, but there was no sign of Nick.
“Where the fuck did you go?” Jackson looked around wildly.
“I’m in the tree.”
Jackson looked up, but there was no way Nick could have climbed it.
“Look down!”
A light flashed near his feet and Jackson noticed a hole in the trunk. At first glance it looked way too small for Nick to have crawled inside it. But when Jackson crouched down for a better look, he saw it was larger than he’d thought. “Come and see.”
Against his better judgement, Jackson eased his head and one shoulder through the hole. “Bloody hell. I thought you’d been abducted by aliens for a minute there.”
“Nope.” Nick had climbed a little way up, his feet were straddling the inside of the hollow tree. “Wait there for a sec.”
“I wasn’t planning on going anywhere,” he replied as Nick started scrambling higher. “Ugh.” He jerked his head back as a few bits of tree dust landed on his face.
“Yes!” Nick’s voice was triumphant. “It’s just how I remembered. Come and join me.”
“You’re kidding, right? I’m never going to fit up there.”
“Yes you will. It’s more roomy than it looks.”
Still unconvinced, Jackson’s curiosity got the better of him. Sure enough, once he managed to wedge his shoulders through, the rest of him followed fairly easily. Inside, it was a tight fit, but he was able to stand and lift his arms. He felt around for a handhold. “How do I climb up? I can’t see a fucking thing, Nick.”
“Here you go.” Blinding light flashed in his eyes, and he held up a hand to cover them.
“Not helping!”
“Sorry. But look down, not up. See, there’s a couple of little footholds. Just brace your hands against the sides and work your way up. Then once you get higher there’s stuff for your hands too.
“If I get stuck in here it’s going to be really embarrassing. You know that, right? I wasn’t planning on spending Christmas Eve having the fire brigade cutting me out of a tree.”
Nick laughed. “You won’t get stuck. Stop being such a wuss.”
Fucking cheek. Jackson sighed and started to climb.
It was dark, disorienting, and claustrophobic. “Now I know how Father Christmas feels going up and down all those chimneys. Poor bastard.”
Nick’s laughter gave him the boost he needed to keep going. “That’s it. Nearly there. It’s worth the effort, I promise. Now reach up… a little higher… move your hand to the right. There you go!”
As Jackson finally hauled himself up to where Nick was, he could see how the tree trunk opened out to form something rather like the edge of a crater from which the branches grew. “Okay. This is pretty cool.”
“Told you so.” Nick shone his torch around, and Jackson noticed that someone had added to the tree’s natural platform by nailing two layers around the edge. Nick was sitting on the higher one and resting his feet on the lower.
“It looks like one of those things they have on boats. You know… the lookout point at the top of the mast.”
“A crow’s nest?”