It's the evening before the Feast of the Winter Star, and the newly restored community centre is all decked out for the occasion – the fireplace is lit, fairy lights are strung up everywhere, and someone's turned on some cheesy holiday music.

Sebastian hates it.

Sam seems to be enjoying it though, and Sebastian doesn't feel like ruining Sam's holiday cheer with his awful attitude, so he keeps his mouth shut for once. He even allows his boyfriend to drag him under some mistletoe, pretending not to notice it.

Unfortunately, Abigail does, and she sidles up to the both of them before any kissing can take place.

"Mistletoe!" she exclaims, looking up. Abigail slings an arm around each of their shoulders. "You guys gonna smooch?" She giggles.

"No," Sebastian replies. "You're standing underneath it, too, so technically we'd all have to kiss each other."

"Gross," Abigail agrees. She hums for a minute, then plants a peck on each of their cheeks, clearly a little tipsy. She must have sampled some of the eggnog that Pam's been slipping rum into all night. "You guys are like brothers to me," Abigail says, in a solemn tone. "Stupid, smelly, annoying brothers."

"We don't smell," Sam protests.

"Yes you do," Abigail argues. "Like a middle school boys' locker room; Axe for days." She gives Sebastian's shoulder an affectionate squeeze. "Tell your boyfriend to lay off the cologne once in a while, Sebby. I'm tired of him assaulting my nose with it every band practice."

She releases their shoulders, and then wanders off, presumably in search of more eggnog.

"Whose idea do you think it was?" Sam asks, glancing up at the mistletoe.

"Emily, maybe," Sebastian suggests. He glances over his shoulder to where Emily's standing, a glass of wine in one hand, and the other around her pink-haired girlfriend's waist. They're gossiping about something amongst themselves, and a quick wink in Sam and Sebastian's direction makes it pretty clear what the subject of their whispered conversation is.

Sam nods. "That sounds about right. Trying to spread the gift of love this holiday season, I bet," he says, drawing out the 'o' in love. He grins at Sebastian.

"Or cold sores," Sebastian adds.

Sam frowns. "So you're not gonna kiss me, then?"

Sebastian shrugs. Kissing Sam does sound pretty appealing – he's got this stupid, snowman-themed tie on, and for the past twenty minutes Sebastian's been fantasizing about pulling Sam by it into one of the empty rooms nearby, and kissing him until they're both breathless.

"Let's go somewhere else," he decides, and Sam's face brightens a little, "the boiler room, in ten minutes." Then, because it's the holidays, and Sebastian's in a better mood than usual, he decides to indulge his boyfriend, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips before pulling back. "Sound good?"

Sam nods, beaming at Sebastian. He heads off in the direction of food, leaving Sebastian to slip into the empty hallway, then down to the boiler room.

Fifteen minutes later, Sebastian's got Sam pressed up against the wall, hands working to remove the stupid winter tie as Sam kisses at his neck. He gets the tie off, and three of Sam's buttons undone before they're interrupted by another couple walking into the room. Sebastian's expecting it to be Sandy and Emily, so he's surprised when he looks up and finds Penny and Harvey staring back at him.

"Um," Harvey begins, looking flustered, "sorry?"

Penny stammers out an excuse about wanting to get some punch before she flees the boiler room, leaving Harvey alone with Sam, Sebastian, and an awkward silence.

Sebastian's still got his hands on Sam, who gives Harvey a strained smile. "Do you mind? We were, er… kind of in the middle of something," Sam explains.

"Right," Harvey agrees. "I'll be out hair your hair in a moment, just, um, hang on…" He rummages in his pockets for few seconds, then steps forward. "I just, um, needed to give this to Sebastian." Sebastian releases Sam, and turns to extend a hand towards Harvey, who presses something into his palm.

"Thanks," Sebastian replies, without looking at the item. It's probably garbage; Harvey was very clearly not expecting to find the boiler room occupied.

"You should, um… probably use that," Harvey says, nodding at Sebastian. He opens his hand, and glances down at the gift. It's a condom. "Happy Winter Star," Harvey adds, before ducking out of the room.