I would love to hear what you guys think of this chapter, as it took me all day to write. Thanks for reading! :)

It wouldn't have been their preferred way to spend Christmas Eve, but Monroe went in to the Marriott to sign some papers and take care of business, while Nick went to his shop to start boxing things up. It didn't take them very long, but the sun had already set before they were able to meet back up.

"Hey, how much more packing do you have to do?" Monroe was standing in the lobby of the Marriott, talking to Nick on his phone.

"I got a lot done, so I can leave any time that you want me to." Nick used his shoulder to hold his phone up to his ear, packing a set of coffee mugs into a cardboard box.

"Okay, then can you head out to the hotel?"

"Yeah, I'll be right there."

##

It took Nick about twenty minutes to get to the hotel, in which time Monroe talked to some guests and employees. He discovered that some of the guests were unable to fly home to be with their families due to the snow, and some of the employees had to work Christmas day, or didn't even have anybody to go home to. He wished the young lady who he had been talking to a merry Christmas Eve, and then walked over when he saw Nick come inside.

"Nearly everything is boxed up back on the shop floor. How are things going here?" Nick gave Monroe a quick hello kiss, looking around at the festively decorated hotel lobby.

"Here, let me show you." Monroe grabbed onto Nick's hand, leading him to where the small Starbucks was located in the lobby.

When they rounded a corner, finally able to see the spot where the chain coffee shop was placed, Nick gave a slight gasp of surprise when he saw it. The drink making machines, snacks, and cups had been removed, the chalkboard menus had been wiped clean, and the only thing left that told you there had ever been a Starbucks there was the logo on front of the counter that would have to be painted over.

"How did you get this done so quickly?" Nick questioned, walked over to the empty area that was soon to belong to him.

"I told them that I wanted everything out so that it could be a kind of Christmas present for the next guy." Monroe followed Nick over, tracing his fingers across the countertop. "You can start moving in whenever you want."

"Monroe…this is amazing. I still can't believe you kicked out Starbucks for me, thank you so much."

"I refuse to see my boyfriend's business fall on its face. Not as long as I can do anything to help it. You'll get plenty of business here, believe me. We can hire people to work here when you don't want to, too."

Nick turned around to face the taller man, a huge smile on his face. He didn't know what he could possibly say to Monroe in that moment, so he pushed himself up onto his toes and placed a kiss on the other's lips.

"What do you say we go get your supplies and start moving you in here? There's something I want to try and do tonight that I'll explain on the drive."

"Yeah, let's start moving."

##

Once Nick and Monroe were on the road, the heat cranked up and the snow falling steadily around them, Nick took one of his hands off of the steering wheel to hold onto one of Monroe's cold hands.

"It's so beautiful," Nick commented under his breath.

Straight through downtown Portland wasn't the only way to get to Nick's shop, but it was the prettiest route to take this time of year. There were lights and decorations on every lamppost and building, advertisements and toys in store windows, and a fluffy layer of snow that gave everything a sense a magic.

"So Monroe, what was the idea you had?" Nick gave Monroe's hand a squeeze, before returning both hands to the steering wheel.

"Well...while I was waiting for you to get to the hotel, I talked to some guests and employees, and found out that a lot of them are spending Christmas there. People are unable to fly home because the airport is closed, obviously there have to be some employees working tomorrow, and others just have nowhere to go, or no family at all to spend Christmas with. I was hoping-"

"That we could do something special for them?" Nick finished. His eyes were locked on the road, but he was listening closely.

"Exactly. Like maybe if we could get you set up in time, we could invite all of the guests and employees to a little Christmas Eve celebration with coffee drinks and sweets."

"Monroe, that is a great idea. I'll make sure we get the necessities so that I can get to work on drinks as soon as possible."

"Do you have any sweets made in the shop?" Monroe questioned as they pulled into the parking lot behind the shop.

"Yeah, I stocked them in the fridge because no one ever comes in to get them fresh anymore. I wish I could make some fresh ones, but there really isn't any time."

"They'll do just fine. Day old refrigerated sweets are better than none."

Nick turned off the engine and the two men hurried through the snow to the warm building. Nick took a few minutes to sort through the boxes and decide which ones could be left behind for the time being, while Monroe packed the sweets from the fridge into portable storage containers. They managed to fit exactly the right amount of boxes into the back seat of Nick's car, checked to make sure that they had everything, then headed back to the hotel while Monroe made some calls to set the wheels of this celebration in motion.

##

By the time they reached the hotel, starting to carry the boxes inside, a few employees had already started inviting all of the guests to come down to the lobby in an hour for a special Christmas Eve celebration, with complimentary coffee drinks and sweets. When they reached the spot where the coffee shop would soon be set up, a few employees had covered the Starbucks logo on the front counter and started decorating with festive lights.

"Really impressive, you guys," Monroe commented at the way they had twisted strips of lights around the counter.

"Thank you, sir. We're about to bring some more chairs and tables into this area, too," one of the employees commented.

"Keep up the good work," Monroe smiled as he led Nick back towards the parking lot to get more boxes.

There was a big Christmas tree set up in the center of the lobby, decorated with tons of lights, tinsel, strings of popcorn, various ornaments, and empty boxes neatly wrapped under it. Nick had been walking a few feet behind Monroe, put he picked up his pace to grab the other's hand when they passed the beautifully decorated tree.

"Tomorrow is our first Christmas together. What do you think it'll be like?"

"Honestly? I think that, starting right now…it's going to be magical." Monroe smiled at the other, placing a soft kiss on top of his head before they walked outside to the parking lot.

##

Nick had warmed up the sweets and set up all of his supplies by the time everything was ready and guests started coming down. The eating area for the coffee shop had been completely transformed with lights, plastic ornaments hanging from the ceiling, tons of comfortable armchairs, and peppermint sticks on all of the end tables that they had brought in.

It didn't take very long at all for all of the employees and guests to file in. They all talked and laughed, and even danced a little to the Christmas songs playing over the intercom as the smell of coffee slowly filled the air. There were so many people wanting to try different drinks that Nick ended up briefing Monroe on how to make some things that they could fill orders faster, and every time Monroe handed somebody a drink that he had made, he assured them that it would be much better coming from Nick. Even though it was all complimentary for the celebration, enough people handed Nick ones and fives that it covered a major fraction of all the drinks and sweets.

Eventually things calmed down enough that Nick assured Monroe he could handle the orders on his own, and Monroe went to talk to everybody and make sure that everybody was having a good time. He ended up in a lengthy conversation with an older lady who didn't have any family, who assured him that she would stop in whenever she could for some of Nick's incredible coffee.

Monroe heard somebody call his name, whirling around to find Nick right behind him with a cup in hand. He handed the cup to Monroe, taking a few steps closer to him.

"Double-fudge macchiato for the freezing cold guy in the soaking wet sweater." Nick let his breath ghost lightly over Monroe's skin, studying the other's face, before pushing his weight up onto his toes and kissing him softly on the lips.

Fin