disclaimer: not mine

He's staring up at the doorway, there's a pretty looking plant hanging up there with berries and jay swears they look like rubies.

"whatcha lookin at?" Adam asked, licking chocolate off his fingers from where he'd sunk his entire palm onto the chocolate mousse- and had gotten away with it. Didn't mean squat though if his best friend didn't see it.

Jay looked at his best friend and pointed to the plant, "addie what's that?"

"hey- yeah what is that?" Adam stood beside his six year old buddy to stare at the plant, "why's it growing out of your door Jay?"

"I dunno. I've never really looked up that high before" Jay admitted

"well it's just a plant."

"then what's it doing up there?" Jay persisted

"aww! Look at you!" jays mother gushed, wiping her hands on her pristine apron

Jay looked at his mother, then at addie who looked like he wanted to uproot the plant. "mom what's that?"

"it's mistletoe!"

Jay and Adam stared at her clueless.

"when two people meet under a mistletoe, they kiss!" she explained, already reaching for a video camera.

Jay and Adam looked at each other then at Jay's mother

"do I have to?" Adam whined

Jay pouted, "why not?"

"I dunno! Aren't kisses suppose ta have cooties?"

Jay looked teary, "only girls have cooties addie!"

Adam twirled a lock of his long hair around a small finger in thought, and when Jay looked like he was about to burst into tears, He leaned forward and gave Jay a peck on the cheek, "better?"

Jay looked at addie then at the plant and at his mother holding up the camera, "I guess?" he sniffled, feeling confused

"c'mon, I'll get you some cake" Adam offered, tugging on jays hand, already bored of the rather insignificant plant.

Jay stared at the plant, as though expecting for something to happen- plants weren't in the house if they weren't special- like the Christmas tree. He looked at Adam before nodding eagerly and allowing addie to lead him to cake- which was better than any stupid kiss anyway.

"whoa, pucker up hot stuff!"

Jay blinked, "huh?"

And jeff hardy practically jumped on him and shoved his Tongue into Jay's protesting mouth-

"oh my god! What the hell was that?" Jay yelped, horrified, staring at jeff who licked his lips like a cat.

Jeff grinned and pointed up- a thick sprig of mistletoe hung in a clustered bunch from the doorway, "tradition"

"b-but-!"

"ooh... Did I steal the first mistletoe kiss?" snickered jeff,

Jay pouted, "no, but" he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and looked at it disgustedly "I'd rather not have tongues shoved down my gullet"

Jeff laughed good-naturedly and swung an arm around Jay's shoulders, pressing a friendly kiss to a cheek, "merry Christmas Jay-Jay!"

"what?" Jay frowned at Cena who was way too close for comfort- even those dimples could get real creepy really quick.

"you're Canadian right?"

"yes?"

"so do you know what this is?"

"ack!"

Let's just say Jay practically downed the entire hotel's supply of mouth wash

"Jay-Jay!"

Jay raised his head from where he'd been knotting his shoelaces and smiled, "hey rock star, come to visit us lowly plebeians?"

Chris Jericho laughed, "c'mere and gimme a hug-" Jay complied, "man I missed you guys!"

"Adam's not here right now"

"well the mistletoe is though" chris pointed out, wiggling his brows

Jay glanced at the plant, "uh"

"tradition," chris grinned almost too happily

Jay sighed and shut his eyes tight "make it quick"

Somehow chris had managed to sneak his tongue into Jay's sealed mouth and-

"Jesus Christ it's a mistletoe! Not seven minutes in heaven!" Jay gasped, face red

Chris shrugged, "what can I say? I'm a sap for these holiday traditions"

"who makes these rules anyway?" Jay grumbled, feeling resentful.

"I dunno, but thank god for them" chris winked at Jay, "I got you tickets for my next big gig, think you can make it?"

"after you buy me a beer to wash the taste of you from my mouth- I'll think about it."

Jay winced as Sheamus squished him to a corner, pale face already rosy red with booze, he was commenting loudly and boorishly on the inability of the Americans to appreciate the holiday cheer

"ain't that right fella?" Sheamus asked, big arm around Jay and shaking him lightly- which felt to Jay like having a six point two quake.

"I think you have had enough" Jay grinned,

"i's the holidays fella!" Sheamus said, looking aghast, "the best of the days to get drunk!"

"or kiss under the mistletoe!" Alex Riley hollered, everyone grinned and whooped as Jay stared in horror at the holiday plant they'd unfortunately sat under.

"that- that wasn't there before!" Jay protested, glaring at mizzanin who was grinning gleefully at the chaos

"you have to!" Kelly yelled over the racket of wolf calls and whistles, "show him how Canada does it Jay!"

Sheamus seemed to beam at that and pulled a resistant Jay closer, "bah! Let's show the yanks how we do things then eh?"

"but- I-!" Jay turned his face away and Sheamus planted a sloppy beer stained kiss on his cheek

"boo! Kindergarteners kiss better than you!"

Jay had never wanted more than anything in his life than to go take a long shower and scrub the kiss away with a steel toilet brush and bleach.

"hello Jason"

Jay looked at Alberto and smiled hesitantly, "uh... Hey?" the man was awfully overdressed for a night out. "what's with the get up?" he wasn't so sure if they should be talking to one another either- he was still pretty sore about having been shelved and Adam made it clear that he was beyond castrating the Mexican should their paths cross.

"I was just wondering" the man started, simply enough

"about?"

"you. I was wondering if, Jason, you would like to join me for dinner tonight?"

"uh... Huh?" Jay stared at del rio, "are you asking me out?"

That smile could not get bigger. And more annoying. Unfortunately for Jay, it did.

"yes. I am. You see, Jason, I like you." the man confessed, looking almost like the cat about to swallow the canary and it just scared Jay.

"uh..." Jay looked around for Adam, how much water could he pee anyway? "I don't... I'm not really..."

"not interested?" Alberto finished, still smiling, almost reminding Jay of something from shark week.

He wasn't really one to reject people, Adam always said he was a damned saint. And Jay felt like cursing himself too, giving a small apologetic smile instead.

The grin didn't go away. "I understand. Some other time then?"

When hell freezes over. "sure. Next time." he lied trough grit teeth

"oh, by the way, isn't there some sort of holiday tradition you Americans have?"

"I'm Canadian." Jay bluntly said, before nodding "what holiday tradition? Christmas?"

"that plant"

Jay swore, "what about it?" he hoped to the universe that del rio had no background on american holidays

"should there not be a kiss?"

No wonder that smile never fell.

Jay glimpsed the mistletoe, small bells beneath it hanging from a bow- how the heck had he not seen it? And where was Adam?

Del rio just waited, grin plastered to his face "I am sure Adam will be lenient- it is after all, tradition. Something that is important here in america, yes?"

And even if Jay wasn't American, who was he to deny tradition? Didn't mean he couldn't curse it though. Jay finally sighed heavily, resigned to his fate, "fine. But I swear if you do anything- and I mean anything- I'll sic Adam on you." he warned, somewhat feeling guilty about being paranoid- it was Christmas after all. But then this was del rio after all too.

"I understand." and damn could that Mexican move- Jay barely blinked and already he could feel hands on places where hands should never ever be and when he opened his mouth to protest, a Tongue slipped into his mouth and Jay felt like throwing up-

And Adam was dragging del rio back like an angered beast, "get the fuck off him!" throwing the Mexican away like a rag doll and looking much like a bull ready to gore

and Jay felt too light headed and faint and his knees felt too wobbly to stand on-

"Jay- Jesus." Adam grabbed Jay's weight, "what the hell was that?"

"ugh."

"yeah. Totally."

He peered cautiously up at the ceiling, careful for any sign of that accursed plant that seemed hell bent on making his Christmases filled with mononucleosis.

"what are you doing?"

Jay practically jumped, turning to see orton looking bemusedly at him, Jay cleared his throat, "uh..." how could he tell someone that he was practically fleeing from a plant without sounding like a loon?

"I don't want to be caught under the mistletoe"

Orton raised an entertained brow, "is this some kind of Canadian thing?"

Jay scowled, then looked around anxiously "no... It's just that... I don't want to get mono!"

Orton laughed, "it's mistletoe Jay, not poison ivy"

"it's not so funny when someone's trying to steal your tonsils with their tongue" Jay grumbled, arms crossed

"you can't be that unlucky"

"I wish. Sometimes I think those things just sprout from doorposts to mess with me"

Orton chuckled, "look, why don't you just do what I do and stop going to the office parties?"

Jay sighed, "I can't, I... I don't know how long my career will last and I..."

Orton nodded, sharing the sentiment, except he was much less attached to the people he worked with and more busy with punting them to oblivion.

"alright how about this, stick with me and if there's any mistletoe, I'll give you one on the cheek" orton pointed to his own fuzz covered cheek

Jay cautiously pondered, "... I guess that's okay..."

"I'm clean too." randy added with a grin

"oh. That's... That's uh..."

"beyond rumours Jay, I don't really fuck everyone on two legs"

"oh." Jay felt like a dick for listening to Cody and ted. Then he frowned and tilted his head at orton curiously, "but... What's in it for you? you hate parties."

"I'll make an exception for this one." randy said with a shrug. "besides, with the way your luck's been running, there's gotta be one planted beyond the next doorway."

Jay stared at the far entrance fearfully then back at orton with a wild nod, "deal!"

Just like randy had predicted, it was as if every single doorway had magically grown a mistletoe- what was more- every corner they turned seemed to be plagued with the cheery ornaments as well- so much so that even before they reached the ballroom, randy's hand was permanently resting on Jay's nape and they were pressed together- randy ducking to brush another kiss to Jay's cheek

"you deal with this every year?" randy muttered before drawing back, giving a smile to some people who applauded them.

"you have no idea." Jay replied, his own arm clinging to the back of orton's shirt to avoid becoming separated. "i used to think that the guys kept doing it to take
Advantage of me but now I think the plants have it in for me really really bad"

Randy stared in disbelief at Jay who shirked away from every other person, "don't you think 'being taken advantage of' is a lot more logical than-" pause, kiss, "than the 'plants having it in' for you?"

Jay looked at randy, "I don't think so-Adam wouldn't ever take advantage if me." he paused and turned to offer his other cheek for randy to kiss- the other one was starting to feel weird.

Hesitate, kiss.

"its the plants" Jay nodded assuredly.

"now that you mention it... Why the hell are there so many freaking-" pause, he leaned down again, turning Jay's face to kiss the other cheek- "why are there so many damn mistletoes?"

"I dunno- its like they have some sort of mafia regime or something... But seriously, thank god you're here." Jay said with a grin, looking at randy again

Randy smiled back, feeling somewhat silly but he just couldn't hide the affection in his voice, "yeah..."

The party had already started when they arrived, the ballroom was literally filled with poinsettia- much to jays relief- and although randy seemed somewhat sure there weren't any mistletoe, Jay refused to leave his side and randy was thankful for that, he didn't know what to with himself other than drink himself into a stupor.

Both rosters were there, Jay acknowledging each one, even the new rookies by first name- which baffled orton, he could barely remember who the rookie of the week was and here Jason easily smiled and greeted each a merry Christmas (or hannukah or kwanza etc)

"how do you do that?" randy asked Jay who was sitting beside him- both of them as close as the chairs allowed- staring as though he'd done life saving surgery with chopsticks.

"do what?" Jay was halfway through with his third slice of cake and randy had to wince when he plopped a spoonful of ice cream on it.

"you know everyone!"

"well yeah... Why? don't you?" Jay asked, pausing to lick his spoon

Randy averted his eyes to stare rigidly at his water glass, there was something utterly salacious about that and he had no idea why. "I don't."

"you're nice, the reputation just precedes the man." Jay consoled, incorrectly thinking that randy was feeling low. "I could introduce you to some of them if you want."

"uh.. No thanks." randy narrowed his eyes at Sheamus and del rio who were strolling over to their table, "heads up, Jay."

"Jason!"

"hey fella!"

Jay grinned, "hey guys."

Randy scowled, he made a hundred percent sure the spot they were occupying was nowhere near any mistletoe. No one was going to get to kiss Jay tonight except him. He was going to damn well make sure of it.

Alberto and Sheamus finally seemed to feel the dark, dangerous evil eye doling presence and they looked at orton dispassionately, "hello orton." Alberto greeted stiffly

Sheamus just nodded at him.

"where's your moose?" orton asked gruffly

"he is busy, thank you for asking. If you excuse me-"

"you're definitely excused" randy cut in with a glare

"- if you excuse me I would like to talk to Jason."

Randy glanced at Jay who just shrugged, busy sucking his spoon, but even with the easy smile, the fact that Jay was practically recoiling away from Alberto- pressing against randy so much he was definitely going to fall off his chair if randy even moved an inch- wasn't lost to the viper, "he's preoccupied."

"I am sure he can tell me that himself orton." Alberto leered and randy felt the urge to knock a few teeth out.

"hey fella" Sheamus dared, "enjoying yourself?"

Jay nodded, "yeah, definitely. No ones tried to shove their Tongue into my throat- definitely a good note."

Sheamus laughed loudly- enough to distract dandy and Alberto from their glaring contest.

"Jason, why in such a... Depressing corner?" Alberto asked, having the gall and the guts-that randy wanted to eviscerate- to calmly pulling out a chair

Randy drew his leg back to kick Alberto's shin. Between Sheamus and the smug faced Mexican, orton knew which one he hated more right now.

"I uh don't want a repeat of what happened last time there was mistletoe" Jay said coolly, prodding at his cake, an action that sent alarms ringing in randy's head, making him more irked.

"I see..." Alberto nodded understandingly, "well, that is unfortunate... Anyway, I would once again like to extend an invitation for dinner," shit eating grin, "what do you say?"

"uh..." there seemed to be a moment where blue eyes darted over the crowded room, looking for someone- Adam- randy realised. Jay was looking for adam. Adam would never have allowed Alberto to come close.

"he's busy" randy growled through grit teeth, drawing Jason close, draping an arm over his shoulders possessively. "he's with me tonight del rio."

That smile definitely crashed as del rio looked at randy then at Jay who just looked at his cake, the ice cream was starting to melt.

"I see." the chair scraped back noisily and Alberto gave a nod to both of them, "i... Apologise for interrupting" flashing another smile at Jay who just twitched his lips at him and Alberto pushed Sheamus to the side, stalking away.

The Irishman hesitated, gave Jay a small smile then a nervous glance at randy- because well, being the receiving end of a head punt really did cement ones opinions about lunacy and orton.

"so I'll see ya around then fella?"

"sure Sheamus" Jay waved as the man headed off before looking at randy, beaming and giving a huge breathe of relief, "you orton, are a godsend!"

"thanks. I'd like to think that too" randy answered, relaxing back into the chair, arm loose on jays shoulders

Jay laughed, "I think I'll pop that big head tomorrow, this definitely means a celebration."

"if you eat one more slice of cake I think I'm going to be sick for you." randy declared, pushing the saucer with the half eaten cake away.

"relax, it's Christmas- that plus the new year means you have like three hundred sixty days of non-stop weight lifting left to revive your six-pack" Jay cheered, reaching for his cake

Randy shook his head with a smile, "just get another slice- that one looks like crap."

"it's supposed to- it is chocolate cake after all." Jay grinned as randy rolled his eyes at him, "alright, alright- you want anything?"

Randy shrugged. "What the hell, hand me a piece too."

"great!" Jay got up, heading over to the food table, perusing several cakes that would no doubt give diabetics a shock.

Randy smiled, watching Jay decide which piece to try next- glad that he'd come to a party for once.

It was late when they left, a few stragglers and drunks still laughing and going on about something- randy shut them out, Jay was sleepy beside him- having drunk a few himself, randy felt slightly buzzed, but his body tolerated the alcohol well enough that he was still walking a tightrope, Jay however was leaning reliantly against him, drowsy.

"even after all that sugar, how can you even sleep without your teeth falling out?" randy muttered as soon as they stepped into the elevator without incident- del rio and Sheamus having been scared away by orton's glaring and territoriality- that and there appeared to be no mistletoe in sight.

"I brush my teeth. That and I have a great dentist." Jay informed him giddily.

Randy smiled, "shush. You're too sloshed to be talking."

"nope," Jay countered, "'m not. Just enough to be sleepy."

"tell me that when you can stand straight."

Jay giggled and hiccuped, blinking owlishly in surprise then giggled again.

Randy couldn't help it, finding the act adorable, he smiled at Jay, "you're laughing at yourself- you're definitely drunk."

Jay remained grinning at him, "thanks for coming to the party with me"

"my pleasure" randy admitted with a nod, "I had fun."

"me too, considering you're the last person I expected to have fun with"

"what floor are you staying on?"

"uh..."

"where's your card key?"

Jay frowned and felt for the piece of plastic, "umm... Hm.."

Randy snickered, "alright, you're definitely staying with me tonight." he pressed the button to the fifth floor and leaned back on the cool metal, Jay drawing to his side and placing his head on orton's shoulder.

"thanks randy" Jay sighed sleepily, "I mean it"

Randy carefully put an arm around Jay and nudged him, "no problem." he replied softly, helping Jay out the elevator and down the hallway to his room, Jay struggling a bit to keep up with his long strides.

"where's your key?" Jay parroted back with a drowsy smile

Randy chuckled, "my back pocket smartass."

Jay looked over his shoulder and fished it out helpfully, waving it at randy's face, "so you won't have a hard time with the door"

"don't worry I'm well versed in the art of designated driver" randy said, "but I appreciate the effort"

Jay grinned as randy fumbled with the card a bit, trying to set it to the slot, "tipsy my ass"

Randy laughed quietly, "trust me I've had it tougher."

Jay waited, leaning against randy, glancing around curiously, then looked up.

Hanging on randy's door post was a mistletoe, red berries again glinting like rubies.

"randy,"

The slot light glowed green as orton finally managed to swipe the key, "it's open"

"randy"

Randy looked at Jay then followed the man's gaze- "huh... That wasn't there before" he turned to Jay and carefully held his face in his fingers, "last one" he murmured,

Jay looked at the plant then at gray eyes, there, something- gentle, tenderness- different- "wait,"

"...what?"

"can... Can I kiss you?"

"I thought you'd never ask" randy replied with a small grin

Hesitant, as though taking baby steps, Jay carefully leaned up on his toes, finding it strange that his body knew what it was doing more than he did- he'd never kissed a guy before after all and he never felt the need to stand on tiptoes to give a kiss- but then it didn't seem to matter when his lips brushed orton's- instinct took over- a soft spark climbed up his spine- like a first kiss, and slowly, curiously, the swipe of his Tongue- and he was allowed access- surprise overcome by the sudden need to explore unhindered- like a slow dance- then randy placed a hand to knead the back of his neck and jays bones felt like water as randy took over completely- moving assuredly, tasting, feeling- trying to take everything- the very breath from jays body-

And they were stumbling, like clumsy teens, into the bedroom, tripping on the bed, randy securing his dominance, easily pinning Jay under him- interlocking the fingers of one hand with each other- as if each were the only lifeline they both had- it was real- every touch, every sound- everything was real.

Too damningly real.

Jay drew back, eyes wide, staring at randy- both seeming rather sober as they looked at the other, trying to catch their breaths before their hearts ran away with it

Oh. Oh.

Jays felt awfully feverish all of a sudden and painfully awkward and embarrassed- and randy initiated their kiss again, slowly, reigniting the trembling sparks into a roaring fire as they became more passionately involved- moving almost as one-

"wait-" Jay pulled back- gasping- "wait-"

Randy paused his assault on lightly sun kissed skin, "what's wrong?"

"tomorrow..." Jay started breathlessly, "what are we tomorrow?"

Randy pressed a kiss to a worried face, "we'll be forever tomorrow"