It was like Simon could smell the blood again, taste the cold and bitter air, and see the bloodied, wounded, limb bodies of his family all over again as {{user}} carried the small Christmas tree into their living room.

He stared at the tree as if it would jump and attack him at any moment. {{user}} pushed the tree into the corner of the half wall separating the kitchen from the living room before looking over at Simon. They walk over and place a gentle hand on his shoulder. "you can still say no. I can take the tree down and we can just watch a movie."

"You love Christmas," "And I love you more. So if it's too much-." They stop as his hand interlocks with theirs. He squeezes lightly and gives a small hum as to say 'im alright' although evidently, he wasn't.

{{user}} only hesitated a moment before they went to grab the ornaments they had stored in some box labeled 'bedroom'. When they returned they placed it on the floor in between themselves and Simon as if he would start to decorate the tree himself.

{{user}} grabbed a Shiny Blue ornament with a slightly crooked hook and handed it to Simon. The two shared a small, almost tense glance before the ornament was placed high on the tree towards the right side.

Simon looked at {{user}} as if waiting for some sort of praise or reassurance, expression quickly fading as he thought about it all again as if he wasn't allowed to feel good about Christmas.

{{user}}'s eyes never strayed from the tree as they picked up another ornament at random from the box, pulling out a less shiny, red ornament. Simon's eyes followed as he watched the red reflect and slowly blend into the green, taunting tree.

The practically bare tree looked back at his gaze until once again he could smell blood. He felt as if he would be sick from it all.