[Closed, Spencer]

It's a little embarrassing that they had to get Coop to pick up and put up their tree, but neither of them is in any shape to be carrying anything heavy, not quite yet. Joel's ribs feel significantly better, but there's still pain if he moves too quickly or laughs too sharply. His hand is still in a cast. And although Spencer insists he's fine, Joel doesn't want to run the risk of injuring him further and so he'd enlisted Coop to take care of the tree for them.

It's only when Coop offers to help them hang some mistletoe that Joel chases him out of the house with a promise to talk to him tomorrow. He turns back to Spencer with a bit of a sheepish smile, then shrugs, because at least their tree is in the house and in the stand, all without either of them getting injured further. He can just imagine both of them insisting they're fine, trying to get a tree into the house and having such a hard time with it that all the needles end up on the floor before they even get it in the stand.

"At least now we can just spend the night decorating it instead of fighting to get it standing," he says, leaning close to Spencer and wrapping one arm around him. The house smells of pine and Joel inhales deeply, enjoying the smell, enjoying the memories it brings back. It's a little like being back in Shediac when things had still been good and he finds he really can't wait to see his parents next week.