The sounds of the church bells rung in my ears like a soft pitter in my heart and head. For a moment, I could just dwell in the sweet sounds of the oncoming holiday and the warm feeling wrapped around my heart. But when it stopped ringing, I stopped dwelling. And of course, that warm feeling went away and was replaced by the freezing cold air. Blowing right into my heart, like a gust of pain and sorrow. And I felt it, so hard, that I winced.

Turning away, I caught a glimpse of the manger before me. There baby Jesus laid before me like a gift from the heavens, glowing and exuding all of its wonderfulness. But I blinked once, and it was all gone. The baby Jesus was just a mere worn-out doll that was barely resting in a small, plastic lawn manger. Surrounding the manger were a string of small, blinking red and green lights to top off the cheap ensemble.

And just like that, the magic had gone and once again, my heart felt heavy.

And when a tear began to cascade down my frozen cheeks, I began to feel foolish of this pain I could not describe and the lonely heart that weighed inside of me.

So I began to watch the people file slowly out of midnight mass and I felt almost happy again, just people watching.

I watched as the people filed out, in small groups of three of four, and couples holding hands whispering to each other like nothing else mattered in the world. And I felt that pang in my heart once again so to save myself from anymore pain, I simply turned the other direction.

My eyes fell upon a small withering green tree that looked disheveled and extremely….unloved. I laughed at the irony and looked down and the snow covered ground.

"It's not a bad little tree. All it needs is a little love." A deep voice came from behind me and for a tiny moment, I was afraid to turn around.

But I did. I lifted my head slowly and let my eyes fall onto him.

He was standing tall and smiling at me. I could do nothing but stare.

And I swore I could hear those sweet bells chime in my head as flakes of tiny snow fell onto perfect grace in front of me.

And this, was how I came to know Lance Bass and fall into his chasm of charm and beautiful wit.