Chapter Text
Christmas morning Albedo woke up to his phone ringing. He picked it up and said a groggy "...hello?"
"You slept in, I've been out here for ten minutes."
"Is it okay if I come in my pajamas?" Albedo stood up from his bed and grabbed a jacket from where it was thrown over a chair.
"I'm basically in pajamas too, come on let's go."
Albedo groaned "look I was up late wrapping, give me a second." He hung up and grabbed the gifts sitting by the door and pulled on his shoes, stepping outside and seeing Kaeya in the driveway leaning up against his car.
He was still pretty, even when his hair was thrown up lazily in a bun and he was in sweatpants. It really was unfair.
"Morning sunshine," Kaeya called out, holding up a hand in greeting. "Need some help?"
"No, I'm good," Albedo replied, walking up to the car. "But if you want to open the door for me I wouldn't be opposed."
Kaeya pushed himself off the car and pulled open the door to the backseat where more gifts sat on the floor. Albedo set them down.
“You look cute,” Kaeya said as he shut the door. “I like the shirt.” Albedo looked down at the Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer shirt he was wearing and felt his cheeks heat.
“Klee got it for me for Christmas a few years ago okay?”
“I like it, think she’ll get me one and we can match?”
Albedo smiled, “stop making fun of me.”
“I’m serious,” Kaeya smiled and met Albedo’s eyes. Barbatos he was gorgeous. “Come on, we gotta get going we’re already late.”
Albedo nodded, “yeah, sorry,” and got in the passenger seat.
Kaeya parked in the driveway of the Dawn Winery and started grabbing presents from the back seat. He looked over at Albedo and smiled. He really did look cute, as much as Albedo didn’t want to believe him. His hair was half fallen out of a ponytail and his bangs were mussed in the cutest way possible.
Klee was out the door before they could finish unloading the presents from the car, wrapping herself around Albedo’s legs. “Uncle ‘Bedo!” She smiled up at him. “Merry Christmas!”
Albedo patted her head gently and smiled, “Merry Christmas. Did Santa come this year?”
“He did! There are tons of presents under the tree for all of us!”
“Uncle ‘Bedo can’t go see all those presents if you don’t let go of his knees kid.” Kaeya gently laid a hand on her shoulder and her eyes lit up when she saw his arms were laden with gifts as well, the red and green shining brightly off the paper.
“Okay!” Klee ran back inside, and then went back to the door to hold it open with a sheepish smile as Kaeya and Albedo tried to get the gifts through the door. They set them down under the tree and looked at the piles of wrapping paper sitting on the floor, and the gifts already opened.
“We went ahead and let her open her gifts, she was getting impatient,” Diluc said as he walked into the main room out of the kitchen. “Sorry, Jean took pictures for you though.”
Most of the stuff sitting on the floor was science kits and sports equipment, and a few things with the cartoon character Jumpty Dumpty on them were strewn about too. Kaeya looked back at his brother, “do you guys need any help in the kitchen?”
“No, Jean’s pretty covered, and also I don’t want you burning down my house on Christmas.”
“You try to microwave tinfoil one time when you were seven…” Kaeya threw his hands up in the air and caught Albedo trying to hide his laughter behind his hand. “What’s so funny about this? My brother doesn’t trust me in his own house ‘Bedo!” Kaeya felt himself grinning anyway.
Diluc looked over at Albedo “he had so many accidents in the kitchen-”
“There were not that many!”
“There were, just stay out of the kitchen.”
Klee walked up to the two as Diluc returned to the kitchen. “Do you want to watch Santa Claus is Coming to Town with me?”
Kaeya’s eye met Albedo’s, who looked back down at Klee. “Sure, we’d love to.”
Klee led them to the couch and sat them down next to each other, she sat down on the floor where he already had a few blankets and pillows had already been set up. She hit play on the opening credits to the movie and leaned forward, holding onto a giant Jumpty Dumpty stuffed animal. Kaeya felt something on his arm and looked away from the screen to see Albedo’s arm wrapped around his shoulders. Albedo looked away as well and started pulling away when he saw Kaeya looking at him, but Kaeya shook his head and Albedo returned it.
Albedo’s hands were warm, it felt like heat was pooling right where Albedo was touching him. He remembered the feeling from when they were kids. Skin tingling when their hands brushed and excitement bubbling in his stomach when they were in contact for long.
The three finished the movie right when breakfast was ready. The morning was spent with Klee telling Albedo and Kaeya exactly what she’d gotten, and how excited she was for all of it.
"I'll help with the dishes." Kaeya stood and started gathering the plates.
"Oh Kaeya you really don't have to it's not a problem," Jean said, standing and starting to collect dishes from the table herself.
"No you guys cooked, we'll clean up. You can go enjoy some time with Klee," Albedo chimed in.
Jean paused, "are you two sure?"
Kaeya nodded, not stopping his dish stacking. "We were the best bussers Good Hunter has ever seen."
Diluc raised an eyebrow. "You guys quit after six months."
"We never got to spend any time together, it's not our fault they didn't schedule us." Albedo took the plates off Jean's hands. "Go have fun."
"Okay but make sure that you just leave anything out that you don't know where it goes, Samantha will get it when she comes back to work. Oh! And after you're done we'll exchange the rest of the gifts under the tree..." Jean was reluctantly pulled out of the room by Diluc to go spend time with Klee, she was still talking to the two for a few more seconds after she was pulled out.
Kaeya turned back to Albedo with a smile, "so, dishes."
Albedo dried the next dish that Kaeya handed him in the kitchen and put it away in its rightful place, a small pile of dishes sitting on the counter that Albedo had no clue where to put. Albedo had been imagining for two weeks Kaeya being here, in every single moment, no matter how domestic or mundane. The craziest part for him was that it might happen, he was struggling to believe it.
Kaeya was humming along to the Christmas music playing on the TV as he handed Albedo another dish. Albedo took it and started drying it off with the towel in his hand. "Hey, were you serious last night?"
Kaeya looked up from the knife he was cleaning. "What was I serious about last night?"
"Moving home."
"Yeah," Kaeya responded with not an ounce of hesitation. "It'll probably take some time but I really do."
Albedo took the knife from Kaeya when he handed it to him. "I'm happy to hear that."
The two fell back into silence, Kaeya going back to humming along with the music. Albedo paused and looked over at Kaeya, lost in his work. He wanted to get used to the sight.
Kaeya made eye contact with him and smiled. Albedo wanted to combust, then realized Kaeya was handing him a bowl. He took it and looked away, starting to dry it. He was acting like a fool all for some pretty boy who was leaving in a week, even if he was coming back. He needed to stop acting so stupid.
Kaeya said something, but Albedo missed it.
Albedo, glanced over at him from the cabinet he was putting the bowl away in. "Huh?"
"I'll miss you... while I'm in Mondstadt I mean." Kaeya finished up the last dish and dried it on his own. "It's been so awesome getting to see you again, being home has made me realize how much I missed you the whole time."
Albedo took the dish from Kaeya's hands. "I missed you too, but I think that's kinda obvious."
Kaeya stared at Albedo for a long moment, causing his face to heat as he put the bowl away. "No, I think you're as bad at talking about your feelings as I am if I'm being honest."
Albedo felt a laugh bubble up in his chest as he closed the cupboard. "You know, I think you're right. We're both pretty broken men aren't we?"
Kaeya nodded with a subdued smile and took one of Albedo's hands, "I feel less broken when I'm with you..."
Albedo looked up at Kaeya and felt himself leaning in. Kaeya returned the gesture, a hand going to Albedo's shoulder. They were mere inches apart when Albedo heard Jean call from the living room. "Are you guys done? We're good to start exchanging gifts when you're ready!"
Kaeya's hand slid down and he gently patted Albedo's chest. "We should go." He whispered into the silence of the kitchen.
Albedo didn't want to move from this spot, so close to the man he'd pretended not to love for years after he was gone. The man he'd stalked on Instagram his entire senior year. The man he'd been getting to relearn all over again. But still, he pulled away, eyes opening fully. "Yeah, we should," he whispered back.
Kaeya pulled away as well and his hands left Albedo's body. He suddenly felt a lot colder. Still, he followed Kaeya into the main room and sat down next to him on the floor as Klee handed the presents to everyone.
Kaeya looked down at the small pile of presents sitting in front of him and felt a little bad at how he'd only gotten everyone one gift.
Klee was already ripping into the gifts she'd gotten from Albedo and Kaeya and Albedo was picking at the tape on the bow of a gift to get it off the wrapping paper to save. He looked down and grabbed a random gift to rip open.
He ended up getting some blue and red socks from Diluc, and some nice sweaters from Jean. There was a small handmade ornament from Klee that was perfect to him and a gift card from Albedo to a few stores. At the bottom of the bag, he pulled out the folded-up sketch of himself that he'd gotten socked in the face for.
Kaeya looked up and made eye contact with Albedo, who shrugged with a smile. Kaeya smiled back and looked back down at it. "Thanks."
"You seemed to like it more than me."
"I like your art." Kaeya folded it back up gently and placed it back in the bag, not wanting it to get destroyed.
"Thank you uncle Kaeya and uncle 'Bedo for the gifts." Klee held up the Jumpty Dumpty shirt and watercolor set with a huge smile.
"Not a problem kid," Kaeya replied while Albedo nodded at her in response.
Jean was nestled into the couch, leaning up against Diluc who had his arm around her. "So what's the plan?” She asked, taking a sip from her coffee mug.
“I’m going to go play if that’s okay?” Klee looked up expectantly at the two on the couch.
“Go ahead,” Diluc smiled down at her and she grinned back, grabbing some of her new things and running off somewhere.
“Well, do you guys want to watch a Christmas movie or something?” Albedo asked, grabbing the remote sitting by his thigh.
Kaeya nodded, and Jean and Diluc made similar gestures of agreement. Albedo selected a movie and a familiar airplane scene popped up on the screen after the opening credits.
“ Diehard is not a Christmas movie!” Jean exclaimed from the couch.
Kaeya and Albedo turned back to glare at her in tandem. “Yes, it is!”
“We can watch something else after anyway.” Albedo said after that, leaning up against the back of the couch, pulling a blanket over himself from Klee’s stack, and offering half to Kaeya. Kaeya moved closer to him, pulling the blanket around himself as well, his arm going around Albedo’s waist.
As the movie continued, Kaeya began to pay less and less attention to the movie and put more of his focus on Albedo. He’d almost just kissed Albedo, and now he had to act like it hadn’t happened. He absolutely didn’t want to. His eyes trailed over Albedo, who was intent on paying attention to the movie. About halfway through he felt eyes on him and looked up to see Jean looking at him. She nodded and gave him an enthusiastic thumbs up. He rolled his eyes and turned back to the movie, he didn’t need Jean meddling in his relationship with Albedo, potential or not.
Still, he kept glancing at Albedo. If he tried to kiss him again would he do it? Would Albedo even want to be with Kaeya after what he did? He wouldn’t blame if he said no, even if he was crushed by the thought. Kaeya just hugged him a little tighter and turned back to the TV. It was better to enjoy what he had now, rather than worry about the future, and right now he was watching Diehard with the people he loved most in the whole world.
After Jean turned on Love, Actually , Albedo couldn’t stand being in the room, even if a very handsome man had an arm around him. He enjoyed Christmas movies but that one was just a monstrosity. He leaned over and whispered in Kaeya’s ear, “do you want to go on a walk with me?”
Kaeya nodded, “sure, why not?”
Albedo stood up, Kaeya following suit. “We’re going on a walk, we’ll be back in maybe fifteen minutes?”
“Alright, don’t do anything we wouldn’t do,” Diluc said, gently combing his fingers through Jean’s hair.
Kaeya snorted from beside Albedo as he walked to the door. “They’re ones to talk, they're shameless in public.” The pair pulled on their jackets and boots and stepped out the door.
Jean looked up at Diluc the second she heard the slam of the door. “Do you think they’re going to come back dating or do you think it’s going to be later tonight?”
Diluc glanced down at her and smiled, the special one he saved for her, not stopping his playing with her hair. “I think it’s a tossup, it depends if Kaeya’s feeling like a pussy today or not.”
“Why don’t you think Albedo will confess?”
“You weren’t there,” Diluc took her coffee mug from her and took a sip, handing it back to her. “He’s not able to handle rejection like that again, and I think he’s still a bit scared of it. But what do I know.”
Jean reached up with her free hand and cupped his face with a smile forming on her face. “You’re very intuitive, you should become a therapist.”
Diluc shivered exaggeratedly, “I could never.”
Jean giggled and sat up to kiss him. “I love you.”
“Hey, real quick, I forgot a gift for you in the car. It was kinda supposed to go with the one you got inside.” Albedo jogged up to Kaeya’s car and pulled the door open, pulling out a wrapped gift and handing it to Kaeya. “Here, Merry Christmas.”
Kaeya looked down at the wrapping and tore it open, his mouth falling open. It was a portrait of him. “‘Bedo this is incredible .”
Albedo shrugged, “I’ve been trying to capture you right since sixteen, I think that’s probably one of the best ones I’ve done.”
Kaeya held the piece up close and examined it. It truly was him to a T. He was amazed at how accurate it was. “This is absolutely beautiful, do I really get to keep it?”
Albedo nodded, “I painted it for you.”
Kaeya placed it carefully back in the car. “Thank you so much, that’s one of the best gifts I’ve ever gotten.”
“I’m happy you like it.”
The two began walking through the fields of dormant grapevines outside the winery, the whole place decorated in lights anyway, just turning on in the dusk. They were walking from row to row, boots sinking into the slightly muddy ground. Kaeya was debating if he should try to hold Albedo’s hand or not on this walk. Was it appropriate? If it wasn’t Albedo would just shake him off anyway, so what was the hangup? Fuck it.
Kaeya reached out with his hand, brushing his pinkie against Albedo’s, then pulled away, shoving his hands in the pockets of his coat. “So, ‘Bedo… can we talk?”
Albedo turned away from the decorated field and looked at him. His eyes shone with a million stars. “Sure, what’s up?” Kaeya felt the words choke up in his throat and he looked away, incapable of getting a word out. “Is this about what I think it’s about?”
“I-“
Albedo nodded, “I understand, the kiss wasn’t something you really wanted, it’s okay, I was prepared for that.”
“No!” Kaeya exclaimed, finally deciding to just get the words out instead of making them pretty. “I am in love with you! And I have been for the past fifteen years! Not a single relationship worked out all this time because no one has ever been able to compare to you. Archons, no one holds a goddamn candle to you Albedo! You are the most amazing man I have ever met and it has taken me far too long to realize that.” Kaeya finished, steam rapidly coming from his mouth. He was out of breath. That was a bit embarrassing.
Albedo, however, was smiling at him. “I’m going to kiss you, okay?”
Kaeya nodded fervently, “yeah, I would like that.”
Albedo wrapped his arms around Kaeya’s neck, pulling him down to his height and pushing his forehead against his. “You’re sure?”
“As a heart attack.”
“It’s supposed to be serious as a heart attack you idiot.” And then Albedo’s lips were on Kaeya’s. It wasn’t exactly a kiss from a movie. There wasn’t a huge fanfare and Kaeya’s ass was freezing, but it felt right. He was meant to be here, with Albedo, bringing him dinner and driving him to work and kissing him .
When Kaeya pulled away he kept his hands on Albedo’s hips, smiling down at him. “So… do you love me too?”
Albedo stood on his toes and kissed him again. “Yeah, I do.”
Kaeya tucked a piece of Albedo’s hair behind his ear before his hand went back to his hip. “There’s no way in the abyss that I’m not moving back home.”
January 18, 2012
Dear Albedo,
I don’t think I’m going to ever have the courage to see you again, but my therapist said I should try to confront the feelings I have for you in a letter. She said I should go see you, but I don’t think I’ll ever have the guts to do that. I have a lot of regrets, but one of the things that’s been the hardest has been trying to confront the feelings for you that I tried to ignore for so long, and the fact that I rejected you when I felt the same about you. I’m sure you’ve forgotten about me by now, but I don’t think I’ll ever forget you, or get over you. Truthfully I think I’m probably destined to be alone, I always fuck it up, starting with you.
You’re one of the brightest people I ever knew Bedo. I’m sorry for hurting you, and I’m sorry for not letting you know I loved you before it was too late. I’m supposed to burn this now or whatever, to symbolize letting go of you. I think I’m going to fire this bullshit therapist.
Always and Forever,
Kaeya
Albedo was still shocked this was actually happening. He was staring up at Kaeya in the dark in the middle of a field, and he had just kissed him, and Kaeya had never looked more beautiful than this moment. Lit up by nothing but Christmas lights and smiling down at him and only him, no one to interrupt them or stop them from staying in this spot forever.
“We need to keep moving, I can’t feel my nose,” Kaeya said, pulling his hands away from Albedo’s hips and pointing back to the house.
Albedo turned and started walking, slipping his hand into Kaeya’s. “I think that’s pretty common for a walk in the middle of December here.”
“You’re not wrong.”
“Hey, do you think we could convince Jean and Kaeya to just get Chinese? I don’t want to have to deal with all those dishes again.”
Kaeya chuckled. “Probably… hey I was wrong about what you tasted like.”
“You were imagining what I tasted like?”
Kaeya laughed, his cheeks a dark red, “Shut up!”
“No no no what do I taste like Kae?”
“Well, I thought you would taste like maybe coffee or mint right? You taste like cinnamon and chocolate.”
“Is that a good thing?”
“The best thing.”