Work Text:
1 month until Christmas:
They say goodbye at the airport.
It’s inevitable, really - Primož can only stay in the Netherlands for so long before travelling becomes hard and risky, and Tom knows Primož would be miserable if he couldn't go home, even for a little while.
Tom can’t read Primož’s face very well when it’s half-hidden under a mask, but he does notice how Primož’s eyes keep flicking back to him as they check in the lone suitcase and make their way to the gate printed on the ticket.
Primož isn’t flying with any of the team privileges, but still starts and reaches for his backpack when the early boarding line is called. He looks at Tom, eyes wide and incomprehensible.
“This is strange, Tom.”
“Everything’s strange, Rogla. And it would be even stranger if I tried to keep you here as long as possible, but, well, you need to be where you’re going and I need to be here.” It hurts Tom to say it, and it hurts Primož to hear it, but they’ve had this discussion before.
Primož nods, acknowledges it, and pulls Tom into a sudden, tight hug.
“I’m going to miss you,” he says, muffled in Tom’s shirt and his mask.
Tom hugs him back, and they stay like that until Primož’s row is called to board.
Primož pulls his mask down to his chin, kisses Tom’s mask where he thinks his lips are, and picks up his backpack. “Bye, Tom.”
“Call me when you land,” Tom says, not wanting to say it back.
Primož’s eyes crinkle in a smile. “Of course.”
Tom watches as Primož shoulders his backpack, fishes his ticket out of his pocket and walks through the gate, waving back at Tom as he goes.
He’ll be back in January, Tom reminds himself. It’s not that long to wait - a matter of weeks, and then Primož will be home again.
For now, Tom stays in the airport and watches the planes take off and land, until his phone buzzes with a call from Primož.
25 days until Christmas:
Primož is in his old bedroom, waiting for Tom to pick up his phone. In the grand scheme of things, it's been fairly recent since he was last here, but it's not his room anymore - it's been redecorated, a new bed frame moved in, one wall painted a dusty blue, and all the stuff he didn't take with him when he moved out is in boxes. The only sign that this room was ever Primož's is the old skis that are leaning in a corner, too long to fit in the wardrobe with the rest of his old things.
Tom answers the video call, and the picture shakes like he’s answered before actually picking up his phone. He’s still in his kit after a ride and he looks lovely, beaming as he sees Primož, face flushed like it is after he’s been out in the cold, and Primož misses him so much.
"You're so lucky you were allowed to leave," Tom says when the camera's in front of his face. "Merijn is on my fucking back all the time. Tom, you need to get your power up, Tom, you should be doing more altitude training, Tom, we need to work on your form again," he mimics, and Primož laughs, revelling in the sound of Tom's voice as he talks.
"It's too cold to ride," Primož pouts. "I've hardly even been on the trainer since I got here."
"If anyone deserves a bit of time off the bike, it's you, Rogla," Tom reasons gently. "It's nearly Christmas, relax."
Primož doesn't remember the last time he relaxed in the way Tom wants him to.
"When do you leave for home?" Primož asks, changing the subject - Tom's in a rented apartment near the team's testing centre, instead of the place they share closer to Maastricht.
Tom rolls his eyes. "Not for a week. I couldn't get away any earlier."
“I should’ve stayed with you and-”
“Primož, no,” Tom interrupts, and Primož settles in as Tom starts lovingly berating him about how he needs to take a break after this year.
10 days until Christmas:
Tom’s parents ask where Primož is this year - it’s a year he’s supposed to join them in mid-December, when they'll celebrate early before making the short trip to Slovenia for Christmas Day with Primož's family.
Tom knows they'll be understanding, but he still feels guilty telling them that Primož isn't coming this year.
5 days until Christmas:
Primož calls Tom in a panic, unsure if he's left Tom's present under the tree or if it's still hidden in their home.
"Uh, I...don't know?" Tom says, phone to his ear as he examines the handful of presents, looking for his name in Primož's sprawling handwriting. "I don't think so, no."
"Shit," Primož sighs, audibly frustrated. "Look in, uh, the, the fucking-" Primož says a word in Slovenian, the way he does when his mind blanks while switching languages. "With the medicine behind the mirror."
Tom makes a slight face at Primož's choice of words, but goes into the bathroom and opens up the medicine cabinet, looking behind the miscellany of bandages and boxed-up medicines to find a small, neatly-wrapped rectangular box and a card.
"You did a good job hiding it," Tom comments.
Primož laughs, and Tom can hear his relief. "You're not allowed to open it now, yeah?"
Tom adds it to the pile under the tree, and double-checks that Primož took his present with him, because there's no way it would get to him in time now.
1 day until Christmas:
Tom calls Primož, hoping he'll pick up. It's getting rather late, and Primož is not a night owl, but Tom knows that he'll at least attend church with his parents in the evening, and it turns out Tom's timing is perfect - he hears a door unlocking and conversation in Slovenian when Primož answers.
"I miss you," Tom says immediately. "It's not like Christmas without you here."
"I miss you too," Primož replies. "I want to say Merry Christmas in person."
When Primož says that, Tom's heart aches.
"I don't want to hang up until it's Christmas," he murmurs.
"Then I won't," Primož says simply.
And he doesn't - Tom listens as Primož lets himself inside, puts Tom on speakerphone to say hello to his parents, chatters away idly about nothing at all, until Tom glances at the clock and watches it tick over to 12:01.
"Hey, Rogla," he interrupts.
"Yeah?"
"Merry Christmas."
Christmas Day:
"Merry Christmas, Tom," Primož beams, and even though they're miles apart, he's sure Tom knows he's smiling.