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It wasn’t supposed to happen. David was only supposed to be at the house until the 23rd of December before heading off to spend the holidays with their father, while Nick intended to show up on the night of the 23rd after his brother was long gone.
A hangover, followed by some unexpected snowfall left David trapped at the house, and Sarah with an apologetic look on her face when Nick and Charlie made the short trek through the snow from the Spring household.
“I’m sorry, Nicky,” Sarah said quietly, “He wasn’t ready to drive this morning because he’d had a bit too much to drink last night, and by the time he was awake and ready to go, he took one look outside and decided he wasn’t comfortable driving in it. I understand if you and Charlie would rather walk back over to the Springs’ house and spend Christmas there.”
Nick considered it for a moment, but the sad look in his mother’s eyes, coupled with the idea of spending a Christmas without her was too much. He forced a smile onto his face and then pulled her into a hug, “It’s not your fault, mum, you tried and I appreciate it. We both do.”
“It’s so good to see you, Sarah,” Charlie said, placing a large bag of gifts and other supplies on the floor so that he could pull her into a hug as well, “We’ve missed you.”
Sarah smiled, “I’ve missed you too. Now, you two put your stuff upstairs while I heat up some hot chocolate and get the biscuits out.”
Nick grinned, backpack slung over one shoulder, “Did you get the good ones? From Tesco?”
Sarah rolled her eyes affectionately at her son, “Yes, I got the ones from Tesco. Don’t worry, the Great Biscuit Incident of 2017 will not be repeating itself.”
“I still haven’t forgiven you,” Nick said with a laugh, “I don’t think I ever will.”
“Yeah, yeah, be mean to your old mum,” Sarah joked as Nick and Charlie made their way up the stairs. Once inside his childhood bedroom, Nick finally let his face fall, turning to his boyfriend with a disappointed expression.
“Fuck,” Nick breathed, letting his backpack fall to the floor.
Charlie gave his boyfriend a sad smile, and then pulled him into a hug, “I’m sorry, love. I know this isn’t how you wanted our Christmas to go. Are you feeling okay?”
Nick pulled back from the hug just slightly so he could rest his forehead against Charlie’s, as if the proximity could recharge him. After a moment, he took a deep breath, “Yeah, it’s fine. We’ll be fine.”
Charlie pressed a quick kiss to Nick’s lips, “If he tries something, I’ll fucking hit him.”
Nick let out a laugh, “You can’t hit him, I don’t want you to break your hand.”
“A broken hand is a small price to pay for protecting you,” Charlie replied, “I wouldn’t mind.”
The two made their way back down to the kitchen, where Sarah was waiting with a plate of fancy Tesco cookies, and three steaming mugs of hot chocolate, a mountain of whipped cream on each.
“How was your visit with the Springs?” Sarah asked, a smile on her face as her boys sat down across from her.
“It was pretty good,” Charlie replied with a smile, “My mum was a bit passive aggressive about the fact that she’s not going to see us on actual Christmas, but honestly it wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be, so, little victories.”
Sarah half-smiled at him, a bit of sadness in her eyes, “Your parents and siblings are more than welcome to come join us tomorrow, if they’d like. Your family is our family, they’re always welcome.”
Charlie nodded, taking a drink of his hot chocolate, “I’ll let them know.”
“How about you?” Nick said, smiling at his mum, “Did you have a good time with David?”
Sarah’s eyes flicked to the stairs, checking to see if her elder son was within earshot. Seeing that he wasn’t, she spoke quietly, “We didn’t spend too much time together. He’s been in his room a lot, and then yesterday he and his friends got quite drunk last night. He actually left the front door open. When I woke up this morning, Nellie was out by the road.”
“What the fuck?” Nick said, face scrunching up with annoyance, “I’m sorry, mum.”
Sarah shook her head, forcing a smile onto her face, “We had a nice time exchanging gifts, though. He got me a candle and some socks.”
“Well,” Nick said, “We’re definitely excited to exchange gifts with you, I think we’ve done pretty well this year, haven’t we?” he asked, turning to look at Charlie.
“Oh, yeah,” Charlie replied with a grin, “I’m pretty proud of us.”
The three of them stayed up, catching up and chatting as they ate their fancy Tesco biscuits with hot chocolate. Eventually, Sarah let out a yawn and got to her feet, “I need to head to bed, but you boys are welcome to hang out down here, maybe watch a movie and have some more hot chocolate… whatever you want.”
Nick got up and gave his mum a kiss on the cheek, “I think we’ll set up some of your Christmas gifts, actually. We’ve got a bit of preparation to do. I hope you don’t mind us taking over the sitting room.”
“Not at all, darling, this will always be as much your house as it is mine. Goodnight, I love you both very much.”
Bidding Sarah goodnight, Nick and Charlie refilled their mugs and then made their way into the sitting room, armed with the bag that Charlie had set in the hallway when they’d arrived. Having absolutely raided their local Flying Tiger, they had an abundance of rainbow tinsel and little pride flags to hang around.
“Do you think your mum is going to find this funny?”
“Oh yeah,” Nick replied, “She’s literally the one who got us those jumpers, she’ll find this hilarious.”
Charlie grinned, remembering the matching jumpers that read ‘gay apparel’ in bold, rainbow letters across the chest that Sarah had sent the two of them a few weeks prior.
“Did you pack yours? I think we should wear them tomorrow,” Charlie finally replied, smiling at his boyfriend.
“Of course I did! I think that was what my mum wanted us to do.”
The two of them joked around quietly as they finished decorating the sitting room, turning it from a typically-Christmas-decorated sitting room to one that looked a bit like a pride parade had exploded inside. They had tucked small pride flags - both gay and bisexual - into the spaces between ornaments on the tree, and hung multiple rainbow garlands by the windows and fireplace. They leaned together to take a selfie in front of the illuminated, newly-decorated Christmas tree, proud of their work.
“Now that we’ve fulfilled the gay agenda, what do you say we go get some sleep?” Nick asked, wrapping an arm around his boyfriend’s waist.
“Yeah,” Charlie replied, craning his neck so that he could press a kiss to Nick’s cheek, “I’d say this is a job well done.”
The two of them made their way upstairs, pausing in the bathroom briefly to brush their teeth. Once they were settled in Nick’s bedroom, Charlie crawled into his boyfriend’s arms, kissing him gently. Eventually, Charlie pulled away, resting his head on the center of Nick’s chest.
“Goodnight, baby,” Nick said, pressing a kiss to Charlie’s head.
—
When Charlie awoke, it was with the definitive awareness that it was not yet actually morning. He couldn’t reason with his body, though, so when he could no longer ignore the urge to pee, he detangled himself from Nick and padded downstairs to use the bathroom that was further away, to avoid waking everyone up with the flushing toilet.
He took care of his business and intended to head back upstairs before Nick noticed that he had left, but a noise in the sitting room caught his attention. He approached cautiously and peered around the corner.
“What the fuck?” Charlie exclaimed, a bit louder than he should have, considering the time of night.
David turned to him, a pair of scissors still in the air from when he had snipped some of the rainbow garland just moments earlier.
“It’s your fault for bringing all this gay shit into my house,” David said with a smirk, “If you didn’t want me to do something about it, you shouldn’t force it down my throat. It’s fucking disgusting.”
Charlie surveyed the destroyed living room, little pride flags cut up and thrown on the floor, garlands cut in half. Even the presents he and Nick had wrapped with cute little pride wrapping paper had been torn open. Charlie swallowed the lump in his throat, passing a moment before he could speak, “That was a really horrible thing to do.”
“No,” David said, raising his voice, “You making my brother into a fucking queer was a horrible thing to do, and constantly shoving it in my face makes me sick.”
—
Having been woken by Charlie’s poor attempt at sneaking out of bed, Nick laid in wait for his boyfriend’s return. When the expected three minutes turned to five, and then ten, Nick made his way out of bed to check that his boyfriend was okay.
As he made his way downstairs, he was shocked to hear voices coming from the sitting room.
“I didn’t turn Nick into anything,” Charlie said, “I don’t know why you fucking insist on treating us like this, but what you’ve done here is really terrible.”
Nick’s stomach flipped as he stepped into the destroyed living room, “What the fuck?”
Charlie turned to Nick with sad eyes, “Apparently this is what we deserve for shoving our disgusting relationship down everyone’s throat.”
David let out a laugh, “Now you’re getting it. And here I thought you were too fucking thick to realize that you’re not part of our family, and you won’t ever be.”
Something within Nick snapped, and before he knew it, he was across the room, his fist colliding with David’s face twice. He backed his brother up against the wall, cocking his fist a third time, “You want to fucking say that again?” he yelled, spit flying from his mouth with the force of his words.
“You became such a fucking drama queen once you turned gay,” David replied, putting both hands on Nick’s chest and shoving him back roughly, “I mean you were always fucking pussy but this is just next level.”
Nick shoved David hard enough that the older man collided with the wall,“You are such a fucking dickhead. Do you even know how much I hate you? I’m not fucking ashamed of being queer, not even one bit. The only part of my life that I’m ashamed of is the fact that I’m related to you.”
“What’s going on down here?” Sarah interrupted, stepping into the room with a look of shock on her face.
“I can’t even — Char? Can you please just…” Nick trailed off, voice wavering as he stepped back from his brother.
Charlie cleared his throat, “We had um, we’d decorated the sitting room with some stuff we got… With the jumpers you got us, we thought you’d find it funny if we put up some like, gay decorations. We thought we’d wear them tomorrow and it would be cute for pictures or whatever, but…” he turned toward David for a second, before making eye contact with Sarah once more, “I guess not only am I ‘not wanted’ here, but it’s ‘sickening’ that Nick and I shove our ‘disgusting relationship’ down people’s throats, and so David took it upon himself to cut up our little pride flags and rip up the rainbow wrapping paper we’d used.”
Sarah looked at David, her face uncharacteristically hard, “What?” she said quietly, in disbelief, “You said those things? You destroyed their decorations?”
“Nick fucking punched me!”
Sarah took a glance at her younger son, whose chest was still heaving with the rage coursing through him. She took a breath, “He and I will be discussing that later, but we’re talking about you right now. Did you say those things to Nick and Charlie?”
“It literally makes me sick, mum,” David replied, clutching his face where Nick had punched him, “You think I want to imagine Nick taking it up the arse?”
“David!” Sarah and Nick said in unison, but Sarah continued, “Your brother’s personal life is not your business or mine. What he and Charlie do in their private time is between them. If imagining it bothers you, I suggest you stop trying to.”
“You only defend this gross shit because Nick has always been your favorite,” David spat, rolling his eyes.
“David,” Sarah said with a sigh, “I’m awake at 4 in the morning because of an issue that you caused for absolutely no reason at all, beyond the fact that you have subjected your brother and his boyfriend to constant homophobia. It’s not about favorites, it’s about what has been done, and who is at fault. It would be best if you got a few hours of sleep and then headed off to your father’s in the morning, like we originally planned.”
David huffed and stalked out of the room, and Sarah called after him, “Do not let me hear you talk like this ever again. I’m serious, David. I am done putting up with you being homophobic. You will not be welcome back here if you don’t stop. We have had this conversation many times and you are much too old to be acting like this.”
“Whatever,” he replied, stomping up the stairs.
Sarah turned to look at Nick, who had only calmed down slightly, “And you. Punching your brother? Are you serious Nicky?”
Nick crossed his arms, “He had literally been yelling at Charlie. He told him that he wasn’t part of the family and that he wouldn’t ever be. I’m not sorry that I punched him. I would do it again. I will do it again if he ever speaks to Charlie again.”
Sarah sighed, rubbing at her eyes, “Come on then, since we’re already up, let’s get some more hot chocolate and see what we can do to salvage your decorations. Since you did the punching, you’re making the hot chocolate, while Charlie tells me everything that happened, starting from the beginning.”
Nick nodded sheepishly and got to work, as his mum and Charlie sat at the kitchen table. With a sigh, Charlie launched into the story, eyeing the way Nick’s body language as he recounted the parts his boyfriend hadn’t been present for.
“Sorry,” Charlie said, wiping a tear from his cheek as he finished recounting everything, “I know it’s stupid to cry over, but –”
“No,” Sarah said, rubbing his forearm, “It’s not. I can see why that was a really hurtful thing for you to experience. You - both of you - deserve to feel safe in my home, and I’m really sorry that this happened.”
Nick came to the table, three mugs of hot chocolate balanced in his hands, “Leave it to David to ruin Christmas.”
Sarah pressed her lips together, but didn’t comment, unable to find any appropriate response regarding her eldest son’s actions.
“It’s not entirely ruined,” Charlie reasoned, taking a sip of his hot chocolate, “We still get to spend it together. That’s what’s important to me.”
“I know,” Nick replied, pulling his chair close to Charlie’s so that he could rest his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder, “I just wanted to have this one thing, you know? It was so perfect in my head and it looked so good.”
—
Sarah sighed as she surveyed the living room, fully aware of the fact that the decorations were absolutely unsalvageable. The small pride flags hung in tattered shreds, the garlands cut into sections no more than a few centimeters long.
“At least the pride wrapping paper would’ve gotten ripped up anyway,” Nick said, trying to make a joke out of the situation.
Sarah smiled weakly at him, “That’s my boy, always looking on the bright side.”
“We should just forget it,” Charlie muttered, setting down the bi flag he had been examining, “It seems like it’ll just be sadder to like, tape everything back together, you know?”
Nick sighed and nodded, “Yeah, let’s just forget it. Thanks for trying, mum. I think we’re going to go try and get a few hours of sleep. You should probably do the same.”
Sarah gave each of them a hug and then nodded, “Right, well, I’ll see you in a few hours, then. I’ll text you when David is gone so you don’t have to see him again. He should be out of here by 9.”
With a tired nod, Nick grabbed Charlie’s hand and the two of them walked upstairs. Sarah finished throwing away the destroyed pride flags and garland, and then with a look of determination on her face, she dug through the hall closet. After a few minutes of digging, swearing, and then some more digging, she emerged triumphant, two flags from last year’s pride parade in her hand.
—
Around 9, Nick’s phone went off, so he rubbed his eyes and picked it up.
mum<3: david left a few minutes ago, you can come down whenever - i’m putting breakfast on now. make sure to wear your matching jumpers :) x
Okay, thanks mum. We’ll be down in a second! xx
“We can go downstairs now,” Nick said, pressing a kiss to Charlie’s cheek, “David is gone and mum is making breakfast right now.”
“Okay,” Charlie replied cheerily, getting out of bed and pulling on his clothes quickly, gay Christmas jumper included, “It’s a relief that he’s gone now. Breakfast would’ve been a bit awkward. How’s your hand, by the way?”
Nick shrugged and finished dressing, and then flexed his hand, “It hurts a bit, but I’d hit him again if I needed to.”
Charlie picked up his boyfriend’s hand, pressing a gentle kiss to the back of it, “No more punching, yeah? You told me that I couldn’t punch him because you didn’t want me hurting my hands and now look at you.”
Nick let out a laugh and then opened the bedroom door, “He disrespected you, I wasn’t going to let that go.”
“My hero,” Charlie joked as the two headed down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Sarah stood at the stove.
“You two can go ahead into the sitting room, I’ll bring the food in when it’s ready.”
“We’re eating in there?” Nick asked, eyebrows raised.
“Yeah,” Sarah smiled, “Go on now.”
With a shrug, Nick laced his fingers with Charlie’s and they made their way into the sitting room. For the second time that day, Nick stopped dead in his tracks as he surveyed the room.
“Oh my god,” Charlie breathed, eyes flicking between the two pride flags on the wall and the fairy lights that lined them, “Your mum…”
Nick swallowed the lump in his throat, “Mum,” he called, “Come here.”
She came into the room, beaming at her two boys, “You like it?”
“I love you so much,” Nick said, wrapping his mum in a tight hug, “Thank you.”
She kissed his cheek and then pulled out of the embrace, “I know it’s not the same as what you boys did but, I had the flags left over from when we went to pride and I just… wanted you to know that you are loved and accepted in this house.”
“We do know that,” Charlie said, eyes still a bit shiny from unshed tears, “But this does mean so much.”
Sarah pulled Charlie into a hug as well, “I’m so proud of both of you.”