Work Text:
December 1.
"Ugh Lizzie why do you keep sending me 'invites' to 'social media' can we not just talk in person?" Red winced as his phone dinged again, and shoved it into a pocket before it could interrupt him yet another time.
They were seated together on the couch, side by side, simply enjoying each other's presence, or so he'd thought, before this rude dinging had begun.
Liz hmmed, not actually listening. She knew Red had no intention of joining instagram, but every so often she liked to inundate him with notifications until he begged her to turn them off. It was mostly the begging part that she enjoyed.
"Hmm? Oh that's fine- wait what? Chord Overstreet? I haven't thought about him in years...." she gazed at her phone in silence for a moment, and Red saw her shake her head and smile, as if remembering something amusing.
Red cleared his throat. He didn't enjoy not being included in amusing things. Then the words he'd heard her say finally landed and he blinked.
"What kind of cord, Lizzie?" Why was she talking about cords, anyway?
Liz grinned. "Overstreet. And it's a person, not a type of cord, Red."
Red frowned, leaning sideways and trying to get a look at whatever was on her screen. "Are you making this up? Is this a joke that I don't get because of my age?"
"No no," Liz shook her head and smiled. "Chord is... an old boyfriend of mine. From school. We didn't really mind much about the weird name, actually, because he was very handsome."
With this, she spared a quick glance over to note that her remarks had indeed had the effect she'd wanted, namely to make Red jealous. She enjoyed seeing him jealous, on occasion, almost as much as the begging.
Red's frown had deepened, causing delicious creases between his eyebrows that Liz wanted nothing more than to kiss. Instead, she grinned.
"Very handsome indeed," she repeated, for emphasis.
He stood up, suddenly, making a sort of irritated harrumph.
Liz watched him, struggling to keep from laughing.
"He's just sent me a message, asking if I had time to meet for coffee sometime - it seems he's in the city for Christmas!"
"Meet for coffee?" Red all but growled. "Whyever should you want to meet this Chord Overhaul-"
"-Street," Lizzie corrected gently.
"Whatever. Why would he think you'd want to have coffee with him at all, particularly at Christmas?"
"Well I do want to. I haven't seen him in years, it'll be fun to catch up," she replied easily, enjoying the way his ears pinked at the idea.
And were his hands making fists at his side, or...?
"Hmm. Fun." His tone suggested he thought it would be anything but.
Liz nodded. "Yes. I'll let him know I'm free next weekend. We didn't have anything going on, did we?"
It was with utmost disappointment that Red had to admit that no, they didn't.
-&-
December 10.
Liz had made arrangements to meet her old friend Chord at a café nearby around lunchtime.
Red had not been invited.
As she got herself ready to go, he hovered nearby just close enough to be able to make under the breath comments that were meant to provoke her.
"Chord Overstreet," she heard him mutter, scathingly. "He was on that show, Glee. Glee! A singing show of all things."
Liz looked up from her dressing table and held out a necklace, waiting for Red's assistance fastening it.
He took it absently and fastened the clasp, his fingers lingering a pleasant moment at the back of her neck before he pulled away, tsk-ing again.
Liz realized at this point that she may have taken this ruse slightly too far, because she'd been hoping his fingers would have soon been replaced with his lips, but alas he was too immersed in his irritation for that.
"Wait, how did you know he was on that tv show?" She asked, suddenly. "Red?" That was very unusual, as he typically couldn't name an actor if his life depended on it. Least of all in a modern show.
"Hmm? Oh. I looked him up. On The Google."
She mentally filed away the fact that he'd pronounced it "goh-glee" for later. Now was not the time, Liz.
"That's... unexpected," she remarked, applying some lipstick as Red watched, his own lips set in a pinched line.
"Is it? I think you'll find I'm quite savvy with The Google," he said, and she had to hold up a handkerchief to her mouth to hide her smile, pretending to blot her lips.
"Well, I think I'm all set," she said, standing up and giving Red a beam of a smile that nearly knocked him over.
"Ah. Well. Have a wonderful time, Lizzie."
"Thank you," she replied, gathering her keys and purse. "I think I will."
-&-
After Lizzie had left, not a second passed before Red grabbed his hat and glanced outside, finding that Dembe was already waiting in the car for him, as planned.
"You're a good man, Dembe," he proclaimed, taking a seat in the back.
Dembe just shook his head at him in the rearview mirror and put the car into gear.
-&-
Liz was sitting with Chord, enjoying the coffee a great deal and the conversation slightly less. She had begun to remember why things hadn't really worked out with the two of them back in school.
They really truly did not have very much in common.
Chord was telling a lengthy story about his guitar, and Liz was wondering if she could drink her coffee any faster, to force a quicker end to this entire event.
Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by the loud sound of a chair scraping the floor nearby. A little too nearby.
Right beside them.
She glanced over, and was only slightly unsurprised at who she saw.
"Red!"
"Lizzie!"
Chord looked confused. "Er- Red?"
Liz sighed. "Yes, Red. My husband."
Red grinned, leaning across to extend his hand to Chord.
"Raymond Reddington," he beamed. "What a coincidence -"
Liz rolled her eyes. "Sure is," she said under her breath.
Chord didn't catch her remark, offering his own hand and shaking Red's.
"Chord Overstreet, pleasure to meet you!"
"The pleasure is mine, Mr. Overhead."
"Overstreet," he corrected, but Red was already looking at Lizzie.
"My darling, when you said the cafe around the corner I didn't realize you meant this corner!"
"Didn't you?" Liz pretended to look convinced.
"Not all all," Red continued smoothly, inching his chair closer to their table.
Chord moved over a bit to make room and Red seized the opportunity.
"Wonderful, wonderful," he was murmuring, with a glance at Chord. "Now, did Lizzie tell me that you cheated on her in highschool or am I misremembering?"
Chord looked embarrassed, Liz more so.
Okay Reddington, she thought. One point to you. But the next one's mine.
-&-
They were back home and Liz noticed Red was unusually silent.
"You sure you didn't show up on purpose to the café to try to spy on us?" She prompted casually, knowing full well that was exactly what he'd done.
Red gave his best "who, me?" look, complete with wide eyes.
"You're not... jealous that I have a celebrity boyfriend, are you now?"
He started to protest, then hesitated.
"No I-... wait. Have or had. Have or had, Lizzie?"
He looked like he was sweating.
Liz bit back a smile. "Had, of course."
"Of course, " he murmured, seeming unconvinced. "Are you going to see him again?"
"Hm? Oh... I don't know," she mused, thinking of how awkward their conversation had been and how much she'd have rather been sitting there with Red. "Maybe. Or maybe... we should invite him over for Christmas?"
Red looked appalled. "Christmas? Here? Why?!"
"He doesn't know anyone else in the city." She watched him out of the corner of her eye. Gosh, he was really gullible. Adorably so.
She cleared her throat. "Maybe Christmas Eve. I'll cook dinner."
Red nodded, slowly. "If you really think it's necessary..." he said, attempting to sound okay with it but looking absolutely not okay with it.
"I'll ask him tomorrow." She yawned. "Ah, I'm beat. Join me in bed?"
He almost leapt off the couch.
-&-
December 23.
"-ord Overstreet. .... kind of a name is.... singing show. ..."
Liz woke up to some angry muttering over on Red's side of the bed. She blinked a few times and looked over, seeing that he was already up and sipping a mug of coffee.
"... Good morning," she murmured, leaning in for a kiss, but instead being met with a second mug of coffee.
She took the mug, surprised at the lack of good morning kiss. Taking a sip, she studied the visage of her dear husband a bit more closely, noticing that he had a dangerously stubborn look about him.
What if he- oh no, she thought.
"Good morning, Elizabeth."
Oh shit. Abort mission, Liz. Abort. Mission. He was going to try to get back at her. And he'd win, too - she couldn't last a day of him being distant.
"Ahem. It's almost Christmas," she said, feeling like they were in some sort of awkwardly filmed holiday commercial for coffee.
'It's almost Christmas'? Who said that?!
"I have some plans with Dembe this morning, so I'll see you around dinnertime," Red said, and Liz nodded, suddenly feeling ill.
"Don't forget, tomorrow is-"
"I won't forget." His tones sounded clipped.
"O-okay then. See you later," she said.
-&-
December 24.
Christmas Eve. As far as Red knew, they were expecting Chord to show up just before dinnertime. Lizzie had been working on their meal and had demanded that Red stay out of the kitchen.
He had been curt the entire day before, and this morning, presumably trying to make her feel bad about inviting an old flame for Christmas Eve dinner.
What he didn't know was that Liz hadn't invited Chord. Chord was on a plane that morning back to LA to spend Christmas with his family.
She stirred something on the stove a few times, checking the time and mentally making sure she had enough time to finish everything.
If she could pull this off, she hoped everything would be back to normal, though she had quite enjoyed the jealous side of Red she'd experienced these past couple of weeks.
A timer beeped, and she grabbed the tray from inside the oven.
-&-
When the doorbell rang, Red remained seated on the couch, book in hand and petulant look on his face.
"Could you get it?" Liz called from the kitchen.
He made an extra loud huffing sound, making sure she could hear it.
"Have you been exercising lately?" She called back. "You sound winded."
He walked to the door, bracing himself to see the annoyingly perfect face of his nemesis: Chord.
Instead, he opened it to a different annoying face: Donald Ressler. He was holding a bottle of wine, and walking into their apartment.
"Merry Christmas, Reddington," he said, handing him the bottle and taking off his coat.
Red was still standing at the door looking confused when Aram and Samar walked up, carrying a plate of cookies and wearing huge grins.
"Merry Christmas!"
He put down the wine bottle and accepted the cookies.
"M-merry...?"
Before he had a chance to say anything else, Harold Cooper marched up, holding a very expensive looking floral arrangement.
"Merry Christmas," he said, and, "I'll just give this to Elizabeth," and he walked in towards the kitchen.
"I-..." Red was speechless.
Just then, Lizzie walked out of the kitchen. She was wearing a very sparkly, very backless dress.
Red continued to be speechless.
"Merry Christmas, everyone!" She exclaimed, ushering then to sit down. "So happy you could all join us!"
She glanced over at Red, who looked like he was doing the mental math and still coming up short. Feeling slightly bad for the anxiety she'd caused, she walked over and gave him a soft kiss.
When she pulled back, he said, "So... this ...?"
She nodded, smiling, and dusted some nonexistent fluff from his shoulder.
"Mmhmm."
"And... Chord...?"
She glanced at the time. "Probably landing at the Los Angeles airport right now."
Red paused, taking this in. Then, he beamed at her.
"You absolute idiot," she said, fondly. "You're the only person I want to spend Christmas with. Every day with, actually." Then she turned to look at the others, who had been watching this exchange with amusement. "And those idiots too, I suppose."
And, she was about to wish him a Merry Christmas, but he quickly interrupted her with another, much more extensive, kiss.
Ressler made a hooting sound and Cooper cleared his throat, but looked pleased.
Samar was grinning. "We didn't even get the mistletoe out yet," she remarked dryly.
As Liz enjoyed the lengthy kiss, she marvelled at the fact that she might very well be the luckiest person alive.
But, she would wait a bit before telling this to Red. At least until he'd kissed her a lot more.
And in a lot more interesting places.
---