Chapter Text
Christian sighed, ready, but not particularly looking forward to, another Christmas alone. For the third time in three years. Ever since moving to germany when he was nineteen and completing his first two years of uni there, he’d just wait around until the time when his family would wake up in the states, and then FaceTime them.
He had never been good at making friends. and definitely not close ones. He considered briefly sending a text to Gio, asking how home was, but then remembered that he would still be asleep, back in the US.
His phone pinged. It was Enzo.
Enzo was one of the few friends Christian had made in England. He wouldn’t exactly call them close, but he’d like to get to know him better.
He flipped it over, mentally ready for a “Merry Christmas,” and that was exactly what he got. He shot a quick response back, and got another ping.
•••
Christian stood at the door of the little flat Enzo was sharing with his boyfriend. Julian, Christian was pretty sure his name was. Or maybe it was Julius. Or maybe he was making things up, and it was nothing even remotely similar to those two names. He checked the address on his phone again, making sure, (for the third time,) that he hadn’t got it wrong. Deciding that there was no way to delay this further, he knocked.
“Merry Christmas!” Enzo greeted him at the door.
“Merry Christmas to you too,” Christmas said back. “Thank you so much for having me over. I’m sorry if i’m intruding.”
“Nonsense! We invited you over!” A young man, slightly shorter then him and Enzo appeared. Christian assumed this was the other’s boyfriend. “Cariño, don’t just leave our guest standing on the doorstep, invite him inside!” he scolded. They both stepped aside so he could pass.
Christian walked into their flat, feeling it’s warmth already. “It’s nice here, I love it.” That wasn’t a lie. It felt homey, fairy lights and christmas decorations everywhere, one of those 17 hour long YouTube videos of a fire crackling on repeat on the TV. He took off his shoes, placing them neatly to the side.
“Glad to know Americans don’t actually wear their outside shoes in the house,” chuckled Enzo.
“Oh some people definitely do,” the American wrinkled his nose. “I refuse to. Having to vacuum the dirt tracked all over my floor every day isn’t my idea of fun.”
“Oh certainly not.” he paused. “Well, don’t just stand there! Come through! Alexis and Darwin are here too, I hope that’s ok with you. They’re great people, I promise.”
Christian had no idea who Alexis and Darwin were, but Enzo said they were good, and he trusted Enzo. Despite only knowing him for three months. He followed the Argentine into the main room.
“Ok, so,” Enzo took a deep breath. “Christian, that’s Darwin,” he pointed at a long haired boy. “He’s from Uruguay. This is Alexis, his boyfriend.”
The person indicated smiled and waved at him.
“They’ve been dating for about a year. Julian is my boyfriend and flatmate. He’s a pain in the ass.”
“Oi!”
“Don’t be a baby, you know it’s true. And you know me, obviously! Guys this is Christian, he’s from the states. He also supports Chelsea.”
“That’s incorrect,” Christian muttered. “Enzo wants me to support Chelsea. I still don’t know if I do.”
“You should support Liverpool,” Darwin told him.
“Or Brighton! Either is good! But not Chelsea. Or Manchester United.”
“You could be a City fan with me,” Julian said.
“Umm…” Christian hesitated. “You know what, I might just go with Chelsea.”
“Yes!” Enzo cheered as the other three groaned in despair.
Christmas was a hit. Christian didn’t think he’d had so much fun since moving to England. The first month had been pretty boring and sad for him. He didn’t know anyone, his tiny dorm room was dreary and depressing, and it was cold in Manchester. So, so bloody cold. Then he’d met Enzo, the two of them instantly hitting off. It had been pure coincidence, their meeting, with some poorly timed rain, (or perfectly timed, depending on which way you looked at it,) both of them having laptops they couldn’t get wet, and there only been one umbrella between the two of them. They talked, and started hanging out occasionally. He was Christian’s first real friend since leaving America.
Well, Christmas was a hit until Julian winked at Alexis while he read out an especially dirty cards against humanity card, causing Darwin to possessively pull his boyfriend closer to him, which in turn knocked over a lamp when Alexis kicked his foot up in surprise, shattering it.
“Oh fuck, I’m so sorry,” Alexis rushed to apologize.
“It’s ok, Ale, the lamp was ugly anyways.” Julian reassured him. “Not like that’s our only light source. We have ceiling lights that we can turn on.”
Enzo stoop up to turn them on, and get a dustpan and brush to sweep up the little pieces of lightbulb glass on the floor. “Umm… Juli?” he asked tentatively. “How exactly were you planning to cook turkey with the oven off?”
“What?” Julian yelled back. “The oven is on. The turkey’s cooking in it.”
They heard the sound of the oven door opening and closing. “Well I’m pretty sure cooked turkey isn’t supposed to be frozen.”
Christian jumped up, careful to avoid the glass on the floor, joining Enzo in the kitchen. “No… turkey isn’t supposed to be pink when you eat it.”
The other three joined them, but Darwin backed out when he realized they couldn’t fit five people in their tiny kitchen. They were barely fitting four. “Chuck me the broom. I’ll deal with the glass, you deal with the fact that it’s six o’clock and we don’t have any food that’s not raw.”
“Well, turkey takes three hours, but we’ve got to do potatoes and veggies as well, and there isn’t space in our oven for potatoes and turkey, I’d say four hours of cooking between them.”
They enchanted looks. “That’s… ten that we’re eating at then,” Christian said slowly.
Julian sighed. “Sorry guys.”
He got a big hug in return. “Don’t worry about it. We can put the turkey on now, order some pizza, and eat turkey sandwiches tomorrow for lunch. Invite Ale and Darwin and Chris.”
In the end, they went with Enzo’s suggestion. Sitting with his newfound friends, eating takeout pizza for Christmas, laughing together.
It was the best Christmas that Christian had ever had.