Work Text:
christmas was a strange time for ronan. it, like most things, had been magical before his mother died. back then, his father would wake up each of the boys to urge them to get up, get up, you cant sleep in on christmas morning.
they were all much younger and more excitable then, but specifically matthew was, if possible, more lively than he was now. the brothers would race through the house to the tree, where their mother would be sat waiting next to their dozens of gifts.
theyd wrestle with each other, unwrap unrealistic amounts of presents, and then play fight some more. their mothers chastising, their fathers laughter, and the boys’ shrieks would echo through the house well into the day. there was nothing quite like it.
christmas without his mother, though, was quiet.
niall lynch would maybe attempt the occasional joke, but no one was really happy then. declan would yell at ronan for his snarky responses. matthew would try his best to pretend it was the same as it used to be.
the christmas after that, ronan left the house early in the morning and spent the day at church, head bowed and eyes closed. no one bothered to look for him.
adam’s christmases, however, had never been ideal. they weren’t horrible, of course, but tension always followed his father, and they didnt have the money for many presents anyways. him and his parents would come together for an hour or so to open a few presents, and then adam’s father would decide he’d had enough of it all and would storm away. he never had much to say about it because, well, it was never much of anything.
neither of the boys really looked forward to christmas that year. neither of them really expected much.
but..
at 9:32am, on Dec 25, adam awoke to a light kiss and a pair of pale blue eyes.
“‘onan, its early.”
his voice was scratchy from the night before and his eyes felt stuck together. through the fog of lingering sleep, he watched ronan smirk at him.
“someone slept well.”
“ someone kept me up all night.”
“someone needs to learn to let loose once in a while”
adam groaned an incoherent complaint and rolled over to face away from ronan. they could be here all day bickering, and adam really just wanted another hour or two of sleep.
a few beats of silence passed before ronan spoke again.
“its christmas day. did you know that?”
he opened his eyes. “oh yeah,” he mumbled, still turned away and half asleep.
ronan was silent once more, just watching adam breathe. the subtle expansion of his back as he inhaled, the way his hair bunched up on the pillow.
he grabbed adam’s shoulder and turned him right back over.
“merry christmas, parrish.”
their eyes met. cool blue and warm brown. black and white. night and day. lover and loved. loved and lover.
suddenly ronan was reminded of the early mornings of his childhood. suddenly he thought of his parents, always staring at each other. forever in love.
love.
how silly of them to think christmas wouldn’t come this year. they were together, werent they? content with their life of love, finally at peace. this was what the season was about. this. together, buried under both the covers and their domestic bliss. adam smiled, seemingly a bit more awake.
“merry christmas, ronan.”