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Alfred likes the holiday break. His classes at the university won’t resume for a few more weeks, which means a blissful respite from his thesis advisees, students trying to bargain for better grades, and grading sheet deadlines.
And yeah, Christmas too.
There was a time in Alfred’s life when he looked forward to this time because of the festivities that came with it. He thrived in the thrill of seeing his children tear through wrapping paper and sugar cookies, the cats wrestling with the ornaments, and the smell of peppermint and hot chocolate… but that time has since passed. His children are all adults now, and his marriage died a slow and uneventful death some years ago.
In fact, Alfred isn’t excited for Christmas anymore, he’s just looking forward to things at work slowing down for a bit.
It’s not that bad, don’t get him wrong. This is the strange time in his life that he’s on his own. He started dating Aelswith when they were fifteen and they were lulled into a safe and steady marriage right after college. Twenty years later, they woke up realizing that the romance had snuck out on them without their notice. And so, to avoid the tragedy of eventually hating each other, they decided to end the marriage before they turned into versions of themselves that their children will despise.
The divorce was five years ago.
But despite everybody’s nagging, Alfred just can’t seem to put himself back out there. How is he supposed to start all over again, now that he no longer has the girl destined for him since he was a child?
Finding love again seemed silly, and Alfred was perfectly content within his self imposed walls, until somebody decided to knock all of them down. It’s laughable, really, that all of this wouldn’t happen if Alfred wasn’t desperate to move out of the house he used to share with his ex wife. He had no choice but to relocate to an old apartment building above a rambunctious tattoo parlor because that’s the only one he can find within walking distance to the university that he was teaching at.
And yes, in his forties, Alfred is already a grumpy old guy. He likes his soft sweater vests, his tweed jackets, his warm milk before bed… so he likes routines and old people hobbies, sue him. He doesn’t need to impress anyone anyway.
Well, Alfred should’ve known better that the universe still hasn’t finished messing with him.
A year into his stay at his new apartment, Alfred was gearing up for his first Christmas alone. Aelswith was still travelling with her friend Eadith, Aethelflaed was pursuing her masters abroad, and Edward… well. Edward is off doing god knows what.
Christmas eve dinner isn’t anything fancy. Alfred just got some takeout and the first bottle of wine he could find, already thinking about which trashy telenovela he would binge on before falling asleep. He’s even humming the theme tune of said telenovela as he fished his keys from his pocket to open the door.
“Well, that’s my office keys…” Alfred said through gritted teeth, “...those are for the copier…”
His voice got more and more frantic as he emptied his pockets and his bag, but his apartment keys were nowhere to be found.
Well, fuck.
Alfred tried calling his landlord, but unsurprisingly the man didn’t answer. It was Christmas Eve, after all. Which loser calls their landlord on a night like this? He thumps his head against the door and groans. His night of wine and take out with trashy telenovela getting farther and farther from his reach, and his food is starting to get cold.
He tried to think of anyone he could turn to, just until he could get a hold of his landlord or a locksmith, each option seeming equally unlikely considering the occasion. Most of his colleagues went home to visit relatives, or on vacations abroad. He mournfully remembers how their faculty housekeeper, a lovely woman named Daisy, asked him to check if he had everything he needed before she locked the office for the holidays.
And oh, silly Alfred. He should’ve checked for his apartment keys, of all things.
Defeatedly, Alfred went down the three flights of stairs, not even bothering to use the elevator. He’d use the time to figure out where he’d go tonight. Apparently, he’s too deep into his thoughts that he walked straight into the man locking up the tattoo parlor for the night. He slammed into the man so hard that his takeout ended up spilling all over his green cabled sweater, and his bottle of wine shattering on the pavement.
“Oh for fucks sake!”
Alfred’s hand immediately flew to his glasses, checking if it got damaged in the impact. Fortunately it wasn’t, but that’s the only good thing so far. He’s still drenched in his dinner and his wine is shattered on the pavement and his goddamned apartment is still locked.
“Oh my god, are you okay?”
The man had the audacity to peel the food packaging that’s still clinging to Alfred’s sweater. His beautiful wool sweater. It’s totally ruined now.
“Professor?”
Well of course one of his students just had to see him at a moment of complete humiliation. Alfred can’t even look him in the eye.
“Professor Alfred Wessex?”
Alfred finally looked at the man in front of him. He’s definitely bigger than Alfred, his bulky physique with his thick parka making him look like an eagerly friendly bear with a pair of striking blue eyes. The professor is not sure why he seemed familiar… is he one of his students this current school year? The man must’ve noticed the look of confusion in his face.
“I’m Uhtred, sir. I was in your comparative literature class seven years ago, when I was in undergrad.”
At the mention of the class, Alfred slowly remembered.
“Oh, the one who just got back from the exchange program? Uhtred… Ragnarson?”
“That’s me, sir. I’ve finished my undergrad and masters since.” Uhtred says with a shy grin, as if his two degrees are something to be flustered about. “...I’m uhh, this is my current gig, can you believe it?” He gestures at the tattoo parlor and laughs nervously. Uhtred jolts when his gaze drops to his old professor’s ruined sweater, like he just remembered the reason why they were standing there in the first place.
“I’m such an idiot, do you want to come in and clean up?” Without waiting for a response from Alfred, Uhtred unlocks the shop front and ushers his old professor inside. Alfred is grateful to be out of the cold.
“I think I have some spare shirts here somewhere…” Uhtred rummages through some cabinets behind the counter until he finds a few shirts that were from a tattoo convention that they attended last year. Fortunately, one of them seems to be in Alfred’s size. “Here you go.”
Alfred accepts the shirt and stands there awkwardly while Uhtred just eagerly stares at him.
“Uhm… Uhtred?”
“Yes? Is it too big?”
Alfred choked on his spit.
“No! It’s perfectly fine-” The shirt is two sizes bigger than him with a death metal band logo on it. “...Just wondering where I could change, please?”
Uhtred’s hand flew to his own forehead with a resounding thwack.
“Fuck, sorry… it’s right there to the left.”
Alfred smiled awkwardly before he went to the bathroom.
Eventually, or in ways less subtle than he can admit, Uhtred barged into Alfred’s life like he left signs of his presence in Alfred’s apartment. Uhtred has managed to accomplish something that nobody else has done since Alfred watched his marriage draw its last breath all those years ago.
That is, Uhtred dragged a sledgehammer through all of Alfred’s walls, forcing him to accept the newfound love that he’s throwing at Alfred’s direction. Uhtred was barely ever delicate in his ways too, the complete opposite of the way his first and only relationship came to be.
But Uhtred never tried to be like Aelswith anyway.
Uhtred is a roaring fire that ignites everything in his path. He is warm and passionate, but careful enough to pry open all of Alfred’s defenses with the gentleness he deserved.
It seems like Alfred has forgotten how wonderful it felt to fall for someone for the first time. To learn about their quirks and their stories, their achievements and shortcomings, and still wanting to stick around.
And so, Alfred’s life became like his apartment. He shared it with Uhtred, and in no time, it stopped being just Alfred’s.
When Alfred wakes up, Uhtred is there, his long hair fanned around his face.
When Alfred makes coffee in the morning, he makes enough for two.
When Alfred cooks breakfast, he fries the eggs the way Uhtred liked them.
Alfred came to the realization that he thrives better when he shares his life with someone else. And he's perfectly fine with that.
A few years later, once again Christmas is just around the corner, much like the first one they shared with the exploding dinner and shattered wine.
The only difference this time, Alfred wakes up alone.
There’s a note on the nightstand from Uhtred, saying that one of his artists had an emergency and had to bail out on a high profile client who wanted to be serviced at home. Alfred frowns at the small piece of paper, like the inanimate object is solely responsible for whisking away Uhtred from his bed.
Not too far away from the note was his phone, faintly glowing with a bunch of notifications. He scrolls through them all, pointedly ignoring the work related ones. His colleagues and students can wait.
Alfred buries his face in Uhtred’s pillow and squeals in an attempt to air out his frustration that he had to go through his day alone, today of all days, when the weather called for cuddles and hot chocolate and- stop judging him, he’s old and he demands affection. Uhtred’s scent still lingers on the pillow, giving him his much needed motivation to start his day. Finally, he gets up to get the coffee maker started, but knowing Uhtred, he most likely has started a fresh brew for him to enjoy.
The smell of fresh coffee greeted Alfred as he stepped out of their room, but that’s not the only thing that greeted him: on their living room couch are his son and Uhtred’s friends, while Alfred can hear someone rummaging through the kitchen.
Alfred groans, it’s a little too early for this.
“Good morning, people who do not live here! How did you even get into our apartment?” Alfred grumbled as he shook a bag of cat food. Their gray tabby cat named Freya emerged from behind the couch, immediately following the sound. Alfred feeds her on autopilot, still with a quizzical look on his face.
“Uhtred gave us a key for emergencies!” Edward perked up from his spot on the couch, while Osferth and Sihtric idly flicked through the television channels looking for something more interesting to watch.
“And what is this very urgent emergency, hmm?” Alfred asked with his eyebrow raised.
“We ran out of milk for cereal!” A voice shouted from the kitchen, whom Alfred immediately recognized as Uhtred’s best friend, Finan. Edward rolls his eyes quite dramatically.
“And whose fault is that? Who used the last of our milk on fucking dog food?!” Edward snapped before yawning. Finan poked his head out of the kitchen just to respond, “I thought it was cereal, okay? Like human cereal?!”
Osferth makes a disgusted noise.
“Why do you even call it human cereal? Is it cereal made out of people?” Osferth says, his voice thoroughly contemplating the implication of cereal nomenclature.
Oh, this is too much bickering to endure before his goddamn coffee.
After a proper breakfast and coffee, Alfred is in a better headspace to entertain the self-inviting guests. He settled down to read through a recently submitted thesis by one of his advisees just to have something to do because he doesn’t want to sit there and do nothing while he waits for Uhtred to come home.
Around half past noon, Finan knocks on the door of his home office.
“Hey Al… what’s for lunch?” Finan peeks by the door, waiting for the usual eye roll that Alfred does whenever he shortens his name.
‘It’s two syllables, Finan… or is it too long for you to enunciate?’
Now Finan exclusively does it for the joy of the eye roll and the reprimand.
Alfred opens the drawer full of takeout menus and asks Finan to choose. While Finan is poring over his options, the professor clears his throat, not unlike the way he does it in class when he needs everyone’s attention.
“Finan…”
“Hmm?” Finan responds absentmindedly as he browses through a menu for some Chinese takeout.
“I think I’m going to ask Uhtred to marry me.”
A loud, dull thud and a bellow of pain immediately followed Alfred’s little declaration.
“Dad, what the fuck?!” Edward yelled.
The sound of feet rushing over to his office made Alfred pinch the bridge of his nose. While he has affection for them all, there is no denying Uhtred’s friends and their flair for the dramatics.
“You’re going to do WHAT to WHO?!” Sihtric screams after wrenching Alfred’s door open. A napping Freya gets roused from her little cat bed and darts straight out of the room.
“Well, I’m… proposing. To Uhred. I want him to marry me…?” Alfred felt silly.
“You’re not sure? Sorry, Al… But my darling Uhtred does not deserve half-assed intentions.” Finan dramatically says, making Osferth giggle.
“I’m sure… I’ve never been more sure of anything else in my life.” Alfred smiles fondly.
“Uhtred is the one.”
Osferth gasps with his hands folded over his heart and coos audibly, while Edward grumbles about his father being a simp at his big old age (Affectionately, he says.). Their little group immediately launches into a chaotic screaming match of wedding preparations, and Edward calls his sister Aethelflaed to share the news and to make her swear an oath of secrecy until their father says otherwise.
“Does that mean no on the Chinese takeout?” Osferth says, with a phone in one hand and the long abandoned takeout menu in another. Alfred’s stomach rumbled in response.
“Alright, go order some food, let’s plan while eating.”
Their food arrived in half an hour, and they opted to eat on the kitchen counter.
“Okay!” Alfred cries out with a clap of his hands, startling Osferth. “Now that you’ve been fed… proposal ideas! Go! Give me my money’s worth!” The professor barks out in quick succession, as if he’s grilling some students on a graded recitation.
“Why are you asking us… single men… for proposal ideas?” Sihtric quips, earning a chuckle from Edward.
“You know what, why don’t you start with a classic?” Osferth starts before pausing for a quick drink. “Romantic dinner… Ring in the dessert?”
“Wait… do you even have the ring already? Can we see?” Edward asks, making his father’s face light up with excitement. Alfred darts back to their bedroom to retrieve the little velvet box that he’s been hiding in his sock drawer for quite some time.
Alfred carefully opens the box to reveal a beautiful silver ring that he had custom made for Uhtred. It has a thick band with a twisted rose vine design, with a simple fleur de lis studded on the center. It looks quite unusual for an engagement ring, but it makes perfect sense for Alfred and Uhtred.
The rest of the men in Alfred’s kitchen seem to agree, if their stunned faces were anything to go by.
“It’s gorgeous, Dad… Uhtred will love it.” Edward says with a smile.
“Thank you, Edward.” Alfred caresses his son’s cheek, as if to convey his gratitude for his son’s unsaid approval for his desire to be married again. “I love you. And Aethelflaed. This doesn’t change anything, you know that.”
“I love you too, Dad. I’m sure Aethelflaed does too.”
Alfred closes the little velvet box and puts it back in its hiding place. While he is out of the kitchen, the young men share a knowing look.
“Five bucks on Alfred royally fucking up.” Finan whispers, making Sihtric giggle and Edward gasp dramatically.
“That is my father! How dare you bet on my father and your best friend getting engaged… with only five bucks? Make it one hundred you bitch. I’m betting that my dad will lose the ring and propose anyway.” Edward snaps, making Sihtric laugh even louder.
“I hope you’re ready to lose your money… My suggestion is classic for a reason.” Osferth says right before Alfred returns to the kitchen with a goofy smile on his face.
“We’ll see about that.” Edward flashes a knowing grin at Osferth, while Alfred is just confused.
“See what? What are you talking about?”
“Nothing to worry your pretty little head, lover boy.” Finan says with Edward’s grin mirrored on his own face.
Two weeks later, Finan gets a frantic call from Uhtred, saying that they’re in the hospital because Alfred started to choke really bad while having dessert on their date night. Of course, the rest of the gang went along to make sure that Alfred’s okay, but Osferth and Edward still begrudgingly hand Finan some cash. Alfred is too overwhelmed to understand any of it, he’s just relieved that he didn’t accidentally swallow the ring. That would be mortifying.
Alfred was sulking the next time Edward, Finan, Sihtric, and Osferth came over. It’s been a few days since the choking disaster and Uhtred is still a little worried for Alfred, fussing over him like he’s going to do something stupid and end up turning purple and gasping for air again. Alfred was able to reassure him that it’s okay to leave for work today because Edward and their friends are coming over and he won't be left to his own disastrous devices.
“I cannot believe that it went down as bad as it did.” Finan says through a mouthful of popcorn, never learning from the dangers of choking from Alfred’s recent plight. “It’s like you went through a bunch of options and chose the worst one possible.”
“I was so nervous trying to remember what I was gonna say that I took huge bites of the dessert, forgetting that the ring was in there!” Alfred shoves his face in his hands and groans loudly. “Uhtred was so scared… I never want to see him that scared ever again.”
Osferth coos at the fact that Alfred’s first concern was Uhtred, even at the threat of choking to death.
“So… what’s next, man? Will you still propose?” Sihtric had to know. Alfred makes a disgruntled noise, as if not proposing to Uhtred is just so offensive to even consider.
“I swear to god, this proposal will happen even if it kills me!”
Alfred hears the familiar clang of keys against the little silver dish on the counter a little too late.
“Proposal? Imminent deaths? What’s happening here, guys?” Uhtred dumps his bag on the floor and peels off his parka before cozying up next to Alfred on the sofa. Their friends sit there in stunned silence, frantically trying to communicate through pointed looks. Finan panics and spits out the first thing he can think of.
“I WAS THINKING ABOUT PROPOSING TO OSFERTH!”
WHAT.
“You motherfuckers! I had no idea you were even together to begin with!” Uhtred yelps delightedly, and behind him Osferth mouths “...me too?!”
Edward doubles over, trying to stop himself from laughing out loud. Alfred is petrified at how disastrous things turned out to be. It’s like the universe itself is trying to get in the way of a safe and sane proposal.
“I am so happy for you!” Uhtred sweeps Finan and Osferth into a tight hug, while Osferth makes a slashing gesture at his own neck. Edward sees it and howls with laughter, this time wiping away tears.
They spend the rest of the night watching romcom movies at Uhtred’ request, the only person in the group who’s blissfully unaware how chaotic the situation really is. As Uhtred snuggles into Alfred’s arms, Edward pats his father’s back, as if to say that things will be alright.
But he’ll probably laugh about it first.
Spending so much time of the semestral break at home wracking his brain for proposal ideas is starting to get to Alfred’s head. He can’t talk to anyone about his frustrations outside of Edward, Finan, Sihtric, and Osferth, but he obviously can’t have those four coming over all of the time. As much as he loves his son and their close friends, constantly having their chaotic energy around would absolutely drive him crazier than he already is.
So tonight, Alfred finds himself venting to the one person who knows him better than he knew himself - Aelswith. She now owns the local watering hole with her partner, Eadith.
“Oh, Alfred… as much as I sympathize with your struggles, I must say that I love seeing you like this.” Eadith pats Alfred’s arm as he slides a mug of beer over to him. Alfred raises an eyebrow, making Aelswith giggle as she finishes helping another customer.
“Alfred, dear… she isn’t enjoying your misery!” Aelswith chimes in before kissing Eadith. She twirls her once and hugs her from behind, resting her chin on Eadith’s shoulder as she continues her point. “What Eadith meant to say is that it’s refreshing to see you in love and committed again. You’re finally giving yourself a chance again, Alfred.”
There was nothing but warmth and care in Aelswith’s eyes. It’s difficult to stop caring for someone who’s held such a huge part of your life for so long, despite their role in your life changing at some point. Maybe Aelswith will forever hold that spot in his heart too, that same spot where he held Edward and Aethelflaed.
“It’s something that Uhtred wasn’t ready for me… and something you thought was for Aelswith for so long... But your loss is my gain.” Eadith chimed in before nudging Aelswith’s cheek with her nose.
Oh, yeah… Aelswith and Eadith are Alfred and Uhtred’s exes, respectively.
Their relationship actually started while Aelswith went on that long backpacking trip after their divorce was finalized. At the time, Eadith was also healing a broken heart from a breakup. Her ex, Uhtred, was terrified of commitment and they wanted different things. They started exclusively dating shortly after settling back from their backpacking trip, and months later they ran into their exes holding hands at a bookstore. The four of them had the laugh of their lives when they realized that they basically just swapped partners and had their queer realizations after leaving their respective long term relationships.
Today, Eadith and Aelswith are Uhtred and Alfred’s closest couple friends. Aethelflaed and Edward call them moms and dads all the same.
“Don’t dwell on it too much, darling. You don’t need an over the top proposal… Uhtred is so in love with you, he’s bound to say yes. It’s going to be okay.” Eadith gently caresses Alfred’s cheek and he melts into the touch.
With the proposal anxiety finally off his shoulders, Alfred is finally able to enjoy his night. He stays with Aelswith and Eadith until closing time, the couple graciously offering to walk a drunk Alfred home after firing a quick text to Uhtred.
Uhtred came home that night to an empty apartment.
There’s a note stuck to the fridge in Alfred’s neat handwriting, informing him that he’ll be paying Aelswith and Eadith a quick visit and he might be home late. Uhtred doesn’t mind, he knows that Alfred needed the time to unwind. He’s noticed that Alfred has been on the edge lately. At this point, Uhtred is just glad that Alfred is reaching out for support, regardless of who it’s from.
After fixing himself a mug of hot chocolate, Uhtred retreats to his shared bedroom with Alfred. He decided to sketch some designs on his tablet, maybe he can release a few flash sheets for the tattoo parlor. People have spending money during the holidays, and people with money (sometimes tipsy after Christmas parties) often trickle through his shop, and instead of a random symbol they would regret, maybe Uhtred can offer them a piece of his art just to scratch that itch for a tattoo.
A few hours and a text from Eadith later, Uhtred opens the door to an obviously drunk Alfred, who was leaning on Aelswith for support.
“We believe this one’s yours?” Aelswith says with a giggle.
“Are you sure you don’t want him back?” Uhtred teases, making Alfred whine and make grabby hands at him.
“Sorry, darling… you’re stuck with him now. Forever, we hope?” Eadith says with a wink. Alfred whines again into Uhtred’s neck, who just laughs fondly.
“Thank you guys for bringing him home, I hope you all had fun?”
“Always, honey. Good night!"
Half an hour later, Uhtred tucks Alfred into bed.
“I love you, Uhtred.” Alfred slurs his words a little, but it all sounds so endearing to Uhtred.
“I love you too, Alfred.”
Alfred decides to heed Eadith’s advice not to overthink the entire proposal. Deep in his heart, he agrees that when the time is right, he’ll feel it. Their love is stable and patient enough to wait for that.
The perfect timing presented itself one night after they went out for a walk. For once, Alfred felt like the universe wasn’t sabotaging him anymore. From the lovely weather, to the snowflakes lightly kissing Alfred’s eyelashes, down to the cute stray cat who stopped by to say hello. Everything felt right.
The moment they got home, Alfred went straight to his sock drawer to retrieve the ring, his hands shaking with excitement. Uhtred went to fix Freya’s dinner, a task so mundane compared to the life altering question that Alfred’s gearing up for.
Alfred’s excitement, however, morphs into abject horror when he can’t find the little velvet box. So much for the universe no longer sabotaging him.
Alfred pulls the entire drawer out and dumps the contents on the bed. He does the same with the rest of the drawers until the bed is covered with their entire wardrobe’s worth of clothes.
Still no velvet ring box.
Alfred feels like he can’t breathe at this point, his eyes getting blurry with panicked tears. And the worst thing about it all is that he can’t ask Uhtred for help, the one person he runs to whenever he’s spiraling.
Twenty minutes later, or after what felt like an agonizing eternity to Alfred, Uhtred enters the room.
“Hey, love… what’s going on?” Uhtred reaches out to Alfred, who’s still frantically searching their overturned drawers and cabinets. Alfred does not respond.
“Alfred? Love? You’re scaring me.” Uhtred’s voice brimmed with fear.
Alfred finally faces Uhtred, feeling utterly defeated.
“I’m so sorry, Uhtred… I planned this way better in my head, but I lost the ring, and now-”
“Oh, a ring?! Did you mean this?!” Uhtred fishes out a small mesh drawstring bag from his pocket, revealing the ring that Alfred was desperately looking for the entire time. The color drains from Alfred’s face as he smacks the little thing from Uhtred’s hands and it bounces on the bed. Alfred dives after it immediately, bizarrely reminding Uhtred of Freya.
“Why do you have this?!” Alfred emerged from the mountain of clothes, the ring gripped in his shaking hand. His eyes were blown wide out of panic as tears streamed down his cheeks.
“I… I don’t know… I found it in your sock drawer and thought it was pretty…” Uhtred looks like he’s about to cry as well.
“Alfred, are you okay? I’m sorry I took the ring… I was just sketching some flash designs and thought I could use it as inspiration? I’m really sorry, I’m sorry…”
Alfred laughs, a little hysterically.
“Edward was right, you’d love the damn thing.”
Alfred feels like he’s going to explode into a thousand tiny pieces if this man won’t agree to marry him already.
He grabs Uhtred’s face and crashes their lips together, releasing all the frustration and love into the searing kiss. Alfred breaks the kiss to retrieve the ring from the little drawstring bag, shoving it straight onto Uhtred’s ring finger.
“Uhtred Ragnarson, I know this isn’t the perfect proposal that you deserve, but if I spend one more second not being engaged to you, I will fucking explode. You’re gonna have to scrub bits of Alfred viscera from the walls. Fuck.”
Uhtred’s jaw drops and Alfred kisses him again, hungrily.
“You’ll marry me… yeah?” Alfred asks with bated breath and Uhtred giggles.
“Well, since you asked so nicely…”
They kiss yet again, for the first time as an engaged couple.
The next morning, Edward squeals in delight as Alfred tells him the entire proposal story. Finan and Osferth owe him a lot of money.