Chapter Text
Alastor’s whole body shook as the plane’s wheels hit and bounced on the runway, landing, he stared out the window (he was in the middle seat but he could look past Vincent’s head as his boyfriend also stared out the window) as the plane went from going very fast to almost stagnant. He squeezed Vincent’s larger hand, Vincent argued that his hands “weren’t that much bigger” than Alastor’s but he disagreed, as he felt his body tense up.
He wasn’t scared of flying, he had flown before, obviously. He just didn’t like the feeling of flying. Humans didn’t belong in the sky.
Alastor felt Vincent’s thumb rub against his hand, his boyfriend turned his head to stare at him with his heterochromic eyes.
“Are you okay?” he asked, lifting one of the headphones off of his ear so he could hear Alastor.
The pale young man had been checking in on him during the entire flight, obviously, as Alastor had been squeezing his hand whenever they hit turbulence.
“Yes, I’m alright, thank you,” Alastor replied.
“We’ve landed, so we’ll just be waiting for a bit and then we’ll be on our way,” Vincent was saying, hand moved to rub Alastor’s arm. “I’ll text my grandpa, to let him know we’ve landed.”
Vincent withdrew his hand to pull his phone out of his pocket, obviously texting his grandfather.
“Mm. Are you worried?” he asked.
“About…?” Alastor prompted.
“Meeting my grandpa and sister?”
“No… well… maybe a little bit.”
Vincent hummed and Alastor felt the hand return to his arm.
“You’re allowed to be worried but it’ll be fine,” his boyfriend assured him. “Grandpa and Lizzie will love you.”
Alastor knew that he had no reason to worry but this was an unfamiliar location and scenario. He was also just very antsy about being away from home, away from his mother, even if it was just for a few days. He wouldn’t have agreed to spend the entire spring break in New York, he wouldn’t want to leave his mother alone without them, and obviously Vincent hadn’t suggested they spend the entire spring break with his grandfather and sister, just a few days…
Eventually, the pilot announced that everyone could start vacating the plane. Vincent, who had already unbuckled himself, stood up awkwardly, his neck bent because he was too tall to stand up straight. Alastor didn’t stand up yet, simply unbuckling himself, as they had to wait for the other people in the plane to get out (they were in the middle of the plane).
“Are you getting a bit antsy, sharkie?”
Vincent stared down at him. “We’ve been sitting down for three hours, my legs hurt,” he replied. “And God forbid I’m excited to see my grandfather and sister, who I haven’t seen since before Christmas.”
“Mm. Sorry, Vin, that wasn’t a very considerate thing to say, was it?” Alastor asked.
“I’d say no.”
Alastor knew Vincent missed his grandfather and sister, and his other siblings who he hadn’t seen since he had left New York back in August last year. He didn’t know if they’d be seeing Vincent’s other siblings. Alastor wasn’t sure if it would be a good or a bad thing. Vincent’s grandfather and sister Elizabeth knew about their relationship and were keeping it from Vincent’s parents but… would the even younger siblings keep it a secret, if they were to be told?
Once there was space, Alastor stood up and got into the aisle of the plane to get Vincent’s backpack out of the overhead baggage area to give it to him before grabbing his own. Soon, they were finally out of the plane, making their way through the crowded JFK Airport. It was so big and confusing and there were so many people, it made Alastor’s head spin. He would’ve gotten lost if he hadn’t been gripping onto Vincent’s hand tightly.
At least his boyfriend knew where they were going. He was surprised that Vincent could hold himself together in such a crowded, noisy and bright location, but he could see the twitching and hear the small grunts.
Vincent was stimming in an attempt to cope with the overstimulating environment.
His boyfriend kept focused on the task, though, dragging Alastor through the busy airport and towards the baggage collection area/exit. They didn’t have any under-plane luggage, just their backpacks, since they were only here for a few days. This was obviously just how everyone exited the airport.
The baggage claim area wasn’t as crowded as the terminal and security sections, there were still a lot of people around but they weren’t actively rubbing shoulders with everyone around them anymore.
Since most of the people in the baggage claim were standing around the treadways, waiting for their suitcases to come around, there were gaps in the crowds as they headed towards the exit. In the distance, between the crowds, his eyes rested on them.
A middle-aged white man with grey hair styled in the classic crew cut wearing a dark green polo shirt and light brown chino shorts. Beside him, a young white teenage girl with long mousy brown hair, it was not tied up but it was held behind her head with a purple headband, she was wearing a cream-coloured shirt with purple and green floral patterns and jeans.
The girl was holding up a tabloid piece of paper horizontally, on the piece of paper, written in what was very swirly handwriting, in different coloured letters, was his and Vincent’s names, along with doodles of flowers and hearts (and a shark).
Vincent saw them too, holding Alastor’s hand even tighter as he pulled him through the parting crowd faster, towards the middle-aged man and teenage girl, who noticed them as they approached. The brown-haired girl passed the piece of paper to the middle-aged man and began running towards them. She ran directly into Vincent, wrapping her arms around him, very tightly, so tightly that Vincent released Alastor’s hand. Now that she was close, Alastor realised that she was almost as tall as him… which didn’t make him insecure at all.
“Vinnie!” Elizabeth was very excited to see her older brother, so excited in fact that she had not yet acknowledged Alastor but that was fine… she was just focused on Vincent at the moment. “I’m so happy to see you again!”
“It’s-” Vincent’s voice sounded strained, probably due to the tight hold he was in. “It’s good to see you too!”
“Woah,” the voice of Vincent’s grandfather grew louder as he caught up to Elizabeth. “Don’t crush him, Lizzie.”
Vincent let out a small breath when his sister released him. “Hi, Grandpa.”
The middle-aged man, who stood about an inch taller than Vincent, ruffled his grandson’s hair. “Hey, kiddo.”
Alastor didn’t know why he felt himself burning up inside. This was familial affection, it did not threaten his and Vincent’s relationship. Vincent had never once been jealous of Alastor’s close bond with his mother, it would be ridiculous for Alastor to be jealous of Vincent’s loving relationship with his grandfather and siblings…
He wasn’t jealous.
Before Alastor could feel too awkward, Vincent gestured towards him. “This is Alastor… but… you already knew that,” his boyfriend looked at him, then gestured to his grandfather and sister. “Al, this is my grandpa and sister Elizabeth… but…”
“But I already knew that?” Alastor finished his sentence.
“Yea…”
Alastor hummed, amused, he held his smile because he prided himself on being polite, despite his mounting nerves. Not nerves. He wasn’t worried right now and his heart wasn’t beating with intensity.
“Hello,” he kept his voice steady, it was something he had learnt to do for years, and he had been working harder to do so more recently, as his voice had begun deepening and he did not want to have an embarrassing voice break. “It is a pleasure to meet you.” His attention turned directly to Vincen’s grandfather, holding out his hand. “Mr Whittman.”
“Oh, there’s no need for that, buddy,” the middle-aged man grasped his hand and shook it. His grip wasn’t tight, just firm. “You can just call me Raymond, or Ray.”
“Okay… Raymond.”
Ray felt too… familiar for someone he had just met. It implied a bond he did not yet have with the man.
After the pleasantries, they headed out of the airport and to the parking lot. Alastor was revealed when Vincent grabbed his hand again as they walked. He really didn’t understand why he was feeling this way. There was no real reason to be so on edge. As they walked through the parking lot, Elizabeth was rambling to Vincent about the boy in her class that she intended to date.
Soon, they found the car, a dark blue Toyota Corolla. Vincent allowed Elizabeth to have the front seat, which Alastor was thankful for, so he and Vincent could sit in the back seats together.
Alastor sat in mostly silence, trying to pinpoint what he was feeling and why he was feeling that way. He stared out the window, observing the change as they travelled from the airport to the bustling streets of Manhattan. The amount of traffic and people wandering around on the streets overwhelmed him. How did Vincent grow up in a place like this?
“Al?” He heard Vincent’s voice and felt his hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay?”
He turned his head to look at his boyfriend, who stared at him with concerned eyes.
Alastor’s tongue flicked out of his mouth for a moment. “Yes, I’m fine,” he replied. “I guess I just didn’t realise how big Manhattan was, which I guess is a stupid thing to say.”
“I don’t think it’s stupid, it’s kinda hard to picture one-point-six million people living somewhere until you see it,” Vincent replied.
“How many people live in New Orleans?” Elizabeth asked, turning her head to look at them in the backseat.
“Oh, I wouldn’t know off the top of my head…” Alastor responded. “A lot less.”
“Well, Manhattan is the most densely populated borough in New York City.”
“It definitely feels that way.”
“You get used to it.”
Alastor definitely didn’t want to get used to it. He was glad they wouldn’t be here very long. It was only a few days.
Before he could voice anything that may have sounded rude, Vincent spoke.
“We’re not gonna be going out, as much as I wanna show you all the cool stuff, we can do touristy things next time.”
“Yea, next time…”
Vincent didn’t catch the hesitancy in Alastor’s tone. It would be a while before they came back but Alastor was already wanting to back out of that visit. It didn’t make sense and it didn’t feel right, Vincent had basically abandoned his old life and had been living in New Orleans with Alastor’s mother since December and Alastor couldn’t do a measly three-day visit to New York?
Suddenly, the quiet music playing in the car cut out as a ringtone began playing very loudly, the touchscreen in the front of the car displayed the incoming call.
Elizabeth.
Which confused Alastor, because Elizabeth was obviously sitting in the front seat of the car and she wasn’t on her phone. Before either Alastor or Vincent could question it, Raymond took one of his hands off of the steering wheel to answer the call.
“Is something wrong?”
“Hi, Grandpa!” a young girl’s voice came through the speaker. “Nothing’s wrong, Abby and I were just wondering how much longer before you’d be back?”
“Oh, apologies, Mary,” Raymond replied. “We’re on our way back, we’re very close, probably ten minutes.”
“Okay! Hi, Vinnie, can’t wait to see you!”
Alastor watched Vincent open his mouth, he seemed surprised, which reassured Alastor that this hadn’t been in the plan.
“H-Hi, Mary, can’t wait to see you too.”
“Bye!”
Then the call ended, and Alastor watched Vincent’s tongue flick out of his mouth momentarily.
“You told Abby and Mary I was visiting?”
“I’ll take the blame for that one, sorry, Vinnie,” Elizabeth said. “I let it slip yesterday and they insisted on spending at least one night at Grandpa’s to see you.”
“What about…?”
“Mom and Dad still don’t know, and we didn’t tell Gideon because he wouldn’t have been able to keep it a secret.”
Vincent hummed sadly. “What did… Did you tell Abby and Mary… about Alastor?” he asked, interlocking his fingers with Alastor’s. “Becuase I assume you told them he was coming?”
Alastor was wondering the same thing, so he was glad that Vincent asked for him.
“I called him your special friend,” Elizabeth replied. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to tell them you were dating.”
“That sounds like I’m a children’s TV host and he’s my very special guest.”
“I mean… he could be. More like someone who shows up as a guest but then becomes so beloved that he is in every single episode after.”
“Are your other sisters able to keep secrets?” Alastor asked.
Elizabeth shrugged from the front seat. “I mean, yea, sure,” she responded. “I’m sure those two keep plenty of secrets from the rest of us, being twins and all, I just assumed that you guys would wanna tell them yourselves.”
It was true, Alastor did not like it when people talked about him behind his back. Not that he was too enthused to tell his boyfriend’s eleven-year-old sisters that he was dating their older brother, especially since he would be meeting them for the first time.
“I’m sure Vincent will be perfectly capable of telling them himself.”
Vincent let out a sigh. “Yea… I can do that…” he replied, clearly understanding that Alastor was telling him to do it by himself.
Alastor didn’t want to make Vincent do it himself but he was anxious about being perceived and judged. He knew that, logically, it was unlikely for him to be judged, children rarely judged you, unless it was purely abstract and not substantial. He didn’t really understand what he was so worried about.
Eventually, they drove into a paid, security parking lot. After exiting the car and the parking lot, they turned a corner and walked down a street that had skinny but tall homes (four or five stories), sharing the walls with the houses next to them. It seemed like a nice neighbourhood.
A wealthy one.
They stopped in front of one of the tall, skinny houses, it was four stories tall, though Alastor could see windows near the concrete ground so there was a fifth floor/basement too. The house was made of brick and, while there was mostly concrete surrounding it, there was a bush near the five steps worth of stairs that led to the big wooden front door.
Vincent’s grandfather walked up the steps, fiddling with his keys to unlock the door. Once the door was open, they followed him inside. Despite being a skinny house, it appeared quite long, Alastor could see the entire ground floor from the entrance. Open living, having the living room, dining room and kitchen, along with stairs going up and down (obviously, how else would you get to the other floors?).
In the living room section, there were five large photo frames, all containing collages of wedding photos. Alastor assumed that it was one for each of Raymond’s children’s weddings, as he remembered Vincent telling him that his father was one of five. Even with the small distance, he could tell that all the parties were white.
As Alastor was taking in the environment, the sound of the door shutting and locking summoned two heads poking out from behind one of the sofas. Vincent’s eleven-year-old sisters ran towards them, knocking their brother over with the amount of force they used, clearly having planned this.
The air left Vincent’s lungs as he hit the ground, then he took in a sharp inhale and burst out laughing as his sisters tickled him mercilessly, his boyfriend squirming on the wooden floor.
“St-Stop it!”
“No can do!” One of the girls, she had black hair pulled into a low ponytail, responded, voice full of glee.
“This is payment for being gone for so long,” the other girl added, she had mousy brain hair like Elizabeth and Vincent.
“Li-Liz! Al! Help me!” Vincent pleaded between his laughter.
“Sorry, Vinnie,” Elizabeth replied, she didn’t hide her amusement, “the council decided this was a fitting punishment.”
Vincent’s face was turning red. “A-Al, please!”
“Mm. I cannot argue with the council, I’m afraid,” Alastor shrugged, he couldn’t help but chuckle. He knew that Vincent was not actually stuck there, his boyfriend was perfectly capable of defending himself from a tickle assault.
“Traitor!”
The torture continued for a few more moments before the two young girls ceased their attack, standing back up so Vincent could do the same. The pale young man sighed in relief, still coming down from the laughing fit.
Alastor leaned over him. “Are you alright, Vin?” he asked.
His boyfriend sighed again. “Y-Yea…”
He offered his hand to help Vincent off, which was taken gratefully.
“Anyway,” Vincent said once he was back on his feet, straightening up his glasses, “you can already guess but these are my other sisters. Mariam,” he gestured at the black-haired girl,” and Abigail,” then he gestured at the brown-haired girl, “but everyone just calls them Mary and Abby.” He then looked at his sisters. “This is Alastor, my…” his lips pursed for a moment, as though considering his next words, “...special friend.”
Alastor had to stop himself from rolling his eyes, after Vincent’s disapproving comment on Elizabeth’s use of the phrase “special friend” now he was using it himself. Was his boyfriend incapable of announcing their relationship?
Perhaps Alastor should be more patient, Vincent had had to hide his attraction to men for years after all.
Mariam and Abigail exchanged glances with each other, before turning to Alastor. They were fraternal twins, obviously, they looked similar enough like most siblings did. Mariam had green eyes and Abigail had blue eyes, like Elizabeth, they had the same round nose, unlike Elizabeth and Vincent, whose noses were more beak-like. Something that Vincent’s sisters all had in common that they didn’t have with Vincent, was their eye shape, round, while Vincent’s eyes were more upturned.
Suddenly, Alastor was buried with a barrage of questions.
“You’re from Lousianna, right? Have you seen an alligator?”
“Are you still in college? Mom told us Vinnie dropped out.”
“Is it true that people in Louisiana celebrate anything and everything?”
“Do you have siblings? What are they like?”
“Do you have a voodoo doll?”
“Guys, how about we slow down on the questions?” Vincent suggested, effectively silencing his sisters. “Me and Al are gonna put our stuff away.”
Vincent took Alastor’s hand and led him up the stairs, to the third floor, and into one of the rooms. The room was sparse, just having a closet, a wooden box and a queen-sized bed. The bed was made with cartoon shark bedsheets. Of course.
“This is the room I used to sleep in when I lived with Grandpa,” Vincent was saying as he walked in, dumping his backpack next to the wooden box. “He always sets it up with the shark bedsheets when I stay with him,” he opened up the wooden box. “I’ve got a bunch of shark stuff in here as well.”
Alastor wasn’t really listening, he shut the door behind him. The sound of the door closing caught Vincent’s attention, as his boyfriend turned around to look at him.
“Are you okay?”
He shrugged his shoulders in a sort of defeated way. “I…” he fiddled with his own fingers. “I don’t feel like I belong here.”
Vincent seemed confused. “Oh? I’m sorry,” his boyfriend was approaching him. “Can I do anything to help you feel like you do?”
“There’s nothing you can really do, I probably should’ve expected this.”
“Can you explain so I can understand? If that’s not too difficult?”
Alastor shrugged again. “When my parents were married, my father’s family never hid their distaste for my mother, and for me,” he replied, “because we’re Creole.”
“Oh…” Vincent took Alastor’s hand. “I’m sorry, it must’ve been… scary, for you.”
“I guess it was. I shouldn’t be projecting my trauma onto your family, they seem very lovely.”
“Your feelings are valid, given how you grew up, I get why you’d be apprehensive.”
Vincent pressed a kiss into Alastor’s knuckles.
“I’m here.”
“I’m glad you are, I wouldn’t be here if you weren’t,” Alastor replied. “This is just a lot for me, I wasn’t expecting two extra people to be here.”
“I wasn’t expecting Mary and Abby either.”
“And… I wasn’t expecting my assumption of you to be true.”
“What assumption?” Vincent prompted, sounding worried.
Alastor hummed, rubbing his thumb against his boyfriend’s hand. “That you came from a rich family.”
“Oh… yea, I didn’t really mention that, did I?”
“No but it was the first assumption I made about you, when we met back in August.”
“You’re saying you didn’t expect that assumption to be true?” Vincent asked.
“Mm. I expected your family to have money… they live here after all, I just didn’t expect…” he paused. “Don’t homes like this cost millions?”
“These days? Absolutely. I don’t know how much it cost when it was built, but Grandpa inherited it from his parents, they lived here with him until they died two years ago.”
Alastor sighed internally. His boyfriend, as open-minded as he was, was still ignorant about things sometimes.
“Would your parents judge me for my economic background? Or for any of my differences?”
Vincent stared at him quizzically, as if confused by the question for a few moments. “They…” he stopped, considering his response, “would judge you regardless, I think. They judged every friend I ever had growing up, nothing was ever good enough.”
“But do you think they will judge me more for my upbringing than they would compared to said friends?” Alastor asked.
“Maybe?” Vincent admitted. “I’m not sure. I-I’m sorry, I really didn’t think about it. My parents don’t know we’re here,” he reiterated, his hand moved to cup Alastor’s cheek, “and if they did, I won’t let them say such things to you. You belong here, with me.”
He leaned into the touch, gently holding Vincent’s wrist, letting out a small breath. “Thank you, dear, I am very happy to be your…” his next words held a hint of sarcasm, “special friend.”
While Vincent often didn’t catch sarcasm, he caught the usage of those words, his eyes widened in realisation as his cheeks turned a little red.
“I’m sorry I said that…” he apologised. “I was going to say boyfriend but then I got anxious, I-I don’t know why, it’s not you, it probably would’ve happened with any guy.”
“Are you going to tell them, though?” Alastor asked.
“I will, don’t worry, they’re old enough to understand that they need to hide it from Mom and Dad.”
“Alright, don’t worry too much, though. I’m not that annoyed about it, I found it amusing.”
“I’m still sorry,” Vincent repeated. “I love you, okay? If anything happens, I’m on your side, okay?”
Alastor hummed, stifling a few chuckles as Vincent pressed a few kisses onto his face, jaw and neck, his boyfriend’s lips tickling his skin. The worry inside him subsided slightly, though it was still present. A part of him felt almost guilty, that he had effectively taken Vincent away from his caring grandfather and his siblings who idolised him, even if Vincent’s parents were awful, he still had family that loved him.
No, he shouldn’t feel that way. Vincent had chosen to stay with him in New Orleans. Alastor shouldn’t feel the need to compete with Vincent’s family, because he didn’t need to. He shouldn’t feel threatened by them, nor should he dislike them. His boyfriend had chosen him and would choose him over any of them. Not that Alastor would make him choose.
Alastor wanted to have a good relationship with Vincent’s family, at least the ones Vincent valued. If he were to have the displeasure of meeting his (future) parents-in-laws at some point, and he probably would, he would not have a good relationship with them. He would dislike them as much as humanly possible.
At some point, Vincent ceased kissing Alastor and was now simply holding their foreheads together.
“Are you ready to go back downstairs?” he asked. “My sisters are probably going to want me to do a braid train with them and Lizzie told me she’s been wanting to practice her newfound interest in makeup on my face.”
“I didn’t think you’d be the type to enjoy makeup,” Alastor commented.
“Never had it on before but, ya know, having three younger sisters I should’ve expected the day to arrive at some point and Lizzie’s a teen so it’s happening now. Besides, we used to paint each other’s nails all the time, gossip and shit.”
Alastor looked at him silently for a few moments, him not saying anything prompted Vincent to speak again.
“Is there a problem?”
“What? No, no, of course not,” Alastor replied.
Vincent chuckled. “Oh, I see, you’re jealous that I’ll be prettier than you,” he teased.
Alastor tilted his head. “That would take a lot of work and I don’t think your sister is that talented.”
“Okay, okay, I concede, you’re the pretty prince and I’m the ugly creature.”
“You’re not ugly, Vin, I think you’re very cute.”
“Mm. Only if you say so, babe.”
Alastor knew that Vincent was joking when he said such things but he also knew that the jokes held kernels of truth, that they were ways for Vincent to make himself feel better, “joking” about how he was ugly, because part of him felt that way. Vincent was insecure, Alastor knew this, about a lot of things. All he could do was offer reassurance, just as Vincent did for him when Alastor was feeling insecure.
“I do say so,” he reaffirmed, “and yes, I suppose we can go back downstairs now.”
“Okay,” Vincent gave him one final peck on the lips. “Let’s go.”
Alastor had no reason to be jealous, he knew he should be holding sympathies with his boyfriend, who hadn’t seen his grandfather and Elizabeth since December, and hadn’t seen his other two sisters since August. He couldn’t imagine not seeing his own mother for over four to seven months, not even having contact with her ( he knew that Vincent did not have direct contact with his two youngest sisters, as they did not have phones).
This trip was for Vincent, to see the family he loved and missed. It wasn’t about Alastor.
He was there because Raymond and Elizabeth wanted to meet him, and because Vincent wanted him to meet them.
If it had been up to Alastor, they probably wouldn’t have come, but… he loved Vincent and wanted him to be happy. So he’d put up with the short trip, and would try to make the most of it.
Alastor would try to bond with the Whittmans.