#xmas fic bonanza 2023

[randomoranges]

betchu y'all thought they were totes gonna tell éts fam at xmas, huh? well, guess again :)

Text Me Merry Christmas

November 2023

“Hey, d’you have a minute for a call? Can we talk about Xmas?” The text message reads.

It’s not that Étienne’s heart stills, but it does a funny leap in his chest. He fears the worst for a moment and that Edward is going to tell him that he can’t make it, or that he really does not want to spend the holidays with him and his family and would much rather spend it cocooning with Calvin, and that really, what a waste of time it would be to fly back to Montréal to see him – or something.

“Sure, I’m not doing much.” He writes back, even though he had been just about to start his laundry. It could wait, clearly.

Étienne settles himself on his living room couch and waits for the call that comes a moment later.

“What’s up?” He asks, trying to sound very casual and the likes without hinting at the way his mind is spinning in nineteen different directions.

“So, I know we’d flirted with the idea of telling your family that we’re together when I was last in town, but,” And here Edward falters for a moment, as if losing his momentum, “Do we have to?”

Étienne wants to respond, however before he can, Edward continues, rambling as he is, clearly nervous and wanting to get his piece off his chest. “It’s just – I have reservations about letting them know. I know they’d be okay with it, and I don’t want you to resent me for not wanting to let them know – and maybe, really, it’s leftover internalised homophobia – or fear – or who knows! But I don’t think I’m ready to tell others…”

“You know –” Étienne tries to say, not before Edward cuts him off again.

“And, I don’t want you to think that I’m ashamed of you or of others knowing that we’re together. That’s as far from the truth as possible! But I also don’t want to find out twenty years from now that you really wanted to tell your family and that this ends up causing another rift in our relationship either. It’s just – I’m a private guy. I don’t feel, or think others need to know, and I’d hate for you to hate me for it, but I also didn’t want to spend the next twenty years resenting me either and we said we would do our best to be honest with each other.”

If Étienne tries real hard, he can almost picture Edward pacing the room that he’s in, gripping his phone with one hand and gesticulating with the other. He thinks it’s endearing and he waits a moment, in case Edward has more to say, but when his boyfriend remains quiet, he takes the chance to reassure him. “For starters, thank you for telling me all of that. I would have hated to pressure you into telling them if you don’t feel like it.”

Edward tries to interject, but Étienne goes on, “That being said; it’s fine. We don’t have to tell them. We don’t owe them shit. I won’t resent you for it and I know you’re not ashamed of me.” He shrugs, even though Edward can’t see him and picks at a piece of lint on his couch.

“Are you sure though? You were the one who brought it up…”

Étienne laughs. “Listen, I only ever wanted to tell them for very selfish reasons; notably being able to like, sit close to you or some such and not having it turn into a thing. But, I can totally do that before and after we go to Jacques’, so it’s fine. Plus, they don’t need to know. If my family was this concerned or interested in my life, they would check-in more often instead of just treating me like some diseased alien. So, don’t worry about it; I promise it’s fine.” He reiterates.

Anyways, it isn’t as if he’s close with his family, other than Élyse. They have never really shown that they care about him beyond platitudes and thus, he’s always kept his private life from them. He doesn’t need to share anything with them if they’ll just use it against him later. He’s lived his life this way for decades now, there’s no real point in changing on a whim. This can remain between him and Edward and he’ll be perfectly content.

“It’s not that I don’t believe you, but aren’t you the one who’s always going on about living your authentic self and such? Wouldn’t this be the complete opposite?”

Edward has a point. He has brought it up a multitude of times over their prolonged friendship and Étienne did in fact try and live up to those standards. He never – shies away from being himself and doesn’t let other people’s opinions get to him. Or, so he tells himself, even though, there are times when it is easier said than done.

He’s also pestered Edward about it, way back when Edward had still been in the closet. Étienne wonders if his boyfriend isn’t referring to that in particular.

“Alright, how about, if ever I get to a point where it bothers me, I will let you know, and we can revisit? Let’s actually be adults about this and talk about it, if we ever want to change things instead of keeping our thoughts to ourselves.”

Edward chuckles and Étienne’s pretty sure they won’t come to another misunderstanding over this in twenty odd years.

“Yeah, that sounds like a good compromise, but I’ll hold you to it, Maisonneuve. If anything, I know how complicated dealing with family can be, so thanks for being understanding.”

“Don’t mention it, really. For selfish reasons, I just want to spend as much time as I can with you. The rest, or how, doesn’t matter.” He pauses, an idea forming in the back of his head, “Or, we can always just fuck off to Mexico for the holidays instead.”

They both laugh at the thought.

“Don’t tempt me, Bouclé, or I’ll take you up on the offer.”

Étienne grins, “Maybe that was my plan after all.”

“You would concoct such a crazy scheme. Well, I guess I’ll see you soon then.”

Étienne’s grin turns into a soft smile at the thought of seeing Edward again in a few short weeks. It will be nice to spend the holidays with him and the rest really doesn’t matter. Maybe, one day, he’ll feel the need to tell the rest of his family, but right now, he’s okay with keeping his secret to himself for a little longer. His family doesn’t get to share in this wonderful thing just yet.

“Can’t wait.” He says, before they both hang up with promises of talking again soon.

Fin