Chapter Text
“Explain.”
Armand looks away; he’s doing that little self-soothing thing with his thumb that he does when he’s bothered by something. “I’m hosting Christmas this year. Father may be under the assumption that I have a partner.”
Daniel stares at Armand. “You’re hosting Christmas.”
Armand’s gaze swings round to land on him defiantly. “Yes.”
“Why? I thought you only did Christmas for me.”
There’s only been a handful of times that he’s met Marius. From what he understands, Armand’s birth parents had been Muslim, and Marius had incorporated those holidays into their family while still celebrating Christian holidays as well. After Armand moved out, he’d stopped celebrating them.
In all the years they had been together, Daniel has never spent a holiday with them. Armand doesn’t like to talk about them much, in that way that getting Armand to share things about himself was always difficult. From what he’s gathered, Armand and his dad had a complicated relationship.
“Father asked if I’ll be joining him; he asks every year. This year I said yes.”
“You never told me your dad invited you to Christmas.”
Armand’s brow furrows. “Why would I?”
Daniel wants to shake him. He knows damn well what Daniel means. “I wouldn’t have minded, is all I’m saying. Spending a Christmas with your dad. I actually think he…doesn’t hate me.”
He isn’t exactly sure how Marius feels about him. One of those times they met Daniel had been very drunk, and possibly also high, he can’t remember. He hadn’t been expecting Marius, that’s for certain. Marius and he had gotten to chatting, and Daniel may have accidentally flirted with him. It wasn’t serious or anything, just that jokey way he sometimes flirted with straight guys.
Except Marius had sort of gotten a look. Like maybe he thought about it for a second. He didn’t say or do anything, of course not. Nothing in his behavior indicated anything inappropriate. But Daniel knows what he saw.
“Father likes you; he thinks you’re clever,” Armand says simply.
“He does?”
“Yes, he reads your work occasionally.”
Daniel drums his fingers on his knees. “So how are we going to explain the whole me being married for awhile there thing?”
Armand shrugs lightly. “The truth, to a point. We’ll say our reconciliation was the reason for the divorce. We’ve been together since.”
“Sounds simple enough,” Daniel says, then blurts “Why does your dad think you have a boyfriend?”
“He made an assumption I didn’t correct.”
It’s a bullshit nonanswer, but Daniel can tell it’s all he’s getting for now. “Fine, whatever. Why isn’t your dad hosting?”
“A tree fell through the roof of the guest bathroom.”
Ok, that held up as an excuse.
“You know, this is the perfect cheesy holiday rom-rom set up,” Daniel says, testing the waters. Heck, if he was going to be spending time around Armand, there was a chance Armand might start to feel something for him again. The look Armand sends him makes him want to shrivel up and die. “Or not.”
“You can sleep in your old office until the others arrive, then you’ll have to sleep in my room.”
Daniel hadn’t thought about sleeping arrangements–he sort of just assumed he’d crash in one of the guest rooms. But those are going to be used for actual guests. “What’d you ever do with my office anyway?”
“I left it as it was.”
Daniel’s chest tightens a little. “Why?”
“It’s a serviceable office. I use it to work from home.”
That’s bullshit, because Daniel knows Armand has a small office attached to their bedroom he works in. Daniel’s seen him there working at night; he remembers times when he’d wake up and see the light shining from under the door where Armand was working late. He’d go in and coax him to bed so he could sleep. Not that Armand ever slept much at night–he was damn near nocturnal.
It turned out to be fine, seeing as he did a lot of work with people in different time zones. He was an investment banker for Collingsworth Pharmaceuticals, typically handling mergers. Or corporate takeovers; Armand was a fucking shark.
“I have an afternoon meeting to get ready for.” Armand stands and pulls out his wallet. He drops a black credit card on the table. “Take this and get holiday decorations for the house. You can manage decorating on your own, yes?”
The house was huge for New York, but Daniel didn’t want to let Armand down. He would make this place look spectacular. “Yeah, no problem.”
“Good, I’ll see you when I get back tonight.”
Daniel watches Armand walk away and sighs. Living with him is going to be torture, but that’s okay. If he’s lucky, maybe there will be a Christmas miracle and Armand will fall back in love with him.
But he isn’t going to hold his breath.