Title: Meet the Saroyans
Author: AccordingToMel
Summary: "So are you ready for a night of hell?" she asks. Hodgins laughs, but stops a few moments later when he sees that she isn't laughing with him. "Oh. You were being serious," he remarks. – Hodgins spends Christmas Eve with the Saroyans. Sequel to "An Observable Truth"
Characters/Pairings: Cadgins (Cam/Hodgins)
Rating: T (PG-13)
Spoilers: General season 4.
Word Count: 9, 109
Disclaimer: I do not own. But man would I have some fun with these guys if I did!
Author's note: So it's here at last – the long awaited sequel to "An Observable Truth". Well, long awaited for about 5 people, but that's better than none! Sorry for the cheesy title. I used that just to identify the saved file, and then somehow became attached to it. As always, constructive criticism is always welcome. I hope you enjoy, and thanks for reading!
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Cam leaves her house a little early on the day of her Christmas Eve dinner with the family to ensure that she has enough time to find Hodgins' place and get back to her parent's house before dinner. She is both anticipating and dreading this evening, as she knows that her family is not easy to be around. Once again she silently thanks Hodgins for being a saint, though she doesn't know if even he has the strength to deal with the Saroyans.
When Cam pulls up at Hodgins's home, she is completely stunned at its sheer size. Cam thought she had a moderately large home, but nothing in her wildest imagination could have prepared her for the sight of this place. She pulls up to the front of the house, and is about to get out of the car when she see Hodgins opening his front door. She waits for him while he quickly locks the door and comes down the long walkway, jumping into the passenger side of her car.
"Hey," he greets with a friendly smile.
"Hey yourself," Cam says back, glancing from him to his house and back again. "Nice place. You could probably house an army in there."
Hodgins shrugs as if it's nothing. "It looks bigger from the outside."
"You'll have to show me the inside some time," she says, without really thinking. Hodgins gets a mischievous look on his face and raises both eyebrows suggestively.
"I'll keep that in mind," he jokes with a smirk.
Cam rolls her eyes humorously and smiles back, ignoring him completely. Shifting her car into gear, she pulls away from Hodgins' beautiful mansion and heads in the direction of her parent's home.
"So are you ready for a night of hell?" she asks instead.
Hodgins laughs, but stops a few moments later when he sees that she isn't laughing with him. "Oh. You were being serious," he remarks.
"I sure was," Cam admits, but this time she's smiling.
Hodgins wants to tell her that any evening spent in her company couldn't possibly come close to hell, but instead he goes with, "Believe me, I'm sure I've dealt with worse before."
"We'll see what you say after tonight, but all right."
They spend the next couple of minutes in silence, Cam paying attention to the road and Hodgins alternating between staring out the window and sneaking glances at his companion. He can't help but notice that she's looking particularly good tonight and makes a mental note to tell her that at some point.
After a couple more minutes pass, Cam remembers that she needs to brief Hodgins on her family before they arrive at her parent's home.
"Okay, so here's what you need to know," Cam begins, glancing at Hodgins quickly before returning her focus to the road once again. "This is the Coles notes version, but you'd better pay attention."
"You sound so serious," Hodgins remarks with a half smile.
"This is serious," Cam informs him. "Anyway, Felicia lives to try and outdo me. For example, when we were younger, if I ever bought a sweater, she would buy a nicer one. If I got 90% on a test, she would get 95% on the next one. If I got a job at a clothing store, she would get a job at the bigger and better competitor's store. If I had a boyfriend, she would try and steal him away from me. Doesn't matter what I do, she will always try and take things one step further."
Hodgins whistles softly, shaking his head. "Wow. No offence, but your sister sounds like a bitch."
Cam chuckles softly and nods. "Yeah, something like that. Anyway, Felicia will most definitely try and hit on you tonight, so be on your guard."
"Seriously? That seems awfully low," Hodgins tells her.
"Did you already forget what she did to Booth?" Cam asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Touché," Hodgins responds. "So what about the rest of them?"
"Well, my father is a big, scary looking man. He's not really all that scary, but he'll definitely try and intimidate you," she tells him, glancing quickly at Hodgins to see his reaction.
"Excellent," comes his reply, though he looks less frightened then she thought he would be. "Is there anything else I should know about him?"
"He's incredibly blunt and will probably ask you a million questions that you likely don't want to answer. But you kind of need to answer, because he won't let it go until he knows what he wants to know. He's well intentioned, but kind of lacks tact. Are you still sure about this?" she asks again.
"Well, now that you mention it…" Hodgins begins, and Cam shoots him a look that could kill. He starts to laugh instead. "I'm just kidding Cam," he admits with a smile. "What about your mom?"
Cam releases the breath she didn't even know she'd been holding. "My mom is a saint in comparison to the other two. She nags me a lot about not settling down and working in such a 'dangerous' job, but she's generally patient and has more social skills then my dad and Felicia combined."
Hodgins nods as his brain works to fully take in all the information that was just presented to him. "Okay, I think I've got it." He holds up one hand and counts off each point on his fingers. "Your sister will try and hit on me. Your dad will ask me tons of questions that I may not want to answer. I have to answer them anyway. Your mom will nag you but generally leave me alone. Does that about cover it?"
"Yup, I think so," Cam informs him. She's surprised that he hasn't tried to run away yet, but she is genuinely happy that he'll be here this evening. This might be her best Christmas Eve dinner in a long time, if her family doesn't scare Hodgins away before the end of the night.
A couple minutes later, Cam pulls onto her parent's street and begins to slow the car just before reaching the correct house.
"So is there anything you wanted to ask before we go in there?" Cam asks as she puts the car into park and shuts off the ignition.
"Yeah, there is," Hodgins admits. He's looking right at her, and waits until Cam adjusts herself so she is also facing him. "What exactly is going on between us?"
Cam's eyes widen at the question, and Hodgins immediately fumbles to clarify what he meant. "I mean, what have you told your family? Or what are we telling them about us? Or, uh, you and me being here together…or whatever?"
Hodgins is pretty sure that he couldn't have handled that with any less grace then he just did.
"I just told them I was bringing a date. I didn't clarify anything," Cam shares with him, and Hodgins can't help but feel a little disappointed at the admission.
"Are you ready to go?" Cam asks him. Hodgins nods and they both open their doors and step out of the car. Cam moves to the trunk and removes several bags filled with wrapped presents. Hodgins immediately offers to take a couple of the bags and Cam gladly hands them over. Hodgins smiles and offers his other arm for Cam to grab onto, which she gladly does, wondering just exactly how this evening is going to play out as they make their way to the front door.
*****
Hodgins doesn't realize that he's nervous until they're standing on the front step and Cam is pressing the doorbell. He feels his heart begin to beat a bit faster and wonders if he'll be able to pull it together and get through the evening. He doesn't want to disappoint Cam, but he doesn't exactly have the strongest track record when it comes to parents.
He is interrupted mid-thought by the front door swinging open to reveal a smiling woman with long dark hair pulled up in a ponytail and glasses. An apron covers a pair of black slacks and a red sweater.
"Hi Mom," Cam says, and lets go of Hodgins' arm to give her mother a hug. Hodgins is surprised at how young Cam's mother looks, and can definitely see where the Saroyan girls get their good looks from.
"Hi sweetheart," Mrs. Saroyan responds, ushering the two of them into the house.
Turning to Hodgins, she quickly looks him up and down, then extends her hand. "You must be Cam's date…?"
Hodgins smiles and takes her hand, shaking it firmly. "Yeah. I'm Jack Hodgins," he tells her. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise," Mrs. Saroyan responds. "My name is Olivia. Can I take your jackets?"
Cam puts her bag full of presents and her purse on the floor in order to remove her jacket. Hodgins is about to do the same when he notices that she's still wearing his scarf from the other night. For some reason he feels a little thrill at the knowledge that she purposely wore it that evening. But he quickly snaps out of his reverie before it becomes obvious that he's staring at Cam and hands his jacket to Olivia who hangs it up in the front closet.
"Come with me," she says, and gestures towards the living room with a grand flourish. Hodgins and Cam exchange a glance before following her.
"Look who finally arrived," Olivia announces as she leads them into the spacious living room. There is a thoroughly decorated and lit Christmas tree in the corner by the front window. The dining room table is off to the right side of the room, places set and just waiting for food. A second table is against the back wall, presumably acting as the bar for the evening. And right in front of Hodgins and Cam sits one of the biggest men Hodgins has ever seen in his life. She really wasn't kidding, Hodgins muses wryly to himself. Beside him sits the woman Hodgins recognizes as Felicia, Cam's wicked sister.
"Hey Dad," Cam says, making her way over to her father as he works to stand up from the very low lazy boy chair. Hodgins is pretty sure this man is close to 7 feet tall.
He leans down and hugs Cam before even noticing Hodgins' presence. "Who are you?" he asks pointedly.
"Dad," Cam says, tugging lightly on Hodgin's arm. "This is Jack Hodgins."
The man looks Hodgins up and down, not unlike what the rest of the Saroyan family had done earlier, with a frown on his face. Hodgins feels quite uncomfortable and is pretty sure that he is not passing whatever test Mr. Saroyan had designed for him, when the older man finally speaks. "Good to meet you Jack," he says, and holds out one of his massive hands for Hodgins to shake. Hodgins reaches out and takes the man's hand, shaking it firmly. He is quite certain that Mr. Saroyan squeezes his hand a little harder than necessary, but does his best not to wince. "The name's Bill."
"Nice to meet you Bill," Hodgins manages to say over the pain. He lightly shakes that hand as his eyes come to rest on Cam's sister.
"And you already know my sister, Felicia," Cam continues, gesturing towards her sister sitting on the couch.
Hodgins nods as she gives him a flirtatious smile.
"Would you like something to drink?" Olivia asks them both with a wide smile. "We have the bar set up over by the back wall. Help yourself." She gestures towards the table on the far right side of the room.
Cam doesn't even hesitate. "Sounds like a good plan," she says, grabbing onto Hodgins' arm one more time and practically dragging him over to the drink table.
*****
Olivia calls everyone for dinner shortly after Cam and Hodgins pour themselves a drink. Hodgins is pleasantly surprised to see that the table is full of his favourite foods – turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, vegetables, and more. The meal looks beautiful and he's looking forward to eating. Somewhere between standing outside the front door and sitting down, his anxiety level has decreased and his appetite has increased.
Everyone takes a seat at the table. Bill and Olivia sit at the head of the table on opposite sides from one another. Cam and Hodgins sit on one side of the table, with Hodgins closer to Olivia, and Felicia sits across the table from Hodgins.
Once everyone has taken their seats, Olivia stands up to address the group. "We like to pray before family meals," Olivia says, though she's mostly directing her attention in Hodgins' direction.
Hodgins shrugs nonchalantly. He's okay with it as long as they're not expecting him to say anything. "That's fine with me."
Olivia holds out her hand for him to grab, and upon looking around the table, he sees that they all are holding hands. Giving Cam a little half smirk, he grabs her hand and Olivia's hand and closes his eyes. Olivia quickly prays, and then everyone starts to pass the food around. It is surprisingly quiet for the first several minutes as everyone helps themselves to the meal that Olivia prepared.
"So Jack, what line of work are you in?" Olivia finally asks him as she's passing the gravy.
"I'm an entomologist," he shares, pouring gravy over the mashed potatoes and turkey on his plate.
"And you work with Cam, right?" she clarifies.
Hodgins nods as he passes the gravy to Cam. "I do."
"So what exactly does an entomologist do?" Bill pipes up.
Hodgins attempts to explain what he does without getting too technical. But when he gets a look from Cam that clearly indicates that he's not making any sense, he sighs and decides to regroup. "Basically, I work with bugs and dirt," he tells the group, trying his best not to cringe at the use of the world 'dirt.' It is one of his least favourite words.
"Sounds fascinating," Felicia shares with a wide smile.
"Sounds messy," Bill remarks. "So how old did you say you were?"
Hodgins glances at Cam questioningly, who subtly shrugs in response. "Um, I don't think I ever said. I'm 33," Hodgins tells Bill, wondering why that's even relevant.
"Seems a little on the young side. Do you normally go after older women?"
"Dad," Cam immediately admonishes, while Hodgins struggles not to choke on the bite of food he had in his mouth.
"Really now, Bill," Olivia joins in, shooting her husband a disapproving stare. "This isn't appropriate dinner conversation."
"I think it's perfectly acceptable," Bill defends, glancing from his wife to Hodgins and back. "It's a fair enough question. It's not like I asked him about his sex life."
"Dad!" Cam interjects once again with a huge sigh. "It's really not. Can we please move on?"
Bill looks at his daughter for a moment before nodding, appearing to accept her demand. "So Jack, what are your political beliefs?"
Under the table Cam grabs onto Hodgins' arm until he turns to look at her. 'I'm sorry' she mouths. Hodgins forces himself to smile back at her. He realizes then that this is going to be a long night.
*****
"So there she is, covered from head to toe in feathers, but she's still determined to finish the routine with the rest of the squad," Felicia shares. This is the fourth story that Felicia has shared about Cam, and none of them have been anything short of completely embarrassing. Hodgins is glad that he doesn't have a sister like Felicia, though has to admit that he's kind of enjoying hearing about Cam as a youth.
Olivia and Bill have been smiling and occasionally piping in to add comments of their own. Cam is clearly putting on a good show of being okay with the sharing of these embarrassing moments, but he knows that she's close to breaking. She's already refilled her drink three times. Hodgins, terrible as it may sound, is kind of relieved to have the focus off of him for a little while.
"So what happened?" Hodgins can't help but ask. He immediately feels a kick from under the table, no doubt from Cam, but can't seem to quell his curiosity.
Felicia grins at him, and shoots a smug look in Cam's direction before continuing on. Cam glares at him once more, and he knows that it is going to be a very long night.
*****
Following dinner, everyone moves into the living room so that they are nearer to the tree, and ultimately, the presents. Olivia puts on a Santa hat and starts collecting the presents from under the tree. As she passes out the gifts to everyone, Hodgins finds himself feeling a little uncomfortable. He's starting to think that maybe he should have brought something for everyone to open too. He is incredibly shocked, however, when Olivia hands him a present.
"Do you want me to pass this to Cam?" he asks, though she's sitting right beside him, so he can't fathom why Olivia wouldn't have just handed it to her daughter like she did with all the rest.
"No, that one is for you," Olivia tells him with a smile.
Hodgins looks down at the present and then back at Olivia. "Thank you," he mutters softly. "But I didn't get anything for you. I'm sorry."
But Olivia waves him away and shakes her head. "Don't worry about it. It was my pleasure. Besides, it's nothing special."
"Just like your date," Felicia pipes up with a chuckle. Cam rolls her eyes humorously but downs the drink she's holding. Hodgins blinks and smiles politely but doesn't join in on the laughter of the rest of the family.
By the time Olivia is done handing out the presents, everyone has a nice stack in front of them. Hodgins even received a second gift from Bill, though he's a little scared to open it.
"All right, all the presents have been handed out, so go ahead and open them," Olivia announces cheerfully. Hodgins glances at Cam, who smiles back at him, before opening up the present from Olivia.
He is touched when he opens it to find a hand knitted, brown scarf and a gift certificate to one of the local book stores in his neighborhood. It is actually a very fitting gift for him, and he is immensely appreciative of the gesture. Felicia and Bill may be a bit much to handle, but Hodgins is finding he likes Olivia more and more as time goes on.
Hodgins puts the gift down on the coffee table in front of him and goes to open his second gift. This one is from Bill. It feels kind of heavy in his hands, sort of like a book, and at first glance Hodgins is surprised at the unlikely thoughtfulness of Bill Saroyan. But when he actually removes the wrapping paper he is horrified to see that it is, indeed a book – a Kama Sutra book.
Hodgins can actually feel his face reddening and is thankful that the lights are not overly bright, and no one is really paying much attention to him at the moment. It's not that he is particularly embarrassed about owning a book about the fine art of sexual positions, but the fact that it came from Cam's father is the part that greatly concerns him. Giving a book like this to a date of his daughter's holds all kinds of implications. The biggest being that Bill must assume that he and Cam are involved in a sexual relationship. Cam would die if she knew what her father had done, and Hodgins is incredibly thankful that she was not watching him as he opened the gift.
He wraps the present back in the wrapping paper and tucks it underneath the scarf and gift card, praying that no one asks him about his presents.
He instead turns his focus to watching Cam unwrap the rest of her gifts, finding the distraction soothing. And after a few minutes he's so caught up in what Cam has received that he's almost forgotten about the embarrassing book.
Almost forgotten, that is, until Cam turns her attention back to Hodgins and asks him about it. "So what did you get from my parents?"
Suddenly the room quiets and all eyes are on him. "Uh, well, I got a few very nice things. They're very much appreciated," Hodgins answers vaguely, once again praying that it was a good enough answer to avoid elaboration. He quickly meets Bill's eyes and isn't surprised to see the humour written across his face.
"That doesn't tell me anything," Cam says, reaching across the coffee table to grab his small stack of gifts. "I see mom gave you a gift card and one of her knitted scarves. How appropriate," she adds with a soft smile. No one else gets the reference, but Hodgins is too busy panicking to share in the inside joke.
"What did dad get you?" she asks, putting the scarf and gift card back on the table.
Hodgins watches as she's about to remove the already torn wrapping paper, and decides that he needs to save them both from the torture of revealing this gift to the rest of her family. "It's just a book," he tells her, snatching the present from out of her hands.
Cam gives him a confused look. "What kind of book?"
Hodgins fumbles for a quick lie. "It's a compilation book on…research."
"What kind of research?" Cam asks again, and Hodgins shoots her a despairing look that begs her to just let this go.
But fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you looked at the situation, Bill decided to step in to answer the question. "I bought him one of those Kama Sutra books. Thought it might be useful," Bill shares.
Cam looks positively horrified. "You couldn't have…" she mutters to herself, but grabs the book out of his hand and removes the wrapping paper to reveal the truth of the matter.
"Dad! Oh my God!" Cam exclaims, looking in shock between Hodgins and her dad. He's finding that he's having a hard time making eye contact with her.
She wraps up the book again quickly and shoves it right under the coffee table.
"I thought it might be helpful," Bill defends, and Hodgins thinks that he just might actually be telling the truth. The thought scares him even more than the idea that he'd done it to embarrass Hodgins.
Cam just shakes her head, looking like she's going to be sick. "I think I need to go to the bathroom," she declares, and rushes away.
Hodgins watches Cam hurry off to the bathroom and decides at that moment that he really needs a drink.
*****
Felicia has been watching him all night, like a predator stalking its prey, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Hodgins knew that the encounter was inevitable; he just didn't know when it would happen. But when Cam excuses herself to go to the bathroom – he sincerely hopes she's not in there throwing up – and he sees Felicia coming up to him out of the corner of his eye, he braces himself for the battle.
"So, how are you enjoying the Saroyan family?" she asks, brushing an arm against his as she comes to stand beside him.
Hodgins puts down the drink he was pouring and turns to face Felicia, taking a half step back in the process. "It's been an interesting experience," Hodgins tells her with a polite smile. Interesting is a little bit of an understatement, but he's certainly not going to share that with Felicia.
Felicia's face breaks out into a humorous smile. "That's one way of putting it. You're too kind, Dr. Hodgins," she says, reaching out and placing a hand gently on his arm. He distinctly notices that she's still putting an emphasis on the doctor part of his name and for some reason that bothers him more than the hand she has on his arm.
"Just call me Jack. Dr. Hodgins sounds too formal," he says, picking up his drink and taking a sip. He is eternally grateful that Cam's parents didn't skimp on the alcohol. Though he wishes at this moment that he could forget about being the newly appointed designated driver and just down a few drinks on the spot. On the other hand, Hodgins figures that it's probably better that he's mostly sober for this conversation anyway.
"Okay, Jack," Felicia says, though she's still placing emphasis on his first name. She removes her hand from his arm and leans in closer to him. It takes all of his control not to back away from her.
"So, tell me, how did someone like you end up with my sister?" she whispers conspiratorially.
Hodgins is none too impressed with the question. "What do you mean by that?" he asks, the hint of a frown forming on his features. He also notices at this time that she's wearing a vanilla scented perfume of some kind.
"I just mean that you're intelligent, affluent, attractive, and you have a great job." She pauses to flash him a flirtatious smile before continuing, "You'd be the perfect man for any woman. I'm just wondering how Cam got so lucky."
Hodgins isn't quite sure how to answer the question, considering the fact that he and Cam aren't technically together and they never decided what to say about that minor detail. He's also a little taken aback at the fact that she's called him, in essence, the perfect man. Hodgins would not agree with that assessment at all, but there is a part of him that has to admit that he is quite flattered by the compliment all the same.
He decides to go for the patented 'avoid and redirect' strategy. "Cam can hold her own just fine," he says, hoping it's enough to convince Felicia to move on.
It's not. "And you're humble too. That's an impressive personality characteristic, Jack."
He shrugs. "Thanks." His eyes dart behind Felicia, silently praying that Cam will return from the washroom. Unfortunately he's not quite so lucky.
"So how long have you been dating my sister?" Felicia asks again. She is still invading his personal space and he's starting to feel slightly uncomfortable.
"That kind of depends on how you define 'dating'," he says. But he instantly regrets the words the second they are out of his mouth. He's given her way too much information to go on.
Felicia's eyes widen and her smile brightens even more. "Wait, so you two aren't even dating? And Cam actually brought you to meet us? Wow! Either you've done something to royally piss her off, or she's really got it bad for you. We didn't even meet Seeley until they'd been together for almost six months." Her grin widens as she starts to twirl a strand of hair with her right hand.
Hodgins holds in the sigh he desperately wants to let out, wondering how he's going to talk himself out of this mess.
"It's…complicated," he admits at last, unsure of how else to explain things.
"So then, what you're really telling me," Felicia reaches up and squeezes his right bicep, "is that you're technically single."
"Well, I guess-"
But he is unable to finish the sentence, as Felicia is suddenly grabbing onto the side of his face. Hodgins instinctively wants to lean in for what he is assuming is a kiss. Until it registers in his brain that this is Felicia and this would be an incredibly stupid idea. Before Felicia is able to actually kiss him, he turns his face away from hers and grabs onto both shoulders to prevent her from making her move.
She is thoroughly unimpressed with him and pulls back to glare at him. "What are you doing?" she asks, eyes flaring with anger and annoyance.
"Stopping us from making a terrible mistake," he replies honestly.
"How could this be a terrible mistake?" Felicia demands, though it doesn't sound like she's expecting an actual answer from him. "Are you trying to tell me you don't want to kiss me?"
Hodgins is surprised at the ferocity at which she goes after what she wants. Though from what Cam told him he's not sure why he should be surprised at all. This time Felicia is waiting for an answer, though, so he decides to go for the honest but tactful approach. "It has nothing to do with you, but no, I don't want to kiss you."
"What, are you gay?" she queries instantly, frowning at him.
Hodgins shakes his head and actually lets out a small laugh. Not that he has anything against that kind of thing, but he knows he is very much attracted to women. "No, I'm definitely not gay," he informs her.
"Do you not find me attractive then?" she questions, complete with furrowed brows.
Hodgins sighs. The reality of the situation is that he does find her physically attractive. She's a beautiful woman and she obviously knows it. He can appreciate why others have had a hard time resisting her. But Hodgins doesn't work like that. He's not really sure what's going to happen with him and Cam…whether she even wants to pursue this – whatever it is – that they have. But what he does know is that no matter how beautiful the woman, he is not a cheater. And even if this thing with Cam doesn't work out, it would hurt her too much if he allowed something like this to happen.
"Yes, I find you attractive," Hodgins finally admits reluctantly.
"Then what's the problem?"
Hodgins is still holding onto her shoulders, and while she's no longer pushing against him, he isn't entirely sure that it's safe to let go yet. "The problem is that I'm here with your sister."
Felicia shrugs, as if that information is completely irrelevant. "So? You, yourself, said that you two aren't even officially together."
"That's not the point," he says, feeling frustration building.
"Then what is?" she asks, putting her hands on her hips.
Hodgins finally does let go of her shoulders and is thankful when she doesn't attempt to kiss him again. He closes his eyes momentarily and rubs at them with his right hand, trying to figure out the best way to explain this to Felicia so that she'll actually understand.
"Whether Cam and I are dating is irrelevant right now. The fact of the matter is that I agreed to attend this event as her date. Which means that I am here with Cam tonight, right now." He stops briefly to see if any of this is sinking in with Felicia. She's not saying anything, but she is watching him very closely. He figures that's better than nothing. "I don't know about tomorrow or next week, but tonight she is my date. I may be a little old fashioned, but I don't believe in going to a party with one person and then hooking up with another. That's just not how I work."
It is at this moment that he notices Cam has returned from the washroom, and he watches her as walks up to the two of them. If she's upset by the fact that they are talking, it is not obvious on her features.
"Hey," Hodgins says with a smile, moving to stand beside her. Felicia looks at him, then at Cam, then back at him one more time. He hopes she understands the subtle message he is trying to send.
"You okay?" he asks her quietly. Cam nods, but says nothing.
"So did you guys have a nice chat?" Cam asks, a hint of hesitation in her voice.
"Yeah. We were just getting to know one another better," Felicia purrs, shooting a smile in Hodgins' direction. "Isn't that right, Jack?"
Hodgins meets her gaze, trying to figure out what she's getting at. But she's not giving away any hints. So instead he returns his focus to Cam, directing his answer at her. "Yeah. Just some friendly conversation."
She looks doubtful about his answer, but shrugs and accepts it anyway. "Good to hear. Should we go back and sit down?" Hodgins nods and leads her back to the couch. He doesn't look back, but he can still feel Felicia's eyes boring into the back of his head.
*****
It doesn't take long for Cam to return to the drink table. She is pouring herself another drink when she feels someone come up beside her. She turns to see that it's Hodgins, with a concerned look on his face.
"Now I'm normally the one drinking my Christmas Eve away, so don't take this in the wrong way, but don't you think that maybe you've had enough?" Hodgins asks softly, taking the drink from her hand.
Cam stares at him as if he's just made the stupidest comment he could ever make. "This is usually how I cope with my family," she informs him. "I love them, but they're not exactly the easiest people to be around, in case you haven't noticed."
"Oh, I've noticed," Hodgins immediately remarks, giving her a faint smile. "But they're not so bad…"
She gives him a look. One that when translated would probably lead to a string of expletives. "Okay, fine," Hodgins surrenders with a shrug. "They are that bad. But are you sure getting wasted is the way to go?"
"Look, I really appreciate that you're here right now dealing with these people, but if you don't give me my drink back I might have to kick your ass. And I'm not sure how well that would go over." Cam gives him a look that says she means business and grabs the drink back from him, heading over to the couch.
Not knowing what else to do, and fearing that he might end up alone with Felicia again if he doesn't remain glued to Cam for the rest of the night, Hodgins follows her like a puppy back to the couch.
*****
"So Jack, have you ever been married?"
Hodgins raises an eyebrow and nearly coughs on his drink. "Excuse me?"
Bill shrugs. "It's a simple question. Have you ever been married?"
"No," Hodgins sputters, a hint of confused laughter in his voice. Why did Cam choose now of all times to go back and get another drink? He's also wondering why he didn't volunteer to help Olivia with the dishes. He has a feeling that this can't be good.
"Engaged?"
Hodgins stares at him, knowing that he's in trouble now. Cam told him that he'd have to answer all questions asked by her dad, so he figures he might as well get the torture over with. "Once," he admits.
"Why didn't it work out?"
"Um, it's kind of complicated," comes the reply. And he wishes – oh how he wishes – that that answer would be enough.
Unfortunately its not. "Complicated how? Were you cheating on her? Did she dump you for someone else?"
Hodgins looks at Bill incredulously. He thought that maybe Cam was exaggerating about how blunt her father is. It turns out even she couldn't really have prepared him for something like this. In all his years Hodgins had never met anyone who was this forward and inappropriate. But Cam's warning comes rushing back to him and he knows he's just going to have to suck it up and answer.
"No, I wasn't cheating on her. And she wasn't cheating on me," he adds, before Bill has a chance to ask. "Our break up was mutual. We realized that we didn't trust one another fully and decided that it would be a bad idea to continue our relationship without that fundamental aspect present."
Bill nods. "Do you still talk to this woman?"
Hodgins holds back a sigh. "Yes. We work together and are still friends."
"Do you still have feelings for her?" he asks, leaning forward in his chair like this is the ultimate answer he has been waiting for.
Hodgins considers the question for a moment, and wonders why on earth he is telling Bill all these details. Does he still love Angela? Well, he supposes there is probably a part of him that always will. But it's not in the same way as before. "I still care about her a lot, if that's what you mean. Our relationship was intense and strong. And a part of me will probably always care about her. But am I still in love with her?" Hodgins shakes his head. "No, I can honestly say that I'm not."
"Hmmm," Bill murmurs, and for the briefest of seconds, it looks like he's actually impressed. Hodgins isn't entirely sure what he was hoping to learn from this interrogation, but he's glad that he seemed to have passed that test. For now, anyway.
*****
Cam finds herself at the drink table once again. Just as she's about to leave and go back to rescue Hodgins from her father, Felicia comes up to her, with a look of determination on her face. Cam braces herself for an argument, wishing against hope that this conversation didn't have to happen.
"You know, this one's a keeper," Felicia says conspiratorially, nodding in Hodgins's direction across the room. That wasn't exactly what she was expecting her sister to say.
Cam rubs the back of her neck and looks sceptically at her sister. It's interesting, but she's not buying the act. "Coming from you, that doesn't exactly mean much Felicia," Cam tells her pointedly.
"Yeah, but get this. I flirted with him incessantly while you were in the washroom and practically threw myself at the guy."
Cam stares blankly at her sister, neither shocked nor angry at the behaviour. It was exactly what she expected, after all. "Good for you. What's your point?"
"So I'm showing him my charm, which is far more powerful then yours, I might add," Felicia says, grinning triumphantly. "And when no one's watching I make my move and go in to kiss him."
It takes all of Cam's strength not to roll her eyes and walk away from her sister. It's the same old song and dance, and she really doesn't want to hear about how Felicia made out with Hodgins – how she won once again. It always hurts, but this time there's the added bonus of it also being Christmas Eve.
"So you kissed my date. What a shock. Congratulations," Cam says, and she's proud of herself for how calm, collected and disinterested she sounds.
Cam turns to walk away, suddenly in desperate need of another drink, when she feels a hand grab her arm. "That's the thing Cam," Felicia tells her, spinning Cam so she's once again face to face with her sister.
Cam says nothing, but raises an eyebrow in silent question.
"I didn't kiss him. I tried, but he wouldn't do it," Felicia tells her quietly.
"Yeah right," comes the automatic reply. She's heard this line of bull before too.
"No, I'm serious Cam. I used my best material on him and he didn't even crack. When I tried to kiss him, he actually physically stopped me and told me he wasn't interested." Cam notes that Felicia is still whispering, and also that she appears to be quite sincere. She is actually looking at Cam and making eye contact, so she can see it in Felicia's eyes. Still, she's not quite ready to believe her sister just yet. Not only because Felicia is a chronic liar, but because of what it means for her and Hodgins if what she's saying is true.
"If that's true, then why are you telling me about it? You're not the type to admit your defeats," Cam points out truthfully.
Felicia actually looks sheepish for a moment, and Cam is pretty sure that her sister is either the world's best liar…or she really is being completely sincere.
"Exactly. I don't ever admit defeat. But that's because I'm never defeated." Cam does roll her eyes now, unable to stop the reaction this time around. "That's the entire thing," Felicia continues on unaffected. "There has never been a boyfriend of yours that I haven't been able to seduce."
Cam glares, and is so annoyed with the comment that she fails to recognize that Felicia has referred to Hodgins as her boyfriend. "Would you like a medal?"
Felicia smirks briefly. "I would be deserving of one, but no. That's not my point. What I'm trying to tell you is that your boyfriend over there completely ignored my advances because he's crazy about you. For whatever reason."
There is so much significance in that statement that Cam is not sure she can even respond to it properly. This time around she also catches the boyfriend remark and decides that it's the safer thing to comment on. "He's not technically my boyfriend," Cam informs Felicia.
"That's what he said," she mumbles, mostly to herself.
Cam raises an eyebrow questioningly. "What did you say?"
"I said then maybe he should be. 'Cause like I say, he's the only one who's ever stopped me from kissing him. That says keeper to me." Felicia shrugs and finally walks away, leaving Cam to stew in her thoughts.
*****
By the time 10:00 pm rolls around, Hodgins is quite certain that it's time to leave. If he has to answer one more of Bill's ridiculous questions, or receive another inappropriate glance from Felicia, he thinks he might scream. Plus, at the rate Cam's downing drinks like they're water, she's going to be so far gone that he'll have to carry her out of the house. He's pretty sure that she's almost at that point already. Normally he would never suggest leaving a family function early when he's not with his own family, but there is little doubt in his mind that Cam would also like nothing more then to get out of there.
"What do you say we head out?" Hodgins suggests, leaning over and whispering in her ear. She doesn't respond with words, but her eyes give him a clear answer: Yes!
"Well, Mom…Dad…I think it's about time we got going," Cam announces, taking this opportunity to stand up. However, she does so more quickly then she probably should have given her alcohol intake that evening and almost loses her balance instead. Hodgins immediately stands and reaches out a hand to her, but she ignores him and steadies herself by grabbing onto one of the end tables.
"Are you sure, honey?" Olivia asks, joining her daughter and Hodgins as they make their way around the coffee table.
"Yes, Mom. But thank you for everything!"
Olivia moves to hug her daughter. Hodgins notices that Cam's still a little unsteady, and instinctively reaches a hand to her lower back to provide that little bit of extra support that she requires.
"Thanks for dinner, Mrs. Saroyan. It was excellent," he tells the woman as she reaches to embrace him as well. He feels a little uncomfortable, but returns the hug anyway.
They say their good-byes to Felicia and Bill before being escorted to the front door by Olivia. She hands them both their coats and Hodgins quickly throws his on so he can focus his attention on Cam. He watches her for any sign that she's going to fall over, but surprisingly she manages to get both her jacket and boots on without incident. It is a small victory, but a victory all the same. Olivia embraces her daughter one more time before waving good bye and shutting the door behind them.
The cool air hits them both at the same time, like a cold slap in the face. Neither remembers it being this cold when they first arrived. They are doing all right until Cam stumbles and falls to her knees, taking her purse and bags along with her.
"Hey, are you okay?" Hodgins asks, rushing to her side and helping her stand up again.
Cam shrugs him off and gets up, brushing snow off her pants and mumbling to herself. Hodgins grabs the two bags she was holding and decides that they would probably be safer with him.
"I'm fine," Cam insists, as she almost trips on the sidewalk for a second time. Hodgins thinks this is possibly the most un-elegant he's ever seen Cam, though he has to admit that he finds it kind of cute.
"Yeah, that's pretty obvious," Hodgins snorts. "Just let me help you and stop being so stubborn," he orders.
Cam glares at him but finally accepts his arm, looping her right arm through his and grabbing onto his bicep with her left hand. The last few steps to the car would border on comical if someone were to be watching the pair, but they manage to make it without any further incident.
Hodgins waits for Cam to hand over her car keys before opening the passenger side door and helping Cam in. He is pleasantly surprised when she doesn't put up a fight. He tosses the presents in the back seat and gets into the driver's side, which he normally recognizes as the passenger side on his own car. He's thankful that it's late at night and there won't be many passengers on the road, for fear of wrecking Cam's car. That's all he would need tonight.
"So what's your exact address again?" he turns to ask Cam as he's fastening his seatbelt. He was at her place dropping something off several months back, but he doesn't exactly remember the details.
She doesn't say anything, and he suddenly realizes that she's fallen asleep. Hodgins can't help the smile that sneaks across his face as he starts up the car and pulls away from Cam's parent's house. He's pretty sure he can find it without her help. And if not, he just gets more time in her company. It's a win-win situation, he figures with a smirk.
*****
After circling around the block a few times, Hodgins is pretty sure that he's found Cam's condominium. Putting the car into park he turns off the ignition and puts a hand on her shoulder.
"Time to wake up," he says, gently shaking her awake. "We're home." He pauses. "Well, you're home."
Cam opens her eyes groggily and looks at Hodgins, slightly confused. "How do you know where I live?"
"I'm a great stalker," he tells her with a grin.
"Right."
"Actually, I was here a couple months ago dropping off something for one of our cases," Hodgins shares, unbuckling his seatbelt. "I just have a superior memory." He winks and opens the driver's side door.
By the time he's collected all the bags from the back of her car, Cam has managed to wake up completely and is climbing out of the vehicle. Hodgins follows closely behind her as she makes her way up the front walk, silently ensuring that she doesn't fall over again. But the brief rest seems to have sobered her up a bit.
He fumbles to try and figure out which key it is to open the front door, while simultaneously balancing several heavy bags. After a minute Cam gets frustrated and grabs the keys from his hand.
"Look, I may not be sober, but I'm not an idiot. I can unlock my own front door," she tells him, sounding harsher than she intended to.
Hodgins just shrugs and waits for her to open the front door. When she finally gets it on the third try, he follows her into the darkened condo and waits for her to turn on the lights. When he is finally able to see Cam's place again, he is reminded of how nice and spacious it is.
"You can put the bags down by the kitchen table," she tells him as she removes her jacket.
He complies and returns to stand in front of her with an expectant look.
"So what a night, hey?" she asks with a smile.
Hodgins grins, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Yeah, you could say that."
Cam is not normally a hugger by nature. But for all the crap that Hodgins has had to put up with this evening, she doesn't know how else to express her appreciation. So she reaches up and wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him close to her. Hodgins stiffens for half a second in surprise before responding and wrapping his arms firmly around her waste, hugging her tightly to him.
"Thank you so much. Seriously, I'm amazed that you're still even talking to me after everything that happened this evening," Cam says into his shoulder.
"Hey, it wasn't so bad," he tells her, pulling back slightly to look at her.
Cam narrows her eyes at him. "We've already had this conversation. And agreed that it actually was that bad. But thanks for trying to lie to me."
Hodgins chuckles softly. "I wasn't ly-" But Cam's stare stops him in his tracks. "Okay, so maybe it wasn't the greatest family dinner I've ever been to." Cam audibly scoffs. He smirks at her but continues on. "That being said, it wasn't all bad."
"I'm sure," Cam states disbelievingly, shaking her head. "You deserve a medal of some kind for voluntarily putting up with my family."
"You're worth it," he admits sincerely, eyes piercing her with their intensity. Cam smiles at him but breaks eye contact as she feels her face reddening just a bit. The room suddenly feels exceedingly warm.
"Hey, look…I also wanted to say that I know what happened with my sister," Cam begins.
"That she tried to kiss me, you mean?" he asks, rolling his eyes. "You sure called that one."
Cam chuckles humourlessly and shakes her head. "Yeah, I know. I just wish I wasn't always right about her."
"Hey, nothing happened. You know that right?" Hodgins assures her with a concerned look on his face.
Cam sighs heavily and nods. She wonders how she never took notice of him before. Felicia was right about one thing – he really is a good guy. "She told me that she tried to kiss you but that you stopped her." Cam pauses, unsure how to express her gratitude.
"Thank you," she says finally. And without another thought, she leans in and kisses Hodgins softly on the lips. It is gentle and chaste and over all too soon, but she needed him to know how much that meant to her.
"If I get a kiss every time I thwart your sister's plans, I'll have to start doing it more often," Hodgins jokes softly. Cam grins at him and reaches up to entwine her fingers in his hair.
"All you need to do is ask," she tells him.
"I wish I'd known earlier," he teases with a wink and a smirk of his own. Cam takes that as a positive sign, and closes the distance between them. Hodgins immediately responds, wrapping one arm around her waste and cupping the back of her head with his other hand. Cam slowly allows her arms to wrap around his neck, and when she feels his tongue flick across her bottom lip, she gladly grants him access. The kiss is passionate and intense and filled with longing, and Cam is pretty sure that this means something significant for the both of them. She is struck with how good he tastes and finally pulls away only when she is out of oxygen and feels like she's going to faint.
Cam rests her head on Hodgins' shoulder while she catches her breath.
"Well that was fun," Hodgins says after a moment. Cam pulls back to see the radiant smile that is on his face and can't help but join him.
"The most fun I've had all night," she jokes back, and he laughs deeply.
Hodgins wishes that they could stay in this moment forever, but he knows that they're going to have to face reality at some point. He's pretty sure that Cam is interested in him too, but they'll definitely have some difficult decisions ahead of them. "So, uh, I know that now isn't the time for this," Hodgins begins, and Cam already knows what he's going to say.
"But we need to talk about what's going on between us," Cam finishes, gesturing between the two of them.
Hodgins nods. "Yeah. I mean, I know it's complicated…" he trails off.
"It is complicated," Cam agrees. "But we'll figure something out."
Hodgins glances around, trying to decide if he should stick around longer, or head out. When Cam yawns, his mind is instantly made up. "I guess I should get going," he tells her, not even bothering to hide the disappointment in his voice.
"So I'll see you tomorrow?" Cam asks hopefully.
"Well I do need to return your car," Hodgins says with a smile. "But aren't you spending the day with your family?"
Cam laughs out loud at the suggestion. "Yeah right. Two days in a row with those people? I couldn't handle it. And I'm from that tough, scary part of New York."
Hodgins shakes his head, laughing. "Okay, so tomorrow then."
Cam nods, grinning from ear to ear. "Tomorrow."
Hodgins nods too and grabs Cam's car keys off the kitchen table, heading for the door. He suddenly stops dead in his tracks and takes his hand off of the doorknob. "Oh! There's something I forgot to tell you," he states, turning around and coming up to stand in front of her.
"What's that?" she questions curiously.
"I forgot to tell you that you looked really beautiful this evening. I meant to tell you earlier, but I guess I got a little distracted by other things." He smiles at her in a way that makes her feel like she's going to melt into a puddle. Reaching up he tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear, letting his fingers linger a little too long on her jaw line.
Cam leans in for one more quick kiss. "Okay, now you need to get going," she tells him, before all self control is lost. Hodgins grins one last time before heading out the door and going home. As Cam watches him drive away, she can't help but think that this is definitely the best Christmas Eve she has had in a very long time.