"It's so nice finally having you home for Christmas Eve!" Martha chirped as she set the table. She beamed at Alex, who was laying the silverware beside each plate that she set.
He noticed that she'd set one plate too many. He decided not to comment on it. It was possible that one of George's colleagues would be joining them.
"It's nice to be home." Alex admitted sheepishly.
"I sure do wish that fiancé of yours could have come with you." George contributed as he poured each of them a glass of wine.
Alex felt a pang of guilt as he accepted the glass of wine.
"Yeah," He agreed, taking a long gulp of the wine. "It would have been nice, but you know how it is. She's close with her family and didn't want to spend Christmas away from them."
"We'll just have to visit you both in New York so we can meet her." Martha remarked, beaming. "Maybe I can help her with some planning while we're up there."
"Yeah, maybe." Alex replied with a forced smile.
He didn't want to talk about Eliza. He didn't want to have to lie to George and Martha any more than he already had. He felt as though he was digging himself in deeper and deeper with each passing day. He had no idea how he would get himself out of the hole he had dug. Maybe he really would have to marry Eliza. Angelica would probably be mad about that, but Angelica was always at least a little mad at him.
"There." Martha finished straightening the last plate.
George furrowed his brows.
"Are we expecting company?" He asked.
Alex looked to him in surprise. If the additional plate was not for one of George's colleagues, he could not imagine who it might be for.
"I thought we might invite Thomas over for dinner." Martha replied, glancing out the window in the direction of Thomas' house. "It makes me sad, thinking of him all alone in that great big house at Christmas."
Alex looked up at her in surprise. He hadn't counted on seeing Thomas again until after the holidays. He hadn't had time to get his mind in order. He hadn't had time to think of what he would say to Thomas the next time that he saw him.
"That's nice of you." George remarked, amenable as ever to Martha's whims.
Martha smiled, then settled her gaze on Alex.
"Alex, honey. Would you mind going on over to Thomas' house to invite him over for dinner?" She asked, as he knew she would.
"I could just text him." Alex suggested.
Martha wrinkled her nose. She disliked texting. She thought it was rude. She insisted on talking to people in-person. If that was not possible, she resorted to calling. She never texted, not even if it was an emergency.
"Why don't you just go over there?" Martha pressed. "It would be nice."
"Go on, Alex." George said in a tone that invited no argument.
"All right." Alex sighed.
"Thank you." Martha cast him a smile that was so sincere Alex felt guilty for being annoyed with her.
He sighed as he strode out of the dining room. He grabbed his coat from the coat rack in the foyer and wrapped it tightly around himself. Snow had been falling all day and showed no signs of letting up. He traded his slippers for snow boots. He glanced over his shoulder, hopeful that Martha would see him getting ready and change her mind. She wasn't there.
Alex heaved out another sigh before opening the front door and starting for Thomas' house.
It was odd, walking up Thomas' porch for the first time in ten years. Alex glanced at the porch light that Thomas used to leave on for him. He quirked a small smile before knocking on the door.
There was a long delay. Alex looked around awkwardly, not knowing how long he ought to wait before either knocking again or assuming that Thomas was not around.
Just as Alex started to turn away from the door, it swung open.
"Alex?" Thomas asked as Alex turned back around to face him.
Thomas was still in his pajamas. He wore a drowsy expression that suggested that Alex had woken him from a nap. Alex glanced down at his watch. It was nearly six o'clock.
"Hey," Alex forced a smile. "Uh, Martha wanted to know if you wanted to join us for Christmas Eve. She's cooked a ton of food - we're never going to eat it all."
"Oh." Thomas frowned, looking down at his shoes. "No, that's okay. I don't mind being by myself for the holidays, you know. She doesn't need to do all of this."
"Tom." Alex's smile grew somewhat genuine. "You know she's not going to take 'no' for an answer. I'm just going to go back to my house, she's going to ask where you are, I'm going to say you didn't want to come, she's going to say that I didn't do enough to convince you, then she's going to make me come right back here; only this time, she'll be with me. Then we'll beg and plead with you until you finally give in and agree to come over for dinner. You might as well make this easy for me."
Thomas smiled reluctantly.
"All right." He agreed at length. "But I'll need to get dressed first."
"Sure." Alex replied. He looked around at the snow falling down around him. "Just, ah, don't take too long. I'm freezing out here."
"Oh. You can come in, if you want." Thomas said. He stepped back from the doorway.
Alex might have rejected this offer, had his hands not begun to ache from the damp and stinging cold of the winter air. Instead, he stepped into the warmth of Thomas' foyer.
"I'll just be one second." Thomas assured Alex, closing the door behind him.
"Yeah, sure." Alex agreed, looking around curiously. "Take your time."
Thomas had done some redecorating since his parents had died. The foyer looked more like a museum than it did a home. It looked like a cluttered museum, at that. Alex looked around as Thomas left the foyer.
There were no pictures, Alex noticed. George and Martha's home had half a dozen pictures in every room. Even Alex's cramped apartment had some pictures. There were photo strips on the fridge, pictures on the bookshelf, pictures on his dresser…in Thomas foyer, there were none.
"Hey," Thomas was right. He had only taken a few minutes to get changed. He now stood before Alex in a pair of jeans and an oversized sweater. "You ready?"
"Sure." Alex agreed, stepping back from a tapestry that he had been inspecting.
"Should I bring anything?" Thomas asked, glancing over his shoulder.
Alex knew that he was looking in the direction of the kitchen. He still remembered the layout of Thomas' family home. He could find his way to Thomas' bedroom in complete darkness.
"Nah," Alex shook his head. "We've already got plenty."
"Okay." Thomas grabbed a jacket and started for the door.
"So, the house looks…different." Alex remarked as they walked back to George and Martha's house.
Thomas shrugged, looking down at his feet. He blushed slightly.
"I know it's kind of a mess. I just wanted to make it my own for a little while." He replied.
"I think's cool." Alex hastened to assure him. "Much better than the way it was before. It was always too uptight, you know?"
"Thanks." Thomas afforded him a look of such gratitude that Alex had to look away.
They were silent for a few seconds as they reached the end of George and Martha's driveway. Thomas suddenly stopped short, just a few feet from the front door. Alex stopped, too. He regarded Thomas curiously.
"I'm, ah, I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable last night." Thomas said, not meeting Alex's eyes. "You know, when I…" He cleared his throat. "I misread the situation, I think."
"You didn't make me uncomfortable." Alex assured him with a small smile. Thomas looked up to meet his eyes. "I wanted to come over."
"You did?" Thomas' brows furrowed slightly. "Then why didn't you…?"
The tip of his nose was turning red from the cold. Snowflakes dotted his hair and his jacket. Alex wanted to grab him by the collar of his jacket and kiss him.
"I didn't want it to be a drunk decision that one of us would regret in the morning." Alex shrugged sheepishly.
"Oh." Thomas said.
They stood there for another few seconds. The cold nipped at Alex's face and hands. He glanced in the direction of the front door.
"We should head in." He suggested.
"Sure." Thomas agreed at length.
They started up the driveway. Alex opened the front door and held it open for Thomas. Thomas mumbled out a thanks as he stepped into the foyer.
"Thomas." Martha was on him in a second. She was beaming and holding a glass of red wine. "I'm so glad you could join us tonight."
"Uh, yeah. Thanks for the invite." Thomas was obviously uncomfortable with the attention.
"Well, we've just got dinner served, so we're ready to eat if you boys are." Martha remarked.
"I'm starved." Alex replied, making a beeline for the dining room.
George had already started eating. Alex plopped down to his left and reached for a serving spoon.
"George!" Martha admonished as she entered the dining room. "You were supposed to wait for the boys before you started eating."
"Sorry." George replied. He didn't sound all that sorry.
Martha huffed and shook her head. She sat down in the chair to the right of George and began to serve everyone else large portions of ham and side dishes. Thomas sat down beside Alex.
"Have you talked to Eliza yet? Wished her a merry Christmas?" George asked Alex as they all began to eat.
Alex felt his face redden.
It was one thing to be barraged with questions about his pretend fiancé when it was just him, George and Martha. It was damn near unbearable when Thomas was sitting next to him, pretending not to know that Alex was lying.
"Uh, yeah. We talked a little bit this morning." Alex lied, taking a bite out of a dinner roll. He tried not to notice Thomas watching him in his peripheral vision. "It's not Christmas yet, so we didn't really say Merry Christmas, but…"
George nodded his approval.
"What's she doing with her family tonight?" Martha inquired.
"Oh, uh…" Alex racked his brain for anything the Schuyler sisters might have mentioned about how they spent their Christmas Eve. He knew that Angelica would just be returning from her hearing, but that was hardly a Christmas tradition. "She's watching some Christmas movies with her sisters. Or, at least, one of them."
"And you work with her other sisters, too?" George asked.
Alex nodded.
"Peggy and Angelica." He replied.
He did not want to expand upon Angelica. God, he didn't even want to think about Angelica at the moment.
"Do you like her sisters?" Martha pressed.
Alex nodded.
"Angelica's another lawyer, isn't she?" George had a talent for honing in on the very topic that Alex was trying to avoid. "I think I've heard that she's pretty good."
"Yeah, she's good." Alex replied, squirming in his seat.
"How do you all work together? I can't imagine working with my sisters. God, I think we'd all kill each other." Martha said with a small laugh.
"If they fight, I don't see it." Alex continued to squirm.
"Will they be bridesmaids in the wedding?" Martha asked.
The wedding. The fictitious wedding that George and Martha would never go to, because Eliza had absolutely no idea that she was slated to marry Alex in this fantasy world he was walking through. He had no idea how he was going to go about telling George and Martha that the wedding was off. Maybe he would tell them that Eliza had broken it off with him. Maybe he would say that she had caught him with someone else - someone who was female, but not her sister, of course.
"I don't know." Alex busied himself with pushing his peas into his mashed potatoes. "Probably."
"And once you marry her, you'll have sisters." Martha beamed. "Oh, I love that you'll have sisters."
The idea of Angelica Schuyler becoming Alex's sister made his stomach churn. It wasn't incest, exactly, but it felt well within those bounds.
"I think that I'm going to go get more wine. Excuse me." Thomas mumbled. He rose from his seat, the legs of his chair scraped the wooden floors beneath it.
He stalked off towards the kitchen before anyone could say a word.
George looked perplexed. Martha looked sympathetic. Alex was concerned.
"Why don't you go check on him, honey?" Martha suggested, glancing at Alex. "It's probably hard for him to be around people this time of year. You know, with his family being…"
"Sure." Alex agreed immediately. He rose to his feet without hesitation.
George's brows furrowed. Alex rarely agreed to do anything without arguing first. Alex did not have time to explain himself, nor would he have cared to if he did have time. Instead, he followed Thomas to the kitchen.
"I can't do this." Thomas declared the moment the kitchen door swung shut behind Alex. He wheeled around, facing Alex with an expression that bordered on desperation. "I can't sit there and listen to them talk about your fake fiancé and believe you when you lie to them. I have to go. I have to go home."
"Tom." Alex worked to keep his tone level and reassuring. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to have to listen to this. I'll change the subject. We'll talk about something else."
"Alex," Thomas fixed Alex with a stern expression. "Your fiancé isn't the only thing you're lying to them about."
Alex sighed.
"I know." He conceded.
It was the closest he'd come to recognizing that he was lying to George about who he was - whoever that was. He hoped that it was enough for Thomas.
"I'm not trying to tell you what to do or how to live your life." Thomas continued, his tone gentling somewhat. "I just can't sit there and bear witness to you lying to your parents. You can't ask that of me."
"I'm sorry." Alex sighed again.
Thomas shrugged.
"I should go." He said.
"Don't." Alex objected. "Don't let me be the reason you spend Christmas Eve alone."
"I'm used to being alone." Thomas replied with another shrug.
"That doesn't mean you have to be." Alex responded. "Come on. Stay here a little longer. I won't talk about anything involving my love life. I'd prefer it that way, really."
Thomas looked tempted.
"If you stay here and humor them," Alex nodded over his shoulder, then took a step towards Thomas. Thomas leaned back against the counter behind him. "Maybe neither of us will spend the rest of Christmas Eve alone."
Alex was close enough to see Thomas' eyes dilate. He watched as Thomas swallowed hard, his Adams apple bobbing. A grin slid across his face. He had missed just how expressive Thomas could be without even knowing it.
Alex dared to lean closer. Thomas was trapped between him and the countertop. There was nowhere for him to go. Of course, Alex would back off if Thomas asked him to. He just knew that Thomas wouldn't ask him to.
Alex leaned closer and closer. He flicked his eyes up to meet Thomas' one last time for confirmation. Thomas had already closed his eyes. Alex smiled to himself before closing the gap between him.
The kiss started out slowly; both of them reacquainting themselves with the other after ten years apart. Thomas tasted like red wine. He smelled like expensive cologne. He felt pliant beneath Alex, ready for whatever Alex would give him.
Alex pressed himself against Thomas. Thomas let out a small sigh that made Alex want to tear off his clothes in the middle of George and Martha's kitchen. Instead, he placed his hand on the back of Thomas' head and deepened the kiss.
He'd forgotten how good it felt to kiss Thomas. It was possible that Thomas had gotten better in the past decade. Alex couldn't imagine who it was that might have kissed Thomas between now and then. He wasn't sure that he wanted to know.
The clink of silverware against plates caused Alex to jerk away from Thomas. His attention snapped to the kitchen door. Blessedly, it remained closed. George and Martha's voices wafted in from the dining room.
Alex returned his gaze to Thomas. Thomas stared back at him, almost shyly. A small smile crossed his face.
"We should get back." Alex said, matching Thomas' smile.
Thomas nodded.
Alex cleared his throat as he stepped back from Thomas. Thomas recovered his posture, straightening out the collar of his sweater. They looked each other over with shy smiles before returning to the dining room.
"Thomas, honey. Did you not get your wine?" Martha asked as they sat in their respective chairs.
Thomas looked at the space on the table that his wine glass had occupied in surprise. He had left his empty wine glass in the kitchen, forgotten in the heat of the moment.
"Oh, uh, no." Thomas' face reddened. Alex busied himself with pushing his mashed potatoes around his plate. "I decided that I'd better not."
"Oh." Martha seemed confused by his explanation.
"Hey, George." Alex quickly changed the subject. "I heard that you've started campaigning for Congress. What're your polls looking like these days?"
Thomas shot him a grateful look as George began to speak at length about his poll numbers and the algorithms used to create them.
Once George and Martha were asleep, Alex snuck out through his bedroom window. He knew better than to sneak through the front door. The floors always creaked and groaned and Martha would materialize at the top of the stairs and ask him where he thought he was going.
Even at twenty-seven, Alex knew that Martha would ask him where he thought he was going.
When he dropped down from the sloping roof, Alex glanced in the direction of Thomas' house. The porch light was on.
Alex grinned as he started for Thomas' house.