Meeting the parents
Although this didn't happen on screen, it was implied in February that Hudson had met Chris' parents. This is set around mid-August (after the conflict with Josh but before the hit-and-run).
"What if they hate me?" Hudson asked as he checked himself in the mirror for the 100th time.
"How could they possibly hate you?" Chris argued from the doorway, watching him, "I've only told them good things about you"
"Exactly. What if I can't live up to their expectations?" Hudson questioned, straightening his collar.
"I didn't tell them anything that wasn't true! Besides, once I mentioned your name they knew who you were. The news told them more than I did"
"Well that's reassuring" Hudson responded, sarcastically.
Chris understood what Hudson was referring to and shook his head, "remember that nobody knows about the drugs stuff, all people know is what a talented swimmer you are"
Hudson rolled his eyes, "Yeah, but my swimming skills aren't exactly going to be helpful when meeting your parents, unless they hate me so much they try to chase me across the Tasman Sea to get me away from you"
Chris chuckled, "like I said, they're not going to hate you" he checked his watch, "though being late won't exactly make the greatest first impression"
"Ok, ok" Hudson sighed, then turned to Chris, "is this shirt alright?"
Chris sighed, moving towards him, "it's fine, now come on!" he insisted, grabbing his hand and leading him out of the house.
xxx
"Ok, I'm having second thoughts about this shirt" Hudson murmured as Charlie's came into sight. He began to turn around but Chris grabbed his arm.
"What's wrong with you?" Chris asked, "you're acting like you're about to meet the Queen of England. They're just my parents, it's no big deal"
"Yes it is" Hudson responded, his brown eyes gazing into Chris', "this has to go well because if they don't like me then it changes everything"
"It changes nothing" Chris argued, taking Hudson's hand, "no matter how they feel about you, it won't change how I feel about you. Nothing will" he paused, "unless you turn out to be a serial killer, because that's kind of a deal breaker for me"
Hudson widened his eyes dramatically, "how did you know?" he joked. Chris laughed then just looked at him.
"Are you ready?"
Hudson held his look before taking a deep breath and nodding,
"Let's do this"
Hands entwined, they entered Charlie's…
xxx
"What if he hates us?" Patricia asked George for the 100th time. George sighed (also for the 100th time).
"How could he hate us? We're his boyfriend's parents, Chris is a reflection of us, so if he likes Chris then he'll like us" he paused, "hopefully"
"Yeah, well 'hopefully' doesn't really cut it" Patricia snapped.
"Just remember, we're already off to a better start with Hudson than we were with Aidan" George pointed out, "It took nearly three months to even find out that he and Aidan were together. Less than two months in and we're already meeting Hudson"
"Yeah, but does that say more about us or Chris?" Patricia questioned, "Was it our fault that Chris couldn't tell us the first time round? Have we become more open since Aidan so that he now feels comfortable telling us about Hudson, or has he just become more confident himself?"
"Either way, just be glad that he did tell us" George suggested, "Heck, he barely talks about anything else when we've spoken to him over the last few weeks"
"I guess that is progress" Patricia admitted
"Exactly" George confirmed, then took her hand and patted it, "Now you need to relax otherwise it'll make the boys nervous"
"Ok, relax" Patricia repeated, then exhaled. She suddenly looked at her husband blankly, "I don't know how to do that, I don't think I've done that in about twenty years!"
George groaned and put his head into his hands, "they'd better get here soon" he mumbled
xxx
As if on cue, Chris entered with Hudson following two steps behind him. George hopped off his chair whilst Patricia suddenly began to fiddle with her watch.
"Hey Christos" George greeted, enveloping his son in a tight hug.
"Hey dad" Chris choked out, clearly struggling to breathe. George let go of him and Chris let out a deep breath,
"This is Hudson. Hudson, this is my dad, George"
Chris quickly hurried over to his mum and kissed her cheek
"Hi honey" she murmured.
He looked around to see Hudson going in to hug George, whilst George tried to shake his hand; as a result Hudson received an inadvertent punch to his gut.
"I'm so sorry!" George exclaimed
"It's ok" Hudson croaked
"No it's not, not for a professional swimmer"
"I'm fine, honestly" Hudson reassured him. As he noticed George looking unsure, Hudson gazed at Chris pleadingly, causing him to spring into action by grabbing Hudson's arm and pulling him towards his mum.
"Uh, Hudson, this is my mum, Patricia"
Hudson moved towards her, smiling and extending his hand.
"Hi Pat" he greeted, then noticed Chris frowning and shaking his head, "…ricia. Patricia, I meant" Hudson quickly corrected.
"Nice to meet you" Patricia responded, shaking his hand. She turned to George and Chris, "it feels like meeting a celebrity" she told them, then turned back to Hudson, letting go of his hand, "you're all over the news"
Hudson suddenly looked panicky, "look, the whole drugs thing was all above board and-"
Noticing their blank facial expressions and Chris sighing, Hudson suddenly remembered that Chris had told him that they didn't know about the drug use. Chris pushed past his dad, "why don't we get some drinks in?" he asked, then turned to face his parents, "the usual?"
His parents nodded, eyeing Hudson suspiciously. Chris and Hudson hurried to the counter; Hudson let out a breath and hit his head against it, "kill me now" he murmured.
Chris sniggered, "actually, I was worried that my dad had done that himself" he looked at Hudson sympathetically, "he didn't mean to assault you"
Hudson lifted his head up, "it's ok" he assured him, "But if this goes any worse then I wouldn't be surprised if he decided to do it on purpose"
"It'll be fine" Chris assured him, rubbing his boyfriend's back. He paused, "as long as you don't call my mum 'Pat' again. She says that it makes her sound old".
xxx
"And you just climbed onto the stage?!" Hudson exclaimed before taking a swig of his drink. George nodded and patted his wife's hand.
"Well luckily I managed to stop her before she did any serious damage" George pointed out, "to Robbie"
The boys snorted with laughter, whilst Patricia wore a mock-angry expression
"I wouldn't have hurt him" she whined
"Not intentionally" George said, "a bit like me attacking Hudson, completely unintentional"
"It was your fault for taking me to a Robbie Williams concert!" Patricia told her husband, "You knew what you signed up for when you signed up for the tickets"
"I didn't realise that you were so infatuated with him, mum" Chris admitted, slightly disturbed and shuddering a little.
"Well who isn't?" Hudson asked. Chris shrugged,
"I never picked you as a fan" he responded
"Well I'm not obsessed with him" Hudson told him, "but I admit that I have a few of his hits on my iPod"
"Really?" Patricia exclaimed, then turned to her son, "I think I might just swap you for Hudson"
Chris sniggered, "feel free to fangirl about Robbie with my boyfriend to your heart's content" he said, holding his hands up in a fake surrender. His mum pulled a face at him before turning back to Hudson, "so, which one's your favourite?"
Hudson considered this for a few moments, then shook his head, "That's really difficult" he complained, "you know, 'A Man For All Seasons' and 'Let Me Entertain You' are always great to listen to, but personally you can't beat 'Better Man'"
Patricia almost shot right out of her seat, "I love that one!" she squealed loudly, whilst Chris covered his glass
"Careful mum!" he warned her, "Any higher the decibel and these glasses will break, then we'd have to pay for new ones!"
"Oh quiet you!" Patricia laughed. Chris grinned, revelling in the bond between his parents and his boyfriend.
xxx
"Well that went well" Chris stated, walking away from Charlie's whilst holding Hudson's hand. He paused, "eventually"
Hudson sniggered, "yeah, it took a while, didn't it?"
"Well once the drinks started flowing-" Chris began, but Hudson stopped in his tracks and turned to him, eyebrow raised.
"So I've got to be intoxicated every time I speak to your parents now, have I?"
Chris laughed and shook his head, taking his other hand, "it was only a couple of drinks. Besides, it was the first meeting, and it broke the ice, didn't it?"
"As well as possibly breaking my ribs" Hudson grimaced, removing one of his hands from Chris' grasp and rubbing his sore lower ribs. They continued walking, "I would not want to get on the wrong side of your dad"
"Hopefully that will never happen" Chris reassured him, "just try to stay in his good books"
Hudson nodded, "Well your mum seems to like me" he acknowledged
"You can thank Robbie Williams for that" Chris joked
"I would if I could" Hudson scoffed, then stopped and turned to him, "I guess you'll do though" he finished, placing a firm kiss on his boyfriend's lips. Chris grinned as he pulled away.
"Come on" he muttered, pulling his boyfriend back to the share house.
Thanks for reading! I hope that people understood the 'Better Man' joke (if you didn't, the joke is that Remy Hii who played Hudson also played the protagonist Van Tuong Nguyen in the mini series 'Better Man' - named after the Robbie Williams song - before he got the role of Hudson); I couldn't resist putting it in there, especially after the episode where Sonya and Toadie went to the Robbie Williams concert. I've got a couple more one-shots in the pipeline, but if anyone has any prompts/ideas for more, please let me know. Anyway, thanks again!