Thank you for your continued support! I love your kind words :)
I'd like to put out a general warning. I don't like putting out warnings for the chapters that have smut in them, I have the feeling it spoils the fun. So therefore: this chapter might have smut, it might not have it. The next chapter: the same. Etcetera.
Just consider yourself warned and I hope you'll be happily surprised when the smut happens. Whenever that may be :)
Relatively fat
Living in the United States had its advantages. One of them was that he could avoid parts of his family. He liked the majority of them. His 'fat uncles' as he called them were hilarious. Small, fat uncle Philippe, large fat uncle Laurent and enormously fat uncle Victor. But, unfortunately, there were also quite a few that were annoying. Annoying to the point he wanted to bash their fucking heads in. One of them was his cousin Lucien (son of fat uncle Laurent). They were okay when they were away and didn't talk to him, they were not okay when they insisted on talking on Skype.
It was only after threats of his mother that Christophe had finally complied and had found himself talking to that stupid cousin. He was either snickering or smirking at him all throughout the conversation. Christophe only accepted arrogance from one person. And that person was blond and currently at his work.
"I can't understand how you manage to live in this uncultured, ugly country. There are fat people everywhere!" Lucien exclaimed, looking at Christophe like he was responsible for it.
"I have lived here for so long I hardly notice it anymore."
"And the food! Appalling!"
"It's not all bad here! There is some very nice scenery over here."
"Hm." Lucien took a drag from his cigarette and looked at a spot past Christophe's shoulder. "I think your boyfriend is behind you." Lucien smirked. Christophe wheeled around and saw Gregory standing in the doorway.
"I'll be with you in a moment." He said quickly before turning back to the screen where Lucien was still smirking at him.
"I always knew you liked blonds."
"Shut up!" Christophe barked back. He didn't know if Gregory understood French or not and he was praying to all the Gods, demons or whatever out there that the blond hadn't understood what his cousin had just said.
"I'll speak to you later."
"Okay, byyye! Have fun." Lucien winked. Christophe ended the conversation and turned towards Gregory after turning off the monitor.
"What's ze matter?"
"Nothing, nothing." Gregory was acting a bit weird. Just then did Christophe realize the blond was blushing.
"I had- I had never heard you speak French before." Christophe rose his eyebrows. That was true, he had only ever spoken French when he was really upset or angry. He had always tried to speak in English during high school and only spoke French at home. Getting rid of the accent had proven quite difficult.
"Did you not think I could do it?"
"What? No yes, of course! I had just never heard it, while you were awake or- or not mad or something."
"Oh, like that."
"Hm." Gregory seemed to get himself together a bit more and asked: "Who was it?"
"Oh, a cousin. He is in the States and wants to meet me. He is looking for a place to stay for a few days."
"He can stay here, that's okay." Gregory said immediately. Christophe scoffed and lit a cigarette.
"You are so polite. Don't be. 'e is French, just like me and doesn't expect zat. I can just let him rent a hotel room, it'll be fine."
"But that is so rude! We have place enough here!"
"Like I said, 'e wouldn't even be disappointed. I'll invite 'im for dinner, eef you want."
"I'd love to meet relatives of yours!"
"Don't get too excited. My cousin ees French, you are British. We'll see eef you're still so enthusiastic after zat dinner."
"I don't see why that should be a problem. We got along just fine." He indicated between the two of them.
That's because we have a special connecting and I want to fuck you so bad that it isn't even funny any more, Christophe thought. But of course he didn't say that.
"Well, 'e is different zan I am. More rude."
"Even more?" Gregory rose one of his perfect blonde eyebrows.
"Yes." Christophe smirked and blew out some smoke. "We'll see how you 'andle zat."
"We can get him to meet some more people, perhaps?" Gregory proposed. But Christophe frowned. He had hardly any friends. He found that Gregory was already enough for him to handle. Besides, the pervertness of Lucien may be quite scary to some people. Then he remembered he didn't only have Gregory's card, but also the card of another blond. A blond that was cheeky and perverted like himself.
"I think I know a person."
XXX
He opened the door, already dreading introducing Lucien to his American life. He still felt French but he knew a lot of his relatives didn't see it that way and they treated him like he was a foreigner. He had not seen Lucien in years and wasn't sure how he was going to be treated by him.
"Bonjour, bastard." Ah, the usual way, apparently. Lucien looked a bit like him, but he was taller. His hair a brownish blonde and his face had a lot of the same characteristics as his. Lucien also smoked like there was no tomorrow and could be quite the rude and cynical bastard. He emitted a certain air of confidence that was much worse than Christophe's and even neared Gregory's. He was handsome, very much so, and knew it.
"Bonjour, Lucien." Christophe replied in French.
"Ah, you still speak French, don't you?" Lucien asked him in French, smirking down at him.
"Of course I do, you ass face, we spoke on Skype, remember?" They both laughed.
"C'mere, give me a hug you." They bear hugged and slapped each other on the back. Lucien kissed him on each cheek when they detached themselves from each other. Christophe had nearly forgotten how in France even male family members kissed each other. But he kissed back and started to move back inside.
"Come on, get inside. You can meet my roommate."
"You mean the hot blond guy who is also gay but you are not dating?" Lucien smirked, his grey eyes dancing with mischief and a taunting kind of dare. Suddenly Christophe was sure him and Kenny would get along great.
"Yes, him." They went back inside and met Gregory who was waiting for them in the hallway.
"Ah, I thought I heard the doorbell." Gregory walked up to Lucien, holding out his hand. "I'm Gregory, Christophe's roommate."
"Ah, oui. 'E 'ad told mee about you." Lucien's accent was very heavy, even compared to Christophe's. "I am Lucien." He grabbed Gregory's hand but instead of shaking it, he used it to pull Gregory towards him to kiss him on his cheeks, just like he and Christophe had done.
"Lucien they do not do zat here!" Christophe exclaimed. He did not like seeing someone else's lips on Gregory's perfect face. Not that he had a chance of kissing him that easily, but that was completely irrelevant.
"Ah well, too late now." Lucien smirked
"Let me get your bag." Gregory proposed, a pink blush on his cheeks. He took the bag from Lucien and walked away. Lucien turned towards Christophe, looking him up and down, and asked in French:
"You have gotten fatter, haven't you?"
"What?! No!"
"Yes, yes you have. It's the British food that blond is feeding you, isn't it? He could lose some weight himself."
"You are so lucky that he doesn't speak French." Christophe said, already feeling furious with his cousin. They both eyed Gregory who had returned and was silently and politely looking at them. A look of careful neutral interest on his face.
"Yes, because I wouldn't want him to hear me say that he sure does have a fine ass."
"For fuck's sake, you're not even gay."
"So? You know what they say about the French." Lucien grinned evilly and eyed Gregory hungrily. Christophe didn't like that look at all.
"Let's get into the living room." He concluded in English.
"So, Lucien. Did you have a good flight?" Gregory asked as they followed him.
"Oh, yes, eet was great. No problems at all."
"Have you been to the United States before?" Gregory asked, obviously interested in this cousin. Christophe felt annoyed. They weren't supposed to get along.
He sat down in his usual chair and watched as Gregory and Lucien sat down on the couch.
"A friend of us will be joining us for tonight, eef zat is all right with you." Christophe grunted. His gaze shifting between Lucien and Gregory. It was like looking at Gregory and a pretty version of himself. It made him itchy all over.
"What kind of friend?" Lucien asked in French.
"Just a guy from our past, don't be so picky." Christophe growled back.
The doorbell rang and he proposed to open the door. When he was in the hallway he scolded himself for that, now he was leaving Gregory and Lucien alone, not a good idea. He opened the door once more and was greeted by a grinning face.
"'Tophe!" Kenny cried enthusiastically and flung his arms around him.
"Hey Kenny." He grunted back.
"Always so positive and happy." Kenny practically bounded inside and kicked off his shoes.
"So, where is this relative of yours and the other only hot blond guy from Denver?"
"Living room." Christophe said, but he smiled.
He followed Kenny into the living room who was just hugging Gregory and squeezing his ass. Kenny and Lucien laughed loudly at his reaction. Gregory detached himself from Kenny and walked up to Christophe. The look he shot him was something between apologetic and shock.
"I can kill him later, if you want me too." He murmured in Gregory's ear as he ended up next to him. Gregory grinned.
"Maybe later, after you get that job." They watched Kenny and Lucien exchange greetings.
"I love your accent, dude!" Kenny said, punching Lucien on the arm.
"Ah, oui. But eet sounds even better when I scream your name wiz it." Lucien replied absentmindedly
"Care to put that dare into action?" Kenny drawled, moving closer.
"But of course. Zat coffee table looks nice, doesn't eet?" Sexual innuendos practically dripping off of every syllable. They stared at each other for a bit before backing up, laughing loudly. It looked like they had found a match in each other. Gregory and Christophe looked at each other in mild confusion and panic.
"You play cards?" Kenny asked. Lucien smirked and pulled a deck of cards out of his jeans.
"Like you would have to ask."
XXX
He should have known that both Gregory and Kenny were really good at cards. Lucien and himself were quite bad. Lucien tried to cheat in a way that was blindingly obvious. Kenny always noticed and pointed it out, but after some perverted remarks, some flirting he would drop it. Instead opting to flirt back with Lucien to the point that Gregory was blushing like mad and hiding his face in his cards.
Christophe didn't mind, as long as he was flirting with Kenny instead of Gregory he didn't mind in the slightest. Gregory was right next to him and the way his leg was brushing against his under the table was distracting him completely. He had a feeling Gregory was doing it on purpose. And that thought made him even more distracted than usual.
"Is that roommate of yours any good in bed?" Lucien said absentmindedly, not looking up from his cards.
"Wouldn't know." Christophe grumbled, ears turning red.
"Mind if I try to find that out?"
"YES! Very much! You stay away from him!" Christophe nearly shouted.
"Wow wow! You guys!" Kenny said. "Take it easy."
"I'm going to get us some more drinks." Christophe said, getting up from his seat in a dash.
"I'll help." Gregory called from behind him and followed him into the kitchen. Christophe just grumbled and searched for more wine. He would need a lot of alcohol to be able to handle such nonsense. Gregory walked up to him and grabbed his shoulder, turning him around to face him.
"Hey." He said softly, his soothing voice relaxing Christophe instantly. "Relax, it's only your cousin. Try and enjoy the evening some more." Christophe found he couldn't tell him what it was Lucien had said.
"'e's a rude asshole." He mumbled, enjoying Gregory's warm hand on his arm. Gregory noticed he was relaxing under his touch and rubbed his arm some more before saying:
"He is a bit harsh and sexually perverted, yes. But otherwise he seems perfectly lovely to me."
"Zat's because you don't speak French."
"Yes, what was it you were talking about?" Just then did Christophe realize Gregory was feeling left out. He didn't let it show but he did feel that way. Gregory was too polite to say anything about it, that little comment was his way of letting Christophe know how he felt.
"I am sorry for speaking French." Christophe said. "Eet's hard not to speak your mother tongue when someone ees zere who speaks eet as well, you know?"
"Hm." Gregory still sounded insulted.
"Don't feel left out, mon cher." Christophe said. Gregory made a weird twitch at the pet name. Like he didn't like hearing it at the moment.
"Eet was just some stupid conversation between two cousins." He decided. Gregory shrugged.
"Well, if it wasn't important than-."
"When 'e came in 'e called me fat, eef you must know."
"What?" Gregory said, disbelief etched in his voice. Christophe shrugged.
"But, you're anything but!" Gregory concluded.
"For a French person I'm on ze chubby side." Gregory nearly gaped at him.
"No! Seriously?"
"Yes."
"But if you are fat then what on earth does that make me?"
"Yeah, 'e wasn't too flattering about you either."
"That is just-." Gregory sputtered.
"'e did say you 'ad a nice ass." Gregory blushed just as Kenny's voice drifted towards them from the living room.
"What is taking you guys so long?"
"Coming!" Christophe called.
"Ew, I didn't need to know that." Kenny's voice sounded chirpy.
"And I must say I agree." Christophe whispered, leaning in towards Gregory. He smacked him on the ass and walked out. He found that he was more relaxed now, calmer. Gregory always had that effect on him. He felt that he was ready to face to world again, even if that world included his cousin Lucien.
Kenny and Lucien were both tremendous drinkers. Christophe could keep up with them but Gregory switched to sprite after his 5th glass of wine, earning him some rude comments from Kenny. At 2Am Christophe thought it was quite enough.
"Out. I 'ave 'ad it with you two. I want to sleep." He said, trying to get Lucien up and out of his chair.
"Yes! You want that blond prince to yourself, don't you?" Lucien slurred in French.
"Yes, I do. Now get out." He snapped back in French, pushing Lucien towards the door. Kenny followed them, clinging to Gregory and praising him on his "phenomenal ass". Christophe didn't know how fast he could get the two of them out of there.
Kenny and Lucien stumbled outside, arms around each other and both of them bursting into song. They stumbled across the street and Lucien was trying to teach "La Marseillaise" to Kenny.
"Just kah no bras?" Kenny tried with a slur as they rounded the corner and Lucien starting singing the song once more.
"Shouldn't we have gotten them a taxi or something?" Gregory said, leaning against the wall next to the door as Christophe closed the door. Christophe just shook his head.
"No zey'll be fine."
They moved back to the living room, eyeing the mess with tiredness. Christophe wanted to sleep but he knew Gregory couldn't handle the mess. The blond would probably lie awake, thinking about the dirty wine glasses and then start cleaning in the middle of the night.
He grabbed the empty plates and cutlery and turned to Gregory.
"Should I do the dishes or do you want to do that? I know you prefer to clean things yourself."
Gregory looked at him with a blank expression.
"Excuse me?"
Christophe frowned. Had he been too rude? Than he realized.
"I'm sorry, French." He mumbled, and repeated the question in English.
"Hm, yes. You're right, I'll do the dishes." Gregory didn't look at him and glared angrily at the wall. Christophe sighed, he knew what this was about.
"Why didn't you tell me you were feeling left out?"
"I didn't mean to be intrusive. Like you said, you had family over and-."
"What did I tell you about telling me things?" Alcohol made him ruder than usual.
"Yes I know." Gregory sighed, annoyed. "That I should do that."
"Exactly! Eef you don't tell me those things I don't know zem!"
"Look, I'm not really comfortable with telling people stuff like that."
Christophe growled in annoyance.
"Zat ees ze big difference between ze French and ze British. Ze French just say things when zey annoy zem."
"Like you said. It's a cultural thing. You cannot expect me to change so easily."
"But zen you cannot expect me to be considerate of your feelings! Eet's cultural for me too! I don't notice zese types of things!" Gregory was getting angry as well and bitched back.
"I think the British way is way more polite to other people! This way nobody gets hurt!"
"But I am not a mind reader! I don't know zose things! You 'ave to tell zem to me!"
"I have to tell them to you?" Gregory echoed hotly.
"Yes!"
"Oh, I have to tell them, do I? Do I?"
"Yes! Yes!"
"I hated it when you spoke French to your cousin with me there!" Gregory said hotly, a crazed expression in his eyes.
"Good, keep going!" Christophe encouraged.
"I think it is impolite and I feel left out! I hated you right there and then! You had no right speaking a language I didn't speak! I wanted to slap you in the face for excluding me like that!" Gregory panted from his outburst, all tension visibly seeping from his body. "I'm sorry, Christophe, for that rant. I'm sorry-."
"Don't." Christophe grabbed his arms and leaned in. "You told me 'ow you felt, zat ees good, zat ees important. Thank you."
"But I shouted. I was rude."
"Maybe, yes. But now I understand. And I am sorry for excluding you, zat was never my intention. I wanted to make Lucien feel comfortable, not realizing I was making you feel uncomfortable in ze process. I am sorry." He said sincerely. Gregory relaxed some more and Christophe rubbed his arms reassuringly.
"Really, I am sorry." And he leaned in and kissed Gregory on his cheek. He could hear Gregory suck in a surprised breath. But as he backed up he decided to just act as if nothing had happened. He patted Gregory on the shoulder.
"Come on. Let's clean up."
"Yes, we should."
He cleaned the living room while Gregory started on some dishes. He put away some empty bottles of wine when he noticed something odd in Gregory's stance. He was cleaning the dishes with clenched shoulders, as if he was still very angry or upset. He thought that they had fully discussed what had happened, yet the blond still seemed rather distraught about something. He walked up to Gregory and the blond turned to face him. With a silent look he encouraged Gregory to start talking. Gregory sighed and averted his eyes for a moment before looking at him again and whispered:
"Do you think I'm fat?"
It took a moment before Christophe realized Gregory was being serious. He stared at him, incredulous, as Gregory looked back. An uncharacteristic, vulnerable look in his eyes. Hands still down into the soapy water in the sink. Christophe could feel his mouth twitch and before he could stop himself he burst out laughing.
"Christophe!" But Christophe couldn't stop himself, grasping the counter to hold himself up. Hiccoughing he wiped his eyes, looking into the glaring blue ones of Gregory.
"Oh, mon cher. Are you being serious about zat?"
"Yes! Yes I am!" Gregory looked torn between insecurity and anger. "If you are chubby then what does that make me?"
"Oh sweetheart, 'oney, darling." Christophe finished and he took the soaped-up plate away from Gregory's hands, taking his elegant fingers into his own calloused hands.
"You are definitely not fat, really." he reassured him.
"But then why-." He hated seeing Gregory insecure. It was so unlike him that he decided to interfere right away.
"Look, you saw Lucien didn't you? 'e ees, what's ze word, emaciated?" Gregory nodded.
"Zat's the way all French people are: extremely thin. Eet's because zey only drink and eat very little. Zey eat salad and a little chicken for lunch and for ze rest zey smoke. In France you either look like 'im or like my uncle Philippe, who ees as round as a barrel." He realized he was still holding Gregory's hands and squeezed them reassuringly. He remembered Gregory in the shower. The damn Brit was flawless. Stupid Lucien for making him so insecure about himself.
"You are great ze way you are, Gregory, really. You are not so incredibly thin like some and you are really, definitely not fat. Absolutely not! You are just right."
"That's what people always say to fat people!"
"Gregory! No, really! You are perfect okay?" Gregory smiled, finally reassured. Christophe squeezed his hands again and turned away from him.
"Perfect to me, anyway." He mumbled as he walked towards the door.
"You're perfect to me, too." He froze and turned around. It must have been the alcohol, he decided, that had made him hear that. Gregory was not looking at him, instead he was doing the dishes.
"Something the matter?" Gregory asked, turning to face him. As if he hadn't said anything. Now he really was confused.
"Nothing, nothing." He muttered as he turned again and left the kitchen. The whole evening he had been switching between languages and he had sometimes talked in French to Kenny without realizing it. But he almost did know for sure that he had said the last sentence of their discussion in French. And for a moment, he had been sure that if Gregory had replied to him at all, he had replied to him in French.
Later in bed he tossed and turned, not finding a good position to sleep. He felt uncomfortable alone, missing Gregory's body to curl up to more than he cared to admit. And the memory of his stupid cousin flirting with Gregory upset him so greatly that he couldn't catch his sleep. With a grunt he threw the covers off him and stepped outside.
Quietly he walked into Gregory's room, but he startled the blond anyway.
"Christophe? What are you doing here?" Gregory mumbled sleepily, obviously about to feel asleep. Without a word he crawled into Gregory's bed, scooting closer to the blond. And Gregory, also without a word, drew him closer to him, hugging him to himself. He sighed into Gregory's chest, enjoying Gregory's delicious smell. He wrapped himself around him and forced their limbs to tangle together.
Gregory didn't ask him what was wrong, but just stroke his back comfortingly. Sleep was coming easily to him now, especially when Gregory pressed a soft kiss against his forehead.
Maybe he couldn't have Gregory, he thought, but at least Lucien didn't have him either.