Catch the Thunder

An Awkward Family Reunion

Laxus looked up at a house with marble columns, sculpted hedges, where limousines were pulling up behind him and the music from a string quartet played somewhere within. The door he faced had what was easily the largest wreath he had ever seen outside of mall displays. The whole house had been decked out, nothing gaudy, but gleaming Christmas lights lit up each tree along the poplar-lined drive all the way up the private road to the mansion, with a circular driveway and a fountain in the center glowing with red and green lights.

He looked down at his suit. Freed had bought it for him, claiming it was merely another "Hanukkah gift." Laxus regretted telling him about that, because it gave Freed eight days of excuses to buy things for Laxus, things he had always wanted to get but felt too awkward to give as presents without a good reason.

So here he was, wearing some over-priced, tailor-made suit with patent leather shoes that probably cost as much as his rent. Laxus had slicked his hair back, but it still spiked out no matter how he tried to comb it. He felt ridiculous wearing clothes like this, but as he faced this house that loomed like some giant monster ready to swallow him, he was glad he at least was dressed in the right "armor."

Freed looked completely stunning, of course. He wore a burgundy suit coat buttoned up, his white dress shirt showing underneath, and a bow tie knotted perfectly. He had tied his long green hair back, with only the bangs draping down, covering one side of his face like usual. Maybe it was the Christmas lights, but his turquoise eyes gleamed brighter tonight. His face showed a complex mix of happiness at coming back home for the holidays as well as hesitancy about facing his parents with his boyfriend.

Deep down inside, Freed was aware that his parents already knew Laxus, and in one of the most intimate ways. That made this meeting even more awkward. It had to be done on Christmas, when his parents hosted a massive party for coworkers, clients, and contributors to their various charities. They would be restrained by social rules, forced through propriety to keep smiling, and greet their guest with politeness. Any other day and it would almost assuredly lead to an argument. He was gambling on his parents' steep sense of keeping up public appearances. For any other family, this sort of sudden reveal would utterly ruin the holiday.

Although he fully believed that his parents would behave themselves around Laxus, despite knowing who he was and what he used to do, his heart was still racing. He had been sweating all day, terrified at the prospect of an all-out fight with his parents.

Best case scenario: his parents accepted that Laxus had left behind his old life in order to make Freed truly happy and warmly accepted him.

Worst case scenario: either flat out disowning Freed, telling him he was no longer their son, cutting off from all funds, financial abandonment, and they would be escorted off the property with an order never to come home again; or they had security drag Laxus away while locking Freed up in a room to separate the two of them, pull Freed out of college, possibly dig up enough dirt on Laxus to have him arrested while safeguarding their own involvement with him, all so they could guarantee the two never met again.

That was a hell of a worst case scenario, and it scared the crap out of Freed.

Laxus glanced down quietly. He had seen Freed's nervousness in the car, tapping his fingers on the wheel, driving extra slow, and not just to appeal to Laxus' carsickness. He had frequently asked Laxus if he just wanted to skip the party. Laxus knew it was Freed himself chickening out, so he kept saying he wanted to go. They needed to get this over with, no matter the outcome. They both agreed, Christmas was the ideal time. If it worked out, the party would be great. If there was trouble, they could slip away from his parents and go to another part of the house, schmoozing with friends, and hopefully escape an all-out altercation. If things truly exploded, they could leave, simple as that.