After a few hours of brushing his hair , four outfit changes, and completely unpacking and repacking his suitcase twice, James was ready to go.
He was already regretting his decision to go along with this fake boyfriend act. Christian's family had always been good to him, his parents were absolutely wonderful, and his sister was all sweet and fun to be around.
Every time they'd come to visit Christian , they'd been so kind and lovely to James, and now james was going to have to lie to them all. Inside his head he had a little set of balancing scales and they kept tipping back and forth. He really didn't want to spend the next few days being dishonest, possibly screwing up what he hoped was Christian's family's good opinion of him, but he also didn't want to spend the holidays alone. When Christian thanked him for the thousandth time, then wrapped his arms around james, and pulled him into a tight hug, the scale wobbled and fell over. He was going to go through with it.
Driving was an excellent distraction. He'd never actually been to christians hometown before, though he knew the general area, so he had to concentrate and pay attention to the road, rather than sneaking glances at Christian in the passenger seat.
Christian was quiet for a while, busy fiddling with his phone, so james let his mind wander a bit. He congratulated himself on christians Christmas presents, had a moment of panic thinking that he'd left them behind, but then remembered that they were in the large bag in the back seat along with all of christians gifts for his family. He took a relieved breath and chanced a quick peek at Christian, then immediately started panicking again, but this time about his ability to play a convincing fake boyfriend. What would christians family expect? Would they have to be affectionate with each other? Touching? Hugging? Kissing? James started to blush just thinking about it. He didn't think he could do it.
"Made a playlist." Christian flipped his phone around to show James, then turned up the volume. "It's like... If you were really my boyfriend and I made you a mixtape, this would be it."
James's heart did a funny lurch and flip, but he had to control himself. There would probably be a lot worse coming if Christian was really expecting them to pretend to be in a serious relationship. It'd probably be a good idea to be more prepared. James turned off the music and christian whipped his head around to look at him, mouth slightly open. Then he frowned and crossed his arms, letting his head rest against the back of the seat, as he stared out of the window.
"James? Umm... What do you think... Shit. Okay. How are we supposed to fake being in a relationship? What exactly are we supposed to do?"
"Oh, I don't know." Christian shifted in his seat, pulled his knee up, and turned to face james. "I guess I didn't really think about it." He tapped his fingers on the center console and hummed.
"I mean, what is your family going to expect?"
Christian chewed on his lip for a second, then said, "Well, like... Honestly, I don't know. It's not like I've ever done this before. Ambika brought her boyfriend last year and we all, you know, picked on him a bit. Teased him to see how he handled it. They've done that with you already. They all know you. So... I don't know."
That was completely unhelpful. James squeezed the steering wheel and exhaled, puffing out his cheeks.
"You'd know more about what to do than I would. Haven't you 'met the family' before? What was it like?"
James had 'met the family' before. More than once, actually, and it was always strange and at least a little uncomfortable, but he already knew Christian's family, so maybe it wouldn't be so bad. "Yeah, well, before I, um, had to be really aware of how... umm... physically affectionate I was? And, like... pull back a bit. Reel it in. "
"What, like, you'd have to stop yourself from dry humping next to the egg nog?"
"Jesus, Christian, no. I just... You know how touchy-feely I can be."
"Oh, like cuddles and hugs and stuff?"
"Yeah, like that."
Christian hummed thoughtfully and turned to look out his window for a moment. James snuck a few glances, but forced himself to keep his eyes on the road. He'd never seen Christian be affectionate with any of the guys he'd hung around with, other than the times he'd watched him dancing and, well, grinding on someone on the dance floor.
He'd always been tactile with james—touching his hair, bumping their hips together when they passed in the hallway, or resting his hand on the small of james back when they were out someplace crowded. Sometimes he would cuddle with james on the couch while they watched TV. If he was hungover, he would usually find his way into James's bed, moaning and groaning until james got up and made him bacon and eggs with a side of ibuprofen. When it was especially cold in their apartment the previous winter, Christian would strip the blankets from his bed, put them on top of James's, and insist on sleeping with him because it was double the body heat.
"Well, I mean, I think that would probably go over well with my family. We should do that stuff."
"What stuff?"
"What you said. Cuddles and hugs and stuff."
"That's the sort of thing that I tried to avoid when I met my exes' families."
"Yeah, but we're already close. My family's seen the way we are together at home, so we should... I don't know... Turn it up a notch."
"I don't even know what that means, Christian."
"Just follow my lead, Jamison. It'll be fine."
"Right. Okay." James nodded and chewed on the inside of his cheek. He spent the rest of the drive pretending that none of this was happening.
