everything had been going fine, there were presents under the tree and the scent of pine was fresh. outside the window, the sun had already set and the stars were out, scattered around decorating the sky above.
dib had been sitting on the couch swiping through the items in his feed, trying to avoid any contact with family that had come to visit since he had already greeted them, giving into tight embraces that he swore messed up his dress shirt that was under his pale red knit sweater. the only reason that he had been in the living room and not in the dark, somehow organised room of his was because he was waiting for someone.
please hurry, i feel really uncomfortable not talking to the people visiting because i'm waiting for you.
worry not, dib! i'm on my way right now! also, zim has gifts for you.
the only gift i need is you at my house, pronto, alien.
i'll just throw the surprise i'm sure you would've liked on the street then. and i am outside, dib-shit.
"oh shit." dib muttered right after receiving the message. he couldn't help the grin that made it's way to his face as he gingerly got up to answer the door.
"hey zim." dib said, his smile falling a little. he would have to introduce zim to all of his family. and being mexican, he would probably have to tell them everything including where he was from and such. letting out a sign, he took zim's hand and stepped outside and closing the door in one swift motion. this made zim confused. why was dib taking him outside when he had been nagging at him to get to his house already?
"look," dib started, trying not to draw attention from the children that were playing freeze tag outside, not to mention some of their mothers. zim tilted his head slightly, wondering what dib was obviously trying not to seem nervous about. they had been in a relationship long enough that zim knew dib's small fidgets. so of course he noticed the way the black haired teen tightly gripped at his dark jeans. zim moved his eyes from dib's hands to his face when he started to speak again.
"my family is going to want to know everything about you so we have to make up some stuff. alright? we can wing it but please try to make sense or else they'll ask even more questions." he said to which zim responded with a nod.
"but why would they be so curious of zim? don't they have their own business to mind?" the shorter male asked, rolling his eyes. why were people so nosy?
"because you're the only person i've ever dated, and i came out to my family a while ago but none of them know i have a boyfriend except my dad and gaz. that, and some of them aren't really accepting-" dib said quietly, moving one of his hands from his jeans to the back of his head. he then looked down at what zim was holding in both of his hands.
it was a small box, messily wrapped in light blue paper with snowflakes on it. zim took notice of this and pushed it into dib's hands, clearly embarrassed by how he was just giving dib a gift. but, this was what humans did on christmas right? zim could feel himself getting nervous and found himself looking at dib awkwardly to say something about it. did he not like the wrapping paper?
"thanks, zim. i have something for you too but i'm not sure if you'll like it." he looked to the side. "let's go inside now." he smiled, opening the door and being greeted with music that was now being blasted through huge speakers in the living room. dib tightly held onto zim's hand and nearly ran to his room. luckily, no one noticed them as the music was so loud, it was almost to the point where they both could feel the vibrations though the floor, and dib's room was on the other side of the house.
