Milkshake Hearts

Chapter 32: Indulging

A/N: A reminder that the characters in here even if they share names with real people are not representative of those people, and if they're assholes in this fic it's just plot driving reasons.

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They dress up a tiny bit more for their early-Christmas gathering the next day, Shayne going for one of his brightly coloured button ups.

"Your style really does match your screaming for attention habit sometimes," Courtney pokes fun at him, as she peers into the hotel mirror to do her makeup.

"Hey," he complains, "I'd jab you for that if you weren't mid-eyeliner."

"Don't you dare mess up eyeliner application," she laughs.

"Wouldn't dream of it. You almost ready to go?"

"Yeah. Your parents are already going to be there, right?" Courtney confirms, finishing up the final touches of her look before she steps back out into the hotel room.

"Mhm, they were going over early. Brian will be a bit later, he only finished for Christmas break last night and is flying over from New York this morning," Shayne explains, Courtney nodding in response.

"I get that vibe that there's a little tension between him and the rest of the family?" she inquires, carefully, and Shayne nods.

"None of us would care in the slightest that he's so career-focussed, but sometimes he can be a dick about it," he admits, "none of us have actually seen him since Mum and Dad went over there to visit him 18 months ago, and it's been even longer for the rest of us. But – he's always been a high achiever, that's what he does, so we just live with it as long as he lets us live with our own life paths – and he's not always so great at that. He doesn't exactly think what we do is a real job."

Courtney nods in understanding as they step out of their room and head to their rental car, letting the conversation fall to an end. Rob answers the door when they knock, this time, gesturing them to come inside.

"Chris and the kids have gone down the road to the grocery store for totally unnecessary ice cream just to get them out of our hair for a while," he explains as they wander through to the main area of the house, greeting Julie and Dianne in the kitchen.

"Anything I can help with?" Courtney offers.

"Ah, not really, we're just finishing a couple things, we'll be done in a moment," Julie brushes her off, and she's right, all of them moving to sit at the dining room table only a few minutes later.

"Oh my god watermelons!" Nathan enthuses, pointing at Shayne's shirt the second they enter the house, and it starts him, Shayne and Chris onto an extended food conversation. Courtney, for her part, stays talking with Shayne's parents and Julie instead.

"Who that?" Rosie breaks into their conversation when the doorbell rings a while later, twisting around from where she has been quietly leaning against the coffee table with some crayons and paper.

"That's your Uncle Brian, remember I said he was coming?" Julie calls out to her, and Rosie just shrugs, turning back to her drawing. Chris goes to answer the door, and they all stand up from their spots and move further into the living room.

True to form, Nathan calls out a chaotic greeting to his uncle as soon as he steps into the room, racing towards him.

"Hello Nathan," Brian replies, hand landing on top of his head and ruffling his hair in an affectionate greeting that also keeps him at arms' length.

"Hey Brian," Rob steps into their conversation, and Dianne walks over to pull him into a brief hug as he says hello to his parents. Julie, for her part, hangs back with Shayne and Courtney, and it makes Courtney nervous.