The world, coming down

Come With Me ~ December 2013

December was meant to be a break for both of them. But Stephen was filming two shows at once and Dec was moving from one meeting to the next almost constantly. Still though, regardless of the time, they seemed to end up in the same house almost every night, gravitating to one another in their time of need.

They didn't talk much about what they were doing over Christmas.

Not until one of those quiet, sleepless nights. Dec knew both of them were in their heads: he was still stuck in that PR meeting; Stephen was trapped in a familiar cycle of overthinking. He listened to Stephen's breath close to his ear, concentrating on the arm resting over him, on the feeling of their hands entangled close to his heartbeat.

"Come with me," he said softly, not needing to check that Stephen was still awake. He felt Stephen shift, imagining his confused frown. "To Newcastle. For Christmas."

More silence. Stephen's thumb rubbed Dec's hand like he was about to let him down gently, to politely discard the one invitation he'd get that year that didn't guarantee an uncomfortable festive period.

"Okay," he murmured eventually.

Dec deflated, sinking against the cushion beneath his head with untold relief. He hadn't realised how worried he'd been about Stephen potentially being on his own, glad to shed another few layers of unrest when he was currently burdened with so many.

"Thank you." Stephen's lips brushed his ear, heating the skin with a warm huff of air. His nose followed suit as he withdrew, the tip colder, making Dec shiver slightly.

(*~*)

Christmas was in full swing at the Donnelly household, with Dec's siblings slowly filtering through the door over the course of the morning, towing with them any number of children of their own. They brought with them an intensity of positivity that Dec hadn't realised they'd been missing until he'd faced so much of it.

There was talk of starting school, of moving house and job promotions. It was hard to contend with, to think of the news the two of them had to share in return. Dec had fallen back on his usual crutch of talking about work, noticing Stephen swiftly follow suit. After all, it was that or bring the mood tumbling down with everything else.

Dec always realised how much he liked to be honest with his family when he was unable to do so. It was hard to pretend with them, at least to start with, that they were both doing okay. It was hard not to bring all of that up when it had felt like it was consuming him a few days earlier.

It was a lot like swimming. He could feel both of them kicking their legs hard to stay above water, even though on the surface the smiles would be taken at face value.

Over the course of the morning Dec started to relax. Unusually, it was Stephen's slowly draining tension that prompted his own decompression. The younger man started to look genuinely cheerful rather than forcibly, calmer than normal as he was introduced to the remaining family he hadn't met yet.

Like Martin, who was smiling down at the girl peeking around his leg, nudging her forwards with his hand. "Are you going to say hello to your uncle, squirt?"

"Hi, Mae. You've grown, haven't you?" Dec said kindly, watching her smile and then glance shyly at Stephen. "I've got someone I'd like you to meet. This is Stephen."

She looked back up at Martin, still staying close at his side until he answered her silent question. "Stephen is Dec's boyfriend."

Dec looked sideways at Stephen, wrapping an arm around his waist with a smile as the younger man fought off a similar expression.