Note: You're welcome, I_Am_Mister_Meeseeks. I hope you enjoy this long one-shot! And I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!
Pairing: WildMcQuaid
Bryce really did not want to do this, but he had panicked, and now he was hoping to god that Tyler would pick up his fucking phone-
"Hello?"
Okay, now Bryce wished that Tyler hadn't answered, as his words were suddenly stolen from his throat. He swallowed the lump in his throat and took a deep breath.
"Hey, Tyler," he greeted shakily, trying not to sound worried.
It didn't work, because the response he got was "Are you okay?" Bryce sighed and put his lip. Well, he made it this far, might as well finish it.
"Okay, please don't get mad at me for this, but... My parents called because, you know, they wanted to know if I was coming over for Christmas, and then they asked if I was bringing a date, and... I may or may not have panicked and said that I was dating you? And now they want you to come over for Christmas? And I completely understand if you don't want to come, I can tell them you got sick or something, but I would be eternally grateful if you came and pretended to be my date for the night?"
It was silent on the other end, Bryce thought Tyler had left. But then Tyler sighed and chuckled. "Okay, first of all, why the hell was I your first choice? And second, yeah, I'll be your fake date. Though you better be careful, I've been known to make parents love me." Bryce sighed out of relief and laughed.
"Oh my god, thank you so much! You're a miracle, I swear."
Tyler laughed, "You're welcome, babe." Bryce rolled his eyes.
"You do realize you don't have to pretend until Christmas Eve, right?"
"Eh, might as well practice so you get used to it when the day actually comes. See ya then, babe!"
The call ended, and Bryce sighed once again. Hopefully Tyler didn't screw this up for him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tyler got to Bryce's house the day before, just so he could get situated.
"So what should I be expecting from your parents tomorrow?" He asked. Bryce shrugged.
"They'll probably fawn over you and ask a lot of questions. So be prepared if they ask you something about how we met or whatever."
Tyler snorted, "If that's it, then we are good. I can handle that."
"You act as though you've done this before."
"I have. Once, in high school. My friend needed a pretend date so I went with her. Her parents knew about me already though and were asking impossible questions like 'what is her favorite thing about you?' and stuff like that. Of course they had figured it out already, but whatever."
"Thank goodness my parents aren't like that. If you're convincing enough, that is."
Tyler rolled his eyes, "Of course I'm convincing enough. Just you wait. By the end of the night you'll be confused as to if I'm actually dating you or not."
Bryce laughed. "I don't think it's gonna get that bad, but okay, Tyler."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bryce was practically shaking in his boots at he waited in front of his parents house. Tyler had told him that it would be fine, but he still couldn't shake the feeling. Tyler grabbed Bryce's hand and squeezed it, giving him a small smile. "I won't fuck it up if that's what you're worried about," Tyler whispered. Bryce smiled, but took his hand away from Tyler's.
"Thanks. But you don't have to start acting just yet; it'll be a little bit before they open the door, it always is."
Tyler shrugged, "Might as well get into the act before they catch us off guard, y'know?"
They heard the door click, followed by the door opening. A woman stood at the door, and her eyes lit up at the sight of the two. "Honey, Bryce and his date is here!" She called into the house, most likely to her husband. She hugged Bryce and kissed his forehead before going over to Tyler.
Bryce wasn't expecting Tyler to be so willing to hug him mother. His mother seemed pleased though, chuckling and giving Tyler a kiss on the head too. "Well aren't you just a sweetheart! Come in, come in! I don't want you two to freeze out there." They were ushered inside quickly and their coats were pulled off.
Bryce's father walked into the room, and Bryce stopped breathing for a second. This was one of the main things Tyler had to get right, and if he didn't, they'd be done for.
His father looked Tyler up and down. "He's quite the brute, I'll admit," he chuckled.
"Depends on the view point, sir," Tyler said. Bryce's father smiled before looking back at Bryce.
"I already like him," he said, winking. He turned back to Tyler and held his hand out. "Call me Rick." Tyler took his hand and shook it.
"Tyler." Bryce let out the breath he was holding.
One obstacle out of the way, thank god.
Tyler glanced back at Bryce and sent him a wink. Bryce rolled his eyes slightly and walked up next to Tyler and cautiously grabbed his hand (just for the effect, he told himself) as they followed his father into the living room. "Bryce, sweetie, can you help me with dinner?" His mother called out from the kitchen. Bryce knew there was no way of getting out of it, so he sent a you better not fuck this up or I swear to god I will hurt you look to Tyler. Tyler sent back a chill the fuck out, I got this babe look (the "babe" part was from the wink that Tyler sent him).
As Bryce left to help his mother, his father turned to Tyler. "So," he began, "how did you two meet?"
Of course that was the first question he would ask (Tyler nearly snorted at how cliche it was). "You do know of Brycey's YouTube career, correct?" Tyler asked, making sure that they knew what it was before he continued. His father nodded. "Well, I've got a channel too. Our friend Ohm - well, Ryan - introduced us to each other. We just kind of hit it off soon after." Rick nodded, pleased with the answer.
Meanwhile in the kitchen, Bryce's mother was bombarding him with questions. "He seems like a nice boy," she was saying. "Handsome, too. How did you manage to find a man like that?" Bryce scratched the back of his head, blushing a little.
"Heh, sometimes I don't even know how I did it." She chuckled and kissed Bryce's cheek.
"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Bryce tensed up. Why didn't he expect that question? It was going to come up sooner or later.
"I, uh, I guess I was just nervous, you know? I didn't know if you guys would like him or not." His mother's face turned from a look of confusion to one of understanding.
"Ah, okay. Don't worry sweetie, I was like that too when I met your father." Bryce let out a breath of relief he didn't know he was holding.
~~
The four met back up in the kitchen when dinner was done. Bryce and Tyler sat at one end of the table while Bryce's parents sat at the other side. It was a comfortable silence, and Bryce was thankful for that.
"So how long have you too been together?" His mother asked.
Well, nevermind then.
"A couple of months now," Tyler said, glancing back at Bryce and smiling at him. Bryce smiled back, albeit a little nervously
"Tyler, where are you from? I'd like to know a little more about you, if you don't mind me asking," his father said, leaning forward.
"Well, what can I say? I'm from Indiana, and I'm a car guy, a dog guy, and a video game guy. My friends piss me off half the time, but hey, it's not the end of the world."
"Was Bryce...?"
"No, not at all. Bryce is a sweetheart most of the time, if not always. He's the one that usually keeps me from blowing my top off."
Both Tyler and Bryce were surprises by his words. Tyler wasn't expecting that to be so truthful, and Bryce wasn't expecting such nice things.
No further questions were asked (thank god, Bryce thought. He didn't think he could handle another question about their "love life" or anything else).
~~
After dinner was finished and the dishes were put up, they had decided to watch a movie. Neither of them really payed attention to what movie it was. They were more focused on how close together they were. Bryce's father and mother decided to take a majority of the couch, leaving barely enough room for the other two (Bryce swore they were doing it on purpose).
Bryce was practically sitting on Tyler's lap because of it. Tyler wrapped his arms around Bryce, and Bryce began blushing. Tyler did that as an almost automatic move, like this was normal. Tyler was an amazing actor, Bryce had to give him that.
Tyler rested his head on Bryce's, sighing. He then kissed the top of Bryce's head. Bryce froze, and blushed even more. His parents saw and aww'ed quietly, looking over at the two.
"They're so cute," his mother whispered to her husband.
"Martha, stop cooing over them and let the boys be; I'm sure they can hear your constant squealing over here." She rolled her eyes and lightly smacked his shoulder, but she stopped talking about the boys.
By the time the movie was over, Bryce was passed out. Tyler was close to passing out, but he wasn't there yet.
He didn't bother moving from his spot for multiple reasons. One, he was super tired. Two, he didn't want to wake Bryce up in the process of moving them both to a bedroom. Three, Bryce was clinging onto his for dear life. Four, he was pretty comfortable where he was. And five, Bryce's parents must have thought Tyler had fallen asleep too, because they put a blanket on top of them.
So he just closed his eyes and dozed off.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tyler was the first one to wake up. His nose was the one that woke him, as he smelled something delicious coming from the kitchen. He yawned, and that's when he realized that Bryce had snuggled up to him in his sleep, and now his head rested below Tyler's. Tyler chuckled, and tried to nudge Bryce awake.
After about ten minutes, Bryce woke up. He yawned and cracked his eyes open, only to close them, groan, and bury his head into Tyler's chest. "Morning sleepyhead," Tyler chuckled.
"Morning," Bryce mumbled. He sighed against Tyler's skin before lifting up his head. Tyler chuckled again, finding Bryce's slightly dazed look amusing.
Bryce blinked multiple times, getting his sight cleared up. He realized the position they were in and blushed as he hurried out of the spot. "I, uh, sorry," he apologized sheepishly.
Tyler rolled his eyes, "It's fine, babe." He winked afterwards, and for some reason Bryce's blush began growing.
There was a awkward silence between them. Well, awkward to Bryce. He didn't know why he was blushing so much. Tyler, on the other hand, seemed fine as he smiled at Bryce.
"Breakfast is done!" Bryce's mother called. Bryce was relieved at that and rushed to the kitchen. He had already gotten everything for himself when Tyler shuffled into the room, yawning. "Good morning, Tyler," Bryce's mother greeted, handing him a plate.
"Morning, ma'am," Tyler replies, stacking his plate with more pancakes than the rest of everybody.
"You sure you're gonna eat all that?" Bryce's father asked, looking over at Tyler's plate. Tyler shrugged.
"Eh, I'm a big boy, I need to eat a lot." Bryce's father chuckled and said no more.
After breakfast, they went into the living room to open presents (well, for Bryce to open his presents. His parents made sure that he got at least one every year).
This year they had gotten him a Christmas sweater with his new logo on it, handmade by his mother.
After a little bit, Bryce decided that it was time to go. "Mom, dad, it was really fun," he said, giving them hugs and kisses as he walked to the door.
"Oh, I'm glad you came. And I'm glad you brought Tyler with you! We'll be seeing him next year, won't we?" His mother asked. Bryce blushed, but before he could open his mouth, Tyler answered for him.
"Yeah, I'll be here next year. He won't be able to get rid of me in that time." Bryce's father chuckled and gave Tyler a firm shake.
"Good meeting you, boy. Now you better treat my son right while I'm not here watching, you hear?"
Tyler gave him a salute, "Got it, sir." Bryce's father smiled and hugged him. Tyler got a hug from Bryce's mother too before he met up with Bryce at the door. "Ready?" he asked. Bryce nodded.
"Yeah, I'm ready."
They had just opened the door when Bryce's mother stopped them. "Boys, look up!" They did, and Bryce began to blush once more. Above their heads hung a mistletoe.
"Martha!" Bryce's father scolded.
"What? I hung it up last week, you can't blame me for that."
Tyler and Bryce looked at each other for a brief moment before Bryce gazed away and looked at the ground. He knew his mother wasn't going to let them go until they kissed, and he really didn't want to kiss Tyler.
Tyler rolled his eyes and didn't hesitate to grab Bryce's face and kiss him. Bryce's eyes were wide and his cheeks turned like never before. Even in this awkward situation, he still found himself kissing back. He... He liked kissing Tyler (this surprised him very much). His mother aww'ed aloud, and then Tyler quickly pulled them out of the house, shutting the door behind him. Bryce was in a slight daze, wondering why his feelings were suddenly acting up around Tyler.
Tyler pulled Bryce to the car, but stopped when they got there. He suddenly looked nervous, and Bryce didn't like it when Tyler seemed nervous (Tyler was never nervous, and from what he had learned from his friends, when Tyler was nervous, it was almost certain that they were dealing with something bad).
"Bryce, I'm gonna say this right now real quick because I feel like this is the only time I'm going to be able to say it but I really like you and I was wondering if you would maybe try and go on a date with me?"
Bryce gaped at Tyler, his blush coming back at full force. That was not what he was expecting at all. He thought back to a minute before when Tyler had kissed him.
Tyler thought that he might have broken Bryce. It was a sudden question, and he had been able to play off the crush for a while. But that kiss... That made the realization hit him like a truck again (when he first realized he liked Bryce, he was so shocked that he had just frozen and stopped playing the game altogether. It didn't help that Bryce was playing with them that day, and had later texted him to ask what had happened. Tyler replied with the excuse of I was feeling sick all of a sudden).
He was suddenly filled with worry that Bryce would just walk away and never talk to him again.
That worry was quickly replaced with surprise when Bryce leaned up and kissed him.
Tyler wasn't as quick to kiss back as he wanted to be, but it was good enough.
When Bryce pulled back, he was smiling widely. The bright blush on his face made him indefinitely more cute, Tyler thought.
"I'd love to."
And now, Bryce knew what he was doing every Christmas.