THURSDAY: New Traditions

[detentionkid]

It's been a long week. (Which is weird, considering the week's only half over and they're out of school for the long weekend, but.) AJ hasn't been avoiding Brian - they still have classes together, and that History project - but he can't seem to make himself relax when they're around each other, and Brian's obviously feeling the strain. He hadn't

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[rokofages]

"After you were invited, you mean," Brian corrects amiably. He lets go of AJ's sleeve and tries not to give it anymore thought. "C'mon," he says, nodding towards the kitchen. "She's in there cooking up a storm. I'll introduce you to everyone else after."

AJ peers over Brian's shoulder down the hallway, and looks a little bit like he's steeling himself for war when he nods. But Brian's not worried; he never would've invited AJ over if he'd in any way thought he'd have reason to. They head for the kitchen, AJ a few steps behind him, and Brian taps his knuckles against the doorway. "Hey, Gordon Ramsay."

"Hey now," his mom says, facing away from them while she's stirring the gravy in a bubbling saucepan. She's alone, so Harry must've gone off to be lazy somewhere else. "Can we go for Jamie Oliver, at least? Much less yelling."

"Sure thing." Brian leans up against the doorframe and glances over at AJ. "AJ's here."

"Oh, I didn't even hear the doorbell," she says, grabbing a dishtowel before she turns around. She offers AJ a slightly awkward but genuine enough smile as she wipes off her hands. "Happy Thanksgiving, AJ. Glad you could make it."

[detentionkid]

"Happy Thanksgiving," AJ replies. "Thank you for having me."

He goes to jam his hands in his pockets, and only then remembers about the flowers. "Uh, these are for you." The pansies are starting to droop when he holds them out to Brian's mom, and he winces. "Sorry, they're a little -- I had the heat turned up in the car."

[rokofages]

Brian watches his mom take the flowers, clearly surprised and trying not to be obvious about it. "No, they're lovely," she says after a moment, turning the bouquet over in her hands once and then looking at AJ again. "I love pansies," she says sincerely, and her smile this time is a little softer. "Thank you, AJ. I'll put them in water straight away."

AJ's next breath is slow, like he's trying not to let a harsh exhale out all at once. Brian stands there with his shoulder against the doorframe and looks at him. Finds it hard to stop, and doesn't see much reason why he should, even when AJ feels his eyes on him. It's ... a lot, all of it, especially when they couldn't feel further from a unit right now to Brian if he tried. But AJ's also here - he showed up, despite how nervous he obviously is, and seeing him offer nice words and flowers to his mom is...

AJ looks at him, and Brian just smiles, very lightly, without feeling sheepish or embarrassed. There's a warm feeling extending out along his body and making his fingers flex and clench for a moment. "Do you need any help, mom?" he asks quietly, keeping his focus on AJ until he's finished talking.

"No, that's-" his mom says from where she's now at the sink, filling up a vase. She stops herself though. "Actually, could you start bringing in the cranberry sauce and the salads? Everything should be ready in twenty minutes or so."

[detentionkid]

"Sure thing," Brian says, aiming that same, fond smile at AJ for a second before he goes to grab the sauce, and AJ feels his neck flush hot. Now that he's handed off his gift-bribes, he doesn't have anything to focus on but Brian's proximity as they carry the dishes out of the kitchen, and the warm, if slightly cautious, look he gives AJ over his shoulder as they set them out on the table. There's so much salad they need to make a second trip into the kitchen, and Brian's mom nods her thanks with a smile, wan but genuine, and AJ feels the heat creep up to his ears.

You get in your own head a lot when you feel pressured, he hears Lance say. He's not going to do that today. He's not going to spin out, or think about what happens next, or the what ifs. He just needs to stay right here, in the moment, and--

"AJ," Brian says, carefully, and AJ almost drops the salad.

"Yeah," he says, before putting it carefully on the table, right next to the other salads. "Sorry. I was just - thinking."

A voice materializes out of nowhere to ask, "What are we thinking about?"

AJ doesn't jump, but it's a close thing, and when he turns, Harry is there, sliding into one of the seats and attempting to steal a carrot stick from one of the salad bowls. He's not even looking at AJ, but AJ panics a little anyway, and says the first thing that comes to mind. "NCIS."

[rokofages]

"Oh, okay," Harry says slowly, as Brian does a double-glance, because when has AJ ever watched that show? Harry shrugs. "Yeah, no, that's cool. There's a marathon on sometimes on Sundays when I'm nursing my hangovers. That girl's pretty hot."

Brian moves some bowls around to make everything fit. "Which girl?"

"I don't know?" Harry waves a hand dismissively. "The girl. Isn't there a girl on the team? There's like, a nerd, and a main guy, and then there's a main girl."

"Yeah, but there's been more than one," Brian says, adjusting some of the table settings. "There was Kate, but then she got shot, so then there was Ziva." There's suddenly dead silence in the room, and when Brian looks up both Harry and AJ are staring at him. "What? I watch the Sunday marathons too sometimes."

[detentionkid]

"Sometimes," Harry drawls. "Riiiiight."

AJ's mouth tugs up despite himself as he ducks his head. He can feel Brian's eyes on him, and their gazes meet when he looks back up. He chances a smile, wry and amused. "I thought Sundays were for homework."

[rokofages]

Brian laughs at the memory, quiet, but the smile lingers. "They are when I want them to be," he says, watching AJ's mouth twitch again as he puts down his salad bowl.

"Aww," Harry says casually, preoccupied with picking out cashews from the bowl without making it look noticeable. Brian knows his game. "Cute. How'd you two crazy kids meet anyway?"

"School," Brian answers, moving the bowls around one more time even though they were fine before. He gives Harry a quick look.

"Ah." Harry nods sagely. "Cool story. Nuanced. Very deep."

[detentionkid]

AJ lets out a laugh, abrupt and surprised, and ducks his head when Brian and Harry both glance in his direction. It's like his nerves have tipped him into overdrive, and everything feels magnified somehow. Everything's funnier, and warmer, and scarier, and better. AJ tries to push it all aside. "I was in detention a lot," he offers, with a little half-shrug. "He kept trying to bust me out."

[rokofages]

No one's ever asked them that before. No one's ever looked at them and thought that they'd have a getting-together story to tell. But they don't really; at least nothing that's prettily packaged, or even particularly family-friendly. It's a fair enough summation, but Brian looks down anyway, traces the padded lining on the back of the chair he's standing in front of. He knew his family were going to assume - there was something nice about that, if he's being honest with himself - but he also thought they'd be at a different place entirely today.

"There was some Shakespeare involved, too," he ends up saying before Harry can respond. He runs his fingers along the top of the chair and smiles lightly as he remembers. "A lot, actually."

[detentionkid]

Their eyes meet again, over the table, and it takes AJ a second to swallow and say, "Shakespeare's nuanced. Not very deep, but nuanced."

Harry mimes a snore, and rolls his eyes good-naturedly. "You guys are so boring it's seriously impressive."

It's so far from the truth that AJ lets the corner of his mouth tug up, dry and self-deprecating, still feeling Brian's eyes on him as he glances away. "That's my superpower. Brian's got nothing to do with it."

[rokofages]

"I guess he's pretty cool," Harry acknowledges, and Brian tears his gaze away from AJ long enough to give his brother an unimpressed look. "Either that or you've still got honeymoon vision, my good man."

"All I wanna do is love you," Brian tells him. "And yet you make it so difficult."

Harry presses a hand over his heart. "Brian, my favorite and only little brother. You know I'm worth the effort."

AJ snorts again next to them, and even Brian can't keep his mouth from twitching. "We should go get you introduced to the rest of the family," he says to AJ, carefully keeping his voice nonchalant.

"Def," Harry agrees, snatching another carrot before he tips his chair forward and stands back up. "I was just in there and aunt Alice was already all, 'oh my goodness, who's Brian guest?' I only have so many PG-rated stories to distract her with."

[detentionkid]

AJ blames nerves for the fact that it doesn't click, until now, that when Harry asked how'd you two meet?, he hadn't meant how do you know each other?

That when AJ's introduced, other people are going to be assuming--he's not sure. That they're together? That it's serious? Whatever they assume, it's not going to be this.

AJ blinks down at the tablecloth. Brian must've known. But he hadn't seemed flustered at any of Harry's questions, hadn't seemed unsure, and AJ doesn't know what that means either.

"AJ?" he hears Brian say, voice quiet, and when he looks up Harry's disappeared and Brian's just a chair's width away, looking wary but concerned.

"Sorry," AJ says, and nudges a salad bowl away from the edge of the table so he has a reason to look away and catch his breath. He's just - going to take Brian's lead and try not to think about it. Try not to get lost in his own head. He manages a flicker of a smile when he looks back up. "Yeah, okay. Lead the way."

[rokofages]

Brian hovers there for another moment, letting his eyes flicker over AJ's face. The gnawing pit in his stomach makes it hard to smile back, but he manages it, giving a slow nod and jamming his hands back in his pockets. "I think it's only your house that needs a tour guide, but all right."

A flicker of the old AJ comes back when he rolls his eyes at that, but he also huffs an amused laugh, and Brian joins him. He nods towards the hallway, and they do the short walk side by side this time. There's effort in that gesture alone, Brian's pretty sure; for AJ to meet his family head-on like this, and for Brian not to convince himself that he's been fully shut out again when he knows that's not the truth.

It doesn't make any of this any easier, but just before they get to the living room, AJ glances over at him while he takes a deep breath, and Brian gives him an encouraging nod. And for a tangible moment they're connected again.

He pushes the living room door open, and the muted music and noises unfurl like they're walking straight into a blizzard. Brian smiles despite himself; they're not a big gathering, but they're definitely a loud one. Aunt Alice and her girlfriend, Chloe, are sitting close in the big couch, taking up less than half the space so his grandmother can put her legs up on the cushions. His mom and his brother are taking up the armchairs, and his dad is sitting on one of the dining room chairs that they've dragged into the living room. The coffee table is filled with snacks and drinks, and everyone's chatting over each other so the music from the stereo is barely audible.

Brian's pretty damn sure that AJ doesn't want this to turn into a scene, and even though no one stops talking his whole family clearly looks their way when they enter, so Brian steers AJ towards the couch first. "I hear you want to get in on the rumor mill, Alice," he says, grinning at her.

Alice laughs straight away, and Brian sees her gently squeeze Chloe's leg where she'd been resting her hand before she stands up. "I am the definition of tact, Brian, as always. Now who is this handsome gentleman you've brought over?"

"This is AJ," Brian says, stepping slightly to the side and aiming a small smile at AJ. "This is my aunt Alice."

[detentionkid]

"Hi," AJ says, extending a hand on autopilot. "Happy Thanksgiving." Alice laughs as she takes it, and gives Brian a conspiratorial wink as her girlfriend introduces herself.

"Handsome and proper, huh, Brian? Where'd you find this one?" Alice says, as AJ shakes Chloe's hand. It catches AJ off-guard, and he feels his ears start to burn.

"School," Harry interrupts from his armchair, before Brian or AJ can answer. "Shakespeare was involved. The joys of courtship in iambic pentameter and all that."

[rokofages]

"Oh my god," Brian says under his breath, trying to smile goodnaturedly as Alice and Chloe both splutter on a laugh. He's used to his family being like this; they were relentless with Amy, and the few times he's brought someone around after her it was just like this, but--

He doesn't look at AJ, but instead tells Harry, "I'm ignoring you now," and when he glances at his mom even she is smiling.

"Highbrow, bubs," his grandma says, grinning at him, and Brian throws his arms up in surrender. "Hello, AJ. Sorry, I'd get up, but my knees are particularly stiff today."

[detentionkid]

"I can get some ice," AJ offers. "Or if you raise your feet on the cushions like this--um."

AJ's halfway through rearranging the cushions beneath Brian's grandma's feet before he pauses, and when he looks up, everyone's watching him. It's the first time all day he's done something without thinking it through first, and it takes him by surprise. He takes half a step back and jams his hands in his pockets. "Sorry. Force of habit. My gran had bad knees, and she - uh. I'll just get some ice."

"No, no, no," Harry says, hopping off the armchair. "I see your game, man, and you're barking up the wrong tree." He presses a quick kiss to his grandmother's temple. "I will get the ice. There will be no usurping of 'favorite grandson' titles this day."

"Okay," AJ says, already trying to beat a retreat. But before he can go anywhere, Brian's grandma reaches for his arm and pats it. "Thank you AJ," she says kindly, and heat burns up the back of AJ's neck.