Emo Trinity x Reader (Book 2)

Ryan Ross x Reader - Hosting Family (Advent Calendar 2020)

Prompt: H: Hosting family (How does family work? Are they invited to others, or stay with their s/o?) from kairaiimagines „Christmas Alphabet" prompt list on Tumblr
Warnings: insecure Ryan
Word count: 1 443

It was not the first time Ryan would meet your family. It was not even the first time Ryan would spend Christmas with your family. And yet he seemed more nervous than the previous times. For almost a week now he had been cleaning the house like a maniac. He had not only dusted, vacuumed and swiped every room; he had also cleaned the windows and even defrosted the freezer. He had spent hours cleaning the bathrooms, and almost an eternity to prepare the guestrooms your family would stay in.

Where you had planned on wiping down the biggest surfaces, vacuuming and putting on fresh sheets, Ryan seemed to have decided that the whole rooms needed to be cleaned to the very last square inch.

But that was not just the guestrooms, as you realised. Every book in the house had been dusted, every lamp wiped clean, and tasteful, slightly kitschy Christmas decoration was spread all over the house. On every sparkly clean window hung an ornament, a little star or a couple of snowflakes. On every windowsill stood a little table lantern unless there was not enough space between the flower pots. On the doors to the main rooms like the living room, kitchen and dining room, but also to the guestrooms and bathrooms, there were wreaths, and on the shelf next to the TV Ryan had arranged a Christmas Village out of incense burner houses, decorated with cotton wool to make it look like snow. You just hoped he would not try putting the little houses to work all at the same time because with that much smoke the fire alarm surely would set off.

On the living room table stood the Advent wreath made from pine tree twigs, decorated with the same colour of baubles as the Christmas tree in front of the big window into the garden. The dining table had a fresh-out-of-the-laundry tablecloth, one in deep, restive red with gold patterns, and in the middle stood an arrangement of candles with a small plate with Christmas cookies.

All in all you really did not want to complain about Ryan being so passionate about decorating the house this year. But you had a feeling it was slightly too much. And he was not enjoying himself in the way one should when decorating the house for Christmas.

You had been content with the few candles, the Advent wreath in the living room, and the little paper cut-outs of stars in the windows for the first two weeks. But since it had been decided your family would visit for Christmas, Ryan had started making it his personal goal to present a perfect home.

Now there were only a few hours left until your family would arrive, your mother having sent you a message just a few minutes ago, that they'd take about another six hours.

With crossed arms you stood in the dining room, and watched as Ryan came back into the house from the garden. Just now he had put up lanterns in the garden, and earlier he had arranged pine tree twigs with more lanterns outside the front door "to make it look welcoming". Ryan pulled his shoes off before stepping into the perfectly clean kitchen, and carried the shoes past you into the hallway, ignoring your raised eyebrows at his actions.

"Ryan," you asked quietly when you heard him take off his coat. A few moments later he stepped back into the dining room, almost flinching at the stance you had taken; arms crossed over your chest, eyebrows knitted together, and lips in a tight line. "I've let you do whatever you like this past week, but..." your expression softened, and you dropped your arms to your side, "what are you doing?"

For a moment he stared at you; deep brown eyes meeting your concerned ones.

"Preparing the house for Christmas," he answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I see that... but," you looked around, "don't misunderstand, I love it. It just feels like you're doing something to distract yourself from something." Stepping closer to him, you took his hands in yours, bringing them to your lips, and kissing them gently. "What's bothering you?"

You almost immediately regretted asking the question, because it was obvious how you had broken down the wall Ryan had seemed to have built over the past week. Maybe for the best. But it broke your heart none the less to see the way his shoulders slumped down, and his lip quivered slightly.

Hastily you dragged him to the sofa where you sat him down, sitting closely next to him. Letting go of one of his hands, you brushed a thumb over his cheek, signalling him you were ready to listen, whenever he wanted to talk.

It took him a few minutes until he finally found the right words.

"It's the first time your family is coming here," he started. "They're gonna see the house, the way we live, how my way of life has intertwined with yours and... it feels like it's gonna be the visit where they understand that I intend to stay in your life until the day I die, if you'll let me. And I do, I really do."

You had to blink a couple of times in order not to cry on the spot. Of course Ryan and you had talked about it before. Neither of you felt the need to get married any time soon, even though Ryan had mentioned a couple of times that it would be something he'd like to do some day. But you had both made it clear that you wanted to spend the rest of your lives together.

Ryan took a shaky breath before he continued.

"It feels like this visit is really important. Like... it's a big. And I know your parents are protective over you," well, he was not wrong "and I have messed up before. Not with you, but they have no guaranty I won't do the same thing to you. I feel like I need to prove to them that I'm good enough for you. Not just as a lover, or a fleeting boyfriend, but as someone who can provide a home, someone who can take care of you, who can comfort you, who you can be safe with."

He looked at you, his chocolate brown eyes swimming with tears.

"Ryan- you do realise I'm the one in the relationship with you, not my parents right? And I already know these things. Even if we'd live in a tiny, chaotic, un-Christmassy flat in the worst part of town, my parents wouldn't dare to think of you any less than the man I chose to be by my side. Because they know I'm happy to be with you, that you make me happy. Every day." Quickly you brushed away one of the tears that had started rolling down his chin at your sincere words. "And it doesn't matter where we live, what our house of flat looks like, what we serve them for dinner, or how many boxes of cookies there are in the kitchen." You were not so subtly referring to the masses of Christmas cookies Ryan had baked over the week between cleaning. "I love the way the house looks, I think it's like straight out of a movie. But please know it's not the standard my parents expect from you, nor do I, okay?"

Ryan nodded, blinking the tears away, before hugging you. You let him, relishing in the warm, familiar scent that filled the air around him.

"Would you like a cup of hot chocolate," you asked when Ryan pulled away eventually.

"We could have some cookies, and relax on the sofa," he suggested, making you nod eagerly. "Great. Why don't you stay here, and I'll bring everything to you."

He kissed you on the forehead and got up, heading to the kitchen where you heard him rummaging around. You leant back into the cushions of the sofa and shook your head slightly to yourself. You knew he was insecure, about so many things, most of all about everything that might make you think of him any less than you did. You just felt a little sad he was so insecure about your own family. You wanted him to feel at home with them, like you did. But you knew that the best way to achieve that was to be patient with him, and to show him how much you loved him. You smiled slightly. It wasn't like either of these things was hard, not when it was about Ryan.