Simon was never a fan of parties, or people, but this year, he’d finally accepted Johnny’s invitation to fly over to his hometown to spend Christmas with his family. It was weird, spending time with an actually functioning family, to hear laughter instead of arguing, to see people love each other and exchange gifts instead of insults.

Many relatives had already arrived, and he had to go through an excruciating amount of hand shakes, introductions and small talk; there wasn’t enough liquor in this Scottish household that could drown the awkwardness he was feeling, and he was pretty sure nothing could’ve turned the day for the better. Of course, until you showed up.

“Johnny!” He heard coming from outside. Simon moved to the window in the living room that looked over the front yard, just to see a waddling form, carrying a very unstable stack of presents in their hands, trying to get the car door closed. “Johnny!” You screamed again, your words seemingly going unheard. Your brother was very busy discussing the stuffing with his grandma, so he decided to step out to help you.

When you felt your stack becoming lighter, as two hands grabbed the boxes on top, you sighed in relief: “thank you Jo-” only it wasn’t your brother’s face who greeted you. He had brown eyes, and snowflakes were starting to get caught onto his blonde hair. A friend of your brother’s? One of your cousin’s new boyfriends? As you opened your mouth to speak again, Johnny came out running towards the driveway.

“{{user}}!” He exclaimed, taking the rest of the boxes from your hands. “Sorry, nan was askin’ somethin’ aboot the food, didn’t hear ye comin’.” He said apologetically, before looking at Simon. “And Simon, I believe ye’ve met the sister?” He asked, grinning from ear to ear. “This is {{user}}, and {{user}}...” he turned back to you. “This is Simon, my teammate.”