Location is Everything

They had argued over where to spend Christmas. Justin wanted to spend it with Lynn and Paul and his grandparents, and Lance had emphatically not wanted to be part of the extended Bass family Mississippi gathering that was going on. Which shouldn't have created a conflict, but somehow it did, and they wound up staying at home. This suited Lance, except for the part where Justin glared at him and occasionally slammed things.

He was pretty good at ignoring Justin's pique by now, though. He didn't jump at the crack of the pantry door, focusing instead on what Joey was saying on the other end of the phone. The present he'd ordered for Briahna had arrived, and Joey had put it under the tree. "She keeps shaking it. All the stuff I bought her and stuck under that damn tree, and she likes yours because it makes the most noise."

Lance grinned. "What fun is a Christmas present if it doesn't rattle?" he asked, sensibly. Joey made a noise that could have been many things; Lance chose to take it as agreement.

"How's Justin?" Joey asked tentatively. No one really understood why Lance hadn't just gone along with Justin to Memphis, or for that matter why Justin hadn't gone on without him. Lance, to be fair, wasn't quite sure himself. Everyone knew that there had been a fight, though, and for the most part they tried to stay out of it.

"Ask him yourself," Lance said. He tossed the phone to Justin, who was still standing by the kitchen counter. Justin must've caught it, because Lance didn't hear a clatter, but he didn't see it. He had already turned and headed upstairs.


Chris came over later; he was flying his mom and sisters in for the holiday, but they wouldn't arrive until the next day. Lance heard his and Justin's voices coming from downstairs, but didn't feel like coming down just yet. It seemed they'd gotten into a serious conversation without him, anyway; Lance heard his name when he passed by the stairs on the way to the bathroom, and later--okay, he stopped and tried to listen for a moment--Chris saying "being such an idiot." He wondered whether he or Justin was the idiot, then shrugged and went downstairs.

When Chris saw him, his expression was entirely unapologetic for anything Lance might have heard him say. This was one of the things Lance really liked about Chris. He might talk about you behind your back, but he wouldn’t bullshit you. Lance grabbed one of the open beers on the coffee table and took a long swig. He wasn't sure if it was Chris's or Justin's, but it really didn't matter. At this point in the group's relationship, food and especially alcohol was all community property anyway.

Lance plopped down on the couch next to Justin and grinned at Chris, who immediately launched into a retelling of some crazy story JC had called from LA at four in the morning to tell him. It was funny, and Lance laughed. Justin rose from the couch abruptly, muttering something about more beer as he headed for the kitchen.

Lance could feel Chris's eyes on him, but he wasn't going to say anything. It wasn't any of Chris's business, anyway. "He's mad at me," he found himself saying anyway. "It's not like I made him stay here." Chris shrugged as if he couldn't care less, and Lance fought the urge to glare at him. Chris had a way of simultaneously acting as if he was above the petty squabbles of the band's younger members, and delivering the insight that helped solve the conflict.

Lance wanted to think he didn't care what Chris might have to say. He wasn't mad at Justin, he told himself, though he was tired of the current situation; Justin was the one who had the problem. Still, he found himself waiting to see if Chris had any wisdom to share. When Chris didn't say anything, he told himself he wasn't disappointed.


Lying in bed that night he thought about apologizing, only he wasn't sure what he would be apologizing for. He had wanted to stay home for Christmas and Justin had wanted to go to Memphis; it shouldn't have even been a fight. As he reminded himself again, it wasn't as if he had made Justin stay with him.

Somehow, though, the words felt a little less righteous in the middle of the night, with Justin asleep next to him instead of glaring across the room. The thing neither of them had said was that they both wanted to spend Christmas together; that was the only reason it had mattered that they wanted to be in different places, after all. Justin had been the one to compromise, even if he'd done it less than graciously.

Justin wouldn't stay mad long; Lance had known this all along, known that this fight wasn't anything that would threaten the foundations of their relationship. Still, he felt bad for his own part in letting it go on for so long. The next day was Christmas Eve; he'd do what he had to do to make sure they made up, and then they'd be able to enjoy Christmas day.


Making up with Justin could be either a lot of fun, or an exasperating, patience-trying endeavor, depending entirely on Justin. Today it was almost heartbreakingly easy, once Lance forced himself to forget the harsh words they'd exchanged during the earlier arguments. He'd ignored Justin before, and the cold shoulder had only made Justin madder. Now he was paying attention, which by itself was enough to soften Justin somewhat. A few friendly words and a touch or two later, and it wasn't long before they were both apologizing.

The apologizing did, in fact, lead directly to the fun part of making up with Justin, which left Lance incredibly pleased. Stretched out naked on the bed next to an equally naked Justin, he confessed, "This is what I wanted. Just you and me, no one else around for a couple of days."

Justin's post-coital grin was always nearly blinding. "It's not so bad," he allowed, and Lance smirked.


They spent the day doing nothing in particular, bits of preparation for the next day mixed with times when they simply enjoyed being on good terms with each other again. That evening they curled up on the couch with no lights on except for the Christmas tree.

It was exactly what Lance had hoped for, and again he felt a little bit bad even though they'd made up. "We could," he began. "If you still want to, I mean…we could go to Memphis in the next day or two."

Justin didn't lift his head from where it drooped lazily on Lance's shoulder, but Lance could feel his smile. "We'll go soon," he said, confidently. "I'm pretty good here, for now."

And Lance moved to drop a kiss on Justin's head, but when Justin turned, it didn't stay there. Rolling them so that he lay on top of Justin on the couch, Lance grinned down at him. "Merry Christmas," he said.

"Love you," Justin said back, pulling Lance down to him.

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