Disclaimer: Not mine, not mine, not mine. Sad face

Author's Note: So this is just fluffy goodness. Not a real plot, or if it is, it's over done. Tony brings Shawn home on Thanksgiving to come out to his parents. Chaos, drama, and a little funny, lol. I meant to post it yesterday, also, but I think Thanksgiving snuck up on me. So please enjoy, and please please review. Longest one-shot EVER.

"You what?!"

Tony shoved a few more shirts into his suitcase, cringing at Shawn's tone. "Well, be fair," he protested. "I mean, I haven't seen them since, what, August?"

"So go and see them. I cannot grasp why you're extended absence from your parents means that I have to go and see them too."

Tony shrugged, trying in vain to zip his overflowing luggage. "'Cause you're my roommate, and my best friend, and they want to-"

"Do they know what else I am, Tony?' Shawn asked skeptically, leaning against the windowsill on the far side of the room, his arms crossed across his chest defiantly.

Tony stopped struggling with the zipper for a moment, but said nothing.

"I didn't think so," Shawn conceded.

"I'm going to tell them," Tony argued.

Shawn kicked the wall in frustration. "Why don't you get how awkward this is? Are you honestly going to drag me all the way to Chicago to spend Thanksgiving with a family I've never met before? A family who has no idea I've spent the last three months screwing their son two to three times a day …"

Tony chuckled "Well, I hadn't planned to open with that, but if you think it'll work …"

Shawn couldn't help but crack a smirk. He then sat on the bottom bunk heavily and put his head in his hands. "C'mon Tony, could you be serious for once? I mean, do they even know you like boys?"

Tony laughed out loud. "Yeah right …"

"Exactly," Shawn said miserably. "So why am I the boyfriend that you get to come out to your parents with? And more importantly … why do I have to be there for it?"

Tony shrugged, but turned to face Shawn for the first time. "I dunno," he said honestly. "I guess 'cause I'm in college now, and it's a good time for me to, ya know, test my boundaries - let them know that I am not going to be their perfect little boy anymore."

Shawn raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"And …" Tony continued uneasily. "I guess I hope we'll be together for a while, ya know?"

Shawn didn't let any emotion show on his face.

"And so I want them to know," Tony said, "about me, and you, and us, I guess."

Tony went to sit next to Shawn, letting his head fall on Shawn's shoulder. "You mean somethin' to me, Shawn. I want my parents to know that, even if they won't quite understand it."

Shawn relented and let his own head fall on Tony's. "That's a much better answer," he said softly. "I guess I could take a few days outta my extremely busy life to meet your folks."

Tony grinned, kissed Shawn's cheek, and went back to packing.

Shawn watched him lazily. In a way, he was happy to go with Tony. It was either that or staying at school, alone, for the Thanksgiving break. Not to mention, had his own parents been alive, he'd have wanted them to know about Tony too …

The plane tide to Chicago was spent in silence. Tony gave in and was letting Shawn have the window seat, while he himself was trying to get comfortable in between his boyfriend and some strange man who smelt of peanuts, cigar smoke, and an odd cologne Tony couldn't seem to place.

When they landed, Tony grabbed his bags and Shawn followed without a word. They walked down the stairs to find a man and a woman waiting for them below. The man was dressed in a sharp-looking suit. He had dark hair, just as unruly as Tony's, but his eyes were much more serious. The woman wore nice jeans and a festively orange sweater. They had their arms around each other and were positively beaming. As soon as they caught sight of Tony, they were upon him.

"Hi mom … hi dad …" Tony mumbled from beneath bear hugs. Shawn stood by, trying to be inconspicuous.

"Oh!" the woman cooed, "We've missed you so much! New York is such a long, long way away!"

Tony tried to pry her off. When he finally succeeded, he stepped back and dragged Shawn into their line of vision.

"Who's this, dear?" Mrs. Higgins asked politely.

Shawn was kicking the toe of his sneaker into the ground, still trying to be invisible.

"This is Shawn," Tony introduced. "He's my room mate, and my friend."

Both of Tony's parents shook Shawn's hand with smiles on their faces, but all Shawn could think was: Yeah, you wouldn't be smilin' if you knew what me and your angel-of-a-son were doing after econ class last night …

The four drove home with Mrs. Higgins asking nice and easy questions about Tony's new life as a "college boy". Until she said: "And have you met any nice girls at school, Tony? I'm sure you're meeting all kinds of new people everyday, and your father and I would love to see you get a girlfriend this year-"

"Mom!" Tony called, his ears reddening. Shawn was smirking out the window. Mrs. Higgins sensed her son's embarrassment, and clearly thought explaining further would alleviate his mortification. She glanced at Shawn in the rearview mirror.

"Oh, it's not Tony's fault," she told him. "He's a nice boy really, just a bit of a late bloomer, if you understand-"

Shawn was nodded attentively, knowing it was killing Tony.

Tony hid his face in his hands and felt the embarrassed fever in his own cheeks. "Oh God, mom, please. Could we drop it now?"

Mrs. Higgins seemed upset but let it go, and a few minutes later they were pulling up in front of a nice ranch house. They all piled out – Tony's parents helping to carry what luggage they could. A dog barked from inside and Shawn looked up to see a golden retriever puppy in the window.

Inside, Shawn found an immaculate home complete with neutral-colored guest bedroom, red-checkered dining room table cloth, and color-coded chore list on the refrigerator door. "God, you could have told me you're related to the Cleavers …" Shawn mumbled to Tony as they were hauling their bags upstairs. Tony stomped on his foot.

"Abby – Tony's home!" Mrs. Higgins called when they reached the top of the stairs before turning back to go start dinner. An auburn-haired girl of about sixteen poked her head out of a door further down the hallway. She was sporting pigtails and heavy eyeliner.

"Oh … hey," she said to Tony awkwardly before slamming her door again, some loud punk rock music quickly striking up in the background.

Tony rolled his eyes. "My sister Abagail," he told Shawn. "We've never been what you could call 'close'."

"You hate her?" Shawn guessed, a little smile on his face.

"She makes my life a living hell."

Shawn laughed, and Tony explained: "Well, I've always been my parents' responsible kid, ya know? Did my homework, was always home before curfew, all that nonsense. Since Abby's a little wilder than I was, my parents don't know what to do with her and still dote on me instead."

"Ah," Shawn nodded seriously. "Not to mention, being overshadowed by your little sister must suck …"

Tony pouted, "I am not overshadowed."

Shawn sat down on Tony's bed with a skeptical look. "She's cool, and you are the geeky older brother. That's just the way it is. Deal."

Tony pouted some more, but couldn't help but laugh as Shawn began to lose interest in the conversation and gain interest instead in the springy-ness of his mattress.

"What are you doing?" Tony asked with a smile.

Shawn grinned up at him without answering his question said, "Yes, this will do nicely." Then pulled Tony down on top of him. Tony let himself get lost in Shawn's lips for just a few moments before remembering himself.

"C'mon," he said, "We're in my parents' house. Let's not … ya know …"

Shawn laughed and sprawled himself out on the bed suggestively. "You know you won't be able to resist this for the next five whole days …"

Tony rolled his eyes. "Will you grab your bag? I'll show you your room."

Shawn shrugged and followed along. "Ya know," he said when they were unpacking Shawn's things into a tiny wooden dresser. "This is going to be a lot harder than I'd thought. Your parents seem far too … conservative? to accept a son who sleeps with men. Maybe you should reconsider."

Tony raised an eyebrow.

Shawn smiled sweetly. "It's not too late to meet a nice college girl, Tony … a perfect match for your parents' nice college son."

Tony made a face. "Ew, no thanks." He wrapped an arm around Shawn's shoulders and kissed the side of Shawn's head. "I'm happy with a rough-around-the-edges college boyfriend."

Shawn grinned. "So what's your plan then?"

Tony thought about it for a moment. "I can't tell them tonight. They're going to be talking so much I'll hardly be able to get a word in tonight. And tomorrow's Thanksgiving, so that would be the best time to do it. Especially 'cause a few of my other relatives are gonna be here too, so I can just do one major confession session and get it all over with."

Shawn looked unimpressed, "And what about Friday, Saturday, Sunday that we still have to stay here … in this house … with your most-likely-homophobic parents?"

Tony shrugged. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there."

Shawn thought it sounded iffy, but he wasn't the one who was going to be shunned, smoted, and possibly disowned. "Sounds good to me," he grinned, giving Tony's hand a quick squeeze.

That night was full of food and friendly family prying. Mr. Higgins, Shawn realized early on, was definitely the strong silent type. There was affection there, but few words, if any. He let his wife do all the talking. And she, Shawn realized, never stopped. She asked Tony about the food at school, his teachers, his friends, his bed sheets, his homework, the library, the gym, the theater-

"Mom," Tony interrupted finally, "I am supposed to be on vacation. Let's drop it, okay? School is really not all that interesting. And I haven't been able to take so much as a bite of my dinner because as soon as I get the fork to my mouth, I have another one of your questions to answer!"

Mrs. Higgins made a disapproving tutting noise but just filled her mouth with a spoonful of tomato soup and continued beaming at her first born. After a while the questions were directed at Shawn instead.

"So what are you going to school for, dear?"

Shawn poked around his soup and answered, "I'm still an undeclared major, though I think I might end up going into journalism"

Tony shot Shawn a look. Shawn had never told him that before. Whenever Tony'd asked about Shawn's future plans for college, Shawn had shrugged and said "Dunno. I'll probably end up dropping out."

But Mr. Higgins' head had shot up from his food at the comment. He glanced at Shawn with an almost-smile on his face, and spoke for the first time. "Do you enjoy writing?"

Shawn dropped his spoon in shock and looked at Mr. Higgins with a confused look on his face. Tony chuckled. "Dad's a writer," he said as way of explanation.

Shawn nodded. "Well, yeah," he said. "I used to write for my high school newspaper. I had a monthly short story column."

Mr. Higgins was nodding animatedly. "You know," he said, motioning to Shawn with his spoon, "I would really like to take a look at your work some time."

Shawn nodded with a smile on his face while Mrs. Higgins, Tony, and Abby all sat silently gaping at how Mr. Higgins had taken to Shawn like he'd never taken to any other stranger before…

When dinner was through, Shawn thanked Mrs. Higgins and Tony offered them to clear the table and wash the dishes.

"You know, my dad doesn't really talk much, especially in front of guests."

Shawn shrugged. "I'm just that charming."

Tony splashed some sudsy water in his boyfriend's direction. "Yeah right," he mumbled under his breath while Shawn wiped the bubbles from his cheeks.

"I can't believe you just did that …" Shawn hissed, grabbing a towel from the rack by the sink before Tony could get to it.

Shawn brandished the dishtowel menacingly.

"Hey," Tony put his hands up defensively, "Hey, what're you gonna do with that, huh?"

Shawn rolled the towel and let it snap just inches from Tony's face. Tony nearly screamed, and turned around, running from the kitchen. Shawn paused to dip the towel in the sink to give it extra snap and chased after Tony. He caught up with him halfway up the staircase, snapping the towel expertly, so that Tony let out a painful yell, put his hands over his behind protectively, and tried to keep running. Both boys were giggling like Jr. High girls, rather than the college boys they were.

Tony tripped on the stairs and Shawn took full advantage by towering over him with the towel poised, "You give?" he asked.

Tony's hands were held out in front of his face defensively, and he could hardly get a breath in between laughs. "I give, I give!"

"What in the world are you boys doing down there?" a voice called from Tony's parents' bedroom.

Shawn's face blushed a deep scarlet and he ran from the stairs back to the kitchen, afraid Tony's parents would come down and see their blatant flirting. Tony laughed out loud. "Nothing Ma!" he called, pulling himself off the stairs using the handrail and following Shawn back to the dishes.

He found his boyfriend sitting down, looking extremely guilty. Tony smiled down at him. "What are you doing?"

Shawn shrugged, "I was afraid your parents would come down …"

Tony chuckled, but let it go. "C'mon," he said, "We gotta get all these dishes done."

The boys finished up the dishes and went up to Tony's room to hang around before bed. It was a small room, but the opposite wall from the door was all covered in posters and magazine clippings of Tony's favorite bands and singers as well as pictures of his friends and family mixed in. It was a large collage, and it took Shawn the better part of two whole hours to look at everything and interrogate Tony to his satisfaction. "Who's this boy?" … "Why do you find him attractive?" … "You ever dated this kid?"

Tony was lying on his back on his bed, looking up every once in a while to answer all of Shawn's questions: "That's Jack, a good friend from high school … I dunno, he just is attractive – gorgeous even … No, never dated him, just a friend, a very very straight friend."

Shawn nodded appreciatively. "Shawn, are we done here? It's eleven o'clock at night; we've been at this for hours …"

Shawn glanced at Tony with a malicious grin. "Hey, you dragged me all the way out here. The only perk I get from being at your house is getting to sift through your personal life."

Tony sighed and crept up behind Shawn, putting his hands in Shawn's back pockets. Shawn stiffened automatically and Tony chuckled. "I think two and a half hours of sifting is more than enough."

Shawn sighed and nodded, following Tony to the bed. Shawn pulled him down after checking to make sure the door was closed. They laid together for several minutes, just breathing together. Shawn smiled easily and let Tony's head rest on his stomach, moving with each breath.

Just then there was a knock at the door. Tony sat up quickly and Shawn followed suit. "Uh, yeah?" Tony called, straightening his shirt hastily. A smiling Mrs. Higgins stuck her head through the door.

"Boys, we've got a busy day tomorrow. I'd say it's time to get some shut eye," she gave Tony a pointed look, and Tony nodded.

When she left, Tony kissed Shawn on the cheek and Shawn headed down to his own room. He shut the door behind him, quickly stripped down to his boxers and some thick woolen socks (it was November after all), and snuggled under the covers, preparing for a night of swirling dreams about deep brown eyes and kisses with his fingers tangled in thick Italian hair…

The next morning, Mrs. Higgins woke both boys promptly at eight a.m. Shawn thought he might have been granted some leniency being the guest and all, but no such luck.

Sometime during the night Shawn had kicked his quilt down to his feet. So when Mrs. Higgins let herself into his room, crooning something about all the cleaning that needed to be done before the guests arrived, he had to scramble to pull the sheets up and cover his half unclothed body.

"Morning dear," she smiled sweetly at him. "We've got lots of work to do, you know."

Shawn pulled the sheets over his head and groaned into his pillow, while Mrs. Higgins was pulling back his curtains.

A few seconds later, Shawn heard Tony's voice enter the room. "Ma, I told you not to wake up Shawn, what're ya doing?"

Shawn pulled the sheets down enough to peer out into the room, now streaming with early morning light. Mrs. Higgins said nothing, simply patted Tony on the head on her way out the door. Tony rolled his eyes and shut the door behind her, glancing at Shawn in the bed, sheet pulled up past his nose, looking absolutely miserable.

"Sorry," Tony told him, sitting down on the edge of the bed. Shawn emerged from the sheets with a groan and laid his head in Tony's lap.

Tony laughed and leaned down to kiss Shawn's cheek. This, and this alone, made Shawn smile just a bit. "Long day today, huh?" he asked, his voice still thick with sleep.

Tony nodded, "We'll be cleaning right up until the time the guests start arriving. I think it's my mom's favorite part of Thanksgiving."

Shawn groaned, "Any way to get out of it?"

"Nope," Tony said miserably, "I've been trying since I was five."

The boys sat enjoying a few more minutes of silence before Shawn cleared his throat, "So you know what you're gonna say to them yet?"

Tony shrugged with a forced smile on his face. "I dunno, how about 'Mom, Dad, I'm gay'? And if that doesn't work, we could try, 'Mom, Dad, I sleep with boys.' And if they still can't manage to wrap their minds around it I figured I'd just grab you, and then it would go something more like, 'Mom, Dad, here I'll show you …'"

Shawn punched Tony hard in the arm. "Not funny," he said with a pointed look. But he let a little grin warm his face and took Tony's hand.

Tony squeezed once and then sighed, "Well, c'mon, we better get going on this cleaning or my mom'll be back in here bitching."

Shawn was quite distraught to find that the cleaning did, indeed, last until around two o'clock that afternoon when family started arriving. It was Tony's duty every year to be the one to greet the guests, take their coats, and that sort of thing. So he and Shawn had to stand by the door, letting everyone in. Occasionally Tony would receive a peck on the cheek from some overweight aunt, or a clap on the back from a grandfather or a second cousin. All Shawn got were confused stares. But he spent the time doing what he did best: observing. He watched all the relatives file in and noticed that while they were all quite diverse in physical appearance, they all had that blatantly Italian look, and this made Shawn chuckle to himself. It was like an Italian pride parade with all the big noses and thick slicked-back hair that strode past him.

"I think that's the last of them," Tony was saying. "Wanna go meet my cousin Marcus, and hang out with him before dinner? He's the only one I like."

Shawn chuckled and followed along. He was beginning to feel just a little self conscious with all these people around, and it wasn't like him at all to be self conscious. But it was Tony's family, after all, and if this was important to Tony, it was important to Shawn too. He wanted to make a good impression, and moreover, he wanted them to like him.

"Antonio!" a deep male voice called from the opposite side of the living room.

Tony chuckled and nodded to Shawn to follow. They joined ranks with the boy who was a few years older than Shawn and Tony, probably graduated college by now Shawn thought, and the three of them headed straight for Tony's bedroom. There they slammed the door and tried to ignore the piercing giggles coming from Abby's room where all the female cousins had massed already and were hugging and kissing and catching up on all the time they had been apart.

"We are seriously outnumbered in this family," Tony's cousin complained.

Tony smiled and flipped on some music in an attempt to drown out the girls next door. He came back and sat cross-legged on the floor next to Shawn while his cousin lounged in a chair by the computer.

"So Shawn, this is Marcus – he's the only relative I like. And Marcus, this is my room mate, from college, as well as my best friend, Shawn."

Shawn and Marcus shook hands and Shawn couldn't help but smile at the boy's immediate charm and easiness. He could tell why Marcus was Tony's favorite.

"So how've you been, cuz?' Marcus asked.

Tony shrugged a bit. "Not bad I guess."

"Enjoyin' college life?"

Tony rolled his eyes. "Hate it," he mumbled, and Shawn laughed at him.

"Why's that?" Marcus asked.

"I dunno. Just not my thing I guess. I'm not a party person like you were, Marcus, so there's nothing for me to do …"

"And what about your friend?" Marcus asked, directing his attention to Shawn, "Do you like the parties?"

Shawn shrugged, "Better than Tony does – but only 'cause I can hold my alcohol and he can't."

Marcus laughed as Tony gave Shawn a playful punch in the arm, and they smiled at one another, holding the gaze perhaps a second too long, because there was a glint in Marcus's eye that Tony recognized as the look of sudden understanding his generally not-too-sharp cousin got. He decided if there was anyone in his family he wanted to tell about Shawn first, it was Marcus.

"Hey," he said, glancing at Shawn only briefly, "Can I run something by you?"

Marcus nodded with a grin on his face.

"Well, there's something I gotta tell my parents, but I wanted to ask you how to bring it up-'

Before Tony could continue, Marcus was laughing out loud. "Oh, they're gonna flip."

"I didn't even-"

"Their own son, a homosexual?"

Tony and Shawn both sat, dumbfounded, at Marcus's understanding of the situation before they'd even said anything about it.

Tony laughed, "How'd you know?"

"Oh shut up, Antonio, I know you better than you know yourself. Anyhow, you two have been giving each other googly eyes since I first got here."

Tony tried to protest, but Marcus continued: "Not to mention, look how close you're sitting. And, geez, even I couldn't live with a room mate this hot and not at least fuck around," he joked.

Shawn felt himself grow slightly uncomfortable at the comment, until Marcus amended: "In a completely heterosexual way, of course."

Tony laughed. "I can't believe you Marcus. Remember when I was eight and you tried to steal that new motor scooter I got for my birthday? Ten years later and you haven't changed a bit – still trying to steal what's rightfully mine." Tony said this last bit with an impish grin, pulling Shawn to his side with a strategic arm around the waist. Shawn grinned as Tony planted a kiss on his cheek.

Marcus shielded his eyes. "You're makin' me sick." Putting his hands down he smiled at the pair. "So how long?"

Tony shrugged, "Since my first week on campus."

"Don't waste any time, do ya?" Marcus teased. "So how are ya gonna tell the parentals? 'Cause while I think you're just adorable and all, my little flamboyant cuz, I'm sure you're parents ain't gonna feel the same."

"I know, so I am just going to come out with it. I think the shock factor might be my best bet. They'll be too surprised to be angry, right? And don't call me flamboyant …"

Marcus laughed, "You've always been flamboyant."

"What are you talking about?" Tony grumbled.

"Oh come on!" Marcus argued, and then turned to Shawn to argue his case. "As a child, Tony wanted nothing to do with legos or plastic guns; instead he wanted to undress Ken dolls and make 'em have nude WWF smack-downs. When he hit puberty, I found a magazine of male underwear models under his mattress-"

"Marcus!" Tony yelled, turning a very unbecoming shade of magenta.

But Shawn was laughing so hard he had to clutch at his sides to try and ease the pain there. "Tony, you never told me that!"

Tony shrugged, "I never thought you needed to know …" he said embarrassedly, "But I guess Marcus thought otherwise …"

"Aw, c'mon cuz, they're funny stories, okay?"

Tony shook his head, but allowed the two to keep laughing at his expense. Just then a harsh female voice from downstairs called Marcus to help with dinner. Marcus shrugged, gave Tony and Shawn one last humorous glance and said, "Well, I am excited for your little confession anyway. Should make for some more funny stories," before leaving the room, shutting the door behind him.

Tony let his head fall back against the bed, putting his hands over his face and sighing. "God, he lives to embarrass me."

Shawn took the opportunity to sneak up and unbutton the top button of Tony's shirt, placing a kiss right on his windpipe. Tony sighed again, but this time it was a contented sigh.

Shawn grinned to himself. He loved that he had this effect on Tony. He trailed kisses down Tony's neck to his breastbone, mumbling as he did so: "You told me you didn't even know you were gay until we hooked up …"

Tony had his eyes closed, letting Shawn's tongue travel his skin. "Yeah … I lied … But to be fair, even if I knew, you were the first boy I was ever with. Unlike you … whore."

Shawn chuckled at the comment and bit down gently into the place where Tony's shoulder met his neck in retaliation. Tony moaned out loud suddenly, and Shawn let the satisfaction sink in before continuing. His lips moved on Tony's flesh as he murmured, "You've never complained about my expertise before …" Shawn punctuated this statement with a quick tongue over Tony's chest, continuing to move downwards. Tony scooted away from the bed so he could stretch himself out and give Shawn easier access.

Shawn shifted, moving even lower, planting sloppy kisses on Tony's stomach.

Tony was getting that lightheaded feeling again and could sense himself overcome by the pleasure Shawn was causing his body. "I … well, I guess …"

Shawn let one hand undo the buttons on Tony's pants while Tony was mumbling, "We shouldn't … ah, be doing this, here…"

Shawn's tongue was roaming over that dangerous place right above the waistband of Tony's boxers.

Tony was arching his back, throwing any protests to the wind. Everything Shawn was doing to him was far too good to ask the boy to stop. "Oh God …" he whispered as Shawn eased his pants down.

There were a few teasing kisses along the insides of Tony's thighs before a voice right outside the door made them both jump: "Tony, mom says you better be down in ten minutes for dinner!" Abagail called.

Tony let out the breath he'd been holding as he heard his sister's footsteps retreat back downstairs. Abagail's voice probably would have been at the top of the list of voices he didn't ever want to hear while in the middle of foreplay with his boyfriend. Shawn laughed a little at the disgusted look on Tony's face. But Tony was struggling to sit up despite the longing ache that had arisen in his pants. "Ah … shit …" he was muttering.

Shawn looked scandalized. "What do you think you're doing?"

"You heard her," Tony groaned, "Ten minutes."

"And who says I can't score in ten minutes?" Shawn shut off the lights, flipped the lock on the bedroom door and tackled Tony back down on the bed with a playful growl.

Tony was easily won over and was soon lost again in the feeling of Shawn's tongue, lips, and teeth moving expertly over his body. "Oh Jesus, Shawn …"

Shawn was grinning to himself at how good his name sounded on Tony's lips, especially in that husky, breathy tone …

Before Shawn could stop himself he had whispered with his face pressed into Tony's skin, "I love you …"

Nine minutes later, Tony was curled up into Shawn's chest, still breathing heavily, with the sheets sticking to his body. Shawn kissed the top of his head and chuckled, "We should go clean up before dinner."

"Did you mean it?" Tony asked abruptly, although both knew exactly what he meant.

Shawn paused before nodding. "Of course."

Tony smiled, cradled there in Shawn's arms. "I love you too," he whispered.

Dinner went by without a hitch. Shawn frowned to himself as he ate the meal, realizing what he'd been missing out on all these years. Faces all around were smiling and laughing with each other, asking about school or work and all the simple little things that would bore anyone else to death, but give pleasure to grandparents and great aunts.

"This is Tony's friend, Shawn," Mrs. Higgins introduced to the rest of her guests then.

Shawn nodded politely around the table as a dozen or so Higgins's laid their eyes on him suspiciously. They were nice enough people, to be sure, but Shawn wasn't a part of their family, and so he was cause for many raised eyebrows. Tony scooted his leg a little so that it pressed right up against Shawn's, and they shared a moment of mutual comfort.

An hour or so after the Turkey and cranberry sauce had been served – Mrs. Higgins made the sweetest cranberry sauce in town – the boys helped clear the dishes away and out was brought dessert. Shawn's eyes got wide at the many number of pies and cakes and cookies and ice cream all laid out before him. He took a slice of each – apple, cherry, and pumpkin pie – as well as few scoops of vanilla ice cream, and only shrugged as Tony laughed at him.

Towards the end of dessert, Tony knew his time was growing short. He looked around at his parents, his aunts and uncles, a few cousins, his grandparents on his mother's side. They were all so happy right now. He was sure once he told them, all that happiness would be sucked away, to be replaced by awkwardness and much disapproval. But Tony cleared his throat nonetheless, before anyone could get up to leave.

Shawn looked a little upset, as he was still only halfway through his mountain of sweets.

"Yes dear?" Mrs. Higgins asked sweetly, dabbing at her mouth with a finely creased cloth napkin.

"I've got something I sorta need to tell you guys, I mean, while you're all here and everything," Tony said, chancing a quick look at Marcus, who was grinning ear to ear.

"Is everything alright?" Mrs. Higgins asked, and Tony frowned. Yes, everything was alright, better than it had ever been, in his opinion. He'd spent an entire lifetime being suppressed by his parents. And he did love them, it wasn't their fault they were so overbearing. But college had changed all that. Tony couldn't ask for more than his own room and his own schedule. Not to mention a gorgeous room mate with whom he could cuddle when he'd had a bad day. It was nice. It was more than nice – it was like heaven. But how could he explain these things to his mother without her breaking down for her only son who was now flying down the highway of immorality at a breakneck speed?

"Everything's fine, mom," Tony said. "It's just, well, I haven't been completely honest with you about Shawn."

Shawn quickly took his hand under the table, and Tony felt at least a little better.

Everyone at the table was raising their eyebrows at the pair, and Tony felt his heartbeat quicken. Family or not, you never wanted to piss off a room full of large men with large Italian tempers. God, why had Tony joked about this moment all week like it was no big deal? He felt like he should have written a speech or something, maybe notecards. "Well," he continued miserably, "the thing is …"

A little squeeze from Shawn's hand and Tony blurted, "Well he's my boyfriend."

There was silence around the table. Mrs. Higgins spoke up, "Tony?" she asked, as if pleading for a bit more crucial information, or perhaps for Tony to say "Just kidding!" But Tony didn't say anything at all to that effect. Instead he continued with,

"We've been together since I started school … and Mom," Tony turned to her, "I wanted to tell you so many times. But then Thanksgiving was just so close, and I thought I'd bring him here for you to meet instead, and I could tell you. And then everyone was going to be here, and I don't want it to be something you've gotta hide, so now, just, everyone knows, and that's what I wanted."

Tony's mom sat still in her chair, not speaking a word – her husband was looking very intensely at Tony. Marcus wasn't laughing anymore, just looking around at the people around the table to gage their reactions. It was all uncomfortable silence until Abby spoke up. She stood up at the table and laughed out loud. "That explains why he's never had a girlfriend I guess," before leaving the room, the rest of the younger female cousins in tow. Tony slumped his shoulders. That was probably the last thing he needed to hear at this point. A few other aunts and uncles stood, patting Mrs. Higgins on the shoulder uncomfortably before muttering, "I'll just leave you alone, shall I? We'll be in the basement." Several more of these curt apologies were issued to Tony's parents until the only ones left in the room were Tony and Shawn, Mr. and Mrs. Higgins, and Marcus.

Mrs. Higgins looked pointedly at Marcus, telling him with her eyes that he needed to leave the room. So Marcus stood, despite his wish to stay and try and protect Tony in some way. He shrugged, patted both Tony and Shawn on the shoulder before leaving and said to Mrs. Higgins: "Hey, go easy on him, he didn't have to tell you."

Mrs. Higgins glared at Marcus. "This is none of your business, Marcus, I think you should go and join your parents downstairs."

So Marcus offered Tony an apologetic look and shut the door on his way out.

"Well," Mrs. Higgins said in a very tight way, "I simply can't believe you've taken this long to tell me, Tony. Haven't we always been honest with each other?"

Tony hung his head. "Mom, you know you wouldn't have understood. I wanted you to meet him first, get to know him. If I'd told you over the phone or something, God only knows you would've, I dunno, pulled me out of school or something-"

"And for good reason," Mrs. Higgins interrupted. "We're trying to raise good kids here, Tony, not … I don't even know. There's nothing for me to say to this. You know what you're doing is wrong, don't you?"

Tony shook his head sadly. "No, Ma, I don't think so …"

"You don't think so? For Christ's sake, Tony, did eighteen years of raising you just disappear? We took you to Sunday school every week, didn't we? We made sure to censure your TV, so you only watched decent shows. We had you home on the weekends by eleven. We met all your friends to see that they were a good influence on you. We-"

"Mom, stop!" Tony said, a little louder than he'd meant to. "This has nothing to do with any of that. I'm not a criminal, okay? I am not cheating in school, I'm not doing drugs. I'm still me. I'm just not, I don't know, dating who you'd like. And I'm sorry that you don't approve, but I really don't think that it's wrong."

Mrs. Higgins had to stand up. "Don't think it's wrong? I'd even go as far to say it's sick, Tony. It's not only wrong, it's unnatural, and it's sick."

Tony cringed. All of sudden it seemed that hoping his mom would still love him was a little too much to ask.

Shawn sat quietly, but inside he was feeling very guilty. After all, Tony's family had put him up all weekend, they'd given him Thanksgiving dinner. And how did he repay them? Well …

"Mom, please. I'm not a kid anymore. You've gotta accept that this is what I want and while you might not approve, I'm still your son, right?"

Mrs. Higgins said nothing, as if she weren't sure of the answer. So Tony's continued. "I just wanted you to meet him. Now you have I guess, so you don't owe me anything else. I wasn't going to lie to you, Mom. I am an adult now, and I have nothing to hide from you. This is me, and this is what I want. And whether you like it or not, you can't change me, not anymore. You can't screen my friends or force me to think the way you do. Because in this, I think you are absolutely wrong." Tony stood up now too, and even leaned across the table, his anger rising. "I'm sorry if you don't like it, but I am going to be with Shawn for a good long time. I love him, Mom, and for that, I won't apologize."

Shawn gaped for a moment. This side of Tony was completely new to him.

"Get out of my house," Mrs. Higgins whispered, and Tony drew back. He certainly hadn't been expecting to get kicked out of his own home. Sure, his mother was a little uptight, and very very conservative. But somewhere inside him, Tony had always been sure that even if she were angry with him, she would still love him.

Guess not.

Tony pushed his chair in with such force that many of the dishes clanked together. "C'mon, Shawn," he said, leading the way back to his room to pack his things.

Walking through the house was the worst. All of Tony's family was sitting around, giving them looks. Some were angry, others just curious.

Marcus was sitting in Tony's room already. "Hey," he said when the two entered, "How did it go?"

Tony said nothing, only began furiously shoving clothes into a duffle bag.

Shawn shook his head at Marcus. "Not well. They kicked us out."

Marcus gaped. He walked over to Tony and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry …" he said.

Tony nodded. "Mind if we stay with you for the rest of break?"

Marcus nodded. "Of course. I'll go bring the car around. Meet me out there whenever you're ready, alright?"

Tony nodded again.

Once Marcus had gone, Tony collapsed onto the floor. Shawn rushed over to take hold of his hands. "Hey," Shawn whispered, "Hey, it'll be alright …"

Tony nodded, and that was that.

Both boys packed in silence, and while Shawn ran down to his room to grab his back, Mr. Higgins snuck into Tony's room.

Tony looked up only briefly before sighing. "Hey Dad," he said miserably. It had never been his Dad he'd been worried about.

"Are you okay?"

Tony shrugged, "Fine."

"I'm sorry about your mother."

"Yeah, forget it."

Mr. Higgins sat on the edge of Tony's bed. "I like him, you know."

Tony stopped for a moment and looked at his Dad. "You do?"

Mr. Higgins nodded, glancing out the window. "Mhm," he said, "I really do." Then he got up to leave. Tony could only watch him go. But he stopped at the door and turned back. "Oh," he said, "And I'm glad you're happy. I mean it. That's what matters most to me, and I know you know that."

Tony couldn't help but smile after his Dad had left the room. It was so very like Mr. Higgins to not say three words all night, and then say the most important thing of all. Shawn re-entered the room at that moment and Tony took him in his arms.

"What's going on?" Shawn asked, but Tony kissed him to shut him up.

"I just love you," he grinned.

Shawn smiled uneasily, "Well, I love you too, but I dunno …"

"Let's just get outta here, okay? We'll stay at Marcus's this weekend, then we'll go back to school, and it'll be just us."

Shawn smiled, "I'm glad you're happy," he said. "Let's go."

Tony gave Shawn one last kiss on the cheek, and the two left Mrs. Higgins' house that day hand in hand. Tony smiled as he climbed into his counsin's car that evening, because no matter what his mother might say, it didn't really matter. He was in love, and everything was just okay.