Chapter Text
Alex Claremont-Diaz has had a terrible week, miserable even.
Not only did he lose a case he has been working on incredibly hard and has lost countless hours of sleep he will never get back, but his ex-boyfriend has also announced his engagement to the very person he cheated on Alex with.
Alex stuffs his phone and laptop into his backpack and makes his way out of the office as quickly as he can. It’s cold and cloudy in New York and a cold breeze ruffles through Alex’s curls, making him shiver and pull his scarf even tighter around his neck. The air is heavy with the smell of hot dogs and coffee.
Catching a cab, Alex makes his way home and at this point, he’s just sick of being in New York. It’s the city he has lived in since he was a teenager after his mother got into congress, the city where he went to college and law school, the city where he got engaged to a man who cheated on him, the city in which he bought a stupidly large apartment to fill out the void left by not being with his family in Texas.
June has offered to pick him up on her way to Texas for the holidays but Alex was too busy with work to even send her a reply. He feels awful about it, he truly does but he still can’t bring himself to answer her.
He turns on the coffee machine and switches his suit for something more comfortable, the grinding of the coffee beans and the whistling of hot water filling the apartment with noise.
Alex’s cat watches him from where she lays in the middle of his bed. With her black and white fur, Ruth (named after Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg) looks a little like she too is wearing a suit.
Alex returns to the kitchen, Ruth trailing behind him and circling his legs as Alex leans against the counter and curls his clammy hands around his coffee cup. Snow begins to fall outside his large windows in big flakes.
He pads over to the sofa and grabs his laptop from his bag, slumping down against the soft pillows and turning his laptop on. Ruth jumps up and curls herself into a doughnut by his side. Alex mindlessly runs his fingers through her fur as he waits for his laptop to start.
He’s watching Great British Bake Off and answering emails when a new one pops up in his inbox.
From: [email protected]
Subject: Home Exchange
To: [email protected]
Good evening,
I hope this is not weird or anything but I saw that your place is up for a home exchange and I desperately need to flee the country this holiday. I hope this isn’t too short of notice or that you are some weirdo who wants to lure me to their home to murder me but even that would be fine with me. I messaged you on the website but it said you haven’t been online for a while so I decided to try my luck this way. You could be a true lifesaver.
Holding out for a hero,
H. Fox
Alex reads the email twice before it clicks. He vaguely remembers him and Nora putting his apartment up to the HomeExchange website last year, but up to now no one ever responded. He had completely forgotten about it.
He thinks about it for a moment, composing a mental list of reasons why he shouldn’t reply to this mail.
1) He doesn’t know this person and the thought of someone staying in his space without Alex being there feels wrong, even though he has no problem letting Nora or June crash at his place whenever he’s out of town and god knows what they get up to every time.
2) He wouldn’t be in town for Christmas.
The list of reasons why he should reply is coming together a lot easier.
1) He wouldn’t be in town for Christmas. He has no idea where that stranger is from but wherever it is, Alex has a great excuse for not being with his family in Texas. They will be happy to hear that he is not drowning in work for once but instead taking some time off.
2) Alex has been eager to get out of his apartment for at least six months, sick of seeing the same white walls every day and looking down on the never-changing busy streets of New York.
3) Getting a goddamn break for once.
4) Being as far away from Hunter as humanly possible to avoid any news about how their wedding planning is going.
5) All of the above.
Alex opens a new tab in his browser and opens the HomeExchange website. He flies over the message sent to him on there by h.foxy which is essentially the same as the email Alex has open in another browser. Next to Henry’s username is a small green circle that’s staring at Alex, impatiently waiting for him to reply.
He opens h.foxy’s profile and skims over the little information sidebar.
Name: Henry
Age: 29
Location: United Kingdom
non-smoker | pet owner
The rest of his profile is filled with pictures of his place and information about it. It’s a small house with poison ivy climbing up to the roof and around the sides, a cobblestone pathway, a large green lawn in the back with fruit trees and a small river running across it. The inside looks equally as cosy with bookshelves covering most of the walls, a sage green kitchen with antique-looking appliances, a large bed with a mustard comforter draped across it, a brass bathtub, and a dog sleeping on the sofa in front of the open fireplace.
He goes back to the chat and stares at Henry’s message for another moment before he begins typing.
barracuda98
(5:09 pm) Hey, this is Alex. I just got your mail. And damn, I almost forgot I had my house listed on here. Where in the UK are you exactly?
h.foxy
(5:09 pm) Just outside of London in a very small town. Blink and you’ll miss it.
(5:09 pm) And I apologize if my mail was a little too desperate or uncalled for. I just really need to get out of the country or I might get mad.
barracuda98
(5:10 pm) Sounds serious. Fleeing the family?
h.foxy
(5:11 pm) Something like that, yes.
barracuda98
(5:11 pm) I understand, trust me. Holidays with my family never go smoothly.
(5:11 pm) When would you like to do this? Because fucking hell, I too need to get out of this place before my family comes up to NYC and decides to kidnap me, haha.
h.foxy
(5:13 pm) As soon as possible?
barracuda98
(5:13 pm) Friday?
h.foxy
(5:14 pm) Friday sounds absolutely perfect.
barracuda98
(5:14 pm) Then Friday it is. By the way, what’s your dog’s name? He looks adorable, can’t wait to meet him (and you, sort of).
h.foxy
(5:14 pm) David.
barracuda98
(5:15 pm) Seriously? How boring.
h.foxy
(5:15 pm) David after David Bowie.
barracuda98
(5:15 pm) Still lame.
h.foxy
(5:16 pm) What’s your cat called then, Mr I-Judge-Other’s-Pet-Names?
barracuda98
(5:16 pm) Ruth.
(5:16 pm) After Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
h.foxy
(5:17 pm) Bloody hell.