Our Little Secret

Chapter 33: The Good and the Bad

Warning: Racism and homophobia. These are issues that unfortunately many people in the world are dealing with and I just wanna spread awareness about them.

There's now only one week left until Mitch and Kevin's  wedding! The couple couldn't be more excited and are so happy with how smooth the planning went! They both decided to go out on one last date night before getting married.
Kevin: "Mitchy! You ready?"
Mitch: (from another room) "Yep! Coming!"
Mitch walks out the hall dressed up for his and Kevin's date.
Kevin: "Wow..."
Kevin can't help but stare at Mitch.
Mitch: "Do I look okay?"
Kevin: "No."
Mitch looks hurt at Kevin's response.
Kevin: "You look perfect!"
Mitch relaxes at this.
Mitch: "Don't trick me like that again!"
He playfully slaps Kevin's arm.
Kevin: "Sorry, I'm sorry! But in all seriousness, you're the most beautiful person I've ever met. Sometimes it's hard to believe that I'm gonna be marrying you in just a week."
Mitch smiles.
Mitch: "We're gonna be so happy together."
Kevin: "We are."
Kevin takes Mitch's hands in his own.
Mitch: "I love you, Kevin."
Kevin: "I love you, too."
They lean in and kiss.
Kevin: "I can't wait until we get to say "I do" next week!"
Mitch: "It'll be the best day of my life!"
They both smile at each other.
Kevin: "Well, we should get going. There's this new restaurant that just went in about ten minutes from here that I wanna check out. Matt said he took Sarah there a week ago. He said it's really romantic and the food's really good."
Mitch: "Sounds great! Let's go!"
The couple get in Kevin's car. Kevin drives them to the restaurant. As soon as they get there, they walk inside.
Kevin: "Hi, can we get a table for two?"
The woman at the counter eyes them wearily.
Worker: "Sure."
She scrolls through the tablet on the counter.
Worker: "That'll be about a twenty minute wait."
Kevin and Mitch can't help but notice how empty the restaurant seems.
Kevin: "Um, ma'am, I don't mind waiting, but how come there are so many empty tables?"
Worker: "You two on a date?"
Mitch and Kevin look at each other confused and shocked at the worker's straightforwardness.
Kevin: "Yeah. Yeah, we are. Is there a problem with that?"
Worker: "No, no problem."
The worker avoids eye contact with both Kevin and Mitch.
Kevin: "So if there's no problem, then why do we have to wait twenty minutes?"
Worker: "Don't take this personally. It's just that here at this restaurant, we prefer couples like you sit in the back."
Mitch: "What do you mean by 'couples like you?' Why don't you want us to be seen here?"
Worker: "If you must know, relationships like this aren't natural. It's always been meant for men and women to fall in love, not two men. Let alone two men of different colors."
Mitch and Kevin can't believe what the woman just said.
Kevin: "So you think our love for each other is fake? You think that two men aren't capable of falling in love with each other?"
Worker: "I never said that. I simply said your 'love' isn't natural."
Mitch: "And what do you mean by 'let alone two men of different colors?' Is it because I'm white and he's black?"
Worker: "Yes."
Mitch and Kevin are almost speechless.
Kevin: "You don't approve of interracial relationships?"
Worker: "Again, don't take this personally, but none of this is natural. It's always been meant for white men to be with white women and black men to be with black women. That's just the way it should be."
Kevin: "It's hard not to take that personally."
Mitch: "Kevin, let's just leave. As for you, (he looks at the worker) you can keep your high-class tables for someone else. Let's get out of here."
He and Kevin exit the restaurant.
Mitch: "I cannot believe that! How can one person be so judgmental?"
Kevin: "I don't know. I've dealt with racism before, but never with homophobia. Do some people really believe that men have to date women and that whites and blacks can't intermarry?"
Mitch: "I know our skin is different, but it doesn't change the way I love you! I don't look at myself as white and you as black. I look at both of us as people who love each other very much."
Kevin: "And that's who we are. People who love each other. And I'm not gonna let racism or homophobia get in the way of that."
Mitch: "Me neither. How about we go get Chinese food or something?"
Kevin: "Sounds good to me. I don't ever wanna go inside that restaurant again."
The couple drive off to the nearest Chinese restaurant. After ordering their food, they decide to eat outside on a bench. As they're eating, two men, one black and one white, approach them.
Man 1: "Excuse me, but you're both in Pentatonix, aren't you?"
Kevin: "Yes, we are! Hi!"
Man 2: "Hi! Wow, we just wanna tell you that you both are huge inspirations for us!"
Man 1: "When you two came out as a couple, it really made us realize that it doesn't matter what sexuality or color you are. We were really scared to come out to our families, but you gave us the courage to do so and we're so glad that we did!"
Mitch: "Aw, I love hearing these stories!"
Kevin: "We're so happy for you!"
Man 1: "Thank you so much!"
Man 2: "Before we leave, would you mind taking a selfie with us?"
Mitch: "Of course!"
Kevin: "No problem!"
Mitch and Kevin get up and join the other two guys for a picture. After taking the picture, the guys thank Mitch and Kevin before leaving.
Mitch: "They seemed so nice!"
Kevin: "They did! I never thought that by coming out we'd be encouraging other people to do the same thing. That makes me feel good that we're helping other people without even knowing it."
Mitch: "I know. And it shows that even though there are rude, judgemental people out there, there are even more good people in the world. I'm so happy to be dating one of them!"
Kevin: "Same here!"
They lean in and kiss.