Dance Til You Bleed (MxM)

number forty

Ariel Jiménez

I can't like him. That'd be cheating. Isn't that a form of cheating? Oh my god I don't wanna be a cheater.

"Are you almost ready?"

I looked up at Alex in the mirror as I was applying lip gloss.

"Mhm."

I put all of my makeup away and walked past him to grab my phone and keys. He followed behind me and we put on our jackets and shoes.

It was December 31st. I was in the car, riding in silence beside Alex on the way to my family home. Alex was going to meet my family.

I was a little nauseous at the thought. What would my dad ask? Would Mommy like him? Would the twins prefer him over Nathaniel? Would James be able to talk to him about random shit?

As the car came to a stop, I grabbed Alex's hand that was holding on the stick shift.

"Don't do anything stupid and don't say anything incriminating. I haven't told my family anything and I don't want them to find out through you."

Alex slowly turned to me and cleared his throat.

"What would count as stupid?"

I turned my head to him. He cleared his throat and nodded his head.

"Okay. I'll be careful."

"My dad's going to ask you a lot of questions, answer them carefully. Whenever my mother offers you food, you accept it. If you can't eat anymore, hand it over to one of my brothers, they'll scarf it down. Oh, and don't answer any questions about us that may be asked to you by any of my sisters. It's a trap."

"I see..."

We got out of the car and I took out my keys to unlock the door. As soon as I opened the door I was hit with the smell of garlic and tomato. I also got the scent of something very sweet and hoped it was dessert and not Tori's body spray.

As I slipped off my shoes River came barreling down the stairs and stopped when he saw us. He stared at us and we stared at him.

"¡Tipo! Loro sono qui!"

It sounded like a herd of elephants and most of my siblings came bolting down the stairs.

Mommy peeked her head from the kitchen and Eric appeared behind her. Everyone crowded around and began spewing questions at us but mainly at Alex.

Dad made his way down the stairs and I felt Alex freeze up. A very typical reaction to seeing a bulky-buff-hulkish 6'3 bearded Spanish man.

Comically enough everyone parted like the red sea for him to approach us. He held his hand out and I stepped forward. He held the back of my head and brought my forehead to his lips and kissed it. He let go and turned to Alex who, in a panic, looked at me. Dad held his hand out and Alex shook it firmly.

"Adrian."

"Alex Lucien," Alex nodded.

"Well, Bambino, aren't you going to introduce us?" Mommy appeared beside Dad with her hands on her hips.

"Oh yeah, uh."

"Everyone, this is Alex. My boyfriend. Alex, these are my parents, Erais and Adrian Jiménez. Then my siblings, James, Victoria, Eric, River, Sabrina, Lilith, Liam, and Gigi."

He greeted them and they greeted him.

We moved to the dining table, after we all washed our hands, and took our spots at the table. My dad held his hands out and quickly everyone locked hands. Alex looked at me confused when I held my hand out to him.