LGBT Oneshots ✅

Piece by Piece Part Two

Piece by Piece Part Two

Alex never thought he'd be the kind of guy to go to therapy.

Honestly, he never thought it would be an option for him. Because, for so long, society saw the people who went to therapy as crazy or weak and it just wasn't as acceptable for men as it was for women. So, while his mother had gone to see a therapist on a weekly basis after his father left, eventually getting so much better she didn't need her anymore, he had never had that choice.

Instead, Alex had been bounced around his mother's support network of other parents who would take over when his mother picked up another shift at the hospital or when she was too tired to cook. They were so helpful in those first few years, helping with the carpool or letting him sleep over during his mother's night shifts but they weren't his parents and it was never his home. For all they tried, it wasn't the same and these happy, whole families could never understand.

But it was what it was, and Alex couldn't ask for more.

He grew up as a well-adjusted child, bar the occasional tantrum when the unfairness of it all got to him, and he tried hard to be the model son so his mother wouldn't worry. It took him a while to realise that, maybe, he'd worked a bit too hard at that.

And it's hammered home to him when he meets Taylor's soulmate, Lloyd.

"You can't be weird." Taylor tells him. "You're the first of my friends I'm introducing him to. Please don't scare him off."

Alex holds up his hands, his face a picture of innocence. "I promise I won't."

"You better not. He's important to me."

"I'm important to you!"

She makes a non-committal sound at that.

"Hey!"

Taylor laughs, grinning at him. "I'm kidding. Obviously, you're important! I mean, I live with you so I have to stay on your good side."

He rolls his eyes. "You think you're funny, don't you?"

"Hilarious," she confirms before suddenly sitting up straighter and smiling softer when she sees Lloyd. "There he is. Now, Alex, promise me you'll act normal."

Alex thinks he's normal all the time but he shrugs and lets her eke a promise out of him.

"Hi," Lloyd says with a smile when he approaches their table. holding out a hand. "I'm Lloyd."

Alex stands up to meet him, shaking his hand and admiring his strong grip. It's a stupid thing to notice about a man but he thinks it's promising and tells him so. From the corner of his eye, he can see Taylor looking pleased at how the introductions are going. They make small talk about their studies and where they're from and, inevitably, they can't avoid talking about soulmates.

"So, Alex," Lloyd says, "have you met your soulmate yet?"

And he's promised Taylor that he won't be weird so he smiles and shakes his head, "No."

Taylor stares at him. "That's your lying face. You have met your soulmate!"

"No, I haven't."

"Don't lie to me, Alex!"

"I haven't." He insists, trying to school his face into something more convincing. He never knew he had a lying face, and he's not so sure Taylor is telling the truth, but it's useful to know if it's true.