Knox
Li and Devin made me stay for breakfast. Seriously, they wouldn't let me go home until I was fed. So I had a blueberry muffin and my usual coffee, along with a few bites of Li's pancakes.
"Hey. Be safe, okay?" Li said to me when I was about to get in my car.
I nodded. "I promise I will be."
"See you soon," Dev interjected, patting me on my shoulder. "Let us know if you ever need anything, and I mean anything. Alright?"
"Okay. Thank you."
"Yeah. Have a good day, bro." Dev walked back in his house.
Meanwhile, Li sighed and asked, "So. That date is tomorrow...think you're ready?"
"Definitely," I replied, grabbing her hand.
"Formal dress, by the way."
"Oh yeah? Where are we going?"
"Dinner."
I raised an eyebrow. "At Buckingham Palace?"
She laughed. "No. Most certainly not."
"Well, what exactly does formal mean? Throw on a button down and nice jeans and call it a day or a tux? They are very different options."
"A suit might be appropriate."
I stared in shock at her. "Where the actual fuck are we going that I need a damn suit?"
"Like I said, dinner."
"I'm not gonna get much out of you, are I?"
"Nope. Be careful at home, please, please, please," Li pleaded, pulling my arm to bring me closer to her and hugging me after. She placed a kiss on my head and also went back inside.
~~~~~
I snuck into my house, wishing no one would hear me. It seemed they didn't. Dad's office's door was closed, and so was the door to Mom's sewing room. Thank God, no human interaction for at least another hour.
~~~~~
Mom and Dad didn't talk to me for the rest of the day, along with a good percentage of the next. I didn't care that much. Adelaide ran downstairs and smiled at me when I got home, though, which made me a little more comfortable.
Me: hey uh since the date is in three hours how are the driving arrangements working?
Li: oh shit
Randy: forgot about that
Li: yeahhhhh
Me: wow, we're terrible at this already
Li: are you actually surprised?
Randy: uhhhh Li, why don't you drive? does Dev need your car tonight? because you're really the only one I completely trust driving lmfao
Li: nah, I'll make him not need it lol
Li: but seriously, he doesn't need it. I'll pick you two up around 4:30ish I suppose if we want to get there on time?
Randy: alright
Me: WHAT IS "THERE"????
Randy: a place that just so happens to serve food, which is extremely convenient since we were hoping to have dinner
Me: 😶
Li: he's not wrong, it is very convenient
Randy: exactly
Randy: hey should I wear my black or red suit? Thomas is telling me that I should wear neither if I really want to win y'all over (I told him to fuck off btw)
Me: idfk, black I guess cause you're fuckin' emo
Randy: I AM NOT EMO, GREGORY.
Me: PREPARE TO DIE
Li: who tf is gregory
Randy: Knox is
Li: may I be so bold as to ask: why?
Randy: because his name and Gregory Gao's names got mixed up in first grade so for two weeks I thought his name was Gregory
Me: he hasn't shut up since
Me: I'm surprised you don't remember, though. we were in the same class
Li: I didn't run in your circle, that's all. dev had his group of friends, I had mine
Me: true. but yeah black I guess, Randy
Li: sure
Randy: aight
~~~~~
Li: we're here
I bolted out the door to my driveway to see Li's classic red Porsche. I waved and hopped in the backseat. "Hello."
"Hey. You look nice," Randy replied, reaching his hand for me. "Sorry you need to sit back there, I can come back if you want me to."
"No, it's okay. Don't worry. Where are we going?"
"Jeez, you're like an impatient toddler. We're going to Guiseppe's. You like Italian, right?" Li asked.
"Giuseppe's is so fancy, though. You didn't need to do that."
Randy smiled. "We want to. And hey, if you're gonna be grateful for anything, thank us for feeding you."
"Well, thanks for not letting me die of starvation."
"That's better."
We got to the restaurant and the waiter led us to a table. He brought us a plate of breadsticks, and then he was off. The three of us glanced at each other, not knowing exactly what to do next. Or, well, that was me and Randy. Li was looking at us in amusement. "Okay, I don't understand why you guys are having so much trouble with this. Don't you think I've seen you guys flirt before? You both turn on the charm very quickly, and you're good at it, too. Now talk like the other one is a cute girl instead of a cute guy. Easy peasy."
I clicked my tongue and reached for a breadstick. "But we already know each other, so it's not like there's any 'What are your hobbies? Who are your friends?'." Randy nodded. I wasn't shocked to see that he was having the same problem I was.
After another minute, Li sighed. "Fine. I like to debate, Randy likes to debate, you like to join in when you think there's a valid point you could make. So, my question for you: chicken or egg?"
"Chicken," I replied, but gaped at Randy when he answered the opposite. "Are you insane?"
"Chickens didn't come at the start of the earth. Just because they're ancestors of dinos doesn't mean they're actually dinos. Therefore, some other animals must have taken a trip to pound town, and bam, chicken egg," Randy explained.
"Yeah, I'm gonna have to agree with you on this one. You see, egg is sitting on the hen house fence smoking a cigarette. Another egg comes along and says 'Boy, you sure look happy. What's the occasion?' The egg smoking the cigarette blows a smoke ring and says 'I just got laid.' Bada-boom!" Li responded, taking a drink of his water.
"Everyone here has gotten dumber from what you just said."
"What are your guys' plans for the weekend?"
"Sleep. Catch up on the anime I'm watching. Sleep again. Possibly eat at some point in between those activities." I unfolded my napkin and put it on my lap, then asked, "And both of you?"
Li rolled his eyes. "I gotta make sure I got my college applications in."
"I forgot you're leaving next year," I whined. "Stay, stay, stay. Don't leave."
"Yeah, we're gonna be stuck with Dev, and CeCe will be a sophomore and start bullying us," Randy added. I didn't think he was too far from the course.
"Well, if it helps; in the event I get in, I'm planning on going to Yale. That's only half an hour away," Li told us.
"You got into Yale?" I questioned.
"I don't know if I actually did or not yet."
"What's your backup?" Randy reached for Li's hand, which Li gladly accepted.
"NYU. Even though it's not an Ivy League, it's still really close to here, and a good school. Excellent psychology program, too."
"You want to be a therapist, right?" I inquired. I remembered them talking about it during Josie's wedding, but I didn't recall the specifics.
"Mhm. Hopefully a good one, at that," Li said, and though it was intended to be a joke, you could hear uncertainty in his tone.
"I'm sure you will help many people," Randy assured. "So, we're getting those Parmesan truffle fries, right?"
~~~~~
We left Giuseppe's and decided to go for a walk around the city. It's really pretty at night, and we weren't quite ready to go home.
I was in the middle, and Li and Randy held my hands. We got more than a few looks, but none of us really cared. Randy sighed, then said, "If this is gonna work out, which hopefully it will, but anyway...if this works out, in the future if we have a kid, we need to either do surrogacy or adoption. Surrogacy would be the ideal option if there was only me or Knox, but there's both of us, so the kid wouldn't have one of our genes. If it's a boy, his name has to be Randall Arthur to keep the line going on both sides. I know it's extremely early, but I felt like I had to address that."
I widened my eyes. "Yeah. That's true. Probably what the best idea would be is having two kids, both surrogacy, hoping they're both boys, and name one of them Randall with probably Francis as the middle name, right?" Randy nodded. "Okay, and then the second son would be whatever first name we wanted and Arthur as the second. Wait, Li, you don't have any lines, correct?"
"Eh, there's a bit of a line, but I honestly think there would be more pressure on Dev and maybe CeCe than on me for stupid reasons. That's my grandparents though, not my parents. Mom and Dad don't really care from what I can tell. And even though there's a line, it's just to have another generation, not a specific name," Li answered. "I'm actually kinda glad Randy brought that up, I hadn't even thought of it. Let's not get ahead of ourselves though, this is only the first date. Maybe on the hundredth or so we'll discuss it." He squeezed my hand and sent Randy a smile.
"Good idea," I replied. "Wait, one more thing, what if they're girls?"
"There's no way in hell we're naming one of them Josephine. That name screams rich-yeehaw. Like, a wealthy cowgirl."
"I don't like the name either, don't worry," Randy answered. "And I'm not naming my kid after my sister."
"Thank God. Anyway, if they're girls, they're girls. Moving on from the topic of children, there's an ice cream place right in front of us and we're getting ice cream whether y'all want to or not," Li demanded, letting go of my hand and running over the shop. He held the door open for us and me and Randy laughed.
Li ordered chocolate, and me and Randy decided to share a bowl of cookie dough because otherwise we would eat way too much. We sat at a booth, Randy and I next to each other and Li across from us. "So, we're doing this again, right?" Randy inquired, taking a very large spoonful of ice cream.
"Please," Li and I responded.
"You know, Doritos should never be an ice cream flavor."
I cringed. "Um. Yeah, I would hope you know that."
"That's fucking disgusting, bro," Li mumbled.
"Cardboard should go on that list, also."
"Good one. Add raw tuna."
"Snake skin?" Randy proposed. He took another big scoop, making me glare at him.
Nodding, I answered, "Cabbage."
"Wool."
"Hair conditioner seems like it'd not be fun." Li licked his ice cream. "Unless it's that green apple stuff my sister uses. That would be a slippery slope too, though. Concrete?"
Randy put on his best salesman voice and replied, "Concrete ice cream now in stores! Limited stock, get it while you can! Break teeth, taste the earth today when you call 111-222-3333. Again, that's 111-222-3333. Come before we get a lawsuit!"
I began dying laughing. "I'm not sure if the FDA would approve of that."
Li, also cracking up, added, "It does sound unlikely. Pretty certain they wouldn't pass cyanide ice cream either, which is really a shame."
"...What?"
"That is a shame, isn't it?" Randy said, propping his head on his hand.
"Yeah, you can't murder anyone." Li took a bite of his cone. "Respectfully murder, of course."
"Of course."
I stared between the two of them. "What. Is. Happening."
Chuckling, Li started rubbing my hand. "You'll get used to it eventually, I promise."
"Cyanide is poison."
"Yes," Randy confirmed.
"Poison is bad."
"Usually."
"Usually?!" I exclaimed.
"We're just kidding. We won't if you don't want us to, of course," Li replied.
"It's okay. I think. Yeah, it's fine. Do whatever."
"Alright. Hey, Li, didn't you say you wanted an open relationship?" Randy questioned. Li began coughing after nearly choking on his ice cream. "You okay?"
Li gave us a thumbs up. A few seconds go by, and he's back to normal. Mostly. "All good."
"Well, you did say you wanted an open relationship, right?"
"Um. I did, but I don't need it."
I raised my eyebrows. "Do you want it, though?"
"Seriously, I'm more than happy with you guys and I'm looking forward to the future with you," Li answered. "I have all I need."
I glanced over to Randy and whispered in his ear, "Your thoughts on this?"
He revealed, "I don't care. He's had less...experience...than us and if he wants to...do things... with other guys, I don't give a damn as long as he doesn't express any real feelings towards said guys. Plus, you and I don't have experience in the men field either, only with women. Might be a good thing for us, because that way all three of us would know a little more about the world of gaying."
When I pulled back, Li was engrossed in his napkin (for whatever reason). I slowly nodded to Randy then said to Li, "Appears we're both cool with an open relationship. Maybe let's try it for awhile and reassess in a bit to see if we like it?"
"Yeah, that sounds fine. You're sure about this?" Li checked, finishing off his cone.
"Mhm." Randy reached for Li's hand again. I did the same.
He closed both of our hands and responded, "Okay. I guess it's an open relationship, then. While we're discussing this, let's do boundaries. Of course, along with any other details we may need to address."
"Well, you're a virgin, right?"
"Yeah. What does that have to do with anything?"
"I'm assuming you don't want to, you know, do that quite yet?" I guessed. "Or if you don't want to at all, that's fine, obviously."
"I think we should wait for probably a few months before we even consider it." He sighed and continued with a much quieter voice, "I'm going to talk quiet since there's a family with two children fifteen feet from us. Anyway, I'm not ready to have sex. Possibly in the future though, I will be. I don't care if you two do, but I'm personally not ready."
"So, if we did an open relationship, you would only kiss people?" Randy asked.
"Yeah, probably. Then again, that one kiss I had with Randy was my only kiss ever. So, I would want to do more with you both before doing anything with others. Does that make sense?"
"Yes, it does. Then, let's wait for the whole open relationship deal, because I don't want you to kiss anyone else before you kiss me," I stated. "Wait, that sounds petty, sorry."
"No, it's fine. I feel the same way." Li turned to Randy. "You okay with this plan?"
"Absolutely. Other boundaries outside of open relationships?" Randy started rubbing my arm, and I took the chance to lean into him. Although I wasn't anywhere close to being used to being affectionate with him, it was a lot easier than I expected.
"I have one. Ask each other if it's okay before we do something. Kiss, hug, whatever. I know that some days I just don't wanna be touched, and others I'm imagining my pillow as a person. Thankfully, Otis has helped with that problem a little. Back on track, I am a firm believer in consent, and I don't want anyone being pressured into anything they don't want to do."
Immediately, I sat up off of Randy's shoulder, just as he removed his hand from my arm. We laughed and Randy said, "Were you okay with that?" I guiltily smiled and he pulled me back. "Better?"
I nodded, which wasn't very effective considering he couldn't see my head. So, I murmured, "Mhm." At that moment, Li was holding my right hand and Randy's left, and then you add in Randy holding me, and you get comfy and sleepy Knox.
"I'm also a very strong advocate for consent. I didn't really think to ask to touch Knoxie here, but it makes sense why you would want to. Let's not overdo it though, that could get annoying."
Li winced. "I definitely see you point. Uh, perhaps if it's something smaller like, actually, a great example is having your arm around Knox, then don't ask. Instead, if the receiver of said physical affection isn't okay with it, we simply say so and the giver stops right away. That sound good?"
Me and Randy approved. We talked over a few other things, such as the times we were most available, how we would act around each other at school, if we would tell our friends promptly, etc. An hour later, I was in Randy's sweatpants and shirt sitting on Li's lap as he played on the Xbox. Meanwhile, Randy was on the phone with his brother (Li and I insisted on him picking it up, even though Randy said he could call Thomas back the next day). Something about anger issues, which didn't surprise me considering their history.
When Randy got back, he asked Li to stop for a minute before playing the next round, which was when I started to get concerned. Li turned the entire Xbox off and put his full attention on Randy.
"So, I have to tell you guys something," Randy told us.
"Okay. What?" I inquired.
"Um, first of all, I haven't told you yet because I'm really scared to and I thought I could just ignore it. Well, turns out I can't. Basically, my grandparents found out I'm bi. Grandma doesn't care that much, Grandpa is not pleased. Actually, he came down here just to tell me that. He brought Tommy. He asked if Tommy knew already. Now, at that point, he was mad, but not livid. He has anger issues also, and when Tommy answered yes, Grandpa went off on him. Like, really went off. Mom and Dad weren't home at the time, so they weren't there to intervene...so I did. I couldn't stand to watch my brother get hurt and not do anything about it. Long story short, I had my first anger management session Thursday and I have my next one Tuesday, where my therapist dude whose name is Garrett is going to have me take tests for anxiety and depression. Also, Grandpa's arm is broken and Dad isn't speaking to me."
~~~~~
A/N: IM SO SORRY I HAVENT POSTED IN SO LONG
the past few days have been pretty stressful, but I got it out!!! yayyyyyyyyyy, jinx being semi-productive
Also sorry about the cliffhanger...I PROMISE THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE OUT BY SUNDAY NIGHT AT THE LATEST
What are your thoughts on Randy's mental health problems? What about K, R, and L going over rules for the relationship?
Fact fifteen: Louis Partridge; basically the sharper jawline/slightly older looking Li.
So there ya go lmao
I don't know why this didn't load but I fixed it! 👍🏻 it's still not letting me upload the next chapter. Fuck wattpad honestly 😭🤚🏻
I hope you have an awesome day, as always <3