"You found parts of me I didn't know existed and in you, I found a love I no longer believed was real".
~Anonymous
Hunter
Morning came too fast. I was woken up by something moving against my knuckles. I was lying on my back, one of my hands falling off the bed, while the other was around Alex, who slept completely on top of me. What had been moving against my knuckles had been Philip who was nudging me softly with his wet nose. Taking a deep breath, I moved my hand and scratched the top of his head.
With Alex being on top of me, I couldn't move so I reached out with my free hand to grab my phone from my desk. It lied on the empty pizza box, the one we had ordered last night at midnight, in between our shared activities.
It was a little after eleven in the morning, meaning I had only gotten around five hours of sleep. Closing my eyes, I started remembering last night again. Our first time had been better than I imagined –I was actually surprised by how confident Alex had been-. But, we had also spent a lot of hours just talking last night.
Our main topic was about how we would deal with his family, but we also spoke about other, more pleasant, things. Like how our future together would be like. What our apartment in Los Angeles would be like. What our daily life would be like, Alex at the recording studio, while I would be at Art School. Just before we fell asleep we promised each other that no matter what, every day we would spend at least half an hour being close to each other. Not necessarily talking, but at least sitting in each other's arms; listening to each other's heartbeats.
The sudden sound of Alex's ringtone made me jump, and he slowly woke up.
"Good morning," I told him, as he reached over me to grab his phone.
"It's Anna," he said and sat up, leaning forward to rest his head against his hand. "Hello," he told the phone. I also sat up and started playing with a few strands of his hair, still not used to the new style but loving it. "I haven't talked to Chris, Anna. I mean, we did talk a little, but the subject was diverted away from him. He said that he wanted to make it up to you and to earn your trust again". Alex paused for a second and he bit his lower lips. "No, Anna, you know he's not your soulmate. I don't think giving him another chance is worth it," Alex huffed and closed his eyes. He brought the phone to his other ear, the one that was closer to me and now I could also listen to Anna's voice.
"You sound tired. Is everything alright?" she asked, sniffling.
"Um, actually... no. I'm with Hunter now, but eh... yesterday afternoon I came out to my parents," Alex admitted and pressed the bridge of his nose.
"Oh no, how did they take it?"
"Badly," Alex snapped, but I was sure he didn't want to sound mean to her.
"I'm so sorry. If you're with Hunter then I'm sure everything will be alright," she muttered. "Um, Alex... thank you for telling me the truth. And I hope everything will turn out fine for you. How about we talk another time?" she said, now sounding more relaxed. Alex just hummed in agreement and I listened in as she hung up.
"You might have been a little bit of a dick..." I noted with a pout. He turned to look at me with a desperate glare.
"I don't care, I need to pee," he said and bolted out of bed, only clad in his boxer briefs. I couldn't help but laugh until I fell back on the mattress.
A few moments later I heard the toilet flush and then water hit the porcelain sink. When he came back, I was putting on my glasses, and with his hands still wet he flicked them at me, filling up my glasses with droplets of water. I scowled at him and shook my head. He snickered and fell next to me, face first, with a sigh.
"Fuck Hunt, it hurts to even walk," he whined against the sheets. I chuckled.
"Yeah, well what did you think would happen?" I asked him and leaned down to blow a kiss on his shoulder.
"I don't know... I wasn't expecting this though," he said and turned his head to the side so he could look at me. "You look like an angel," he muttered, almost out of breath. I let out a confused hum and pressed my side against my desk. "You know, the way that the sun shines through your window and falls on you... it makes you look like an angel," he went on to explain. I smiled down at him and run my thumb over his lips.
"We should get dressed. Dad and Aurora will be here soon and I have to wash the sheets," I told him and stood up.
Around half an hour later, the dirty sheets were still in the washing machine when Dad and Auro arrived. Thankfully, Aurora took Philip to her room to tell him all about her exciting trip, letting us talk with my Dad. We were sitting in the living room, Alex and I on the couch holding onto each other's hands, while my Dad sat on his armchair.
"I'm just glad that they haven't come looking for me. I didn't tell them that my soulmate was Hunter... but they knew I hung out with him and that he's gay so they must have figured it out," Alex said, looking at my Dad.
"Yeah, it is indeed a good thing that they didn't come barging in. Legally they could involve the police... declare you missing," my Dad replied with a skeptical expression. "Still, we should call Claire, so that she knows the situation". We nodded along, but just as my father reached for his phone he stopped and looked at us with a soft frown.
"What is it?" I asked him. He squinted and then fell back on his chair, not grabbing his phone.
"There wasn't any laundry when I left," he muttered, making me frown. What did that have to do with any of this? "I have no problem with whatever you boys are doing, but I want you to be safe".
Oh no...
Both Alex and I turned into flushed messes as we realized where the conversation was headed. What was my father thinking? We had had the safe sex talk before. Why was he bringing it up again? Because Alex was present?
"Look, this is just as uncomfortable for me as it is for you. But nevertheless, I have to say it. I know you're not stupid and I know that you definitely know a lot more about this than I do. Just make sure to always use protection and I want you to know that whatever it is, you can always come and talk to me," he went on.
"Dad, we know that. And we know enough to always be safe. You don't need to worry," I assure him, letting out a jaded breath.
"Safe about what?" Aurora's soft voice spoke up, and we all took on comically shocked expressions. We all turned to look at her, not sure what to say.
"Baking cookies". I actually couldn't believe the words that had left my mouth. Alex's and my father's expressions shifted to me and shaking violently his head my father agreed.
"Yes, yes, baking cookies should always be done with caution. You might get burnt or dirty," he said thinking through each and every word that fell off his lips. Alex next to me couldn't help but let out a muffled laugh.
"Hunter always gets burnt," Aurora said with a frown.
"No, I don't," I snapped back at her.
"Uh-huh," she said, shaking her head with confidence.
"I'm always safe!"
"Yeah, he is," Alex managed to say, through the chuckles that were escaping his lips. I glared him, not exactly sure if he was talking about cookies.
"Anyway," my father interfered, finally, grabbing his phone, "let's call Claire. Auro, sweetheart, why don't you go with Hunter to the kitchen to make lunch?" he said.
I took the hint- he wanted to talk to her with Alex alone. And I understood it, no matter how comfortable Alex was with me, Claire was part of his family. They needed some time to talk alone. A few moments later, my father joined us and we cooked something up, with him telling me all about his weekend so far.
According to Alex, Claire would be here Monday at noon. And she was prepared for whatever would happen with Alex's parents. Until then, Alex would stay here, and perhaps he would stay longer –depending on whatever happened then.
It was around seven in the evening, when the doorbell rang. We were all sitting and watching a movie, Aurora not paying attention as she was brushing Philip, and Alex, who was sitting between my legs, tensed up. My father smiled as he went to open the door.
"Grandma?!" I exclaimed as Grandma Elaine walked inside, holding onto a small bag and a heartwarming smile.
She was wearing a polka-dotted halter dress. Despite her age being seventy-three, she was holding up wonderfully. Just a few wrinkles were visible on her face and neck, her eyes having most of them. Her hair was silver, but that couldn't hide her beauty. Nothing could. Not the wrinkles, not the age spots on her hands, not her silver hair. Nothing.
Back in the old days, Elaine used to be a model. She had won more beauty pageants than Alex and I could count and she had been called by many magazines as one of the most beautiful women in the world. Elaine Keith was still a name who made many people sigh dreamily.
"I heard someone came out of the closet," she said with a broad smile. Alex sat up from between my legs and smiled back at her.
"Yeah, it wasn't planned, but it happened," he said with a shrug and an awkward smile.
"Planned or not, it's something you should celebrate. Everybody is so proud of you Alex," Elaine said and came to sit down next to Alex.
"Did Dad tell you to come?" I asked her since Dad hadn't shown up yet. What? Had he been lost in the hallway?
"Yes. Those other two old farts also wanted to come, but I didn't let them," Elaine said and stuck out her tongue playfully.
"Old farts?" Alex muttered, not being able to hold back a bark of laughter.
"Stefan and Jean," Grandma told him and placed on of her delicate hands over his. "I mean it. We are all very happy about it. And we will fight alongside you against whoever dares to come in your way of being with my grandson".
"Well, with you by my side," Alex started, hugging her, "they are already shaking in fear".
"Good," she said through gritted teeth. "So, what are you boys watching?" she went on to ask.
"It's called 'Train to Busan', it's a Korean zombie movie," I told her and she shook her head.
"Thank God you got Philip or else poor little Aurora would be scarred," she said and moved to sit down on the floor next to Aurora.
"Where's Dad?" I asked her after a few seconds.
"Oh, he started talking to Laura. He's probably berating her with stories of his trip to San Diego," Grandma replied and starting talking to Aurora.
A couple of hours later, I lay in my bed, waiting for Alex to join me. He came into my room, clad in a pair of my plaid pajamas.
"You do realize what will happen tomorrow, right?" he asked me and he came to lie next to me, our noses almost touching.
"Um, no?" I replied with a frown.
"Well, for one, I will face my friends after the whole Friday fiasco".
"Friday fiasco? Oh, you mean the party where you almost had a threesome with some of them?" I said, trying to hold back my laughter. That felt like an eternity ago.
"I didn't almost have a threesome with them," he said, trying to defend himself. "But yeah, that... also, I kinda told Don that my soulmate is a guy. So, how do you feel about meeting my friends tomorrow?"
I was left looking at him with my jaw hanging. Was he being serious? Of course, he was being serious! Oh god, what was going on in our lives at this point?
"Fuck it, let's tell your friends tomorrow. What else could happen at this point?" I exclaimed and kissed him, wrapping my arms around him.