In the morning, when the sun spilled through the blinds and the birds were chirping, Mark woke up to Alex sitting in the same position he found him in the previous night.
"Something wrong?" Mark asked, putting a hand on his back.
"I still haven't come out to the rest of the house,"
"I'll help you, don't worry. You'll be fine,"
"But what if they hate me?"
"I don't think they'll hate you-"
"What if they do?
Mark sighed, "Worst comes to worst, you can come live with me. I'd be happy to take you in."
"Thank you, Mark," Alex smiled.
Mark slowly wrapped his arms around his waist and hugged him tight. "You're welcome. But I don't think they'll hate you, or kick you out. If they're real friends, they'll still support you. Besides, I'm right behind you." He rested his head on Alex's back and closed his eyes.
"I'm ready," Alex spat out.
"You sure?"
"Now or never. But you're staying up here,"
"Why?! I want to be with you when-"
"I want to do this alone. I need to do this alone. I need to prove myself,"
"To who?"
"To me. Besides, they won't know who you are. It'll take explaining."
Mark thought about it. "True."
:Downstairs:
Everyone else was sitting in the living room that morning, so Alex could make his announcement. Yet, Jordan was nowhere to be found.
"Everyone," Alex walked into the room, "I have an important announcement."
"What's up, Alex?" Elijah asked.
Uh oh, Alex thought, I forgot about Elijah, he probably won't support me, but I must do this.
He gulped and playing with his hands. "I hope you all will still accept me,"
"You don't need to beat around the bush." Mili tried to soothe him.
Alex took a deep breath. "Okay." You guys ready?"
They all nodded their heads.
"I'm........ gay.."
That was it. It was out now, too late to turn back.
Alex's heart skipped a beat as they sprang up from their seats and went up to him saying things like "Oh we still love you" and "We support you" and "It's okay you're still amazing"- even Elijah.
He was thanking them all when Mark appeared through the doorway. "I miss anything?" Mark asked, doing his best to try and seem like he was oblivious to the entire event.
Alex went over to Mark and put a hand on his shoulder. "Everyone, this is my friend, Mark. I met him at the cafe."
Mark was a bit confused, but waved at their kind greeting.
Then Alex realized Jordan was missing. "Wait... where's Jordan?"
"I'm not sure," Shay replied, "maybe the cafe?"
"Okay, lets go see if she's there. C'mon, Mark,"
:Cafe:
"She's not here," Mark whispered, no one there fitting the description Alex gave him.
"I see, but I want to come out to one of my friends who works here,"
They sat at their table, then waited for Toluwase to come serve them.
"What can I get you two?" she eventually got there, after Mel yelling at her multiple times to 'serve the customers.'
"Words?" Mark tried.
Toluwase was a bit confused.
"Just sit, I have something to tell you," Alex explained.
Toluwase sat, a worried expression written across her face. "What's wrong, Alex?"
"Well, nothing is wrong."
"Then what do you have to say?"
Alex looked at Mark, who looked back and nodded. Mark had a hand in the small of his back to show his support.
"I'm gay," Alex said with surprising confidence after his previous luck.
Toluwase hesitated. "I gotta go.." she briskly got up and speed-walked to the kitchen, head down.
Alex stuttered as tears formed in his eyes.
Mark took his hand and stood up. "Let's go, Alex,"
Alex stood up as Mark wiped a tear rolling down his cheek and put an arm around him.
:At House:
Alex fell to the couch, tears making their way down his neck. Mark sat next to him and hugged him.
"She hates me..." Alex leaned his head on Mark's chest. He could hear his heart beat as he sniffled.
"She doesn't. Maybe she didn't know how to react,"
"I don't know,"
Mark rubbed his back and rested his head against Alex's. "It's okay," he whispered, "it's okay."
:Cafe:
Toluwase worked for the rest of the day, tired and stressed. She stayed with Nial for her shift since Amber wasn't feeling well. At the end of their shift, Mel had left and told them to lock up. Toluwase sighed and Nial looked at her, worried.
"Is something wrong, Toluwase?"
Her head was down, arms crossed. She seemed more vulnerable than usual, scared of anything surrounding her. "Yeah.." the lump in her throat prevented her from saying too much.
Nial took her hand. "Come, lets go sit on the couch in the back," Nial took her to the back room, which had lockers for the waitresses, shelves of food, a desk covered in paper and an old maroon-colored couch which had faded over the years.
The two sat down and Toluwase's head only looked down even more to hide her tears.
"What's bothering you?" Nial asked, putting a hand on her elbow.
Toluwase sniffled. I like A-A-Alex, a regular who is a friend of mine. A-and he told me earlier today that.."
"That what? He doesn't like you or..?"
"Worse," Toluwase looked up, resting her hands on her knees, "he's gay. I mean, I support him and all but it just hurts."
"Well, clearly he isn't the one. It'd be a waste of time, dating him. But it's okay, because you're still friends. I know it hurts, but it'll feel better."
"You promise?"
Nial nodded, taking her hand again. "I promise," she squeezed her hand as she said 'promise.'
Toluwase took a deep breath. "Okay. You're right. Thank you for helping me," she smiled, a bit of color in her cheeks.
Nial chuckled, color showing up in her cheeks, too. "Of course."
In the heat of the moment, in what felt like a split second but took a million years, Nial promptly kissed Toluwase with a passion she didn't think she had.
A few moments later, Nial moved her head back a bit and blurred out, "I'm so sorry, I-I don't know what had gotten int-"
Toluwase cut her off by kissing her back, causing them both to become a more vivid red. She put her arms around Nial's neck, moved even closer, returning back to her normal, natural self.
When they broke apart just a bit, Toluwase smiled. They both chuckled, almost beet red. "What are we?"
"Lesbians?" Nial suggested.
"Sounds about right," she smiled, "I'm going to call Alex to meet up so I can apologize for reacting weird when he came out."
"Good idea."
:With Alex:
When he got the call, him and Mark got ready to go. Before they left, Alex told Sub and Mili to make sure Jordan doesn't go to the cafe, because he needed to talk to one of his friends.
Sub and Mili did their best protecting Alex.
Doesn't mean their best is that great.
:At House:
In the kitchen, Sub and Mili were talking about their plans for the weekend when Jordan walked in.
"You two know where Alex is?"
"Not sure," Sub answered, "why?"
"I'm trying to find him, don't know where he's at. I'm going to the cafe."
Sub and Mili looked at each other, horrified and worried.
"N-n-no, don't go there!" Mili spat out.
Jordan was puzzled, "Why not?"
They both hesitated. "He might not be there," Sub thought of a quick reaction.
"Worth a try," Jordan added, and was off.
"Oh lord," Mili put her hand on her forehead.
"Oh lord is definitely right."
DISCLAIMER: Toluwase And Nial are not actually lesbian in real life