A couple hours later, Thomas comes to Christopher’s bedroom door. It’s shut tight, and he can hear the music and gunshot sounds of a game through it.
Thomas knocks. “Hey, little man. You in?”
Silence for a while, and he thinks maybe Christopher is going to ignore him. Then, “yeah, whatever.”
Thomas comes in. Christopher is sitting on his bed, N64 controller in his hands. The reflected glow of the TV screen renders the lenses of his glasses almost opaque.
Thomas leans against the doorway. “You wanna turn the game off for a second?”
With every air of reluctance, Christopher reaches over and flicks off the power switch. “You gonna come give me crap now?”
“Nah,” Thomas says. “You already know you acted like a turd.”
Christopher glares at him, but he looks like he’s blinking back tears behind his glasses. “You never said, man. You’re freaking gay this whole time, and you never tell me? What the hell?”
“I’m not gay,” Thomas says. “I’m bi, I guess. And it never came up before this.”
“So… what? You need one of both to keep happy now?”
Thomas sighs and comes over to sit next to Christopher on the bed. “No. That was actually an accident. I didn’t even ask them out, they asked me.”
“What? At the same time?”
Thomas nods.
“How does that even work?”
Thomas shrugs and shifts uncomfortably. He’s the charmer of the group, the smooth talker, but he’s lousy for explanations. He doesn’t have M.D.’s intellect, or Raige’s empathy. As it is, all he can say is, “Well, you know. I’m both you and Marcus’s brother, and it’s not a big deal.”
“Not the same thing, man. Not the same at all.”
“Why not?”
“You can’t cheat on family.”
“I’m not cheating on them either,” Thomas goes. “We’re all in it together. Everyone knows, everyone talks. It’s not like we’re all lying to each other.”
“Doesn’t it freak you out? That maybe they do stuff without you?”
Thomas tilts his head, thinks it over. “Nah. I mean, Marcus does all sorts of stuff overseas, and that doesn’t freak me out. He always comes back home. And… Jeez, man, have you met Raige? He couldn’t hurt somebody if you set a rabid dog on him.”
“What if it bothers you? What if you get sick of sharing?”
“Easy. I stop dating them.”
Christopher is silent for a while. “You should’ve told me,” he says. “Jesus, man, I even knew something was up, you were looking like something was bugging you for weeks, and here I thought it was just studying for your GED and stuff, but no, you were hiding this from us.”
“I wanted to wait till Marcus was back. Tell all of you in a go.”
“Yeah, well, don’t do that. Jesus. Makes me feel like I don’t count or something.”
“I won’t. I’m sorry.”
Christopher sniffs, then nods a couple times.
“Okay. For that, I guess I’m okay with you being a pervert then.”
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Re: Coming out to the family Rodriguez (part 3)
Date: 2012-02-25 12:46 am (UTC)Thomas knocks. “Hey, little man. You in?”
Silence for a while, and he thinks maybe Christopher is going to ignore him. Then, “yeah, whatever.”
Thomas comes in. Christopher is sitting on his bed, N64 controller in his hands. The reflected glow of the TV screen renders the lenses of his glasses almost opaque.
Thomas leans against the doorway. “You wanna turn the game off for a second?”
With every air of reluctance, Christopher reaches over and flicks off the power switch. “You gonna come give me crap now?”
“Nah,” Thomas says. “You already know you acted like a turd.”
Christopher glares at him, but he looks like he’s blinking back tears behind his glasses. “You never said, man. You’re freaking gay this whole time, and you never tell me? What the hell?”
“I’m not gay,” Thomas says. “I’m bi, I guess. And it never came up before this.”
“So… what? You need one of both to keep happy now?”
Thomas sighs and comes over to sit next to Christopher on the bed. “No. That was actually an accident. I didn’t even ask them out, they asked me.”
“What? At the same time?”
Thomas nods.
“How does that even work?”
Thomas shrugs and shifts uncomfortably. He’s the charmer of the group, the smooth talker, but he’s lousy for explanations. He doesn’t have M.D.’s intellect, or Raige’s empathy. As it is, all he can say is, “Well, you know. I’m both you and Marcus’s brother, and it’s not a big deal.”
“Not the same thing, man. Not the same at all.”
“Why not?”
“You can’t cheat on family.”
“I’m not cheating on them either,” Thomas goes. “We’re all in it together. Everyone knows, everyone talks. It’s not like we’re all lying to each other.”
“Doesn’t it freak you out? That maybe they do stuff without you?”
Thomas tilts his head, thinks it over. “Nah. I mean, Marcus does all sorts of stuff overseas, and that doesn’t freak me out. He always comes back home. And… Jeez, man, have you met Raige? He couldn’t hurt somebody if you set a rabid dog on him.”
“What if it bothers you? What if you get sick of sharing?”
“Easy. I stop dating them.”
Christopher is silent for a while. “You should’ve told me,” he says. “Jesus, man, I even knew something was up, you were looking like something was bugging you for weeks, and here I thought it was just studying for your GED and stuff, but no, you were hiding this from us.”
“I wanted to wait till Marcus was back. Tell all of you in a go.”
“Yeah, well, don’t do that. Jesus. Makes me feel like I don’t count or something.”
“I won’t. I’m sorry.”
Christopher sniffs, then nods a couple times.
“Okay. For that, I guess I’m okay with you being a pervert then.”
“Oh, like that’s anything new,” Thomas retorts.