Pride

Epilogue Part 1

"Why do I have to go to this? Can't I just go back to the house?" Emrys groaned as Arran fixed the reluctant raven-haired boy's tie. Arran rolled his eyes and placed a quick kiss on his forehead before pulling away.

"No way... Mr. Lanvert and his wife invited me to dinner to discuss a twenty thousand dollar business deal. I told him I would bring my partner and here we are" Arran deadpanned. Emrys' eyes slightly widened at that and he quickly stopped objecting.

"Holy shit. For twenty grand I'd let you suck him off" Emrys muttered without missing a beat. Arran stared at him in pure bewilderment for a few moments before shaking his head in disbelief.

"Sometimes I wonder what goes through your head" Arran muttered. Arran and Emrys had moved out of Oregon the moment they got the chance to. Five years ago, they attended their first pride in Asper Hollows together. Now they were in Nevada, working out a business deal with somebody who had reached out to Arran after discovering his work.

Arran fixed cars like his dad, but he did something a bit different. He took a piece of trash and turned it into something marketable to resell. It wasn't much, but it was enough to get by and he liked doing it. Mr. Lanvert had reached out to Arran after discovering one of the cars he was selling and liked his work. He had the shell for a 1955 Jaguar and asked Arran to refurbish it for twenty grand, plus whatever it cost to buy the parts. Arran had to accept.

"Me too... I should probably just keep my mouth shut throughout dinner" Emrys decided.

"Just flatter his wife a bit and I'm sure you'll be fine" Arran shrugged. "Come on, let's get inside, it's cold" Emrys reluctantly followed him, intertwining their fingers like he had a million times before and following him inside the nice and elegant restaurant. There was an abundance of plants and dim lighting, people wearing nice ties and dresses too. It didn't take like for the hostess to direct them to Mr. Lanvert's table.

"Good evening Mr. Lanvert" Arran quickly extended his hand and resisted the urge to roll his eyes when Emrys snickered behind him.

"Arran! It's great to finally meet you in person" The old man exclaimed he had short gray hair and a neatly trimmed beard. His and his wife's clothing alone could likely cover Arran's and Emrys' rent for a short while. His wife sat beside him, with sleek brown hair going gray pulled into an elegant bun and a modest wine-red dress. She was clearly very pretty and the nice diamonds she wore only amplified it. "Eleanor, this is Arran, Arran this is my wife, Eleanor"

"Nice to meet you" Arran forced a polite smile before glancing over at Emrys. "This is my boyfriend, Emrys"

"Huh" Mr. Lanvert stuck out his bottom lip slightly as he nodded in approval. "I guess this explains why you said, partner... I thought that was a little odd" Mr. Lanvert muttered as Emrys and Arran took their seats. "You don't seem like the type"

"Yeah... I get that a lot" Arran mumbled, deciding to leave out the part where it annoyed him. Every time he made a friend or met a client and the fact that he had a boyfriend got worked into the conversation it was always the same surprised expressions or accidental insults. That he didn't look gay or that he didn't act gay. He wasn't sure there was a way to act or look gay... And if there was, Emrys was good at it because he never got the comments.

"Either way, it's nice to meet you Emrys" Eleanor's low yet sweet and alluring voice cut as she gave the two boys a small and polite smile. "May I ask" She began. "How long have the two of you been together?"

Arran and Emrys exchanged a glance at that. They never did know how to answer that complicated question... They had only been official for just under five years. But if you added the four years they'd been somewhat together it was closer to nine. Neither of them was exactly sure if those four years counted but they knew that they didn't not count either.