IN TIME~Vinnie x Kio

XVI

POV: I disappeared for months and I'm back giving you a chapter

Some new characters coming soon!!

Leave your guesses here if you want! 😉
Enjoy bestiessss!

I looked at Kio from the drivers seat with nervous and anxious eyes as he hugged his mom goodbye. In hindsight, I should have gone up and hugged her as well, to be polite, but my heart pounded out of my chest.

I hadn't been this nervous in a long time. He dragged his wheeled suitcase behind him as he made his way to my car.

Clearly, his face and mind were more excited than me.

"You ready to go Vin?" Kio squealed, his eyes almost completely closing due to how wide his smile was. I smiled too, nodding. His smile dropped, and I could tell he knew.

"What's wrong?" He asked as I began to drive, a way to distract my thoughts in a way. Hell, only a few months ago I wasn't out to anyone. I was beginning to regret my decision of accepting the tickets to New York.

What if I didn't belong there? I had this preconceived notion of what a "gay" person looked like. Filled with the stereotypes and the conventional way that media portrayed us. Which clearly was incorrect, but I couldn't help but feel like I wouldn't fit in with that type of crowd.

I looked at Kio for a brief second, quickly averting my attention back to the road.

Where did that excitement go that I'd had about being in New York during pride month? Now it seemed more dreadful than anything. I did that all the time. Be excited for something and quickly bring that excitement down with some bummer excuse.

"Did I do something?" Kio asked, and my heart hurt as I could hear the anxiety in his voice.

"No, no! I-It's kind of hard to explain." I told him. Which was true, I hated the idea of lying, especially to Kio, I prepared myself for telling the embarrassing truth.

I tried to slow my shallow breathing, I had began to feel as if I was having another panic attack, like I did when Mae had kissed me, or the ones I had unknowingly had before I was out.

When I finally realized that I couldn't calm down on my own, I pulled into a Sonic parking lot.

I folded my arms, silently closing myself in as I focused on my breathing. This was so stupid. I shouldn't be feeling like this. I told myself all of these things, yet the panic still persisted. I could see Kio out of the corner of my eyes move his hand and one finger on my arm, then two, then three.

It was such a delicate touch, as if he was scared that if he pressed too hard, I would break.

That amount of contact was enough to unknowingly lift my head up to face him, which I hated doing during such vulnerable moments. Kio's eyes were kind, gentle. Just as they were the first night I had met him, when we were outside of the diner.

Presenting who you are to the world is scary. Not just the sexuality aspect. This is who I like, this is what I look like in my most vulnerable moment, this is who I am.

I wished that I had the guts to show who I was so confidently, like Kio did. Or those Drag Queens you see at the pride parades.

Or the author that had enough confidence to show people her book, the artist in a world of black and white who painted rainbows every chance he had, or the boy who told a boy how much he loved him. I wanted that, I wanted the confidence to be able to do those things.

To show me.

"What if I don't fit in?" I asked him sheepishly. Kio's expression softened, which gave me a breath of relief that he didn't laugh or shake it off like it was nothing.

"I don't know." He shrugged. Which, I admit, was not the answer I was expecting.

I knitted my eyebrows together, looking at him with deeper anticipation than before.

"What if I don't fit in?" Kio then asked. I pursed my lips together and looked down at my lap. I immediately wanted to defend Kio, saying that if anyone was going to 'fit in' it would be him. Something stopped me though, and the silence between us grew.

He didn't look nervous, he didn't look scared at the thought that he wouldn't fit in. He looked accepting of the thought more than anything. I wondered what was going through his head, perhaps an opportunity to start fresh.

New people.

New city.

New me.

One that didn't have to shy away from who I was. Didn't change the subject every chance I got to showcase it. Instead I would be proud of who I was. And slowly, my breathing began to slow down, and I looked up at Kio again. I nearly cringed at myself as I said one of the cheesiest and truest things I had ever said to Kio.

"We won't fit in together."

The plane ride across the country was brutally long. Kio slept nearly the entire way over, and I didn't want to wake him, so I ate the lukewarm airplane food as I looked out the window over Kio.

It took an entire five hours on a crowded plane to really calm my nerves about going to a New York pride parade.

Meeting the people that we would be staying with, and the thought of New York during pride month. We landed at around 2 p.m..

I shook Kio awake gently. I pushed away the idea of leaving a kiss on his forehead to wake him up, as we were surrounded by people.

His tired eyes slowly opened and looked up at me, giving a small smile. It made my heart jump.

"Where's our place?" Kio asked as we grabbed our bags from the baggage claim. I knew Anthony had talked briefly about sharing a house with around four other people, his friends. I didn't know their names, but Anthony had sent me their address.

"I don't know, we'll have to get a ride there."

And with that, Kio's eyes widened and face lit up with excitement.

"You mean in a taxi?" He asked, clearly expected one answer and one answer only.

"Obviously." I laugh at his enthusiasm.

Despite the cab smelling like puke and Kio quickly regretting his eagerness to get into a taxi in the middle of New York. The driver pulled up to the address. It was a cute little brick apartment, and I was surprised from the exterior that four guys lived there.

As quickly as we could, I paid the driver and we got out of there. The rush of warm fresh air was refreshing. Without warning, we heard a loud yell from inside the apartment, followed by the same guy's laughter.

"Yo Josh! Shut the fuck up! They're here."