Dan and Tommy's Story Volume 3 Coming Out

Coming Out - Tommy

Sleepless in his bed, Tommy continued to ruminate on the conversation with Dan's parents, how deflated Dan looked under his father's heavy disapproval, and how he instinctively defended the man he loved against the mountain known as Big Dan. The last of which swelled his heart against the empathy he felt for Dan. He hoped the older Dan would realize that his son's sexuality changed nothing in the person he was. If anything, in Tommy's opinion it made him better, a more whole man.

He felt his nerves firing off in the wake of one conversation before the next one they'd have tonight. In Tommy's heart, he believed that his parents would take it differently however after Big Dan, his brain shot off warnings that he struggled to shake.

That mixing of his fears and frustration told Tommy that sleep was not going to come easily. So he was surprised when he opened his eyes to see dust particles floating in ribbons of sunlight streaming through the small gap in his curtains. The sound of dishes clanking downstairs must have aroused him from the slumber he didn't expect.

Kicking off his covers, Tommy fished around the floor at the side of his bed for the clothes he had kicked off before crawling under the heavy blue plaid comforter. He dressed himself and made his way down to the kitchen still sleep-hazed. "Mornin Ma." he grumbled.

"Good morning sweetie." Tommy's mom, Dana had stopped whatever she was doing and turned to smile at her son. "Biscuits and gravy will be ready shortly."

"Awesome!" The promise of breakfast made Tommy realize how hungry he was, nearly ravenous. After everything with Dan last night, he hadn't even thought about eating. "Ma, you and dad still gonna be around tonight?"

He had told them a couple of days back that he wanted to talk with them about something. He told them it wasn't bad, but he didn't want to go into any details until there was time to do it right. Looking back, he hoped his parents had enough trust in him that they haven't spent that time worrying that he was in some kind of trouble. They hadn't acted like it.

"Of course hunny." She said, again flashing her morning smile.

* * * *

"Hey." An obvious sadness floated through the speaker when Dan received Tommy's call.

"Hey, how'd ya sleep?" Tommy knew that despite Dan's answer, he wasn't the only one who struggled to find slumber.

"Barely." Dan told him.

Tommy felt disheartened by two one-word responses back to back. He couldn't imagine what his boyfriend was going through. The two people of the six billion that walked the earth, that are supposed to love you unconditionally, Dan had just found out that at least half of those had conditions. Who Dan chose to love was the condition that his father took as the ultimate betrayal.

Tommy's felt a growing nervousness starting to take him over. Will my dad be so disappointed? If he is, will he be so vocal about it? The voice in Tommy's head kept getting louder. He made a conscious effort to put that somewhere to worry about later. For now, he decided that Dan needed to be his priority.

"Mom said that they're still planning on being around this evening. Are you still up for it?" He asked, his voice soft.

"I don't know." Dan told him after an excruciating pause. "Dad doesn't seem to be talking to me today. He was in his chair when I walked through. Tommy, he didn't even look up!" His breathing was shallow and his voice trembled as Dan opened up causing Tommy's heart to seize in his chest.

A deafening silence hung heavy between them in Tommy's delayed response. "Baby, I'm so sorry!" His own voice betrayed him, catching in his throat. "It's not on you." Trying to will Dan to understand. "And, he'll come around. Your parents love you. They're just supposed to."