Give Me A Chance (boyxboy)

Twenty-Four

It turns out mom had invited Liza too. I find it a little weird that it always used to be Quinn, coming over for family dinners. Because that's what it seemed like he was; a part of the family. That obviously changed when I came out to him, but I couldn't tell mom and dad what exactly happened, so I made up some terrible excuse I can't even remember at the moment. So we kinda swapped Quinn and Liza.

And now, we've pulled dad out of the equation. Or, I guess, I got pulled from the equation. Either or works. And Blaine now too, of course. A lot of changes to the family dynamic for me in the past year.

So there's five of us; mom, Aydin, Liza, Blaine and I. That's the roster for tonight.

I know mom always makes a bigger deal than is needed over family dinners, which is what she claimed this would be. So I try to dress as nice as I can, which is difficult with my wardrobe. The closest I've got is a pair of chinos and patterned short-sleeve over a white tee. And apparently, I like to make an impression, because the least flamboyant patterned shirt I've got has parrots all over it. Maybe I dress gayer than I thought I did.

The doorbell rings, and I know it's Blaine. I make the extra effort to do up the top button of the shirt before throwing a hand through my hair quickly and heading for the door. Horace has already let Blaine in, and he's standing at the door. I hastily tuck the shirt under the waistband of my pants and toss a pair of shoes on.

Blaine laughs. "Ready to go, then?" he asks. I look up and realize he got the message better than I did. He's actually wearing a pair of slacks and has got a very subtle black button-up, unlike my bird shirt. Squawk squawk. I can tell he very recently shaved, there's no stubble at all, and he's got a bit of a haircut too.

"Nervous, then?" I ask.

He shrugs and looks slightly offended. "Hey, when the nice lady that practically set you up with her son tells you to dress nice, you dress real nice," he says, flashing a smile.

Horace laughs. "She did what?"

I wave him off. "A great story for another time, I think," I say, cracking a hint of a smile. "Right now, I've got to formally introduce my mother to my boyfriend." I compose myself, exhaling heavily. "While I'm conscious." I glance at Horace, smirking.

Horace looks even more concerned, but Blaine just laughs, so he kinda just walks away, doesn't ask questions.

Blaine leans forward and plants a kiss on my cheek. "Well, you look spiffy,"

"Shut up," I say indignantly. "I had nothing else."

He scoffs and opens the door. "Coming?" he asks.

I swing the door shut behind us and we get in Blaine's already-running car. He pulls away from the curb.

A couple moments of silence pass. He glances at me and smiles. I'm struck by how right this feels, like for once in my life, maybe I'm on the right track. Maybe I'm finally becoming me.

"I'm glad this doesn't feel weird," I say. "I keep thinking this should feel weird or too fast or too slow or too much or too little." I fold my hands together in my lap. "But I can't make it feel weird. I know I've probably said this before, but, you know me, ever the overthinker." I laugh nervously, because I'm scared of him thinking I'm repetitive and annoying. Which I probably am.

He smiles, his eyes on the road. "The only thing that strikes me as weird is just how much I like you," he says. "To think, a couple months ago, I had no idea I even liked guys, let alone only guys. I didn't really know I liked anybody. It's like you opened my eyes, which is really weird because I should have noticed it before." He drops the sun visor to cover his eyes. "But as soon as I did kind of notice, that I could like somebody like this, my brain took no time at all deciding that you were the one I wanted to be with." I drop my gaze and smirk a little bit. "And then when your mom immediately picked up on it and told me I should tell you, I just remember feeling so giddy that it became the best day of my life."