The First Part

Chapter 12

All's well that ends well to end up with you

The next morning, Aaron woke up with Leo still sleeping next to him. [Leo held him while he cried, and ran his fingers through his hair while Aaron fell asleep.] Elise woke up snuggled up to Amara. Neither of them would confess how that made them want to jump off the building with embarrassment but also an indescribable feeling of happiness.

Oscar and Zachery showed up at Elise's apartment at noon, and they all had lunch while she and Aaron explained everything from start to end, minus the parts about Aaron's super personal feelings.

They then decided to have a countdown party to make up for the Christmas party they didn't have.

That afternoon, Aaron snuck into his mother's house when she was at work with a house key he had in his jeans pocket. He shoved everything he owned into the trunk of his car and sped off, vowing to never return again. They also made a stop at the courthouse so Aaron could fill in the information sheet for filing a restraining order against his dogshit biological family.

That night, Aaron posted ten photos on Instagram. Photos of him, Elise, Leo, Amara, Oscar, and Zachery, spanning from the first time they met to a few hours ago. Captioned:

Family isn't who you're born with, it's who you'd die for. And I've chosen mine.

Twenty minutes after his post was uploaded, Elise showed him Alex's live stream of him apologizing to Aaron, no doubt trying to get back into his good graces.

As for their fans and audience, it turned out they had nothing to worry about. Most of them were highly supportive, some saying that they had predicted it long ago. Amara painstakingly sent every Twitter post she found funny to the group chat.

Ten seconds before midnight, Aaron wondered whether he should kiss Leo the second the clock struck twelve. New Year, new him and all that crap. He decided against it at the last second, Leo probably wasn't completely over what happened.

One hour after midnight, Leo drunkenly asked if Aaron wanted to go back to his place so they could watch Netflix together. Elise squinted suspiciously when Aaron told her.

Two hours after midnight, Leo had his head on Aaron's shoulder as they watched Friends on Netflix.

'Did you know your family would flip out on you when you told them you were bi?' Leo asked.

'Yeah,' Aaron said, 'I wasn't expecting them to accept it.'

'Then why'd you still do it?'

'Because I'm in love with a boy,' Aaron replied, 'and I'm not going to let them dictate my feelings.'

Leo sat up, looked Aaron straight in his eyes and asked, 'is it me? Are you-Am I the boy?'

'What other boy would there be?'

Aaron watched as Leo sucked in a breath, then leaned in closer, and he was expecting them to kiss, but Leo moved away and Aaron felt his stomach drop.

'You mean it this time, right?' Leo asked in barely a whisper.

Aaron felt his heart crack, guilt rushed over him as he realized the weight of this question. Leo thought he was kidding, which was only natural but entirely his fault.

'I've always meant it,' Aaron replied frantically, 'Leo, I love-'

He was interrupted with their lips connecting. Aaron hurried to wrap his arm around Leo and steady both of them, then he closed his eyes. He felt sparks across his body as Leo pulled him closer and traced his fingers down his neck. He felt Leo's tongue swipe across his bottom lip so he parted them ever so slightly and fuck he loved this boy, so, fucking much.

People say nothing is perfect, but this kiss, this was perfect. For once, there was no hesitation, no interruptions, it was just them, and that was more than enough.

It felt good, but then Aaron tasted salt, he opened his eyes and pulled away. Leo was crying, and furiously wiping his tears.

'Shit,' Aaron cursed, reaching out to him, 'I'm sorry, did I hurt you-'

Leo shook his head, then smiled and muttered, 'they're happy tears, you bastard.'

Aaron moved to hug him, 'Leo, I love you.'

'I love you, too.'

And with that, their world shifted back into place.