cozy cup

XVI.

(chapter 16)

Vinny was pissed. He had no reason to be, really. Nothing had happened, no bad dreams, no bad events–he just woke up that way, feeling so, so angry. He had for the last week or so, in fact, just feeling so fucking done with everything, with himself. He was an adult that fully supported himself and he was doing so well, but he still had one thing left to do. One thing that was constantly on his mind: finally coming out to his mother.

He knew it wasn't necessary. He didn't need to come out, just like he didn't need to have a resolute label for himself. It wasn't a requirement for validity. But he did need to. He needed to get it off his chest, needed to know how she would react. Needed this weight to finally lift from his shoulders.

So, first thing that morning, he called her up. Still groggy with sleep, the residual effects of some since forgotten anxiety dream swimming in his head, he asked her if he could come over for dinner. If he could bring someone with him. He worded it precisely that way, keeping it vague and without a definite gender or label to who the person is or who they are to him.

He breathed a sigh of relief when she agreed and hung up, throwing his phone down on his bed and running a hand through his hair. Movement behind him startled him, and he turned swiftly, toppling onto his side in the process. There Owen was, still tangled up in the blankets, sitting up and sleepily blinking up at him.

"What's wrong?" Owen asked. "You look scared. You're pale." A small frown settled on his face as he pushed himself to sit up, the blanket falling to pool around his hips, revealing a bare torso.

Vinny blinked, cheeks warming as he pointedly kept his gaze on Owen's face. "I...forgot you were here," he mumbled, sitting back up and rubbing the back of his neck.

"I see." Owen chuckled, leaning over the edge of the bed and coming back up with a shirt in hand. He slipped it on before reaching out to pull Vinny closer. "Is that all?" He asked, brushing Vinny's hair back and cupping the back of his head gently, fingers lightly massaging the back of his neck.

"Called my mom, too," Vinny answered, forcing himself to relax into the comforting touches.

"Oh?"

He nodded, looking down to watch his fingers twist together in his lap. "Asked if she wanted to have dinner tonight." Vinny's mouth suddenly went dry, and he swallowed in an attempt at regaining some moisture. "Would you wanna...come with me?"

"You want me to meet your mom?"

"Well, yeah. But that's not..." Vinny trailed off for a moment, looking for the right words. Inhaling sharply, fingers gripping tightly to each other. "It's more for...moral support, I guess? I don't...I don't wanna be alone when I tell her I'm, yunno, gay."

"Oh, baby." Owen brought Vinny into a hug, wrapping his arms around him. "Of course I'll go with you."

Vinny leaned into him, head resting on Owen's shoulder as he sighed in relief. Owen brought a hand up to Vinny's head, fingers tangling in the red mass to massage his scalp.

"What time do you have to be there?"

"By about 630," Vinny mumbled, sighing and snuggling into Owen's warmth. His brain was whirling, but he was relieved that he had made moves toward completing his one big goal. Extra relieved that Owen was going to be with him. "Fuck," he whined, squeezing his eyes tight and wrapping himself entirely around the other man, full koala mode. "Why did I do that? Why am I doing this? Why am I so anxious about it?"

Owen simply hummed and settled his arms around Vinny's shoulders. "It'll be alright, baby," he murmured, pressing kisses to the side of his head. "No matter what happens, it'll be alright, okay? You have all day to figure out what you want to do and say. Let's relax until then, hmm? What do you think?"