Finding Yourself: Book Three

Chapter Seventeen: Kisses

(Warning: NSFW content after the page break for all those who are uncomfortable with it.)

"You said that?" Vincent cackled, holding his stomach from laughing. "God, this is the best day of my life," he continued, "What did his face look like?"

"Uh, I don't really know. The tears were blocking my vision," Nick replied, shrugging. He felt better than earlier. He had washed the ruined makeup off of his face and the gel out of his hair. He grabbed a large (old) Metallica t-shirt, and then he decided to not wear pants. He deserved it after the night he had.

Now, Nick, Elian, and Vincent were sitting in the living room (quiet because the kids were sleeping), and Nick had just finished recounting the bathroom incident with Xavier to the other two. 

"Well, I'm sorry that you got upset, Honeybun," Vincent said genuinely, "But I am just so d*mn proud of you for standing up for yourself."

"I am too," Elian added with a precious smile, "But I can definitely see why you got upset. I mean, who does he think he is?" Elian was leaning back on the couch, with his arm stretched out on the back. Vincent was sitting on the other end, just fingertips away from Elian's touch.

"A b*stard is what he is," Vincent slammed his drink down on the table, "I hope he rots in hell for what he did to you. And I hope you never have to deal with someone like that again."

Elian and Nick immediately made eye contact, and with one look, they seemed to agree that they should tell Vincent as soon as possible.

"Vince, there's something else that I need to tell you about," Nick said almost solemnly. The change in his tone must have concerned Vincent, because the man's eyebrows dropped as soon as he said the words.

"What's wrong, Honeybun?" Vincent asked sweetly, even with Elian in the room. He must have sensed the drop in mood, because he immediately responded with "Did Xavier do something to you that I don't know about?"

"Uh, no," Nick shifted uncomfortably in his chair that sat across from Vincent. "You're going to be upset when you hear what I'm about to say, okay? Very upset. But, before you get upset, there's a...a thing that I have to say additionally that may make you less upset."

"Uh huh," Vincent said, his eyes getting darker. Nick could already see his walls going up. He hoped that this went well. He also hoped that Vincent wouldn't murder Elian on the spot.

"So, um," Nick sighed and decided to get it over with, "After we left, I was feeling panicky. Bad panicky. And, well, Elian calmed me down by letting me listen to his heartbeat."

"Uh huh," Vincent repeated, glancing over at Elian like he knew something.

"And, well, I may have... sort of," Nick sighed heavily, then said "God f**king d*mn it, I kissed him, okay?" Nick's breath was getting rattly again from nerves. 

Vincent closed his eyes, and he reached his hand up to cover his face. Nick could tell that Vincent was very upset, because he watched as Vincent's mask slipped before he covered his face.

"Is that what you wanted to do?" Vincent asked him without uncovering his face. Is voice was deep, and Nick could tell it was holding a lot of emotions back.

"Yes," Nick replied, his voice trembling more than when he spoke to Xavier. He didn't want to lose Vincent. He really did like him. "And we have decided to uh... date." Nick continued.

Vincent let out a heavy sigh. 

"Nick," he said deeply, "Tell me the less upsetting news before I lose my sh*t."

"Well, Elian likes you," Nick looked quickly to Elian to see if that was okay to say. Elian made a shoo shoo gesture with his hands to urge Nick to continue. "And, uh, I really like you too."