OUT

Chapter 39

Friday, March 20th 2015

'Ehm, I have something I want to talk to you about,' Jack said, his stomach hanging out of his ass. He was sitting on the couch nursing a Carlseberg as both Millie and Ciarán put their makeup on - albeit two very different approaches. Millie was drawing on tiny black lines to the edge of her eyes, and Ciarán was painting on new eyebrows over his covered up real ones. The pair stopped what they were doing and looked up at him.

'You're moving out, aren't you?' said Millie with a frown.

'What? No.'

'You're dropping out?'

'Let him speak, Mills!'

'I was thinking it might be fun to do Sissy's Open Mic night,' he said, and Ciarán sat up excitedly.

'WHAT? Are you taking the piss?' Jack shook his head, taking another sip from his can. 'You want to do drag?'

He laughed awkwardly, 'well I dunno, maybe. I dunno.'

'Are you feeling alright?'

'Are you high?' added Millie.

'No, I was just thinking about-'

'You're doing it,' Ciarán interrupted, 'you can't say that and get my hopes up and then not do it.'

'I still can't tell if you're being serious or not,' Millie said.

'Oh my God, my first drag baby!' Ciarán exclaimed.

'Hey, you did my makeup before!' protested Millie.

'Yeah but just up here. You didn't perform,' he said, then turned back to Jack, 'I am buzzing for this, oh my God.'

Jack smirked, 'relax, I'm only thinking about it.'

'You're doing it. End of discussion.'

'A straight man doing drag. Think of all the pussy you're gonna get.'

'Ciarán!' protested Millie in disgust.

'What? It's true. Just make sure to save some for Mills.'

Millie glanced over at him awkwardly, their recent conversation clearly in her mind as well as his. Jack took a deep breath, maybe it was the alcohol talking, but it felt time, 'as a matter of fact, I'm actually kind of seeing someone. They're on their way over now, actually.'

'Ohhh, who is she?' Ciarán added excitedly.

'Paul,' he said after a few seconds and there was silence for a moment.

'Paul Breen?' asked Ciarán eventually, his jaw on the floor, and Jack nodded. 'What?' Jack nodded. 'I am shook.'

Jack didn't know what to say. He just downed the rest of his can and went over to the fridge for another to get out of the sitting room for a second. He could sense the pair of them catching each other's eyes when his back turned, sharing an unspoken conversation through looks alone. When he returned to the couch, Millie got to her feet and sat beside him, wrapping her arms around him. 'I'm so proud of you, Jack.'

'Sorry, yeah. Me too,' said Ciarán, sitting on the opposite side of him and placing a hand on his shoulder.

'Thanks,' Jack said awkwardly. He wasn't sure what he expected from them, 'also fair play, Paul's a fuckin' ride!'

Jack laughed, even though his eyes were glazing over. He needed to release the emotion somewhere, and laughing was preferable to tears. The duo wrapped him in a tight group hug, which felt weird. He had grown up in a household where affection was limited to say the least, so while it felt nice, it also felt strange. He barely knew the pair of them, and yet they were emotional on his behalf, proud. And he had just, technically, come out to another person.

'Very proud of you,' said Ciarán.

'Thanks.'

'So he's coming here now?' asked Millie after a few moments.

'He's in a taxi. We were gonna go to the George.'

'Well I'm meeting a friend for dinner first, but I'll definitely join ye after!' said Millie, 'this requires a celebration.'

'I'll be there anyway. Obviously. Housemate night out though! Cheers.'

'Cheers,' Jack said, clinking his can into their glasses as the doorbell rang.