Break All the Rules (LGBT) ✅

Break all the Rules 1

Written for RaeKitano's Short Story Prompt of 'I hate you but...'

Part 1

"New game," Alex announced, bringing over two shot glasses and a bottle of vodka, "every time Sean mentions his boyfriend, we drink."

"I'm for that," Jessica said, agreeing immediately.

"Are you sure it's a good idea?" Megan asked, looking at the bottle in his hand sceptically. "I mean, I don't think he'd appreciate it."

"Of course he will. It's the end of exams and we can all celebrate by drinking a little," he poured out three generous shots. "Here, this is yours."

She hesitated.

"Come on," Jessica said, "it'll be fun."

"Fine, but, if I vomit, I'm going to aim it at the both of you."

Alex laughed, "It won't get that far. How many times can Sean mention one person in a night?"

A lot.

The exact number escaped him, because he'd stopped counting sometime into the forty five minute mark when his head got fuzzy, but Sean could somehow take any topic and relate it back to his new boyfriend. Alex now knew how Freddie and Sean had met, at a society event protesting the universal emphasis on soulwords, where they'd gone on their first date, and how the blue of yesterday's sky couldn't rival Freddie's eyes when he smiled. Or something equally sappy.

"You're gone, mate," Alex said.

"No," Jessica corrected, "we're gone."

"Yeah," he agreed, looking at the empty cans and bottles in front of them, "but these aren't all ours. And Megan helped before she stopped drinking with us."

"Lightweight." Jessica said, not unkindly.

"You know who else is a lightweight?" Sean asked.

Alex groaned, "Seriously?"

Sean had caught on to their game, definitely, and he looked straight at him as he said, "Freddie, my boyfriend."

"You're a fucker."

Sean laughed, "Go fill up your glass, you need to drink, remember?"

It wasn't a good idea to get too drunk, not when it was just predrinks at someone's house and they still had a club to go to later, but Alex was nothing if not stubborn. Even when he knew he was on a sinking ship, he stuck to his arguments and his promises, and he was going to see this game through. So he got up, concentrating hard on putting one foot in front of the other to make it to the kitchen without incident.

It wasn't as packed as it had been earlier in the night but there was still a few people mingling around and blocking off access to the kitchen table, where all the drinks were. Somewhat predictably, no one was queuing up for the tap so Alex took advantage of that. After all, he didn't want to be turned away from a club for being too drunk.

The water helped to clear his head, enough that he could think, and he knew he couldn't be annoyed at Sean—not when he was this happy.

They'd only met a few months ago, when they moved into halls on that first day, and Alex had heard stories of people who hated their flat but it wasn't true for them. Even though Jessica was overwhelmed with a massive courseload and Megan didn't drink as much as they did, their flat of four got on well. And that had led to enough late night talks in the corridor that Alex knew exactly what Freddie meant to Sean.

Because, while some people placed an emphasis on soulwords so much they wouldn't recognise non-soulmate relationships, there were others that thought differently. Sean was one of them. He'd taken an active role in the university's pro-choice society, advocating the right to love freely, independent of the words on someone's wrist. Alex had gone once out of curiosity and, while he didn't agree with it, he couldn't deny Sean's passion for the subject.