"Hi! Sorry to bother you; I know you probably get asked this a lot, but do you ever struggle with your faith because of your sexuality? - Anon."
Malik Ishtar is a Muslim journalism student who works for a freelance newspaper, and he lives in San Fra...
Hey, guys. I'm really sorry that this is late - the time difference is still hitting me, and honestly I was reading Cold Like Snow by Sita Bethel yesterday, and I crashed once I finished it (highly recommend it though! Please go buy it on Amazon!). But here you go! The chapter you've all been waiting for! Hope you enjoy!
CW: Mentions of robbery and transphobic/islamophobic attack on Mehi.
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"Hey, asshat." Bakura dropped onto the couch beside Malik. He was wearing the t-shirt the other had gotten him for his birthday.
"Hey, honey." Malik glanced up from his laptop. "Are you saving me from deadlines or-?"
"We all actually wanted to talk to you about something," Ryou replied, sitting on the coffee table. Mehi took the armchair, and Mellie leapt up into Bakura's lap. He scratched behind her ears.
Malik nodded and saved the document, turning his laptop off. "What's up?"
Mehi's lips cringed away to the left side of her face. "You know how pride is coming up?" Malik slowly nodded. "Well my parents were going to be driving us there-"
"Wait you're still talking to your parents?" Malik stared at her.
She blinked a few times. "Yeah, of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" She shrugged. "They have us over for dinner every month."
Malik hesitated before shaking his head. "I just- they were good when you came out?"
Mehi grinned at him. "Got my name legally changed for my birthday one year and made sure everything I had done was covered by our insurance."
Malik shook his head. Fuck he had really gotten bad luck with his family. No, he shouldn't say that.
"Anyway." Ryou coughed. "Uh, they were going to drive us but Mehi's mom caught a bad fever so they need to stay home, and since they're not going, we were... maybe thinking about going... together."
"Okay..." Malik's eyes flickered between the partners.
Bakura stayed silent, leaning back into the couch. Ryou chewed his lip. "We were going to rent a room up there for the night so we're not travelling halfway across the city to get there."
"Oh." Malik nodded. "Oh. Yeah, that's fine. I'll come back here after the parade. You three have fun." He smiled.
Ryou blinked. "Are you sure?" He didn't sound happy, but maybe that was just Malik's emotions making him biased.
"Of course." He plastered his usual smile across his face. "I'm just going to run to the shop. Do you need anything?"
"Uh... no, I think we've got everything."
"Okay." Malik set aside his laptop and stood up. "See you in a few minutes."
Once the door closed behind him, Mehi sank back into the armchair. "Well that was a fucking disaster," Bakura muttered. "You okay?" Mehi grabbed a pillow, shoved her face into it, and half screamed.
