A Slice of Life

Hey, did you know Aleksei's gay?

They had managed to survive dinner. At least that's how Sam felt about dinner; some sort of battle they had to sit through. Everytime his dad had come up with a new question, Sam was silently cursing, wanting him to stop bothering Aleksei. On the other hand, he did learn a bit about Aleksei and no matter which question Aleksei had answered, Sam always felt interested by whatever he had to say.

Besides, it was a good sign for his father to continue questioning Aleksei. If he wouldn't have liked him at least a little, he would've steered the conversation away from Aleksei. So, at least Aleksei was welcome to come over more often, and that made Sam happy.

Very happy.

Right after dinner was over, his parents had both left the living room to go and do whatever it was they always did on a free night, and Jenna was calling her boyfriend. Which left Sam with Aleksei, and a bit of a neglected Rex by his side. He still hadn't walked the dog, and he really needed to get him outside before his parents would get angry over his presence.

"Hey, Aleksei?" Sam called out while searching for the leash. "Want to walk Rex with me? I'm taking him to the park." Maybe that would pique Aleksei's interest just enough because that way Aleksei could play Pokemon Go again.

Whatever the reason, Sam just wanted Aleksei to walk with him so they would have a bit more time to themselves. Without any possibility of his parents interfering and telling Sam to leave Aleksei and Jenna alone.

Even if Jenna was currently fully focused on her boyfriend on the phone.

"Yeah, sure," Aleksei agreed, after hesitating for a few seconds. He shoved his hands in his pockets shyly, not making eye-contact with Sam.

That didn't seem too enthusiastic to Sam, but since Aleksei had agreed—and not taken his phone out yet—he shrugged the feeling off. He tried to keep Rex by his side, but the dog rather stayed with Aleksei, so Sam sheepishly grinned at the boy.

"I think he likes you better." He joked, trying to lighten the mood that suddenly didn't feel right.

"Rex knows who brings him the pizza," Aleksei joked back, though it was hardly convincing with any semblance of a smile missing from his face. He took a deep breath.

"So..." he started slowly, falling quiet after that word. "So," he tried again. "My mom thought I was going to your house because I had a date with Jenna."

Sam nervously bit his lip, while he felt his hopes sink to the bottom of the ocean. A date, with Jenna? Great. Even though Jenna already had a boyfriend, it still stung to think Aleksei was into her. "Oh, really?" He eventually nervously asked. "You do know she has a boyfriend, right?"

"Yeah, I know." Aleksei looked down at his phone screen, casually throwing pokeballs at a wild Rattata as they walked.

Sam had no idea what was going on right now. All he knew was that Aleksei didn't sound the way he usually did, and he didn't like it one bit.

"That's never going to happen, though," Aleksei continued. "Me going on a date with Jenna, I mean."

"It's not?" Sam carefully asked, feeling confused by now. Where was this conversation going? Was he sad because Jenna had a boyfriend? Did he expect Sam to be a friend and tell him there were plenty more fish in the sea? Other girls that were far better than Jenna? He couldn't do that. He couldn't get those words out of his mouth.

"No." Aleksei had caught the Rattata and had moved on to capturing a Pidgey, still staring intently at his phone screen. "Or any girl for that matter. Because, uh. I'm not really interested in... girls that way."

"You're..." Sam stopped walking, trying to come up with an answer that wouldn't make him look stupid. "Not into girls." He rephrased Aleksei's words. "So..." It was hard to concentrate, since his mind went blank at the thought of Aleksei, not being into girls.

Aleksei made his phone screen black, slipping the device into his pocket. He stopped walking too, finally looking up at Sam. "Yeah," he said, already confirming what Sam didn't even say out loud.

"Are you gay?" Sam nearly tripped over his words, but managed to pronounce them the right way still. In the meantime he was screaming internally, hoping he didn't misunderstood what Aleksei was trying to say.

Please say yes.

Aleksei didn't say yes. He only bit his lip, then nodded with big eyes.

Sam only then noticed he had been holding his breath, releasing it slowly. "Good." He mumbled, and decided to take a leap. He stepped closer—completely forgetting about their whereabouts—and cupped Aleksei's face with both his hands, gently pressing his lips against Aleksei's.

Sam caught Aleksei completely by surprise. Out of all the possible reactions, good or bad, this hadn't been on the list and Aleksei was utterly unprepared in the best kind of way. The way that immediately made him melt into the kiss, eyes fluttering closed.

Sam suddenly realised all too well what he had done, and he didn't even know if this was what Aleksei wanted. That he was gay didn't mean that he was into him. Sam pulled back, and stared at Aleksei with wide eyes. He tried to let all that just happened sink in, but he didn't know where to start.

Well, Sam, maybe start by not jumping to conclusions.

Aleksei slowly opened his eyes, frowning in confusion at Sam.

"I-I'm... sorry." Sam stuttered in full shock. What had he done?

"Then I'm sorry, too," Aleksei muttered in reply, stepping closer and pressing his lips against Sam's again.

Sam needed the fire brigade. He was on fire. As soon as Aleksei had stepped in and kissed him, Sam just melted. He put his arms Around Aleksei, holding him as close to him as possible, while answering the kiss. He wanted to pour all of his feelings into the kiss, but he was afraid that was going to scare Aleksei away.

And he didn't want to scare him away, now that he finally had him in his arms.

Sam didn't want things to end, but he knew they couldn't stay there forever. First of all, Sam knew Aleksei still needed to go home. Secondly, he had his own curfew. And thirdly? Well, Sam didn't want to come out as gay to anyone else.

Eventually their lips had parted and they had walked back home in silence. Sam didn't know what Aleksei was thinking, but he had no room to worry about things. He was up on cloud nine ever since Aleksei initiated a second kiss. No more wondering if the feelings were mutual. No more wondering if Aleksei was even into guys in the first place.

Most importantly, he didn't have to fantasize any longer. He could just meet up and kiss Aleksei—as long as they had privacy.

Yes, all was good for Sam in that moment, and even when Jenna later barged into his room he wasn't feeling annoyed that she hadn't knocked. How could he be annoyed at anything in this world right now?

So, when Jenna asked him, "Hey, did you know Aleksei is gay?"

Sam had replied with a foolish grin on his face, "Yeah, yeah I know."