A Slice of Life

What are we?

It felt surreal to Sam that he had told someone other than Jordy, Jenna and Aleksei about his sexuality. Of course, he had carefully decided who he told the truth. Daniel was one of Jenna's friends. He was gay, he had a boyfriend--one that Sam didn't really get along with--and he was a loyal friend. Even if they had their discussions every now and again.

Daniel had reacted surprised, and that had told Sam he really did a good job at hiding his sexuality from the world. If someone like Daniel didn't even notice anything, nobody probably would figure it out. But at least Daniel understood, and they had a decent conversation about Sam hiding in the closet. Daniel knew Sam's parents well enough to understand why he wouldn't tell them.

And since Daniel knew about Aleksei, and had sworn to keep things a secret, Sam had figured he was the perfect friend to introduce to Aleksei. It was a small start to introduce him to one friend, but it was a start nonetheless.

Still, Sam was nervous. He wanted his friends to like Aleksei, and he wanted Aleksei to like his friends too. It meant a lot to him.

As soon as the doorbell rang, he hurried into the hallway to let Aleksei inside. He couldn't help but check him out from head to toe, before smiling warmly.

"Hey handsome," he greeted Aleksei.

Aleksei really wanted Sam's friends to like him, too. He'd paid mind to his clothing and hair as if he was going on a date. He had even slipped a mint into his mouth before ringing the doorbell, but it still wasn't enough preparation to calm his nerves.

"Hey," he greeted Sam when the latter opened the door. He tried to smile. "I'm ready to meet your friend."

Of course, stating it awkwardly like that only emphasised how nervous he was about it.

"Are you nervous?" Sam asked, noticing the smile wasn't really genuine. "Don't worry, I'm sure you two will get along," he offered, trying to make it less of a big deal. It shouldn't even be a big deal. Even if Daniel and Aleksei wouldn't get along, he still wanted to date Aleksei. It wouldn't change anything.

"No," Aleksei tried to deny it at first, before deciding it was pointless to lie. Sam saw right through him already. "Okay, yeah." He sighed. "But I'm sure Daniel is great."

"Honestly, don't tell him this, but I never met a guy who's as kind as he is," Sam admitted with a chuckle. "Let's just get it over with, so you'll see that there's no reason to be nervous."

Sam took Aleksei to the kitchen, where Jenna was making smoothies while Daniel hung around. As usual they were gossiping about their boyfriends.

"Hey guys," Sam interrupted them, waving a hand towards Aleksei. "Daniel, this is Aleksei," he quickly introduced him, before turning to Aleksei. "This is Daniel. I need to warn, Jenna and Danny share every detail about their relationship with each other. So they're a bit uncensored." Sam meant it as a joke, trying to lighten the mood for Aleksei. But it was true. The two knew no shame when it came to sharing details.

"Hi Daniel," Aleksei said, shaking Daniel's hand. "And... okay."

Aleksei already felt red creep onto his cheeks. He didn't know what else to say to that. He didn't mind if people wanted to share details about their relationship, as long as they didn't expect the same out of him.

"Don't worry," Daniel told them with a smirk on his face. "We'll keep it PG-13 for little Sammie."

"Oh, shut up," Sam replied while rolling his eyes. "I'm still the older out of the two of us."

Jenna chuckled, but nodded in agreement. "Older, but inexperienced."

Sam felt a blush forming on his cheeks. He wasn't that inexperienced anymore. Not that he was going to tell her that.