LGBTQ+ Short Stories

Convince Me With a Kiss.

"So...we meet again," they say, they being the person I have met six times now on dates both set up by friends and by several different dating apps.

"We meet again," I echo, only half surprised to see their face again.

On our first date I thought they were utterly beautiful. Their short, pixie-cropped brown hair, dyed blond above the roots. Longer on top than the sides. Their glittering blue eyes, steely and sharp yet somehow so gentle.

On the second date I was shocked by their beauty, having diminished it in my memory.

On the third, I was starting to realize I had developed a crush on their beautiful existence, both outside and in.

On the fourth, I had blatantly acknowledged to myself that Cam was not into me, nor would they most likely ever be. I had labeled myself as polysexual after realizing this, because at this point I couldn't deny my attraction towards the non-binary, as well as to males and females.

By the fifth date, I was madly in love.

And today, it's beginning to dawn on me just how hopeless I really am. I mean, after six dates, you'd think it wouldn't be so hard to tell if you had feelings for a person. And they made it quite clear that there were none for them to acknowledge - so I pretended it was the same for me.

All five times we've gone our separate ways, it's been on Cam's account. But today I'm determined to make sure they know how I feel.

"You know," I say. "The universe seems to be convinced we're meant to be. At this point I'm starting to think maybe we should give it a chance."

I receive a look I know all too well. The smile that says what I said may have been just a little bit funny, but laced with the sorry, you know I don't agree.

The look that has been the tell-tale sign that each of our dates is about to end.

"Yeah, I dunno," says Cam. "It's just..." Their face falls into a sorry I'm doing this but I have to look. "Listen, I think you're real cute and sweet and funny and all-"

"So why not give me a chance?" I interrupt. "If you can come up with all those good things about me, there's gotta be something pretty huge turning you off. What is it? What's so bad about me that all of those good things mean nothing?"

"As I was going to say, it's all me keeping us apart." I raise my eyebrows. Cam keeps going. "I have a kind of...troubled past, and a real crappy family. You don't need to be involved in that."

Well, if only I'd known.

"Honey, nobody needs to be. You're never gonna find a person you wanna involve in your personal crap and who you love, and who loves you. Never."

Cam gives me a looking asking are you so sure these are the right words? and I give them one right back saying oh yes, you just listen here.

"The point of love isn't keeping someone safe from your shit. It's filling them up with it and hoping they don't explode. It's trusting them with your deepest, darkest secrets and praying they've got a flashlight."

Cam leans back in their seat, almost rolling their eyes. But I don't stop, because this is my best chance. Probably my only one.

"You can't keep running from me if you don't want to. You gotta try, you gotta at least give me a chance. Because what if we're soulmates? What if running away from me leaves both of us alone for the rest of our lives? Huh? What if?"

I receive a disdainful stare. "Is this what you think about at night? Do you really obsess over the fact that you might be alone forever because I don't love you?"

The words sting but I don't hesitate. "Yes. Yes, that's what I've been trying to tell you."

"Oh. Uh, sorry?"

"Whatever, it's fine. You've made your point. You can leave now, if you like." I give up, but I have to add, "But promise me you won't run away from everyone you meet just because you're too scared to share your shit.

"Besides, if they're really worth your time they're gonna want you anyway."

Silence. Less disdainful staring. Then,

"Would you want me anyway?"

"Yes!" I reply in less than a heartbeat. Has Cam changed their mind?

More silence.

An open mouth, as if they're trying to inhale my words.

"I would want you anyway. Of course I would want you anyway! Look at you. Listen to you. You're amazing, you're beautiful, you're so cute, and you're -"

"Convince me."

"What? Convince you?"

"Yes, convince me. Give me one kiss; convince me. Want me anyway."

The request seems so...well, it seems almost rude. But Cam's eyes, their face, is what tells me that's not how it's supposed to sound. Cam is desperate. Cam wants someone, needs someone to hold them so badly, I can see it hurts.

"Okay, I will." And without warning, I do. I can feel the shock at my lips on their own, and then it melts away and we melt together and it is as if Cam is telling me I have convinced them with just their throat, for I hear a sigh, and then the tiniest, almost inaudible moan. It's so adorable I almost have to stop kissing just to make room for my smile but I don't, I can't because now Cam is kissing back and we are one despite the table between us, and then I realize we are in a coffee shop and I pull away, my heart lingering in our kiss for hours.

I raise an eyebrow, and Cam raises an eyebrow, and we waggle them together, smiling.

"I want you anyway," I say.