What Happens In Rome.... [Lgbt] [✔]

Chapter 7

Days went by and Wei kept procrastinating. He felt so good whenever he spent time with Yunlan that he never wanted to ruin the moment with a serious conversation like that.

He told himself that he had time, that they were not in a real relationship yet, but deep down he felt he was lying to himself. They had never talked about what they were for each other, and they had never gone farther than a few kisses, but the feelings were already there. Mere technicalities didn't change the fact that he had already fallen in love and he should make things clear for both of their sakes.

Yunlan could sense that something was on his mind, but he hoped that Wei would talk to him as soon as he was ready.

There was one thing that couldn't wait though, he needed to know how Wei felt about them being together.

That night they went out together but instead of the usual takeaway, this time Yunlan took him to a small Italian restaurant and they sat down at a table near the entrance. It proved to be an inconvenient choice because Wei seemed bothered by the eyes that inevitably noticed them as people entered.
"It's not every day they see pretty eyes like ours in here." Yunlan joked, but Wei only gave him a weak smile.

"They are not staring at you, in a big city like this they get used to it," Yunlan said and touched his hand in reassurance but Wei snatched it away as if burned.

Yunlan frowned but Wei couldn't help himself. He didn't want to be rude to him but being there was making him anxious and uncomfortable.

It didn't help that there was a television set on a news channel. The audio was off and the writings were all in Italian, but Wei didn't need to know the words to understand the images he was seeing.

A bunch of kids had beaten another kid of roughly the same age. A videocamera had recorded their stunt. Their gestures showed how they wanted to appear cool and strong, while the kid on the ground was wearing makeup and a rainbow shirt. Yunlan saw Wei stiffen and followed his gaze, understanding at once what he was feeling.

A waiter came to take their order.
"Allora ragazzi, cosa vi porto? (So, guys, what can I get you?)"
Yunlan opened his mouth to answer, but Wei shot up from his seat, bowed to the waiter and ran out.

"Ma che ho detto qualcosa di male? (Did I say something wrong?)"
"Scusa, violenza in tv, lui non piace (sorry, violence on tv, he don't like)"
The guy turned his head to the television and frowned. "Bulli del cazzo (fucking bullies)," he said, then to Yunlan, "Se cambia idea siete i benvenuti qui ok? (If he changes his mind you're welcome here, alright?)"

Yunlan thanked him and apologised again before he hurried out after Wei.
He saw him walking up and down on the sidewalk and reached his side in a second. He grabbed his hand on impulse, but released it immediately after seeing Wei's upset expression.

"That kind of things doesn't happen every day, they are just stupid kids!"

"But it does happen! Everywhere!" Wei was even more upset than Yunlan had thought at first. He was breathing too quickly, his eyes were wide open and he couldn't stand still.

"Is that why you won't allow me to hold your hand? Are you afraid of bullies?"

"I'm not afraid!"

"Were you bullied at home? Is that why you're so upset?"

"No I wasn't, that has nothing to do with it, it's just..." he threw his hands in the air, unable to express the extreme anxiety that was choking him.

Yunlan could sympathize easily with the poor kid, he would have done anything he could to help had he been there but now he found Wei's reaction too much to understand.
"Look, not everyone's like that, this waiter just said we are both welcome to come back if..."
"He said what? How did he know about us?" Wei's face paled, and Yunlan didn't like it. He wanted to be understanding, but he also wanted to hug him right now uncaring of where they were.

"I guess I can't control the way I look at you, I didn't say anything, he just knew."
Wei gasped, unsure why his heart was beating so loudly in his chest.

Yunlan got closer. "Can't you see how much I like you? Can't you just accept it and not care about other people and what they might think? It doesn't matter..."

"How can you say that? People will always stare at us judging and..."

"And what? Let them stare, they'll get used to it. Those kids on tv where just a bunch of losers, bullies that have nothing in their lives but anger and hate, not everyone is like that, most people won't really care."

"But aren't you tired of being constantly looked at for being different? People won't accept..."
"I only care that you accept me! Can't you see I..." he stopped in time, not wanting to say it on a street during a conversation like that.
Wei stiffened and his heart skipped a beat, what was he saying?

Yunlan breathed in deeply. "It's not like we could ever go unnoticed if we live here."

Wei frowned. "You know what I mean."

"Of course I know, but I don't want to live my life to please others. Besides times are changing, if you watched tv you could see same-sex couples being treated like everyone else. Sure, it's still something people are not used to, but they won't go farther than a stare, it's not like we'll see a crowd with torches outside our houses."

Wei didn't look convinced in the slightest, but he felt tired.
He murmured, "If only people minded their own business instead of others..."
Yunlan said nothing, he had never found a place where people weren't curious or where they didn't spend their time gossiping about others.
It was just human nature, he guessed.

Wei lowered his voice even more. "As if words or passive reactions couldn't hurt anyone... as if invisible wounds didn't matter... but of course they don't, I'm being silly, words are just words, get over it, Wei."

Yunlan struggled to understand his words or their meaning. "What are you talking about? Listen please, times are changing, being gay is not the end of the world, we can..."
"It's not that..."
"What?"

Wei felt worn out. Yunlan may have a point but he was strong, brilliant, confident and likeable, four things Wei wasn't, it was like they lived in two different worlds. He said, "I don't want to talk about it now, I'm not hungry anymore, I just want to go home."

Yunlan wanted to ask where they stood now in their relationship, he wanted to hold him and kiss him, but he held himself back.

He decided they needed to talk about that again, though. It was one thing if Wei wanted to take it slowly because he was shy, or unsure of what he felt, but Yunlan wasn't going to accept that he couldn't have him because of what people might think.

He wouldn't stand for that shit, it was absolute nonsense and he would show Wei that they could have a life together without the need to hide their love.

When people saw something new they tended to stare, but eventually what was once new would become old and no more as interesting; it wasn't nice, and it wasn't right, but they weren't little kids anymore, they couldn't hide behind mama's legs like children often do.

They were adults now, and couldn't let something like that influence their lives.