Is This Enough ||MxM || Lgbtq+ [ON Hiatus]

Prologue

Leonardo's P.O.V

I stood there, surrounded by the merry mayhem of the high school graduation ceremony, observing the other graduates rejoicing in their success. The sky was a beautiful azure with the sun's warmth embracing my cap and gown. It was expected to be a day of merriment when my relatives would have been shouting their approval and enjoying my bliss. However, they were conspicuously nowhere to be seen.

It was no chance occurrence that they weren't present at the ceremony. An acrimonious quarrel with my mother had resulted in my stepfather banning them from attending my special day. He had taken it even further, cancelling their tickets, so that the joyous event would be marred by their non-attendance.

It was a foolish disagreement. I had requested if I could attend an after party and she refused, insisting that we have a family dinner. The family dinners were always the same; my stepfather would attempt to humiliate me in any way possible. This included bringing up my academic performance, my social affairs and, most painfully, his views on my sexuality.

I spent the night prior to the ceremony agonizingly writing a farewell letter and leaving it on the coffee table in the living room, a place where my mom would often bask in the warm sun while sipping her mimosas. Despite the aching sadness of the decision, I knew it was the only way to get away from the poisonous atmosphere and the hurt I had experienced in Velves.  I had purchased a bus pass to the airport, initiating my plan to get away.

My mother silently descended the stairs that afternoon, wearing her nightgown. The atmosphere between us was tense and distant; there was no exchange of words or affection as she solemnly passed me the money. It felt as if our mother-child relationship had been stretched to its limit. Little did she know that it would be the last time she would see me in Velves.

Once I had arrived at the airport and passed through security, I decided to get a snack before my flight. While seated in a tranquil corner of the terminal, I observed a touching scene between a mother and her young son. The boy had a streak of ketchup on his face, and the mother wiped it away with care and tenderness. This sweet act stirred up a wave of sentiment inside me.

Without me realizing, tears built up in my eyes and ran down my face, splashing onto the receipt in front of me. I had a constant companion in my insecurity, a feeling of inadequacy that I had grown accustomed to and accepted as the norm. It was like a shadow, ever-present, shielding me from any kind of vulnerability that intimacy demanded. Love seemed like a foreign concept to me - something that others had access to, but I did not.

As soon as my foot crossed the threshold of the airplane, I felt liberated. I was leaving the worries and struggles of my past behind me and, instead, setting off on a quest to learn more about myself. This was an opportunity to discover what I was capable of if I pushed myself.