WHEN I WAKE up, I can tell a lot of time has passed. My head is perched on a pillow rather than Roman's lap and I sit up slowly, scanning the room for him and finding it empty. I yawn once before sliding out of the bed and out into the hall.

        "No, no, I understand, trust me," Roman says, voice slightly stern. I pause in the hallway and frown, craning my neck to hear him clearly. Was he on the phone with someone? "Yeah. Crystal."

        There's the sound of rustling and a lighter and I can smell cigarette smoke. I listen to Roman inhale and exhale while the other person on the phone talks. "Yeah, yeah," he mutters. "Have you tried talking to him, though? Like, actually just talking. Not lecturing." There's a pause. "You'd be surprised."

        More shuffling. Another inhale and exhale. Cigarette smoke. "I'm not going to tell you. That's between him and me," Roman says. "But what I will say is he's okay. You can tell everyone that."

        Shuffling. The other person says something over the phone. More shuffling. The sound of walking. Roman.

         Roman.

        He's staring down at me with calm eyes, his cell phone pressed to his ear and a cigarette between his fingers. "Listen, I'll talk to you later. Soon. Yes. I've got it." He hangs up the phone and cocks his head to the side, staring at me. "Morning."

        "I wasn't eavesdropping," I say quickly, worried that he'd kick me out if he knew that I had been.

        Roman smirks. "Uh-huh."

        "It's just...that conversation sounded a lot like it could be about me," I continue, laughing softly. "Which is obviously not true, right?"

       Roman rocks back on his heels, as if he were deciding whether or not to lie. Luckily, it seems he chooses the truth. "When we were in Florida, Devin gave me his number. To...keep an eye on you."

        "Unbelievable!" I hiss, brushing past Roman and into the kitchen. "You're a double agent! A traitor!"

       He follows after me, shooting daggers with his eyes. "B, it's not like that. You didn't tell me that you ran away last night. He, and the rest of your friends and family, were worried. What was I supposed to do?"

        "Lie?" I offer. "Block his number? Tell him I fled the country, for all I care. You are not my babysitter."

        Roman pinches the bridge of his nose and shuts his eyes tightly. "Are you done or is this gonna be a thing?"

       "It already is a thing!"

        Roman nods. "Okay. Got it." I'm about to start yelling at him again when he reaches forward and grabs me by my waist, lifting me easily until I was sat on the kitchen counter. A yelp leaves my lips in protest, surprised by the movement, but then his mouth is on mine and I forget everything else that happened before.

        Roman kisses me deeply, his tongue finding its way to mine and fighting against it. His hands were on either side of my thighs, but even though he wasn't touching me, my entire body felt like it was on fire. I bring my hands to his face, partially because I needed something to latch onto and partially because I needed to make sure he wouldn't stop kissing me until I was ready for him to.

        A low moan leaves my lips and that's when my brain catches up to my body. He was distracting me. This was a distraction. I pull back from him and stare at his satisfied smirk and stupid, lustful eyes. "You're completely insufferable," I groan. "You're trying to make me forget what happened."

        "And what happened, exactly?" Roman asks, standing on his toes to press his lips against the hollow of my neck. His tongue leaves a long swipe against my skin and I shudder underneath him. "Hmm?"

His tongue flattens against my throat and I gasp. "Not...fair," I pant in between breaths. "I'm still mad at you."

"Why?" he hums. "For caring about you?"

I place my hands on his shoulders, pushing him back far enough to look at him. "Yeah. You really shouldn't, you know."

His eyes twinkle sadly but he nods. "How could I ever forget?" I open my mouth to say something when Roman continues talking. "Do you want to go to Pride with me and a few of my friends?"

        "Pride?" I ask, scrunching my nose. "Like the parade? Is that today?"

        "Yeah," he says. "They have a few throughout the year and there's one today."

        I blush deeply. I suppose I wasn't in the closet, but it still felt weird for me to don a rainbow flag and run around at a pride parade, especially when I wasn't even sure what I was. Did I even belong there, with people so proud and free and themselves?

        "I can practically hear you overthink this," Roman pipes up, his hand resting on my thigh. "What's the matter?"

        I sigh loudly, shutting my eyes as I speak. "You're pansexual."

         "I am?" Roman asks, feigning surprise. "Well, damn. I had no clue."

        I open my eyes to glare up at him. "No, I mean. You're pansexual. That's something you know about yourself. You've known it for a while. I don't...I have no idea what I am. How can I go to Pride if I'm just confused?"

Roman's eyes soften. "B, that doesn't matter."

"It feels like it does," I respond, voice going up an octave. "It seems like it's important."

"Sure, it's important. But your sexuality belongs to you and you only," Roman says. "You don't owe anyone an explanation; you don't even need to give yourself one. You can like what you like, Braylen. Pride isn't about knowing what label you fit under. It's about knowing that those labels don't matter, that we can all just be ourselves, freely."

I gnaw on my bottom lip before grabbing his t-shirt and bringing him close to me. "Fine. I'll go. But I am not wearing a rainbow leotard."

"Good," Roman jokes, planting a kiss on my lips. "I only have one anyways."

¥

        A few hours later, Roman and I are heading out of his apartment and down to the parking structure to meet up with his friends. He'd briefly quizzed me on who we'd be meeting up with and I could feel nerves running through my veins at the thought of meeting his friends.

        I'd finally meet Nova, Roman's best friend who identified as straight but went to Pride parades as an ally for him and his little sister, Moxie, who was lesbian. She'd be joining us as well, along with her girlfriend named Amara. He'd mentioned that they won't look alike, since both of them were adopted at young ages. Someone that Roman called Harlow would also be there, a mutual friend of Nova and Roman's who was non-binary and, according to Roman, had no filter whatsoever.

        I couldn't figure out why I was nervous to meet Roman's friends. I suppose it was like meeting his family, his chosen family, and I worried that they wouldn't like me. That maybe they wouldn't see me the way he did. But then, why did that matter if we weren't even dating?

        We make it down to the parking structure and in front of me is a huge van, a bright green one with so many bumper stickers that there's no room on the bumper anymore. Stickers were instead thrown haphazardly along the sides of the van, like 'save the turtles' and 'queer as a two-dollar bill!' I laugh softly at that one just as the van's owner pops up in the window.

         "That's Harlow," Roman whispers to me, a smile in his voice as he rushes up to greet his friend. Harlow, who has strikingly blonde hair and impressive makeup skills, climbs out of the car to wrap Roman in a huge hug. They were short next to Roman, who had to bend down to hug them. "Jesus, it's been so long! Did you get taller?" Roman asks.

       "Kiss my ass, Romano," Harlow says, sticking up their middle finger. Their eyes turn to me and with a bright smile and a wink, I'm suddenly wrapped up in a hug as well. "Braylen! How the heck are ya? You're taller than I imagined, but I suppose everyone is next to me. Crap, I should introduce myself. I'm Harlow. Pronouns they/them, pretty please!"

        Harlow squeezes me tight before pulling back, a huge smile still etched on their face. I wondered if their cheeks ever hurt from smiling so much. "You're gonna scare him off, Harls. Dial it back," Roman calls out, leaning against the van with an amused expression.

       "You're right. Sorry, I got a little excited," Harlow mutters, rolling their eyes at themselves. "Heard it's your first Pride. You look fierce!"

       I grin back at Harlow. It'd taken me ages to figure out an outfit, especially after barely even looking at the clothes I'd tossed in my bag. Roman had been a savior, quickly taking a pair of my white jeans and painting different rainbow designs all on them. I'd paired it with a bright red t-shirt that stopped just above my midriff. "Owe that to Roman, actually," I say, glancing over at his smiling face.

        Roman was dressed a bit more out there with me, with glittery rainbow eyeshadow covering his eyes and bright yellow, blue, and pink striped overalls with a white shirt underneath. He'd told me that it represented the pansexual flag and that he'd worn them every year he'd been to Pride while I tried not to stare at the muscles bulging out of his tank top.

        Harlow grins even wider if that's possible. "You both look great. Now if only Nova and Moxie could show up!"

        As if on cue, a car drives up slowly into the parking structure blasting out a cheesy pop song I'd heard a million times on the radio. It was the kind of song that got stuck in your head and bled through your ears all day, and I could already feel it getting stuck in mine.

        The car parks and out climbs Nova, Moxie, and Amara. Nova dresses in a cropped white t-shirt and blue jean shorts with rainbow-colored bracelets and a baseball cap. He was tall and attractive with honey golden skin that seemed to practically melt off of him underneath the summer sun.

        His sister, Moxie, had dark brown skin and huge brown eyes that seemed to always be wide with surprise. She had big, curly hair and was dressed in a matching crop top and skirt set, both rainbow-colored. She was also wearing knee-high white boots that only made her long legs look that much longer. Her girlfriend, Amara, had long, straight black hair and ivory skin and was dressed in a purple and pink dress and a blue headband. I recognized the reference to the bisexual flag and smiled softly to myself. Sebastian would've liked that.

        "Rome!" Nova exclaims, rushing over and locking Roman into a huge hug. "I missed you, man!"

        "Ah, it's been two weeks!" Roman practically yells, clapping him on the back. "You look good! Is that a mustache? What's with the sudden facial hair?"

       Nova runs a finger along his stubble, laughing softly. "Only took me 22 years, but," he jokes, judging Roman with his shoulder. His eyes land on me and he stops laughing entirely. "Braylen, right?"

        "Yeah," I respond, crossing my arms across my chest. I wasn't sure exactly how much Roman had told his friends about me, but judging from the fact that Harlow and Roman had clearly spent time talking about me, I knew I had to have been brought up at least once.

        Nova grins, cocking his head to the side. "You're the dipshit that broke Roman's nose, right?"

        I blush deeply, sticking my hands in my jean pockets and clearing my throat. "Yeah. Aren't you the one who puked all over your Honda Civic?"

Beside Nova, Moxie breaks into a loud laugh, Roman quickly joining her. Nova laughs too, jokingly glaring up at Rome. "Can't believe you told him that story," he says, before turning back to me. "I think I might like you, kid. Welcome to the team."

———————————————
short chapter but i love roman's friends