All The More Reason ✔

Chapter 44 - Let's take it slow

Tuesday

Elio had actually come true on his promise to 'tango with him', as he had put it on Sunday. He had returned to school on Monday, and he had been by Senn's side most of the time.

Most, since they didn't share all their classes.

Senn could've known that hanging out together would make the bullying worse, but Avan and Lucas made it rather easy to ignore it all. It had some advantage that Lucas was considered popular.

But like Joyce had said before; Elio was popular too. Yet, the bullies didn't refrain from going after him either. It seemed that Elio had it even worse than Senn had the week before. Hiding for a full week probably hadn't done his situation any good, but it was getting tiresome to see people push him in the hallway, laugh at him during P.E., and mock him when he was simply washing his hands in the bathroom.

Elio hadn't responded to them, but Senn felt like it was bothering him more than he was willing to show. He had been clear that his last coming out wasn't anything pretty, and this one didn't seem to go all that well either.

But why were they giving Elio such a hard time, and not him? Nobody had pushed him. Nobody mocked him, nobody laughed at him. They talked behind hands, the whispers had followed him down every hallway. But nobody had physically bothered him.

Senn was boiling when he was approaching his locker, seeing Elio slid something inside right before Frank, one of the jocks, knocked him over with his shoulder.

"Sending love letters to your Romeo?" He asked with a mocking voice, his friends laughing as Elio stood up with no real expression on his face. He wanted to turn away from them to grab his backpack, but Frank turned him right back around.

"The disgusting part is that you shower with us. And we don't like pussies like you to look at us."

Elio pulled up an eyebrow, seemingly unimpressed, taking Frank in from head to toe.

"And in what exactly should I be interested watching?" Elio wondered out loud, crossing his arms.

"You fucking fag—"

"Enough," Senn snapped, grabbing hold of Elio's wrist when he noticed Elio' hands were bawled into fist, "Frank, mind your own fucking business. Fuck off."

He pulled Elio away in the direction of Lucas and Avan, who were smirking at him. Elio managed to snatch his bag from the ground in time, chuckling softly behind him.

"I can handle them," he said, still smiling in an amused way, "but thanks for standing up for me."

Senn was surprised when Elio leaned in, pecking a small kiss on his lips in the middle of a crowded hallway. Surprised, mostly because it was the first time he was publicly being kissed by a guy.

With Elio's return on Monday, it had been clear the whole school knew that they had been seeing each other, and that it had indeed been some sort of couples fight at the party the other day. Everyone knew Senn was into guy by now, since rumors had spread like a damn wildfire.

The thing was, neither him, nor Elio, had actually confirmed it so far.

"Shit, sorry," Elio whispered when Senn was frozen in his spot, staring at him with wide eyes. "You're not ready—"

"It's... okay," Senn hastily replied, "I just hadn't expected you to do that." And to show Elio he was okay, he pecked another kiss on Elio's lips, before grabbing his hand in his. "Let's grab lunch. The girls are waiting for us."

"Wait, Senn?" Elio pulled him to a stop, turning to Lucas and Avan. "You guys go ahead; we'll be there in a minute."

They nodded, turned around and walked towards the lunchroom while Senn turned to face Elio again.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Elio replied with a small smile, "but I just talked to Joyce during Chem and she told me that you talked to her last Friday."

"She told you that?"

Elio shrugged, still smiling. "She was making it very clear I screwed up at that McCoy's party the other day. Making it very clear I should be grateful for the fact you like me. Long story short, she told me that you at least had to guts to come clean, tell her what you did, and ask for forgiveness. Something I could learn from, according to her."

"Well, I didn't do it for you," Senn mumbled, though he knew it was partially a lie. "I wanted her to know, so that she could decide if she forgives me."

"Well, it showed me you made a mistake, and you owned up to it." Elio cupped his face with both hands, smiling warmly. "And I really need to ask you for forgiveness on outing you. If this bullshit you just saw is what you went through all of last week, alone? I—"

"It's not that bad for me," Senn cut him short, covering his mouth in the same time. "They talk about me behind my back, but that's it. No confrontations, no physical attacks. I'm sorry you have to go through that, though."

"Nah," Elio shrugged when he pulled Senn's hand away. "You're worth it."

Senn felt his face heat up, and it only got worse when Elio kissed him passionately.

Senn wanted to enjoy kissing Elio like that, in public, which was all he simply wanted; to date him publicly. No hiding, no secrets, no sneaking behind everyone's back.

Most important: no fear of getting caught. No fear of what people would say or do once they'd know.

"I'd say you're forgiven," Senn whispered, hugging Elio happily, "if you keep making me feel proud to be out with you."

"I know this will be weird for a while, but we can do this, together. I promise I will come to you if I doubt about anything, and I will never draw conclusions just like that ever again."

"Good, and I'll promise I'll do everything I can so you'll know you can trust me, and help you overcome the fear of getting hurt by showing you there's nothing to be afraid of."

"It takes two to tango, right?" Elio chuckled. "So, wanna tango together tonight? At dinner, with my whole crazy family?"

"I'd love to. They're not crazy. They're... different." Senn looked up to face Elio. "They kind of remind me of my own family. They were a little crazy at times too. It makes me feel... home?"

"Really? That's good to hear. And I bet Joseph will be thrilled to have you in the house again."

"As long as I get to spend some time with you alone too."