The Colours of Us

Chapter 14

Saturday 10th of November 2023

I didn't think when I got with Sloan that I would meet his family so fast. Not that it was strange to be the odd one out, I was used to it, but it was strange to be so close to Sloan while being seen. He was holding onto my hand so tight I could barely move my fingers, and he was turning his back to his family, whispering to me, "I don't want to be here."

I was about to answer when a woman with outrageous makeup approached us with a big smile, "Coraline!"

Sloan tensed, but he didn't turn around. I frowned and looked at the woman. Sloan was an only child, she couldn't have taken him for his sister, so why was she calling him Coraline?

"Coraline, won't you say hello to your old aunt?" the woman asked, her smile turning tight and tensed.

"My name is Sloan, dear aunt," Sloan grumbled, slowly turning around.

His eyes were filled with tears, his shoulders tensed and squared and his hand fisted. He was holding onto my hand so tight that it was painful, but I didn't say anything.

"What did you say?" his aunt pressed, stepping closer to him.

"My name is Sloan," he repeated louder. "Stop deadnaming me."

And then everything made sense in my head. Sloan was a trans man, which explained the scars on his chest and the way he behaved, why he was so small, and why he hadn't felt half as much pleasure as me when we had slept together.

I put my arm around his waist and pulled him closer to me, desperately trying to remind him that I was here to support him.

"Won't you introduce your friend?" his aunt asked, her eyes jumping from my face to my hand around his waist.

"Char, here is my aunt Clara. Clara, my boyfriend Char."

"Boyfriend? So you admit that you're a girl?"

"I don't understand how his gender has anything to do with his sexuality," I frowned, tightening my hold on his waist. "Sloan is a man and is dating a man. Do you have a problem with that?"

I knew Sloan hated confrontations. He had only supported me with Juliette and Martha because it didn't really matter in the long run, but this concerned his family. This mattered, because if he fought with his family like I had, he risked losing them.

A man approached us with a frown. He looked an obvious lot like Sloan, so I just assumed he was his father. "Is there a problem, Clara?" he asked.

"No, dad," Sloan answered, "Clara was just getting an anatomy and moral class from Char."

"Won't you call me your aunt?" she asked, rolling her eyes, "You used to be so cute and girly, and now look at you."

"My son is perfect how he is," his father interjected before Sloan could answer. "And if you don't respect him, you won't be seeing him again, or us, for that matter."

"Oh really? Perhaps you should ask my sister's opinion on that."

"I agree with my husband," a woman answered. "You might be my sister but Sloan is my son, and I won't let anyone disrespect him like you do."

Clara pouted and turned around to leave, but a man stood in her way. "Have you decided?" he asked, his arms crossed on his chest.

"I won't be calling her by this god forsaken name!"

"Fine, then you can leave," Sloan said, holding onto my hand as if it was his anchor.

She scoffed and left the garden. Only when she disappeared at the corner of the house did Sloan relax between my arms. "Mom, dad, thank you," Sloan said. "Also, this is Char, my boyfriend."