Swift as a Coursing River (LGBT+) | ✓

31. Trees in the woods

The introductions that come with a new relationship remind Edwin of coming out: it never seems to end and every time, he needs to explain who and when and how. There's also a similar anxiety: will they judge him for choosing Vincent, for choosing someone feminine and radical? Being gay made him not the right kind of man, but a feminine partner might make him not the right kind of gay, for some people. Even if they don't mind that, Vincent can be a lot, with his brand of humour and confrontational nature.

At least the biggest hurdle has been taken and his family accepted Vincent without opposition. Only Ellen is still a little reticent because Vincent makes him so anxious, but she also mentioned afterwards that Vincent seemed to genuinely care about Edwin. The second biggest hurdle would have been Vincent's family and friends, but Vincent says Edwin has already met everyone who matters. Not because he doesn't care about his parents, but introducing Edwin might stretch the limits of their tolerance. Edwin is relieved because similarly, he has no desire to test his parents' tolerance by confronting them with someone who goes against every notion they have of what a man and a relationship should be.

That leaves Edwin's friends, so when his first friend group is planning a beer tasting, he asks if he can bring Vincent along.

"Of course!" Patrick replies. "We'd love to meet him."

"He might be different than you expect," Edwin warns. "He's very ... outspoken. Flamboyant. Not like us."

"As long as he drinks beer, he's welcome," Maarten jokes. So that's that.

On the second Sunday of March, Edwin drives both himself and Vincent to the brewery. It's a nice day on the cusp of spring and Vincent has put on loose-flowing lilac pants and a blouse with lace edges and pearl buttons. The colour of his eye-shadow matches his pants and his dangling earrings and simple golden bracelets complete the ensemble. It's a dazzling outfit and it's about as feminine as Edwin has seen Vincent. He only wishes Vincent hadn't chosen to look like this when meeting Edwin's friends. Edwin's very masculine friends.

He's probably doing it on purpose, making a point, wanting to stand out. Edwin shouldn't care, so he keeps his anxieties to himself, but he cares. He cares what his friends will think, what the people of the brewery will think. He doesn't want to tell Vincent what to wear and he wants him to be happy, but he wishes that Vincent for once would take Edwin's feelings into account and stop provoking for just a day, this one day. He knows Vincent sometimes dresses more conservatively than this, but he will have an audience today, so of course he dressed over the top.

Only Chris and Jacques are already there when they arrive, and Edwin breathes a sigh of relief. They're such calm people that he can't imagine they will judge Vincent for how he's dressed, and Edwin for being in a relationship with him. They're the sorts of people who read books and newspapers, who will be up to date with all the right words and ideas.

The introductions are indeed totally unremarkable and they strike up small talk while they wait for the others. They arrive all four at once and Edwin realises they must have shared a car. Patrick holds up his hand in greeting when they're still a hundred metres away and as they approach, Edwin clamps down on his anxiety. It's stupid anyway. He shouldn't care what's going through Patrick's head right now, or Robert or Maarten or Paul. Even if they're his friends, he shouldn't care what anyone thinks.

"Hey," Patrick says, "so you're Edwin's guy." He looks Vincent up and down and shakes his hand and the others do the same in their turn. None of them say a word about how Vincent looks, but maybe they're too polite for that. Even someone as blunt as Maarten wouldn't do that.

Patrick has booked a guide for their tour, so they go inside and someone leads them through the brewery and the brewing process. Edwin and Vincent follow at the tail of the group and Robert falls back to talk to them, asking Vincent polite questions about his job, how they met, all the standard stuff.