Road To Happiness ✔

THIRTY-TWO

Even in his overalls, Hugo was still too hot. The sun beat down on his face and back and he knew that he would be sunburned by the end of the day. It didn't matter. He was going to have a good time.

He hadn't let his experience at the writing convention change his mind. They were two different things and one of them was a much welcoming experience than the other. There were more people there that he knew and if he got lost, he could find one of them. Yes, he would still be anxious, but at least he knew he was safe.

Renee was tying a rainbow flag around his neck so that it flapped like a cape in the cool breeze. She had a lesbian one over her shoulders, looking like a dorky superhero in her rainbow suspenders and shorts. Stefan, who had been given a pansexual flag, the closest to his sexuality, looked like a gay surfer dude. The bright, baggy beach shirt was almost blinding, it was no wonder the man wore rainbow-tinted sunglasses.

"There, you're good to go," Renee said, patting his back and stepping away from him. He grinned, bright and happy, feeling the temporary tattoos on his cheeks pulling at his skin. "You look hella cute."

He had to admit, he did. Overalls weren't something he was going to wear all the time, but for a pride parade, they were good. He still had to replace the rest of his wardrobe so that he wasn't constantly wearing baggy clothes. He'd very quickly grown to like the news clothes he'd been slowly buying for the last few months. He felt more like himself in them.

The three of them stood with the rest of his university's GSA. Rose had greeted them with an excited smile when they arrived but had quickly drifted to other members of the group. More people than Hugo had ever seen at one session were there, but he wasn't surprised. It was the biggest gay event of the year.

It was just his group either. There were hundreds of them, milling about and talking loudly. Far more than he had ever seen before. Just looking at it made his heart fall into his stomach, but he'd known that it was going to be like that. It was a test, to see if he could handle something so big. And aside from needing to hold either Renee or Stefan's hand every now and again, he was doing fine.

"Hugo!" a voice yelled and Anthony, a boy from the group, appeared from within the crowd. He stopped by them with a loud pant. "Holy crap, this place is busy." Hugo only nodded. Renee and Stefan were busy talking and Michael hadn't arrived yet. He had no one to translate for him, but Anthony didn't seem to mind. They just stood in silence until Renee and Stefan finally wandered back over to him.

Stefan stuck out a hand to him when he realised he was there. "Hi, I'm Stefan, Hugo's boyfriend," he said. Renee didn't bother introducing herself. They'd met briefly at the group sessions.

"I'm Anthony, I'm a friend from the group." For the second time in his life, Hugo learned he had a friend when he hadn't thought they would be. He'd just thought Anthony was someone to sit with at the group. They didn't talk outside of it. But maybe that didn't matter. He could have friends that he talked to only in one place, couldn't he?

Voices pulled him from his thoughts. "Do you know much sign language?" Stefan asked.

Anthony shook his head. "No, but I am learning. I learned how to spell my name the other day," he replied and moved his hands to prove it. "I'd take lessons but I'm broke. It seems like a more useful language to learn than one from another country." Hugo was just flattered that someone was actually trying to talk to him. It must be a pain to always use a translator.

They didn't get much of a chance to talk after that. Rose called them all forward to organise them into a proper group. Most of their time was spent waiting for the other groups to go so they could march. Stefan held his hand the whole time, a smile on his tanned face. Hugo leaned into him, breathing him in.