Soho Pride: A Soho Nights Story

Episode 2

Milo and Max walked hand in hand down the street. At first they'd only felt comfortable doing that in Soho where nobody blinked an eye, but the longer they'd been together the happier they were to show off their relationship. Their friends at school held hands with their opposite sex partners, so they didn't see why they shouldn't live by the same standards. They didn't even care if the neighbours saw them. Milo's parents were comfortable with it too. They liked Max and they were proud of their son.

Milo had taken on the roll of being full on twink. His confidence had grown since spending more time in Soho. He wore a pair of short denim shorts that only just covered his arse cheeks and a tight white T-shirt that showed off his skinny torso. He'd tried to lift weights for a while, but it didn't seem to do much. So he was owning the body he had. It got him a lot of attention (usually from older guys) down Soho.

The reason Milo had initially been afraid to come out at school was because there was no one else like him. Or so he'd thought. When he got with Max he didn't want to hide it, so they were an openly gay couple at school. It didn't take long for other kids to start coming out after that. They saw the reaction that Milo and Max had and weren't afraid anymore. As far as they knew, there were now at least another four 'out' kids at their school. Max had been particularly reluctant at the start, due to the problems he'd had at his last school, but luckily nothing like that had happened again. There was of course the occasional idiot who thought it was funny to shout puff or fag at them, but they were far and few between and they'd learn to deal with it.

It hadn't been long after their first night out in Soho together that they'd got together. Max's first night out there was in no way as eventful as Milo's had been. They'd drunk too much, danced a lot and then bought greasy chicken and chips before getting a taxi home.

Max waited a few weeks before asking Milo on a date. He didn't want to be the rebound guy after Sam. Milo accepted on the pretext that he didn't want to get involved in anything serious. It was too soon after his last relationship. But he was attracted to Max. He had been from the first day they met in the school canteen. There was nothing stopping them. But despite Milo's reluctance to get to involved, that was soon forgotten. They started spending more and more time together until they were pretty much joined at the hip. Milo still wasn't sure how he felt about Max. They hadn't said Iove you yet, but they were having fun together.

Whilst they spent all their time together, they'd agreed that they were both free agents. If either of them wanted to sleep with someone else, then it was allowed. They didn't need to ask for permission. As they were both young, they knew they'd be off to university in a couple of years, should be difficult to stay together. If they did stay together, then it wouldn't be viable that they stay faithful. This felt like an honest way to have a relationship. Neither of them had ever used their right to sleep with another person yet, but it was good to have that option.

'Do you think Jack and Ali will be annoyed at us for being late?' Max asked. He liked and got on well with all of Milo's friends.

'I lose track of his many times Jack's dumped us to hook up with a guy,' said Milo.

It was true, of course. Jack often disappeared half way through a night out after meeting a cute guy he liked.

Milo got a text from Jack.

You nearly here? Parade sets off in half an hour x

❤🧡💛💚💙💜

'Hey man.' Ocean smiled at the site of Sam, Michael and Jess. He used to see Sam pretty much every day when they worked together. Ocean was still dancing at Tramps Bar, but Sam hadn't been back all that much since he left.

Sam was working as a manager at a small clothes shop in town. It was hardly his dream. Job, but the hours were much better. He'd deliberately kept his distance from both Soho and the bar as he didn't want to see any ghosts from his past. But Pride was a completely different thing. He believed in Pride and what it meant to the LGBTQ community. As he father he wanted Jess to see how important it was. Pride was all about love and acceptance and he wanted her to be part of that from a young age.

'It's so good to see you,' said Ocean as he gave his best friend a hug. They swore that not working working together wouldn't change their friendship, but in reality they both had busy lives and worked different hours. It was difficult to see each other as much as they'd like.

'O-Tun!' said Jess. She'd never been able to pronounce his name correctly. She was dressed as the cowgirl from Toy Story.

'Howdy partner,' said Ocean, making guns with his fingers and firing at her, making the sound effects with his mouth. Jess laughed and grabbed her chest, pretending to have been shot.

'How are you guys?'

'Good.'

'Good to see you Michael.'

'Good to see you too.'

'How is the old place?' Sam asked. He missed it sometimes, so always asked how things were there.

'It's doing well,' said Ocean. His voice didn't suggest it wasn't the truth.

'What's wrong?' asked Sam.

'Oh nothing,' said Ocean. 'I've just been thinking for a while that I'd like to do something else. I love dancing, but I don't want to do it forever. Otherwise I'll end up like...'

'Stuart,' they both said together.

'So I assume you've seen him around?' said Sam.

'Oh yes,' said Ocean. 'You?'

'No. That's one of the good things about not being around Soho.'

'Well he's pretty hard to avoid around Soho.'

'I can imagine. Anyway, I don't want to talk about him. How are you? You dating anyone at the moment?'

Ocean thought about Danny and all the time they'd spent together lately. Sometimes they'd just cuddle up on the couch and watch TV. Danny could be a really sweet guy and bought little gifts for Ocean or cooked him meals. Then there was the other side to their relationship. The animalistic sex they had when they couldn't keep their hands off each other.

'Ocean?' Sam asked. Ocean was too deep in thought.

'Oh. No,' he said.

'Maybe you'll meet someone this weekend,' said Sam.

'Yeah,' said Ocean. 'Maybe.'

He had no intention of meeting anyone. He was perfecly happy with the man he had. He didn't like keeping it from Sam. They'd been friends for so long, but he knew he wouldn't understand.

❤🧡💛💚💙💜

Jack and Ali already felt slightly tipsy. They assembled in Soho where the parade began, both wrapped in rainbow flags. There was an excitement in the air as the crowds of people met up with friends. They couldn't see Milo at first, so Jack sent him a text.

Where r u?

Milo replied.

Bottom end, near The Eagle xx

That was around where they were. Jack scanned his head looking for them. He saw them outside the pub, both smoking cigarettes. Jack held his hand up. Milo spotted him and they walked towards each other.

'You both look amazing,' said Jack.

'So do you two?' said Milo.

'Ready for your first ever Pride?'

'I've been looking forward to it for weeks.'

'All right. Let's do this thing.'

Author's note

I'm so enjoying writing the next chapter of these characters lives. If you enjoying reading, please consider giving me a like or dropping me a comment.