Page 59 of Stay A Little Longer
Epilogue
Thanksgiving – One Year Later
“Are we ready for this?”
Lance glanced at his boyfriend in the mirror as he buttoned his shirt. Usually he was the one that was nervous and couldn’t stop fidgeting. Usually it was him that second guessed their every move, that worried about the consequences and what would come of it. But Trent had been the one pacing the house all day, anxious and edgy.
Even now, with his back turned so he could look out the window, Lance could see the tension radiating off the man he loved. He could see the tense muscles bunched beneath his dress shirt. Trent’s shoulders were up and more than anything Lance wanted to go to him, to slide his fingers along those broad shoulders, to force them down, to help ease some of his unease.
So he did.
It had taken him a long time to get used to that. Being able to touch Trent whenever he wanted. Not needing to hide how he felt about this man. It hadn’t been easy. Some days it still wasn’t. But in the privacy of their own home, he never shied away from reaching for his man, not when he needed him.
He crossed the room and stroked his hands up Trent’s back. He dug his fingers into the tense muscles and Trent gave a small moan. He let out the breath he’d been holding and Lance wrapped his arms around him, leaning his check against his shoulder blade.
Trent wrapped his arms around his middle, crossing his hands over Lance’s. Pulling him closer. And relaxing against him. Lance held him from behind and let the ease that existed between them settled some of his nerves right along with Trent’s.
“Are we ready for this?” Trent repeated himself after a few moments of silence.
“I don’t know.” Lance answered honestly, “But we told them we’d try and it’s too late to back out now.”
“It’s not. We can call, tell them something came up in Nashville and…”
“We’re not backing out, Trent.” Lance squeezed him to get his point across, “We’re in this together. Just remember that. We have each other.”
“Always.”
“Always.” Lance nuzzled in closer and took comfort in the words and the touch.
It hadn’t been an easy year but they’d made it through because they had each other. After the media had confronted them in Fate, after Lance had outed himself and after they’d confronted their feelings and admitted they were in love and wanted to be together, things had spiraled out of control more than either of them had been prepared for. Life, as they say, had gotten real that day.
Lulu had been great. A perfect first person to confront them, to tell about their relationship. Lance’s sister had been sweet and understanding. She’d oohed and awed over their endearments and handholding.
In fact, she’d been so understanding that Lance had finally asked how long she’d known. Blushing and shy, his sister had made an admission of her own. She’d found his stash of porn years ago and put two and two together. She’d known. She’d known he was gay and she hadn’t said a word. And when he’d asked her why she’d simply shrugged and nearly brought him to tears when she said he hadn’t been ready.
He hadn’t.
He hadn’t been prepared for his parents’ reactions either. As he’d imagined a million times, they’d been disappointed in him. Disappointed in how he’d handled his past and disappointed that he wouldn’t continue the Nichols line and give them grandchildren. He hadn’t even tried to explain that if he and Trent decided they wanted kids that they could always adopt because that hadn’t been the point. They hadn’t outright disowned him but they’d been distant and awkward ever since they learned he was gay.
Tonight would be the first time they’d come up to the new house.
The one Trent had insisted on buying after their public outing. The one he’d found after firing his manager, Rick, because he’d learned the bastard was the one to tell the media where he was. The house he’d decided to call home after his label had dropped him and he’d decided to step out of the spotlight for a while.
Lance had tried to convince him not to give up his music and though Trent no longer performed, at least for the time being, he hadn’t walked away from the industry completely. He’d started writing, a passion he’d always pushed aside for the sake of the bad boy image.
He’d written or co-written almost every song on Lemon’s newest album actually and when it released after the new year, Lance was sure that Trent would be thrust back into the spotlight, right where he belonged.
The house had been a steal and absolutely perfect for them. A big, old brick mansion tucked into a valley about twenty miles east of Fate, it had needed some work. Still needed work. But they worked on it together, while they worked on themselves and each other too. It was secluded and theirs, just theirs, at least it had been for the last year.
Tonight, for the first time, they were opening up their home to their families. Plural. Because it wasn’t just Lance’s mom and dad or even Lulu coming to dinner. Trent’s brother was coming too. Trevor. The twin brother that he hadn’t spoken to in over a decade was on his way to Fate to meet Lance and to spend Thanksgiving with them.
He knew that was the real reason Trent was nervous. Trent wasn’t anxious about facing down Lance’s parents. They’d dealt with awkward dinners and stilted phone conversations in the last year and he’d never buckled. He’d stood tall and proud beside Lance for the last year, presenting a united front for the Nichols family.
Now it was Lance’s turn to stand by him. Because that’s what people that loved each other did. They stood together. They had each other’s backs. And they were always, always, there for each other even when nobody else was.
It had been a rough year. Lance had dealt with people he’d known all his life looking at him as if he were a complete stranger. Some of them ignored him now. Others weren’t even that civil. But for the most part, he’d been wrong about how Fate would handle finding out he was gay.
The women he’d been so worried would string him up… hadn’t. Oh, some of them fell into the previous categories of ignoring or taunting him but the ones that matter, the ones like Maddie that he still liked and respected, they’d accepted him and his apologies for all the pain he’d caused. He was proud that he could now call Maddie his friend again, even if her husband still glared at him every time they were in the same room and probably always would.
