She lifts my head with her hand and kisses me.
“I’m sorry I worried you, I know I’ve been off today. But as it turns out, Donovan kind of already knew about us, everyone does.”
“What, really?” I ask, “No, was he fucking with you?”
“I don’t think so,” she says, “he even said something about ‘them helping us both along when needed’ too.”
“So everyone knows, like everyone?”
“Apparently.”
“Shit, so all this time I could have been kissing you and being with you, but instead we’ve been sneaking around?”
I lean in and kiss her, not able to help myself.
“Yup,” she says, “they were probably all laughing at us too, thinking we were being so sly.”
“They’re gonna be fucking unbearable when we get back.”
She laughs. “But do you care? It means we can be together; I think that’s worth being laughed at by them for a while.”
“Very true,” I say, kissing her again, this time pulling her into my arms.
“So you’re okay?” I ask, resting my head on top of hers. “You said you’d been off today.”
“Yeah, there is something I need to talk to you about, but it’s not about us.”
“Okay, shoot,” I say, no longer worried now that I know we’re good.
“Um… it’s about Donovan.”
“Is he okay? Is this to do with him needing time alone with Mom?”
“Yeah, kind of.” She takes a deep breath. “So… Donovan wanted to spend some time alone with your mom and Miguel this evening, because he’s talking to them about something that’s really important to him, and he asked me to tell you as well.”
“Okay, this sounds bad, is he sick?” I ask, worry creeping back into my chest.
“No, no, he’s not sick, he’s perfectly fine. I think this is a great thing.”
I take a deep breath myself and she gently squeezes my hand before clearing her throat.
“Donovan is telling your mom and Miguel that he’s gay.”
“Gay? Donovan?” I burst into laughter. “Very funny. Fuck, did he put you up to this?” I can barely control my body as it shakes from laughing, the thought is just too much. “Holy shit, you both had me going there, I genuinely thought there was something going on with him.”
“Angel,” she says gently, “I’m not joking.”
“Come on, it’s not gonna work, you should’ve picked something more believable.”
“No, Angel,” she says, her voice firm. “Please, I need you to listen to me. I’m being serious.”
I look at her properly, and there’s not a hint of laughter in her eyes. She’s got a terrible poker face, but she can’t be serious.
“Nah, come on,” I say, “Donovan can’t be gay.”
“Why can’t he?”
“Because… are you telling me he… what… likes guys?”
