Talia leaned over and peeked at the document before tossing Noah a wry smile. “These are still a bit too binary for my liking, but I’ve never seen them in this 3D shape before. Usually, it’s just a sliding scale.”
“I think it’s a fun way to start a conversation at least,” Rachel said.
“You should putthatin a Valentine’s Day card! I think Blair has some around here,” Talia said, turning to rummage around in the pantry of all places.
“Oh! I think I know the perfect one,” Rachel said, reaching past Talia onto a lower shelf.
Before Noah could say that maybe he could just give them the folder, like a giant card, Rachel held up a card with a dog on the front. It was too perfect for Noah to decline.
He took the card along with a pen Talia pulled from behind her ear. While Rachel carefully extracted the page from the rest of the stack, he scribbled down a brief note.
“Do you think…this is going to make them sad?” Noah asked, but at Rachel’s furrowed brow and Talia’s blank look, he realized that wasn’t quite the right question. “I mean…do you think I can still make them happy?”
Rachel pursed her lips, but it was Talia who spoke first. “With almost no context about what you’re asking, let me just say this. I don’t think we can make everyone happy all the time,” she said, hopping back up onto the counter and swinging her red Converse back and forth. “We weren’t put on this earth to please others. There are going to be people who have expectations and desires of us that we can’t meet. That’s not your fault, though. If a person, or people, genuinely love you, they’re just going to be happy that you’re sharing your true self with them.”
The pink party hat Rachel had on her head bobbed up and down as she nodded. “I think in your case, sweetie, that applies tenfold to your parents.” Noah grimaced, but Rachel didn’t back down. She crossed her arms over her chest and fixed him with her most serious look. “I think that even if you were the most heteronormative person on the planet, your parents still wouldn’t be happy, because their unhappiness has never been about you. They’re just unhappy with their own lives.”
That…probably wasn’t terribly far from the truth, but it wasn’t his immediate concern. “I meant?—”
“I know you meant Aspen and Charlie, but I thought it was important to say that.” Rachel’s face softened, and she walked across the kitchen to place a gentle hand on his shoulder. “As far as Aspen is concerned, I know they love you, are probablyinlovewith you, and are going to be thrilled to hear that you’ve learned so much about yourself as your trial comes to an end. I think they will continue to love you whether you feel romantic, romantic-ish, or platonic love for them, and now you can start to figure out what the next phase of your relationship will look like. I imagine Charlie will feel the same.”
As if in agreement, he felt a twinge next to his heart, as if someone had just strummed their chords in his chest. “So, basically, they’ll be happy with whatever I am, because at least it means I’ve finally figured my shit out?”
Rachel patted him gently on the cheek. “Well, you said it, not me.”
Noah gaped at her, and Talia burst out laughing. Rachel was always so nice! It must really be true if even she agreed.
“Babe?” Aspen called from somewhere deeper in the house.
Rachel quickly handed him back his folder, and he tucked it and the card safely into his backpack. He had just finished zipping it shut when Charlie emerged into the warm kitchen.
“Hi, peanut,” Charlie said, opening his arms, allowing Noah to step into his cold, somewhat wet embrace.
“Hi. Happy Valentine’s Day.”
Aspen appeared on Noah’s other side and wormed their way under his arm. They clung to him like they hadn’t spent the entire afternoon with Leon before parting ways for all of fifteen minutes to get dressed and ten minutes to help Charlie park the car.
“Happy Valentine’s Day to all of us!” Aspen said brightly. “Whatcha got there, Talia?”
Noah squeezed Aspen’s shoulders before releasing them to go help Talia mix an alarming amount of booze into the pitcher.
“It’s good to see you, Rachel,” Charlie said, tipping his head towards her, all the while still keeping a solid arm around Noah’s back.
Rachel came over and exchanged pleasantries with Charlie, and within a few minutes, she was inquiring about Princess. Noah couldn’t help but smile, and he kept smiling the entire night, through several glasses of the many different bottles of rosé, listening to some surprisingly decent love song karaoke, and playing a rather violent game of ‘musical hearts.’ Noah watched from the sidelines, but Aspen seemed to have an amazing time. They even somehow managed to convince the entire room that it was a tie when they landed on Rachel’s lap on the final cushion.
Charlie wasn’t a social butterfly by any stretch of the imagination, but as all of the hands on Blair’s very sapphic-looking geode clock approached the 12, he seemed to have befriended Rachel and was joking with Talia.
When Noah accidentally locked eyes with Talia, she shot him two thumbs up, and he nearly choked on his final few sips of wine.
“You okay, babe?” Aspen asked, clapping him on the back, and using the gesture as an excuse to grip his shoulder and then slide into his lap. Noah obediently wrapped his arms around their waist and kissed the warm crest of their cheekbone. Their face always flushed when they got drunk, and they’d had several cups of the “love potion” they’d made with Talia.
“I’m fine, just–” he interrupted himself with a yawn, and Aspen tried to stick their fingers in his mouth. Noah pushed away their hand, and when they tried to do it again, he captured their wrist and held their hand in his lap.
“Tired?” Aspen asked innocently, batting their sparkly lashes up at him.
At some point in the night, someone had gotten into the craft supplies, and Aspen had pink and red glitter all over them. The last time Noah had been near Charlie, he’d noticed hints of glitter in his beard as well.
“I’m a little tired, yeah, but it’s a Saturday, so I don’t want to cut anyone’s night short.”
