“Well, either way,” Charlie said, setting the package down on the counter and rubbing his hand over the soft fabric. “I know adding me and the upcoming wedding to your plans hasn’t been easy, but it means a lot to me that you invited me to the party and to spend the night.”
He released Aspen and Noah, then grabbed his two envelopes and handed one to each of them. Aspen eagerly ripped into theirs, all their earlier angst forgotten, while Noah took his time sliding his fingernail under the edge and peeling it back.
Aspen gasped, but Noah focused on pulling out his own card and opening it. It was a store-bought card, but there was a small stack of handwritten notes inside. Noah put down the envelope and card and began reading through them.
“One coupon for: a dog walk with Charlie, where he picks up all the poop.”
“One coupon for: breakfast in (your) bed. Sorry, still no food in mine.”
“One coupon for: spending the day in Charlie’s house with Gordon.”
“Ten coupons for–”
“Massages! Do I get to pick where on my body you massage?” Aspen asked, and Noah snorted as he flipped past the massage coupons to see several more for meals and a few different group date nights. He loved that there were options that applied to the three of them, but the first three were specific to Noah.
“Charlie…this is so sweet,” Noah said, looking up from the stack just as Aspen threw themself against Charlie’s chest.
“Careful, pumpkin,” he said, but his dimples were on full display as he leaned down and accepted several rapid-fire kisses from Aspen.
Noah waited his turn, but when it seemed Aspen had no plan of letting go, Noah stepped up to Charlie’s side and stood on his toes to kiss his cheek. Charlie snagged him around the neck and pulled him into a real kiss. He tasted like alcohol and sugar, and it stirred something in Noah’s blood–but it was his turn to give a surprise gift, and he needed to do that with a level head.
“I also have something for you both. It’s more like a conversation starter than a gift, so maybe we could talk on the couch?”
They took their mugs and walked over to the couch, with Noah on one end, Charlie on the other, and Aspen in the middle.
Noah handed the card to Aspen first. “This is for both of you. I just didn’t have two printouts, so I couldn’t do two cards. Also, if you hate it, I blame Talia and Rachel.”
“If I’m hungover in the morning, I also blame Talia and Rachel. They’re too good at hosting,” Aspen said, ripping the envelope open. They pulled out the card, and when the printout fell out, they handed Charlie the card to read and held up the printout.
They only looked at it for a moment before a huge grin split across their face. “Oh my god, this looks so fun! I want to do one!”
Charlie peered over at the printout. “Maybe we should read Noah’s first, pumpkin.”
Aspen sighed dramatically. “Okay, but remind me tomorrow that I want to do one. Can I sit in both your laps?”
Noah didn’t even bat an eye anymore at how fast Aspen could switch thoughts; he just pulled Aspen into his lap. Aspen threw their legs up onto the couch, placing their fuzzy socks in Charlie’s lap as Noah wrapped his arms around Aspen’s equally fuzzy waist. Noah rather wished he was in cozy pajamas, too, but the ball was already rolling.
“Okay, so let’s see here. I’ll read it out loud.” Aspen cleared their throat dramatically, and Noah was grateful they were sitting on his legs; otherwise, he would be bouncing them anxiously. “Masculine gender and masculine presentation. Hella bisexual, with a bit of asexuality sprinkled in—he wrote reciprosexual over the diagram. Then also biromantic…”
Aspen brought the paper closer to their face, and Noah felt like he was going to throw up.
“Babe, I’m so sorry, I can’t read this—the dot is leaning towards aromantic…” Aspen burst out laughing and held the paper out in front of them at an angle. “Does this say romantic-ish? That’s amazing, that totally describes you!”
Charlie gingerly took the paper out of Aspen’s hands and squinted at it. “Is the other word greyromantic?”
He looked up at Noah with a soft brow, his eyes swimming with curiosity and none of the skepticism or hurt Noah had been worried about.
“Yeah,” Noah said, brilliantly.
He had a whole speech prepared, with notes and even a few jokes, to try to keep the tension light. All of that completely left his brain, and all he could do was wordlessly hand Aspen the folder.
“Oh, babe, I’m way too tipsy to read this whole thing. Are there cliff notes?” Aspen asked.
Charlie grabbed Aspen firmly by their hips and pulled them into his lap. “How about we read it together. If Noah went through all the work of printing them out, I’m assuming he’d appreciate it if we read them.”
Noah’s cheeks blazed, and he could almost see his mom shaking his head at how ridiculous he was, with his charts and printouts. “I mostly printed them out because I know Rachel prefers hard copies, and I wanted to ask her a few questions. I can text you the articles or try to summarize?—”
“No, babe, you’re right,” Aspen said, waving the folder in the air. “I mean—Charlie’s right. You’rebothright. I’m sorry. Of course you don’t have to give the cliff notes of your identity. I’ll read them.”
