Chapter 36: Rock stars Don’t Blush
Nico
"Well, to be more accurate, I guess I'm bi with more of a preference for men."Tony glanced around the room to gauge our reactions. I didn't know about everyone else, but I was surprised as hell.
Before anyone could say anything, Allie walked over to him and hugged him, and he held her close for a moment as they whispered quietly to each other. Based on the lack of surprise on her face I wondered if she knew already, or at least suspected.
Without saying a word, Matt, Josh, and I converged on their huddle. I reached Tony a split second before the others and clapped him on the shoulder. He turned toward me, looking nervous as hell. I hated that he was afraid of our reactions.
I grabbed him and pulled him into a bear hug. "I'm not sure why you hid this from us, but I'm glad you've told us now," I said to him softly before letting him go. I stepped back, and Matt and Josh both hugged him as well. Allie stepped over to me and wrapped her arm around my waist, giving me a squeeze. I smiled down at her, not surprised in the least to see tears in her eyes. My girl had such a soft heart.
"So, are you guys OK with the public finding out?" Tony asked hesitantly.
"Why the hell wouldn't we be?" I asked. "It's your life, so how much of it you share with the general public is up to you. Don't feel that you have to sacrifice your privacy to take the heat off of us though. If you do this, you do it for yourself."
That earned me a hug from Allie. "Exactly!" she said with a smile, before reaching up to kiss my cheek.
Tony smiled at her, and then Josh piped up. "Hey, wait just a good goddamned minute here. Do you mean to tell me that all these years of us going out to clubs together, you couldn't have just stepped aside and let me have the women while you found a guy instead?That's just fucking greedy, bro," he groused good-naturedly.
Tony flipped him off with a smirk, and Josh laughed and blew him a kiss.
"Are you going to do an official coming out statement, or what?" Matt asked, reaching into the refrigerator, and grabbing a few bottles of beer along with the pitcher of iced tea that Allie kept in there. We all helped ourselves, and I walked over to the pantry and pulled out some snacks for us to munch on. It was still a little early tomake dinner.
We settled in around the table, as Tony explained that he was going to take Allie's advice and just let it happen naturally rather than making a formal statement. That confirmed my suspicion that Allie had known.
"What do you mean, naturally?" Matt asked.
"Well, after I told my mom about it last week - she was totally cool with it, by the way - she bought me a shirt with the bi flag on it. I figure I'll wear it out in public, and when I'm asked about it, I'll just confirm that I am, and then move on."
"The bi flag? So, you wouldn't wear a rainbow flag? Sorry, I don't mean to be offensive, I just don't know how all of this works," Josh said with a small shrug.
Tony just smiled. "It's all good, man. I would happily rock a rainbow Pride flag and I'm sure I will at some point, but the bi flag is specific to my sexual orientation. It has two larger stripes, one pink and one blue, and a thinner purple stripe in the middle."
Josh nodded, then tapped on his phone for a few seconds. "Whoa, I didn't realize there were so many different flags and symbols." He muttered to himself as he scrolled through whatever website he was looking at. "Aromantic, demisexual...I feel really ignorant about this. I'm not even sure what some of this terminology means."He continued reading on his phone, occasionally tapping and swiping on the screen as he flipped through various sites.
Allie reached over and squeezed Tony's hand. "I'm glad your mother responded so well," she said with a wide smile.
Tony glanced at her and nodded. "I am too, doll. I figured she would be OK with it, but she was actually really great." He laughed and continued, "Of course, it only took her all of about three minutes before she asked if I had a boyfriend for her to meet."
"So, do you?" Matt asked, raising a brow.
Tony looked awkward for just a moment, glancing down at the table before looking at Matt again. "Uh, no, not yet anyway. There's a guy I'm interested in, but he's not out yet. Actually, he's always identified as straight, so this is new for him. I'm not sure if anything will come of it, but either way, I'm through hiding my true self."
I saw Allie's eyes gleaming as she perked up at the news. "What's he like?Can we meet him?Is he nice?Is he hot?I'll bet he's hot." I tried not to roll my eyes as she rattled off her questions without giving Tony a chance to answer.
He blushed. He actually fucking blushed, so of course, I had to call him out on that shit. He scowled at me and flipped me off, at the same time as Allie reached over and smacked my shoulder.
"Quit teasing him, Nico," she scolded me.
I put my hands up defensively. "Hey, I was just pointing out that a fucking rockstar should not have the ability to blush!"
The love of my life just rolled her eyes at me. "Oh really?Hmmm, maybe I'll test that theory later," she said with an arch of her brow. Damn, I loved when she did that.
She flicked a glance at Tony and told him "Don't think I didn't notice that you didn't answer any of my questions."
Tony chuckled. "He's really nice and very funny. Yes, he's very hot, and no, I'm not ready for you to know who he is yet. Actually, I'm ready, but he isn't, so..."
Allie sat back with a huff before smiling at me. "Fine, but you make sure he's good enough for you, Tony."
