Page 67 of Dared

“Leo! Finn! Save it for later! We need to celebrate,” Connor called through the glass, and I guessed the fun was over for now. Threading my fingers through my boyfriend’s—my boyfriend’s—I led us back into the corridor, where Connor and Niall were waiting.

“Finn’s my boyfriend,” I blurted out, still on a high and clearly not thinking straight.

Connor’s brows rose, and Niall just looked confused.

“Yeah…we know,” Connor said eventually. “That’s old news. Why are you bringing it up now?”

“Uh…”

“Never mind,” Finn said quickly after shooting me a sideways glance. “How and where are we celebrating?”

Niall jerked his finger toward the exit. “The student union because it’s closest and we deserve drinks. We’re starting with flaming sambucas.”

I groaned. “Please, no. Anything but sambuca.”

25

“Mum, Dad, Ed…I have something to tell you.”

My palms were sweaty as fuck. Why did no one tell me how nerve-racking it was to come out to your family? Yet, here I was, about to do it. I still wasn’t sure whether to even put a label on it—bisexual, probably—but either way, the fact was that I was in a relationship with a man for the first time in my life. A man who happened to be my best friend, who was already considered part of the family. So…it wasn’t like Ishouldbe afraid because I knew my family loved Leo, and I was sure they’d accept me. It was just…nerve-racking. Yeah.

Okay. Fuck it, I was just going to say it. “Leo’s my boyfriend, and I guess I’m bi or whatever. The point is, yeah, uh, we’re together.” I cleared my throat. “He’s my boyfriend,” I repeated, as if there was a chance they hadn’t heard me the first time when I’d practically shouted it across the kitchen table.

“Oh, sorry. Is this meant to be a surprise?” my dad said after an agonising silence that had Leo’s breaths turning short and panicky next to me. Beneath the table, my hand found his, and I squeezed it gently, letting him know we were in this together.

“Bro, this is old news. I literally walked in on you two kissing.” Ed rolled his eyes, and my dad laughed. I didn’t know what my face was doing, but it made him laugh harder. Have you ever given your own parent the middle finger? I did, right then.

“Sorry. Did you want us to act like we’re surprised?” He turned to my mum, widening his eyes and giving a fake gasp. “Can you believe it? Finn and Leo are in a relationship. They weresosubtle. I never had a clue.”

“Very subtle.” My mum smirked, but then she pushed her chair back, coming around the table to stand next to me, placing her hand on my shoulder and squeezing lightly. “You know we love and accept you, whatever your sexuality. And, Leo—” She turned to him. “—you’re part of our family, and we love and accept you, too.”

“Thanks,” he whispered, his lips curving upwards in a shy smile, and how was it possible for me to be so fucking head over heels for this person? And how hadn’t I realised sooner?

Later, when we’d escaped to Leo’s flat, after way too many intrusive questions from my well-meaning family, we stretched out on his bed, finally able to relax in our own private space. Leo curled into me, holding his phone out so I could see the screen.

“I told my dad about us. I-I didn’t say I was bi because I don’t know what I am. You know, I’ve only been kind of attracted to one other person, and that was a long time ago. So I just told him about you.”

“Baby, it doesn’t matter what you want to call it. The fact is you’re mine, and I’m yours, and that’s all anyone else needs to know. We’ve said this all along. We don’t owe anyone any explanations about our relationship.”

He shifted forwards, pressing a kiss to my cheek. “I know.”

When he laid his head on my shoulder, pushing his phone towards my face, I scanned the text thread with his dad.

LEO:

Hi Dad. I tried calling a few times. I’m not sure when you’ll be free to phone me back so I thought I would text. I wanted to let you know I have a serious boyfriend now. His name is Finn and he’s a student at my uni studying engineering

I hope you can meet him soon. He’s amazing. I think you’ll like him

It fucking hurt to see that Leo had sent those messages yesterday, after our celebratory drinks with Connor, Niall, and Niall’s girlfriend, and he hadn’t received a reply until this afternoon, just a couple of minutes before we’d sat my parents and brother down in the kitchen.

DAD:

Good for you! Hope the course is going well. Keep up the good work

He’d added a thumbs up emoji, and that was the extent of their interaction.

There and then, I promised myself I was never going to let Leo feel like he didn’t matter, that he wasn’t important enough to answer the phone to. Leo was everything to me, and I was pretty sure he was aware of it, but just in case he wasn’t, I was going to make sure I made it very, very obvious.

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