Page 45 of How to Bite Your Neighbor and Win a Wager
LordOfTheWin
You can interrupt! It’s a soap box not a TED Talk.
Anyway after mom divorced my dad, (which was before I came out), she faced a lot of nastiness herself, so she’d already kind of opted out of the judgment side of all that. She always said that she’d known her divorce was the right choice, and that she didn’t want to ever make anyone feel the way she’d been made to feel over it, especially not me.
HotMouth
Bless your mom.
Vincent meant it; she sounded like she’d been an amazing parent. But it was the kind of amazing that formed something dark and green inside him. He sunk a little deeper into his seat, trying not to glare as he kept reading.
LordOfTheWin
For real!
Growing up we’d visit her whole Catholic family in Texas over the big holidays, but they took it pretty badly that first year. Mom realized it was hurting me to be around them, and she let me stay home instead. Pretty sure my abuela told her she was betraying her familial ideals or whatever by not forcing me to come, but she never gave me grief for it.
By the end of high school she was the mom at pride giving out free hugs.
As hard as Vincent tried to dissuade it, his jealousy sat in his chest so heavy and thick that it made him almost mad at Wesley. Wes had gotten the kind of mom Vincent always dreamed his might turn into, and a life in the kind of home where he’d felt safe to be himself. Meanwhile, Vincent had seen his family harden before his eyes, turning their house to a place where he was too terrified to even show his support for the queer community, much less come out. A place that didn’t feel like a home at all. He had to peel his emotions apart glob by envious glob to reach the real anger and fear buried beneath. Maybe if he had been like Wesley, sufficient and confident and engaging and all the other things that would have made his parents proud, maybe then he would have been the kind of son whocouldconvince them that his sexuality was something worth loving.
But he didn’t know how to express that yet, not without it combusting into a breakdown. He had to reply soon, though, or else Wesley would notice something was off.
HotMouth
I’ve never been to pride.
LordOfTheWin
Dude, you’ll have to come with us next year.
There’s a group of queer guys I hung with through high school. We all got brunch first at the Fishnettery last year.
It was great, I’m sure they’d love you.
Until they learn I’m a vampire?
HotMouth
If you can make the city hold the parade at night, I’ll be there.
Wesley didn’t respond right away, and when his messages finally started coming through, they were slower.
LordOfTheWin
Shit, I didn’t think, I’m sorry.
That’s rough.
It really sucks being a vampire, doesn’t it?
Despite all the time they’d spent together, this conclusion seemed to be hitting Wes anew. It irked Vincent that the man needed this much prompting to notice the struggles that plagued vampires on a regular basis. There would keep being more pieces of Vincent’s life that Wes didn’t quite comprehend or barriers he didn’t consider until he had them pointed out to him. And Vincent worried that every time it happened, it would feel like this. Their friendship would be worth it, but, god, it really,reallysucked being a vampire.
He didn’t think he could push that in Wesley’s face without wearing the man down in the process, so he pared his emotions into something he figured would be more tolerable.
HotMouth
Yeah, sometimes it does.
