"Alex! Mail's here!" a baritone voice called down the hall. Alex McKinley strode into the living room, taking his mail out of his boyfriend's hand.
"Thanks Derek." He said, kissing Derek's cheek. He sat on the couch, and sorted through the various envelopes. "Bill... bill... junk... what is this?" In his hand, he held an ivory envelope made of heavy paper. Glancing at the return address, a sad smile found its way to his face.
"Babe, is everything alright?" Derek asked, walking over and placing his hand on Alex's shoulder. Alex nodded, as his fingers began to open the envelope and pull out the contents. Opening the card, his eyes skimmed over the words that announced the engagement and extended an invitation to celebrate with the happy couple at their wedding reception. A photograph that had been tucked inside the invitation revealed the two people gazing at each other with love, looking excited for what was yet to come.
Alex put the invitation down on the table, as Derek moved to sit next to the man and put his arm around him.
"Who is it from?" Derek asked, not sure if he should discuss the situation, as Alex's silence was abnormal.
"It's one of my old mission buddies." Alex said, leaning into Derek. "He and I got really close while we were in Uganda, but it got really hard to keep in touch once we both got home."
"Did you love him?" Derek asked. Normally not the jealous type, there was something in Alex's voice that sounded like it was more than just two acquaintances. Alex sprung away from Derek, chuckling at the idea.
"You mean love him like how I love you? Sweetie, no! We were friends! It was impossible to be out there with those guys, in our situation, and not get close to them. But it was never like what you are thinking. He and I used to talk about everything. The reason I finally realized it wasn't healthy to 'turn it off' was because of him." Alex pulled Derek into a hug, and kissed him. "I love you."
Derek smiled as he held the former elder to his chest. "I love you too, babe."
After dinner that night, Alex went out onto the balcony of the apartment. Looking out over the Brooklyn skyline, he sighed. What a crazy journey he had taken in the past two years. He had gone from being the Uber-Mormon from Provo, Utah who turned off all feelings that could remotely be considered homosexual, and now he was a mostly out and extremely proud gay man living with his boyfriend in Brooklyn, New York.
No matter the changes, however, he still thought back to his time in Uganda often . He'd made some amazing friends there, and had really made some discoveries about himself. It had helped to make him who he was.
Alex chuckled to himself as he realized what he was doing. He was sitting on a balcony, gazing at the sunset, and reminiscing about life. He was turning into a giant cliche! The blonde man shook his head as he settled into a deck chair. He pulled out his cell phone, and scrolled through the names, until he found who he was looking for. He pushed the call button, and waited through the ringing until a man answered the other end.
"Hi, Kevin Price?" he asked, stuttering a bit on the name. It had been at least a year since they'd had any sort of communication. "It's Alex McKinley."
Kevin greeted him cheerfully and asked how the other former missionary was doing.
"I'm doing great, Kevin. I got your wedding invitation in the mail. Congratulations, man. You look happy, and you deserve nothing less than that."
After hanging up the phone, Alex McKinley crawled into bed next to his boyfriend. Refusing to turn it off had been his best decision yet.