Today was a big day, Felix knew. He was sitting in the cafeteria during a free period, working on some homework when Ryan and Michelle walked up to him.
'Hey Felix. Free period?' Michelle asked.
'Yep. Just catching up on some math homework, I was a bit behind', Felix said. 'What are you guys up to?'
'Nothing much', Ryan said. 'Looking forward to tonight's party though!'
Felix smiled. 'Me too. Just so you know, Ken is planning to come out to his friends. And tell them that we're seeing each other'. He still felt weird saying that, but weird in a good way.
'Ohhh, so it's not just a party', Michelle said and winked. 'How do you think his friends will react?'
Felix bit his lip. 'I'm not sure actually. I've only met them once, at Brad's party. They all seemed like cool guys, but then again they were all pretty drunk'. He chuckled at some of the memories from that night.
Ryan laughed. 'Well they should be cool with it. And if not, I'm giving them a piece of my mind, trust me.'
Felix always appreciated Michelle's and Ryan's support. He didn't have friends like that in Sweden, he realised. The more time he spent in Mississippi, the more he started disliking Sweden. He was struck by a sudden feeling of sadness. He knew he had to leave here eventually. 'Today is not the day to get sad', he thought.
Ryan and Michelle said goodbye and Felix headed to history class which he spent next to Ken. When school was out, Ken and Felix walked to the bus stop and got on the same bus as yesterday. There were more people than yesterday, nevertheless Ken was fine with Felix holding his hand, as long as no one saw. Felix enjoyed the sun shining on his face and he almost fell asleep with his head against the window.
When they arrived at Ken's house Felix felt his phone buzzing. When he checked it he smiled at Gaby's text message.
'Just arrived :D Now I just need the address, and I'll be fine'.
'Gaby just got here!', Felix said to Ken. 'I can't wait for you guys to meet'. He texted back:
'yaaay :D It's Azure Road 18, Ridgeland. It's about 9 miles from Jackson, so we'll see you in a bit!'
Ken and Felix played a few games of Melee to kill the time, and surprisingly enough Felix beat Ken most of the time. 'What's going on with you man?' Felix asked. 'Usually I get my ass kicked!'
Ken laughed. 'I don't know! It's probably the nerves', he said.
'Ha! Gaaayyyy!', Felix said and they both started laughing uncontrollably. Felix was happy Ken could take the jokes so well. They played a few more games when suddenly the bell rang. Felix jumped up and ran towards the front door, Ken running after him, still laughing.
Felix opened the door and revealed Gaby, just the same as he remembered her. Long brown hair, blue eyes and skinny in a healthy looking way. She smiled when she saw Felix and they hugged as if they had done that a hundred times before.
When they let go Gaby noticed Ken standing behind Felix. 'Hey, you must be Kenneth!' she said excitedly and she shook his hand. 'It's so nice to meet you'.
'Likewise', Ken said and smiled. 'And just call me Ken'.
Gaby pretended to faint. 'Wow, that Southern accent! I love it', she said and Ken and Felix laughed. 'He is even cuter in real life', Gaby whispered in Felix's ear as she followed him and Ken to the living room, making him blush.
The next 2 hours they spent talking. Ken and Gaby got along just fine, which Felix was very happy about. 'She's so freaking nice', he thought and he smiled.
'What?' Gaby asked amused when she saw Felix laughing.
Felix snapped out of his thoughts. 'Oh… nothing', he mumbled. 'I'm just happy to be with my two favourite peeps in the world right now'.
'The only thing that could make this moment even better…', Ken started off mysteriously. '…is food', he said and Gaby and Felix laughed. It was already getting late, so they just ordered 3 pizza's. 'They should be here within 15 minutes', Ken said after he put down the phone. 'Oh my, I'm the worst host. I haven't even asked if you want something to drink, Gaby!'
Gaby laughed. 'That's alright. I'll just have a water'.
Ken looked at Felix.
'I'll have a beer. It tastes so much better here than the stuff we have in Sweden', Felix said.
Ken went to the kitchen and a moment later he returned with a glass of water and two beers. He sat down on the couch next to Felix and gave everyone their drinks. 'I need to have more than one beer if I want to come out tonight', Ken chuckled, but Felix could hear that he was nervous.
'We'll get through this', Felix said and he ruffled Ken's hair. 'Do you want to announce it at the beginning or…?' he asked.
Ken bit his lip. 'I think near the beginning. If I'm too late everyone will be drunk, and then you don't know if they'll even remember it the next day'.
'Good point', Felix said. 'And what do you want me to do?'
'Just say something like "Ken has something to say" whenever you think is a good moment', Ken replied and he laughed. 'That way you'll give me no choice'.
Suddenly the bell rang and Ken got up. 'Yesss, pizza time!' he said and went to open the front door.
Gaby cleared her throat. 'Felix, first of all, you two are freaking cute together. Secondly, I want to say that I'm really impressed by how you're handling this. Like, seriously impressed'.
Felix blushed. 'Thanks Gaby', he said smiling.
Ken returned with three delicious looking pizza's and about 20 minutes later they had already finished them. They had half an hour left before guests would start arriving.
Ken got the beers from the shed in the garden and locked the back door. He wanted everyone to stay inside, just so he could keep an eye on everyone. In the meantime, Felix and Gaby got some bowls which they filled up with salted peanuts and potato chips. They had just finished when the bell rang.
'I'll get it!' Ken said and not long after he returned to the living room with Ryan and Michelle. Felix greeted them and introduced them to Gaby while Ken got them something to drink. They sat down on the couch and Felix put on some music. Michelle was talkative as ever and was constantly shooting questions at Gaby, who seemed rather amused by it. Ryan was his regular quiet self.
Steadily enough, the rest of the guests arrived. First Sam, then Jack and Mark, and finally Brad. Ken made sure they all had a beer and also got himself and Felix another one.
Everyone was chatting. Ken and Felix were catching up with the guys and Gaby was still enjoying a conversation with Ryan and Michelle. About an hour filled with laughter, eating and drinking later, Felix thought that it was time. He looked at Ken, trying to make eye contact. When their eyes finally met, Felix mouthed: 'Now?' He saw Ken hesitated, but then he nodded back. Felix felt his heartbeat speeding up.
'Hey, listen up everyone!' he said and Ryan turned down the music. 'Thanks Ryan. Everybody, Ken has uh… Ken has a little something to say'. He looked at Ken, who looked as if he had just seen a ghost. Felix wanted to walk over to him and hug him tightly, but he knew he couldn't right now.
'Yeah… haha… though it's actually a pretty important something', Ken said with a trembling voice, and he looked at the ground. 'You guys', he briefly glanced up at Brad, Sam, Jack and Mark, who were all looking at him with looks of curiosity, 'You guys have been my best friends for… for I don't know how long now. And I hope that what I'm about to say won't jeopardize that friendship in any way. Because… I don't want to lose any of you'. Ken took a deep breath, trying to make his voice stop shaking. Felix noticed his eyes were tearing up, and so were Ken's. 'Come on Ken, you can do this', he thought.
'Ken, what is going on?' Sam said, looking just as worried and confused as Sam, Brad and Mark.
'Guys…', Ken started. 'I'm… I'm gay'. For a few seconds the only thing Felix could hear was the music softly playing in the background.
'Bro… You're gay?!' Brad called out and Felix's heart stood still for a moment. 'But… you said it was important…' Brad said, faking disappointment. Ken carefully looked up to his friend and then Brad hugged him, followed by Mark, Jack and Sam. They all started jumping, screaming 'Woooooo!' and Felix started laughing, along with Gaby, Michelle and Ryan.
When they let go of Ken, Felix could see he was smiling. 'This is why you guys are my friends', he said.
'We freaking like you just the way you are, Ken', Mark said and the others nodded.
'But I gotta ask…', Jack started carefully. 'Is there any of us that you feel, or felt… you know…'.
'Huh?', Ken said, and then it occurred to him what Jack meant. 'Oh! No! Not at all, believe me. I totally understand the question though. But no, really'.
Brad laughed. 'Not even for me bro? I'm a little disappointed, Ken', he joked. 'Is there anyone else?'
'As a matter of fact, there is', Ken said and the others acted out a gasp. 'You all know him, actually'.
Felix felt his face becoming red. He wondered how long it'd be before they would figure it out.
'He's got blue eyes, dark blonde hair…', Ken continued. But it remained quiet.
'Oh!', Mark called out. He looked at Felix. 'Is it Felix?' he asked with a hint of disbelief in his voice.
Ken stayed silent for dramatic effect. 'You are… correct', he then said.
All the guys turned their heads towards Felix, and then ran towards him and hugged him the same way they did with Ken. Felix couldn't stop laughing the entire way through.
'So, now that that's cleared up, how about we play some beer pong?' Brad suggested.
'Yes!', the others shouted. Felix happened to suck at beer pong, but he loved the game so he always played along. Brad got the cups he brought with him and filled them up with beer, while Ryan turned the music back up.
Felix went on a team with Gaby, Ryan, Sam and Brad against Ken, Michelle, Jack and Mark. To his surprise and amazement, Ryan was by far the best at the game, and they ended up winning. They played another game but this time with shots instead of beer. Gaby and Mark didn't play along this time. Felix noticed something was going on between the two of them, and he chuckled. The second game took a lot longer to finish, as everyone was getting more drunk every time they had to take a shot. Still, Felix's team managed to win.
After the game they joined Mark and Gaby by the fire. Ken sat next to Felix on the couch and laid his head against his shoulder. Brad whistled and some of the guys made "ooohh" noises and Felix laughed. He had never seen Ken drunk before, and it was rather amusing. His accent had gotten even thicker and Felix couldn't understand some of the things he said.
Time passed and Ryan and Michelle went home, followed by Sam and Jack. Gaby and Mark were still talking, it was obvious that there was a spark between the two of them. Brad had pretty much fallen asleep on the comfy chair so Felix decided it might be time for him to go home.
'Brad', he said, giggling. No response.
'Brad!', he said louder and Brad awoke, almost falling from the chair.
'I should probably get home', he said and he chuckled. Felix and Ken walked him out. When they came back to the living room, Mark and Gaby were in the middle of a steamy kiss. 'What do we do with these two lovebirds?' Ken asked.
Felix giggled. 'Maybe Mark should go home. I can take Gaby back to campus, there is a spare room there'.
'I don't want you to go', Ken said. Felix's heart was racing, and his brain was thinking of what he could say. 'Fine, I'll stay', he spoke finally.
They escorted Mark out, who exchanged phone numbers with Gaby. 'I'll crash on the couch', she said. Ken tried to change her mind, but for some reason Gaby didn't give in. 'I'll be fine, really', she said smiling. 'Night, guys'.
Gaby went into the living room and Felix followed Ken upstairs. 'Where should I sleep?' he asked.
'My bed's big enough for the both of us', Ken said and glanced over his shoulder at Felix, who blushed. He knew what Ken wanted. And he wanted it too. He had never felt so attracted to Ken before, the alcohol was probably helping him a bit with that, but still…
They entered Ken's room and looked at each other for a split second. Slowly, Ken walked over to Felix until they were less than an inch away. He got closer and his lips met Felix's.
Felix returned the kiss, softly at first, but then more aggressively, wrapping his arms around Ken and pulling him closer. Felix had gotten used to the feeling of Ken's beard prickling his skin, but this time it felt better than before, though he wasn't sure why. He paused the kiss and studied Ken's face.
'What is it?' Ken said with a confused smile on his face.
'Your beard… It feels… better', Felix said and he rushed his hand through Ken's facial hair.
Ken chuckled. 'Guess the beard oil I bought works then. Makes it softer', he said.
'I like it', Felix said and he kissed Ken again. Half a minute later it was Ken who paused. 'Felix… do you… if you don't want to go any further, just say so', he said.
Instead of answering the question, Felix pushed Ken back so that he fell on the bed, and he took his shirt off. He crawled on top of Ken and took his off too. 'I do want to go further actually', Felix said mischievously, as he rushed his hands through the dark hair on Ken's chest. 15 minutes later, Felix laid down next to Ken on the bed, both breathing heavily. Felix turned his face to Ken's and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
'I hope you won't regret this tomorrow', Ken said.
'Pretty sure I won't', Felix replied.
Ken turned on his side, facing Felix. 'I love you', he said.
Felix stared back into Ken's beautiful, dark brown eyes. 'I love you too', he said and 10 minutes later they had fallen asleep.