The Queer Club
Raf scanned the room by force of habit. It was a defence mechanism from growing up with homophobic parents. It was dark and the strobe lights reflected off every surface in the club. It was too hot and too loud, and he briefly wondered if this is what it is like to feel old. However, his beer was cold and he took a cool sip. The club smelt like stale booze and the stench of body odour. But the sofas and booths were soft, and surprisingly clean. Raf could hardly believe that his friend and colleague Marty had managed to convince him to come along to a club. He was a married man. Technically Marty was too, but that's another story.
Even if a night out had sounded good at the time. He should be back in his hotel room and counting down the days until he is back in Texas with his husband Oscar. Not here in a queer club in Brooklyn, on a Friday night.
He leaned back in their booth by the edge of the dancefloor, surveying his surroundings and trying to remember the last time he had been in a club like this.
It had been a while since he had been to a queer nightclub. At least ten years ago now, probably around the time he and Oscar made themselves exclusive. Last year, they had decided to make it official in a small ceremony. It was at their lake house in Texas, with Oscar's kids, Oscar's ex-wife, Ellen and her husband. Leo had been the officiant, that was Ellen's husband. It was small; very small, with only a very select few invited.
Marrying Oscar had been the best day of his life. Not only had he gained Oscar as his husband, legally, he had gained Alexander and Catalina June as his stepchildren. Even if it was just a piece of paper to the couple in question because they already considered him to be part of their family, and he had considered them as his family. Hell, CJ had been in his care the very first time she'd had an anaphylactic reaction to peanuts. He had been the one that had taken Alex to the emergency room when he broke his arm climbing a tree.
After a huge falling out when Raf was eighteen that involved getting outed by the cool kids at school, his parents had disowned him. Thankfully, his sister was older than him by more than eight years, and had taken him into her home. Giving him somewhere to live while he finished his senior year of school. She helped him keep his cool as their father threatened to have him killed for 'bringing shame upon their family' and 'disrespecting the teachings of the bible'. She had helped him apply for scholarships and she had covered the application fee for him to apply for college.
Sarah had helped him get into one of the best schools in the state on a full ride scholarship. She had been proud of her brother for not letting their parents get the better of him. She was proud of him for making the most of a bad situation and getting himself through school. Sarah was his biggest supporter and she made sure to attend his graduation. However, leaving the ceremony with plans to meet up with Raf later in the evening for a celebratory dinner, she had been hit by a drunk driver in a hit and run. She died on the spot.
Instead of immediately focusing on the move to law school after his graduation, Raf was planning her funeral. With no husband or children, and their parents cutting her off for taking in Raf, Sarah left behind a substantial sum of money for Raf. As well as a life insurance policy and her apartment just outside of Denver. She wanted to know that in the event of her death, her brother would be taken care of. With law school approaching, Raf sold the apartment and moved to Los Angeles. There was no way he would defer a year away from law school. Sarah would have been disappointed if that was the route he had decided to go with.
Rafael had chosen to go to law school in Los Angeles, and had moved out there from their home on the outskirts of Denver, Colorado. He settled in and kept to himself, working through his grief. Living and studying law in Los Angeles turned out to be the best thing for Rafael Luna. He had been living there for almost a year when he met Oscar Diaz. They had met in the waiting room of their therapist's office, Dr Westbrook. They were both patients of his and immediately doomed themselves to being broken.
He had learnt that Oscar was recently separated from his wife and he had two children with her, Catalina June and Alexander Gabriel Claremont-Diaz. Catalina went by June and was named for the place and Carter Cash, while Alex was named for Alexander Hamilton, the founding father. "Wasn't that a self-fulfilling prophecy at the time?" Oscar had mused to Raf, before explaining Alex's love of politics and his desire to be the youngest Senator by the age of thirty.
But somewhere along the way, those aspirations of Alex's were buried and he threw himself into a desire to become a lawyer like his parents and stepfather Raf.
Oscar and Raf had become serious about each other almost a year later, but had also spent that year regularly hooking up with one another. Mostly when Oscar didn't have his kids visiting from Texas where Oscar had lived prior to the separation. When Raf was in his third year of law school, Oscar was offered a guest law professor gig in immigration law, as a test to see if he would be making the transition from practising law to teaching it. But when they became a couple, he delayed his decision. Finally, Oscar made the transition from immigration lawyer to professor, full time the year after Rafael graduated. He had been ready sooner, but by then they had been together and Oscar had thought it would be best if he waited until Raf had graduated. Even though Oscar had never been his professor, it was the right thing to do for both of their careers.
Oscar had grappled with his sexuality, unsure of precisely how he identified. Eventually, after a memorable night with Raf in his bed, he settled on the non-traditional term of heteroflexible. He had struggled because whilst he had mostly preferred women and had never been with another man before, he had only ever felt an attraction to one man, that man was Raf. So he wasn't comfortable calling himself a full bisexual.
Oscar introduced him to June and Alex when he was sure their relationship was going somewhere. He didn't even come out to the kids or explain anything about what was going on. He simply told them Raf was his new partner and that they were to afford him the same courtesies that they showed Leo.
It was about eighteen or so months from when they first hooked up. He hadn't meant it to be so long between starting their relationship and meeting the kids, but life had just kept getting in the way. He and Raf had flown into Austin and got a hotel room, before Oscar and Raf had a lunch meeting with Leo and Ellen.
Oscar had reassured Raf, that Ellen was accepting and loving, but he had held his doubts. She had been accepting, but she had also had concerns about the ten years between them. But she ultimately had no control over that, or their relationship. However, other than that Raf reassured her that he was here for the long haul.
What Raf was not aware of, was that after the first time they had gotten together, Oscar had called Ellen in a panic and in a twisted way, he had come out to her. That she had been the one who had encouraged him to explore his sexuality and for that, Raf was very thankful.
The meeting had gone well and while both kids had been polite, they were indifferent. By that point, Ellen was already remarried to Leo and had been for two years; so they were already used to having a stepfather.
Yet, here he was. In Brooklyn, sitting in the queerest nightclub in the tri-state area with a work friend. They had dinner in the restaurant next door and were checking out the club, before heading back to their hotel rooms.
He was missing Oscar while he was away on the case and counting down the hours until he was back in his husband's arms once more. They both knew that it was part of the job, but it didn't lessen the burden of missing him any less.
It was still early for a Friday night, barely eleven at night, but the club was filling out. The DJ was playing a great mix of old and new music and his younger friend Marty was bopping his head along with the music.
"Foxy!" A drunk voice called out from across the bar and the DJ was getting ready to start his first set. The background music was loud. But the owner of that loud voice, he knew, was louder.
Raf recognised that voice, he would know it anywhere. That was his stepson's voice and admittedly he was a little surprised to run into Alex. Brooklyn was a large borough. It was not a surprise however, to see that his stepson was here. Alex was warm, loving and open. He was accepting of people's sexuality. Alex was self-described as an awesome ally. However, he was surprised to see his stepson dressed in his best black jeans and a matching black mesh singlet he had never seen him wear, a fluorescent pink bandana tied around his head. Pink blush and gold glitter across his cheekbones and shiny red lip gloss coating his lips.
He was dressed in what he once told June and Nora were his 'god, my ass looks fab' jeans.
The man he had called out to was with another man. He was with a tall blonde man, dressed in jeans and a white button down with the sleeves rolled up and the top two buttons undone. The man beside him had magenta and lavender hair, dressed in a sparkly rhinestone suit, with four inch stiletto heels. The blonde man had blushed as Alex had greeted both men with a hug.
As they neared closer to his and Marty's booth, he could hear snippets of their conversation. "Hello strumpet, have you got a kiss for your dear Auntie Pezza?" The man with the magenta and lavender hair asked his stepson, and Raf looked up to see Alex blow the man a kiss and send the blonde man a wink. "Now one for Hazza too?"
"Fuck off, Pez." Alex had replied, jovially. But the blonde hadn't been offended. His eyes had held a fondness that Raf recognised as one he had seen on his own face in the early days of falling in love with his husband.
Once Marty headed back to the DC office and he was here by himself. Marty and Raf used to work together, until Marty married Mark and they moved to DC for Mark's work. Marty transferred to the DC office and he'd come into New York for the night to catch up with his old friend.
The thing was, he hadn't mentioned to Alex that he would be in the city. Not yet. He had been planning on surprising Alex tomorrow and making plans for the two of them to catch up. He was hoping he could take Alex out to dinner and maybe spoil him a little for his hard work at law school.
Alex lived in New York City for law school and June and Evan lived in Connecticut. June and Evan had moved here for Evan's job and June worked remotely from home. Alex had Nora, who was the granddaughter of Leo's friend, Mike. They; being Ellen and Leo, as well as Mike and his wife, Michelle, had wanted Alex to date Nora, but neither of them were too keen on the idea. Raf had been led to believe that Nora currently lived in Boston, but he wasn't sure that was up to date information because Alex mentioned to them that they still caught up on occasion for a drink.
"Come along, Strumpet." The blonde man said with a wink and a gummy smile and Alex gave him one of his best grins in return. The blonde man took Alex by the hand and turned, leading Alex away from them and into the crowd. That was where Raf lost sight of them.
"Did you recognise someone you know?" Marty asked him over the din of the music. He had noticed his friend looking out into the crowd.
"I thought I saw my stepson." Raf replied in almost a shout, and shook his head. "But I don't think it was him."
Raf lied. Marty always went strange when Raf would refer to Alex or June as his stepchildren. Mark and Marty didn't have children, mostly because Mark (who was Martha before he transitioned into Mark) did not want to carry any children. And Oscar was firm in the belief that that was his right. But it was a sore point for Marty, and he had been griping about it for the last three years to Raf.
"Relax Raf, you're so tense." Marty shouted across the booth into his ear. But Raf's attention was back to scanning the dancefloor, looking for a glimpse of the man he could have sworn was Alex. "Oscar knows you're here, he knows you're faithful to a tee. It's not a huge secret or you're sneaking around behind his back. Let's just have some fun and let loose."
"Fine, we can go dance." Raf muttered, knowing it would get Marty off his back. There was a reason why he and Marty only caught up in person once a year, and this was it.
From his vantage point on the dancefloor, Raf could see Alex now. He was talking animatedly, wildly gesturing with his hands. The blonde man had his arm scraped across the back of the booth and was actively listening with rapt attention, while the man with the magenta and lavender coloured hair was half listening, but plying them both with what looked like vodka shots as Alex spoke.
Raf let Marty pull him closer as they danced and tried to take Raf's attention away from where Alex was at the table with two other men. As he moved with Marty, he saw who he thought might be Nora, had arrived. Alex leaned in and kissed her cheek, as did the blonde man, before sitting back down next to Alex. He watched on as the lavender and magenta haired man kissed Nora passionately on the lips and twirled her around, admiring her bold fashion choice. She was almost matching Alex with a mesh singlet, she had a purple bandana as a headband blue body glitter, but instead of wearing jeans, she was in a very short, black leather skirt and mean looking boots.
Alex was bouncing in his seat, and Raf would bet his stepson was eager to get out of the dancefloor. In the time since he had first spotted Alex, he was almost certain that he had seen the young man down three beers and five shots of what he assumed was vodka based on the clear liquid in the glass.
Marty had given up on trying to get Raf to dance closer to him, and was off to the right of him now, grinding on some other stranger. Raf was just thankful Marty was no longer trying to coax him into dancing with him. Momentarily, he took his eyes off Alex to check on his friend. Mark was understanding about Marty's needs, but someone always had to remind Marty he was a married man. Tonight, that someone was Raf.
When Raf glanced back at the booth, Alex and the blonde were gone, while Nora and the man with the luminescent hair were canoodling together and kissing each other. He felt a man's hands on his hips and a glance over his shoulder made him see a generic looking white man, tawny hair, tall and thin. He gave him a small smile, but removed his hand from his hips. He held up his left hand and pointed to the gold band that adorned his ring finger. The man nodded in understanding and held up his own before moving onto the next unsuspecting man.
Some men really are cheating scumbags.
With the tall, tawny man gone, Raf's eyes found Alex again. He and the blonde man were grinding against one another - mostly in time with the beat. Their arms were around each other and Alex was pressing kisses into the blonde man's jawline. A couple of women bumped into them and they lost their balance, the blonde keeping Alex upright.
He noticed that Alex was inebriated, and that explained so much about how he had seen Alex behaving.
Raf had known Alex long enough and well enough to know that he always got handsy when he drank; although not as handsy as the blonde was becoming. He was whispering down into Alex's ear and whatever he was saying was giving Alex a glint in his eye. When the blonde pulled back, it was only then that Raf stopped dancing and stood in shock.
Alex had hauled the blonde into his embrace by the half open lapels of the man's shirt and pressed his lips to the blonde's. The blonde had opened the kiss up and licked his way into Alex's mouth. Alex looked like he was enjoying it, as his hands were roaming the entirety of the blonde's back.
Watching and seeing Alex kiss the blonde man back with equal fervour, sobered Raf up.
How much of the real Alex did he keep hidden from them? Was this something Alex had always done? Was Alex gay? Did he just pretend to be straight because of them? Was he Bi? Pan?
The kiss broke off, and Alex whispered something that Raf assumed was suggestive, since the blonde man's eyes lit up in shock, and delight, and he saw the taller blonde man slip his arms around his stepson's shoulders, and head back to their booth.
Raf had to do something. Alex was clearly not thinking and too intoxicated to consent to whatever hair-brained scheme he had suggested to the blonde. Whatever it was, he wanted to prevent Alex from waking up tomorrow morning with both regret and guilt because he made a poor choice while intoxicated.
Raf left Marty grinding on the same stranger on the dancefloor and stepped off to intervene. He was not going to be the one who let his stepson leave a club, intoxicated with a man, when he was too drunk to consent.
He might have had a duty out of friendship to Marty, but he had a parental responsibility to Alex and Alex came first.
"Alex?" He stepped into their path, blocking both of the younger men from leaving the club. "That you, son?" He had no idea what to say to Alex. He had no idea that Alex had an interest in men. He had dropped no hints and although he had a naturally flirtatious nature, he had never shown any signs that he was that way inclined.
"Pap, man!" Alex exclaimed excitedly, in a voice that was a little bit high of a pitch. But he had seen Alex drunk enough to know that was one of Alex's telltale signs that he'd had enough alcohol for the evening. "Holy hell man, when the hell did you get in?"
Alex broke his embrace with the blonde and flung himself into Raf's arms. It reminded him of the giraffe he and a young Alex had seen on a trip to the San Diego zoo, when Alex was eleven. Watching the newborn giraffe fumble his way onto his feet, before finding them and steadying himself upright.
"This morning, I'm here for work." Raf told him, as he hugged Alex back. Alex was taller than him and kept his arm around him. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend here, Alejandro?"
"Shit, yeah!" Alex exclaimed. "H, sweetheart, this is my stepdad Raf. Pap, this is H."
"Pleasure to meet you." The tall blonde stuck out his hand. Raf was surprised to hear a British accent. That had been the last thing he was expecting. "I'm Henry. Alex's … er … friend."
"Friend?" Raf questioned harshly, as Alex chuckled from beside him. Alex's body reverberated against his side reminding him that Alex was still in his embrace. "Alex, I saw you with him on the dancefloor. He's more than just a friend."
"Friend." Alex drunkenly reiterated. "Pap, we're good friends. But right now, we're going to be leaving together. Come on, H, baby."
"Alex." Henry hissed. Raf was glaring at him, clearly making Henry uncomfortable. Alex had yet to realise that Raf had grasped him by the upper arm and was refusing to let him go with Henry.
"Alejandro, the only place you are going is back to my hotel room so you can sleep it off where I can keep an eye on you." Raf said sternly, refusing to release his grip on Alex.
"No," Alex protested in a whine. "I wanna go with H. We're gonna … We gotta … We got plans to… ."
"Alex?" Henry asked, the alcohol affecting him as much as it was Alex. "What's going on?"
"Sorry Henry, you might have plans, but they're not happening. I don't need some kid pissing on my boots and telling me it's a rainstorm." Raf replied firmly, letting this kid before him know in uncertain terms that he was the one in charge here and not the blonde kid who looked like he could have been a disney prince in another lifetime. "I didn't come down in the last deluge either. I know exactly what you were planning to do to Alex and the answer is no; not on my watch. He is far too intoxicated to consent and as far as I know, my stepson is not into men."
Henry burst out in a fit of laughter, if only he really knew how really into men Alex was. How much Alex enjoyed being inside him and what he and Alex usually got up to after a few drinks and grinding on one another all night in the club.
"I don't care if that is what usually happens, it's not happening on my watch." Raf reiterated.
That was when Henry realised he must have spoken out loud. He looked over for Alex that this was really happening and he realised that Alex was almost unconscious now.
Henry screwed up his eyes in disbelief. Alex was hardly one to pass out from too much alcohol. If anyone was more likely to pass out, it would be him. Of him, Alex and Pez; he was the one with the most alcohol intolerance.
"Here." Henry offered, digging into the back pocket of Alex's jeans for his apartment keys. Placing the keys in Raf's hand, he looked the older man dead in the eye. "Take him back to his place, that's where we were headed. It's only two blocks that way. Do you need my help to get him there?"
"You're sober?" Raf asked, surprised. "I'm sorry, I just find it hard to believe that you are sober. I was watching Alex from across the room and I saw how much liquor you, Alex and your friend were consuming."
"Well you must not have been too focused on us, otherwise you would have seen Alex downing shot after shot until our friend Pez with the pink and purple hair cut him off." Henry huffed out, slipping his arm under Alex's to help Raf support his dead weight. "And for the record, I had him on the dancefloor to get him to dance off some alcohol. When that didn't work I suggestively mentioned going home, so I could get him to sleep it off. I wasn't going to sleep with him. Bloody hell, I don't take advantage of people that are too drunk to consent, what kind of person do you take me for?"
Raf didn't say anything as they set off towards Alex's apartment. What could he say? He had taken stock of the situation and jumped to conclusions. Granted they were logical conclusions and did make sense. He hoped in the light of day Alex would see the funny side of this, but until then …
"Are you sleeping together?" Raf asked, breaking the silence as they managed to safely get across the street with an unconscious Alex between them.
"Not that it's any of your business who I am sleeping with," Henry muttered, but answered none the less. "But, I'm going to let Alex answer that."
For Raf, that question in itself didn't need an answer anymore. He wondered if Henry knew that he had unknowingly answered it for him.
When they arrived at the front of Alex's building, Raf looked at the keys for a moment, a bit more perplexed than usual. "I've got it." Henry insisted and instead of taking the keys from Raf, he swiftly and efficiently produced his own set of keys and unlocked the door to his building. They managed to get him into the small elevator and Henry automatically pushed the button for the fifth floor. Once they got him to the doorway, Henry looked at Raf, to make sure he had a hold of Alex. "If you hold him for a moment, I'll unlock the door and deadbolt and disarm the security system."
Raf held onto Alex as he watched on, Henry had his own set of keys to Alex's apartment. Henry knew the correct order to unlock the doors and he knew the alarm code to deactivate the security system. Pocketing the keys, Henry helped him get Alex onto the sofa. "His bedroom is through here," Henry told Raf, and started moving Alex towards it.
"Baby?" Alex murmured in his alcohol induced sleep, snuggling closer into Henry.
"We're home, 'lex." Henry whispered his reply to Alex, as he reached for Alex's bedroom door. "Come on love, let's get you into bed."
"Hen, baby?" Alex muttered, as they managed to lay him down on the bed.
"I'm just slipping your jeans off so you're more comfortable, love." Henry murmured, carding his chaotic curls from his face. "Then you can sleep it off."
"I can do that." Raf said firmly and Henry shot him a look. He had felt the older man's eyes burning two holes into the back of his head.
"I can guarantee you, I have taken Alex's clothes off him more times than you have." Henry replied in a mutter, furious that no matter what he seemed to do, Alex's stepfather seemed to have a strong dislike of him. "It's clear you don't trust me and if you're gonna stand there and watch me, why don't you make yourself useful and pass me a clean pair of shorts out of that basket?"
"Thought you were just taking his jeans off." Raf argued, as he tossed Henry a pair of blue plaid cotton shorts that actually belonged to Henry. He didn't say a word, that was between him and Alex and Henry was sure Alex would get a kick out of it in the morning.
"I know for a fact that Alex isn't wearing shorts under his jeans." Henry stated, but instead of shying away like he had. He met Raf's eye and metaphorically held his ground. "He goes, what you Americans call commando, more often than not."
Henry knew Alex preferred commando over his shorts. On nights like this when Alex had sex on the mind, he preferred more femininity.
Raf shut his mouth fairly quickly, and turned his back on Henry while Henry slipped Alex's jeans off his long legs and the shorts on his body. Henry tried to keep his touch as clinical as possible
"Hen, baby?" Alex slurred, between the alcohol and exhaustion, he was done for. "You comin' to bed soon too?"
Henry's face blushed and his ears reddened. "Soon darling." Henry cooed at him as he pulled out the tray of acetaminophen from the top drawer and left it on the bedside table. "I'm just going to get a bottle of water for you."
Henry's words were met with a soft snore.
Out in the living room, Raf stood motionless and looked around while Henry continued onto the kitchen for a water bottle.
The apartment was different from when he had been here last almost a year ago. The walls had been repainted and the kitchen had been remodelled. Instead of the ratty and old brown leather sofa that had cracks in it, there was a large and deep relaxing L shaped sofa in its place. The windows had blockout blinds on them and heavy drapes. There were potted plants strategically placed in the living room and kitchen. The small balcony off the living room had three sun loungers and small tables between them.
Alex was renting a room here and although they had never met the roommates, he was certain that Henry had his own apartment to go to.
"I can crash on the sofa, if you want to leave." Raf told Henry when he returned from placing the water bottle on the nightstand beside Alex.
"I live here, why would I leave?" Henry replied as a matter of fact. "If you want to stay though, you can push the ottoman against the couch and it becomes a bed. I'll get you some sheets from the closet. Bathroom is the first door on the left. The other occupant of this flat is our friend with the pink and purple hair, but he will probably spend the night with his girlfriend, Nora. Otherwise, there's a eurobed in the hall closet. It has a slow leak, but you can probably get six hours of solid sleep on it before it deflates. Pez just refuses to throw the darn thing away."
When Henry returned to the living room with a sheet, a duvet and two spare pillows, Raf looked up at him. "Thank you." He whispered, studying the blonde man in front of him.
"Well, if that will be all…" Henry murmured, but Raf cut him off.
"I don't think you're a creep Henry." Raf admitted. His voice was soft and small, but he found himself almost in a whisper. "I … I didn't know, ok? Alex has never said anything or indicated to us that he is anything other than hetero."
"Alex doesn't owe anyone his sexuality." Henry reminded the man. "Least of all, his parents. A man who is himself queer, ought to know better than anyone."
"Hell, I know that. I'm married to his father, Henry, not his mother." Raf sighed dejectedly. "I'm only trying to do what's best for him and look out for him."