“Hey Chris?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you know what like…being gay is like? Do you know?”
Chris turned and looked at Thomas. “I dunno. Are you gay?”
Tom shrugged. “I don’t think so, but my parents say it’s like a choice, so like…what’s the other option than like, normal? I don’t get it.”
Chris chewed on his gum and thought. “Well, my cousin is gay. He cares a lot about fashion and brands, and music. He said once he has to study up on a lot of stuff to stay relevant. He spends a lot of time on his hair. Maybe it’s like that?”
“What, wait, so being gay isn’t even about uh, like, doing stuff, with boys? Just being flaming?”
Chris blew a bubble and popped it. “No, I think they do it to attract other guys. Like if guys like guys, you have to be really flamboyant to attract other guys. Like, you know, peacocks, I guess.”
Tom laughed. “Peacocks. That’s funny. Yeah I guess that makes sense. So all gays are like that? You can’t be like, straight and normal and still like guys?”
Chris shrugged. “I don’t think so. Never met one or heard of one.”
Tom tilted his head to the side. “…Huh.”

______________

“Tom? Thomas?”
Tom shook his head out of his fog. “Huh?” He looked sideways at his partner.
“Well I guess you are awake from your nap.”
Tom smiled. “Hi Marshall. Guess you are too.”
“Did you sleep at all?”
“A bit. Mostly just thinking about stuff.”
“What kind of stuff?” Marshall asked.
Tom studied his face. He had the most beautiful brown eyes. “I was thinking that Chris was totally wrong.”
Both eyebrows went up. “Now who is Chris?”
“Mn, he was an old middle school friend.”
“And what was he wrong about?”
Tom exhaled through his nose. “Well, thanks to Chris, I thought being gay would be a very different thing. I never imagined it would be spending a lazy Sunday loafing around the house with a wonderful cub like you, waiting until the football game started.”
Marshall loved being called a cub and his cheeks turned a bit red. “How could you not imagine that? That’s all I wanted when I grew up, was to have like a typical American suburban life. Fratboy to dadbod pipeline. Just like, married to another dad, instead of a wife. And without the kids…for now anyway.”
Tom chuckled. “Fratboy to dadbod. Yeah that’s kind of it.”
“What did you think it’d be?” Marshall asked.
“Mmn. Something to do with peacocks.”

“Peacocks?”
“Yeah.”
“…I don’t get it.”
Tom chuffed through his nose. “Don’t worry about it. I think I’m gonna nap for a few more minutes ok?”
Marshall snuggled up against him. “Good. You’re really warm right now. Kind of nice…”
“Marshall?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you,” Tom said in a soft voice.
There was a pause. Tom tried not to freak out.
“I’m falling in love with you too,” Marshall said after a moment, his voice creaky.
Tom let out the breath he was holding. Marshall always had a problem expressing his emotions. That was a lot from Marshall. More than he thought he’d get.
“That’s wonderful, Marshall,” Tom said. He smiled at him. “That’s what I wanted to hear.”
Marshall sighed in relief. “I’m – really happy to hear you say it.”
Tom planted a light kiss on his lips. “Good.”
They pressed up closer and fell quiet for a nap. Tom dozed off wondering if he could find Chris online, and tell him he was wrong. It would be very satisfying.

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Captions are fictional.