"Making memories with you is my favorite thing to do".

~Jordy Daniels

Alex

We ended up planning that dinner date for the first day of March. Amongst a few other surprises, I had one which I knew would actually throw Hunter off. I had been thinking about it ever since Aunt Claire had found out about me being bisexual. So I gathered all my courage the day of the date and just when school finished I approached Donovan.

"Hey, do you have anything to do right now?" I asked him, my nerves hitting the roof. He frowned and then shook his head.

"Not really. Beth has softball practice so I'm free for the next two hours or so," he replied. We started heading toward our cars and I stopped before his. "Is something up?" he asked me, also stopping.

"Well, I've been meaning to tell you something... you see," I started and bit my lower lip, "there's this thing that I figured out a few months ago. And I have been keeping it to myself, because I wanted to completely understand it, but also I feared how you'd react".

"Dude, spit it out. You're freaking me out," he told me, snorting. I lowered my gaze and took a deep breath.

"I'm bisexual".

Time seemed to freeze, and alongside it I did. I could hear my heart pounding in my chest and my skin was crawling as if I was about to start shaking. Don looked at me, his expression not giving me a single hint as to what was going through his mind.

"You're bisexual," he finally repeated, nothing significant in his voice. "So, you also like guys?" he asked, licking his lips as he still processed the news. I nodded, not trusting my own voice. "When did you realize this?"

"Mid-October," I whispered.

"And you were too scared to tell me?" Once again I just nodded. "Why?" One of my eyebrows shot up and a scoff almost left my lips.

"You don't strike me like you're supportive about it," I muttered with a shrug.

"Are you talking about that gay guy? Hunter?" I said nothing, only stared at him. "Come on, Alex. That guy... he's a stranger. You're my best friend. I wouldn't judge you. Besides, he keeps shoving it in our faces".

"The fact that he's gay? When exactly?" I detected the snappiness in my own voice and tried to calm myself. I wasn't planning on starting a fight. He moved his eyes around as he tried to remember.

"At Calla's party for example. He was practically dry-humping that other guy right there on the dance floor".

That's not how I remember it. I blinked at him not surprised at his hypocrisy.

"Don't you do the same thing with Beth, though? At every party," I noted.

"Yeah, but we're normal". Immediately, he bit his lip as I flinched. "Forget I said that. Sometimes, my brain doesn't work". He paused for a second and ran his fingers over the black paint of his car. "Is there someone you like?" he asked me, finally. I looked at him with one raised eyebrow.

"Um, yeah, there's this one guy..." I searched for his eyes and was relieved when he urged me to go on. I wasn't planning on telling him about Hunter being my soulmate, not yet anyway, so I improvised a bit. "I've known him for a while now and we go along great, but I don't really know how he feels about me".

"You'd be surprised," he muttered and clasped me by the shoulders. "You're Alexander Richardson. Just fucking go for it".

"You think so?"

"Yeah... but what about your girl? Your soulmate?"

"My soulmate... we, um, talked about it and she doesn't have a problem with me going around with other people, as long as it is a one-time thing". What was I even talking about?

Lie after lie, the words fell off my lips. Don seemed to believe everything that I said so I was partially relieved. I hated having to lie to him, but in this case, I had to. I didn't want to tell anyone about Hunter and me unless Hunter was completely on board with it.

"Anyway, can we keep this between us for the time being? My parents... I would be fucked if they found out. And Matt... I don't want to deal with him about this thing," I said, pinching my lower lip awkwardly. Don started shaking his head as soon as he heard me.

"Totally, I won't tell anyone," he replied and winked at me. "Not that it matters, since your soulmate's a girl," he added, shrugging. I couldn't stop myself from snorting. If it were a girl I wouldn't have to even mention it, pal.

I nodded and walked toward my car, which was parked not too far away from his. The pounding had gone away, but I still felt as if I had survived a hurricane. My mind was a little fuzzy and everything seemed surreal.

"Yo, Alex, are you doing anything tonight? Beth and I were planning on going to see a movie if you want to tag along..."

"And be the third wheel?! Nah, I'll probably write some lyrics," I said and opened my car.

One surprise done. On to the next one.

I finished running my errands for all the surprises just in time to start getting dressed. Even though we were going to have dinner at Hunter's house, we wanted to be dressed formally, as if we were going to a fancy restaurant.

I didn't exactly hate fancy clothes. They just weren't my favorite. Wearing them made me feel ridiculous, but also hot. I was, currently, wearing a black button-ups shirt with an emerald suit and tie. The combination complimented a lot my new hairstyle, surprise number two.

I used to have my hair reaching down to my shoulders, but I felt in need of a change. So, I went and had it cut, leaving it long enough to cover my hand as I ran it through it. I had left it as it was, the green now mostly visible at the tips of my hair. I decided to grow it out again, and just do a few green highlights next time I colored it. I loved the green, but I was starting to get bored with having all my head in that color.

My lip piercing had almost completely healed up by now –I was finally able to drink coffee again-. And, of course, I had my ear studs on. Shaking my head at myself, I got out of my house and started driving toward Hunt's. Fixing up the few stray hairs that fell before my eyes, I knocked on his door and put my hands behind my back as fast as I could. Hunter opened the door with a smile, but as soon as his eyes fell on me, his jaw went slack and he slammed the door shut again.

"Holy fuck!" I heard him curse through the door, making me laugh. Slowly, he opened the door again. "Fuck, Alex have you seen yourself in the mirror? Because damn".

"Choose a hand," I told him, smiling at him, enjoying every bit of his reaction.

His eyes were going over me again when he spoke. "Left". I moved my hand and revealed a dark red rose. "You got me a rose?!" he exclaimed reaching out to take it.

"Well, actually..." I muttered, drawing in a slow breath. Bringing forth my other hand, I revealed a bouquet of dark red roses. "I got you a whole bunch of roses".

The way his eyes lit up was enough for my whole soul to be lifted from the dead. I hadn't been in such a long-term relationship before, so this whole damn thing was completely new to me. As I was buying these I felt like a complete idiot –especially after the florist had asked me who the lucky girl was-. I had noted the way her face contorted when I told her my boyfriend's name was Hunter, but I hadn't addressed it. At least, now, seeing Hunt's reaction, I was pleased with myself.

"You're the best, you know that?" he finally said, stroke my cheek and leaned in to give me a kiss. We pressed our foreheads together and I sighed.

"I came out to Don," I said calmly and he snapped back to look me in the eyes, surprise clear in his features.

"You... you came out to Don?" he repeated, not actually believing me. I laughed and reached out to stroke his face.

"I didn't tell him I found out my soulmate is a guy. I only told him I also liked guys," I stated.

Shaking his head, trying to comprehend what everything I told him, he turned and let me pass inside. I could smell something delicious from the kitchen and I couldn't help but flutter my eyes close. From talking to Don to getting a haircut and getting ready, I hadn't managed to grab a bite; so I had ended up starving now. Closing the door, Hunter came up behind me to hug me.

"I'm so fucking proud of you," he whispered against my neck. I smiled and relaxed into his arms. "Let me get a vase for these," he said, a few moments later, and walked before me to take the bouquet of roses from my hands.

***

"Just fucking go for it?" Hunter repeated as I twisted my fork through the pasta he had made. I nodded, the words still filling me up with mixed feelings.

"I was just as confused as you are".

"Hey, at least he doesn't have a problem with your sexuality!"

"Like Matt will..." I muttered, lowering my gaze.

"You don't know that. Don said you are his friend and he that's why he won't judge you. Maybe Matt will have the same reaction..." Hunter countered and reached over to put his hand over mine. I shed him a sideway glance.

"Come on, Matt won't give a crap about me being his friend. The moment he finds out I'm... I don't even want to think about what he will do".

"If he so much as dares to touch a hair from your head..." Hunter started, making me smirk. I turned up to look at him and intertwined my fingers with his.

"Will you be there with me... when I tell them?" I asked him, tightening my hold on him.

"Of course. I will be there for the rest of your life," he replied and stroked my cheek.

After finishing up with our food, Hunter brought out dessert. And at this point in the evening, I realized that my boyfriend was trying to murder me. The most delicious piece of chocolate fudge brownie was placed right before me. I didn't even have to taste it to know that one bite would give me an orgasm. It was still warm, almost reminding me of a lava cake, the way the chocolate was slowly running out of it.

"I made it," he told me, as I reached to grab a spoonful. My jaw was left hanging and I almost had to shake myself awake from his words. He made that.

My eyes fluttered closed as I tasted it for the first time. And I couldn't help but moan. Talk about awkward. When I opened my eyes again, to look at my boyfriend, I saw that he seemed quite pleased with himself.

"I made my Alex moan without even touching him," Hunter sang in my mind. I glared at him, pulling my lips together in a thin line.

"What's up with you and baking?" I asked out loud, not addressing the fact that he had said 'my Alex'.

"What do you mean?"

"We baked cookies on our third anniversary and you said you did this kind of thing in your family often," I explained. "How come?"

"Yeah, Dad and I used to bake, while Auro and Mom watched us. It became a habit and I still haven't shaken it off," he replied with a shrug.

"Don't ever shake it off. Please," I said, taking another spoonful. He beamed at me and reached to run his hand over mine again.

"About your parents... I was thinking we could approach them differently," he started saying. I nodded at him to go on as I continued eating. "I could introduce myself to them and let them get to know me. And then they can find out about your sexuality and our relationship". At once, my gaze fell.

"The moment they hear that you're gay they won't..."

"We won't tell them that I'm gay," he interrupted me, reaching over to wipe away some chocolate by the corner of my mouth.

"I won't shove you back in the closet, just so I can come out of it," I told him, pulling back.

"Okay, we'll figure out another way then," he assured me, giving me a half-smile.

"How did you come out to your parents?" I asked, kind of surprised that he hadn't told me that story so far. He had told me about that time he run to the supermarket to buy grapes two years ago, but not how he came out. He shrugged.

"It's not much of a story. I went to them, as they watched a crime series, and told them I liked boys and not girls," he replied.

"And how did they react?"

"They told me that they were happy I had told them and that they loved me no matter who I loved.. You know, as long as I didn't love an axe murderer".

"Such high standards. I guess they didn't have a problem with a shooter," I replied with a raised eyebrow, amusement obvious in my voice.

"Yeah, they only minded murderers who used lumberjack tools," he said with a laugh. Smiling hard, I leaned over the table to kiss him. "You should be glad since you're always killing it with your guitar," he added with a wink.

"Nice," I muttered and went in for another harder kiss.

The rest of the dessert was left discarded as we decided to devour each other.