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It wasn’t often that Kel was the only person over at Sunny and Mari’s house. He and Hero normally wandered over together, so Hero could make goo-goo eyes at Mari while Kel hung out with his best bud. Today though, Hero was taking Sunny out to buy something for Mari’s birthday, while Kel was meant to distract her.
She was humming as they both leaned against the wall together, stuck between the kitchen and living room as they half-watched the television while waiting for her cookies to finish baking. When they’d been left alone, Mari had grinned at him and asked if he thought they could finish the entire batch together before their siblings returned. Kel was more than up to the challenge.
“I never thought I would fall in love,” the woman on television admitted, stuck on a train with the guy she’d been getting to know for the whole movie. “I thought I was happy like that, but being with you… it’s made me realize how empty my life has been.”
Kel frowned, awkwardly scratching his arm and looking back at the oven.
Mari caught his gaze. “Don’t like the movie?” She asked, always in her airy teasing tone. “It is a romcom after all, full of all that yucky gross romance.”
“It’s not that,” Kel pouted, he was used to romcoms when Aubrey made them watch them so often. “It’s just this movie is kinda dumb.”
Mari laughed, “Okay then, why don’t we change the channel?”
Kel leaped up, rushing for the remote and clicking through a few boring stations, a frown deepening on his face as he couldn’t find one with anything fun on.
“It’s just…” Without the TV to take his mind off things his mouth just kept going. “Why would she be unhappy without a boyfriend? What about being in love makes life so great? Seems kinda dumb if you ask me, the idea that you get so much happier once you’re dating someone. Isn’t just hanging out with people fun?”
He cut himself off as he remembered who he was talking to. If Sunny was here, he’d just nod his head, but this was Mari, the girl who was in love with his older brother. Of course she’d think dating and all that stuff was great.
“Well, you aren’t completely wrong Kel,” Mari instead said, and his head whipped up to look at her. She grinned at him, raising a finger as she continued. “Love and dating are great, but so are other parts of life. Dating may make some people, but every life is different, and different things make different people so happy.”
“Yeah, yeah!” Kel nodded his head, beaming as she understood. And she put it into words so well, Mari was always really good at doing that.
She ruffled his hair, “Good on you for noticing that, Kel. And it wasn’t that good of a movie anyway.”
Looking back, Kel would realize this was the first time he had been told that it was okay for him not to date someone.
To say Kel never thought about his sexuality would be incorrect. It was hard not to consider when all of one’s friends were gay, so Kel, of course, had periods of wondering if he was gay. Eventually though he’d get distracted and something that was clearly more important would come up. Sexuality was an issue that was always on the backburner for him, pushed aside for another day.
But not anymore! Because this was the week that Kel had finally had two circuits connect on his mind and put 2 and 2 together to realize he was aroace!
Mostly because Mincy had asked him if he had ever had a crush on anyone and when he’d responded no, she’d asked, “Oh, are you aroace?”
It wasn’t that he’d never heard of the terms before, but he had never really tried to apply them to himself. He was still growing up, after all, and he preferred to just not decide. Being asked if he was… well… the realization had been more that he could actually identify as that. He didn’t have to wait. He just could.
So he’d said yes.
Were people supposed to click with a label this quickly? Wasn’t there supposed to be a period where he was like… uncertain? Nope, no, he was fully confident with this!
So therein became his first hurdle. Was hurdle the right word? Maybe step… Anyway, now he had to tell Hero he was aroace!
Well, technically, he didn’t have to. He didn’t owe anyone information about his sexuality and certainly wasn’t required to come out. It was weird people expected straightness as the default and made it so that other people had to come out explicitly. But Kel did want to tell his older brother he was aroace, especially after Hero had been trying so hard to be available and supportive. He even came back home every weekend to check in on Kel.
“Sally,” Kel turned to his baby sister. “How do you think I should tell Hero?”
She clapped her hands together and drooled a bit.
“Good idea, good idea,” Kel nodded, “But he might not get it. Hero can be a bit dense, y’know?”
Sally babbled an affirmative.
“It’s not like, a super big deal, so I don’t want to make it one,” Kel explained, “But it also feels very weird to just bring up in conversation.”
Sally listened very attentively.
“Urgh, I’m getting nowhere with this,” Kel sighed, banging his head down on his desk. He just had no idea how to do this, were his friends also this awkward when coming out? Oh-
“That’s it!” Kel jumped up, spinning around to grin at Sally. He scooped her up in one smooth motion, and she cheered for his discovery. “Let’s go leave you with Mom, I’ve got some buddies to visit!”
Kel jumped up and down on the balls of his feet as he knocked on Basil’s door. It was nice that two of his friends lived in the same place now, it was easier to meet up like that. Even if they weren’t next door neighbors, Kel didn’t mind the jog.
“Who is- Oh, Kel!” Polly smiled at him as she opened the door. It was clearly a day off for her, given she was dressed in an apron instead of nurses scrubs. “I didn’t know you were coming over today, how have you been?”
“I’ve been fine, thanks Polly!” Kel grinned. “I just decided to drop in, is that alright? And are Aubrey and Basil here?”
“It’s fine, you’re welcome any time, of course,” Polly answered. “And they’re in the living room with Kim, why don’t you come in?”
Kel slipped in the door and kicked off his shoes while Polly called into the house, “Kel came by to visit!”
“What the fuck is he doing here!” Aubrey shouted back, rough as ever. It had been kinda funny the first month Aubrey had stayed over here, she had been too nervous to swear in front of Polly. Kel had taken more than a little bit of advantage of that to bait her.
“Party crashing!” Kel yelled back, walking past the doorway to greet his friends. He always loved how open Basil’s house was, with the kitchen and living room not cut off from one another. Polly went back to the stove as he flopped down on the ground across from Kim, who was leaning against Aubrey’s legs.
“How- how have you been, Kel?” Basil asked, wringing his hands together. Kel really needed to finally bring Basil some of his old stim toys.
“Great,” Kel responded with a bright grin. “What have you all been doing?”
“Having some peace and quiet,” Kim grumbled, to which Kel stuck his tongue out.
“Honestly? Not much,” Aubrey shrugged.
“This anime was getting pretty boring,” Basil agreed, and Kel realized the TV had actually been on… wow, must be really boring. He twisted to take a look and, yup, it was just two people kissing.
“This is why we only watch my recommendations,” Kim rolled her eyes.
“Do you have any ideas of what to do?” Basil turned to Kel to ask.
“No don’t! You know what Kel’s ideas are like,” Aubrey protested, grabbing Basil’s shoulders and shaking him lightly. Very lightly. It barely even made his head bob.
Oh yeah, he had gotten distracted! “Actually,” Kel clapped his hands together. “I did come here to ask for help with something!”
“Oh?” Aubrey raised an eyebrow at him while Basil leaned forward in curiosity.
“I wanted to know how to tell Hero I’m aroace!”
He was met with dead silence all around, and he looked over the surprised expressions of his friends. That was… that was kind of a weird reaction to have, to be honest. It wasn’t that strange of a question, was it?
“Congratulations on coming out, thanks for telling us,” Basil finally said, clearing his throat.
“Since FUCKING WHEN!” Aubrey burst out, leaning forwards like she was going to grab Kel by the collar. “Why didn’t you tell us, dipshit!”
That’s what he had forgot! He had been so nervous about telling Hero that he had completely forgotten his friends didn’t know yet… Kel laughed nervously, “Well, since last week.”
Kim was doubled over cackling, while Basil and Aubrey seemed to go through existential crisis. Crises? Criseses? Or maybe just the five stages of grief. Bit rude, to be honest, he had only forgotten to tell them nicely he was aroace.
“I mean, you should’ve guessed,” Kel shrugged, digging himself deeper into his hole.
“Are you telling me to stereotype you, Kelsey Pliego-Rodriguez?” Aubrey demanded, looking one step away from murdering him and asking Basil to help fake a different death for him too- Wow, he should NOT be joking about that.
“Yeah, we probably should’ve,” Basil mumbled at the same time.
Kim continued to lose her shit.
“Like, I was always grossed out by romance,” Kel remarked. “You thought that was because I was eleven, but hah! I was actually aroace the entire time!”
“Oh my god, Kel,” Aubrey groaned, burying her head in her hands.
“See, I never dealt with comphet,” Kel decided to land the finishing blow. “I just always knew romance was icky.”
“You’re such a fucking bitch,” Aubrey mumbled.
“I can’t believe I never figured it out,” Basil breathed. “You really were very aroace.”
“I actually figured that he was,” Kim cut in, a grin upon her face.
“What, how?” The three friends yelled over one another. Even Kel, for all his teasing, didn’t know what would lead her to that confusing.
“Yeah,” Kim shrugged. “You once heard Angel ask Mikhael why he was so obsessed with dating people and Mikhael went on about how romance is the greatest thing in the world. I would’ve corrected him if you didn’t, but you just came into the conversation and said that some people like dating and others don’t. I mean, that didn’t make you automatically aroace, but that really just made me more aware of your vibes.”
“Oh, I remember that,” Kel snapped his fingers together. “Mikhael was being really annoying that day.”
“Wow Kim,” Basil marveled. “How quickly did you know I was gay?”
“Basil, sweetie,” Kim deadpanned. “5 seconds.”
Basil covered his mouth to hide his laughter while Aubrey rolled her eyes again. “Anyway,” she cut in, “You were asking us how to tell Hero?”
“Yeah,” Kel nodded. “I want to come out to him, but every time I think of how, it just ends up seeming kinda awkward. And you’ve all successfully come out, so I thought you might know how to!”
“Define successfully,” Basil muttered under his breath.
“I just told everyone that Kim was my girlfriend when reintroducing her to you all,” Aubrey shrugged. “I don’t think you could copy that.”
He could claim to be married to pizza… Or wait, what was the asexual joke? It was cake, right?
“Yeah, yeah, that’s fair,” Kel rubbed the back of his neck. “What about you, Basil?”
“Eh, um…” Basil stuttered. “I don’t really have any tips, I was pretty nervous to tell you all I was gay. I don’t think I did it that well, either, I mean, I just kinda yelled it out in the middle of a picnic.”
Oh yeah, he had done that… Kel remembered tackling Basil with a hug while both older kids managed the situation much more expertly.
“How about Polly then?” Kel asked.
“I never came out to my parents!” Polly called from the kitchen, Basil thrown into a coughing fit as he choked on his own spit, while both Aubrey and Kim’s heads shot up in delight. “I’m biromantic by the way!”
“Fuck yeah!” Kel pumped a fist in the air.
“Polly just absolutely demonstrated the best coming out,” Aubrey nodded in appreciation.
“I respect that coming out,” Kim agreed.
“I was meaning to ask how Basil came out to Polly,” Kel clarified, “But that was perfect.”
“How did you come out to Polly?” Aubrey asked, turning towards Basil.
“I- uh- I- I just told her one night, when we were getting to know each other,” Basil’s voice became softer and softer as he spoke.
“He cried!” Polly added, and the flower boy blushed such a deep shade of red.
Aw, it was nothing to be embarrassed about. “You must’ve been really brave to tell her then,” Kel chimed in, smiling at his friend. “If I was that nervous I don’t know if I’d have been able to say it!”
“Yeah,” Aubrey agreed, “This shit is nerve-wracking.”
Basil giggled a bit, his cheeks still flushed, “Thanks you two.”
“But, it also does mean Basil continues to be a bad example for a non-stressful and awkward coming out,” Kim cut in. “Are you going to try to copy Polly’s method then?”
Kel crossed his arms as he thought about it, “I mean, I could, especially if one of you helped me out, but I also don’t want to do it at my house. I’ll come out to my parents at some point, probably, but it isn’t something I’m looking to do right now.”
“Yeah, that’s fair,” Aubrey nodded. “We could do it over here, right?”
“Yeah,” Basil confirmed. “But I don’t think Aubrey or I are good actors…”
“I dunno Basil, you made a pretty dramatic Juliet in eighth grade.” It had been fun to act beside Basil.
Aubrey snickered, “Oh my God, I forgot about that.”
“Honestly though Kel, you’re just gonna stress yourself out over it and end up like Basil if you think too hard,” Kim advised him. “You should just get takeout and tell him over a meal that you recently figured out you’re aroace. Not a big deal, but also not too contrived to be casual.”
“That actually sounds really good, thanks Kim!” Kel grinned at her, he was glad one of his friends had good advice!
“And congrats on figuring out you’re aroace, you seem pretty happy,” Kim tacked on.
Did he? He hadn’t really thought about it, but… yeah, this felt good. It felt right.
OragneJoe: Yo yo Sunny, how was today?
SunshineChild: Math sucks
OragneJoe: Hard same, I can’t figure out the sine cosine tangent shit
SunshineChild: I miss multiplication
OragneJoe: Now that might be going a bit far…
OragneJoe: But I also have something to tell you about my day!!!
SunshineChild: ???
OragneJoe: I’m aroace!
SunshineChild: Congrats!
SunshineChild: :thumbsup emoji:
OragneJoe: Thanks dude! Most people already know, but I plan on telling Hero myself soon
OragneJoe: Also if Basil and Aubrey say anything dont listen to them I totally didnt do anything dumb
OragneJoe: I have been asking people how they came out for advice, so…
OragneJoe: Wanna spill the beans on your thoughts, Sunny?
SunshineChild: If you all could forgive me for what Ive done it was pretty easy to convince myself that being gay and trans wouldnt be the dealbreaker
OragneJoe: Honestly??? Fair advice. But of course we wouldn’t hate you!
SunshineChild: Thank you
SunshineChild: I guess my advice is to not cry like Basil
SunshineChild: Good luck
Kel had already done all his chores for the day by the time Hero got home, something that made his entire family think he got replaced by an alien, but also gave him the power to take Hero away to eat lunch at the park.
His older brother talked about what had been going on in his classes for most of the walk, along with a few of the friends he’d made. After they’d reunited, Aubrey had threatened a whole lot of information out of Hero about his college life, then called him an unhealthy bitch and ordered him to do better. Since then, he had actually made friends, and made a point to update the group about what he was doing, even if he normally did it with a wry smile.
Sunny was the best at keeping track of Hero’s life, surprisingly. She’d often text the group chat to wish Hero luck on his exams, which would cause the rest of the group to chime in. And there were a lot of exams… Kel was not looking forward to starting college.
They both got a pizza at Gino’s, heresy for Hero, discarding his namesake like that. Kel made sure to inform everyone about what a traitor Hero was, Hero sighing as their group chat was spammed with memes making fun of him.
“Sometimes, Kel,” Hero glared at him with weary eyes. “You get tired of eating the same thing every time you come home.”
“I thought that was what home was?” Kel grinned. “Familiarity, y’know?”
Hero groaned, losing the argument before it had even begun.
Kel grabbed the pizza box and led the way through the park into their secret space behind the woods, Hero having to call a few too many times for Kel to slow down. He really needed to stop being so anxious, this would all go fine! Hero, for all his many faults, was always trying to be supportive. There was no way for this to go wrong.
Settling at the edge of the dock, Kel kicked off his shoes and let his feet dangle in the water.
“Why weren’t you wearing socks?” Hero asked, sitting down beside him.
“It didn’t feel like a sock day,” Kel shrugged. It was just like that sometimes.
“How is every day not a sock day?” Hero wondered, sounding almost as tired as he did when speaking about finals. Rude.
“Well, Hero,” Kel began. “Sometimes, socks would be too sweaty to wear. And sometimes, you forgot to put a few pairs of socks in the last load of laundry and ran out. Now, would you prefer I wore dirty, icky socks, or none at all?”
“I’d prefer you bought more pairs of socks,” Hero answered frankly, like he was smart. Kel rolled his eyes, stuffing his mouth full of pizza.
Hero ate his pizza more slowly, turning his gaze outward to appreciate the view. As a kid, Kel had been pretty bad at staying in moments like this. It was just hard to stay still when there was so much all around that caught his attention. It was only now that he became obsessed with these quiet minutes, falling perhaps a bit too deep into them.
Sometimes, he and Aubrey and Basil would just sit here for a few hours, doing homework or hanging around silently. It wasn’t what they’d been like as kids, but it still tasted familiarly sweet.
“How has school been going?” Hero asked him around a bite of pizza.
“Urgh, don’t get me started,” Kel groaned, swallowing his own bite of pizza so he could complain without getting chewed out. “My grades are fine, I promise. If me or Basil slip too much Aubrey bullies us into studying. She once shamed me in front of Mincy!”
“How rude of her,” Hero commented dryly, Kel once again feeling the sting of betrayal. “And in front of Mincy.”
“Mincy helped me study afterwards, at least,” Kel grumbled. “But still! I wouldn’t be able to play sports if I had bad grades, you all should believe in me more.”
“I do, Kel,” Hero answered, a bit too serious for what Kel had been going for. “I’m sure you’re doing well, I just wanted to know.”
“Oh,” Kel rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, er, well, it is going fine. I even got a B on my last history test!” It was quickly becoming his best class, right next to science. He had missed partnering up with Basil for science projects, he always explained the subjects the best. And Kim was surprisingly knowledgeable about historical events, and damn if she didn’t enjoy ranting about them.
“I also started taking art class,” Kel tacked on. He wasn’t very good at it, not like Sunny or Mincy. But he’d sent Sunny his first big project and Sunny had replied with a photo of it tacked up on her wall, so Kel assumed he wasn’t doing so bad.
“You’ll have to show me that work later,” Hero replied. “I still need to take an art class for my general credits, actually.”
“You really should,” Kel nodded. “They’re actually pretty fun.”
“I’ll take your word on it,” Hero agreed. “But if my work looks awful I’m definitely never showing any of you guys.”
“Aubrey would bully you for life.”
“Yeah, yeah she would.”
It was a bit awkward, growing up and past all the things you used to share with your sibling. It wasn’t like Kel dragged Hero into watching the same cartoons anymore, and Hero knew as much about sports as Kel understood cooking. Would he ever struggle to talk to Sally like this? Maybe even moreso, with all the time separating them.
Would he be a good supportive brother to Sally? Would she eventually come to him with something like this, trusting him to react well? To say the right words to make her feel like she could become herself?
Kel’s mouth suddenly felt excruciatingly dry, even a sip of Orange Joe didn’t solve it.
“You know, it’s kinda nice to hear you talking about Mincy and Cris,” Hero continued. “I know you had a lot of friends, but you never really talked about them. It’s nice to hear you keep getting to know more people, you were always good at making friends.”
“Eh, maybe,” Kel laughed, almost becoming a cough. “I think I just have a lot of hobbies, hard not to meet new people that way. Besides, if we’re talking about someone good at making friends, it has to be Aubrey. I don’t even know how she managed to form a gang but keeping that group together is a miracle.”
Hero rolled his eyes, “Just take the compliment Kel, even if I agree it’s a feat to keep those hooligans together. And both of you used to say I got along best with people, I can’t believe it Kel, you’ve become a bigger charmer than me.”
This time Kel did choke, doubling over into a coughing fit. He felt his brother’s firm hand on his back, rubbing circles as Kel recovered. “Yeah, yeah, no bro,” Kel wheezed. “Actually, I got something to tell you?”
Hero drew back, watching Kel attentively. Kel cleared his throat, yup, he could do this. “Hero, there is something I have recently discovered about myself,” Kel declared, in the deepest voice he could muster. And with a flourish of impromptu jazz hands, he shouted “I AM AROMANTIC AND ASEXUAL!”
Hero flinched back, wincing at the volume, and Kel only had a moment to feel regretful. Yeah, that probably could have gone better.
“You know what aromantic and asexual mean, right?” Kel asked. “Aromantic means that I don’t feel romantic attraction, and well… asexual is the same, but for sex. So I just don’t really want to date people, and so, yeah, that’s a thing.”
Hero cleared his throat, “Yes, um, thanks for telling me Kel, even though I did know what aromantic and asexual meant.” Kel winced, yeah, he should’ve figured. “But! But, I am glad you’ve found this out about yourself and proud you told me.” Hero opened his arms widely, “Want a hug?”
Kel squeezed the life out of his older brother. Getting older was the best, he was now the same size as Hero but with actual muscle, unlike Hero’s admittedly wimpy form.
“You know,” Hero chuckled, unhooking his arms from Kel so they just sat side by side again. “I probably should’ve guessed. You were also pretty grossed out by romance.”
“That’s what I told Basil and Aubrey!” Kel laughed. “I can’t believe I didn’t realize it earlier too.”
“So, Aubrey and Basil already know?” Hero asked, a note of caution entering his voice.
Kel blinked, “Oh, yeah! I was just, um,” Kel laughed awkwardly. “Well, I was just asking them for advice about how to tell you. Kim and Sunny know as well, but not Mom or Dad.”
“Alright,” Hero nodded, taking a second before a grin crossed his face. “You were so nervous that you asked Aubrey and Basil for advice?”
“It wasn’t my smartest moment,” Kel defended himself. “They had successfully come out before! I thought they might have some good tips.”
“Kel,” Hero looked at him blankly. “Basil was practically crying when he came out.”
“I was young, I forgot!”
Hero shook his head.
Nice to know that even coming out wouldn’t spare Kel from being bullied.
“I’m glad you told me though, even if you were anxious,” Hero commented, turning back to the lake. “It’s- it’s nice that you still trust me like that.”
“Of course I trust you Bro,” Kel snorted, “That’s never gonna be in doubt.”
He stole the last piece of pizza while Hero was distracted by honest brotherly feelings. Yeah, this was a good coming out.