“You owe me for making me sit through all those movies.” Alyssa joked.
“I thought you liked them?” Ryan pouted.
“Nerd.” she said with a smile. It was a term of affection between them. “Most of them, yes. But let’s be fair here – I’ve let you drag me to the comics stores, sat and watched superhero movies with you, and let you ramble on about Spider-man. It’s time I get to pick the activities, okay?”
“Fine.” he grumbled, though he wasn’t really upset. “What’d you have in mind?”
“What do you think about roleplaying?” she asked.
“I’ve never done it. But it sounds like you have something in mind?” he said.
“Yes.” she admitted. “I found a gaming group out of the UNLV campus. They’re going to do a series of one-shots, and I want us to join their Shadowrun game. I can help you, so don’t worry about being too intimidated, ok?”
“I remember you mentioning you liked Shadowrun. Okay, what else?” he asked.
“On a more practical note, I want to teach you about gun safety, and how to use one. It may come in handy someday, all things considered.” she admitted with a sense of seriousness. “Plus, I get to sit you down and do mini Trek marathons.”
“Oh boy.” he sighed. “I guess I asked for it, didn’t I?”
“Yes, yes you did.” she grinned.
“Well, let’s have at it. The roleplaying one could be good – depending on the game, it could be good for the outreach center for some of the kids. I’ve read that it can help with coping skills and such.” he stated.
“I don’t know about that, but it’s a good way to pass some free time.” she said with a smile. “Now – let’s get that character creation out of the way.” she said, grinning with excitement. Ryan couldn’t help but smile. It was nice to see Alyssa in a good mood, and not tired from work or worrying about Nick.
They got to work on making characters, coming out with Ryan making an Ork Street Samurai, and Alyssa creating an Elven Physical Adept. Within the next couple of days, she dragged him to campus for the game. It was clear to Ryan that Alyssa was enjoying herself, if not everyone present (some people were jerks and kept hitting on her), and he found himself enjoying things as well. Well, looks like I can add another hobby to my list, he thought.
~~~
Ryan and Alyssa were sitting on the couch in Alyssa’s apartment. The lights were off, and they were cuddled under a blanket, popcorn in hand, and watching a movie. It wasn’t that was particularly keeping their interest, so they talked throughout, occasionally laughing and discussing some absurdity they had just witnessed.
“Hey Lys, can I ask a personal question?” Ryan finally asked.
“Only if I can reserve the right to ask one back.” she said.
Ryan thought for a moment. “That’s fair.”
“So, what’s the question?” she asked, scoping up a handful of popcorn.
“Why are you no contact with your parents?” he asked.
She didn’t answer right away. Slowly, she chewed on her popcorn, while Ryan patiently waited for her to answer. “I argued with my parents a lot. Stupid teenage bullshit, but I was feeling suffocated. They were pushing me to be a high achiever, and I just wanted to be my own person. It got to be too much, so I carried through with a threat I had made – that if they didn’t stop pushing me, I was going to sign up, and they wouldn’t be hearing from me.”
“I…can relate, to an extent.” Ryan admitted.
“How’s that?” she asked.
“My parents pushed for me to do well. Dad was especially hard on me. It didn’t help that they were overly religious.” he said.
“Catholic?” she asked.
“Baptist.” he responded.
“I’m sorry.” she replied honestly, giving him a hug.
“Why jump to Catholic?” he asked.
“My family is Catholic, though I’m not. I don’t know what I am anymore.” she admitted.
“Same.” he responded, and sighed.
“Why was your Dad hard on you?” she asked.
“I’m pretty sure it had a lot to do with the fact he had served as a chaplain in the Marine Corps.” he stated. “My parents were cool about some things, like the comics, and movies…but other things not so much.”
“Did they know? About you being gay, I mean.”
“I don’t know. I never came out to them. I think they might have suspected. Senior year, there were random conversation drops about how conversion camps were a good thing, or I should join the military because it’d make a real man out of me. Crap like that.”
“I’m sorry, sweetie.” she said, leaning a head on his shoulder.
He put an arm around her. “Not your fault. It is what it is.”
Alyssa reached for the remote, and flipped to a different movie, to lighten the mood.
~~~
“Hey RyRy?” Alyssa said, poking a sleepy Ryan.
“Don’t call me that.” he mumbled, before yawning.
“Have you been sleeping?” she asked.
“Not really…roomie’s had her new fling over a lot, and I can’t always be somewhere else, you know?” he said.
“You should move.” she stated.
“She’s good people.” he said.
“Yes, but she’s always joking with you and making you uncomfortable by doing so. Same with your guests.” she pointed out. “She’s a good person, but you deserve to be comfortable in your own space.”
“I guess.” he muttered. Then he whined, “I don’t wanna look for an apartment.”
“You could always move in with me.” she offered.
“You don’t have room.” he said, scrunching his face a little before stretching.
“Like we’ve never cuddled before.” she countered. It was true that she only had a one bedroom place, but she didn’t mind sharing.
“I could move in with Nick.” he teased.
“And get him all to yourself?” she pouted.
“You got an invitation to move in with him too.” he pointed out.
“Yes, but he also has roommates, and I don’t know them as well.” she said.
“Neither do I.” he said, then sighed a little. “I’ll consider moving in with you. Besides, it’s a shorter commute to work if I’m needed.”
“That’s the spirit.” she said with a smile. “Now go get some sleep, you look like you desperately need it.
~~~
“Well, you sure seem amused.” Alyssa said as she and Ryan headed for the car.
“Aren’t you?” he asked.
“Maybe a little? But you go first, and let’s see if we’re on the same page.” she said as they got into the car to head back to her place.
“Nick’s talking marriage.” he said, sounding giddy. “Do you know how long I’ve been thinking about this?”
“A while, I imagine.” she said, smiling. “We’re on the same page, by the way.”
“So you guys really talked marriage at one point?” he asked.
“Yeah. It was after his injury. We’d talked about it, but he didn’t ask. The long distance relationship was hard on both of us. It’s why the breakup happened. What about you and him?”
“Oh, no. We never talked about it. It didn’t get legal for gays to marry until after he left.” he said.
“You think he’ll propose?” she asked, trying to keep him from getting down.
“God, I hope so. I’ve loved that man since middle school, and I regret that fight, I really do.” he said.
“Why were you so against him signing up, anyway?” she asked.
“I was afraid he’d change too much…become like my dad and his friends. I was scared I was going to lose him, one way or another.” he answered.
Alyssa reached over and gave his shoulder a squeeze. “You’re back together now, and still in love. Focus on that.”
“Yea…you’re right. So are you really going to talk to your family?” he asked her.
“Yea, I am. I’m going to call my abuela on my next day off to get their current info. I know she’ll be happy I’m reaching out.” she sighed. “I just hope they won’t be mad at me, you know? I don’t want to be cut out anymore. I miss my parents, and my brothers.”
“You have siblings?” he asked, a little surprised.
“Yeah. Two older brothers. Only, by, like, a year or two, mind you. But yes, before you ask, I’m the baby of the family, and yes, they had a tendency to be protective of me, not too much different than Nick is with Liv.”
“No wonder you’re so tough.” he grinned.
“She smiled. Well, it certainly helped me survive.” she said.
“So how long do we wait for him to propose?” he asked.
Alyssa laughed. “You’re like a lovesick girl who’s discovered a surprise proposal is going to happen and is trying to figure out when.”
“Duh?” he said. “I can’t help it. I just…it’s like, if this happens, I won’t lose him forever. I’ll always have a piece of him, you know?”
“I think I get it.” she admitted. “Well, if he doesn’t propose by the time you lose it, you could always do it.”
“No.” he stated matter-of-factly. “He has to do it, that’s the way I want it.”
She laughed again. “You’ve given this a lot of thought, haven’t you?”
“Yes. I suspect you’ve given it at least a little as well.”
She nodded. “Yeah. I can’t deny that.”
“Well, okay then. Now, this is going to sound very gay of me, but let’s go get wedding ideas.” he offered.
“Okay, okay. Could be fun.” she grinned.