“It was wonderful,” Aydin’s hands were tangled in Ben’s hair. “I’ve never.” His voice fractured a bit and Ben raised his head, alarmed to see Aydin blinking rapidly, his eyes damp.
“Did I hurt you?”
“No,” Aydin smiled and reached up for another kiss. “No, it was just so beautiful. It’s been such a wonderful day. Sorry, I don’t know why I’m so emotional.”
Ben smiled and kissed him again. Pulling back only long enough to remove and tie the condom before lobbing it in the general direction of the trash.
“Fuck it, we’ll clean up in the morning,” he said, and pulled Aydin close.
-X
The following day Luc came charging in to the bar, only to stop short when he found Aydin and Father Michael chatting in Gaelic.
Aydin smirked at Luc’s frustration, aware of it as Luc made himself a cappuccino and then sat and waited.
Luc wasn’t actually working today, so he must have come down purely to grill Aydin.
Father Michael finished his drink and stood to leave, switching back to English. “As always a pleasure. You’re improving, Aydin.”
Aydin grinned, pleased. “Thank you, Father. I think it helps having a proper conversation. When it’s just lessons it doesn’t sink in.”
They said their goodbyes, and Luc and Father Michael also had a quick chat before he left.
Aydin spoke first when the door closed. “I didn’t know you knew Father Michael so well?”
“Don’t change the subject,” Luc demanded. “Date. News. Now.”
Aydin raised an eyebrow. “I asked first, actually.” Cracking up when Luc made a sound of frustration.
“Put us out of our misery,” Connor came in with a crate and started unloading while looking expectantly at Aydin.
He relented and told them of the unusual date and magical night. Luc had his chin on his hand looking dreamy by the end.
“It was just so different,” Aydin admitted. “I love sex, it’s fun. But this was different.”
“Because Ben really cares for you,” Luc sighed. “You can tell, the way he looks at you.”
“He’s really great,” Aydin said quietly.
Connor gripped his shoulder, so Aydin met his eyes. “That’s nothing to be scared of,” he reassured him. “Now Luc will tell you a funny story.”
Luc rolled his eyes but laughed. “You asked how I know Father Michael so well.”
Aydin got comfy. Luc looked embarrassed, so he figured this would be good.
“I’m not a big church goer, as you know,” Luc began. “And by the time I came out, when I was fifteen, I had only been going for Christmas Mass for years, because Nana insists.”
“What is this Christmas Mass thing?” Aydin wondered. He had already told them of his promise to attend.
“Because it’s family and tradition, and also it’s pretty. Obviously you’ll be coming with us at Christmas,” he said, meaning his family.
Luc said this in such a matter of fact manner that Aydin felt his eyes sting. He caught Connor smirking and pulled a face.
To the best of his knowledge, Connor had only entered the church once so far, for Paulo’s funeral. Father Michael was a good friend, and as such he never pushed the issue.
“Three weeks after I came out, Father Michael sent a message home with Nana. You know she does the flowers?”
“I’d forgotten, but yes.”
“Father Michael asked for us to go to a meeting after Mass on the next Sunday. Grandpa doesn’t go very often either. I was scared and Grandpa was being all protective, so it was kind of tense. But nothing. Nothing. Could have prepared me.”
Aydin sat up, concerned. “He can’t have said anything bad. Father Michael wouldn’t say anything bad.”
Connor was chuckling, and Luc was flushed with the memory.
“We hadn’t been to the service, so met him outside. He takes us in through the church to an office in the back. There’s another man waiting. Father Michael told me how proud he was of me, and talked briefly about the challenge of the whole Church/Catholic/Gay thing. Said he wasn’t there to judge and it was a matter of balance. As long as no one was being hurt then he would always be there to support me.”
“Okay,” Aydin said slowly, still a little concerned by the look of faint horror on Luc’s face.
“And then he said to expand on the whole no one being hurt thing, that he has asked his friend to attend and speak with me. He apologized to Grandpa and explained that as I was only fifteen, I needed a chaperone for the meeting and it couldn’t be Father Michael.”
Luc sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Turns out the guy, Ed, his name is. He works as a councillor at a sexual health clinic. He talks to me about sex. Gay sex, safe sex, HIV etc, being safe, lube, how to prep before penetration, oral sex, what constitutes sex, consent. Loads about consent. Oh my God, I’d never been so embarrassed in my life. I hadn’t even kissed a boy yet and he’s telling me how many fingers are good before you’re ready!”
Connor was laughing, but Aydin was torn between amusement and shock.
“I’m like bright red and muttering, I don’t know. ‘I haven’t, I wouldn’t’ nonsense. Father Michael gripped my hand and just told me he wanted me safe. I needed to know. Then Ed said I could ask him more questions at any time.”
Luc paused and blew out a breath. “To be fair, that conversation has served me well over the years, and did almost immediately. Turns out trying to coerce gay boys is quite a popular sport. I got a lot of attention when I first came out.”
“Same,” Aydin admitted and Connor nodded.
“And it’s hard,” Luc admitted. “I was shy when I was a kid. There was one guy. Parent at school, helped out with the sports. Made me feel like saying no was bad. Even though I knew he was being a dick.”
“You had a parent make a move on you? What did you do?” Aydin gripped Luc’s hand hard, terrified he was going to hear something terrible.
“I asked Grandpa to drive me to see Ed. I wasn’t sure. Maybe he was just teasing.”
“And?”
“Ed took a statement and the guy got warned off. He hadn’t actually done anything, but he wasn’t allowed to help out anymore. The school, Ed, and the cops all spoke with him. He went with the teasing defence, but they made it clear that teasing fifteen year old boys who were just coming to terms with their sexuality could be misconstrued and land him with a criminal conviction. The family moved away not long after.”
“Wow.”
“Tell him the best bit, Luc.” Connor was grinning.
Luc winced and grinned at the same time. “Once Ed was done, Father Michael asked me about my attendance at Christmas. He told me that regardless of what anyone else said, he would be happy for me to take communion if I wanted. But actually I didn’t. He’d realized that I was uncomfortable with it. I admitted it, so he said it was fine. I didn’t have to go up at all. Or I could have a blessing.”
“I always have a blessing,” Aydin admitted. “Started before I knew I was gay. I was vegetarian for a bit when I was like, six? The whole Body of Christ thing made me feel ill. Just couldn’t do it. So I was getting blessings before I knew I was gay.”
“When did you realize you weren’t vegetarian?” Connor wondered.
“When I discovered McDonalds!”
They all laughed, but Aydin turned back to Luc. He knew there was more to this story.
“Yea, I do the blessing. It’s nice. But THEN,” he glared as Connor started to shake harder with laughter.