Fire and Fuck You

“Hey, you’ve been cleaning.” Sorrento looks around approvingly.

They’re at Leon’s place to talk about an unveiling party for his new album. Sorrento brought some sketches for posters and seems astounded to find the coffee table clear of the drug paraphernalia that usually occupies the surface.

“Yeah. I wanted to get the place ready for…”

“Another famous Leon party? Usually you add drugs for those, not take them away.”

“No…” He takes a deep breath then looks at Sorrento defiantly. “For Rain. So he can be comfortable here.”

Sorrento pauses in the middle of laying out sketches. “I thought you were ending that shit.”

“Listen,” Leon says with a forceful edge, and he feels a little of his former fire and “fuck you” rear up, things he hasn’t really felt since the green drink ceremony. It’s slightly exhilarating to have them again. “I respect you and I think you’re right about some stuff, but you don’t get to tell me how to run my whole life. Rain and I aren’t the first couple with an age difference. Look at Abner and Eli, or that Ike kid from Saratoga – he had to have been half his boyfriend’s age.”

A familiar, stubborn set appears in Sorrento’s jaw. “So you’re just gonna keep things fucked up with Diego and Simon?”

“I’ve seen Simon. And I know Rain’s talked to him.” Leon crosses his arms. “He’s getting over it. And he’s dating Enrique.”

Sorrento is quiet for a long moment, glaring at him. “Yeah, I knew about that.”

Leon’s eyebrows shoot up. “You knew and you still wanted to chew me out? What, did you need to rub your whole ‘I’ve had a revelation’ moment in my face? Shit, you think I didn’t have my own? How do you think I ended up with Rain at the end of the night?”

“Alright… I’ll admit, I had sorta been wondering about that.” Sorrento sighs and a little of the irritation leaves his face. “So this is your revelation? Start dating a kid?”

“You know he’s a lot more grown up than most of the kids his age,” Leon fires back. “And the revelation was that it’s time I tried to actually make something really work with someone. Stop fucking around and… and keeping everyone shut out. And that someone turned out to be Rain.”

Another long moment passes. “You’re really trying to make this work?”

“Yeah. I am.” They stare each other down and Leon half-expects Sorrento to storm out in a temper.

“Shit,” he finally says. “Alright. I didn’t know it was… you were trying to get serious.” He sits down on the couch. “You got a beer?”

“Diego’s not gonna like this,” Sorrento says when Leon returns with a pair of bottles and joins him on the couch. “But I’ll try and tell him this one’s… different.” He takes a long drink. “Are you really gonna stop sleeping around?”

“I… I don’t know. We didn’t really talk about it. He says it’s not a relationship, but he says we’re together, so… yeah, I don’t know.”

“Do you want to stop sleeping around?”

“I don’t even know that yet! Part of me says yes. And part of me wonders if that green shit kinda wears off eventually, and what then? I don’t want to… to lose love when I’ve only just found it.”

“Wait, love?”

Leon looks him in the eye. “Yes.”

“Shit.” It is, apparently, a day for short statements and long pauses. Finally Sorrento turns to the coffee table. “Alright then. Let’s talk glitter.”