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Once I was ready, I walked over to the bed and shook Charlie’s shoulder. Their eyes snapped open almost immediately and then widened further as they roamed over me. In a sleepy voice, they mumbled, “I almost didn’t recognize you. What’s with the…getup?”
I grinned, even as a part of me wanted to dance for joy that Charlie really liked my makeup and clothes and didn’t just tolerate them like some of my exes had. My clothes and makeup were as much a part of me as my café, and I hated when people didn’t seem to accept it for what it was.
“I’m going to Voice Out for the self-defense class. You’re free to stay here as long as you want. I’ll be back in a few hours.”
“No, wait!” Charlie scrambled to their feet, hair in a disarray and wearing only those sinfully sexy red panties. They looked absolutely delicious. So of course I had to lean up and press my lips to theirs. Charlie surprised me by pulling away before I could do much else, and I raised my brow at them.
Charlie blushed, looking sheepish as they said, “Morning breath. I didn’t want you to kiss me with that.” They scrunched up their face and looked so adorable that it made me chuckle.
“Can I come with you?” Charlie asked almost shyly, and I smiled widely. Another thing none of my exes had been interested in: my work at Voice Out. But then again, it was high time I realized that Charlie was unlike anyone I’d ever met.
“You want to?”
Charlie nodded enthusiastically, their curls bouncing against their shoulders. “Yeah. I love hearing about Voice Out, so I wanted to come and see. Maybe I could help in some way? You told me they have a support group for nonbinary people. That’s tomorrow, right? I could look around the place, get a feel for it so I can go there tomorrow?”
Charlie stopped speaking suddenly, as if they’d realized they had started to ramble and flushed, looking away from me. I smiled despite myself. I’d almost forgotten about the support group, but I was glad they wanted to go. I felt like they would feel more comfortable with themself if they had someone to talk about it with that wasn’t their boyfriend.
“Sounds perfect. Why don’t you freshen up and get dressed while I make us some breakfast?”
Charlie glanced at me with a smile and nodded.
“Also, I’ll be happy to come with you to the support group if you want me to, but I’ll also be totally okay if you’d prefer to go alone.”
“I want you to come,” Charlie answered immediately, making me grin. I waved them away before I was tempted to kiss them again and made my way to the kitchen.
Ten minutes later, I had toast and scrambled eggs ready, along with two mugs of coffee. As I sipped mine, Charlie walked out of the bedroom dressed in the same clothes they’d worn last night. But since they had only worn them for a few hours before I’d taken them off, the clothes didn’t look too wrinkled. Charlie smiled when their eyes fell on me and walked over, leaning down to kiss me as soon as they were close enough. I put my coffee away, pulling them into my arms and leaning up to kiss them. They made a noise in the back of their throat as their palms slid down my back until they covered my ass. Before I could react, they hefted me up as if I weighed nothing and placed me on the counter so our heights matched.
“Much better,” I whispered against their lips, sinking my fingers into their hair and holding on tightly as I kissed them again. My tongue danced with theirs, and I could taste the minty freshness of their toothpaste mingled with the sweet taste of them. Kissing them felt like nothing I’d ever experienced before. It was the feeling of being wrapped up in your favorite blanket, of watching the first snowfall, and of winning the lottery all rolled into one. It was the highest of the highs and the brightest of the sparks, and I never, ever wanted to stop.
The shrill blaring of my phone pulled me away from Charlie, and I rested my forehead against theirs, panting as I tried to catch my breath. I wriggled on the counter and huffed in annoyance when I couldn’t pull my phone out. Why did I tuck it in the front pocket?
With great reluctance, I pulled away from Charlie and leaned backward to get the phone out, glaring at Angie’s name on the caller screen as I picked up.
“What?” I snapped and heard Angie chuckle on the other end.
“Aw, did I interrupt a banging session?”
“Trust me, if that was the case, I wouldn’t be talking to you right now,” I said as I watched Charlie’s face flush with color. They’d definitely heard.
Angie laughed on the other end before she spoke again, “So, you coming today? Or do I have to teach alone?”
“We’re coming.”
“We, huh? I’m looking forward to seeing Charlie again. Didn’t really get to talk to them much at the party.”
“Cool, be there in a few.” I ended the call and looked up to find Charlie looking at the phone with a strange expression.
“What’s up with the face?”
Charlie shook their head before smiling at me. “Nothing, I was just thinking about how no one at Voice Out ever messes up my name or pronouns or anything. It’s just…surprising.”
I smiled as I ran my fingers across their cheek. “Some of them might. The young ones. The new ones. But most of the people you met at the party, they’ve been a part of this community for a long time. They understand how awful misgendering someone is and try their best to make sure it never happens. We have a few nonbinary members, and they help everyone understand what’s right and wrong. It’s how we work.”
“I’m in awe of everything you—and Mama D and Angie and everyone at Voice Out—do. I’d love to be a part of this community, this…family.”
I laughed as I hopped off the counter and pulled Charlie into my arms. “What are you talking about? You’re already a part of the family.”
After a hurried breakfast, Charlie drove us to the Voice Out building as I told them about the class I’d be teaching. We didn’t teach any kind of professional courses like judo, just simple self-defense that unfortunately, most of the kids who came to us needed. Ways to get out of a hold, to incapacitate an attacker enough to make a run for it, things like that.
