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“It’s more than just peeing in a cup, Franklin.”
Well, that was true. A full panel would also have to include a blood test. Shit. “Are you afraid of needles? I can go with you, D. I’ll hold your hand and everything.”
Diego looked away sharply and the lines around his mouth pulled taut. “While it’s been over a year since my last test, I’m pretty sure it’s more than just a urine and blood sample collection. The last time I went they also had to do swabs.”
Oh yeah. Frankie had forgotten about that one. It had paled in comparison to the blood test, which had made Frankie nearly faint becausehewas definitely afraid of needles. Was that it? Diego didn’t want to...
“Oh,” Frankie said quietly, and Diego closed his eyes, resting his head back against the arm of the couch. “Fuck, Diego, I… I’m sorry. I didn’t even think about how that could be challenging for you. Did you… have a bad experience in the past?”
Diego sighed. “I had a fine experience at the LGBTQ clinic near campus, but they only take students. Since I am no longer a student, it means I have to find a new place, which means researching all the horror stories trans and queer people have experienced at each clinic and trying to decide which one sounds the most tolerable.”
Frankie wanted to cry. He wanted to throw himself at his boyfriend’s feet and apologize for being so blind to everything he had to go through on a near daily basis. But he knew that wasn’t going to fix anything.
“How about I do it? I’m happy to do all the research since it won’t be triggering for me. I am still in contact with a lot of people from the Rainbow Club who have graduated. I could put out some feelers and get a sense of the most trans friendly clinics in the city.”
Frankie leapt off the couch and grabbed his laptop off the kitchen table. He scurried back to the couch and found Diego sitting up, looking at him somewhat skeptically.
“I just got an idea for the cafe! We should have a bulletin board where we can post flyers, ads, and information about local businesses that are friendly to people who are LGBTQ, differently abled, neurodivergent, and people of color. We’d have to curate it of course, but how awesome would it be to have one main place to go to find this sort of information? We could mirror the bulletin board on our website too, then people wouldn’t even have to come in to get the information… although I know we would want them to come in and experience our business. Okay, what if we provide a coupon for anyone who adds a service or writes about an experience they had on the online bulletin?”
Frankie’s rambling was silenced by Diego’s soft lips on his. They’d spent the past few weeks kissing, groping, and touching each other above the belt and above their clothes. This kiss was nothing new, and yet it felt tender and a little like they were speaking a language only they could understand. Love and acceptance and thanks.
“You’re so amazing, Franklin. I’m sorry I didn’t say something earlier, it’s just… hard to talk about sometimes. Of course you would want to help me and support me.”
Diego pressed his forehead against Frankie’s temple, which was a recent habit of theirs, and seemed to be Diego’s way of communicating trust and closeness. Frankie slanted their mouths together for another kiss. Right. They were supposed to be talking about Diego, and Diego getting tested so they could finally have sex. They were not talking about the cafe.
Frankie went to close the laptop, but Diego stopped him with a gentle hand on his wrist. “Write down all your ideas,querido.I can wait a few minutes.”
Frankie eagerly obeyed, and he sent off a few messages and emails while he was at it. He solicited feedback from friends and acquaintances on the best trans-friendly clinics, but also posed the idea of collecting information on other businesses and services. Before he closed the laptop, he saw several responses pop up because even on Thanksgiving night, their community showed up for each other. Consequently, Frankie had to make sure they showed up for the community.
Frankie was able to give Diego three options by the end of the weekend. Diego made an appointment at the one closest to their apartment. Frankie waited anxiously at home, skipping one of his dinner runs with the delivery service so he would be home the second Diego returned.
When he finally did, he looked shaken and was holding a Gatorade in a flavor Frankie knew he would never choose for himself.
“D?” Frankie asked, rushing forward to wrap an arm around Diego’s back.
“I’m okay. It… was fine, actually, but I was so anxious, first for the swab and then for the blood test. I, uh, actually passed out. The incredibly nice, very attractive nurse had to help me crawl to one of the beds to wait it out. He said it happens to many of the gender queer patients they see. Apparently, we faint because we’re holding so much tension in our chest that we actually begin to restrict our own blood flow. The brain pretty much tells the body to be horizontal as quickly as possible, and the best way to achieve that is by… fainting.”
Frankie collapsed onto the couch and pulled Diego down with him, arranging him as best he could in his lap. He knew Diego had some qualms about his height and usually liked to be the one doing the holding. But this time Frankie wanted to wrap Diego up and never let go. Surprisingly, Diego didn’t seem to mind, curling easily into Frankie’s chest and placing his fingertips against Frankie’s heart likeithad been the one working hard today. Well, to be fair, it sort of had been – it had been beating out a panicked, lovesick rhythm for Diego.
Frankie tried to distract himself while they waited for the test results by planning for the holidays. His parents were coming. They were fed up with their kids skipping Thanksgiving two years in a row. Obie and Seth didn’t have plans, so when Frankie casually mentioned to Obie that his parents were coming into town, Obie and Seth offered to host Frankie, Diego, Penelope, and their parents.
Usually, this would have royally stressed Frankie out because they had decided not to tell anyone they were dating yet. They wanted to launch the cafe successfully and focus all attention there. They didn’t want to deal with people questioning their decisions. But Frankie still had to see his family, so he’d have to pretend like he wasn’t sitting next to the most amazing man he’d ever known, who he was definitely planning out a long happy future with, in his head. Thankfully, it turned out Diego was flying to meet his cousin and her family for Christmas. So, all Frankie really had to worry about was what to get him for Christmas, which was less of a problem since he already had over fifteen ideas, and now just had to narrow them down.
He was flipping back and forth between cranberry recipes and his somehow still growing gift list for Diego when the man himself walked in. He was holding his phone in one hand, and a bouquet of roses in the other.
“Mon chéri?” Frankie asked, using his new favorite term of endearment. He thoughtmon chou, andmon chouchouwere sweeter phrases, but they had turned into an inside joke, and he wanted a nickname that was sweet but also serious. Colette had describedmon chérito him as being analogous with “sweetheart” in English, but some people used it as “darling,” so Frankie decided to use it.
Diego smiled shyly at the endearment and slowly walked over to hand Frankie his phone, not the flowers. Frankie glanced down and saw the test results. He quickly scrolled through them and then grinned excitedly up at Diego. Diego had a soppy look on his face as he accepted his phone back and then thrust the flowers forward, practically into Frankie’s face.
Frankie stood so he would no longer be looking up at Diego, although given this news maybe he’d be looking up at Diego for a different reason very soon.
“Pour moi?” Frankie asked, over accenting the French and batting his eyelashes.
“Si, para mi querido,” Diego answered flawlessly. Frankie wasn’t sure if they were becoming trilingual, or if they were just good at reading each other… or maybe they were simply using incredibly rudimentary phrases.
Frankie threw his arms around Diego’s neck and kissed him soundly. Diego pressed into him. Frankie pushed back, rubbing his growing erection against Diego’s leg. “Is this… you asking?” Frankie whispered against his mouth.
“Yes.”
