Imperfectpictures

3/16/2020

Episode One-hundred-thirty-one: Coming Out

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Episode One-hundred-thirty-one: Coming Out

The following day, we were planning on easing back into filming with the boys. Edward wanted to make some ranking videos with a bunch of food a fan sent him from Baltimore. They had sent cookies and different chips, as well as barbeque sauces. I would also make a video where I cooked with them, and the men would get to try. Some of them were spicy. I was looking forward to it.

I made two kinds of muffins and a bunch of coffee for all of them to have before we got to work. Jasper and Edward were busy setting up the cameras in the kitchen and in the office while I cooked. They kept stealing kisses before the guys showed up because they knew it would be all day before they got more.

The only thing on my mind was the special video our boyfriend and I planned to do together first. I thought about what I wanted to say repeatedly in my head. For some reason, I was a little nervous. I never minded talking about my queerness before.

“DUDE!” Seth shouted when he came in and saw Jasper. I guess Edward had either been too busy or wished to surprise them. “I didn’t know you were here! Are you visiting?”

“Nope. I’m your new colleague.” He grinned at him cheerfully, lifting his mug in greeting. He had finished his work and was eating his third muffin. He really liked the berry ones. He absolutely smothered them in butter.

“Thank fucking God. We’re drowning in editing here,” Tyler mumbled. He hefted his personal equipment onto the couch before he leaned against the arm for a moment. “Thank you for getting here before the baby does.”

Chuckling, he finished his final bite before dusting off his hands. “I’m putting an advertisement together, and I’m looking into where would be the best place to post it. I thought I’d put it up sometime next week. What do you think, one person or two?”

Seth yawned loudly. “Three. Maybe the third can just be an editor for all of us.”

Sighing heavily, Edward stretched his arms over his head before uncomfortably wrapping them around his waist. “Let’s start with two. It was hard enough to find you guys. We don’t know how to start someone totally fresh. Bella was a rare fluke. I don’t think we’ll fall into the right people on the first try.”

A question swirled in my mind. “How did you meet them?” I hadn’t really been told the whole story.

“Before I came to LA, I did some filming when I visited. The year before. On and off when I did voice work. I hired some help since it was just me. But it was only Tyler, though. When I moved here permanently, he recommended Seth since we were busting our asses. I wish you had more friends,” Edward said under his breath, taking a sip of coffee.

Tyler chuckled. “I do. They just don’t do this. Sorry.”

“Meh, It’s fine, mate,” he replied. “So, before we get started, Bella and Jasper wanted to make a special video together, since it will be their very first. We’ll start with that. And then after, we’re going to rank the chips and cookies, take a break, cook, and then we’ll finish with the barbeque sauces.”

“You just want to do the spicy stuff last,” Tyler teased, picking up a muffin. “Thanks, kid,” he said to me, lifting the baked good. “What’s this?”

“Mixed berry and the other is banana nut.”

He picked one of the banana ones, grinning. I knew how much he loved them. “Alright, breakfast first, and then we’ll get started.”

“What kind of video?” Seth questioned, pouring himself a cup of the hot coffee. It had finished minutes before they arrived. He used one of the massive mugs Edward usually drank out of that was like three normal servings.

“We’re just going to talk a little. Kind of a getting-to-know-you-thing. You’ll see. It won’t take very long,” I promised quickly.

Jasper went to the sink where he silently washed his plate and mug. I could tell he was nervous. I walked up to him, putting my hand on his back while the boys continued to chat about the work we had for the day.

“Don’t worry. You’ve got this.”

“Yeah,” he nodded, but I heard him swallow heavily.
He and I sat in front of the green screen at the table. Underneath, we held hands. Tyler and Seth didn’t notice, I think. One of them was behind the camera while the other was handling the boom mic for better sound. Edward was standing behind them, clutching a clipboard and pen. He was grinning just a little, but he knew what was about to happen.

“Three, two, one…” He drew out, counting down before pointing to me.

“Hi!” I began cheerfully. “My name is Bella Swan, and today I’m with the wonderful Jasper Hale!” I grinned, my grip tightening. He waved with his other hand, smiling wildly. “So we’re doing something different to celebrate since he’s joining us full time-” The boys behind the camera erupted in applause, including Edward. I laughed. They whooped and whistled, being silly. “And we’re obviously all thrilled about it!”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” he spoke in a jesting tone, bowing in his seat. He took over. “As she said, this is our very first video together, and we wanted to make it extra special. It’s getting close to June, so Bella and I thought we could do something for pride month. She could talk about her experience as a queer woman, and I thought I’d come out.”

Tyler’s jaw dropped open.

I smiled over at Jasper. “Well, that was easy,” I teased.

“Right!” He laughed, throwing his hand up. “Yeah. Hi. I’m a queer man.” He turned to look at me earnestly. “So, is that how you do it? Is that how you come out? I don’t know. I’ve never done it before.”

Laughing once more at his words, I glanced at the camera. “And that kids, is how you come out to millions of people all at once.”

He pretended to brush off his hands like he had done after he had eaten the muffin earlier. “Well. I guess I’m all done then. That really was easy,” Jasper smirked. “It’s your turn.”

Giggling anxiously, I rubbed my hand over my forehead. That wasn’t what I was expecting him to do. “I don’t even know where to start now. You got so straight to the point.”

“And that will be the only straight thing about this video,” he replied in the driest voice possible. “Bum-dum-tsk,” he finished, holding my gaze.

My giggles turned into a cackle, though I shouldn’t have. My head fell back, my hand on my heart as I tried to compose myself. “I hate myself for laughing at that,” I told them as I stared at the ceiling for a long minute. “Okay. Someone, ask me a question or something, so I know where to go from here.”

“When did you figure out you were gay?” Edward finally asked. I brought my head down to look at him, and he winked, smiling about how the video was going.

“Thank you,” I smirked. Thinking about it for a second, I nibbled my bottom lip. “Um, I honestly always knew I liked women and men. There was never a point I went, ‘oh! I like this too!’ Uh, I remember being in preschool, maybe three or four, and having two boyfriends and still thinking the big butch blond cheerleader that was always at the bottom of the pyramid was super hot. I wanted to kiss her just like I did them.”

“You were kissing little boys in preschool?” Jasper pretended to be scandalized. “Isabella!”

“So, this story is not going in the video,” I began, looking at Edward. He raised his eyebrow, and I pointed a sharp finger at him. Finally, he nodded. “Okay… Well, not only did I kiss boys, I dated two of them at the same time. Not for like a day. But throughout preschool. Two full years. I slept between them every day at naptime, holding their hands. I was always in the middle.”

Seth laughed loudly. “And they were okay with it?”

Edward was bright red and trying not to react to what I was telling him. Jasper’s eyes were wide with surprise, snickering behind his hand. They were laughing for other reasons, obviously.

Flushing, I grinned at something I really hadn’t thought about in many years. I put my hands over my face, covering my eyes and blushing cheeks. “Oh, yeah. The first day, I pointed at them and went ‘you’re mine,’ and they were all for it. We used to go to some private spot, and I’d take turns giving them little kisses. Michael even used to bring me jewelry, that I still have in New York, because his mom was an Avon saleswoman. It was a classic romance for the ages.”

“Aw, you remember their names!” My boyfriend laughed, putting his elbows on the table. He balled his fists up and set his chin on them, playfully batting his eyelashes at me. “What kind of jewelry does a four-year-old give?”

“Little rings with purple stones, because it was my favorite color, and a necklace with a kitty holding a tiny pearl,” I elaborated. “And their names were... Michael Jordan. He was a blond boy with big blue eyes and the thickest glasses. And Luis Gonzales,” I finished with a smirk. “After my accident, I started a private school, and that was the end of that. Luis actually ended up going to school with me later, in middle school.”

Looking over at me curiously, Jasper raised an eyebrow. “Did you date then?”

“No. He was scared of me.”

“Why?” Tyler asked in surprise.

I pointed to my chest. “I got boobs in the third grade. Let me tell you, they may like them, but pre-teen boys are sure frightened of them.”

Edward laughed, blocking his face with the clipboard. “Okay. Um. So… How did you come out?”

“I’ve never had to come out to my family. Um, Alice and Rosalie always knew, and they told their mom everything at a very young age. Lettie was amazingly supportive of it. She doesn’t get it, but I think that’s because she legitimately thinks women are insane and doesn’t see the attraction. She looks at it like some people enjoy dark chocolate, and others don’t. Just because she doesn’t find pleasure in it doesn’t mean she doesn’t think others shouldn’t be allowed.”

“Which is how every straight person should feel,” Jasper stated. “I can’t imagine coming out to my family. They will never see this video, so I’ll probably have to do it to their faces someday.”

“Fuck your dad. He doesn’t need to know anything,” our boyfriend mumbled. He shrugged in answer, looking down at his hands. “Honey, when did you have your first romantic female relationship?”

“Alice, when I was twelve,” I admitted, flushing.

“You’re pansexual. Have you ever dated anyone trans before? Or maybe genderfluid, or are you just open to it?” Seth asked. I was glad we didn’t linger on the fact too long.
I nodded quickly. “Um, when I was fourteen, I started dating a boy who is still the most beautiful person I have ever seen. He could have easily been a model. His name was Ashton. He was half black, half white, and he had tight curly blond hair and big green eyes. Lots of freckles,” I smiled as I remembered him. “He was a skater, and I thought he was so cool. We dated for about six months, and all we ever did was make out, which annoyed me,” I laughed. “I wanted more. Then one night, I went to his house, and he was crying. And he tells me he was born Ashley, and I was confused at first. We had a boy named that in our class, it’s not that bad of a name.” I shook my head at my stupidity. “And then it clicked. I thought he was pranking me. That dating me was just a cruel joke that somehow got out of hand, and this was his way of breaking up with me. I really liked him, though. I asked if we could at least stay friends. And he got more upset. Saying he knew I’d leave him if he told me. And I assured him I didn’t want to. I didn’t care that he was born with a vagina.”

“Did you keep dating after that?” Jasper inquired. This voice was far more gentle and purposefully tender.

I bit my bottom lip before grinning. “For six months. Then his parents moved to someplace more accepting of him. And back then, there really weren’t long-distance relationships. Distance ended more than one of mine.” I gathered my thoughts, thinking back to that night once again. “We held each other and cried for like two hours after he told me. And then it clicked, we could have fun without getting pregnant. That was an awesome six months. Ah, horny teenagers.”

“Also something not going in the video,” Jasper breathed, chuckling. He pushed my shoulder, winking at me playfully. “I had a trans girlfriend for about a year too and-”

“Who?” Our boyfriend instantly spoke up in surprise. He couldn’t help himself.

“Katy,” he answered simply. I hadn’t heard the name before.

“No!” he shouted. “Really?” He stopped, thinking about it hard. He made confused faces like a puppy. Finally, Edward looked away as he bit deeply into his bottom lip. “She was so hot.”

I snorted. I think it was the first time he realized he had found someone transexual sexy without knowing it. Jasper clicked his tongue. “Yes, she was. But I screwed that up royally.”

“What happened?” Tyler asked in curiosity.

Our boyfriend frowned before he blew out a long raspberry. “Well, I had feelings for someone else. She deserved better than what I was giving her, anyway. It’s all worked out for the best,” he answered as he looked over at me. He pressed a big kiss on my cheek. “I get to have a fresh start in America with my two best friends. It’ll be a fantastic year. And I can’t wait to make dumb shit videos with you guys!”

The boys cheered again, making me laugh. “Shall we wrap it up?” Edward questioned with a smile. Jasper nodded in agreement. “You do the outro.”

He looked directly into the camera. “Thanks to everyone watching. We want everyone to know we support you and that it’s never too late to come out. We are all your allies, and we want nothing but the very best for you all. You are strong. You are worthy of love. And never give up. Thanks again. If you enjoyed this video, please do all the things it makes you do and comment to show your support for all the amazing people coming out June first!”

“And cut!” Edward grinned. As soon as he did, I leaned over and hugged Jasper as tightly as I could. He laughed, pulling me to him until I was in his lap.

“Don’t worry. I’ll edit this one, so nothing you don’t want in it gets through,” he whispered in my ear, making me giggle again. “Were those true stories?” I nodded. “That explains so much,” he snorted.

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Thanks to Gina for proofreading this episode!

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