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Nasir walks into the bedroom to find Agron standing in his closet in his underwear. He supposes it’s technically their closet, for now, which is still taking some getting used to, despite how much time he’s spent at Agron’s place over the past year and a half. But that doesn’t really solve the problem of Agron not being dressed, and the fact that they should’ve been out the door by now.
“What’s the problem, babe?” he asks.
Agron just groans in response.
Nasir laughs at him. “That bad, huh?”
Agron turns around and glares at him, but there’s not any heat behind it. “I can’t figure out what to wear,” he whines.
“You could probably just wear what you have on now,” Nasir suggests, giving Agron’s perfectly cut body a slow once over with his eyes. Agron just rolls his own.
“Not helping.”
Nasir doesn’t understand why it’s such a big deal. “Why is what you’re wearing such a big deal? It’s just Pride.”
Agron reaches out and grabs Nasir’s arm, pulling him closer and pressing their foreheads together. “It’s not just Pride, it’s our first Pride together, and the first one in years that I’m not working, just enjoying, and, I don’t know, I just want it to be special.”
Nasir tilts his head back so he can press a kiss to Agron’s lips, gently holding his face in his hands. “It already is special, babe. We’re both here, and we get to spend the entire day together and with our friends and it’s going to be awesome, no matter what you’re wearing.” He kisses him again, then smacks him on the ass. “Now hurry up and get dressed, or I really will make you go out there in just your underwear.”
Agron laughs, but moves back toward the closet again. “You would never. Too many guys would hit on me, and you’d be jealous all day,” he says, grabbing a white v-neck tee and pulling it on.
“Isn’t that more your area?” Nasir teases, and Agron flips him off over his shoulder. They had some issues with Agron’s jealousy last year, and Nasir’s just glad they can joke about it now. It wasn’t a fun few weeks of fighting, never mind the forty-eight hours Nasir thought they might not be able to fix things at all. He’s been thankful every day since that they were able to work it out.
Agron pulls on a pair of khaki shorts and sits down on the bed to put on his white sneakers. He’s somehow managed to dress as the polar opposite of Nasir, who’s wearing dark, skinny jeans, a black tank top, and his black chucks. His hair is loose for now, but he has a few elastic bands around his wrist so he can pull it up later once it heats up. According to Agron, for the first time in years it’s actually not supposed to rain on the parade, and it will be warm. Agron stands when he’s finished with his shoes, then grabs his wallet, phone, and keys off the desk and puts them in his pocket. Then he grabs Nasir’s hand and pulls him along behind him, like he was the one making them late. Nasir just smiles and shakes his head, and follows his boyfriend out the door.
***
Nasir’s really glad they live close enough to walk, because the T would’ve made them even more late than they already are when they finally get to the meeting spot. At least they’re not the last ones there. Spartacus and Sura were probably the first to arrive, they always are, but Mira and Donar, Naevia and Crixus, and Saxa and Belesa are already there, so they’re just waiting on Gannicus and Sibyl as per usual. As he takes inventory of their friends, Nasir realizes they’ve all paired off by now, which is way more grown up than he feels most days. It also still amuses him that for such a Professional Gay, Agron’s closest friends are all straight couples and two bisexual girls. If they were anyone else, Nasir might be a little annoyed at all the heterosexuality at Pride, but there are few people more vocally passionate about freedom and equality for all than Spartacus and Crixus, as well as the rest of their friends.
Mira spots them and runs over, throwing her arms around Nasir, and he hugs her back tightly. She’s been Agron’s best friend since they met in one of their gender studies courses in college, and she’s become one of Nasir’s too. He gives Agron a smug look over Mira’s shoulder that she went for him first. Agron just rolls his eyes and waits his turn for Mira to launch herself at him, which she does after giving Nasir another squeeze. Agron actually picks her up and twirls her around, and Mira’s laughing breathlessly when he finally sets her down.
“I’m so glad you guys are here!” she says, grabbing onto Agron’s arm to steady herself.
“We’re glad you’re here, too,” Agron answers. “Hey, man,” he then says to Donar, who is walking over to them. “Good to see you, it’s been so long!” Agron says, sarcastically.
“Shut up,” Donar says as he punches Agron lightly on the shoulder, then puts his arm around Mira. He’s Agron’s roommate, but they haven’t seen him around the apartment much since he and Mira started dating a few months ago. “Hi, Nasir,” he says.
“Hey,” Nasir replies.
“We should probably get our spots along the parade route,” Spartacus shouts at everyone, and they all start to make their way down the street, Gannicus and Sibyl having finally arrived.
Once they get their spots staked out, Agron turns to Nasir and says, “Hey, so, I know I’m not working, but I feel like I should go check on everyone anyway. Wanna come with?”
“Sure,” Nasir says, smiling at Agron fondly. He’s a workaholic, but it’s important work, and Nasir is happy to say hi to his co-workers. And if he’s being totally honest, to keep Agron from staying over there too long. They tell everyone they’ll be back in a few, and head over to where everyone from MassEquality has gathered in the lineup by their float. They all greet Agron and Nasir loudly and warmly, and then of course, Agron’s boss pulls him away to ask him about something. He leaves Nasir with Pietros, who Nasir really likes talking to anyway, with an apologetic look. Nasir can’t really imagine what Agron’s needed for; he’s the Public Policy Coordinator and doesn’t usually have anything to do with special events or PR. But today is typically an all-hands-on-deck day, and he’s lucky he was able to have it off in the first place, so Nasir just chats with Pietros while he waits.
It’s actually his first year at Boston Pride full stop, not just a Pride with Agron, so Pietros starts telling him stories about years past. He’s laughing at Pietros’ story about the year he met Barca at Jacque’s, when Agron finally returns.
“Oh, the infamous Jacque’s story!” Agron says, when he catches on to what they’re talking about. “I was there, Nasir, we have to show you pictures sometime. Barca seriously looks amazing in drag. Hey, P, you think we could get him to at least put on the platforms again? I want him to stand next to Nasir in ‘em, he’d probably be exactly twice as tall!”
Pietros cracks up, and so does Nasir, but he still slaps Agron’s chest lightly. Agron just grins his absolutely fucking irresistible grin at him, and he is so lucky he has those fucking dimples because Nasir can abide all the short jokes in the world because of them.
“We’re gonna see you guys later, right?” Agron asks Pietros.
“Yep, as soon as we get everything broken down after the parade, we’ll be there.”
“Awesome. Have fun!” Agron says. They both wave to Pietros and everyone else, then start walking back over to where they left their group.
Agron takes Nasir’s hand in his, and Nasir smiles up at him, feeling pretty overwhelmed with happiness. He can see it reflected back at him in Agron’s face, and he has to just stop him in the middle of the sidewalk and kiss him, soft and sweet. “I love you,” he whispers against Agron’s lips. Agron kisses him again, and whispers, “I love you, too” right back.
***
Somewhere along the way back to watch the parade, they end up with handfuls of rainbow beads. They hand them out to everyone, and the wait for the parade to begin passes by in a flurry of selfies and group pictures and rowdy choruses of “My Cock Rages On” led by Gannicus, who is really too drunk for not quite noon.
The parade finally starts, and Nasir is kind of blown away at the sheer volume of everything. He’s only been to Pride once in his hometown, and it was nothing like this. The crowds are huge and loud and the floats are bright and full of people. He feels like he’s a part of something bigger than himself, and that he’s very much able to just be himself, and feel confident in it, and he has to take several moments to just look around and take everything in. It’s not like Boston is an unfriendly place to be as a young gay man, but there’s something about it feeling like the entire city is theirs, that no one has to hide and everyone truly is equal that makes the breath catch in his throat and wetness creep into his eyes. Agron catches him at it a few times but doesn’t comment on it; Nasir can tell by the look on his face that he gets it, understands the emotions he’s feeling, and he doesn’t even try to rub it in that he tried to tell Nasir earlier how special today would be. Nasir really loves him for all of those things. Agron wraps an arm around his shoulders and kisses his temple. Nasir puts an arm around his waist and settles against Agron’s side, until the next time they are prompted to put their hands up and dance.
***
They have some time between the parade and the party that night, but instead of heading out to eat like they had planned, they walk as quickly as they can manage back to Agron’s, their, place. Nasir’s just staying there for the summer while he works as a research assistant on campus before his final year of undergrad. He’s pretty much been assured that he’ll get into the Environmental Health graduate program, but this assistantship will definitely help. He’s always lived in campus housing during the school year, but needed a place to stay for the summer, and Agron had offered. It’s actually been a really great few weeks so far. Nasir stayed over a lot this past year anyway, and it’s both not that different and at the same time completely different.
Before Nasir knows it, they’re through the front door and climbing up the stairs to their bedroom, Agron basically glued to his back. He pushes Nasir until he’s right up against the bed, but doesn’t push him down onto it like Nasir thought he would. Instead, he sweeps Nasir’s hair over to one side and attacks the side of his neck with his mouth while his hands reach down to unfasten Nasir’s jeans. Agron’s scruff scrapes deliciously in contrast to the softness of his lips and tongue, and Nasir feels a shiver run down his whole body as he tilts his head to the side for more. He shivers again when Agron’s hands make their way into his jeans and rub against his quickly hardening dick through his boxer-briefs.
He sucks one more kiss to Nasir’s neck, then drops to his knees, taking down Nasir’s pants and underwear with him. Nasir feels his hands grip his ass then slide up, pushing his tank top out of the way before Agron’s lips are on his lower back, sucking a mark there. It hurts and feels amazing at the same time, and he has to grab his dick and stroke it a few times. Agron pulls his lips back with an obscene sounding pop, then spreads Nasir’s cheeks and licks him from bottom to top. Nasir groans, “Fuck.” And when Agron does it again, he breathlessly says, “Agron, we don’t have time for all that,” as much as he hates to stop him because it feels so fucking good.
Agron growls, “I know,” and licks him one more time before sitting back and spinning Nasir around and pushing him to sit on the bed. He spreads Nasir’s thighs and crawls between them, grabbing Nasir’s hips and leaning down to take his cock in his mouth. Nasir leans his head back and hisses, one hand holding his shirt out of the way and the other running through Agron’s hair. Agron sucks him deep, and Nasir can feel his throat fluttering around the head of his cock, and he can’t help but thrust up, tiny flexes of his hips to drive himself further into that tight, wet heat. Agron pulls up a bit to breathe, then sinks back down, encouraging Nasir’s movements with his hands.
Nasir’s breathing hard through his nose, biting his bottom lip, not to keep quiet but to try to hold back somehow because he’s so close already. He makes the mistake of looking down at Agron, who meets his eyes, his mouth stretched obscenely around Nasir’s dick, and Nasir has to squeeze his eyes shut. But it’s too late, the thrusting of his hips becomes erratic as he chases the sensation flooding through him and gasps as he tugs on Agron’s hair and comes.
Agron keeps licking and sucking him as he comes down from his orgasm, until it’s too much, and Nasir has to push on his shoulder to get him to stop. He pulls off and nuzzles his face in Nasir’s groin, breathing him in, and Nasir has to collapse back onto the bed to catch his own breath. Agron presses a kiss to the join of his hip and thigh, then crawls up over him on the bed and presses his lips to Nasir’s. The kiss is sloppy, Agron’s mouth tastes like him, and Nasir reaches down to press his hand against Agron’s shorts where he is rock hard. Agron whimpers and thrusts against Nasir’s hand. Nasir reaches down with his other one and Agron adds a hand to help and together they manage to get his shorts undone and shoved down along with his underwear just enough so Nasir can wrap a hand around his dick and stroke. Agron is pretty far gone, so mostly Nasir just keeps a tight fist around him and Agron thrusts into it while they kiss, and Agron bites down on Nasir’s already sore bottom lip when he comes.
He collapses on top of Nasir, getting them both sticky, but Nasir doesn’t really care. His arms are around Agron’s shoulders, one hand stroking his back gently. Agron’s face is pressed up against Nasir’s neck, and he places soft kisses there before taking a deep breath and relaxing even further on top of Nasir. Nasir kisses the top of his head, breathes in the scent of Agron’s shampoo and smiles, sated and happy.
They lie like that for a while longer, simply enjoying being pressed up against each other, until Nasir notices Agron’s breathing starting to get slower and deeper and he nudges his shoulder.
“C’mon, babe, we need to get up.”
Agron’s reaction is to tighten his hold on Nasir and groan, “Uhh-uhhhh,” in his ear.
Nasir laughs a little and shoves at Agron again, harder this time so he has no choice but to move. Agron glares at him as he sits up, but Nasir is quick to follow and kisses the look away. He kicks his shoes off, then his jeans and underwear where they’re still awkwardly bunched around his ankles, and heads into the bathroom, tugging Agron along behind him. He gets a washcloth wet and cleans up himself then Agron, who just stands there and lets himself be manhandled.
After they get dressed again, they’re on their way back out when Agron stops him before they walk out the front door. He cups his hands around Nasir’s face and tilts his head up to look at him.
“I just want to say that I love you, and I’m really proud of you, and that I’m really happy that we’ve been able to spend this day together,” he says.
Nasir feels his face break into a huge grin. “Thank you. I love you, too.” He reaches up to hold Agron’s face the same way and meets him in the middle for a kiss.
They stand there, just inside the front door, for a while longer, holding each other. Nasir is sort of surprised by how emotional he’s been today. It’s not something he had expected, but he supposes it makes sense. Accepting himself for who he is had been a struggle. He’d realized at a pretty young age that he was different, but tried to hide it and make himself act “normal”, being from a conservative family in a conservative part of the country. He had girlfriends in high school, tried everything he could to make it work, but it never did.
Getting into Harvard and moving halfway across the country to Boston had been a dream come true. He didn’t get to the city and go crazy, though. In fact, for most of his freshman year, he was just as closeted as he’d been at home. But then as he made more friends and was introduced to new people, he met someone and finally acted on all of those feelings he’d had his whole life but never done anything about before. There wasn’t really a relationship, just hooking up a few times, but he learned more about himself those few weeks than he expected and it was almost like the final step of needing to come out to himself more than anything. After that, he was different, but better. He felt more like himself than he ever had, and started opening up more.
That summer when he was back home, he came out to his parents and younger brother. They were surprised, and upset in their usual way which means they wouldn’t talk about it any further after Nasir awkwardly finished talking. They didn’t scream at him or kick him out of the house, though, so Nasir dealt with the uncomfortable silences and stilted conversation and figured he was pretty lucky. His brother didn’t seem to mind much, and they got back to their usual easy-going relationship like nothing had changed. Nasir kind of suspects he had it figured out before he said anything; Rahim was always a lot more intuitive than the rest of the family.
When his parents dropped him off at the airport for his trip back to school, his father hugged him and told him to have a good semester and to take care of himself. After his mother hugged him, she held his face in her hands and said, “We love you, Nasir, just as you are.” Nasir’s eyes filled up with tears, as did his mother’s, and he looked over to his father, who just nodded his head, which for him, was the equivalent of a loud and boisterous declaration. Nasir spent the first thirty minutes or so of his flight crying quietly in relief, not realizing just how badly he’d needed to hear them say that they accepted him instead of simply not rejecting him. It still wasn’t something they talked about much, and when he had first mentioned having a boyfriend, and when they met Agron for the first time, it was still awkward. But knowing they love him is enough.
Agron squeezes him tight, then pulls back a bit to look at his face. “You got quiet again,” he says with a small smile, pushing some loose strands of Nasir’s hair behind an ear.
“Sorry,” he replies. “I’m just… I didn’t think I’d be this emotional today, is all.” He shrugs, not really sure how he can explain what today means to him.
Agron kisses Nasir’s forehead. “I think it’s understandable that you are. And, because it’s you, I get why you’re surprised by it,” he says with a fond look on his face.
Nasir rolls his eyes at that last part, but with a smile. “Okay, c’mon. Enough feelings for now, we have a party to get to.”
***
This time they are the last ones to arrive, but they don’t care. Jacque’s is packed, but they have their usual table, and the show hasn’t started yet. Agron signals their server for more drinks and buys a round for everyone. As the show is about to get started, some of Agron’s co-workers begin to trickle in and pull up space at their already over-crowded table, but the more the merrier tonight. Pietros sits down next to Nasir.
“Where’s Barca?” Nasir asks.
“You’ll see,” Pietros says with a smug grin.
Just then the lights in the house go down and the stage lights up. Agron puts his arm around Nasir’s shoulders as they turn to look at the stage.
A loud voice booms over the PA system. “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and everyone in between, welcome to Jacque’s Pride Extravaganza! Please welcome to the stage your hostess for this evening, Barca of Carthage!”
Barca walks out on stage, dressed as an ancient warrior princess, complete with a spear and platform heels that add at least eight inches to his already formidable height, and do really wonderful things to his legs, if Nasir is being honest. This isn’t Nasir’s first drag show, but he’s never seen his friend in drag, and Agron wasn’t kidding, he looks fucking amazing. He turns to look at Agron, who’s laughing at the expression on Nasir’s face. “Told you,” he leans in to speak low into Nasir’s ear.
Nasir’s elbow maybe makes contact with Agron’s side. Just a little. Of course, all Agron does is kiss his cheek and tighten his arm around Nasir’s shoulders.
Barca, who has technically retired but still appears in drag for surprise special events like this one, hosts the show masterfully, keeping the crowd engaged between performances and never letting the energy drop. After the last number, the tables near the front of the house are cleared away, and everyone is invited up to dance. Agron and Nasir join in for a few songs, and when Barca comes out from backstage to say hi to everyone and dance with Pietros, Agron does make Nasir stand next to him and everyone takes pictures of Nasir standing underneath Barca’s outstretched arm that’s well above his head. They don’t stay much longer after that; it’s late and the day has been long and full and emotionally exhausting, so they say goodbye to everyone and head back home.
***
Nasir’s brushing his teeth when Agron comes up behind him in the bathroom and wraps his large arms around him, burying his face in Nasir’s hair. “I need to spit,” Nasir says around his toothbrush, so it comes out sounding more like, “I eed oo it.” Agron gets the translation, because he loosens his hold on Nasir enough that he can lean forward and spit into the sink. He rinses his mouth and his toothbrush, then straightens up and leans back into Agron’s embrace, watching them in the mirror.
“Thank you for such an amazing day,” Agron says.
“Thank you,” Nasir replies. They smile stupidly at each other for a moment, then Nasir reaches onto the counter for one of their phones that’s sitting there and takes a picture of their reflection. Before he climbs into bed with Agron, he posts it to Instagram with the caption, First Pride with my love. #bestdayever