Ewon

"Are you sure about this?" Taehyung put his hand on my knee in the back of the stretch limo "There's still time to back out."

Backing out sounded good. Like, really good. Forget we'd ever had that conversation, go back to keeping our fingers crossed that no one found out about us, and never bring up the idea of coming out again. Once we made this move, there was no putting the cat back in the bag. Or back in the closet. Whatever. After this, I would be on a lot more radars than I was comfortable thinking about.

Taehyung squeezed my leg, and I realized I still hadn't answered him. Clearing my throat, I faced him. God, he looked good. His brow was pinched with worry, but his face was as handsome as ever. His hair was carefully styled that made his face look mature so it emphasized his sharp jaw and full lips. The black Armani tuxedo and flawless bowtie didn't hurt either.

What was I so nervous about? The world finding out that this sweet, gorgeous man was my boyfriend? That wasn't exactly something to be embarrassed over. 

I smiled and covered Taehyyung's hand with mine "Yeah. I'm sure."

The concern in his expression faded, though it didn't disappear "It doesn't have to be tonight if you're not ready."

"I know. But..." I took a deep breath "The sooner we put it out there, the sooner we can stop sweating over keeping it a secret."

Taehyung nodded "Well, and for all we know, everyone will find something else to focus on in a week." the furrows between his eyebrows came back "But it could also be a big thing. The public is weird, and you just never know what will hold their attention."

I exhaled slowly, willing some of my nerves to settle down "I guess we'll see, won't we?"

"We will." he took my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze "But we'll be okay no matter what happens. I'm not going anywhere, and nothing changes between us."

I managed a smile "I know. That's the one thing I'm not worried about."

His brow pinched "Just say so if you change your mind. Even if it's at the last second. No one will see you until you're out of the car."

I was shaking my head before he'd finished "No. I want to do this. No more hiding." 

He studied me uneasily, but his features began to relax into a smile. He glanced up ahead. “We’re only a few cars back, so it’s almost our turn.”

Oh God. No, I wasn't backing out of this for anything, but nervous? Christ, yes. Especially when the car rolled forward a few feet, drawing us closer to the thick crowd surrounding what I assumed was the end of the red carpet. Even in the daylight and through the heavily tinted windows, I could see camera flashes from here.

I've got this. We've got this.

Taehyung and I busied ourselves straightening bowties and fussing with cufflinks. We turned off our phones since the organizers frowned on phones going off during the event itself, and we were both anticipating some calls and messages tonight.

Then the car stopped again, and Taehyung patted my leg "We're next."

I closed my eyes and exhaled. Okay. Okay. We could do this. I could do this. I didn't have to say anything. All I had to do was stay by Taehyung's side, smile, follow his lead, smile some more, and make it down the red carpet. Easy. Sort of.

The car rolled forward.

Stopped. 

There was movement outside, and then someone opened the door, letting in a rush of SoCal heat. Taehyung put on one of those smiles I'd seen in a million photos, and stepped out of the limo. Immediately, people started calling his name and shouting questions at him. He paused, probably letting them get a few photos, then turned to me and extended his hand.

Second thoughts froze me in place. Once I got out of the car, there'd be no turning back. The whole world would know.

They'll know you're dating Kim ing Taehyung, idiot. Get your out of this car.

I took a deep breath, put my hand in his, and stepped out into the blinding sunlight.

The ripple of voices told me we had absolutely not gone unnoticed. Of course everyone had already been focused on him. Now they were focused on us.

Cameras.

Faces.

So many cameras and faces.

People called out both our names, and flashes went off, and suddenly I was centerstage in that middle school play, my mouth parched and my lines forgotten. Panic shot through me. What do I do? Where do I go? What was I thinking? Why is everyone looking at—?

Taehyung laced our fingers together and, barely moving his mouth, whispered "You're doing fine."

I nodded, but I didn't dare speak because there was a small chance I might puke. I just kept a startled smile in place and stayed beside Taehyung.

We slowly made our way along the carpet, cameras snapping and flashing the entire way. Toward the middle, Taehyung stopped, so I did too. We were facing all those reporters now. Staring right into the giant eyes of way, way too many cameras.

I sensed Taehyung looking at me, and I turned to him.

And everything...

Just...

Stilled.

There was flickering and shouting at the edge of my senses, but right here, it was just us. Just him. Those warm brown eyes fixed on me. The smile I'd fallen for five long years ago. The perfectly styled hair I would absolutely be messing up later. 

Where there'd been nerves before, there was suddenly pride. I was standing in front of all these people and all these cameras with the most amazing man I'd ever met. We were out. We weren't hiding anymore.

We're together, we were saying to anyone who cared to listen.

And right there in front of God and everyone, Taehyung lifted my face and kissed me. Shutters snapped all around us, and I almost wanted to turn to some of the photographers and ask them to send me a copy. A shot of me and Taehyung in tuxes sharing a kiss on the red carpet? Yeah, that was one for the fridge door.

We let it linger for a moment—not long enough to be obnoxious, but maybe a few extra seconds for the reporters—before we continued down the carpet.

When we reached the end and were out of sight, we both exhaled hard. He put his arm around my waist, I put mine behind his back, and we paused for a moment just to collect ourselves.

"Well." he grinned up at me "I think we made our point."

I nodded, but still didn't speak. Yeah, we'd made our point. The world hadn't ended. The sky hadn't fallen. It was a lot like the first time I'd come out as gay—everything around me was simultaneously identical to how it had been before I'd said "I'm gay." but it was also different. Like there'd been an earthquake and everything had moved, but not enough to be really noticeable unless I squinted, and I was still jittery with 

adrenaline as if I thought the whole building was still going to come down or a big aftershock was coming.

"Hey." Taehyung touched my cheek "You all right?"

Moistening my lips, I nodded again "Yeah. Just feels...big, I guess."

"Yeah, it does." he was smiling, though, and he drew me in closer "We did it. People know. Now we don't have to hide anymore."

Gazing into his eyes, I realized he was right. Our earthquake had toppled buildings, but it hadn't brought them down on top of us. It had crumbled all the walls that had been keeping us hidden and suffocated, and now we were outside in the sunshine. Now we could breathe.

"You're right. We don't." I cupped his face in both hands and and brought his face a little down pressed a long kiss to his lips.

And for the first time, I didn't have to care if anyone saw us.

In fact, I hoped they did.