Chapter Text
The race in Mugello has been incredible, the feeling of being on the podium together, finally, was something they will remember for a long while, hoping it won’t remain a one shot.
They celebrated in their room all night long, just the two of them, making love with an endless energy that only the adrenaline of doing a great race gives you.
Alex has planned to stay in Italy some more days after the GP, Luca and him would spend some private time together in Rome in Luca’s father’s home.
He was preparing two cups of ice cream while Luca was waiting for him on the sofa, reading something on his phone that was making him shake his head, a frown on his face when the other rider joined him.
“What’s wrong?”
“I was reading about this news, two girls hit on a bus in London because they refused to kiss in front of this group of assholes.”
He handed the phone to Alex and he read it. It was really sad things like this were still happening in 2019.
“It’s horrible.”
“No, it’s wrong! Completely wrong! This makes me go mad… the ones who did it are animals, no, not even animals because animals have a brain and a heart. They’re not human!”
It was the first time Alex was seeing Luca so angry. He knew his boyfriend was very sensitive and they talked more than once about how it was stupid to still consider homosexuality or any other kind of relationship that is not straight as an illness or something to keep secret or a sin.
Things like what happened in London are very common and the press doesn’t talk about this kind of crimes against the LGBT community as much as it should.
But honestly, there was nothing they could do about it, at least, that was Alex has always thought.
“We have to do something.”
“Like what?”
Luca stayed silent for a moment and Alex was starting to get worried about the serious expression on the other’s face. He knew the moment would come… they couldn’t go on hiding forever but he couldn’t suppress the fear he had of the consequences a coming out could bring.
“We can go to the Pride tomorrow and post a picture of us together.”
Alex was looking at Luca like he’s seeing a ghost.
“We are sportsmen and being gay has always been a huge taboo in every kind of sport, we can help other people like us to have the courage to come out, we’ll make people talk, we’ll give voice to men and women who are not able to live their sexuality because of their families or the prejudices of the society they live in.”
“Oh God, you’re not serious… are you?”
A spark was shining into Luca’s blue eyes, it was like a flame, something Alex has never seen before, like his boyfriend had found the answer to all the great questions of life. There was passion there, a determination that the Spanish rider knew was very typical of Luca, when he set a goal, you can be sure he’ll manage to achieve it, sooner or later.
It has always been like this, even in their relationship. Luca has always been the one to set things right when Alex had doubts, he never gave up on their feelings despite the situation between their brothers, he fought for their love against all Alex’s fears and he won. Loving Luca and being with him was the greatest thing that could happen to shy and clumsy Alex because the younger rider was making him feel important and special for who he was, not just because of his brother.
And Alex knew he could never let Luca down, even if he was scared of the possible outcome of such a gesture.
“Ever thought about studying law? You could be a great lawyer for human rights!”
“Alex, I’m being serious here! We’re privileged, compared to other people like us. No one could fire us because of this, they’d be immersed by disapproval and accused of discrimination, we have our big brothers on our back, we can only receive hatred messages by some idiot on the web but no one would dare to touch us. Unfortunately, this doesn’t apply to the majority of gay people in the world.”
“I know and don’t think that I’m not angry too. Everything you say it’s right but I’m not sure we can actually help doing this.”
“At least we can try! Alex, I don’t want to force you, you know that. But aren’t you tired of hiding? We’re doing nothing wrong but we still have to meet secretly and act as if we’re not even friends. I’m starting to hate this.”
That was a good point. Of course the secrecy was becoming annoying and he really was tired of faking.
“Maybe we should let our families know what we’re about to do.”
“So we’re doing it? We’re going to the Pride and come out?”
Alex nodded and Luca threw himself on him, making him fall back on the couch, kissing all over his face and finally sealing their deal with a hungry kiss on the lips.
The following day, they decided not to wear any sponsored t-shirt, they’ve talked with the families and their managers but not yet with the teams and the sponsors so it was better to avoid any kind of problem with them.
Luca painted two rainbows on his cheeks, making Alex roll his eyes. He wished he could be less shy sometimes but it looked like Luca was outgoing enough for both of them. He went for a rainbow tie they bought while reaching the parade.
The crowd was coloured, noisy, energetic, everyone was dancing, singing, kissing, hugging. Alex was impressed by the amount of people attending the Pride, not only from the LGBT community. It was a celebration of love, every kind of love. The rainbow was everywhere to remind that some kind of people still have no right to freely live their lives how they feel like and Luca was right, it was a nonsense. Love is love, it has no label, no age, no time.
It was great to be able to walk hand in hand, to kiss whenever they wanted because no one around them cared or considered this wrong.
They took a selfie, framing the picture in a heart with the rainbow colours and Luca posted it.
“At Roma Pride with the man I love! It’s a great feeling being here and be able to finally kiss him in front of everyone. Happy Pride Month!”