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It was peaceful at first.
Solros was napping on the couch, with two cats both sleeping near him. He looked insanely adorable. Luan has snapped a secret picture of him, planning to later show him. He loved anything his cute little flower did.
Speaking of Luan, he was sitting on a stool at the kitchen counter, just reading a book, but at the same time, he wasn't really reading. He was thinking, though he wasn't sure what. That didn't make sense. He was more just staring at his book in a daze.
When he did snap out of it, he looked around, a tad confused.
"Luan?"
He looked at his mother, who'd been standing in front of him. "Sweetheart, are you okay?"
He blinked a few times before smiling. "Yeah, fine...just got lost in this book."
"You're lying."
Luan looked at her in surprise. How long had he been in a daze?
"How?" he asked, a nervous smile on his face. She rolled her eyes with a warm smile.
"For starters, you've been staring at that page for five minutes. Secondly, that's an autobiography of the invertor of chalkboards, it cannot be that interesting. And thirdly, you haven't looked at Solros in ten minutes, a new record!" she teased, ruffling his head from across the counter.
Luan smiled. "Well, it's interesting!"
"Mmhm."
Luan sighed. "Maybe I'm just tired."
He heard a chuckle from his mother. "Well, you've got a boyfriend asleep on the couch over there, you're welcome to join him. And if you're done with that book, let me know. I'm heading to the bookstore later to lock up."
She walked off, smiling at him. Once she was out of sight, Luan sighed, took off his glasses, and rubbed his eyes. What was wrong with him? He hadn't zoned out like this before. Maybe once or twice, but never this far.
He looked over at Solros, (breaking his 11-minute record, noooo!) and felt a small smile curl on his lips. He got up and gently kissed Solros' forehead, before exiting the room. He went outside, sitting on the grass in his backyard, and looked at the sun. Low in the sky, sunset was approaching.
He looked at it, his knees in his chest, a look of normality on his face. He'd never felt normal before. He was, of course, an animutant. Normal was a foreign word to him sometimes.
He tried to remember the first time he realized he wasn't normal. He guessed it was back when they still lived in the city. He remembered being three, walking with his mother and Valerie. How people looked at him. How he felt like a freak. How he clung onto his mother, scared of doing something to make him even more of a freak.
And then there was back when he first moved to Bluebell. How his grandmother kept calling him a devil. How young he was. How he sometimes wondered when she would die. How when she did die, rumors spread he was the cause.
Oh, and Valerie's 'bad boy' ex-boyfriend. Yeah, he existed.
Joel was also a major part. He finally felt normal, but then he got betrayed and hurt. How Joel scarred him. How he had to delete social media, and how he was scared to even touch a device. Joel had wrecked his life for a while.
A tear rolled down Luan's face as he remembered all those times he felt and was reminded he wasn't normal. So many times he'd felt abnormal, a burden.
"And I thought I was the crier."
Luan, very startled, looked towards the noise, only to find Solros sitting down next to him, his iconic adorable smile. How long has he been there?
"Oh! Hi," Luan said, wiping away the tears. "I...didn't hear you come out."
Solros smiled and leaned onto Luan's shoulder. "I woke up wh-when you kissed me. I watched you exit but had to get some water first...and the cat of-off my leg..."
Luan laughed. "Which cat?"
Solros shrugged. "I still need to learn their n-names."
And at that moment, Luan remembered the first time he felt normal. Aged six, and playing with Solros, who, at the time, had long hair and was mistaken for a girl. He remembered how Solros didn't care. How they played for hours until he got taken home. How normal he felt. How he begged his parents to find him and when he did, he feel in love with him. How being around Solros gave him a sense of normality.
Solros had made him feel normal. And that made him feel special.
He turned to watch the sunset alongside Solros. Sitting there, watching as the colors of day, the colors of red, pink and orange, turned into purple, blue, and green. It was amazing 30 minutes, but with Solros there, it felt like only 10 had passed. When it was slightly dark, the stars beginning to show, Luan felt a tingly feeling. He knew what was happening.
"Hey!" he turned quickly to find Solros' fingers gently tickling his ears. Solros smiled cheekily. "Yes?" he said.
"You little..." Luan said, eyes narrowing playfully, before tickling his side in retaliation. Solros shrieked with laughter, before getting up and running. Luan followed suit, laughing as he chased his adorable boyfriend across his backyard as the moon slowly rose and the star began to shine behind them.
Later, during a movie, Luan got up. When Solros asked why, he simply said he was going to the bathroom. As he left, he ran into his mother.
His mother, who'd sacrificed so much for him just so Luan and his sister could have a (somewhat) normal childhood. He hugged her tightly.
"Thank you" he whispered. She gave a soft chuckle.
"For what?" she whispered back, wrapping her arms around him gently.
"For being my awesome mother."
She laughed, hugging him tighter. He could feel Solros smiling from their room, but he didn't care.
At that very moment, he finally felt normal. Perfectly, completely normal.