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“Hey, Case… How do you know when it’s time to come out?”
Casey Calderon’s brain short-circuited as Lunella asked her that question. She had harboured a not-so-secret crush on her friend for a while now but was never sure if the feeling was mutual - or if Lunella even liked women that way. Having confirmation her friend was queer in any form was enough to make her cheeks burn with embarrassment. After a moment to collect her nerves, she looked up at her best friend, trying to keep her face neutral.
“Like. Publicly?” she asked. “On social media?”
“WHAT? NO. No,” Lunella replied, her eyes widening with nervousness even at the thought. “I meant to my family.”
Casey looked surprised, struggling to form words for a few moments. “Well. Hmm. I think you should come out when you’re ready. When it feels like the right time to say it, it probably is. Once the words aren’t dying on your tongue when you try to say them, that’s the right time to do it.”
Lunella nodded, slowly and knowingly, causing Casey to sigh in relief. She said the right thing - or, at the very least, Lunella wasn't put off by her advice.
“Thanks, Case,” Lunella eventually said. “It’s still scary, but you’re right. I think I am ready to tell them now.”
Casey nodded, putting a supportive hand on Lunella’s shoulder.
“Anytime, Lu,” she replied, smiling widely and supportively. “And let me know if any of your cousins turn out to be homophobic or biphobic or whatever. I can beat them up for you.”
“Homophobic?” Lunella repeated, confused. “What? No. Case. I'm talking about coming out as Moon Girl.”
“Oh!” Casey replied, laughing awkwardly and trying to hide her disappointment. “R-right. O-of course. I k-knew that.”
“Of course. As everyone already knows I’m queer, right?” Lunella suggested, studying Casey’s expression closely.
“O-oh! U-uh, well, um, I d-don’t know if I would say everyone,” Casey stammered out, her heart pounding in her chest.
“I think it’s known by most people who know me,” Lunella countered. “I mean, we’ve been going steady for, what, a season and a half now?”
“W-we’ve been… WHAT?” Casey squealed back, reeling from the shock of what she was hearing and grabbing onto both of Lunella’s shoulders to steady herself.
“Dating. Since the start of fall and half of winter,” Lunella filled in. “Sorry, are we not on the same page about that?”
Casey did not, in fact, know this. She had thought they were just good friends who cuddled and were comfortably verbose with their declarations of affection.
She was too excited to care.
In a moment, Lunella was pulled into a hug and Casey was grinning widely, nuzzling her head against her shoulder.
“Woah!” Lunella bellowed, but she returned the hug nonetheless. “If it gets me hugs like this, then maybe I should come out more often…”
“Oh, I won’t need a reason to hug you, Lu,” Casey replied. “Sweetie. Dear. Darling. My love -”
“Okay, that one’s a little old-fashioned.”
“I’ll workshop it,” Casey agreed. “But still! I’m proud of you. As both Moon Girl and Lunella Lafayette. Seriously.”
“Thanks, Case. It means a lot.”