6. Diego #3
As the summer flew by, and fall began to set in, Penelope became a permanent fixture on Wednesday nights.
Seth typically joined them as staff, busing tables and dishing out pastries, and Penelope wandered around, not really working but also not quite a customer.
They’d stopped hosting official theme nights, no longer needing the added hype and accompanying workload, but for some reason, they continued to draw large crowds on Wednesdays.
Diego eventually put his foot down and insisted they officially hire Seth and Penelope.
Both of them declined official payment, Seth because he was already benefiting from Obie’s ownership and Penelope because…
she was Penelope. No matter how much Diego insisted they should pay her, she wouldn’t accept anything but pastries and coffee.
Diego was beginning to feel almost cruel keeping their relationship a secret from her, but Frankie insisted he wanted to have at least a year under their belts before they told their families.
Diego began to wonder if maybe Frankie was only doing this because he thought it was what Diego wanted, and honestly, Diego didn’t even know what he wanted anymore.
Well, no. He knew he wanted to be with Frankie in every sense of the word, forever.
He wanted to be with him in bed, in life, in their place of work, out in public, and everywhere else.
They had finally returned to having some semblance of a social life after six months of running the cafe, which meant they were spending more time with Penelope and some of their other friends.
They didn’t completely hide their relationship; they just weren’t flaunting it, and Diego was fairly sure Penelope had already figured it out.
Still, it was possible his mounting guilt was why he kept pushing for better compensation for Penelope.
Finally, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Penelope accepted a “deal” of one free coffee per day and unlimited pastries.
They extended the same deal to Seth who laughed and waved them off.
Diego felt a little bit better, and Frankie was so excited to have a set schedule to see his sister he pressed a chaste kiss to Diego’s lips in the backroom.
Unfortunately, Penelope chose that moment to pop in to grab her things.
Frankie had been horrified and tried to splutter out an explanation, but Penelope gave them both the biggest shit eating grin Diego had ever seen and sauntered out.
After that, Diego didn’t feel bad for not openly announcing their relationship status.
All the people they genuinely cared about knew, or should have figured it out by now, and at the end of the day was it anyone else’s business? No.
The plan went to hell the week before Christmas when he got a frantic call from his cousin. She was practically in hysterics when Diego answered. Eventually, he was able to work out that she was in a hospital.
Panic seized him as he tried to understand if she was hurt, and if so, how badly. Finally, her tear-soaked voice delivered two succinct sentences.
“Diego, your mom died of a heart attack. There was nothing they could do.”
Diego’s world stopped spinning. He was in the backroom where he’d scurried off to take the call.
He felt himself falling towards the floor.
Then, he was sitting, legs splayed out and his hand resting on his phone.
He wasn’t sure how long he sat there but he didn’t even flinch when a soft hand touched his shoulder and a feminine sounding voice called out.
A minute later Frankie was kneeling in front of him, his hands cupping Diego’s face, but he couldn’t feel it. He couldn’t feel anything.
“D? Diego? Diego, please. Yes, Lopi, please get Obie… Mon chéri … It’s just us now. Can you answer me? Please, love, I need you to answer or I’m going to have to call 911. I might call them anyways.”
“Franklin,” Diego tried to croak out, but he was interrupted by his own broken sob.
“Oh, my darling,” Frankie crooned pulling Diego against his chest. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“No,” Diego said brokenly. He supposed it was true on both counts.
“Okay, yeah, clearly a dumb question. You’re obviously not okay, but you’re not hurt?”
Diego shook his head.
“Is someone else hurt?” Frankie asked, his intuition when it came to Diego coming through for them right now.
Diego nodded miserably.
Frankie stiffened but continued petting Diego’s hair and back. “Obie, can you shut down the store? Don’t panic anyone but turn the sign to closed, and offer the remaining patrons some free pastries.”
“No, it… you don’t… have to…” Diego tried to wheeze but Frankie squeezed him even tighter until he couldn’t get the words out.
“We’re on it, Frankie. Take care of your… Diego,” Obie murmured, and Diego could hear the sound of retreating footsteps.
“D? Who’s hurt, love? Is it one of our friends, or your cousin or…
” Frankie’s voice trailed off as Diego began to cry harder.
Diego wasn’t sure where the new endearment was coming from, but if in the heat of a crisis, Frankie thought of him as his “love” Diego wasn’t able to even begin processing that fact.
“Is it… your parents?”
Diego pressed his face tightly to Frankie’s throat and nodded. “M-Mom… died…”
“Oh, D… okay… okay. What needs to get done… um, we… we need to get some coverage for the store so we can fly back to your home for the funeral. You have siblings who can take care of that part I hope. So, I guess immediate next steps are—”
“Can you call Sofia… she has all the info?” Diego asked brokenly, handing Frankie his phone with shaking fingers.
Frankie accepted the phone and kissed Diego hard. He kissed Diego until his head spun and the tears stopped. Frankie slowly led Diego up to their apartment.
The next twenty-four hours were a blur of phone calls, people coming in and out of the apartment, and several frantic meetings.
They asked Penelope to cover the early evening shifts, and Obie to cover some of the day shifts.
They met with the rest of the staff to let them know they’d be home before Christmas and would cover the rest of the holiday shifts.
Finally, they had a video call with Sofia who helped them make the final arrangements.
The night before they were set to leave, Diego felt like he was going to crawl out of his skin, so he crawled into bed and lay down on top of his semi-conscious boyfriend.
Frankie had pulled two all-nighters to get them ready to go back to Diego’s home, and he deserved his rest, but Diego just…
needed. He needed Frankie, he needed his confident touches and affirming words, and he needed to be reminded that he was a man, Frankie’s man, before they went home to his family who would undermine everything he’d built for himself the past several years.
Weirdly, as Frankie stirred underneath him, Diego was hit with a sense of clarity he hadn’t had since they’d started dating. “Maybe it will go without saying, my bringing you to the funeral and all, but I’m going to tell them I’m gay, and that we’re together.”
Frankie blinked and wrapped his arms and legs around Diego like a cephalopod.
“Okay, D, whatever you want.”
“And I want to have sex. Right now.”
“Okay.”
“And I want you to love me like a man loves a man,” Diego tried to explain, but it came out cryptic and unclear, given the confused expression on Frankie’s face.
“O… okay mon chéri—”
“Please, Franklin.”
“Anything, D. Anything you want.”
They kissed and squirmed against each other until Frankie rolled them over and reached for the harness and dildo they kept in the bedside table.
Diego grabbed his hand and hesitantly brought it down to the front of his sweatpants. This was the moment they’d been leading up to for months, and he wasn’t sure why it needed to happen right now, but he knew in his heart he needed it tonight.
“I… I need your fingers, Franklin.”
Frankie immediately obliged, sliding his hand into Diego’s pants and boxers, and gripping his dick with three fingers. He stroked him slowly, rubbing his thumb over the head and soon Diego was writhing against him, but Frankie didn’t go any farther.
“Frankie?” Diego whispered and his beautiful boyfriend blinked up at him in question. “I… want your fingers, querido .”
Frankie’s hand fell still, the exact opposite of what Diego was going for. “I… uh… am using my fingers?”
Diego did his best to hold in an annoyed grunt. He shifted his hips up and squirmed out of his pants and underwear, shucking off his shirt for good measure. Frankie scrambled to follow, and then they were naked… and Frankie still wasn’t inside him.
“I want your fingers inside me, Franklin,” he said, and the dysphoric rush he was expecting didn’t come. Instead, he felt an almost giddy anticipation curl his toes as Frankie’s eyes widened in shock and then darkened with lust.
“You… are you sure? This week has been so much for you, I don’t want to…” Frankie trailed off at the stern look Diego was giving him. “I don’t want to cis-splain your own desires to you. Got it.”
Frankie lay next to him, pressing his lithe body against Diego’s side, tracing his fingers softly down Diego’s happy trail. Diego whined, low in the back of his throat, and Diego circled his cock a few times before slowly trailing lower.
“Oh, shit, you said we need lube.” Frankie started to turn over, but Diego grabbed his wrist and pressed his hand against him. Frankie let out a soft gasp and slowly stroked two fingers through his wetness.
“I want you, so badly Frankie. I’m already wet enough. Please.”
Frankie slowly teased just the tip of one of his fingers into Diego’s hole, who moaned, arching and squirming on the bed. Frankie pushed himself up onto his elbow and stared down at where their bodies were joined as he slid his finger all the way inside.
“Oh fuck, D… you’re so tight… and you’re absolutely dripping for me.”