Rain, Joel, Dexter, and Jade

The heat coming from the afternoon sun made Rain and her partner, Joel, want to lie in the hammock, beneath the large oak tree in their backyard, and do nothing. So that’s exactly what they did.

As the soft summer breeze rolled over them, Joel laid with his hands tucked behind his head and his baseball cap lazily draped over his face; his top surgery scars on full display.

Lying across from him, Rain stared at her boyfriend in awe; to her, Joel was a work of art. Wanting to both freeze this moment in time, and show her partner how she saw him, Rain got an idea.

“I’ll be back!” She said, jumping out of the hammock.

Joel made a confused sound as he attempted, but failed, to sit up.

Rushing into the house, Rain ran into her studio, where she dramatically slammed her hand down onto her sketch book and snatched a pencil from the cup that sat in the corner of her desk.

Making her way out of the house, Rain rushed across the yard and reclaimed her spot in the hammock.

“Everything alright?” Joel asked, his beat-up Yankees baseball cap covering his face.

“Almost, move that cap! I wanna see that face!”

Plopping a hand down onto his head, Joel pulled his cap off and tossed it onto the ground.

“Better?” He asked, looking at Rain.

Rain pinched her fingers together, kissing the tips, and flung her arm out as if she were releasing a bird.

“Perfetto!” She yelled in a horrible Italian accent.

“Papa’s rolling in his grave right now.” Joel laughed.

“Well, if he rolled once when you transitioned, and he’s rolling again, he’s right side up now! So good on me.” she said, puffing her chest out.

Joel shook his head; Rain could put a positive spin on almost anything.

Fishing his Ray Bands out of his pocket, Joel unfolded them before looking at Rain.

“Shades okay?” He asked.

Rain rolled her eyes in mock annoyance.

“I guess I could draw your ocean eyes from memory.” She said dramatically.

Joel laughed as he slipped the shades into place before lying back and tucking his hands behind his head.

Rain picked up her pencil and began drawing.

Rain had drawn Joel so many times that she could pretty much draw him from memory at this point. She knew all the lines, wrinkles, little grey strands of hair, and the location of every single scar on his body. When she closed her eyes, Rain could see the faint scratch on Joel’s left cheek from the day his mother had come home and caught him binding his chest. She could practically feel the faint scars from the cigarette burns Joel’s mother burned into his back.

Though the stories never got any easier to hear, Rain learned to thank whatever divine being that was above them, that Joel had made it through all of that.

As she dragged her pencil across the soft paper of her sketch book, Rain couldn’t help but feel sorry for Joel’s family. Joel was easily Rain’s top three favorite people. Joel, along with Jade and Dexter, Rain’s other two partners, were Rain’s world. The Terrible Threes, as they called themselves, were such positive and loving forces in Rain’s life. Joel, Jade, and Dexter were more than just partners; they were a force, pushing Rain to go out into the world and actually experience it.

For years, Rain lived a life of shelter; in high school, all she knew was home, school, and church. She wasn’t allowed to go out with friends, or even have a phone; she wasn’t even allowed to use the computer, unless one of her parents were literally sitting beside her! So, when it came time for college, Rain felt like she’d gone from swimming in the shallow end of a pool to being dropped into the middle of the ocean without so much as even a life vest.

And then Rain met Jade. Freshmen year of college, Rain had gone to the school’s café for lunch, and after getting her food, she began to feel herself getting overwhelmed as she searched for a place to sit.

“It’s nerve racking, isn’t it?” Said a voice from behind her.

Whipping around, Rain came face to face with the most beautiful woman she’d ever seen.

Pearly whites shined brightly as the woman tried, but miserably failed to conceal her laughter.

“My bad, I didn’t scare you, did I?” The woman asked.

“Yeah, a little.” Rain said, taking the woman in.

She had long dreads and the prettiest brown eyes Rain had ever seen. Normally, Rain hated brown eyes; to her, it was unfair that black people all had the same eye color. But as Rain looked at the woman, Rain felt herself getting lost in those big brown eyes.

“You’re a freshman, right?” The woman asked.

“Yeah, it’s my first day.” Rain said as the nerves she tried really hard to ignore began to rise within her.

“Oh nice! Well welcome to Luther University, I’m Jade!” The woman said, holding out a hand.

“Rain.” Rain said back.

Jade’s hand was soft, like what Rain would imagine clouds would feel like, and her smile was like a boy scout, tying Rain’s stomach up into elaborate knots.

“Well Rain, my friends and I are gonna sit outside and enjoy the last bit of sunshine we have left before the cold comes in. Care to join us?” Jade asked.

Rain agreed, and so Jade nodded her head towards the double doors of the café that led outside.

Though it was early September, the heat from the summer still lingered in the air; It was the perfect temperature, not too hot, and not too cold either.

The women made their way into the courtyard and Jade led Rain to a picnic table where two other people were sitting.

As the women sat down, a tall man, who reminded Rain of Morris Chestnut, if he had hair, and was a few years younger, sat across from a spikey-haired, punk rock-looking person.

“Rain, this is my boyfriend Dexter, and that’s Dexter and I’s partner, Joel.” She said, gesturing to a tall, bald man, who reminded Rain of a young Morris Chestnut, and then a tall, skinny person with bright green eyes and spikey black hair.

Dexter held his hand out as a lazy smile spilled across his face.

“How you doin’ ma?” He said.

Rain wasn’t one to swoon over men, in fact, as a bisexual, her motto was; ‘love women, tolerate men’, but Rain couldn’t lie, Dexter was damn good-looking.

Slipping her hand into his, she allowed him to engulf her hand with his own, and though it was cheesy, Rain couldn’t help but be smitten.

“You give poly people a bad name Dex.” Joel said from beside Dexter.

Jade sucked her teeth.

“Don’t be a hater babe! He can be poly and a hoe at the same time. Ain’t nothing wrong with that.” Jade said.

Rain looked from Dexter, to Jade, and then Joel.

“You guys are poly?” She asked.

Dexter laughed as Joel held up his hand.

“Let’s just skip the pleasantries and get to the FAQ’s. No, we don’t want to have a foursome with you, we vacation in hell, so we don’t have a problem spending eternity there, and all of our cult activities are reserved for Tuesdays.” Joel said.

Dexter sucked his teeth as Jade turned to look at Joel.

“You know babe, the only reason we keep getting approached by hateful assholes is because you’re putting that energy out there!” Jade said, with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

After that day, Rain began spending a lot of time with Jade, Joel, and Dexter. Rain quickly became smitten with the trio, and managing her crushes on all three of them was a bit overwhelming, so Rain kept her feelings to herself.

Freshmen year turned into sophomore year, and by senior year, Rain was practically living with Jade, Joel, and Dexter. The foursome never really talked about the status of their relationship, except for a brief conversation about STIs and consent. But as graduation began to approach, the need for a conversation about what post-college would look like for them all, became more and more necessary.

Since Dexter and Jade were the law and medical students of the bunch, location was more important to them, than it was to Rain and Dexter, who were the artist and model of the bunch.

In the end, the foursome settled in LA, where Dexter got a job in entertainment law, and Jade got a job working to help burn victims reclaim their lives through plastic surgery.

As Rain put the finishing touches on the drawing of Dexter, Jade and Dexter made their way into the backyard; each of them holding a glass of wine.

“Yikes, long day?” Joel asked.

Dexter and Jade sighed simultaneously, as they approached their other two partners.

“The longest.” They said in unison.

Climbing into the custom-made hammock, Jade slipped between Joel’s legs, while Dexter slid behind Rain.

“I’m glad you made us by this big ass hammock. Well worth the money.” Dexter said as Rain took his glass from him.

Rain, Jade, and Joel all hummed in agreement.

Whenever the weather permitted, which was always in LA, the foursome was always lying in the hammock.

With nothing planned for the rest of the day, the foursome swung in the hammock and watched the sunset before making dinner and retiring to the couch where the foursome fell asleep watching a movie.

This one was a bit of a long one, what did you think? Do you like longer stories or shorter ones? Let me know! As always, I hope you’ve enjoyed this story! If you did, DON’T FORGET TO HIT THAT STAR! And maybe, if you thought of someone while reading this, send it to them, and see what they think. If you wanna help out the site, consider BUYING A CUP OF COFFEE! A single cup is four dollars, and goes a long way in helping make quality, queer content! Until the next post, find RBN on the socials! Thanks so much for reading-C

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