Having a gay old time.

When I arrive at my apartment, I spot the three of them dressed up and an outfit placed on my bed. Madelon was wearing one of Roos's dresses, a black cocktail dress, a bit loose in the back, but if needed, I can fix that with a safety pin. It still looked super nice. Anne was in a short pink skirt with a matching tube top and pink heels, as if we were going clubbing. Jullia was wearing a cocktail dress like Madelon's, but in red, and it was as if it were a size too large everywhere. That is not something I can fix. Madelon asked: "Why does Anne have a key? Why is there so much makeup in your place? It almost feels as if Anne also lives here..."

Whilst the other two look shocked, luckily, they are behind her. I reply dryly: "Well, Anne sometimes needs a place to crash after D&D, sometimes we have drinks afterwards. I gave her a key in case I am away or on holiday, mostly just for safety."

"No, it really looks like she is living here more than every once in a while, Pieter." Fack, I can't get out of this with that lie, it seems. Anne's knees buckle in shock, but Jullia stabilises her.

"Okay, you got us, but just as much or even more is Roos's stuff, so she definitely knows Anne is staying here. If you want more of an explanation. How about you wait until Roos is also here to confirm or deny any of my claims?"

"Sure, I will fully agree to having a larger conversation about this. Now get dressed, you lug and make it quick." I chuckle, pat her head and go to get dressed.

The three of them were having a conversation when I returned, mostly about where to go. "It seems like you are planning where to go, so enlighten me."

Anne explains: "Given Madelons' less-than-stellar history with men, she wants to go to a place where she is safe from that harassment. So after some debating, we decided to go to a local gay bar." I give a nod, grab my keys and start walking down. Anne directs me to the place using the navigation.

As we wander in, I get looks. Not angry, not glaring, however, they were trying to see where I would fall. If I were a dom, a sub and for that matter even gay. I get the girls' orders, and all of them wanted wine. I headed to the bar. "Can you get me a bottle of red wine, 3 glasses, and a ginger beer? And if any of my companions comes to order more for us, don't give them **** for me. I need to drive my sister home after this." I say as I point to them. Anne and Jullia already cuddling and kissing each other's cheeks. Is that a deliberate ploy to make Madelon less worried about me cheating, or are they that close already? Don't know, but I can ask later.

The man behind the bar asks: "Are you here to support your sister and her girlfriend, or are you here also to get a date?"

Surprised, I respond: "My sister is the lone one, and yes, I am here to support her. Those other two are friends of mine." He gives a nod as he hands me the drinks and the glasses, and I pay with my card.

I head to the table and look at the three of them having a good time. It doesn't matter if Madelon ends up dancing with someone or talking to someone. Well, for the quest, it does, but it doesn't need to be here. As Madelon grabs the glass of wine, which I pour in the way I had been taught by Jessica o so long ago, she asks: "So I wanted to ask you, Pieter, how does it feel to be in love?"

"Like you don't ever want to see them get hurt. But love and a relationship are more than that. It is work. Every day, both of you need to choose to love each other, to be in a relationship with each other. To be with each other. The obsessive things you see in the media are not necessarily how I experience it. I want to make those I love happy, sometimes I am going too far in that. That goes for Familial love, love for friends, or what you meant to ask about romantic love. However, I understand you can have all of those feelings for more than one person. Acting on those feelings should not hurt the other people in said relationships. In my opinion." I quickly added before continuing. "Roos will likely have a similar answer. The same goes for Anne and Jullia. But I should not put words in their mouths. As for between what sexes, who cares who you love? You and your partner should be the only ones who care."

Anne chipped in, the same goes for Jullia with a simple: "It is as simple and complex as that. However, your brother is one of those obsessive people."

"So you four are dating!?" She said in surprise. I let the cat out of the back a bit too soon. Unplanned, but still, I can see her response. Both of them cover their mouths.

"Do you have a problem with it if everyone is okay with it?" I ask, trying to navigate the situation. She shakes her head, blushing. "You guys go dance, I will watch the drinks, don't worry."

Jullia and Anne leave almost instantly. Madelon asks before she leaves. "Does Antionette know you are in this type of relationship?"

"Would we have tried to hide it if she did? Jullia is a recent addition, to be fair, but the love triangle with oblivious me is as old as my relationship with Anne. To the point they even made a deal that if one of them started dating me, the other would share." Shocked, she runs off and asks Anne something and gets a lip-bitten nod in response. As the three start dancing, and a few other women join them, seeing who is open to it. As I am casually watching them interact with one another, a slightly more rotund dude, with a slight beer belly, a dad bod dude with long hair and a beard, asks if I would like to dance. "I am watching the drinks for them, maybe some other time, not now."

"Okay, if we have a chat instead?"

"Sure, why not? I am Pieter, and who might you be?" I say with a shrug.

"Laurens, and I am looking for a bottom."

I chuckle. "Forward, aren't we, Laurens. Sorry, but you are not my type. I have to drive some of them home, so even if you were. I wouldn't have been able to take you up on the offer."

"So you do swing this way?" He continued.

"Yeah, I would think I am somewhere not fully straight, but I prefer more slender cutsy men." He gets a cocky smile on his face.

"Would you be up for it if I set you up with a buddy of mine?"

"I would likely not mind, but I don't think my girlfriends would like me adding any new people in right now. So I am going to take a rain check if you are okay with that."

"Wait, girlfriends, you are in a poly-relationship? Are any of the girls you are with girlfriends of yours?"

"The two making out," I say whilst pointing at Jullia and Anne. "I wonder if that is to tease me or just cause they like each other that much? Jullia has only been dating us for a day... either way, cool. The other is my little sister."

As he hears it, he grows a smile. "Good, you don't seem like a prick. Sometimes people get in those relationships due to commitment issues or, well, not valuing the people they have. You don't seem to see it that way, good. Why come here then?" He says as I see my sister get grabbed against her will by a woman.

"I need to help my sister before we continue this conversation, I think," I say, getting up and walking over to the woman. "Miss, could you please let go of my sister?" Clearly not intimidated, she keeps hold of her. I grab her wrist like I had done with Tim earlier in the day.

"Let her go." I hear from Laurens behind me. I do, and so does she. "You know better than to **** yourself onto someone, Berta. Looking at how Pieter was walking, I don't know what would have happened if I hadn't stepped in if you had continued. I have warned you numerous times. Please leave unless you want to be thrown out." Grumbling, the cow of a woman left and the five of us went to sit down.

"Thank you, Laurens. How much power do you hold here?"

"I am the owner slash bouncer," He says in a dry tone.

"I am glad I didn't have to do things otherwise; you would have had to throw us out, I think." He chuckled at my remark. "Any drink you would like me to buy for you?"

"Nah, man, I hardly get to see someone care this much about the people he is with. The moment you got up, I could see that if Berta pushed against you, she would get buried. The rest of the bar did too. Everyone saw the papa-bear you are. The notion that you could be a bottom has been thoroughly dismissed." He says with a chuckle and a smile. "Still, I would like you to meet a friend of mine."

"Do you have a name?" I say, rolling my eyes.

"Robin."

"Does his phone number end in xxxx?"

"Yes. Wait, you know him?"

"I didn't know Robin was into men. He went to university after I left with Anne, Roos and Bart. We play D&D every Sunday. Unless one of us cancels."

"Wait, you are that Pieter. Yeah, no, go on a date with him. He has feelings he needs to figure out. I don't know if he is gay or not, but he isn't straight cis. I sometimes join his streams, but I can't push because he doesn't let me in. He always talks about a guy he fell in love with during a holiday in America. I can't figure out who. Nor does he remember."

"Didn't we use to take vacations in America? That town near Magicland, right?"

"Yeah, we did wait. Let me text Robin, 'I hear from Laurens that you have been to America in Limburg, can you show me some of the pictures?'" Looking around, both nod. I sent it. "If we met during one of our trips to America, I would probably remember them from the pictures, or at least if there is one with us in it, I would recognise you and me."

"So you think you might have met Robin earlier, but just didn't recognise him."

"Yep, ask Anne or Robin about my description of people and.... Be surprised by how little detail it has. I am horrible at remembering faces. People say I am face blind, not diagnosed, though." I get a text after a few minutes of chatting with Laurens. It is a picture. I show Madelon the picture, and her mouth drops. "Okay, can confirm we had been flirting with one another during that trip, thought he was a girl though." I show them a picture of Madelon, barely 9 years old, blond with a red sheen in a K3 shirt on the right. In the middle, 15-year-old me with a blue t-shirt with a robot on it. And as it turns out, on the left, Robin, with long dark brown hair that sunbleached towards the ends to be blond, in a pink shirt with flowers and wide flowing pants. I reply with a selfie of Madelon and me. With the caption: 'Remember my little sister? I will be sure to show it to Roos.' "Cool, so I am the long-time crush he had... That is something that will come up tomorrow after I pick up Roos. I think I will print the pick when I get home."

Laurens started to chuckle as if he had found a joke no one had heard. "I think you might have the best or the worst luck with romantic interests, dude. For starters, from what I heard from you, they all seemingly love you for a ridiculously long time or pine over you. On top of that, they somehow find their way back to you. Lastly, you are in a somewhat open relationship where asking the rest for their opinion might mean you can date all of them even if you missed out on it originally."

The three girls chuckle. "Good, now that we've all laughed. Madelon, do you want to have a dance with your big brother?" I say, holding my hand out.

"Don't Anne or Jullia get a say in this?"

"No, they don't. We are here to cheer you up, not only for our own pleasure." She had already grabbed my hand at no, and I chose to finish my sentence anyway. As we start dancing, hardly any woman dares approach, men approach me from the back, and I choose to engage in small daliances but nothing long before returning to Madelon. Most of them were more of the burlier type, like Laurens, some more slender cutesy guys, but none really caught my attention. I was here with my sister and my girlfriends to hang out, not to pick up a new partner. During these intermetzo's, some women get up and dare to approach, but they stay safe and cordial whilst I am hovering near them. Anne and Jullia are having fun chatting with Laurens, who somehow looks hungrier at me. During one, a woman remains after I return, I don't mind. She seems calm and around Madelon's age. A brunette not as done up as Madelon and the rest, but she might have tried to make a show of it. Wearing a plaid skirt with a white blouse and a pair of black cat-eye glasses. I lean and say: "If you need me out of your space, tell me, okay?"

"How about the three of us go sit down?" I nod and help them get out of the dancing area. "So you said you also are from Nuenen?" the new girl shyly nods.

"If the two of you want space, the four of us can move."

"No, please don't. I like the friendly, cosy atmosphere you guys give off. I am also afraid of other pushier women approaching us, as happened to her before. By the way, my name is Sara." She replies. In response, we introduce ourselves, with me including my relationship to Madelon, to make sure she knew there was nothing between us. "I see... So that is why you were so protective." She relaxes whilst saying this. Ohh she is sooooo subby... I kind of want her for myself. No, if Madelon likes her, this might be a good girl for her. "Soooo, do you have a girlfriend?" She asks Madelon out of the blue.

"No. I broke up with my last boyfriend this afternoon, and I am not even sure how to feel about you... " I put my arm around her as she continues. "Dancing with you feels better than it ever has with any man but... I don't know."

I break in. "Madelon, you don't seem ready for a full-on relationship. That is fine. But I will say Sara seems to just be testing the water." To which I get a nod with a smile from Sara. "Antionette, Roos and everyone here will support you no matter what. The same goes for Jessica. If you like girls more than boys, that is fine. No one cares about that except you being happy with the partner you choose as long as they also choose to be with you." All of them give a nod. "You guys can hang out as friends or just as dates for a while and test the waters that way if you are more comfortable with that." I look at my phone. It is one. "But it is getting late, these two ladies have work tomorrow, I say, pointing at Anne and Jullia. I have to pick up Roos tomorrow, and buses will stop driving soon if they haven't yet. I can drop both of you off in Nuenen."

"Sure, I would like that," Sara says, barely audible. Madelon gives an approving nod.

We leave, and I find a note slipped in my pocket. 'In case you ever reconsider my offer, Laurens,' followed by a phone number. The sly bastard. I stop by my apartment to drop Anne and Jullia well, they will need to do their edges first anyway before going to bed. I drive over the small strip of highway to Nuenen and ask. "So, Sara and Madelon, where do you want to be dropped off? I can take you to your destination, the park, or the bus station."

The two look at each other before Madelon can answer. Sara said, "I am not necessarily comfortable with you knowing where I live, so either the park or the bus station would work for me."

"Does Antionette still live in the same place?" I nod. "Sure, drop us off where it's easiest for you."

As we approached the bus station, I said, "Give me an update tomorrow, will you, Madelon?"

She blushes, and as I stop the car, she shouts: "You would surely like that, wouldn't you?"

"Of course I like to hear if my sister has good friends or other relationships for that matter, the last guy I had to kick in the hospital an he still dared to make a move on you." A smile forms and shock on Sara's face. "You have nothing to worry about unless you hurt her, understood." That stiff girl from the table was back as she realised I was serious about defending his sister. As I leave, I look back at both of them walking towards the city centre whilst talking. It should be fine.

Author's note: I forgot I had already set a date for that picture, which was 2008. Since this takes place in a vague, no-date-given space, it shouldn't matter; however, I don't even want to pretend to predict the future, so I have edited the ages to fit better with that date.