5. Open-Minded

"So you're saying you don't care who you're with? Doesn't matter if it's a guy or a girl?" Hawk pressed.

Lilly shrugged. "If there's a connection, it doesn't matter to me. Gender isn't what makes me feel attracted to someone. Body parts can be fun, sensual, but for me it ends there. The person's genitalia doesn't make me attracted to them. It's the person, their energy, their mind. If I feel it, if I feel them. That's what I need. I don't base it on anything else."

Quill finally looked over at Hawk, unsure how to feel about what he was hearing. He'd never thought about sexuality in such fluid terms. It had always been black and white. Men were with women. Anything else was…wrong. Or at least that's what their fathers always said.

What his Father beat into him whenever he caught him acting in a way they didn't like. He looked back at Hawk, but he was looking at the floor, obviously uncomfortable. He feared Hawk's reaction. He never handled things like this well. 

"Labels are for people who need them," Lilly continued, noticing their discomfort. "If it makes you more comfortable to think of me in a certain way, go ahead. But I don't see people as labels. I see people who connect and people who don't. Everything else is just semantics."

Quill stared at the silhouette again. The shadow on the wall seemed less abstract now, more human, more real. "So this business," he began, "it's an artist's lounge that focuses on teaching people to explore their…desires?"

Lilly nodded. "In part. But it's also about helping people figure out who they are without fearing judgment. Many people grow up being told they have to be a certain way, love a certain way, but that's not how it works. You can't control who you're drawn to. Who you connect with."

Hawk was not as open as he was to talking about anything related to these topics, and for good reason. 

Hawk was still in his Father's good graces. Quill didn't have that luxury, so he could afford to be more open-minded. 

"You really believe that?" Hawk asked. "That it doesn't matter?" He avoided looking at Quill. 

Lilly sighed as she looked between them. Her guess was spot on. They'd been pushed apart by their parents. Likely their fathers, judging by their reactions. 

"I believe people should be free to love who they love. Free to explore without shame. It's about connection. I get the feeling that both of you may understand what I mean."

Quill glanced at Hawk. He still wasn't panicking or really reacting in any way. It was strange to see. 

"So, what do you call someone who doesn't fit into any of that?" Hawk mumbled as he started to look at the art more. 

It was intimate and oddly intriguing. Like Lilly, it drew him in and made him want to know more.

There was something about her unapologetic attitude, about how she carried herself, even around these topics. His dad had always made it clear that even talking about things like that could lead to bad things. 

Terrible things like desiring someone who did not check off the right boxes.

She acted like those boxes didn't even exist. 

She smiled as she stepped closer to him. "You don't have to call yourself anything. Labels are useful for understanding certain things but are not the end-all. If you want to use them, great. If not, that's fine too."

Hawk didn't respond immediately. He could feel Quill watching him. For once, the usual strain between them felt different. More charged, more... Vulnerable. 

Quill wasn't sure if Hawk was thinking the same thing he was. 

It would be hard for him not to be.

Lilly stepped back, gesturing toward the silhouette on the wall. "This place... It's a space for people to understand themselves in ways they might never have thought possible. I think you both could benefit from that. Might help you both figure out who you really are."

Hawk scoffed. "I don't need any help figuring out who I am."

He didn't want to say that he'd never thought about his own sexuality in such flexible terms before. He'd never had the space to consider it, let alone discuss it. And yet, here he was, in a room with a woman who spoke about these things so easily.

As if the world wasn't divided by lines and expectations. 

It was a new idea. A dangerous one. Hawk didn't want to think about it, but she had a way of making it seem less precarious. 

Quill started to wonder what category he fell into. What label would apply to him. Why this place already seemed to be pulling something out of him. Something that felt like an odd curiosity, but it was more loaded with implications than he wanted it to be. 

After all, the issue he had was standing right here.

Open-minded. She'd called herself open-minded. He was starting to like that label. 

Maybe that is what he was. 

When Quill continued to pay attention to the art scattered around the room, Hawk finally had enough and stormed out. "Whatever. Sorry I interrupted whatever you two were doing." 

He sounded almost hurt. 

Quill stayed behind. Lilly watched him closely. Quill shifted uncomfortably, glancing toward the door where Hawk had disappeared.

"So you and Hawk are..." she began. 

"I don't want to talk about it," he muttered quickly.

Hawk and Quill were drawn to each other. That much was obvious. But it was like they couldn't say it, maybe didn't even know how. 

Not yet, anyway. 

But tonight wasn't the night for that. It was pretty clear Hawk would need more time. He was far more closed off than Quill. 

Quill's energy was so different from Hawk's. There was something more open about him, something far less rigid. Something that allowed him to lean into this more than Hawk seemed able to.

He wasn't running away. As Lily watched him, she couldn't help but smile. 

She couldn't have picked a better place for her new business. 

Being sandwiched between two males struggling with hidden desires? It felt like it was meant to be. As Quill remained there looking through her artwork, he intrigued her. 

Maybe it was time for him to see just how open he really was.