Life sure does throw you some curveballs, doesn't it?
One minute we're all just business as usual, going to work, going to school, living our lives, and the next we're in a quarantine as a deadly virus sweeps the globe.
But amidst all of those surprises, a gent on Reddit has been having an experience he really didn't see coming.
While locked up together in quarantine, this "mostly straight" guy seems to be developing feelings for his male roommate, with whom he has an adorably tender relationship.
The Redditor, who goes by the username throwralilkisses, recently posted his dilemma in the relationship advice subReddit, where it quickly went viral because...well, it's just kind of the sweetest thing you've ever read.
The story goes like this: throwralilkisses has a chronic medical condition for which he battles fatigue and takes daily naps. His roommate, to whom he's given the alias "Jake," is home all the time now due to quarantine, so he's been taking care of his roommate during his naps.
For instance, sometimes the Redditor wakes up and Jake has put a blanket over him.
But things have escalated from there in the cutest way possible.
As he wrote in his Reddit post:
"Then, a couple of times, I woke up and he was sitting up the top of the couch and he was just casually playing with my hair which I…actually really love more than I thought I ever would, very soothing."
But wait.
It gets even better.
"Then, about a week ago, I guess he thought I was asleep before I was because he tucked a blanket over me and then gave me a lil' kiss on my forehead…And I liked it. Like I really liked it."
Wait, wait, wait, you haven't even heard the cutest part yet.
"To the point where I've literally been pretending to fall asleep sooner than I'm ready to actually sleep in hopes he'll do it again..."
Wait for it...
"...which he has been. He sometimes strokes my cheek or my hair a little bit too which, oh my God, that's even better."
Is that not the sweetest thing you've ever heard in your entire life?
So what's the problem?
Well our Redditor is confused, because whereas Jake has had relationships with both men and women, throwralilkisses describes himself as "mostly straight" and isn't sure what this all means. Luckily, his fellow Redditors were at the ready with some truly excellent and very modern advice.
Basically they told him to nevermind the labels and just follow his heart.
"the cool thing about sexuality is that it is so flexible in the sense that you set the definitions and terminology for yourself. no need to feel the pressure of putting any label on yourself ... its your life-do what you feel is best." --car6804
"I'd just casually mention it to him. Like, 'Hey, Jake...I really... like how you cover me up with a blanket, play with my hair, and give me little kisses. It's really soothing'. Then, if you REALLY want to go for it, you can say, 'I would really like if you gave me little kisses when I'm awake, too'." --bossoline
"...so many men love affection but have been taught it's weird unless it's from a woman...as a woman I get and give this kind of sweet affection with my close friends all the time, but men have just been taught that it's sexual. ...if 2 men like giving each other affection (just like some women do and some don't) go for it!" --acemile0316
I want to say, being intimate in that fashion doesn't have to mean "well you like guys", it could easily just mean you like to be intimate/affectionate with people you trust, which is perfectly fine and healthy between two consenting people...so you know, no reason to question your interest unless that's something you want to go down. :)
--Mystletoe
Meanwhile, lots of other internet folk were just over the moon with the sweetness of the whole thing—whether romantic, platonic, or somewhere in between.
"More like Queerantine, amiright!" --u/Super_Pan
"Bro, I wish I'd given the homies an extra kiss before this all happened." --EMTtalkdirtytome
"You're literally in a fanfic. This is literally the most adorable thing I've ever heard and I want to hear MORE!!" --Frenchitwist
@chatterbawx2000/@aitchsquared/Twitter
"This is sweet , I hope you both get what you want." --listenbuddy125
Whatever they both decide to make of their relationship, we're really pulling for these two crazy kids. Anything that puts more kindness and affection into the world can only be a good thing!
The book The Sexual Spectrum: Exploring Human Diversity is available here.
@lpeterp/Bluesky
@FPWellman/X
@bobsbeatgmail.com5/Threads