DEION, ROME & ASHLEY

Deion (30) - Rome’s Fiance

Rome (31)

Ashley (33) - Rome’s Ex-Wife

Baldwin Hills, CA (Rome & Deion) Columbia, SC (Ashley)

Married to My Ex

Rome and Deion have been together for seven years and engaged for two of them. They’re fabulous, funny, sassy and larger than life queer characters. They aren’t just fiancés... they are business partners, best friends, oh and they love to sing. When they aren’t working in fashion they are finishing eachother’s sentences, planning a dream wedding and harmonizing a tune. Thesetwo out and proud gay men were tailor made for one another... but there’s one issue standing in the way of their blissful future: her name is Ashley and she’s Rome’s EX and current wife. Yes, that’s right.

Rome always knew he was different. But growing up in South Carolina in a conservative, religious family, he had to mask his true identity. Same sex attraction was unheard of in his conservative, religious family. So, he repressed his desires. Luckily, he had his best friend, Ashley, to confide in. The two met in 7th grade English class. They hit it off from their first encounter and have been inseparable ever since. Throughout middle school and high school, these two were as thick as thieves. Where Rome went, Ashley followed and vice-versa. They shared a friendship so close that most people confused it for dating. Ashley would come over for sleep-overs, they would go to movies together, in fact, Rome designed Ashley’s tattoo in a high school art class!

Out of high school, Rome didn’t have a clear path in life so he decided to enlist in the Army. Still closeted and grappling with his sexuality and masculinity, Rome believed that the military might provide answers. Either the military would make him straight, or he would learn definitely that he was gay. The military was difficult, and Rome continued to be closeted. He was deployed twice to Afghanistan, and still Rome wasn’t able to clearly see the truth: he was attracted to men. With pressure building from his family and friends, (and from himself) Rome conceived a plan: he should marry his best friend. At this point, Rome decided that when he retired from the military that he wanted to pursue a life as a religious pastor. He couldn’t be apastor without presenting the full-image of what being a pastor meant. He needed to be married to a woman... Step up to the alter please, Ashley!

Ashley pieced together that her bestie was gay. Rome and her had the conversation, but it wasn’t a topic that the two loved to discuss. Rome admits that although he knew he had feelings toward men, he wanted to be straight. Ashley, said that she would marry Rome as a sign of ultimate support for her best friend. There was nothing that she wouldn’t do for him. The two married at the courthouse, didn’t tell any friends or family and madeit official.

Rome was still in the military so when Rome wasn’t in Afghanistan, he was athis new home with his new wife. The newlyweds shared a bed, kissed and even walked around naked in front of each other.... they just never had sex. Towards the end of his term, Rome flew home to sing for an event honoring his uncle. He wanted to practice in front of his mom and, unbeknownst to him, she filmed his breathtaking performance and posted to social media. Turns out, the video went viral and it just so happened Deion’s Mom found it. She showed it to Deion and thought this guy was PERFECT for her son. He could really carry a tune just like Deion! Deion started following Rome on social media and liked one of his photos. This led to Rome sliding into Deion’s DMs and a relationship started to blossom. Rome’s enlistment in the military was ending and he needed to decide if he should go home to South Carolina and be with Ashley or fly to Los Angeles and meet his flirtatious pen-pal. It took some convincing from his new flame, but he eventually decided to take a leap and be with the man who finally made him feel like histrue self. This obviously hurt Ashley as she had put a lot of her life on hold to be there for her husband and best friend.

Even though he chose to move onto the next chapter and leave Ashley behind, she’s stayed true to him and continued as his support system. They never divorced because they didn’t see the need to, they were comfortable with the situation and she was still everything to him. Plus, with him and Deion being new, he wasn’t rushing to make any big, legal changes. Especially because his parents didn’t know he was gay. Rome wanted to minimize any issues and just be happy with his new boyfriend. Together theybuilt a fashion brand and interior design firm. Deion does the clothes and Rome does the hair and makeup for their clients. They’ve put years of blood, sweat and tears into this business, it’s basically their baby.

Ashley loves her “Romey” (Deion hates that nickname) and just wants him tobe happy, but also feels like she knows what’s best for him. She visits the couple constantly and is hoping she can move to LA to be closer to Rome and possibly work at the company. Rome and Ashley know everything about each other and are as connected as they can be. They speak every day, with Rome interrupting Ashley at work. When together they think nothing of cuddling together, lounging in the nude together. Rome will buy Ashley bras and panties and Ashley will buy her bestie exotic briefs (he’s too fancy for run-of-the-mill boxers.)

Deion understands how important Ashley is to Rome, but he can’t help but feel like she’s prolonging the divorce. Deion suspects that the real reason that Ashley isn’t granting a divorce is to stop Rome from being able to marry Deion. Deion also hates how competitive Ashley is with him when it comes to taking care of Rome, especially when it comes to cooking. Her being his wife AND working for them would be a lot for Deion to handle. He’s not 100% on board on with that, which puts Rome in a bad spot.

Deep down Deion is jealous that Ashley gets the title of Rome’s spouse. He worries that if something ever happened to Rome, Ashley would come after the company they built together. Deion and Rome are engaged and want to have an over-the-top wedding, but they can’t move forward as long as Ashley and Rome are married. It’s anyone’s guess why Ashley and Rome don’t get a divorce. Family members gossip that Ashley has unresolved romantic feelings for Rome and is secretly hoping that they have a future together. Other’s believe that Ashley doesn’t approve of Rome and this is herway of testing him. Regardless of the why, Rome is very much in the middle. He doesn’t want to ruffle any feathers with his fiancé or his wife, but also NEEDS them both to be truly happy. The truth of the matter is, Deion and Rome cannot legally get married with Ashley still in the picture.