Fake Turns Real

Breaking the News

"(Yn)!" it was Richard who opened the door. His face immediately lit up when he saw me – but fell again as he noticed I was not alone, "You're finally back..." he trailed off awkwardly.

"Hi," I replied politely, ignoring his obvious confusion, "Richard, this is John. John, this is Richard. Richard's parents and mine are good friends." I explained as if John did not know who he was already.

"Nice to meet you, Richard," John grinned and extended his right hand, which was not holding mine. Richard was only staring at our faces only, and as John and I were standing close and our bodies were kind of hiding our hands, he still had not noticed they were linked yet.

"It's nice to finally meet you," Richard put on a strained smile and shook his hand; he was definitely not expecting someone to come back with me, "I've heard (Yn) mention you before. And thanks for taking care of her last night, her parents told me about it. They should have called me though, I could have fetched her and she could stay at my place." I mentally rolled my eyes at the last part of his words. If only he knew I actually trusted John more than him. Plus Richard could have eaten me and my parents probably would still stand on his side.

"Oh, it's no big deal, but really? She talked about me before?" John acted surprised – or maybe he was literally surprised. He turned to me and raised a questioning brow and a corner of his lips. I looked away, embarrassed - and noticed Richard was staring at our linked hands now. Then he looked up at me with a shaky expression. If he was uncomfortable before, he now looked like his hand was being chewed by a toddler that was growing teeth.

"(Yn)?" he began, "Why – when – you—"

That was the signal to get over with whatever I was dreading to face. "We'll talk inside," I interrupted and pulled John into the house with me. I heard the door being shut after a pause.

We walked to the living room with Richard following and found my parents on the sofa watching TV. So Richard was here to hang out with my parents again – he would never miss any chance of getting close to me, or my family as well.

"(Yn) – oh and hi John! Thanks for take—" they looked up when we made our entrance, and Mum smiled – but just like Richard moments ago, it fell again when she saw John and I holding hands. It then slowly twisted into a mad expression. My heart began to thud quicker and harder than it already was.

"Mum, Dad," I greeted them, and Dad was now wearing a confused expression too – but he did not overreact like Mum, as he did not care as much about me marrying Richard as Mum did.

I pulled John down with me and we sat on the loveseat together while my parents sat in the one across from us, and Richard fell down into an armchair with a shocked expression. He looked as if he still could not wrap his head around the idea of John and I holding hands.

"Are – are you two..." directly jumping straight to the point, Mum asked in a shaky voice. Now she no longer looked mad; she looked nervous. I knew she was nervous about the fact that she might lose the battle of forcing me into marrying Richard.

"This?" I raised our intertwined hands, "Yes, we're together. Me and John are together. He's my boyfriend."

I heard John chuckle softly. Richard groaned quietly at the confirmation. My mum looked as if she was about to faint. Dad shook his head and returned his attention to the TV like he could not be bothered. I guessed he knew Mum would make a great deal out of it and he did not like it when she created drama, so he was getting himself out of the matter.

"Since when?" Mum took a deep breath and asked.

"Yesterday," I replied simply. John let go of my hand and wrapped it around my waist and pulled me close to him. I wanted to protest but I knew I could not. The facade must go on.