KISS Me I'm Irish

National Poultry Day

I walked up the steps to Eric's house, ringing the doorbell. There was an almost five minute pause before he finally cracked open the door. "Oh. It's you," he said, giving me a cold look. "Y-yeah, it's uh...it's another holiday today, and you said that--" "I know what I said! So what holiday is it today?" he snapped angrily. I jumped, startled. "It's National Poultry Day so--" He held up a hand, cutting me off. "No, don't tell me. Just surprise me, I don't care," he said in a flat voice. Nodding, I was about to take his hand before realizing he'd probably get more upset with me so I just walked to my car with him following behind me. 

I drove to the same park I had taken him yesterday since I didn't really have many ideas. Eric was the one between the two of us who was the romantic and the expert date planner, I was the one who broke up with him on accident when I was trying to propose to him. "We were here yesterday," he said, raising an eyebrow as I parked. "I um...I know, but we're doing something else today," I said. "I would hope so, I don't really see a connection between french fries and poultry," he said under his breath. 

I grabbed the bag from the backseat, stepping out of the car. Eric followed after me, arms crossed and scowling as we walked down a path to the lake at the middle of the park, kicking through the snow slush that had yet to fully melt. I felt my stomach twist into knots as I realized that I was leading him to the exact same place I had proposed to him at, which in hindsight was a terrible idea. As his mouth pressed into a thin line I realized he recognized the place too and flinched, mentally kicking myself. I quickly led him past the bench where I had proposed, moving further down the path before it was out of view. "So um it's National Poultry Day and well I didn't realize that ducks were poultry but as it turns out they are so um...you wanna feed the ducks?" I asked, pulling out a bag of duck food.

There was a pause as Eric looked at me before biting down on his lip, cheeks going pink, and I felt my heart soothe a bit as I realized it looked like he was biting back a smile. "Sure," he muttered, taking the bag and walking into the bridge that crossed the lake. I leaned against the bridge with him, watching as he tossed some of the food into the water. "Alright ducks, eat up," he said, throwing another handful. I just watched him as he kept feeding the ducks, feeling my worry that I had ruined our relationship start to fade as Eric got closer and closer to actually smiling.

The ducks swarmed beneath the bridge, quacking hungrily as they pecked at the food in the water. Eventually Eric turned to me, all traces of his barely there smile vanishing as he gave me a cold look, and I felt my anxiety kick right back up to an eleven. "Got any more? Or are you gonna just take me home now?" he asked. "I actually had something else for you," I mumbled, and he arched an eyebrow. "What?" "It's back in the car," I said sheepishly. He rolled his eyes, crossing his arms with a huff before turning back to the ducks. "Bye you quacks," he said, emptying the last bit of food from the bag and giving the ducks a smile. But he just gave me another scowl as he turned back to me. "Alright let's go then." 

I nodded, taking a deep breath and motioning for him to follow me. We walked down the path in silence before he began to hum softly to himself. I nearly melted as I caught the tune he was humming, realizing it was Outta This World. Ever since we had gotten together I had admitted to him that I was always thinking of him whenever I sang the song at shows, which had pleased him immensely. Eventually we reached my car and I reached into the glovebox, pulling out a box with a bow on it. I saw his eyes light up and bit back a smile. He always was a sucker for a surprise gift. 

"So I know you've got a sweet tooth and like I said it's National Poultry Day and you know poultry involves eggs 'cause like chickens lay eggs and stuff so I got you some egg tarts," I said, handing him the box. His eyes lit up even more and he didn't quite stop a smile from twitching the corner of his lips as he accepted the box. "Egg tarts?! Really?!" he asked eagerly, and I nodded. "Mhm." "Oh damn you have no idea how much I've been wanting one of these recently," he said, opening the box and pulling out one of the tarts. He took a bite, letting out a little hum of happiness. "Damn that's good," he murmured, before looking at me. "Want one?" 

I blinked, looking at him in surprise. "What?" "Do you want one? Of the tarts, I mean," he said again, gesturing at me with the box. "Oh no I don't--no no they're for you," I protested. "Aw no come on, have one! You got me half a dozen but they're super rich, I can't eat them all. Seriously, have one," he insisted, holding the box out to me. "I mean are you--" "Oh my gosh Thomas, take one of the fucking tarts or I will force feed it to you," he snapped. Face burning, I took one of the tarts, too afraid of ruining our already very tense relationship to tell him I hated egg tarts. "Thanks," I said, taking as small a bite as I could without looking suspicious. 

He frowned, squinting at me before shaking his head, going back to eating his tart. "Anyway. I guess are we done here?" he asked, giving me a scowl. "Oh! Um y-yeah, I guess...I guess we are," I said, getting in the car. Despite the fact he was still giving me the cold shoulder, he at least wasn't crossing his arms angrily as I drove him back to his house. I parked in front of his house, taking a deep breath. "So tomorrow's another holiday, do--" "Yeah, yeah. Like I said, unlike some people I still keep my word," he spat, giving me a furious glare, and I was horribly reminded of just how badly I had hurt him and just how unwilling he was to forgive me. 

"I know. Eric I'm really--" "Don't. Apologize. I don't want to hear it," he hissed. "Unfortunately, I'll see you tomorrow," he said, storming into his house and making a big deal of slamming the door shut behind him, still clutching the box of tarts tightly. I took a deep breath, running a hand through my hair before driving home. "Alright Tom, you can do this. You can get him back, you can make it up to him. It's going...well okay not great, but it's going okay! It'll be fine, you can do this. Just come up with something good for tomorrow," I said to myself.