in the rain

thirteen.

"eddy, darling! how i've missed you."

"hi, mom. i didn't expect to see you here. i missed you too."

"me too, son. who's this lovely man we have here?"

"this is brett. he's my boyfriend," eddy grips brett's hand tighter.

"uh, yes. brett yang. nice to meet you, mrs. chen," brett bows.

"wonderful! come, let's have a meal, i have to talk to you about something."

"we just ate, though."

"it's alright, honey. just come with me then," eddy starts walking with his mother but brett lets go and stays behind.

"uh, i'll head home. have fun, eddy. and it was nice meeting you, mrs. chen."

"oh, no, no! come with us, brett. i'd like to get to know you better. eddy has never introduced me to his significant others before."

"mom!"

"come along, now," she says sweetly. she texts someone on her phone and they continue walking, stopping by the sidewalk. they wait for a few minutes, brett getting a little nervous. a black limousine smoothly pulls over in front of them, mrs. chen climbing up the front seat. brett's climbs in after eddy, words not forming, his brain not able to process what's happening.

"honey, what do you want to eat?" mrs. chen asks.

"um, we're still kinda full, so something light."

"alright. let's go to the…" their voices slowly fade into the background, brett immersed in his own thoughts.

limousine… driver… his mom looks sophisticated. eddy always looks like he's wearing brand new clothes. he also has an ipad and an iphone and all that. he doesn't have a job, yet he takes me on so many dates—oh my god. he's rich.

brett doesn't know what to do with this information. he doesn't know what to feel. he's not mad, or anything. he's also not excited about it. he's just… surprised. what would you even say if you found out your boyfriend's a crazy rich asian?

"hey. you okay?" eddy asks, voice soft.

"mmhm," he clears his throat, his voice slightly trembling. eddy squeezes his hand to provide assurance. he ponders for a while until his face lights up with an idea. he pulls out his phone and types something, brett's own buzzing after.

"more comfortable if we talk through text?" the notification wrote. he smiles and nods at eddy.

what's wrong :(
2:29

just a little nervous
i didnt know id meet ur mom today hahaha
2:29

sorry :( i didn't know she was here
2:29

hey dont worry about it
itll be fine right?
2:30

why wouldn't it be
she said she was gonna tell me sth?
but idk i think it's fine
2:30

ill be there
its gonna be fine :)
2:31

you sure nothing else is wrong?
you seem… off
2:31

oh
lmao
i was just surprised
u didnt tell me
2:31

didn't tell u what?
2:31

that ur rich or sum shit
2:32

oh
is that a bad thing?
is there a problem?
are u mad :(
2:32