Bloody Texas

Cupcake Shops are Dope

Lance held the thin fabric of his pink skirt between his fingers, swaying it back and forth in the wind. It tapped his thighs and clung to his black kitten purse. His black Mary Janes glided across the sidewalk. His other hand was intertwined with Keith's, swinging back and forth with every step.

Keith reached up to brush off the shoulder of Lance's black and white striped shirt. His warm eyes smiled at him and returned to the sidewalk. People passed by them as they walked through the small shops of downtown. Lance brought his fingertips up to brush over his mask.

Keith placed a medium-sized box in Lance's lap as he sat on Keith's couch. It was a powder pink box with a slightly darker ribbon wrapped around it to create a puffy bow. He chuckled, "Um–" He pointed a manicured finger down at it, causing his Pandora bracelet to rattle. "What is this?"

Keith sat on the floor in front of him, placing his hands on Lance's knees. He looked up at Lance like a child visiting Santa. "Open it."

Lance shrugged and carefully tugged the ribbon loose. It fell over his legs and licked the floor by his pink chunky bow heels. He gave one last glance to Keith before lifting the lid. He dramatically tossed it to the side. Every movement was slow and methodical as to tease the excited Keith begging like a dog at his feet. Under matching pink tissue paper was a pink Vogmask speckled with little panda faces. Lance gasped as he lifted it from the box.

Keith shifted his legs, "I know you hate wearing those medical masks, so I thought it would be better if you had something like this."

Lance dropped down off the couch and onto his knees, wrapping his arms around Keith's neck. "You're the best!"

Keith squeezed Lance's hand and lifted a finger to point over to a fountain in a small courtyard. The sun glittered the water to create faint mini rainbows. Lance's cheeks warmed up at the memory of their trip. He fiddled with the ring on his left hand, relieved he hadn't lost it.

"Do you wanna share a cupcake?" Keith nudged his head over to a little cupcake shop.

Lance was glad the mask covered his embarrassingly obsessive smiles and blushes. He gave an enthusiastic nod and tugged him through the door.

Lance had carefully slid his Vogmask into his purse before he started enjoying the pretty cupcake. Mocha with crushed peppermint and chocolate drizzle over white frosting. He used the small plastic pink fork to take a bite while he looked around at the interior of the shop. The walls were all pink. Small cupcake paper lights hung from the ceiling. It looked like somewhere a princess would stay. Lance was thankful Keith put up with his strange obsessions. In fact, he encouraged them.

He giggled and set his fork down to talk with his hands, "Okay."

Keith mirrored his hands teasingly, "What?"

"Stop," he slapped his arm with a snicker. "We need to talk wedding."

Keith took a bite of the cupcake with his tiny fork. It looked strange with his black fingerless gloves. Everyone else was cute and fluffy while Keith was dressed like some sort of gang member surrounded by Kero Kero Bonito. It should've felt strange, but everyone gawked over him and stared at Lance in jealousy. Keith averted his gaze to laugh and blush slightly, "Of course."

"Okay," Lance nodded. "So," he moved a few strands of hair out of his eyes, hesitating a little. He squinted at him to observe every move, "Can I be blunt with you?"

Keith shrugged, "Of course."

"I," Lance sounded out every syllable, "don't know if I have twelve months to plan a big wedding." He placed his palms on the table, tapping his ring in the process. "I mean, I've already had a stroke. I've only recently completely recovered from that." He pouted, "And that sucks because I want a beautiful grand wedding. I want to do all the things normal people do, but I'm not–"

"Shh," Keith set his fork over Lance's lips, "Stop worrying." The intensity of his eyes stopped Lance in his tracks. "You want an extravagant wedding? You'll have an extravagant wedding." He brought his fork back to pick at the cupcake, "Whatever you want. I'll make it happen."

Lance leaned up onto the table to close the distance between them. Their noses barely touched, "Time."

Keith leaned into a short kiss, "Consider it done."

Lance scoffed and sat back in his chair, "What are you? God?"

Keith shrugged, "That makes you my Goddess."

"Oh, that's right." Lance tapped his polished nails on the table. "You're pagan."

"Mm-hmm." Keith nodded as he stuck a puff of peppermint frosting onto his tongue.

"So no church."

"Do you want to be in a church?"

"Not really." Lance crossed his arms. "That feels too cliché for us."

Keith chuckled, "Yeah, I guess it does."

Lance watched him finish the last peppermint mocha morsel and brush his hands together. He switched his gaze between Keith and the two girls in the booth. They had taken a liking to the bad boy in the cupcake shop–who had paid no attention to anyone other than Lance. Once he was finished chewing, Lance leaned forward again to kiss him. The sweetness of the cupcake coated his lips. "I love you." He shot a look at the girls as he claimed his man.

The oblivious Keith placed a hand on his cheek before he could sit back down and kissed his forehead, "I love you more."