Cliché

17: Yang

They say you can win anyone over with food.

I think they're right!

That is why to impress my innocent pink-haired boyfriend's parents, I am making double chocolate cherry cupcakes. Almost as if it's an apology for screwing their son. He refuses to tell me whether they're pro-gay or anti-gay, so I have no idea how this is going to go. It could go great! Or... Terrible!

Sometimes I feel like Yuki is only dating me because the people he actually is/was in love with are taken. That or they aren't gay.

Yuki says he and Rayvn were neighbours and they would have sleepovers every week. He says they would confess their deepest secrets in the mystic ritual that is middle-school Truth or Dare. He says his mother had to make them go to bed because they cried so loud during Mufasa's death scene in The Lion King. He says that when they got older, they would watch Twilight on repeat until they memorized it. In all, Yuki loves Rayvn more than me.

I don't know whether it's strictly platonic or if they've done anything.... Romantic.... with each other, but you can really tell they have undeniable chemistry! A classic, dare I say, cliche, pair of friends. The dark, brooding, emo one and the happy-go-lucky gay one with a dark secret. Don't tell me you haven't seen that before.

In all honesty, they'd be a pretty cute couple. But Rayvn is just bad for everyone he meets, a player. I've seen him seduce girls as young as 13, creepy... Nevermind Rayvn though, I'm excited! Yuki hasn't told me anything about his folks so yes yes yes I am nervous.

God, this whole relationship with Yu is just going so well. Maybe, just maybe, I have a chance with him. Maybe we'll have kids, maybe I'll finish my manga series, maybe I'll get an anime, MAYBE ROHAN KISHIBE WILL COME TO LIFE AND PERHAPS HE TOO WILL LIKE MY MANGA AND IS G A Y. I just don't know, but I want Yuki to be with me forever.

Forever.

~

I exit the house, Tupperware container of cupcakes in hand. I've made sure to comb my hair and tie it back in a short ponytail, and I went out and bought an entirely new dark blue button-down and jeans yesterday just to impress his parents. I shoot a text to Yuki,

YK: omw, five minutes at most.

YM: K, good. I'm gonna sleep the whole ride I'm so tireeedddd. - _ -

YK: Awwwwwwww i cant wait to draw moustaches on your face in permanent ink!

YM: No. just no.

YK: :3

The car Dex let me borrow was one of his cheaper ones, a Range Rover. It's good enough for a car trip, although I haven't driven a car in a while. Okay, that's a lie, I have. My preferred methods of transportation are usually by motorcycle or on feet. I mean, walking. I think that's what normal people call it. Oh, what would I know? I'm not normal.

My bag has been expertly packed with all the essentials, sketchbook, clothes, hair ties, 42 markers, 2 pencils, 12 outliners, soap, cupcakes, a small ring box with a sparkly diamond band, glasses, contacts, phone, charger, and a mini 6-colour watercolour palette with a single brush.... And something that is not age-appropriate to mention but also kind of embarrassing.

Pulling up to his building is strangely gut-wrenching. A nice kind of gut-wrenching. The kind of gut-wrenching feeling you get like when you're a middle schooler, giving candies or a note to your crush on Valentines. You could get rejected, who knows! That's the kind of feeling I have. That crush-confessingness feeling.

I text him,

YK: boku wa koko ni imasuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

YM: English?

YK: I'm hereeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Honestly, I don't know why I do that. Like, just out of nowhere I'll switch from English to Japanese. Whether in writing or verbal, it's one of my more strange behaviours.

Yuki, clad in a daisy-yellow sweater (loose around the sleeves, crop-top-ish style, very cute) and jeans, walks out of the building with a heavy-seeming backpack. I get out of the car and we hug.

"Hey," I whisper, "Sleep well?"

"Not really thanks to you." He playfully pushes me away but I pull him back towards me.

"How bout I give you an apology kiss?" I pull him closer, put my arms on his waist and pull him into a nice, long smoooochhh.

Eventually, though, we have to pull away. I hold open the passenger side door for him and he tosses his bag in the back with mine.

I pull out onto the road, "Hey, daddy didn't get his coffee fix today, is it okay if I stop by Starbucks?"

He's scrolling through anime memes on Instagram, "Sure. Could you get me a Pink Drink?"

"Of course, since when are you into anime though?" I hang a left, pulling into the Starbucks parking lot.

"Since never, the anime boys are hot so I look at memes." He shrugs and I smile.

"While I'm getting our drinks, could you plug your parents address into my phones GPS thingy? My password is imgayforsebastian. No spaces."

He looks at me in disbelief, "...Why?"

I scoff, "Sebastian is HOT WITH A CAPITAL H."

He does a weird snorty laugh and I kiss his cheek before heading inside to get our drinks. The line is pretty long, considering it's a Sunday. On a usual Sunday, I'd be at church and then going to see Mother at the graveyard, bringing her bread and flowers. Then I'd head home and bake before settling in on the couch with my My Hero Academia and Jojo's Bizarre Adventure plushies and watch some anime before falling asleep.

Sleep.

WHO NEEDS SLEEP!?

Blah blah, the barista makes our drinks and I pick em up (caramel frappe and pink drink) before heading out to the car where Yuki is laughing at my phone.

"What's so funny?" I hand him his drink.

"Dude, why do you have Grindr?!" He's laughing like crazy.

"Because," I take a sip of my delicious caramel milkshake-pretending-to-be-coffee, "I was a lonely single half-demon in his late twenties who makes manga for a living in his bedroom at 3 am. Forget friendship, romance, I had nothing... Until I met you."

"Wow," He responds, "Smooth."