Cliché

18: Yang

About an hour into the crazy long drive from the city to the nearest suburb--  I make a stop at a gas station.

"Yuki," He fell asleep in the passenger seat, I nudge his shoulder, "Yuki, baby, wake up."

He makes a noise that sounds like the combination between a moan and a groan, his shimmery purple eyes flutter open, "Huh?"

"I gotta get gas, you wanna get some snacks from inside? Hm?" I stroke his hair and talk to him like he's a child, an infant. Because he is. Fragile and delicate. To be treated with care.

"Y-Yeah..." He yawns, "How much longer after this stop?"

"Two hours, about." I step outside to pump L I F E back into this car.

Oh my fucking God that sounded so weird I'm never saying that again.

I hand Yuki a five and wait for the pump to do its thing.

OH MY GOD, I NEED TO STOP DOING THIS.

Also, for some reason, I'm feeling like I'm missing something.

I do a mental checklist... Yep... got that.. packed that... WAIT!! Oh no, I packed that too...

That's it.

MY MEDS!!!

Two years ago, after a fairly disturbing incident, I was diagnosed with GAD and *woohoo!* depression. They put me on meds. At first,  I thought the meds would help. They didn't. And then I got hooked back on to Oxy. Please don't ask how many times I've almost overdosed, because I'm being honest-- I don't know.

Then there was cutting. I cut for a little bit, maybe about one or two months after the initial diagnosis. The cutting actually kind of felt good. But, I couldn't, I couldn't continue doing that. So I sought out therapy and stopped. Although I still need meds, which sucks.

I also realized I forgot to pack a pack of cigarettes (tongue twister, eh?). Yeah, I smoke. It's not a big deal. I never do it in front of my brothers or Dexter, who has asthma. Okay, well, once I was mad at Dex so I did smoke in front of him and he had a severe asthma attack so... Yeah.

I finish filling up gas and then park closer to the actual convenience store part before heading inside. Yuki is looking at snacks, he has a diet coke and a Twinkie 2-pack in his hand. 

"Heya," I sneak up behind him and he kind of does a quiet scream, "Twinkies... Ironic considering it's a slur, they're good though."

"Heh, yeah I guess. You want anything?" He picks up a pack of Cheez-Its before putting it down again.

"Just cigarettes." Yuki's expression dims when I say that.

"You... smoke?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, well, I have asthma so..." He rubs the back of his neck.

I gasp a loud, gay gasp, "Oh gosh!! I'm so sorry!! I won't get them, then."

"...thank you..." He mumbles. It's quite cute.

We pay for our snacks (I end up getting an energy drink) and leave. Immediately, Yuki falls back asleep.

"Sweet dreams," I kiss his forehead before we pull out of the lot, "love you."

~~~~

His house is a quaint little house in a quiet neighbourhood. It's a medium-sized house, not like mine at all. When you have seven siblings, you need a big house. Ours was pretty big with four bedrooms, five bathrooms. But Yu is an only child, so I'm assuming he doesn't need much space.

"Should I park on the driveway or...?" I ask Yuki, who is still a little groggy.

"Driveway, mom is off work." He unbuckles his seatbelt and stretches.

I pull up onto the driveway and put the car in park, just as we're getting out, a black-haired woman bursts out the front door.

"YUUUUUKIIIII!!!!" She screams and immediately runs over and hugs him, "Oh honey look at you!!!"

I'm assuming this is Yuki's mother since she has the same milky skin and amethyst eyes. Her body is slender and she's rather short, her coal-black hair is tied up into two childish pigtails. She's wearing a black skirt with white-and-grey star tights underneath and a black shirt that's too tight with too-long sleeves. Overall, she looks like a teenager.

Yuki sighs, "Hiiiii mooommmm," He groans, "That's Yang by the way." Yuki points at me while I'm getting our bags out, I wave at his mom.

"Oh my God, he's hot!" Yuki nudges her with his elbow, "I mean, um, nice to meet you honey. I'm Moon, Yuki's mum. Let me help you with those."

We take the bags inside, "TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES!!!" Moon yells, "L-Love is a neat freak."

I slip off my Vans and Yuki does the same. The inside of his house looks really normal, there's pictures of Yuki and Moon and a pink haired dude everywhere.

"LOVE!" Moon calls up the stairs, "THEY'RE HERE!!"

A man, I'm guessing Mr Meiyo, comes down the stairs. He has the same pale pink rose-coloured hair but his skin is a little more tan. His eyes are white with pink pupils, which is kind of creepy. He's wearing a striped long-sleeve shirt with grey sweatpants and a gray cardigan overtop. The most prominent features of his are two small white wings and a glowing white halo just above his head.

"Y-Y-Yuki, and... Y-Yang?" He's speaking slow, with an obvious stutter. I nod in response.

"That's Love, my husband," Moon then adds, "He's a bit shy." 

I smile, "It's so nice to meet you both, even though Yuki has told me nothing about you. I assumed you were nice people for having raised such a son." Before I forgot later, I pulled out the cupcakes from my bag, "These are for you!"

Moon takes the cupcakes, "Thank you, dearie. Lovely to meet you too. Yuki's talked a lot about you! I mean, I didn't even know he was gay until he told us about you." She glare-smiles at Yuki, who shrugs,  "Anyway, dinner's almost ready, we can chat in the living room till then. Come, come sit!!"

I follow her to the living room, Yuki and I sit on a couch across from Moon and Love. I notice Yuki is holding my hand really tightly.

"Say..." Moon taps her foot on the carpet, "Yang, I think I know your parents!"

"Y-You do?" I'm genuinely confused, my dad is... well, my dad. My mom, however, never really talked about her school days and whatnot, "Hunnie and Connie Kawashima?"

"Yes yes yes yes!! I was friends with Mayflower, Hunnies sister? Oh gosh, I remember when she got pregnant with you!!!!" Moon squeals, "Wow, who knew you'd date my son?"

I laugh at that, "You knew my Auntie May? And... My mum?"

"Yea!!!!!!!!"

Yuki, who is confused beyond confusion limits asks, "Mom, what do you mean you knew my boyfriend's parents?! THAT'S WEIRD!"

Moon, ignoring her son, asks me "Is Connie still a jerk? How's Hunnies Autism?"

I gulp, "M-My dad is um, yeah, still a jerk, hah. He used to... to..." Should I? I mean, I am an adult now... "He used to... hit me? When I was little? But when I was high-school-aged um it mostly became verbal..."

Everyone in the room becomes quiet.

"And Mum is... Dead..."

I know I'm about to cry. I know because I feel it in my gut and because the memories are coming back of every time he said,

I wish you were never even born.