Small doses

Chapter Twenty-One

All I know is you, heal me when I'm broken

All I know is you, saved me and you know it

Always thought I was hard to love

'Til you made it seem so easy. 

The next day Gulf was ready to conquer the world. He managed to sleep enough to not look like a zombie and scare everybody at work and that's why he was so early. To the point there were only he and P'May. Of course Mew was the last one to arrive, faithfully followed by P'Bosser. From the look of it, it seemed like Mew had set his mind on this "avoiding Gulf mission". But unfortunately for him, this time Gulf was even more stubborn than him. He was going to talk to him, no matter what.

He spent most of the morning with one eye controlling Mew's every movement. He was reading his script and talking with Kao, who in turn did not know what to do. He knew Mew was mostly using him not to be left alone, like a sort of human shield. Fed up with this situation, Gulf stood up and firmly walked towards them. "Sorry Kao, could you excuse us?". Mew was clearly panicking, because he didn't expect Gulf to take the reins of the situation just like that. Seeing Kao hesitating, due to Mew's insistence, Gulf raised his eyebrow, forcing him to stand up. "Please, don't drag me into this". He looked at Mew and then smiled at Gulf. "Good luck".

Gulf sat next to him, trying to get his attention. "Can we talk?". Mew returned the look for a split second. "I already said what I think it's the best thing to do...". He was clearly conflicted, but also trying to keep his version straight. "Yeah, and I haven't answered yet". Gulf felt like it was better to tell him everything in person. "Are you trying to change my mind?". Gulf rolled his eyes. "As a matter of fact, yes". He was about to continue, but then Mew stood up. "I don't think we should talk about it here". Gulf stood up too, only vaguely noticing how they had turned the attention on themselves. " Where do you want to talk, uh? Because you said you wanted to keep a distance and now you can't talk to me even at work?". Mew looked at him sadly, and Gulf thought for a moment to have won him over. "The break is over".

No. I can't go back to work like this. So Gulf got up on a loveseat, loudly clearing his throat to draw everybody's attention. Mew opened his eyes wide, not understanding what was going on. "Sorry guys, this will only took a few minutes, I promise". Gulf took a deep breath, because he didn't stop to think for a second before acting, and now he had no idea how to begin. But it was too late to back off now. "Mew, I know you don't want to hear me out right now, but please. I just can't go on like this". He looked at the others for a moment, seeing Mild winking at him to give him his support. He smiled, regaining some of his courage. "You know what I kept telling myself this entire time? That I could only take you in small doses. This way, I wouldn't have been the one hurting. I wanted to be the one walking away, when the time was right. But the truth is...". This time Gulf locked his eyes on Mew's, not letting him escape him anymore. "...I was never ready for that".

Gulf bit his underlip, feeling overwhelmed by what he was about to say: "I fell in love with you, so deeply". He clearly heard someone on the background saying "Oh my God",but tried to keep going anyway, because he was scared of not being brave enough to do this again. "I didn't think it was possible to love someone so much".Mew was holding his breath, shocked by every word coming from Gulf's mouth. Well, Gulf couldn't believe it too. "I was hiding behind the fear of you being a guy, but...it was never about that. Sure, it's complicated, but I was never ashamed of you. Of us. The truth is....I was afraid of letting you in". Gulf could feel his voice trembling a little bit, so he cleared his throat again,even though he already knew it wouldn't do any good.

"I was afraid of letting you know every part of me and discover you didn't like what you were seeing. But of course I love you, Mew". Mild was practically crying and Run and Tong were hugging each other like proud dads. And Mew...he was probably about to explode. "I've always have. How couldn't I? Even when I was putting up my barriers, you looked at me and put everything into perspective. You made all this seem so easy, even if you were still healing from a broken heart. You let me in and for this I will be forever grateful". Gulf carefully got off the loveseat, walking towards him, all the attention focused on him. "I don't care about punches, or threats. The worst part of it was going through this alone. But recently I've learned that I'm not alone...". He looked at Mild and smiled. "...and neither are you. We have a great and supportive family here. And more importantly, we have each other". Gulf gently took Mew's hand and interlocked their fingers like they always loved to do. "So if you still want me, I'm here. Whenever you're ready". His last words were more of a whisper, but Mew heard it loud and clear.

Gulf was about to loosen his grip, but Mew stopped him. Gulf looked at him, expectantly. "I can't believe you did that". Gulf smiled, proud of himself for once. "Well, I came to understand that there's nothing I wouldn't do for you at this point". Suddenly, Run popped out, on the verge of a mental breakdown: "Ugh, go ahead and kiss already!". Both Mew and Gulf laughed, looking around. Everybody started shouting "Kiss, kiss, kiss!", even P'May. Mild picked up a microphone and spoke directly at them: "It's not like we haven't seen you two eating each other's mouth before".

And with that, Mew took Gulf's face in his hands and whispered to him: "What the hell". Gulf smiled, remembering his own words before their first real kiss. "Let's get this out of the way, shall we?". Mew smiled too and put his lips on his at long last. Gulf had missed his mouth so much he didn't care about the audience in the least. He put his arms around Mew's neck, smiling in the kiss, and Mew pressed him against his chest even more. "Oh my goodness, this is the best day of my life!" Mild was still using the microphone and Tong was trying to take it away from him. "So the best day of your life is actually the best day of their lives?". Mild made a wry face, disgruntled. "Shut up, don't ruin this for me". Everybody laughed, even Mew and Gulf who could no longer keep a straight face.

Everybody gathered around the happy couple to congratulate them. Boat spoke up first: "I have to say it. I didn't expect this speech at all. But you rocked it". Mew hugged Gulf from behind, failing to hide his face in his shoulder. "Someone's already dead jealous". Mild looked at them with a knowing smirk, while Gulf looked extremely pleased. "I'm not...". Tong raised an eyebrow, causing Gulf to tap his arm. "Don't make fun of him.". Run was smiling, softened by the scene in front of him. "You two are so adorable, you're making me miss my imaginary girlfriend". Again, everybody burst into laughter.

All the pieces of the puzzle were finally coming together. It's true that sometimes things don't go the way you expect them to. Sometimes, if you're lucky enough, they'll go even better.