"I love you.." Mew whispered.
Maybe it was too soon.
Maybe this wasn't the best time to say those words.
And maybe, just maybe he was getting ahead of himself once again.
But Gulf simply looked at him before hiding his face on the crook of his neck, mumbling something in response.
Past-Mew would've interpreted that silence as a rejection. But he's not the same person as before. He no longer jump into conclusions solely based on what he sees. He's more confident in himself now that he's able to "feel" instead of "think".
And what he truly feels inside is that this boy he's holding in his arms right now, also feels some type of way for him. It might not be love as of this moment, but he's sure he can work with it until finally they both feel the same way towards each other.
"Are you hungry?" Mew asked softly after awhile, trying to lighten up the mood.
Gulf merely nodded, his face still cradled onto Mew's neck.
"Want me to cook you crispy pork with basil?"
Gulf's ears perked up upon hearing the question. He immediately lifted his head and looked at the older man in excitement.
Mew laughed at his reaction. "Are you that excited?"
The younger boy just nodded repeatedly, not able to contain his excitement.
"Hmm.. Are you excited that I'm cooking for you or are you excited because it's your favourite dish?"
Gulf's eyebrows furrowed and his lips pouted. He seemed to be adorably in deep thought, conflicted. Should he lie to Mew or answer him honestly?
Mew just shook his head as the boy looked at him helplessly, a soft smile on his face. "Never mind. You don't have to answer that."
Gulf was about to jump off of Mew's lap and run over to the kitchen when the other suddenly lifted him bridal-style.
"P'Mew, w-wait-" The boy blushed a deep shade of red as Mew continued to carry him to the kitchen before finally placing him down gently onto the chair by the kitchen table. "I can walk, you know.."
"Yeah, but why walk when you have me to carry you?" Mew winked at him before turning around and heading over to the fridge. "Now let's see what you have.."
Gulf just sat in silence and blinked. Then blinked again while looking at Mew's back as he prepared a meal for him. He was so focused on cooking that Gulf almost hated it because he was not getting any attention from him. But he will be enjoying his favourite dish soon so he tried to be understanding.
He wanted to pinch himself, just to see if this was really happening to him. Maybe he has fallen asleep and this was nothing but a wonderful dream!
Then before he knew it, Gulf yelped in pain as he found himself pinching his own arm. What the hell.. He thought.
Mew immediately turned his back to look at him. "What's wrong?"
Gulf shook his head, an obvious fake smile on his face. "N-nothing. Just stubbed my toe on the table.."
Mew narrowed his eyes at him. "Behave, will you? I'm almost done here."
Gulf silently nodded his head, like a kid getting reprimanded for moving around too much during dinner time. He's usually not a patient person but the aromatic smell of basil and the satisfying sound of pork on the pan was more than enough to calm him down.
True to his words, Mew plated the dish and brought it over to the table along with a hefty bowl of rice. "Eat up."
Gulf glanced at him, holding a spoon and a fork. "You're not eating?"
Mew shook his head. "All for you. I already ate before coming here."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Now hurry and eat before it gets cold."
Gulf was still unsure about eating by himself but the smell of his favourite dish was so inviting that he didn't have any other choice but to start eating.
Mew watched as Gulf took a big bite with a contented smile on his face. "Is it good?" He asked.
The other just nodded, mouth still full of food. Gulf was actually quite surprised. Mew was such a good cook! He even put the right amount of spice for him. This was just too perfect. He's too perfect!
Gulf swallowed before opening his mouth to talk. "It's really good! How did you know I like spice?"
Now it was Mew's turn to blush. He breathed a sigh of relief that Gulf was too busy enjoying his food to notice him blush. He can't just tell him he has been bugging his friends to find out more about him. "Just a lucky guess.."
Gulf continued on eating without much of a care of his surroundings. The food must've been really good that he was able to ignore Mew staring right at him as he devoured the food he made for him.
What a wonderful way to finish off such an amazing night.
~.~
Brrr.. Brrr.. Brrr..
Mew was awoken from his sleep by the sound of his phone vibrating.
He immediately silenced it before it also disturbs the angel sleeping peacefully on his arm. Glancing on his phone, he wondered why Off was calling him at 1 am in the morning. What the hell was going on?
Finally deciding to be a good friend, he answered the call and softly whispered for his friend to give him a minute. Then he carefully lifted his arm from under Gulf's sleeping figure, placing a soft kiss on his forehead.
Moving off the bed, he silently went over to the other side of the room.
"What is it, Off? You do know it's 1 am, right?"
"Hah! And this is how he treats me after all I have done in order for his love-life to blossom."
Mew almost rolled his eyes at his absurdity. "I can't thank you enough, dear friend. Now tell me what you want."
"While you were having an alone time with the love of your life, the boys and I went over to the 13th bar for some drinks. The owner invited us over."
"Alright, that sounds cool. I'm glad you had a fun night, too." Why the hell is he telling me this now? He doesn't seem that drunk.. Mew thought to himself as he quickly glanced at Gulf to make sure he wasn't disturbing his sleep.
"Thanks! It was really fun. The band that played was pretty dope, too."
Mew shook his head in amusement. "That's nice. Did you guys get home okay?"
"Yeah, yeah. We've been home for awhile now. I was actually just about to head to bed when I remembered something I had to tell you."
"What is it?" His friend finally remembered the reason for his call.
"The owner invited us over to ask if we would like to play at the bar this weekend. We already said yes, but I just wanted to let you know that."
Well, I guess, thanks for letting me know at least. Mew almost replied back. "Alright. I got nothing to do this weekend anyway. Let's practice tomorrow night so we could go through the songs we're doing."
"Yessir!" Off answered before immediately hanging up. Knowing him, he was probably dying to get to bed.
Mew sighed before glancing out of the window. It has been awhile since their band played together. All four of them was into music and they always played for fun, but they would also sometimes play on small venues whenever they get invited or they have time to play.
Stifling a yawn, he rubbed his sleepy eyes and decided to go back to sleep. He carefully climbed back to bed and softly put his arm back around Gulf's lithe body. The other immediately cuddled closer to his side, gravitating to his warm embrace.
Mew closed his eyes and nuzzled his nose on Gulf's head.
Tomorrow's gonna be a long day.
~.~
Off was casually scrolling down Instagram while he sat waiting for his other friends at a café, when he suddenly got a new notification.
Someone just followed him on Instagram.
Confused, and with his eyebrows furrowed, he clicked to check who this new follower was. From the little profile picture, it seemed to be a guy, but it was taken too far off that he's not sure he recognizes the face.
He almost choked on air upon seeing the Instagram page.
It was HIM. That cute guy from last time. What was his name again?
Off was feeling so excited that he almost automatically followed back when he suddenly remembered what he did that day..
How he listened in on his conversation by mistake at that staircase...
He suddenly felt cold.
Was this the reason why he followed him?! Did he figure out he was listening to them, after all? He thought he was safe from that!
Or was it Mew, the tattletale?!
"Ugh", he grunted. He wanted to follow back but can't! What if he suddenly dm'ed him asking for an explanation? He would be dead, then!
"Hey!" Off almost jumped 10 feet up in the air when Zee grabbed his shoulders all of a sudden.
Off put his hand on his chest, trying to calm down the ragging pump inside. "What the hell, man? You almost gave me a heart attack!"
Zee just grinned before sitting down across from him. "Sorry. But you looked so scared looking at your phone that I just had to."
"Asshole."
"Sexy asshole, you mean."
Off almost rolled his eyes. Where did he get all of these guys from? Why was he friends with them again? First, Mew. And now this guy!
"Anyway, what's going on with your phone? Did you drop it or something?" Zee asked, lifting his coffee to his lips.
"No, nothing. Just saw something weird and I'm not sure what to make out of it."
"Just follow him back!"
Off jumped out of his seat for the second time that day and he almost committed a crime right then and there. "What the hell, Boat?"
Boat came out from behind him and sat on the empty chair beside Zee. He knows how to treasure his own life. "You were holding out your phone, I thought you were showing me your screen."
Off fumed. "You're kidding me, right?!"
"Why are you being so loud so early in the morning, Off?" Mew said as he took the seat beside him. "Stop yelling, people are looking."
"Shut up, Mew. You know nothing."
Mew raised an eyebrow at him. "Okay? And what happened to you while we were gone?"
Off let out a deep sigh. "Nothing I can't handle. Let's just get this day done and over with, yeah?"
"Roger that!" Boat chimed in.
~.~
"What's wrong. B? You've been staring at your phone for awhile now." Saint asked as he nonchalantly flipped through the book in front of him.
Gun sighed. "Nothing." It has been almost an hour now. Why hasn't he followed me back yet? He thought to himself.
Could it be that he doesn't remember me? Is that it?
But I don't think I'm that forgettable! He told himself internally.
"Hah. I can literally see the gears in your brain turning." Mild said as he sat down beside Saint. "What are you thinking so hard about?"
Gun just pouted. "Leave me be. I'm trying to internally analyze myself here."
Mild and Saint looked at each other and then shrugged. Gun was just being Gun again. It'll be best for them to leave him alone. They wonder who it is this time around.
Gulf came to the table just as his other two friends looked at each other and shrugged. Sitting down beside Gun, he shot the other two a questioning look. They both pointed at Gun, making him glance at the boy sitting beside him.
He looked so deep in thought while staring down at his phone on the table.
"Ah," Gulf said. "Okay, I get it."
"What do you get?" Gun asked, turning his head to look at Gulf. "Ah, you're here. Hello."
Gulf forced a fake smile. "Yeah, hi. How are you doing today?"
"Terrible." Then suddenly his phone rang. He just got a new notification.
With lightning speed, Gun grabbed his phone and checked the notification. He couldn't believe it! Not only did he follow back, he also sent him a direct message!
"Actually," Gun said sheepishly. "I'm doing wonderful today."
The other three, already having a vague idea of what have happened, just shook their heads and left their friend alone as they proceed to talk about their plans for the weekend.
"Wait!" Gun suddenly exclaimed. "Don't make any plans for this weekend!"
Mild raised an eyebrow at him. "And why is that?"
Gun smiled sickeningly sweet, the other three almost got shivers down their spines. "Because we are going to a bar to see a band."
~.~
"So Mew," Zee said as he twirled the drum stick in between his fingers. "How did everything go with Gulf?"
Upon hearing the question, the other three immediately paused what they were doing with their guitars to look at Zee.
"Oooh, I'm curious about that too." Boat chimed in as he adjusted the straps on his bass guitar.
"Yeah, Mew, update us." Off smirked as he connected his guitar to the amplifier. Although he already has an idea about what happened, the other two doesn't know yet.
"It's good, I guess." Mew started. "I told him how I feel but I'm not too sure about his own feelings yet."
"That's normal, right? I mean, it's still pretty early into the relationship." Boat commented.
"True," Zee agreed. "But are you guys together or what? What's the status of your relationship right now?"
Mew paused after hearing that question. He never really thought about that. He did say he was going to wait for him until he was ready, but with what happened after.. Did that at least mean something? Like a "go" signal to pursue him?
"I'm not sure..." Mew found himself answering.
"What?" Off replied indignantly. "Now I know I did not do all those things I did just to have you guys fall into this grey area one for time." I did not put in the line the little chance I have with him just for this to happen! He almost added.
"Well what am I supposed to do when he's not ready?"
Off sighed. "That's true. You can't just force someone into a relationship if they're not fully ready yet. No matter how badly you may want it."
"However!" Zee started, all eyes on him now. "That doesn't mean you can't try your best to persuade him. Maybe, just maybe, he was just waiting for that one thing so you can finally win him over."
"And what might that be, Zee?"
Zee grinned. "I have an idea."
~.~
~Fast Forward to The Weeknd~
I don't know why I run away
I'll make you cry when I run away
So I made you think that I would always stay
I said some things that I should never say
Yeah, I broke your heart like someone did to mine
And now you won't love me for a second time
"Hey, B! Are you alright? Why are you so restless?" Saint asked Gun, his voice layering over the sound of The Weeknd playing in the background.
Ever since they arrived at the Adhere the 13th Bar, Gun has been bouncing on his chair. Why was he so excited? Was it because it was their first time at this bar?
"Yeah, what's gotten to you all of a sudden? You've been excited for days, you know." Mild asked, slowly sipping on his drink and throwing his friend a "get-it-together" look.
Gulf looked at Gun silently. Why was he getting the feeling that he knows more than he was letting on? It all started at that time he received the notification on his phone. After that, he wouldn't shut up about this bar and how they had to be here this weekend.
Gulf was just about to confront him about it when everyone in the bar suddenly started cheering. Gulf followed everyone's gaze and it brought him to the stage in the middle of the room. The band seemed to be setting up now. Getting ready to perform.
"Omg, they're here!" Gun exclaimed. He couldn't contain his excitement no more.
Mild briefly glanced at him. "Do you know them or something?"
"Of course! And you guys know them, too."
What? Gulf had to pause upon hearing that. He turned to look at the stage one more time but where they sat wasn't exactly close to the stage and the stage itself was still quite dark. They haven't turned the stage lights on yet so he couldn't tell who the band members were.
But knowing Gun, it was probably just one of the local bands they have seen a few times before. That's probably why he said that we know them, too. Not giving it much of a thought anymore, he turned to his drink on the table. It was quite good, not too bitter and not too sweet.
From his peripheral vision, he saw that the stage lights finally turned on and the loud cheering was back again. But Gulf was still uninterested, he has so many things to think about and make decisions on that maybe, just maybe, this alcohol will be able to help him.
"No way.."
It wasn't until he heard Mild that he lifted his head to look at him. His friend looked shocked, bewildered, while looking towards the stage.
What could be so shocking? Gulf asked himself as he slowly turned his gaze towards the stage. And as soon as he did-
"Hello, everyone! Thank you for coming out tonight. Are you ready to have a wonderful time with us?"
P-Mew?!