Two years later,
Gulf was dressed up in a suit getting his things ready when his phone rang. He answered it right away and put it on speaker.
"Ok Cinderella , are you ready for your carriage?" Mild asked,
"I'm ready fairy god mother. Please be here in 30 minutes." Gulf responded packing his bag.
"Use the deo I bought for you last time. It's ideal for the situation."
"Are you trying to claim me friend?" He asked with a tease.
"You've been claimed already, see you in a few."
"Hurry up." Gulf answered and ended the call.
He took his graduation gown and made sure there were no wrinkles on it. He put it on a hanger and covered it neatly placing it by the door.
Exactly 30 minutes later, Mild knocked at Gulf's door and Gulf was coming out with his backpack and hanger.
"I'll get that," Mild said getting the hanger with the graduation suit. "Are we picking up Chet and Atid?"
"No, they said they'll meet us there. Will probably see them after the ceremony."
Gulf looked back in the back seat, "you didn't get me something?"
"What, you wanted me to buy you flowers or something? That gay shit?"
Gulf lightly slapped Mild's shoulder with a baby frown on his face.
"You're going to get us in an accident and ruin the surprise."
"What surprise?" Gulf's eyes lit up.
"I have a trunk full of flowers and a message that's going to fly out but will end up hanging in air,"
Gulf cringed hard, "that gay shit?"
"Well you love gay shit,"
"Please no." Gulf held his face in fake anguish.
"I'm just kidding. What did the company say, are they going to hire you permanently?"
"They said they need to speak to my professor before finalizing that."
"But you've been working there for a year."
"HR formalities. So please sell me when they call you."
"Why would they call?" Mild asked momentarily confused until he got it, "Aren't you supposed to tell me first before you make that decision?"
"That's why I'm asking now p' mhmm,"
"You're so sneaky I love it." Mild said making the final turn and they were there. Gulf got out after Mild had parked the car which he succeeded after 10 minutes of looking for an empty parking spot. Mild escorted him to class and left after patting him on his back.
The ceremony took a while but when it came to an end, Gulf found himself receiving flowers from Chet and Atid.
"Congratulations," they said taking turns hugging him.
"Thank you." Gulf replied.
"Are we going to get wasted tonight?" Chet asked bouncing his eyebrows excited.
"No one is getting wasted." Mild said joining the group of friends handing Gulf some pretty flowers and pecking him on his cheek with a congratulatory message.
Chet winced and looked at Atid suspicious.
The boundaries between the two were getting small and they couldn't tell if they had overstepped that boundary. They hoped not.
Gulf smiled with every feature on his face. He was really cute genuinely smiling like that. He was happy and so was his friends.
However, something caught his eye and he wasn't sure if his eyes were seeing correctly. His smile disappeared as he strained to get a clear view of someone approaching from afar, holding flowers and a parcel.
His heart went haywire when he got a clear view of Mew.
For a moment he wished, he hoped and he believed he was here for him but Mew stopped in front of a boy who was standing with a group of friends. He handed over flowers and a parcel and he leaned in for what looked like a kiss.
Gulf turned around and everyone searched around to see what robbed Gulf's smile then they saw Mew standing in front of a boy. They looked back at Gulf who was now awkward and fidgety.
"Should we go?" He asked not wanting to be there anymore. He hadn't seen Mew for 2 years. Mew never returned after leaving that day and Gulf did not look for Mew. He tried not to. Mew had asked for space to heal and Gulf respected him. His days got filled with Mild and games. The first month he had explored the world of games and camped in Mild's game room. Mild had helped him get on his feet again. He was there to encourage him to get back to his friends again. Mild went with him to Atid and Chet and he apologized.
Good job, Mild had squeezed his shoulders proud. The friends occasionally met in a club for drinks or a game night at Mild's house. Mild had learned the other side of Gulf's past from Chet. He helped Gulf get comfortable with being gay. He made silly jokes and flirted with him just for fun. Gulf had gone back to school the next semester and resumed his studies. After settling again in school, he looked for another job and started working again. This time his life was balanced. He knew when to hangout, when to study, when to work. He was living a healthy life; Mew, Donald and Queen forgotten.
Now seeing Mew again affected him more than it should. He led the way to Mild's car and Mild told them to meet at their usual hangout bar after dinner.
Mild took Gulf to eat and Gulf paid against his will. Mild insisted since he was the one graduating, he should pay and Gulf couldn't believe it.
"If I pay then it's just going to become a date and I've done enough of that gay shit."
Gulf laughed out loud and Mild smiled satisfied. After dinner they went for drinks and Gulf was surprised when they met Chet and Atid on a table. The place was packed. It was a graduation night and it made sense. They all sat down and started drinking and laughing.
In the sea of people, Mild spotted Mew first. He debated on what to do. He was still thinking when his eyes met Mew's. Mew looked next to Mild and saw Gulf, he smiled.
Gulf was smiling and Mew just got lost in his smile. He had never seen Gulf smile like that and it was something he wanted to keep on witnessing. He talked animatedly with Chet and Atid and his heart got full. He got his friends back. Mew thought still staring. It had been 2 years and he had successfully moved on from the drama.
He also stopped going to work worried he might meet Gulf again. He went to see a therapist too when he started feeling depressed. The memories of Gulf's scar tempted him to do the same but he asked for help before he could get blood on his hands. It took a while for him to get back in shape because the damage was deeper than he thought.
It took him 6 months to fully grasp the fact that even though he made the wrong choices for his happiness back then, Gulf and Donald wronged him deeply. Then he had to learn to let go of the pain. He learned he didn't owe them anything. That it was ok to live his life and find happiness again.
Mew got a new nice job and with some good benefits. He started living his life and recently he had been planning on going back home to see his parents again. It was about time for reunion and he hadn't known he was going to reunite with Gulf first.
Mild kept on looking wondering what Mew was going to do next. Mew looked back at Mild after just staring at Gulf in admiration. He smiled at Mild too and Mild smiled back. Before Mew could look away, Mild nodded as if to say its ok, you can come.
They had a mini conversation with their eyes until Mew got convinced. He wiped his hands on his pants and approached their table. It was a hustle making a way in the crowd but he was determined.
When he arrived at their table everyone looked at him.
"Hi guys, mind if I join?"
Everyone looked at Gulf in question. Gulf reached out for Mild's hand for support. Mild leaned to Gulf's ear and whispered, "you call the shots here. Do you want him here or no?"
Gulf shook his head.
"Should I tell him to go?"
Gulf shook his head.
"What do you want me to do?"
Gulf didn't respond.
"Ok I'm going to act like your parent."
Mild turned to Mew.
"I'll ask you a question first, We saw you this afternoon with a guy, would you like to tell us what that's about?"
"Oh my manager had an urgent business meeting and his son was graduating so he sent me on his behalf."
"Do you have clear intentions with our friend?"
Mew nodded awkwardly.
Mild leaned back to Gulf, "I think he's ok." He said with a serious voice and Gulf scoffed at Mild's laid back behavior. He was feeling so nervous and he didn't know what to do.
He nodded at Mild for a go ahead.
Mild got up and said, "I just saw someone I know, I'm going to say hi."
Mew sat down next to Gulf and Chet and Atid greeted him. After exchanging greetings with the tw0, he turned to Gulf and said,
"Can I please buy you a drink?"
Gulf's ears went red from blushing. He felt like he was being courted. He felt nervous. It was his first time feeling like this. He felt the need to impress but he was shy. He was feeling all that gay shit and Mild looked from afar, proud. He left the bar after sending a text to Gulf.
Gulf opened his phone and when he saw the text, he almost spit his drink.
No sex on the first date.
He shut his phone and put it away. He looked at Mew and said,
"yes please."
The End.
Y'all thank you so much for the support. You guys are awesome. I enjoyed reading your comments and a special thank you to those who voted.
I'm planning on Updating Psycho Book 2 but I don't know how long it's going to take. If not I'll just update The Ideal Reunion Book 4 of the Ideal Series.
Thank you!!!
Stay Gold 💝💝💝