"We'll hang this test right up next to the other ones. See?" Mother hung another one of Latte's perfect tests on the refrigerator for all to see as they both smiled.
"Yeah! Thanks, Mother! I'm really proud of this test!" Latte responded, grinning happily at her 105.
Espresso rolled his eyes, crumpling up his test that said 75 on the top and throwing it away in the kitchen trash can. Neither of his parents cared. They hadn't even looked at him when he walked in the house.
Since neither him nor his parents gave a shit about his grades anymore, Latte wasn't trying to turn the attention towards him like she normally did. Which was fine, Espresso didn't care. He was happy she was happy. Although it still stung watching Latte get loved to bits by their parents sometimes... It was fine, though. Espresso didn't have anything worth praising anyway.
He stared at Mother and Latte, wishing he could be loved like his sister was. Well, he was loved. By Madeleine. Madeleine loved him. His heart ached as he thought about him. Sure, he had been over to Madeleine's house a day ago, but still. He missed him.
And get this, Espresso's parents had forgotten they grounded him. Even though Father had acted all tough like, "ohh you're grounded until I say so," He fucking forgot. It took Espresso a good week to figure out he could leave the house and his parents didn't care. An entire week! An entire week wasted without seeing Madeleine. (He had been too scared to sneak out again since the first time though, even with Madeleine's endless begging.)
School had gotten kind of boring ever since he stopped obsessing over his grades. Like, all he did was show up, do the bare minimum to not fail, see Madeleine, and leave. Of course, he still tried to keep his grades pretty average, but he certainly wasn't putting enough effort into school as he knew he should.
But he still put effort into the social studies project with Madeleine. They were almost done, and the due date for the project was getting pretty close. Only a little less than one week and they'd be done. Espresso smiled. God, he was glad his teacher assigned them to be partners. He didn't know how he survived without Madeleine.
The end of the school year was coming close too. Espresso heard there was going to be an end-of-year party, and he was pretty excited; maybe Madeleine wanted to go too.
A knock on the front door snapped him out of his thoughts. A rush of happiness tingled through him. Maybe it was Madeleine. He ran to the front door, opening it before anyone else could.
Madeleine was standing on the front porch, and he grinned as Espresso opened the door. He immediately embraced him in a huge hug. "Hi, Espresso!"
"Hi! I'm so happy to see you," Espresso said, hugging him back. After a couple moments, they let go of each other.
"Do you wanna come over to my house and, uh, maybe have a sleepover..?" He giggled awkwardly. "If that's okay with your parents."
Espresso's face lit up. "Oh, I'd love to!" He turned and yelled into the house, "Mother, may I-"
"I don't care," Mother yelled back coldly.
Espresso turned back to Madeleine. "Okay, yeah! I can."
"Yes! Come on, let's go!"
—
The chilly evening breeze rushed through Espresso hair as the setting sun cast a beautiful red glow on the two. Espresso couldn't help but notice how gorgeous Madeleine looked in the lighting. It made his face look so kissable. His face heated up as he smiled.
Madeleine stopped walking on the path for a second, bending down and picking a little flower. He grinned as he stood back up, turning to Espresso. "I got you a flower," He said, tucking the flower behind his ear and into Espresso's hair.
A giggle escaped from Espresso as he adjusted the flower. "It's wonderful. Thank you, Madeleine."
Madeleine looked down at Espresso, studying his face. Espresso was so handsome. Every little detail on his face was so incredible. His dark eyes, his hair, his soft cheeks, his lips... It all made Madeleine so happy. He reached down, holding Espresso's cheek and giving him a quick but passionate kiss on his lips.
Espresso giggled into the kiss as he wrapped his arms around Madeleine, pulling him closer. His warmth made him feel so safe; safer than he ever felt before. Madeleine gave him so much love—love he sometimes felt he didn't deserve. And even though Espresso was broken and traumatized and sometimes foolish, Madeleine didn't care. He still loved him.
Madeleine kissed him one more time before pulling away and getting lost in Espresso's eyes again. "I love you," He said.
"I love you, too, Madeleine." He kissed Madeleine's forehead.
Madeleine held his hand tightly as he rested his head on his shoulder. "You're the best person I've ever met. Ever. You're so smart and kind... You're just perfect—absolutely perfect."
A warm blush spread across Espresso's face. He smiled as he felt Madeleine fully lean into him. Espresso held him close. "Thank you. You're the best person I've ever met too."
They both stood there for a moment, holding hands and leaning into each other as the sun continued to set slowly. Espresso blushed, enjoying Madeleine's company.
"I'm so happy our teacher paired us together," Madeleine whispered as he placed yet another kiss on Espresso's cheek. "I just... I'm so, so happy I met you."
Espresso nudged him a little, smiling. "I'm more happy that I met you. You love me like nobody loved me before. You're sweet and kind and funny and handsome and..." He sighed, looking into his eyes. "You love me back. I can't believe you love me back."
"Of course I love you, silly!"
His eyes trailed up to meet Madeleine's. "I just don't understand why you love me. You're so popular, and I'm not. And most of the girls at school have a crush on you, why don't you love any of them?"
Madeleine's eyebrows raised at his question. "Really? Well... They're all boring. All the girls who have a crush on me are the same; They're all the same basic, straight and blond haired, mean, popular, Hot Cheeto loving girl, you know?"
A slight chuckle escaped Espresso's lips as he said this. "Yeah. I guess so."
"You're different. You actually have a personality. You're cool, dark, mysterious, smart... And you're super good looking."
"Oh, please." Espresso nudged him, giggling.
Madeleine gave his hand a little squeeze as they started to walk again. "So, wanna get some ice cream?"
Espresso's face lit up and he nodded. "Yeah!"
He took his hand and led him to a nearby ice cream store. They stepped inside and Madeleine turned to Espresso. "Would you like to share a cone?"
Espresso looked at him for a moment, a little flustered. He smiled, nodding. "...Yes, please."
"And what flavor would you like?"
He looked at the flavors. "Hmm... Just chocolate, if that's okay with you."
"Of course!" Madeleine smiled back and walked up to the counter. "Hello!" He smiled at the cashier. "I'd like one chocolate ice cream, please!"
The cashier nodded. "Alright, that'll be $2."
Madeleine handed her the money and she gave him his ice cream. He handed it over to Espresso, smiling as he watched him take a little lick. "Mmh!" He grinned as they stepped outside the shop and sat down on a nearby bench. "This is really good! Thank you so much for this."
"Let me have a lick," Madeleine said and he took a lick of the ice cream. "Wow, that is good!"
Madeleine sat back and he watched Espresso happily lick the ice cream. A smile grew on Madeleine's face. Espresso looked so happy, like he almost never got to do fun stuff like this. Who knows? Maybe he didn't.
Espresso was always so worried about something, whether it was his grades, or his parents, or something else entirely, Madeleine almost never saw him happy. But now, Espresso was practically beaming as he ate the ice cream, scooting a bit closer to Madeleine.
Espresso handed the ice cream back to Madeleine. "Here, you can have the rest," He said, handing the ice cream to Madeleine.
He took the ice cream from Espresso.
Silence filled the air until Espresso face lit up. "Oh, right!" Espresso said. "I just remembered; there's an end-of-year party at our school soon, and, uh, I was wondering if... if you wanted to go with me?"
Madeleine grinned, immediately nodding. "Yes! Of course, I'd love to!"
A smile grew on his face he let out a little giggle. "Great! I can't wait."
As they both watched the sunset, Espresso felt Madeleine hold his hand. His face heated up, watching Madeleine eat the ice cream. After a moment, he rested his head on his shoulder. Madeleine finished the ice cream and leaned against Espresso as well. "Thank you," Espresso mumbled. "I had so much fun today."
Madeleine looked down at Espresso's face. He looked happy, but there was a hint of sadness in his eyes. "Of course, Espresso." Madeleine gave his hand a reassuring squeeze as he pressed a kiss against his cheek. "I'm glad you're having a good time. It makes me so happy to see you happy."
The sun had set, and it got very dark in a short amount of time. Streetlamps flickered on, giving the two a little light. Espresso rested his head on Madeleine's shoulder, blushing. "I love you so much," He whispered.
"I love you too."