80's Arcade was just like it sounded like. The arcade was filled with 80 style arcade games, like Joust and Pac-Man. However, the place rakes in more money from the newly established two-floor laser tag and newer games such as Shimmy Dance Revolution. Today, the place wasn't packed too full, but to the point of where it seems to be a comfortable environment.  

Connor went over to the ticket coin thingy, inserted however much money he did, and went back with a handful of coins. "Here's yours."

"Woah woah woah." I said, taking the coins. "I feel like this is a lot. Just for me." I shoved the coins, or as much as I could, into my pockets before Connor came back with his share. 

"Well, we're suppose to have fun. How else are we going to achieve the worlds greatest prize ever."

"And that would be?" I asked. 

"You'll have to find out." Said Connor as he was shoving his coins also in his pockets. When he glanced back up at me, he shot a wink and went into the arcade, me following close behind. 

 As we approached the first game, Joust, I grabbed a stick, put in my coins, and turned to Connor. "What's with you and that phrase?"

I could hear his smirk as the game started. "You'll just have to find out." 

In the arcade, we were pretty competitive. Our games consisted of somewhat borderline cussing while the winning and loss streak came to a tie. We were down to our last eight coins before Connor made a suggestion. 

"Hey." Connor and I were outside, taking in the fresh air before heading inside again. I turned to look at his eyes. "What would you say to a laser tag game? One-on-one."

I lit up to the idea, even though being that competitive wasn't an ideal personality I could keep up with. "Sure," I said standing. I took Connor's hand and shook it. "I'm so gonna beat your ass." 

"I'd like to see you try."

We headed inside and I went to pay for the laser tag tickets. The next available game, to our advantage, would be in ten minutes. I approached the girl behind the laser tag counter to pay. 

"Hi, I would like two next game tickets please." I asked politely. 

"Sure." She said, putting a smile on her face. "That will be $15."

I handed her a $20 and she gave me $5 back. "How many passes?" The girl asked, pointing behind her. I have a hunch that I gave her a "what in the world are you talking about" look because she started to giggle softly. "How many people?"

Oh. "Two." I said, holding up my fingers. I looked over my shoulder to Connor as the girl grabbed the passes. 

"Would you like to add more to your party?" She asked, turning my attention back to her. I would imagine, if she was a guy, she'd have a monotone voice. Hilarious. "There's a group of twelve that has a red pass for later if you want more people." 

"No thank you." I said, itching to leave. Connor started to rock on the heels and the balls of his feet. 

"Are you sure? The laser tag has two floors."

"I'm sure." I said, the tone of annoyance slipping in my voice.

The girl must have noticed. She backed off and complied. "Okay. I'll give you guys both floors, but do you want the actual standard time of twenty minutes," she paused. "In your case."

As much as that deemed excessive, I agreed and took our blue passes.

"Hey look," Connor said as I gave him his. "Ours is blue."

Sure enough, it was. "Is there a significant reason why blue matters?" I hinted a little flirting in my voice. 

"Just 'cuz it's my favorite color." Connor said sweetly. I nodded as he continues. "Why did you pay beforehand as something simple instead of hourly?"

I gave him a weird side-glance as I twiddled the pass between my fingers. "I've never been here before. I've lived here for six years and I've never even heard of this." I motioned to the arcade with my free hand.

"Six years?" Connor asked, tilting his head adorably while looking in my direction. "I've had a feeling that you've been here longer than six years. Like, your whole life."

I shrugged. There wasn't much to say. Honestly, I couldn't blame him, since I can blend into any environment like it's my own. I just own it. Literally. But I was still curious."What makes you think that?"

"I don't know." He said, staring at the laser tag scoreboard. Our game was up in three minutes. "Maybe it's the way you talk. Maybe it's even the way you move. Just something is telling me 'Hey, that dude is cool and knows a lot about this place'." Connor said, mimicking a Irish accent while doing so. 

I chuckled and looked at the cameras positioned next to the leaderboard. There were only three cameras. One shooting the entrance, the other shooting the exit, and the last one seeing only one side of the first floor. 

"Hey Connor," I said pointing to the cameras. "They only have three cameras." 

"Huh." That was his reply. That was it. Nothing more, nothing less. 

I was a little annoyed by his response. Maybe because it was different than I had anticipated. Our game was almost up so we went to the entrance. It wasn't too hard to find, maybe because of the big sign "Entrance" located right on top of the damn door. 

"Blue passes, get ready. Your game is up next." I heard a different person say. This time it was a boy using a monotone voice. I could picture the deadbeat expression behind the counter. 

Connor nudged me with his elbow and smiled. "You ready?"

I could feel the light-electricity in the air as I smiled back. Competitive atmosphere? "You bet your ass I am."

As people poured out from the exit, a instructor stood ready at the entrance. Passes in our hands, we approached the instructor. 

"Blue passes?" She asked as we flashed our passes. She smiled and continued. "Great. I'll take those and you can meet me in the chamber, where we'll explain the rules." Connor and I gave her our passes and stepped inside. 

Inside it was dark. Really dark. Glow-in-the-dark stars plastered the ceiling, as well as a blacklight. The blacklight only affected my shorts and shoes, or the white parts of them, while Connor's socks almost glistened. We stood up against a wall, directly across from the Main Rules Board. Basically a board with the most important rules, like "Don't Run, Jump, Or Climb" or "No Physical Human Contact". The last one was a bit weird, in my opinion, but nevertheless it was there. I didn't own this place. 

The lady instructor soon stepped in and the door closed. Pitch black. Except for the glowing shit and the blacklight. Then she started. "Hello." She said, giving a pause to be greeted. When there was only silence, she cleared her throat and tried to continue.

"Uh oh," Connor whispered, moving closer to me. "We got on her bad side."

I snickered as I felt more electricity and the eyes of the lady on us. "As I was about to say, we need to go over the rules, protocol and all of that." She moved so she was in front of the board. or that's what it looked liked to me. For all I know, she might be behind us. "Rule one, 'Do not run, jump, or climb'. Rule two, 'Laser equipment must be safely secured'. Rule three, 'Be aware of other players'. The last one, 'No physical human contact'." She paused, trying to empathize the importance. "At all." 

I felt that was supposed to mean something to us, and maybe it did. I could feel even more electricity, like an electricity overload.

"Do you pledge to follow these rules you two?" She asked. 

"Yes," I said, crossing my fingers behind my back.

"Yes ma'am." Connor said. I felt his arm brush up against mine as he spoke. 

"Good. Then let's put on the vests." The lady instructor led us through a door filled with different colored vests. I picked a red one, seeing that you can make your own name. I typed in "UR_ASS" and clicked "Ok". It took a minute to realize what I typed in. Internally, I was freaking out.

"Okay. Now, this is how you shoot the laser gun." The instructor said, picking up a random vest. "You hold the barrel with your palm, while you put your finger on the trigger." She demonstrated, not even buckling in the vest. "You hit these sensors To earn points. The smaller they are, the more points you can get. As you already know, you can insert a name of your choice or choose at random." 

I buckled in and tightened my vest, grabbing my laser gun correctly and getting ready to play. I looked over at Connor, on the other side of the room. He had a blue vest on, obviously, and was inserting his name. 

After he was done, the lady took us into the arena and led Connor into the maze of flashing lights and mirrors. I was in a base, or near it, and apparently I was supposed to protect it. I wasn't going to. I took in the view I had from the first floor, which was colored in a red hue. The second floor was green, spiral staircases leading up to it. 

"Are you ready?"  A loud automated voice boomed. I jumped at it, but the jump was delayed and nearly made me trip. 

"Get set." I steadied myself and got ready to run.

"Go!"

We broke Rule One before the five-minute mark. I ran up the spiral staircase and jumped onto the platform, getting a better view to where Connor was. Unfortunately for me, Connor was behind me and shot my shoulder. 20 points. I was stunned and my laser gun showed who shot me. UR_BABY. I was going to die from embarrassment. 

I turned and ran towards where Connor last was, trying to catch him. I turned corners and ran into through halls on the second floor, but couldn't find him. By the eight minutes we've been in there, I was climbing on the railing of the second floor looking for Connor.

"Yuri!" Connor yelled, underneath me. Gotcha. I aimed the gun with my two hands towards Connor, trying to steady my footing. 

I've slipped. I know this is a fact. I saw, as I looked down, my foot was too far ahead. In a split second, I panicked. 

"Connor!" I yelled. I was falling to him. Him. Connor was the only thing that I was thinking about. I was praying for him to catch me. The second floor wasn't high enough to kill you, but land wrong and there would be permanent injuries. 

I felt a thud. More like I was the thud. I had closed my eyes tightly enough during the fall that I was afraid to open them now. 

"Hey," Connor whispered in my ear, sending a shudder throughout my body. "Open your eyes." I hesitantly opened them and saw Connor's face. "You're okay. I caught you, but damn you're heavy."

I caught my breath and noticed Connor did catch me, bridal style. I could feel an abundant of heat crawl on my cheeks. I'm sure Connor noticed, his cheeks flushed with color. "I'm normal, thank you very much." I said with a little laugh. 

Connor smiled and let me down gently. I stood on my feet, arms still wrapped around Connor's neck. We stood like that for a while, and I could see the electricity, hear my heart, and see what I could have mistaken for lust in Connor's eyes, After a minute of doing nothing else. I unwrapped my arms from Connor and grabbed my laser gun, shooting him in the chest. 10 points.

"Yuri!" Connor yelled as I sped away. "We had a moment!! Come on."

I raced to the second floor, again, and shot Connor instantly. 20 points. 

The lights dimmed down and the big announcer was back. "That's it folks! Go through the exit to get your prizes. Make sure to put back your vests and collect your scores." The lights became brighter and I walked down the spiral staircase and went with Connor towards the exit. We had to put away or vests and go through the other door, where the exit is located. As we stepped out of the arena, we were met with the same lady instructor. She was angry.

"You pledged to not run, jump, or climb,  and do not have any physical contact." She said, with scrunched up eyebrows, forming a crease on her forehead. "Yet you have managed to break these two important rules in less than ten minutes. We cut your game off five minutes early for a reason." 

Before I could reply, Connor stepped in with a playful tone. "Have you ever heard of crossing your fingers behind your back?" He did it too. 

The lady was furious. She went on a huge tangent about the safety of others before the manager came to the scene. 

"Dana, that's enough." He said, putting one of his hands on her shoulder. "I'll take care of them."'

The lady, Dana, stepped back and let the manager take charge. 

"Sons, I'll be honest with you." The manager said. We were starting to earn a little crowd now. "You did break some rules. Two big ones, actually. But from what I've seen on the cameras, we can put it all behind us."

I was shocked. "Really? But we ran, I jumped and I climbed. Connor caught me, meaning we had physical contact even after he put me down."

"So why?" Connor jumped in.

"Well, we would have insurance companies on us if it weren't for you." He said as he pointed to Connor. "Connor, right?"

"Yes sir."

"I congratulate you on saving your boyfriend's life. And for that, we would like to give you one of our VIP passes to laser tag and arcade games." The manager said. I blushed at the mere mention of boyfriend, especially since Connor and I being "boyfriends".

"Thank you sir, but Yuri and I aren't boyfriends." Connor said. I looked out of the corner of my eye to see Connor slightly blushing as well. 

"I see," the manager said. "Such a shame, you two would be great together." The manager said with a smile. He straightened up before giving one last word. "I hope to see you guys again, Yuri and Connor." 

The manager walked off, leaving Connor, the dissipating crowd, and I standing there. 

"Completely not what I was expecting," I said. I reached inside my pocket and pull out my coins. My four coins.

"I know what you mean," Connor said. 

I looked around the arcade and settled on the claw machine. I put in my last four quarters, giving me one turn. Before it started, I surveyed the prizes. Many of them were from the latest kid-friendly Binon movie, but there was a blue kitty. That would be great, I thought. I clicked start and tried to get the cat, which was on top of everything. 

"Failed." Connor said over my shoulder as the claw went down, missing the tag by a centimeter. I shot him a look before giving up on the claw.

"If you still have those four coins of yours, I'll be honored to get you the kitty," I said, pointing to the plushie behind me. 

"Yuri," Connor said as he stepped closer to the claw machine. "Did you just call that cat a 'kitty'?"

"Shut up. It doesn't matter."

"Maybe not," Connor said as he put his palms against the glass, turning to me. "But it's really adorable." 

I swear I could feel my heart skip a beat. 

Connor pulled out his last four coins and stepped aside, letting me take the claw. I readied myself and began. I moved the claw to the right. Left. Up a little bit. Down a smidge. I pressed the button. The claw moved slowly, without my guidance.

"Miss!" Connor yelled right beside me, making me jump. 

"What the hell Connor!" I yelled back, turning my back on the claw machine. As I did, I heard a loud thump coming from the prize box. 

I reached in through the flap and pulled out a soft, light blue kitty with a cute red streak on its belly. "Here you go Connor," I said, giving the kitty to Connor. "You get the kitty." 

Connor took the blue kitty with a smile. "I still can't get over you saying 'kitty'.'

We headed out of 80's Arcade and I grabbed our helmets, handing Connor his and strapping mine on. I swung my leg over the bike and held on the handlebars, keys in my hand. Connor goes on after me. He stepped over the motorcycle and sat down as he held his kitty in his hands. 

"You should really hang on. Put your arms around my waist, or do you not remember?" I felt a smirk fall on my face as Connor blushed behind me. 

"I can't let go of the kitty can I?" I heard an emphasis on "kitty" in a teasing way. 

"Okay, then make a compromise," I said. "Put your arms around my waist and then hold onto the kitty tight so you don't lose your precious heirloom." Teasing, of course. Not flirting. Not flirting at all. 

Connor did just that, tying his arms around tightly to my waist and moving in, pressing up against my skin more. The blue kitty, the pretty kitty, was on my stomach and sat there. Like a stuffed animal would do. What else would it do? 

With that, I turned the ignition and off we went to my house. When we got there, my dad was parked in the driveway next to my sister's car. I pull up closer to the sidewalk and turn off the motorcycle, Connor losing his grip against me and getting off. I pulled off my helmet, grabbed my keys, and followed The Connor Misiona walking over to my house. Connor gave me his helmet before I opened the door for him and letting him in. 

"My Dad's home and Jonah should be too. You can wait here for me or go to Ruth, who should be in the kitchen. If not, living room. Just be weary of my brother. Get him on the right subject and he'll talk your ear off about memes."

"He didn't seem like the kind of person," Connor said, leaning against the staircase and hugging his blue plushie. I headed upstairs and stopped in front of my door. I set the helmets down and travel down the hallway and stairs, not even daring to put the helmets inside. I know the moment I do, I will instantly see them being swallowed by the monster I call my room.

As I got to the bottom of the stairs, I saw Connor gone and Dad giving a heartily laugh. Piecing two and two together, I headed towards the sound of laughter. In the living room, I saw Jonah and Ruth sitting on the leather couch while my father took his favorite spot in the leather armchair and Connor sat on my two-person custom-personalized fluffy leather armchair. It was decorated with pillows Ruth, and even Jonah, had made for me. Many guests would want to sit in my seat, but once I take over there is no "two-person". 

"Hey son," Dad said looking in my direction. "Why didn't you tell me someone else was coming for dinner?" His smile was full of laughter and love, but nothing underneath. 

"Dad, he was just introduced today to the whole world." I said, obvious exaggeration in my voice. "Today is his birthday, and he chose me to take him under my wings and be a horrible, horrible person." I made my way over to Connor and sat down with a plop, nudging him to scoot over. He did, with a centimeter apart from each other. 

"Yuri, dinner will be ready in..." Ruth said, checking the clock. "About twenty minutes. If, during that time, you can refrain Dad from telling Connor here anything cringe worthy in our eyes, you may have extra dessert." 

Extra dessert was a big deal thanks to Jonah. One time, we left him to serve his own ice cream and ended up eating it all. Needless to say, Ruth or I  have to serve an equal portion to everyone else, unless one person does something to save all of our souls. Of course, during the day this never counts. It helps us contain Jonah. 

"Aw, no fair." Jonah pouts. This doesn't last long, and Jonah quickly goes back to smiling. 

 "It's the rules." Dad says, turning back to Connor. "I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm David Christiane, but call me David for name's sake." I could hear the try-hard charm in my dad's voice.  

"Great to know you David." Connor said extending his hand for a shake. Dad took it and shook hands. What else would you do?

I could feel my dad about to talk. A physic ability I call it. I spoke up, cutting Dad off from his first syllable. "Hey Connor, why don't you accompany me to the kitchen and get our drinks? I'll fill you in on what they want." 

Connor nodded and stood up with me, walking through the dining room and into the kitchen. I grab out five glasses and set them on the counter.

"Sorry for pulling you out like that." I say finally. "I didn't want you to be bored of my dad, and I do want the extra dessert. But don't worry, I'll give you mine if you want. Ruth makes all of the food and sweets here.  She's amazing." 

"Do you cook?" Connor asked.

"Sometimes. I don't do it often though." I said. "Back to the task at hand, Jonah wants soda in the fridge. He normally doesn't need one, since he drinks one when he gets home, but we'll let it slide today. Ruth will normally want some tea, so I'll make that. Dad wants some water, and if you want something feel free to grab it." I pointed both of my thumbs towards me in an effort to be somewhat cool. "Meanwhile I will fill my starved stomach with ever so soothing coffee." 

I felt Connor give me a quizzical look before going to the fridge. Connor opens the fridge and pauses, longer than you should for just standing there, before asking. "Which soda?" 

"Hm?" I asked. I was busy prepping the Ceurig water tank and grabbing Ruth's glass full of tea leaves. "Oh. Jonah normally takes Caco Boka, but if you want any Ms. Chipper than go ahead. That's my drink anyway." 

Connor grabs the Caco Boka and sets it down next to a glass. "Do you want me to fill a glass with... David's choice?" He asked, picking up a glass. I bet it's pretty hard to say a name of someone's dad, or even your own dad. 

"Sure." I said, finishing filling up the Ceurig tank. "I'm done here, so you can use the sink." I left Ruth's glass there for now and placed the tank securely in place. I felt something wrong. Wait... "Hey Connor," I ask. "When we left the arcade, I think we forgot somethings."

"Like what?"

"Well, a few things. Like what was the best prize of them all? Or what about the prizes at the end of the laser tag game? Wait... who won the game? And where did you put the kitty?"

"That's a lot of questions. Well, I'm pretty sure the moment we had could cover the prizes." I could hear a smirk in his voice as I blushed. "But because we had to end it early, instead of the winner, you, getting the prize we were yelled at and given V.I.P. passes. During your adventure of the last and final game, I moved out of your sight and asked the manager. Nice guy." Connor said, taking one more deep breath. "For the kitty, I put it on one of the stools over there." He said as he pointed to the stools.

"Wow." I said finally. "I'm really forgetful." I paused before adding. "Did you grab the V.I.P. passes?"

"Yeah. But you're really really forgetful, especially since you forgot to actually make the tea correctly." Connor said, turning on the faucet and quickly pouring Dad's drink.

"What do you mean? I didn't even start yet." I complained, turning to Connor.

Connor placed Dad's drink next to Jonah's and looked me in the eye with a smile. "You just poured the tea leaves in the glass without even preparing properly."

I looked down at the glass and sure enough, Connor was right. During the next ten minutes, we poured everyone's drink into a glass and got ready to hand them out. I had Jonah's Caco Boka and Ruth's Sunshine tea while Connor had his Ms. Chipper, Dad's water, and my coffee. I checked the time. Five minutes left until dinner. 

I spoke to Connor before leaving the kitchen the way we came. "Hey dude, it's almost dinner so let's set them down in the dining room." 

"Sure." Connor said as we headed through the kitchen and into the dining room. The dining room was moderately sized, with the dining table in the middle and a almost chandelier light hanging above it. 

I told Connor where everyone normally sits, and he places the drinks he has accordingly.  Dad at the far end, Jonah right beside hin, Ruth directly across from Jonah, and I was next to Ruth. At the far end and across from me are empty seats, served for a family of five with a guest. 

"You can sit on the far end or across from me." I said, pointing at the two empty spots. "Pick either one." 

"Okay. But what about your mom Yuri?" Connor asked. It was a simple question really, but it dug deeper than it should have. Connor noticed my solemn face and took it back. "Okay, that's fine. It's something bad, and lets not ruin the night. Ok?" 

I nodded and the oven went off. "Got it." Ruth said, getting up and going into the kitchen. Jonah and Dad soon after got up, instead moving to their normal dining room spots. Conner sat down on the opposite side of Dad. Ruth came out shortly with plates, setting them down and going back to get the roast and bowl of mashed potatoes with carrots. 

Ruth came back shortly after placing both of the food choices and setting them down on the table, meaning we should start. I already felt guilt rise up in my throat as I motioned to Connor's hand, the rest of the table linking to a chain that binds them. 

"Let's start the prayer, right gang?" Dad said with a smile. 

I failed to mention to Connor not only is my family part of the Christian religion, but they take it pretty seriously. Not  "Do everything the Bible says" dedicated, but we say prayers every dinner we are together and send thoughts when we aren't. Or at least that's how the rest of my family sees it. 

I see it in a different way. I'm not a serious Christian. Nor, in fact, am I someone who solely believes in god. A long time ago, eight years ago, my mother pulled me and took me away into my room. I was crying, being teased at school for my appearance and beliefs. Mom took me, cuddled me, and poured her true feelings about Christianity. 

"I think it's a load of crap that Englishmen made so we would all be in control." Mom said, patting my head softly.

"Why are you Christian then?" I asked with a sniffle.

"I put up with it because of your father. It gives him a sense of security. He loves praying together, holding hands, waiting until marriage for sex. Personally Yuri-Bear," Mom said, going back to her native tongue only she taught me. "I don't want to place everything on God. I believe in what I think is right, not God." 

I snapped out of my trance and felt even more guilt hang over me as Jonah started the prayer. Everyone holding hands, I heard Jonah speak. 

"Dear Lord, thank you for this fabulous meal and this lovely day, spent with family and friends. I love them all and thank you for gracing us with the presence of Connor." I opened my eyes (something you should never do during a prayer) and looked around slowly to not cause any sudden movement. As Jonah continued to speak, I looked towards my family with a sorry, guilty, resentful face. I haven't told them anything about my life than the usual school events and tests. I looked over at Connor, whose right hand wasn't holding anything and eyes were wide open, staring at me. He saw. I know he did. I quickly hid my face as Jonah wrapped up his prayer. "Thank you, Lord, for the food, the clothes, the shelter, the memes, and my family and friends."

We unclasped hands and dug in with nonchalant talk. I stayed quieter than normal, which isn't far from not talking. I was posed with simple questions, but the main questions were centered around Connor. Such as "Have you ever worked before" or "Where did you use to live" to be more specific. There was one question that set both of us off guard, unfortunately. 

It came from Ruth. "Where did you guys go today?"

Here's the thing about Ruth, "Daddy's Little Girl." She is dangerous in many ways. She cooperates with Dad and doesn't do anything bad and acts like a social butterfly outside of this home. Inside, Ruth is completely observational and intellectual. Or at least when she's met her Social Butterfly Quota. Ruth starts off the day prepping for the girls by being social to everyone, often resulting in the afternoon to be a bit more quiet and collective. Unless one of her girls is over. So when she asked that question she was observing us, I was caught off guard drinking my milk and ended up spitting out my milk and coughing like a manic before collecting myself. Connor just had a straight face. 

I tried to sputter out a response, but Connor beat me to it. "We went to an arcade and played laser tag."

It was a fairly simple answer. Nothing too descriptive thankfully. But I could feel Ruth's glare on Connor and me as my father carried along the conversation.

"Did you guys get anything?" He asked. It was an innocent question, at least more innocent than Ruth's.

"I got Connor a kitty," I said finally. "But that's about it."  

Connor smiled at the mention of his newest prize while my father spoke. "You still call cats 'kitties'." He asked, shaking his head with a smile. "Sounds like something this gaywad Kevin Michael Mchale would say." Dad said that with a laugh. Ruth and Jonah gave him a quizzical side look with a smile, my father often saying things no one would understand. It's safe to say that I felt someone punched me in the gut. 

You know how people would say shitty things that other people have that you also have? That's what it felt like to me. 

This was about the only highlight of the whole meal. Nothing much happened, except the questions for Connor lessened. After dinner, I helped clean the plates while Connor got the kitty and his phone, waiting for me to finish. 

"I'm just about done," I told Connor as he stood behind me. "After I put this one plate in the sick for Ruth to take care of, I'll show you to mi habitacion."

"What's that?" Connor asked as I put the plate in the sink.

I turned and faced him. "You know mi casa, right?" He nodded as I stepped closer to him. "Habitacion is room, since you're already in mi casa." 

I felt a sense of flirtiness we had dissipate the slightest as I lead him up the stairs. I stopped where the helmets were. I picked them up and handed them to Connor before opening the door. Inside, as you would have guessed, was a complete nightmare. To my surprise, actually, the room was picked up and neater than before, followed by a note on my dresser. I went inside and moved over to the note while Connor sat down beside me on my bed. 

The note was from Ruth. 

Hey Yuri, 

I cleaned up your room a bit for when Connor comes in here. Clean up more please.

It was short, but nice and to the point. 

I joined Connor on the bed and just flopped down, looking for a topic to talk about. Despite the dinner, I actually didn't know anything about the mystery Connor Misonia. I zoned out so much during the dinner I forgot almost everything. Almost. I'm a horrible house guest. 

"Yuri," Connor said, making me sit back up. "Do you mind me bringing back up the topic of your mother?" I could feel the hesitation in his voice.

As much as I dreaded it, I complied. She was my idol, my favorite person who could read me perfectly.  "Go ahead," I said. "Ask me anything."

"I just have a few questions. That's it." Connor said before hugging the plushie and giving it to me. Sweet, I thought. "The first is...What happened?" 

I took a deep breath and held onto the kitty. Lots of things happened, and I was the venting system to my mother. I wouldn't tell a soul what she told me. Classified information. The night it happened, nobody saw it coming. "My mom was murdered." It took me a breath before I continued. "Seven years ago." 

I remembered that the day it happened was my parents anniversary. I was spending the night with my grandparents in Chicago, a few miles from where we truly lived. The morning after was horrible. The news was buzzing with the murder of Mrs. Misaki Christiane, the esteemed English teacher of Illinois. Nobody could trace the murder. Nobody saw it coming either. My Dad was a Person of Interest, somehow moving to a suspect but then they dropped the case altogether. I was shocked and terrified, not to mention torn apart. Shortly after, we moved out and landed in Washington. Now I'm here. 

I felt tears welling up in my eyes and gripped the blue with the red stripe kitty tighter. Connor quickly embraced me, holding tighter and whispering in my ears. "It's okay," He said. It sent shivers down me, but I set the kitty down quickly and wrapped my arms around him.

Connor was warm, comfortable, soft. I liked this feeling. I didn't want this to end. It wasn't right, at least in this family, but it was right for me. I let one tear drop on him and instantly he stopped hugging me. His hand was on my cheek and wiped away the traces of the tear. Maybe I was misreading signals, but I didn't want this to stop. 

"Are you staying over tonight?" I asked. I so wanted, so deeply wanted, him to say yes.

"Sure Yuri," Connor said, stroking my cheek. "Could I finish my questions? I will only continue if you are okay with it."

"Okay." I said, getting the kitty back. 

"Are you sure?" 

"Yeah."

"Positive?" 

"YES YOU ASSHOLE." I yelled jokingly, softly throwing the kitty at him and laughing. Connor smiled and giggled with the kitty in his hands. 

"No swearing in a Christian house!" My father yelled back, a little more furious than what I expected. It caught me off guard. My father gets furious rarely, but then covers it up with a smile. 

"You guys can't swear?" Connor asked, looking at the door. 

"Our Dad doesn't prefer it," I say. "He normally yells at me when I do, so I have to limit my vocabulary." 

"Is it always like that?" He asks, turning back to me. 

I nod. "Often. He normally hides his rage with a smile, or passes it off as a joke. You can tell." You can tell when the atmosphere drops and everyone's uneasy. You can tell when his voice changes, just like it did seconds earlier. Like it did when he was first questioned as a suspect. 

Connor seemed to understand before asking another question. "Okay, question two. What was your mother like?"

There was a thousand ways I could possibly answer that. "I don't know. She was smart, kind, and fashionable. She was also headstrong, my idol. Mom taught me her language, where she came from. She was Japanese, being born in Korea and than afterwards moving to Japan and the U.S. She also looked almost liked me, and gave me my name. Told me her secrets, always was proud of me." My gaze softened when I looked at Connor. "She would know everything. What happened at school, how I was feeling, even what I was thinking." 

"She sounds amazing." Connor says.

"She was incredible."

Connor grabbed the blue and red striped kitty and gave it to me before he spoke. "One last question," he said as he looked at me with fierce eyes. "Do you want to tell me anything? Anything at all."

I debated on this. I could lie to him, hid my blatant feelings. He obviously knew, but I didn't know what to say. I so badly wanted to tell him, with the obvious signs I was clearly giving. Especially since he wants to stay over. I could tell him two things or one, hiding the bigger one. Maybe the latter would be best. Or the first. Should I come clean? I decided not to, yet. Maybe later tonight, when nobody could hear us.

I can't tell him I'm gay. That would ruin the something we have. We could have a bromance going on. I don't want to break this foundation. I'm sure he knows that I don't worship God like my family, but what about being gay? Maybe. Or maybe he thought it as a bromance instead. 

I took a while to answer, earning a sigh from Connor. "If you don't want to tell me, that's fine." He said. 

"Wait!" I said, louder than intended. I dropped the kitty cat out of my arms and into my lap as I reached out to Connor. "I'll tell you..." I lowered my voice down to a audible mumble. "I'll tell you that I don't really believe in God. Not at all like my family." 

Connor smiled and nodded. "I figured. Not what I was hoping for, but it will do." Wait... did he know? Did he figure it out like I thought? "I'm gonna text my mom for staying over tonight." He pulled out his phone and started to tap away before looking back at me. "Today's Tuesday, right?"

"No durr." I said, rolling my eyes. 

I played with the kitty's ears as Connor and I waited patiently for his mother's response. I twirlled the soft, fluffy ears around my fingers. Swish. Swish. Swish. Finally, she answered as my alarm clock turned 7:56. 

"Can you?" I asked.

"She says 'Yes'." Connor says, glancing at his phone. "And since it's Wednesday tomorrow, we can stay up later." Connor paused before continuing, looking at me. "Do you have a bedtime?"

"No. You?"

"Me niether," He said. Connor reached over to his kitty cat plushie and started to pet it with a smirk. "Do you know what this means?" He asked.

"No all-nighters?" I questioned. All-nighters weren't really my thing. They also suck ass. But that's better than only getting one hour of sleep.

"Okay, no all-nighters. But also we stay up until midnight." Connor said, moving even closer. I could feel and smell his icebreaker mint breath. When did he get those? I felt his heat onto mine as he stopped, centimeters away from me. Connor then tilts his head down and kisses his kitty cat plushie with a smirk.

I felt heat rise to every part of my body. It's gonna be a long night.

•••••••••••••

A/N: Thank you for reading the longest chapter ever!! I hoped you enjoyed it. 

Words: 6784 overall

Story: 6767