TBBM LXI. Kiss

"Would you want me to give you back your shirt?" I offered. "I could use his jacket, instead."

"No... I'm okay," Red dismissed my offer, as he started smiling. "But admit it, Hicks. I'm so much hotter than your crush."

Red smiled widely and tucked my hand in the pocket of the jacket he was wearing. It was obvious that he was forcing himself to be cheerful but I really couldn't tell why. Was he trying hard to cheer me up? If yes, why would he be too nice?

We lagged behind from the group and we snuck into the horror house. I wasn't really the superstitious type. I didn't really fear ghosts more than I feared the living so getting inside wasn't exactly something that thrilled me.

"Here we go," Red faced me. "This is where we haunt away your unrequited feelings---"

"Can you not say it out loud?" I covered his mouth. "I'm already heartbroken, how can you go around teasing me like that?"

"That's not teasing," he winked. "It's more like me, trying to exorcise the feeling off of you."

"Really?"

He nodded.

"Why are you being really nice to me today?"

"Why? Do you like it better when we fight?"

"No."

"You said it," he ran his palm on my head, messing my hair. "Let's stick around like this, then."

We went inside but the deeper we went, the more that he lost his manly confidence. He tried hard not to be scared and yell but in place of it, he ended up swinging me around the monsters that terrified him. He'd try to clear his throat and gain his manly composure back every now and then but when the monsters started to attack, he'd just as easily lose it again. Eventually, he loosened up and learned to enjoy it. He still got scared but he managed to laugh it out each time towards the end. I hated how he turned me into a human shield but I thought it was interesting to see him scared.

He looked like he burned so much calories when we reached the end. I had to get him something to eat as his face turned really pale. His head filled with sweat. Somehow, I felt guilty because he had to wear James' jacket. He looked really uncomfortable.

"We should trade off," I said, wiping his face dry with his hanky. "You can't keep wearing that jacket. You'll end up getting dehydrated."

"But I don't want you to wear his shirt," he pouted.

"Why?" I found him really cute when he made tame faces. "Actually, it smells so much like you. Now, I smell like you because I'm wearing it."

"I'm marking my territory," he said, really sheepishly. It was making me nervous.

Dub dub. Dub dub.

Dub dub. Dub dub.

I couldn't stand it when he'd look at me like that so in an effort to divert the topic, I dragged him into the souvenir shop.

"Let's get you something to wear here," I quipped.

"Hicks, their largest size here is just a little over your measurement. Don't---"

"So, would you rather me return your shirt?"

"Fine," his face cleared. "Fine. I'll get one now, Ma'am."

I thought it was really possessive of him that he wanted me to keep using his shirt. But it also felt nice and warm to the heart. Red wasn't a flashy type of guy but he had his tastes. It took him a while before he walked towards the counter and paid for his purchase. He headed to the dressing room and to get himself changed.

He didn't look too bad when he came out. It was a bit snug around the armpits and his biceps but it wasn't weird or anything. In fact, he was wearing white so it accentuated his muscles even more.

"Do I look bad?" he asked.

"Mmmm," I shook my head. He looked even more attractive in a white shirt. I wished he chose something else. He'd probably get so much attention again when we leave the store.

"Alright. Now you," he put my hands up in the air and fit another one of the same print on me.

"C-couple tee?" I said, realising that he actually picked a partner version.

"You wanted him to get jealous, don't you?"

His logic made me stop wanting to argue. But, will it even work when James' eyes were totally fixed on Roma? Would he even take notice? Would he even care?

When we left the store, I walked deep in thought to the carousel. They had one huge carousel not too far from the souvenir shop.

I remembered when I was young, my father used to take me to a local carousel like this---those were the days when he saw still fond of me; those were the days when he hadn't yet found out my actual preferences... preferences that would soon alienate him.

I saw Red standing behind me, leaning over to one of those steel beams that held the horses in place. I looked away in thought, wondering how somebody like Red could easily be at home with who I was unlike my own father. I wondered how Red and James were both warm and supportive and protective of me while my father chose to hurt me. I got so lost in my thoughts that I actually started crying.

The sky started to turn dark as we bid goodbye to another day, much like people inevitably saying goodbye to each other at certain times in life. At a distance, I saw Roma and James snuck a quick kiss. They both looked really pleased. A part of me hoped for it to be a dream but it wasn't.

With a heavy heart, I wondered if it was the end of me and James. I wondered if it was time to bid goodbye to three years worth of love and company. I wondered if it was time to forget him.

Fireworks painted colours to the horizon. It was supposed to be really loud but the beauty of its impeccable strokes in the sky blurred all the noises around. I watched its colourful beauty fade into nothing after every round, like some beautiful memory too good to the heart but also, gone too soon.

I watched pensively until I was almost too absorbed to even feel a thing. The burnt smell in the air made the experience feel so real. I wiped my tears away.

"To complete your fantasy," Red appeared next to me, offering me an ice cream cone.

He knew ice cream cones made me happy. I thought that was so nice of him. I watched Red and his perfectly handsome face flashing me his calmest smile with fireworks on the backdrop.