"Good evening, mother," Florence smiled and turned to Claude. "Claude, this is my mother, Elisa."

"My, it's only 4 PM Florence. Why are you two already dressed?" she asked as she went up to them and shook Claude’s hand. "It's nice meeting you Claude. I've heard many great things about you from Florence and Adrian, which surprised me. I haven't heard Adrian talk highly about someone in a while, so I've been wondering who this mystery person could be."

Florence looked at the time. "But when does the banquet start, mother?" he asked but Elisa kept on talking excitedly together with Claude. "Mother!"

"Yes?" she said.

"When does the banquet start?" he repeated.

Elisa looked at her watch and did the math. "In… two hours. Then the guests will come. And don't think about staying in your room until it's almost time," she warned.

"Of course not," Florence smiled, feeling a little guilty that he wanted to do that exactly. "But can you go out for a second so we can change?"

"Oh of course, of course," she laughed, waving him off, and went back to the door. "Don't waste too much time, your father is waiting downstairs with some afternoon snacks the chef prepared."

"Okay, we'll be down soon," Florence said and Elisa shut the door. Florence sighed and scratched his head. "Start taking your clothes off again, Claude-"

Claude raised his eyebrow at him as Florence stared at Claude who was already half-naked. "I already got the memo from your mom," he said as he put the pants next to Florence on his bed. He pointed at the tie. "Could you help me with this?"

Florence couldn't hold back a smile when he saw Claude grinning at him. He stood up from the bed and loosened his tie. While he was doing that, Claude looked at Florence who was focused on the tie.

"Are you worried?" Claude spoke.

Florence looked up at him. "Not really… I'm just not looking forward to seeing my father," he mumbled and put the tie with the other clothes.

"Don't stress about useless things so much," he replied, ruffling Florence's hair. He chuckled at Florence who attempted to swat Claude’s hands away. "We also have Adrian to discuss things with your dad if anything goes wrong. Just focus on me and everything will be alright."

"I suppose," Florence whispered, still doubting Claude’s words.

"Still unsure about it, huh?" Claude embraced him in a hug. "Trust me on this one. I'm confident that nothing bad will happen," he whispered.

Florence hesitantly put his hand on Claude’s back and caressed it softly. "I know," he whispered back.

Meanwhile in the dining room

"Father I can explain-"

Richard slammed his fist onto the table. "No! You're telling me that Florence is in his room with that… that man?" he demanded and abruptly stood up when Adrian nodded shortly. "I can not believe that Elisa allowed this! Get them out of his room this instant!"

"Father, leave them," Adrian said and stood in front of the door of the dining room. "I'm already familiar with Claude and he's a trustworthy guy. He wouldn't do something to upset you."

Richard faltered back and took a sip from his tea. "He better not," he muttered and continued grumbling about how he couldn't leave Claude alone with his youngest son.

Adrian let out a quiet sigh and looked at the dining table which was full of snacks. "How are we supposed to gain father's trust?" he wondered.

The door opened. Adrian took a step from it as he raised his eyebrow at Elisa who had a bright smile on her face. "Richard, Florence found an amazing man. He's so sociable and well-mannered, unlike Florence's last ex," she gushed and continued about them being perfect for each other.

"Elisa!" Richard shouted while she was talking his ear off. "You only know him for a few minutes! How can you talk so highly of him?!"

Elisa flicked his forehead. "Don't shout at me or I'll smack you next time," she warned as Richard rubbed the painful spot. "I've always had quite the talent for judging one's character from the first meeting."

"Looks like Claude’s on mother's good side for some reason," Adrian thought. "Perfect. If mother is sold on their act, she'll convince father that Claude’s a good guy."

"Adrian? Are you here?" Florence called and peeked his head from the entrance. He grimaced at the sight of his dad running up to him and crushing him in a hug.

"Oh Florence, I missed you!" he cried as Florence scrunched his face up.

"Hi, father," Florence said, forcing a little happiness in his tone. "I didn't expect you to be so early."

Richard let him loose and Florence glanced at Adrian who was covering his mouth to hold back his snickering. "Of course I had to be early today. Especially when he is together with you," he replied, glaring at Claude while he was chatting with Elisa again. He cleared his throat, catching everyone's attention. "And who might you be, young man?" he asked Claude.

"He's Claude of course," Elisa replied, rolling her eyes. She smiled at Claude. "Adrian showed us pictures that Florence made of you two already. And they were SO CUTE!" she squealed.

"I'm glad you liked them," Claude chuckled and smiled politely at Richard. "As Elisa said, I'm Claude. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Richard straightened his back. "The pleasure is all mine," he said. "So, how did you meet my son for you to be in this situation?"

Claude grinned at Florence while Florence was stuffing his face full with the small cupcakes on the table. "We met through an online game. We met up a few months after and we instantly clicked," he explained, winking at Florence. “When I first met Florence, I wondered where he got such stunning looks and lovely personality from but I already connected the dots when I saw you and your beautiful wife."

"You didn't connect shit," Florence thought as he looked at Richard's pleased smile. He made eye contact with Adrian and watched his parents being captivated by Claude’s smooth talk.

Adrian clasped his hands together. "Why don't we continue this conversation over some tea?"