The morning rush had already died down, making the drive to Mercer’s apartment very fast, considering it was only few blocks away. They arrived at a small cozy complex in only a few minutes. Mercer shut the car off before getting out, looking back at Lorenzo who had followed in pursuit. The two of them walked up to a set of white glassed doors. Mercer pulled out a small key ad swiped it across the handle, drawing a faint beep followed by a clicking. He quickly pulled the door open and held it for Lorenzo.

Once they were both inside, Lorenz followed Mercer up a short flight of stairs and to a hallways with doors lining the walls. 132, was the door they stopped at. It had a small rectangular rug with a cat on it. Mercer pressed his key to the door and pushed it open. Lorenzo’s eyes widened when he stepped through the door. Just by standing in the doorway he already saw the whole apartment without even moving.

“Wow… its,” He muttered under his breath.

“Home,” Mercer smiled, picking up Blueberry who was purring at his feet.

“I was going to say small but, yeah,” Lorenzo replied but his eyes widened as soon as he saw that cat in Mercer’s arms. “Whats that?!”

Mercer shielded Blueberry away from him. “Its my cat, Blueberry, not a thing.”

“Oookay then,” His gaze slowly drifted away from the cat, but it still stayed in the corner of his eye.

Mercer headed over to his bathroom, leaving the door open a crack as he prepared the shower. Light steam clouds wafted out of the bathroom along with the scent of vanilla. Lorenzo couldn’t help but sit as close to the bathroom door as possible, which was on a small white sofa. As he sat on the sofa, Blueberry walked up to him. Lorenzo slowly shifted away but the cat managed to jump on his lap, purring.

“Get off,” Lorenzo muttered, though not pushing the cat off, despite saying so.

Blueberry meowed loudly, nuzzling into Lorenzo’s side. He scoffed and gently nudged the feline off but it stay put. After trying many more times, Lorenzo gave up and let him stay.

As Lorenzo finally began to relax, soft humming filled the apartment. It was Mercer. Hearing Mercer’s soft hum, Lorenzo got up and inched toward the bathroom door. As his hand hovered above the door knob and the water shut off along with shuffling on the other side.

On the other side of the door, Mercer carefully stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around himself. He looked in the mirror and watched the steam clear from it. With a sigh Mercer reached for the door and turned it.

The door whipped open and Mercer and Lorenzo stood face to face. Mercer jumped and his towel nearly slipped off. Lorenzo couldn’t help but smirk as his eyes cascaded down the other’s body. As quick as he emerged, Mercer flipped around and closed the door. A dark shade of red flushed his cheeks.

“Why were you lurking outside my bathroom door?” Mercer mumbled.

“No reason,” Lorenzo’s voice had a slight hitched. “I just wanted to hear your singing.”

“Bull!” Mercer stood behind the door pouting. He slowly pulled the door open and looked up at Lorenzo. “What were you actually doing?” He asked quieter.

“That is for me to know and you to wonder, sweet cheeks,” Lorenzo tapped Mercer’s nose and turned to walk into the kitchen.

Mercer groaned and shuffled out of the bathroom, walking over to the wardrobe. Lorenzo wandered to the kitchen fridge, scanning it for anything interesting. Clipping with a small magnet was multiple menus for various restaurants in the area.

“Hey, what kind of food should we bring to my dad’s house?” Lorenzo hollered.

“I don’t care, anything on those menus are cheap and nearby,” Mercer replied.

“Alright then,” Lorenzo said under his breath.

He flipped through the menus and picked out one with a large picture of sushi on it. He smiled and uttered a loud “aha”, before sitting down at the island and pulling out his phone.

“I’m ordering sushi, he yelled while typing in the sushi place’s number into his phone.

Mercer shook his head, not even bothering to reply back. Soon Lorenzo fell silent and the dial tone of the other line could be heard through the quiet apartment. It took a minute for “Master Sushi’s Restaurant” to pick up. When the other line picks up a soft jingle is played followed by a female’s voice.

“Hello, this is Master Sushi’s Restaurant. How may we help you?” The woman asked with a slight Asian accent.

“I’d like to make a pick up order for Lorenzo Mathew,” He started. “Nothing too large.”

“Alright, Mister Mathew what, what will you be ordering?”

“Can I do an order of spicy California rolls and-” Lorenzo looked up at Mercer, who was now in the kitchen freshly dressed. “Psst. What do you want?”

“Just order me a shrimp tempura roll with soy milk, oh and I can pay,” Mercer said, pulling out his card form his wallet.

Lorenzo took Mercer’s wallet from his hands before he could do anything and tossed it onto the couch. “I’m paying,” He said firmly and glared at Mercer, before turning back to the phone. “Then I will do an order of a shrimp tempera roll.”

“Okay mister will that be all?” The lady asked.

“And two soy milks with that please,” Lorenzo smiled.

“Thank you for ordering Mister Mathew, you order will be ready in about 20 minutes, just walk in to pay and grab your order.”

“Thank you,” He said briefly before handing up. “Food is ordered and will be ready in a few,” He cracked his knuckled and stood up, only to find Mercer sulking on the couch. “Whats wrong with you,” Lorenzo nudged his foot against Mercer’s.

“your ego is too high,” Mercer crossed his arms. “I don’t understand why I couldn’t at least pay for my own meal.”

“Are you really butt hurt about that? I don’t even think it costed that much and if it did, it would not matter because I”M paying for it.”

“Bet its nice having all that money,” Mercer mumbled.

“Do not say that,” He said firmly. “Yeah it’s nice to have money to spend but it’s lonely, not having anyone to share it with or spend it on.”

Mercer froze and looked up. “Lorenzo I didn’t mean it like that,” He stumbled over his words.

Lorenzo sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “Just…drop it okay?” He said rudely.

Mercer looked down guilty and nodded as awkward silence fell between the two.

“It wasn’t long before they pushed back the tense moment and shuffled into Mercer’s car to go pick up their food.

“Lorenzo I’m so-,” Mercer spoke up but Lorenzo interrupted him.

“No I should be sorry, Mercer. I understand where you were coming from and I flaunted my money a lot. I should not have snapped like that,” He looked out the window.

“Yeah but,” Mercer started again. “Still I will not try to let my stubbornness get ahead of me.”

“You and me both,” Lorenzo smiled.

Mercer stopped at a stop light and went into the turning lane before entering the restaurant parking lot. Their order wasn’t ready for another 10 minutes so they had a bit of time to chat in the car. Mercer unbuckled and slummed back into the driver’s seat. Lorenzo couldn’t help but eye his lips and how they went downwards when he relaxed. A small smirk plastered on his lips as he got an idea. Lorenzo quickly unbuckled his seat belt and leaned over the center counsel to kiss Mercer. Mercer froze, his eyes widened as the kiss caught him off guard. The kiss was nice but it all came crashing down when he remembered Mr. Mathew’s proposal: Lorenzo needed a WIFE, not some makeshift boyfriend that could fill those roles. So, Mercer planted his foot down and pushed Lorenzo away, sadness in regret in his eyes.

“Lorenzo we can’t,” He looked down.

“What ever do you mean,” Lorenzo smirked and ran his hand down his side, thanking that what he had said was a joke.

“We can’t keep doing this!” Mercer’s voice broke. “You need a wife, not me as some boyfriend. Your career depends on who you date and I can’t be that person. Its unfair to you to have to suffer between what’s wrong and what’s right. You aren’t even gay and I am. I’m just a set back in the process,” Tears slowly rolled down Mercer’s cheeks.

“You don’t get to decide my feelings!” Lorenzo gripped his wrist.

“But I can take myself out of your life so they don’t get set back,” Mercer pried his hand from Lorenzo’s grip and opened the door. “I’m going to go get the food,” He wiped his cheeks.

“There is still five minutes until it’s done. Mercer, please let’s talk about this!”

Lorenzo’s plea was interrupted by the car door slamming and Mercer walking away and to the establishment. He slummed back in the passenger seat. Mercer was right, he wasn’t even out to his parents and he had to find a wife. If he let his father down, everything would go downhill, but how the hell was he supposed to find a wife when he couldn’t stand touching a woman. Tears of frustration filled his eyes and he hit the dash, knocking down a picture from the above head mirror. It was a picture of him and Mercer, smiling.

“Fuck.”

A little while later, Mercer slowly walked out with their bag of sushi and got into the car. His eyes were red and he didn’t say a word. Mercer handed Lorenzo the bag and slowly started the car.

“Did you get the soy milk?” Lorenzo mumbled.

“Yeah, it’s in the bag,” Mercer’s voice broke again.

“Alright, thanks,” He looked down.

Mercer pulled the car our of the parking lot. They drove through the city until he realized that he didn’t know where Mr. Mathew lived. He pulled over and unbuckled.

“C-can you drive, I don’t know where your father lives.”

“Yeah,” Lorenzo copied Mercer and they switched seats.

Lorenzo managed to drive them both to his father’s house in under 30 minutes. During the ride Mercer was quiet and turned toward the window. Lorenzo couldn’t see the light trail of tears run down his cheeks but he knew they were there by the way Mercer sniffled.

Soon they pulled into a long gated driveway that lead to a giant stone house. Outside was William, standing on the step wearing black dress pants and a sweater. Lorenzo parked the car and got out. He walked over to Mercer’s side and opened the door.

“I can do it myself,” Mercer glared at him.

“God this was going to be a long two days,” Lorenzo thought.