Page 109 of Clichés & Curses

Epilogue

The soft warmth of the sun woke me up from my sleep and dreams of the night before. The sight of a beautiful Sunday morning greeted me as I opened my eyes, courtesy of the drawn curtains.

I slowly started to sit up, taking in the gentle sunlight as I reached for my phone on my nightstand to check the time. A smile curled up on my lips—as it always did—once I saw my lock screen. It was a photo I took of Colton from our first late-night Creamsicle Corner run, the one of him flexing his arm. It was one of my favourite photos of him.

My smile only grew bigger when I noticed a glass of water sitting on the nightstand as well, covered with a lid. One of the first things I always do in the morning is drink a glass of water. Normally, I would’ve had to go to the kitchen to do so, but it seemedsomeonecaught on to my little habit and brought the water to me instead.

I chugged the water as quickly as I could before taking a quick detour to my bathroom. Once I was done, I tried my best to be quiet as I opened my bedroom door, my eyes immediately set toward the kitchen, knowing that a certain someone was there.

I was met by the sight of my boyfriend cooking spaghetti, swaying on-beat to an ABBA song that was playing from the radio CD player I got for him as his Christmas present last year.

I still remember how hard it was trying to find a gift for him. We were stilljustfriends at the time—friends who had already been on two dates with each other. While I was confident that wewere entering into the relationship territory soon, I didn’t want to get him something that was too much. But at the same time, I knew I wanted to give him a meaningful gift that he would love.

I didn’t realize how hard it was navigating the area of dating, when you’re toeing the line between friends and something more.

But as soon as I saw a radio CD player being advertised when I was Christmas shopping for my family, I knew it was the perfect gift for him.

He usually kept it in his apartment that he shared with Miles. And it followed him as he moved to the baseball team’s house. I remembered him contemplating whether he should move or not. On one hand, he loved having his own space, but now that he was made the team captain, he figured it was better to live with the team.

The radio CD player has its special spot in his new bedroom. But on the few occasions that he slept over at my place, he always brought it along with him.

Nina went back to her hometown for the weekend for a family celebration, leaving the whole apartment to me and Colton.

He was spinning around when he finally caught me watching him, momentarily caught off guard, before a grin made its way to his lips. ‘Good morning, my beautiful partner.’

Matching his grin with one of my own, I said, ‘Morning, my handsome partner.’

I made my way over to him, intending to kiss him on the cheek, only to have him greet me with a passionate kiss on the lips instead.

A small squeak of surprise escaped me, which was quickly replaced by a contented sigh, as my arms immediately wrapped themselves around his shoulders. I pulled him closer to me, taking him in.

We both eventually leaned back from the kiss, both of us breathless—me more than him. Colton kissed me one more time, a sweet and gentle one, before fully pulling away. ‘Have a seat, breakfast will be ready soon.’

Pouring myself a cup of coffee, I took a seat on one of the kitchen stools and just admired my boyfriend preparing our morning meal.

After that night we had hung out in my apartment for the first time, Colton and I were back to what we were before: friends. Meaning, there was no kissing involved. But that didn’t stop him from reaching his hand out to grab mine, his thumb softly rubbing the back of my hand, occasionally giving it or the middle of my palm a light kiss.

And I think most of the time, he didn’t even realize it. It was just pure instinct.

It was clear that we were more than ‘just friends’ at that point.

I couldn’t fully put the blame on him either, not when he had given me every opportunity to stop him.

But I never did. I didn’t want to.

Colton stayed true to his words of taking this newfound thing between us at my pace. He even asked me whether I wanted to go on the date after the whole semester ended and we stopped being partners for ASL class.

The logical thing would be to say yes—in case our first date backfired, and we weren’t as compatible as I thought we would be. But that was the fear talking, and I was done letting it hold me back.

So instead, I chose to trust Colton.

I chose to believe in us.

And so, our first date happened just a week after our first kiss, with a second one following two weeks later. At the end of our third one—a week after winter break—Colton asked for him to be mine and me to be his.

We’ve been together ever since.

But that didn’t mean we stopped having our ASL practice sessions. Every Wednesday, we would still get our bubble tea and practice at ‘the spot’. When the semester came to an end and we entered a new one, we held on to the tradition of hanging out there at least once a week. With it officially being baseball season, it was hard sticking to the Wednesday part of the tradition as Colton’s schedule was packed with games and practices. But he always made sure we didn’t go a week without spending time there, two bubble teas sitting next to us.

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