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I woke up to the smell of fire, its pungent, unpleasant odor lingering in the air and making my day start badly. I shot up, annoyed to have my dreams interrupted in such a displeasing way. The thought of a house fire was at the back of my mind, buried underneath the piles of faded dreams and bad mornings.

I looked at the clock… Bad mornings? More like bad noontimes.

With a tired sigh and a grumble that was a few hours overdue, I slipped my feet into the fluffy bunny slippers and put on my glasses which lay on the bedside table, finally deciding to check out what was causing the putrid smell downstairs. But before that… I glanced at the empty space beside me.

Where the hell was Felix?

"Pewds?" I called out, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

"Yeah- Shit!"

I sighed. What trouble did he cause this time? Lazily, I walked out of our room and descended down the stairs, starting to recognize the smell. It was the smell of burnt food. And as I looked through the thin veil of smoke surrounding the house, my suspicions were confirmed.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Cry." he greeted casually, cooking some sort of horrid black goo in the pot and looking too relaxed, as if he hadn't given me the impression that our house was on fire moments before. "I made spaghetti for lunch. Have a seat."

"Do you mean creepy pasta? In case you didn't know, spaghetti has red sauce, not black." I teased, declining his offer on taking a seat to watch him cook that thing. Instead, I approached him and turned the fire off. "Next time, let me do the cooking, friend." I suggested, receiving a pout from the other.

Smirking, I left the blond and headed for the bathroom, doing my morning routines. I smiled to myself. That's right, it was Valentine's Day today, I had forgotten. I can't believe he actually tried to cook for me. The idea was adorable, really – if only he hadn't overestimated himself and went ahead even though he knew he had zero talent in cooking. Pfft, I tease him about that all the time, but I always end up being countered in some way, like "That's because you're the 'badass uke' and I'm the manly seme," or something like that.

I got out of the bathroom, to find that Pewdie had remained rooted to where I left him, facing me with a shy smile. I decided to give him a break from my relentless teasing and despite the temptation to remark on his state, I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Happy Valentine's. Now just sit there and be beautiful and let me do the work."

He obeyed silently, nodding to me before heading to the living room, probably to go watch cartoons or something. I put on an apron and got to work, snickering when I heard the TV turn on and the familiar sound of Adventure Time echoed from the living room.

At least he had already boiled the pasta, so now all I had to do was remake the spaghetti sauce and luckily, Pewdie didn't waste that much so we still have enough ingredients.

About an hour had passed when the doorbell erupted from the relaxing silence, interrupting the faint sound from the TV and I let the Swede open the door for me while I was still busy cleaning the kitchen counter. But I already knew who the people behind the door were. Smirking, I put the utensils away, preparing the table for our guests.

"Oh hey guys! Come on in; Cry just finished cooking some spaghetti." Pewdie invited, letting our friends in. The familiar faces of Ken, Scott, Snake, Russ and Red came into view."

"Sup guys? I'm glad you made it! I was just preparing the table for everyone; come on, take a seat." I offered, starting to put the placemats on the dining table. Pewdie soon joined us and helped me with the placemats as everyone sat down, chatting lightly.

"By the way… Nice apron, Cry." Ken teased, among the chitchat of everyone else and they all looked at me before bursting out laughing and I joined their fun, but there was no denying that my cheeks were the same pink as the apron I had forgotten to take off. "I guess Pewdie here really is the man on the house."

"Oh please." Said blond reacted. "I've known that from the start."

I snickered, taking the embarrassing apron off of me. "Says the man who almost burned the house trying to cook."

It was his turn to blush as we all laughed.

MALL

By the time the last of our friends had left, the sun was already high up the sky, shining down on us with such a bright light that silently begged for lovers to go outside and bask in its positivity, especially in such a beautiful day as the 14th of February.

Russ and Red were already driving to Red's house for Russ to finally meet with his red-haired lover's parents. They glanced at each other, smiling softly as they thought of how it would turn out once Russ announces his proposal. Would her parents allow the marriage? They could only hope so.

Scott and Snake, meanwhile, were busy preparing for their adopted daughter Margaret's JS Promenade. Their once cute little emerald-eyed angel was growing up to become such a beautiful long and ebony-haired woman. Pewds and I were chosen as her godparents and it always made me chuckle when I remembered that one time, back when she was 12, when Pewdie told her to stay away from jerks and to only give her heart to a man once she was really sure it was the one. Then Margaret pointed to me and said, "Was that how you found Uncle Cry?" He nodded, ruffling the cute little kid's head. I sighed, wondering what she looked like now that she was 17. Snake and Jund said they'd bring her here sometime, but we still haven't seen her for a while, so I guess the teen was busy.

And then there was Ken. He was the only one among us friends who didn't have any special someone yet. It's not that he doesn't have any love life; he used to have a girlfriend named Lucille, but she broke up with him sometime last year. I remember Red calling us, saying that Ken came over to their place crying. The bearded brunet had recovered now though; in fact, he said he would try his luck this year and maybe he could find the one on this special day.

On the other hand, here we were, waiting in line for a Valentine-themed movie that was apparently a good watch for lovers… at least that's what the website said. I get the feeling it's going to be too cheesy for us, though; we've never watched a romance movie in the cinema together before, and it's not like we're some innocent adolescents who blush at the slightest show of love… Then again, it was Valentine's; I couldn't deny my precious Pewds what he wanted. So if he has fun, then so will I.

…Great, now I'm the one who's starting to get cheesy.

His hands, which were hooked to my arm, tugged at my sleeve, turquoise orbs looking at me and I glanced in front, just in time to see the couple before us leave with their ticket. The cashier looked at us uncomfortably for a quick second, probably having no experience meeting couples of the same gender, but she blinked it away and started to work on her computer. Pewdie proceeded to tell her the title of the movie and the number of seats and soon enough she gave us the ticket and we strolled around the mall while waiting.

We passed by the arcade and I swear I caught him staring enviously at a kid playing one of the games before looking away. We bought snacks, popcorn and drinks, then we took a picture in front of the fountain together as a remembrance before we finally went to the theater since it was time.

To be honest, the movie was boring as hell. The plot was way too predictable, making me wonder how it got such a high rating. Do the media really have such a low standard nowadays? But Pewdie seemed to be entertained though, so I didn't complain. Though it was kind of awkward with the feeling of the weird stares of other lovers who just wouldn't mind their own business and pay attention to the movie they paid to watch.

"Damn, this movie is cheap." he remarked. My thoughts exactly. A smirk danced on his lips as he looked over to me. I raised a brow at him. "Hey, Cry. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"If you're thinking we should just ditch this movie and go play videogames at the arcade, then yes."

"Yea- Actually, that's a better idea!" he cheered, earning himself shh's and we laughed silently at the other people watching the movie so intently. I glanced at the screen to see the main character sobbing and having a monologue. Wow, what a sad moment we ruined. Quietly this time, he whispered "Let's go!" and stood up, tugging on my shirt.

The dull and bored atmosphere around us took a sharp turn when we entered the arcade. We played and fooled around, shooting zombies and stepping on lighted buttons and for a moment, we were back to our fun selves, back when we played so many games together, even before all the romance… But I'm not saying I regret having a relationship with Pewds, of course. I just miss the games we played a lot before that happened.

It was from these moments that I realized: Sure, maybe we weren't some average couple who could enjoy watching a cheesy romance movie together. We had fun in games more and in going outside, we always get weird stares. But even though we weren't like normal lovers, none of that mattered because after everything else, we were still ourselves. Being in a relationship didn't change us, because we both loved each other the way we are. He was still Pewds and I was still Cry, and nothing would change that.

As I mulled over my reminiscent thoughts, the karaoke rooms caught my eye and I dragged him to one of them, knowing the perfect song we could sing.

"Hey, Pewds. Do you remember?"

AMUSEMENT PARK

The cool afternoon winds brushed against my cheeks, blowing away the sweat that ran down the sides of my face and I could tell it was the same with Pewdie as at the corner of my eye, I could see his golden locks dance in the wind.

You'd think we'd have been tired from all the day's fun and we were ready to go home to a relaxing afternoon, but it was all just getting started. We still had a long list of places to go, the date organized perfectly thanks to my beloved Swede. Besides, the day started out late so we still had a lot of energy left in us.

Next up on the list was the amusement park. Coasters twisted in odd angles and dangerous directions that they were almost intimidating but I guess I liked the feeling of the danger. And so I tugged the other towards one particularly scary-looking roller coaster and he looked scared, staring at me with wide eyes.

It was then that I had only realized… "Wait, are you still afraid of-"

"I'm not!" he snapped, blushing beet red and sky blue eyes averting my gaze. "I'm just really motion sick, that's all."

I lifted his chin and forced him to look at me. "No, you're not. I'm the one who's motion sick." I shot back, seeing right through his lie. He only responded with a pout so I took his hand and rubbed my thumb over it in a comforting way. "Don't worry about it."

He sighed, feigning his reluctant approval but as we ran to the line, at the corner of my eye, I saw him smile.

Said smile faded quickly when a man seemingly in a rush bumped into him from the side, the stranger falling to the ground while Pewdie only stumbled a bit because of the support of our linked hands.

The man stood up and looked down at us, scowling and his face red with anger, probably trying to intimidate us with his well-built figure. His shirt was stained with melted ice cream that must have come from the pile of white on the ground.

"You bastard! Do you know how much this shirt costs? You'll pay for this!" He noticed our intertwined hands. "Stupid faggots…" he muttered.

Little did he know how big a mistake his snide little comment was. I would have let it slip, pull Pewdie to my side and just ask the obnoxious man how much he wanted for the shirt, chaos-free. But him revealing his homophobia to me? …He may have just started World War III.

I cracked my knuckles on instinct, anger flaring up my veins as I shoved Pewdie to the side and flung my fist at the obnoxious man's jaw. He recoiled, holding his reddened cheek with one hand. Before he could lunge at me, I dodged to the side and he stumbled forward before catching his balance.

"It wasn't his fault you weren't watching where you were going. I'll pay for the shirt if you want, but I'm warning you… The next time I hear you insult someone again, you're going to regret ever crossing paths with me." I threatened.

The man stammered, then with a frustrated sigh, he dashed away. Pewdie went back to my side, slipping his hands back to where they belong. Shyly, he muttered, "Thanks, bro."

"Don't worry about it." I assured, walking towards the line of people waiting to get on the ride, pulling him with me with a gentle tug. "Come on, let's go before more people come."

The blond gamer practically clung to me right after we got out of the ride, and feeling slightly guilty I bought him some ice cream as compensation. His face was pallid with nausea and he looked like he would vomit anytime soon. Fortunately, I quickly caught sight of a bench nearby so I led him there to sit and rest.

"You okay, friend?"

He glared up at me – playfully, of course – and then shook his head. "What a great way to spend Valentine's with your boyfriend, Cry." he replied sarcastically. "How come you didn't feel dizzy? I thought you were motion sick…" he whined.

I shrugged. "I'm used to it. But my ears hurt though."

He laughed, punching me lightly on the shoulder. Well at least that cheered him up a bit. "One does not simply ride coasters without screaming."

"Yeah, sure." Suddenly, I heard giggling from somewhere and glancing around I saw a little boy giving a blue teddy bear to his younger sister. He must have won the stuffed toy in the booth behind them, where a clerk was dusting off the red and white targets at his booth. "Hey, do you want to go play that?" I pointed to the booth, where 'Shoot the Target' was written in large letters above the stand.

"Okay." he agreed, then locked his arms around mine and dragged me toward the game's direction… that was, until he veered off a tangent sharply and sent us to another direction. Soon, I found us approaching…

No More Room In Hell.

It was a haunted attraction. So that's why he locked his arms around me… so that I wouldn't escape.

NO MORE ROOM IN HELL

There was darkness shrouding my vision, and all I could decipher in the thick blindness was the faint glow of the little green lights on the ground that guided my feet on what direction to walk to. An eerie silence surrounded the room, nothing but soft breaths heard in the shadows.

A very eerie silence it was, that even I backed away in surprise when a digital cackle, coupled with the sudden rise of a "witch" jumpscare right beside me shattered the silence, and I shuddered at the figure's spooky figure that was lit by an upwards light.

It was that light that made me realize that Pewdie was nowhere around me.

That idiot is probably trying to prank me again… or he got scared and ran outside. Pfft… I snickered at the thought for a second, before turning around and looking for him while I went backwards the path. Triggered jumpscares stood smiling wickedly, probably laughing at the people that screamed because of them if they actually came to life.

Then through the darkness, I noticed one which seemed out of place… I don't think I saw this one when I passed this part of the dark tunnel. It wore a large, detailed mask that was almost terrifying, just like the others but there was something odd about this one and I could just feel it. It didn't have its own light below it, either. As if on cue, the screams of the others way distant from where I was echoed in the darkness.

Then the figure moved.

Do you know those cheap horror movie scenes when this exact moment happens and the main character screams or hits the ghost with any nearby object; or in games, the player is offered to save, then the scene continues with the victim running for his dear life? Well, none of that happened to me. Instead, I found myself rooted to the ground, only managing to make a face of sheer horror but I was still too paralyzed to move.

I've never been this scared, especially in a mere haunted attraction.

It lunged at me and to my confusion, wrapped its arms around me. For a moment, the possibility of it trying to hug me to death crossed my mind. "Boo." The ghost said, its familiar thick Swedish accent lingering in the air as I realized what had just happened.

I heard a thump as the mask he was wearing fell to the ground. He leaned away, arms still around my waist when he declared, "Payback."