✍🏻See You Again

22 🫐 Snowflakes

By the time Thursday comes, I've already descended into depths of insanity I've never expected to experience. At least definitely not over a man. While I expected Yuzuru to continue his little game, he's actually keeping his distance and though we behave normally during the day just like we did before, it's always the quiet evenings that build up the most tension between us. We do exchange some flirting remarks here and there but nothing measures up to what happened the other day and what's more, he's no longer going to bed at the same time as I do. Instead, he always stays behind, saying he isn't tired and that he'll just play some games and whenever I try to stay awake until he comes to bed, I never manage to hold that long. He's also out of bed before I wake up and the only sign of him actually sleeping there is the warmth I feel when I slide my hand under his duvet.

I'm not even sure the Thursday walk is still on the schedule as I get home from the gym, asking him if I should stay dressed or not. Before answering, he looks out of the window, then checks his watch, and only mutters, "in an hour," without giving me any further explanation.

I gave up questioning him a long time ago and so I go to the fridge, reheat my dinner and eat it watching TV while he sits next to me, silently tapping on his phone and killing some orcs or whatnot. I'm bored out of my mind and even get up to do dishes when finished with my food but all of my gloomy thoughts are instantly gone when I look out the kitchen window.

"It's snowing! Yuzu, look! It's the first proper snow of the year!!"

"Is it now?" He laughs and checks his watch again, nodding toward the main door. "I guess that would be a good time to have the walk, no?"

"Yes!!!" I exclaim and rush to put on my coat, bouncing up and down as I wait for him to get dressed.

"Didn't you just spend the whole day in the gym?" He chuckles as he puts on his shoes and reaches for his jacket. "Where are you getting all this excess energy from?"

"It's snowing!!!" I squeal and grab his arm, dragging him out of the apartment as he still has his jacket in his hand.

When we get to the Christmas markets they are crowded with people, way more than whenever I passed them by before.  Everyone seems to be enjoying the atmosphere of the place with the snow falling down and I'm no different, grinning whenever a big snowflake lands on my hand and I watch it melt.

"You should get some gloves here," Yuzuru says with a soft smile that didn't leave his face ever since we left the apartment.

"I have pockets," I answer and let another snowflake fall on my extended hand while my other hand is kept warm in his.

"Alright, so where would you like to go first?" He asks and looks at the long rows of various wooden stands, all adorned with little lights and Christmas decorations.

"You said you'd like to get something for your mum and sister. How about we start with that?"

"Mhm," he nods, his eyes scanning the nearest stands, "anything you would recommend?"

"Anything's good as long as it's not a candle," I laugh but he instantly frowns and purses his lips.

"What's wrong with a candle?"

"Oh god, please don't tell me you were giving them candles until now?"

He doesn't answer but his lips purse into the thinnest of lines and I figure I hit the nail on the head. With a tug on his hand, I drag him to the first stall, asking him what they might like and what they usually wear. I'm amazed at how much he notices about them, especially for a guy, and wonder how come he always ends up with a candle if he actually has good intel. My unspoken question is soon answered when we get to a stall with scarfs, ones that would be perfect for his mum and he starts to over-analyze the size, the color pattern, and the material, eventually judging even the way they're displayed.