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‘Riles, please don’t make me do this,’ Yev pleaded, practically on his hands and knees as his big blue eyes stared up at Riley. ‘You know I hate these kinds of things…they freak me out.’
Riley huffed, rolling his eyes at his overdramatic boyfriend. ‘Are you fucking kidding me? It’s just Giovanna.’
‘Giovanna with a crystal ball and magical powers,’ Yev corrected, yanking his hand to try and steer him away from Iggy and Giovanna’s house. ‘It creeps me the fuck out and I’m not fuckin’ doin’ it.’
Sighing, Riley merely pulled Yev gently toward the house. Yev was bigger than him, but he was also really skinny so it was easy to pull him around, especially when he grabbed ahold of Yev’s oversized sweater, which he looked absolutely adorable in, by the way.
Riley gave his boyfriend a small, comforting nudge and smile. ‘C’mon, I’ll hold your hand. We’ve got to support G with this shit, though. You remember how pissed off she got when you wouldn’t let her read your palm? Remember how she started screaming about how everyone wants her to have a job, but then won’t support her in her chosen career? Then Mickey made some crack about how it wasn’t a real job and she threw ham at him?’
Yev shivered at the memory. ‘That was a bad Christmas.’
‘Exactly! Christmas is coming again soon, and we really don’t need a repeat, so have some cheer and let’s just go in and get our future told, huh?’ Riley felt relief flood him as he realised they’d made it to the door without Yev running off.
‘Wait!’ Yev cried out, facing Riley. ‘What if she figures out we’re dating with her powers?’
Riley took a deep breath, eyes rolling to the sky as if to ask for mercy. ‘It’s all bullshit, Yev.’
Yev sighed, running a hand through his hair and saying, ‘Alright, fine. One thing, though.’
‘What?’ Riley responded, annoyance edging into his voice. His frown immediately softened, though, when Yev pressed a quick kiss to his mouth before turning and knocking on the door.
He had a dopey smile on his face even when Giovanna opened the door and they walked in.
Fifteen minutes later, they were settled in and beginning their psychic reading. As it turns out, there is no crystal ball, just tarot cards. They had chosen their cards and they were now laid out, upside down in front of them. Giovanna sent them a huge grin as she overturned the first one.
‘This is your past. It represents— Oh, wait! You guys know that I will have to charge you for this consultation, right?’ Giovanna asked, a vaguely apologetic smile on her face. ‘Just because ridding your energy from this room and—’
While Yev looked around himself in concern, clearly searching for their bad energy, Riley only huffed and said, ‘Yeah, alright, G. Just tell us our future.’
Giovanna wore a bright smile as she pointed to the overturned card labelled ‘Hermit’. It was upside down. ‘This shows you were both quite in your shells in the past — not letting anyone see the real you, hiding away like useless, little crabs with barely any friends—’
‘Is this a psychic session or a roast?’ Yev frowned.
Riley elbowed him sharply, sending him a look that said “don’t piss her off, for fuck’s sake.”
Giovanna smiled, seemingly unbothered by the barb. ‘Peace and love, Yev. And, well, it doesn’t matter anyway, because the next cards are the present cards.’ She flipped them over.
‘Isn’t there supposed to be only one present card?’ Yev asked.
‘Shut up, Yev,’ Riley hissed under his breath.
Giovanna merely waved him off, returning to the cards. ‘This one is the lovers card…and the other is the chariot. Strange that you should get those cards during a joint reading…that only usually happens when the two are together.’
Yev’s eyes widened and he shot a panicked look at Riley. He also took that moment to whisper, ‘I fucking told you so,’ because Yev could never miss out on an opportunity to say he was right.
Giovanna didn’t appear to hear him, just studying the cards with a confused look on her face. She studied the cards for a moment, before her eyes flickered up to meet the two stunned teenagers. ‘Huh, whatever. Want to know the rest?’
Riley stood up immediately. ‘This is bullshit.’
Giovanna frowned up at the boy. ‘Riley, what—?’
‘Nope, I’m done. C’mon, Yev, let’s go.’
Giovanna leant back in her chair, grinning teasingly. ‘C’mon, boys, don’t you want to know your future?’
Yev glanced up at Riley, who was waving at him to go, but awkwardly turned back to Giovanna and ignored Riley’s annoyed glare. ‘Kinda…’
‘Yevgeny!’ Riley snapped, stamping his foot like a child.
Yev sighed, looking up at his boyfriend. ‘C’mon, Riles, you don’t wanna find out?’
Giovanna smiled. ‘The cards may hint at you two being together, so we know they don’t work in that aspect, but maybe there will be something else there?’
Riley looked down at his boyfriend, who’s blue eyes were once again staring up at him pleadingly. This time they were much more effective, especially with the memory of Giovanna hurling a ham at Mickey flashing through his mind. He sighed, slumping down in the chair and pouting. ‘Fine.’
Yev grinned and eagerly turned back to Giovanna. ‘So?’
Giovanna looked down at the cards again, pointing to the lovers one. ‘This could also mean to follow your heart.’ She pointed to the chariot. ‘This card is all about determination. So together, this card means that. whatever decision you’re thinking of right now, you should move forward with it and follow your heart.’ Finally, Giovanna overturned the last card. ‘This is your future if you follow through with this decision. It’s the judgement card in reverse. This is to do with judging the people around you. Don’t judge them too harshly, which may mean you don’t follow through. For instance, don’t choose to avoid whatever your decision is because you’re afraid of how people may react. Don’t judge them for what they haven’t even done yet. And if they react badly, it’s their problem, not yours.’
Yev shot Riley a little grin. ‘Sounds good.’
Riley couldn’t help but give him a little smile back. They were just staring at each other, grinning dopily, when Giovanna cleared her throat. They turned to look at her smiling sweetly at them.
‘So. Cash or card?’ Giovanna asked.
Giovanna watched through her window as the boys left, nudging each other and laughing as they made their way down the street. She smiled gently before spinning around and counting the cash in her hand. Best fifteen bucks she’d ever made.
‘How’d it go?’ Iggy snickered as he walked in from where he’d been hiding in the bedroom.
Giovanna grinned at him. ‘Teenagers are so gullible.’
Iggy sighed, wrapping an arm around her shoulder as they flopped down onto the couch. ‘Still can’t believe they’re together, though.’
Giovanna nodded. ‘Yeah, I still can’t believe they were dumb enough to kiss in broad daylight. Mickey’s gonna flip.’
Iggy shook his head in response. ‘He fuckin’ knows. Apparently he and Ian already found out due to some unfortunate mishaps. Yev and Riley said they wanted to keep it a secret for a while longer, though, so we can’t tell anyone.’
Giovanna nodded, shuffling over to snuggle up to Iggy’s chest. ‘Wasn’t planning on it, and, besides, I’m thinking they’re gonna tell people soon enough…’
Riley laughed as Yev pressed butterfly kisses all over his face, leaning back against the brick wall of the alley. ‘Guess Giovanna’s one hell of a psychic.’
‘Gave us some inadvertently good advice, too,’ Yev agreed, kissing Riley before leaning back and saying, ‘Maybe we should think about telling everyone. I know I’ve brought it up before, but Ian and Dad know…weren’t they the ones we were most worried about?’
Riley shook his head. ‘No way. Your mom, my mom — pretty much everyone else is still a problem, Yev.’
Yev sighed, leaning into his boyfriend and looking down at his worried expression. ‘Fine. We don’t have to tell anyone yet, but…can you at least think about it?’
Riley nodded, a soft expression coming over his face as he realised how much Yev wanted everyone to know they were together…like he was proud of him or some shit. ‘Yeah, ’course.’
Yev smiled before pressing his lips back to Riley’s.
Little did they know, someone was watching them from the end of the alley with crossed arms and narrowed eyes. Growling to themselves, they turned away and headed back up the street.
Riley and Yev really didn’t need to know they’d been caught yet. They’d find out for themselves soon enough.