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Michael stood in front of the hospital, a bouquet of flowers in his hand. He was scared to go in for Rich and only him. He had seen him in the hospital before when visiting Jeremy before he was healed but that was a completely different scenario.
When Michael visited Jeremy on the day he was getting out of hospital, Rich had asked Michael to go out with him. At the time, Michael had simply said he would think about it. Now, he was going to give Rich his answer.
“Hey! Michael!” Rich sounded glad to see him.
Michael sat down in the chair next to the hospital bed, laying the flowers gently on the floor.
“Are those for me?” Rich asked, peaking over the side of the bed.
Michael smiled (he found Rich's lisp somewhat charming) before he replied, “yes they are, actually.”
“Sweet. Could you put them in that vase for me?”
Michael followed the instruction and placed the flowers into the empty vase.
“I think you'll just need to ask a nurse to fill the vase for you so they don't die,” Michael said, half zoning out.
“Shit. Yeah. I wouldn't want the flowers I got from a hot guy to die.”
Michael was suddenly brought back down to earth. Was Rich trying to make him feel warm? Michael took off his hoodie, discarding it to the floor.
Rich's mind appeared to short-circuit, never having seen Michael in just a t-shirt.
“Do you work out at all?” Rich questioned, staring at Michael's arms.
“Occasionally.”
Rich nodded and turned his attention back to the flowers that had been brought for him.
“So… those flowers. Why have you gotten them for me?”
Michael thought about how to word his answer before finally speaking. “Well, I thought about you asking me out and I decided I could give it a go.”
Rich struggled to understand, whether that was because he couldn't believe Michael would agree to go out with him or because he was genuinely not computing.
“Alright. So you're my boyfriend now?”
Michael nodded to affirm that.
“Cool. Boyfriend. Never had one of those.”
Michael couldn't help but laugh. Rich was really weird without the SQUIP. In a good way, of course.
“Are you not happy with me being your first boyfriend?” joked Michael.
“No, no. I am completely happy with this.” Rich laid back in the bed, still trying to figure out how he managed to get with Michael Mell.
“Do you feel strange about being with me because you used to bully me and Jeremy all the time?” Michael asked, attempting to break the silence that had settled over the two boys.
“I guess.” Rich actually knew for sure that was the reason he felt all… odd.
Michael took Rich's hand in his own. “It's okay. You had a Japanese robot in your head. It wasn't really you doing that stuff, I know.”
“Still felt like it was me,” Rich muttered.
“Hey, Rich. I forgive you. We can start anew anyway. Do you like that idea?”
Rich thought for a good minute before nodding.
Michael smiled in return. “Great.”