Mitch stepped out of Ravenhold Academy’s front gate and looked around. Across the street with his head down, staring at his phone, was the person Mitch was looking for. With a quick glance both ways, he jogged across the street.

Mitch stopped in front of the man. The man didn’t look up. With the hood of his faded black hoodie up and earbuds in he didn’t notice Mitch’s approach. Smiling, Mitch grabbed the edges of the hood and flipped it back, revealing a sickly pale face and messy, shoulder-length black hair that was less messy than usual. The man’s head snapped up, the large scar across his face glaring red and obvious and his steel gray eyes wide. When he saw it was Mitch he relaxed and let out a breath. He grabbed the cord of his earbuds and yanked them out of his ears just in time to hear Mitch say, “Happy Valentine’s Day, corazón.”

Mitch’s ‘corazón’, his boyfriend Credence’s lips puckered slightly as he sucked in his cheeks to chew on the insides, “Why didn’t you text me that you were on your way out? I-” Credence was forced to swallow the rest of his sentence back down when Mitch pressed his lips to his.

Mitch stepped back and smiled while Credence scowled in spite of his crimson cheeks. “I wanted to see if I could surprise you.” Mitch leaned down and kissed Credence once more. This time Credence had warning and could tilt his head to the side and let the kiss deepen. Finally, Mitch broke away just enough that he could, with his forehead still pressed against Credence’s, repeat, “Happy Valentine’s Day, corazón.”

Scoffing and rolling his eyes, Credence took a step back, “Yeah, yeah. Happy Valentine’s Day to you too, puppy.”

Mitch beamed brighter, his metaphorical tail wagging, and shrugged his backpack off his shoulders, “I got something for you!” He reached into his backpack and pulled out a tightly sealed tupperware container.

Credence crinkled his nose at the container, “You didn’t bake cookies, did you?”

“I did,” Mitch stuck his tongue out, “but I burnt them.” He shrugged, “So I made tamales instead-”

The second the word ‘tamales’ left Mitch’s mouth, Credence snatched the container from Mitch’s hands. “Missing my cooking?” Mitch teased.

Credence shoved the container in his own tote bag, his ears reddening, “shut up.”
Mitch laughed. He wormed his fingers into Credence’s loosely clenched fist, “So what are we going to do today?”

Credence let Mitch wiggle his way into holding his hand before he gripped Mitch’s hand tight and started walking, dragging Mitch along behind him. “We have a reservation.”

Mitch whistled, “A reservation? We’re really going all out today.”

Even though Mitch couldn’t see it, Credence rolled his eyes, “It’s really not a fancy place.”

“It’s a place that accepts reservations that’s super fancy for us.”

“Whatever.”

Mitch skipped a step forward and nudged Credence’s side with their joined hands, “Did you miss me?”

Credence pointedly looked the other direction, “You text me every fucking hour-”

“Yeah but did you miss me?” Mitch interrupted with a teasing lilt that was still somehow forceful.

Still looking away, Credence gave Mitch’s hand a squeeze and muttered, “yeah.”