Two months later...

                        Adrian

"Alright, so you have to talk to the finance department until 3:30, then you only get twenty minutes for lunch before we have to head out to meet with Richards for the conference on Wednesday. You told Luna that you won't be home until late, correct?"

"Oops..." I mutter, looking away from Tia who glares at me. We quickly make our way into the elevator and head up to the top floor. "Sorry..."

"Adrian, you have got to be more responsible," she rolls her eyes. "Can't believe that you're my boss and not the other way around."

"Hey...I'm a busy man.."

"Mhm..go call your boyfriend, please."

"Whatever," I roll my eyes and head into my office when the doors open. I grab my phone from my pocket and dial Luna's number.

"Hello..?" he answers, groggily.

"Hey, baby. Were you asleep?"

"Mhm," he hums.

"Oh I didn't know. I'm sorry."

"That's okay," he tells me. "What's up?"

"I was just calling to let you know that I have a couple of meetings tonight so I'll be home late."

"What...how late?" he asks, a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Probably around 11. Why so sad?"

"Adrian..." he whines. "My parents are coming in tonight..."

"Oh shit...I forgot.."

"Of course you did. Is there no way you can come home earlier?"

"I don't think so, babe. I have a really important conference on  Wednesday and I need to finish all of my meetings tonight."

"Alright, Adrian," he sighs.

"I love you."

"Yeah," he responds.

"Babe," I groan. "Don't do this."

"I'm not doing anything. I just want you to be here when my parents come."

"I'll try my best, okay?"

"Okay."

"Bye, baby," I say and prepare to hang up the phone.

"Adrian, wait!"

"What?"

"I love you too," he tells me and hangs up the phone. I chuckle and set my phone down on the desk. I take it the next hour to finish up a few sketches and client calls. Before I know it, it's time for my 3:00 meeting with the finance department, and I'm making my way towards the elevator with Tia. One boring meeting later, I'm headed out of the building, toward my car. Tia and I eat a quick lunch before going to our conference meetings.

Time passes. One hour. Two hours. Three hours. One meeting. Two meetings. Three meetings. This is always the worst part of the year. I sit in multiple hour long meetings, talking about the most important day for my company. A huge conference for some of the best architects and construction entrepreneurs in the world. And of course, it's led by none other than myself, Adrian Hafler. As much as I'd love to skip this day, our amount of clientele skyrockets from it. And as we enter fall, business tends to decrease due to the upcoming winter season. It's a wonderful business tactic on my end.

However, as my relationship begins to grow more and more serious everyday, I can't help but to think about all of the things I used to be able to do, that maybe I shouldn't be doing now. For example, being in this terribly boring meeting when I could be at home with Luna, preparing for the arrival of his parents. Not only this, but many other events that I'd have to disappoint Luna by partaking in. Of course, Luna tends to understand and comply with my rash business decisions but I can't help but to think about how some of them could be hurting him. Unfortunately, I think it's about time I start thinking about alternative options for my company as I plan for my relationship with Luna in the near future.

"Pay attention," Tia whispers and gently nudges me, knocking me back into reality. I blink and take a glance around the small conference room with a few men in business suits who are staring back at me.

"Mr. Hafler," one of the men from Richards calls. "Did you hear me?"

"Uh, can you repeat the question, sir?" I ask, clearing my throat.

"I asked what new things you plan on introducing at this year's conference," he raises an eyebrow.

"Well that would be ruining the surprise, now wouldn't it?" I smirk. "Don't worry. I always bring something to knock your socks off. This year is no different."

"Of course, Mr. Hafler. We look forward to seeing it. Moving on," he lets out a sigh as the rest of the Richards men shoot me an annoyed glance.

Ah...Richards. Arguably, the worst part of this entire conference. Who doesn't love a group of old, rich white men who can't stand the fact that a young, gay, person of color is their largest competitor. Their industry being controlled by someone who actually cares about the wellbeing of people outside of their own class. What a shame. They hate to see it.

"What is up with you?" Tia questions as we walk out of the conference room and make our way to our very last meeting.

"What are you talking about?"'I glance down at my watch. 9:14.

"You've been spacey all day. Normally, you've got your head all the way in these meetings. What's up?"

"I was just thinking about Luna, and the future. His parents were coming in tonight for the first time so he wanted me to be there when they see our house and stuff."

"Um...so why are you here and not there?" She raises an eyebrow at me.

"I couldn't miss the meetings," I scoff. "They're important."

"You weren't even paying attention," Tia giggles. "Go be with your family. I'll handle this last meeting."

"No way," I shake my head.

"Why? You don't think I can handle it?"

"No! Of course, you can handle it. You're like the smartest person I know," I tell her. "But Tia, honey, you're a black woman. I know how intelligent and strong you are, but they're just a bunch of racist and sexist men. They're gonna look at you and instantly believe you're the weakest person in the room."

"Then I'll just have to prove them, otherwise. I can handle myself, Adrian."

"Are you sure?"

"Like you said, I'm strong and intelligent. I can handle anything."

"Okay, okay. I trust you."

"Go be with Luna. I'll order a car to come get me once I'm done," she pushes me away from her. "Bye, Adrian!"

I chuckle and make my way out of the building. I head down to my car and get in, quickly making the 30 minute drive back to my bourse. When I pull up, the lights are still on, indicating that Luna and his parents are still awake. I park my car in the garage and climb out of the car. When I enter the house, I'm immediately approached by Riot who excitedly approaches me, a small white puppy following him—who I instantly recognize as Aurora. I bend down and take them both into my arms. "Hi, babies," I laugh as they both lick my face. The next few minutes are spent, playing around with the puppies and feeding them small treats. I let them back on the ground and walk into the living room where I spot Luna and his parents sitting on the couch, watching a movie. "Hey, guys," I smile. I lean down to give his dad, Angelo, a handshake.

"This is a beautiful house you have here," his mother smiles as I give her a hug.

"Thank you."

"How are you doing, Adrian?" his Dad asks.

"I'm doing well," I tell them. "And you?"

"Same here," he says.

I nod my head. "I'm gonna go change out of these clothes," I head up to the bedroom and change into a pair of shorts and a hoodie before going back downstairs. As I re-enter the living room, Luna glares at me. I plop down next to him on the couch and raise an eyebrow. "What are you looking so evil for?"

"You didn't say hi to me," he pouts.

With a chuckle, I pull him into my lap and kiss his forehead. "Hi, baby."

Almost instantly, his pout turns into a bright smile. "Hi! How was work?"

"Meh. Busy day, today."

"I feel you. I've done so much today," he lets out an exasperated sigh.

"Really?" I chuckle. "And what did you do today?"

"Well I slept. A lot. Then I had to get all the way out of bed to drive all the way to the airport, and then all the way back."

"Wow you had to go pick up your parents from the airport. You deserve a prize for all of the work you've done today."

"No he does not," Angelo chuckles. "He was an hour late picking us up and we almost crashed on our way here."

"Papa," Luna whines. "Don't be a snitch." Angelo rolls his eyes and gives Luna the finger causing him to gasp.

"Angelo!" Alyssa smacks her husbands chest with a soft chuckle. "Leave him alone!"

"I'm always getting bullied..." Luna mumbles, tucking his face in my chest. I feel his body tense as he lets out a yawn.

I chuckle and gently rub his back. "Can you do me a favor?"

"No."

"So can you do me a favor?" I try again.

"Yes."

"Can you make a bunch of cupcakes for a conference I'm having on Wednesday?"

"How many do you need?" he asks me. I flash him a smile and peck his lips. "Don't try to butter me up," he giggles and gently shoves my shoulder.

"Two hundred?"

"Two hundred?! Adrian that's so many cupcakes to make in one day! Plus, your parents are still coming over for dinner."

"But I believe in you."

"How much are you paying?" he raises an eyebrow.

"You want me to pay you?"

"I sure do. I'm working for you, aren't I?"

"Fine," I roll my eyes as he lets out a soft laugh.

"I'm kidding, babe," Luna wraps his arms around my neck as he yawns again. "It's my bedtime."

"Go ahead. I'll be up soon," I kiss his forehead. He nods and stands up from the couch. He quickly kisses his parents goodnight before heading upstairs to our bedroom. I spend the next twenty minutes blindly watching television with Luna's parents. It takes a moment but after a while, I clear my throat. "So..." I mumble, gaining their attention.

"Everything okay?" Alyssa raises an eyebrow at me.

"U-Uh yeah...I just....may I ask you guys something?" I question, playing with my fingers as I feel my palms begin to sweat. His mom nods and gives me a warm smile. "W-Well, you know Luna and I have been together for a little while now and I love him more than anything in the world. I wanna spend the rest of my life with him," I let out a sigh. "I want to propose but first, I need to know if I have your blessing to marry your son."

Almost immediately, Angelo's eyes widen, causing my heart to beat even faster than it was before. "You want to propose to Luna?"

"That's the plan," I nod my head.

"And why should we let you do that?"

"Angelo!" Alyssa rolls her eyes before smiling at me. "Of course, you have our blessing, Adrian."

Angelo breaks out into a small fit of laughter as I feel my body relax. "I was kidding," he laughs. "You definitely have it."

I let out a long sigh of relief. "Thank you so much."

"No. Thank you. It means a lot that you even cared enough to ask us," he smiles. "You know you're gonna have to ask Gio for his blessing too, right?"

"Yeah, that's what I figured," I sigh. "That's gonna be hard."

Alyssa lets out a soft giggle. "He's definitely going to interrogate you but I'm sure he'll be happy to hear that your planning to propose."

"Hopefully."

"I'm so excited for you guys! My little baby is getting married!" she gushes. "Do you know how you want to propose?"

"No, I haven't decided on anything yet," I shake my head. "All I know is that I want to do it within the next month or so."

"You should start planning. Gio would probably be a big help with ring shopping."

"I've actually already started looking at rings. I haven't found anything but I've looked," I shrug my shoulders. "I'll ask Gio, though."

"I can't believe Luna's going to get married."

"If he says yes," Angelo raises an eyebrow before glancing at me. "Which I'm sure he will."

"Right," I nod my head with a grin before standing up. "Well I have a lot to think about so I'm gonna head to bed." I bid them a goodnight before heading up to the bedroom where Luna lays in bed, sound asleep. I climb into the bed and wrap my arms around his body, pulling him close before allowing my body to relax as I drift off to sleep.

***
Luna

"Apparently, they're going out for drinks," Adrian giggles as he wrap his arms around my waist from behind. I looks over to the living room where my parents are laughing loudly with his parents as they exit the house.

"That's cute," I shrug. I pour a bowl of dry ingredients into the standing mixer for my fourth batch of vanilla cupcakes.

"You almost done?"

"Only halfway," I answer. "Wanna help?"

"Yes, please," Adrian smiles. I grab one of my bright yellow aprons from the corner of the kitchen and hand it to him. A giggle accidentally escapes my lips as I watch him tie the small apron around his muscular body. "Are you laughing at me?"

"You look so cute," I pinch his cheeks. Adrian rolls his eyes and heads over to the sink to wash his hands. "You want the easy part or the less easy part?"

"The easy part."

"Can you pour the batter into the cupcake tins?" I ask him and slide him a bowl of yellow cake batter once he's finished drying his hands. He looks down at the batter with a confused look. I chuckle and demonstrate how much batter to pour into each tin before heading back to my batter station.

"What happens if I put too much?" he questions, after a while.

"It might overflow in the oven," I answer, continuing to mix ingredients in the standing mixer.

"Oops," I hear Adrian mutter under his breath. I turn around to see that Adrian had filled every single tin up to the brim, along with a puddle of batter on the counter beside him.

"Oh, honey," I sigh, staring at the mess in front of me.

Adrian's face starts to turn bright red. "I'm sorry! I messed everything up!" he apologizes. I continue to stare at his accident, nearly unable to speak. "Are you mad at me?"

"No, no, no," I tell him. "It's okay."

"No, it isn't," he groans and leans against the counter.

I stand on the tips of my toes and gently kiss his cheek. "I promise it's alright. We'll just clean this all up and start over, okay?" Adrian lets out a sigh before nodding his head. Quickly, Adrian and I maneuver our way around the kitchen to clean up the mess as best as we can. Unfortunately, we lose a load of batter in the process which sets me back quite a lot.

"I'm gonna head to the store to get some more supplies," I tell him. "Please don't touch anything while I'm gone."

A pout forms on his face. "You don't trust me in the kitchen?"

"I love you, baby, but no," I chuckle.

Adrian rolls his eyes. "Do you need money?" he asks and reaches for his wallet that is sitting on the island. He grabs a twenty dollar bill out of the leather wallet and holds it out to me.

"No, I don't need money," I scoff. "But I'll take it anyway," I take it from his hands and slip it into my pocket with a wink. "I'll be back."

"Kiss?" Adrian puckers his lips. I slip my arms around his neck and bring him down into a soft kiss. "Be safe, okay?" he mumbles into the kiss.

"I'm just going to the store. I'll be fine," I chuckle and pull away. I slide my apron off and grab my keys from the hook before heading out to my car. It takes me no longer than twenty minutes to arrive at the store. I pick up a basket once I'm inside of the store and begin to walk around, grabbing whatever items I feel necessary. I pick up two packs of flour, two packs of sugar, and a carton of eggs before I become stuck on my next ingredient. I can't find the vanilla extract. I search around the store for a while before I finally decide to give up on my independent search and ask an employee. I approach a tall man with blonde hair and a red employee uniform on. "Excuse me," I softly call.

He turns to me and gives me a smile, looking at me up and down. "You need something, Beautiful?"

"Uh...y-yeah," I mumble, nibbling on my bottom lip. "Do you guys have any vanilla extract?"

"We sure do," he smiles and begins to lead me across the store. "So...you like to bake?"

"Yeah," I clear my throat. "I love it."

"That's cute. You have somebody that you bake for?"

"My boyfriend."

"Ah, I should've known," he chuckles. "Somebody as beautiful as you is bound to be in a relationship." Instead of responding, I continue to bite my lip and stare at the my feet as we make our way towards one of the baking aisles. "Here's your vanilla extract," he points to a few small brown bottles sitting on the shelves.

"Thank you very much..." I take a look at his name tag. "Nate. Thank you very much, Nate," I tell him and begin to compare the prices and quality of the bottles. Once I'm decided on which one I want, I place it in the basket and look up to see the worker still standing there. "U-Um...I think I'm all good, now. I don't need any more help."

"Are you sure?"

"Yep!" I nod my head and begin to walk towards the cash register.

"Well...I'm getting off of work now. Do you wanna go for drinks or something?"

"I have a boyfriend."

"We can't go as friends?"

"I don't know you," I say, starting to become a bit annoyed with his persistence.

"We can get to know each other."

"My boyfriend wouldn't be comfortable with that."

"Your boyfriend isn't comfortable with you making guy friends? Sounds like you need a new man."

"I'm not comfortable with it, either," I roll my eyes. "Now, can you please leave me alone?"

"Sure," he smirks and begins to walk away. "I'll see you around, Beautiful!" he calls behind him. With a scoff, I go towards the self checkout line and quickly pay for all of my items, trying to leave the store as fast as possible. Once finished, I grab my bags and head outside to the car. When I finally get inside, I let out a deep sigh of relief, despite the fact that I still feel a slight feeling of uneasiness in the bottom of my stomach. After taking a moment to calm myself, I begin my journey home.

It doesn't take too long but after about three stoplights, four turns, and five minutes into the drive, I notice a black car has been following me since I left the store. Almost immediately, my stomach drops. Once I arrive at the next stoplight, I dial Adrian's number.

"Hello?" he answers after a couple of rings.

"A-Adrian, I think somebody is following me..." I tell him, starting to feel a bit sick.

"What? Someone's following you?"

"They've been trailing behind me since I left the store."

"Are you sure they aren't just going the same way as you?"

"I don't think so, babe," I sigh and make a random turn, checking to see if they still follow, which they do. "I'm making random turns and going in circles, and they're still following me."

"Do you want me to meet you somewhere?"

"Yes plea– oh no..." I mumble as I spot the face of the person behind me. Unfortunately, it just so happens to be the employee from the store.

"Baby? What happened?"

"The person that's following me is this guy that kept trying to flirt with me at the store. H-He wouldn't leave me alone," I choke out. "Adrian, I'm scared."

"It's okay, love. I'm already in the car. I'll meet you at that gas station that's like ten minutes away from the house, alright?"

"Can you stay on the phone with me?"

"Of course, baby. You okay?"

"I-I don't know. I don't feel safe," I tell him as the black car suddenly switches lanes and speeds up so it's next to me. The man in the car rolls down his window and sends me a wink. "Adrian! He just pulled up on the side of me and winked! I'm scared!" I whine, tears beginning to well up in my eyes.

"He winked? What do you me–"

"Ah!" I cut Adrian off with a screech as I feel a hard bump against the side of the car, causing me to lose grip on the wheel. Before I know it, everything is upside down and my view is covered with shards of glass and metal. Continuous banging and shattering surrounds my body as my head is filled with immense pain. I can feel myself going in and out of consciousness once the car finally stops being moved and banged around.

"Luna?! Luna?! Babe, what happened?!" I can hear Adrian's muffled voice still coming out of the phone. Before I can respond, everything goes dark and my mind is blank.

***

We love a major character death

jkjkjk (hehehe...unless...)

Also, I named the guy Nate after Nate Jacobs from Euphoria cause that man is crazy