Lan and Chaud had spent every day with each other within the past two weeks. They were growing closer and Chaud was beginning to really fall for Lan. Chaud was sitting at his computer in his office, working on a new game for the company. "Mr. Blaze, Lan is here. Do you want me to send him up?" his guard paged up to him. "Yes, thank you." Chaud said and smiled. Moments later, Lan walked in the door and shut it behind him. "Hey you." Chaud said and went to him and embraced him. Chaud kissed him hard. "How's the game coming along?" Lan asked. "It's getting there, maybe one more week of work before I send the final play-through to my father to review." Chaud said, shutting down his computer. "Here, my mom told me to bring this to you." Lan said and handed Chaud a plate covered in foil. "Your mom makes amazing cake!" Chaud said and took a bite. "I thought we could get dinner and go down to the beach, how does that sound?" Chaud asked. "Sounds perfect." Lan smiled.
Chaud took Lan to his favorite curry restaurant. They sat down and ordered. "So, Lan there's something I need to tell you." Chaud smiled. "What?" Lan asked. "I..uh..." Chaud got red in the face and his palms got sweaty. "Lan...I..." Chaud just couldn't get it out. Lan just sat patiently, for once. Chaud took a deep breath. "I love you, Lan." Chaud said. Lan's face bordered happiness and shock. "Chaud..." Lan whispered. "I know it's soon, but-" Chaud began, but was cut off by Lan stretching over the table to kiss him. "Chaud, shut up. I love you too." Lan said, smiling. Their food was brought before they could touch on the subject more. They ate in silence, but Chaud watched lovingly as Lan stuffed his face.
They walked hand in hand to the beach and sat down to watch the sunset together. "This has been a magical few weeks." Lan said. "Absolutely." Chaud said, wrapping his arm around Lan's shoulders and pulling him closer. Chaud's PET rang from his pocket. "Chaud, it's a message from your father." Protoman said. Chaud checked it and sighed. "What is it?" Lan asked. "I guess it's time to tell him." Chaud said. "He's home?" Lan asked, nervously. "Yeah, I gotta go." Chaud said, standing, offering Lan his hand.
They were silent on the way to Lan's house. They were both nervous. Lan couldn't look at Chaud, he was terrified about what his father would say. Chaud walked Lan to the front door and could tell Lan was scared. He actually had never seen him more terrified. "Lan...look at me." Chaud said, pleading almost. Lan peered up at him. "I promise, nothing he says is going to change me. I love you, that's not going to change." Chaud said. "Okay...I trust you." Lan said, hugging Chaud. Chaud held him tight for what seemed like forever, but it was never long enough. Chaud kissed Lan goodbye and turned away, trying not to let the fear shake him.
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Chaud walked into his fathers office and sat down. "The game is looking good, son." his father said, monotone. Chaud just looked at him. "You look nervous, is something wrong?" his father asked. "Nothing is wrong." Chaud said. "Then what is it?" his father asked, slightly annoyed. "I met someone." Chaud just came right out with it. "A boy, I'm assuming?" his father inquired. Chaud just nodded. "Who?" his father asked, anger laced his voice. "Lan Hikari." Chaud said. "Out of the question." his father spat. "What are you talking about?" Chaud asked. "I never thought you would actually do this, and him?! He's a loser kid. You have a future Chaud!" his father yelled. "How dare you! Lan is an amazing person and a talented Net Saver and Net Battler!" Chaud yelled. "His father runs SciLab, if it wasn't for that, he'd be a loser like all of his stupid friends! If it wasn't for that Net Navi of his, he'd be nothing." his father spat out. "Well, nothing is going to change my mind, so you can shove it up your ass!" Chaud screamed, turning to leave. "Chaud, I didn't want it to come to this, but if you continue this relationship, I will disown you! No more money, you will no longer be vice president of BlazeQuest, you'll be dead to me!" his father yelled. Chaud stopped dead in his tracks right there and turned to his father. "I'm your son..." he whispered. "The choice is yours." his father said. Chaud gulped, it was be with Lan and have nothing, or leave Lan and still have everything.
/~***~\\\\\
Lan paced back and forth in his room. "Lan, it's going to be alright. Chaud promised that things wouldn't change." Megaman said. "Megaman, Chaud's dad is a rich and powerful man, he could get away with murder if he wanted to." Lan said. "Chaud is his son, he can't be too hard on him." Megaman said. "I hope you're right." Lan said, finally sitting down, his leg was still bobbing up and down. "I've never seen you like this." Megaman said. "Because this is real Megaman, I've never felt like this..." Lan said, dropping his head to look at the floor. "It's been four hours, why haven't I heard from him yet?" Lan asked himself. "Maybe they are still talking about it. You should get some sleep, you have school tomorrow." Megaman said. Lan laid back in bed and stared at the ceiling. "I'll try." Lan said.
Megaman woke up to see Lan already dressed for school. "Did you not sleep?" Megaman asked. "No, I didn't sleep at all." Lan said, he looked exhausted. Lan secured his PET in his holster and walked downstairs. "Lan, you're up already?" Mrs. Hikari asked, shocked. "Yeah, I didn't sleep last night." Lan said, throwing his backpack over his shoulder. "You aren't going to eat breakfast?" she asked, worried. "No, I'm not hungry." Lan said. "Things with Chaud are going to be okay." his mother said, soothingly. "I still haven't heard from him." Lan sounded defeated. Lan's mother handed him a muffin. "Please eat this on your way to school, just something small." Mrs. Hikari pleaded. "Okay mom, I'll try." Lan said, taking the muffin and walking out the door.
Lan skated slowly towards school, the sun was still rising. Lan sat down on the bench at the park for a few minutes. He stared at the muffin his mother gave him and he felt nauseous. "Lan, please try to eat." Megaman pleaded. Lan took a bite and forced it down. He was so anxious, his nerves were shot. Lan's hands were shaking. He skated the rest of the way to school and ran into Maylu. "There you are, I went to your house and your mom said you left early." Maylu said, worry clear in her voice. "Chaud went home to tell his dad about us last night, I still haven't heard from him." Lan said, sluggishly. "Maybe they got into a fight and he's waiting for things to calm down." Maylu said. "I'm terrified." Lan said, then his PET rang. "Lan, it's a message from Chaud." Megaman said. Lan fumbled with his PET, almost dropping it. 'Meet me at my office after school.' Lan read Chaud's message. "He wants me to meet him after school." Lan said, he was shaking. "This is gonna be a long day..." Megaman said, worried.