Matt
I arrived fifteen minutes early at the chocolate store, not wanting to risk being late because of traffic. There was light in the back although it wasn't open yet, so I knocked on the glass of the door.
Two women appeared, both with a bright smile, both as large, and I was a little scared all of a sudden. The door opened, the woman I knew staying behind the counter while the other swept aside to let me in.
"Oh dear, he's so cute!" the one that I didn't know exclaimed. I thought that she would pinch my cheeks but fortunately she just clasped her hands in front of her impressive chest, scrutinizing me from head to toes. Saying I was uncomfortable was an understatement.
I held out my hand to her, she shook it vigorously: "I'm Olga!"
"Nice to meet you Olga, my name's Mail." I couldn't help but smile back, hers was contagious, just like her sister's.

"Mail, honey, come in the storage room, I have something for you!"
I fortunately quickly remembered the name of the one I had had the interview with, and greeted her as well as I followed her in the back on the shop: "Hello Oksana."
She smiled and gestured toward a metal locker, handing me a key.
"This one is yours, we prefer to lock our belongings just in case, so make sure you leave everything you value in here. Your work clothes are inside, I'll let you change." she exited the small room to leave me some privacy, "You can keep your cell phone with you on vibrate, as long as you don't reply in front of customers, but in case of emergency it's always good to have it."
I was thankful for her words, she obviously knew that, after I had told her about Mihael and me, I was the only one he could call, and it was really nice of her to be that thoughtful with me although she barely knew me.

I breathed out my stress when I saw my work clothes, they simply consisted of black jeans, a black tee shirt with the name of the store embroidered in pink lettering on the front, and a black waist-tied straight apron with the same embroidered lettering. No frills, to my relief. The jeans though, I realised that they were really tight-fitting... and revealing. Oh well...

I came back in the store when I was changed, earning myself two loud squeals.
"You are so handsome!" Olga exclaimed, clasping her hands once again.
"I told you, he's going to bring all the boys to the yard!" Oksana laughed, teasing me, "Oh, but we need to do something for the shoes." she pointed at my red worn-out Converse imitations. They had seen better days, that was true, and red... well, it didn't suit well with all this pink.
"What's your shoe size sweetie?" Olga asked.
"8." I replied.
"I'm on it!" she said, fetching her purse in the back and leaving the store with a grin. Should I be scared once again?

Customers were beginning to come in so I didn't have time to ponder on that.
Oksana told me to observe for now, except when she asked me to bring trays of drinks to tables.
Honestly, I liked it. It had nothing to do with the bar, customers were nice and acted respectfully, and although some girls eyed me, I had nothing to complain about.

Things calmed down around 1pm, and Olga reappeared at that moment with hands full of bags.
I was surprised to see Oksana close the store, I would have thought that it would stay open during lunch hours, but she explained to me that business was important, but family and breaks were more. I liked her view on things. The store had success, and they didn't need more, the sisters weren't greedy and wanted to preserve a certain quality of life.
It started with eating together and take a full hour break at mid day, not finishing too late, and keeping two days off in a row in the week.
"We're happy that people love our chocolates, but it's not a necessity so if they can't buy them past 6pm, they won't die!"
I laughed. I really started to feel at ease here.

Olga deposited her bags on a table.
"I brought lunch!" she said joyfully, opening boxes and depositing it on another table, "I took Lebanese food, I hope you like it Mail?"
"I never had it but it smells nice." I was starving so I would probably have eaten anything. It was much better than the cup noodles I had in my bag anyway.
"Come on, sit down!" Oksana pushed me in front of her in direction of the table, and sat on my right, her sister facing me.
While we ate, Olga showed what she had bought.
"There's a new store down the street, I couldn't resist!" she said, handing out various pieces of brightly coloured clothing to her sister, "Their dresses are darling!"
"She goes out for shoes and she comes back with the full store!" Oksana teased her, laughing.
"I didn't forget the shoes though!" Olga handed me two boxes.
I opened wide eyes. "But... I can't pay you back for these!"
"If I wanted you to pay me back, I'd raise your wage." the woman ruffled my hair, "The pink ones for the store, the black ones for you. And shut up, a thank you will be largely enough."
I was stunned. These women didn't know me and yet, they were so nice to me that I wanted to cry.
"Thank you!" I had to wipe a tear, and it didn't go unnoticed.
"Oh, sweetie pie, it's nothing, really, don't get so emotional!" Oksana gave me a reassuring smile, pushing some more food on my plate, "There, eat, you need to fill these jeans."

I laughed, because the jeans were already skin tight and there was no way I'd fit more of me in them unless I wanted my ass and junk moulded in an indecent display. Which I suspected wouldn't displease the sisters.

The moment I slid my feet in the shoes... I realised how beaten up mines were. I felt like walking in slippers all of a sudden. These were no imitations, they were real Converses, something I could never have afforded. I couldn't believe Olga had even bought me a pair that I could wear when I wasn't working. I guess I looked pretty pitiful with my shabby attire. I'd never had a lot of money and clothes were the last area I would invest in. First because I had been stupid enough to smoke the little money I had, and second because my family never had much to begin with.
I realised I hadn't smoked for a while. Did that count as stopping? Probably, I guess...

I felt beyond grateful, not only for the shoes, but for the overall luck Mihael and me had since all the shit had been over. I had found a job pretty fast, I could hope that this one would be the right one so I could quit the one at the disco, I had met extremely kind people here, Mihael was recovering well... everything was ace. I guess that with the karma we had had before that, it was only fair. Who gets so much trouble in one life at once?

Mello
I could immediately see that Mail felt a lot better with this job than the one at the bar.
It was confirmed when, after he had insisted not to quit the disco immediately and do his shift on Tuesday night, because he hadn't signed anything yet with the sisters, arriving exhausted at the store the Wednesday, the ladies at the store had signed him a full time open-ended contract right away to make sure he would never do that again.
So he was done with night shifts, and would leave for work and come back everyday in a happy mood. The store owners spoiled him but I wouldn't complain, he would bring me chocolates sometimes and his income solved our financial problems pretty quickly. Goodbye cup noodles. And goodbye my worries that he would be harassed by guys at the disco's bar. This was something that had been bugging me a lot because I knew how the clientèle could be there, some guys being really nasty, ready to follow you to your car, and I was really anxious that he would experience something like that or even get hurt.

Two months after he had started this new job, I could walk properly. I had regained strength, muscle, I wasn't so skinny anymore and was close to my old bodyweight once again, which made me feel a lot better.
I had visited Mail at the store while he was working, but I wasn't sure I wanted to do that again. I thought that the two sisters would eat me. Okay, the fact that they thought that my scar was adding to my charm was a great ego boost, and they were so friendly and nice that I liked them right away, but they couldn't stop stuffing me with food and eyeing me in my leather. That day, I left the store with a pound of chocolates that they offered me, and almost had an indigestion.

Matt
I was nervous. I was waiting for Mihael in a room while he was talking to his father. It already felt weird to be inside of a prison, but I was scared of the outcome of this meeting. I was afraid of what his father could say, hoping that he wouldn't reject him, and that Mihael would find answers to his questions.
He hadn't slept the night before, I could feel him toss and turn in the bed, and we fucked three times before he calmed down a little and got some rest.

I stood up as soon as I saw him come back. He wasn't smiling, but he didn't look bad either.
"I'm okay." he simply said under my questioning gaze. I took his hand, and we got back to my car.
Sitting on the passenger's seat, Mihael suddenly broke down and cried.
"Don't worry, I'm okay..." he said between sobs, "It's just the tension."
I could understand that, he had been expecting a lot from this meeting and the stress was probably leaving him right now, letting all emotions loose.
"Let's go home." I hugged him and kissed his temple before revving the engine and driving away.

Once home in front of a steamy cup of coffee, Mihael told me everything. His father and him had cleared a lot of their past together, Mihael had learnt a lot about his biological mother, and he was relieved that his father accepted him now. They wouldn't have a normal relationship considering the fact that Mr Keehl wasn't allowed that much visits and had reserved them all to Mihael, but they would be every two months or so, not more. The trial would be in seven months, and Mr Keehl had agreed to be present the day of the wedding. He was staying in jail the whole time until then anyway, the FBI was still gathering evidences and building the case as for now. And even after that, he faced a life sentence so...

"So, what about setting a date for the big day?" I tried to cheer Mihael up, taking his hand in mine.
"Good idea." he simply replied, his voice still trembling a bit with the emotion of everything he had just told me.
"What about September? It would be before the trial, and it's probably best not to get married in the middle of it."
"Sounds good to me." he smiled, squeezing my hand.
That left us with four months to prepare a wedding. I had absolutely no idea if that was realistic, but we didn't want a big wedding anyway.

I spent the afternoon gathering the papers we would need, noting down all we would have to think about, and it was actually pretty simple so I was relieved. Once I confirmed a few possible dates on the phone with the City Hall, Mihael called the prosecutor so he could organise Mr Keehl's presence to the wedding, and confirm us a date later.
I also took care of Mihael's situation, making sure he would get a green card once we would be married, because at some point he would be an illegal resident since we hadn't resumed our studies, and he wasn't covered anymore by his country's students program. His temporary resident car expired in early October, when uni was starting again, but since he wouldn't go back, there was no way to get another temporary card.

We had decided that he would continue his studies from home while I kept my job, because I actually loved working at the store so I didn't really feel like studying more to get a degree.
He could have gone back to uni but I could understand that he was reluctant to be among people who would stare at his scar so I didn't mind, it was all the same, and Mihael had a point: he would save on transportation, food and entry fees. Correspondences courses were cheaper.
He still hadn't figured out what he wanted to study though, literature and languages didn't appeal to him anymore. I suspected that he wanted to avoid a job like teaching or anything similar that required being with the public.

Three weeks later, the prosecutor confirmed a date, and I could now officially announce to my parents that Mihael and me would get married on September 19th. My mother almost shredded my eardrums when I told her...
My father opened a bottle of champagne, and we celebrated at a nice little restaurant afterwards, which I insisted on paying for but my father didn't allow me.
"Keep your money son, you're family support now, and you're my only son so I can spend a little money on you for once."
I hugged him hard.

Mello
Mr Jeevas had asked me if I could lend a hand at his garage, so I showed up at 8am, a little uneasy. Although I knew him quite well by now, being alone with him still felt weird because he was so not talkative...
But soon I was focused on what he was teaching me, and the day passed really quickly. I loved working on cars, and I could even do stuff by myself like changing oil or various small interventions.
I was surprised that he handed me a fifty at the end of the day.
"I can't accept that..." I looked at him, puzzled. I had just come to help, he didn't have to pay me for that.
"You worked, you get paid, that's how it works here son."
I stood there, staring at him as he shoved the bill in my hand and got back to the car he was working on.
"Go home, that's enough for today." I was still staring at his back, "Tomorrow same time, if you want a permanent job here."
He had called me son, AND he was offering me a job?

I walked home. It was a long walk, but I didn't feel like taking the bus, nor did I want Mail to make a crochet to pick me up. And I had been stuck in a hospital bed, and then unable to walk properly afterwards enough that I appreciated being able to just go home on my own like that.

When I opened the door, Mail was already preparing dinner, so I kissed him before going to take a shower.
I had had time to think on the way home, and as we ate a while later, I talked to him about my plans for the future.
Pieces had been falling into place in my mind the more I thought about it, and now I was sure that it was what I wanted: I would take his father's offer of a permanent job, and would be studying mechanics by correspondence in the meanwhile. Mail was more than happy about it, and I was relieved that I had a job too and not just him, my ego felt a lot better about that. It went without saying that I also felt less of a burden, being able to put food on the table myself as well.