It's late.  Well later than I want it to be. This morning I did the surgeries I missed yesterday which pushed all of my morning appointments to the afternoon.  It made for a long day but it's my responsibility.  These are my patients, these people are trusting me with their lives.  I take that very seriously.

Thankfully the last patient has left and I am now on my way home. As I head towards the exit I run into Beam and Kit. Kit is animatedly talking about his plans for the weekend. Beam and I share a smile over his excitement. It's his anniversary, he should be happy.

Beam every now and then sneaks in a word or two about his and Forth's plans for the weekend. They're going camping, at least I think that's what he said. Kit started talking louder when he noticed he didn't have our full attention.

"Fine Sunshine, what are you and Forth doing this weekend?" He relents.

"Oh my sweet Kitty, thanks for letting someone else have a chance to talk." He starts.

Kit smacks his head and scowls at him.

"Whatever, what are you guys doing?" He asks.

"Camping." He says but doesn't look all that pleased.

"Why don't you tell him you don't actually like the outdoors." Kit asks.

"Yeah, it's been years Beam. I think he'll still like you if you tell him you hate the outside." I add.

"I don't hate it. I just hate, you know, nature. The bugs, and the noises, and the trees, the animals, fresh air, staying in a tent, eating outside, cooking over a fire..." He says.

"Oh is that all?" Kit says with a smirk.

"Shut up Kitty." Beam says frowning.

I wrap my arm over each of their shoulders and we walk out together.

"What are you doing this weekend Ai'Pha?" Beam asks.

"Shopping. Oh and I won't be here next week. Well most of the week I'll still be in on surgery days." I quickly say.

"What? Why?" Kit asks.

"I have some things to tend to so I took some time off." I tell them.

They look at me suspiciously.

"What? I have a private life too." I defend.

"No. You don't. You have a pitiful 'waiting for your life to start' life." Beam counters.

"I decided to stop waiting and start living." I tell them.

"Yeah, we'll see." Kit says heading off to his car.

"Have a fun weekend." Beam and I call to him which he waves to.

"You too Beamy. Don't forget the bug spray." I say with a wink and physically shivers.

The drive home goes well. I'm tired and would love to stay in but I'm the one who suggested going ring shopping. Maybe I'll be lucky and he'll like the first ring he sees. Sure, then he'll sprout wings and fly into the sun.

I walk into the house and it's dark.  He's not here? Where could he be?  It's not like he has a car.  Maybe he went exploring.  What if he got lost? What if he lost his phone? What if he's hurt somewhere calling for me.

Then a flicker catches my eye.  I drop my bag and creep towards the flickering light.  I round the corner to the dining room and come face to face with a candle lit dinner.

As soon as he sees me he comes over and takes my hand leading me to my seat.  I sit and watch him pour a glass of wine for me.

"I made these." He says happily.

"It looks wonderful." I say looking at the food.

"Not the food idiot." He says sharply.

"I can't cook.  The candles.  I made the candles.  They look real don't they?" He says.

"They do.  You made these?" I ask.

"Hmm." He answers as he sits down.

"I ordered the food though.  We may want to think about a cook or we may starve." He says.

I laugh.  How cute is he?

"I can cook." I inform him.

"That's not fair to ask of you especially if you get back this late every night.  How about if you teach me.  I'm pretty smart, there's no reason I shouldn't be able to do it." He says confidently.

"I'm sure you can.  I would love to teach you how to cook." I say stroking taking a sip of wine.

"Great then let's eat.  I rented a movie for later." He tells me.

"A movie? I thought we were going to go ring shopping." I say.

"We can do that tomorrow.  You've had a long day, let's just relax tonight." He says.

I'm so relieved.

"Sure babe.  Whatever you want." I tell him.

"I know." I hear him mumble.

After dinner we get ready for bed.  He cuddles close before turning on the movie.

"I have so many movies to catch up on.  I haven't watched any in like forever." He says as he gets comfortable.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Hmmm?" He says half paying attention to me.

"What do you mean you have movies to catch up on and you haven't seen one in forever?" I question looking down at him.

"Well I haven't. I suppose the appropriate thing to have said is I haven't seen one ever.  There are so many out there though.  I want to see what one is like." He explains.

Oh." I say.

That's a good explanation.

I finally look up at the screen.  What the hell are we watching?

"Is this a cartoon?" I ask in disbelief.

"It's an anime P'Pha! I mean I suppose technically it's animated so it's a cartoon but....wow.  I just.  I can't believe I have to explain this." He says sounding upset.

He is staring at me like I'm the one who is crazy.  I look back at him just as confused.  I look at the TV again to verify.  We really are watching a cartoon.  What is he getting upset about?

"So what if the first movie you want to watch is cartoon? There's nothing wrong with that.  Plenty of adults watch cartoons." I say.

"Of course most of them have small children." I add under my breath.

He turns off the movie and leaves.  Wow, over a cartoon. I can feel my mouth slide open as my mind tries to comprehend what just happened. One thing for sure, this is exactly like the Wayo I know.  Who else would over react to such a thing?

Of course I follow him.

"Yo.  What's wrong?" I call as I chase him.

I find him sulking in the living room.  He's sitting in the dark.  Now I feel bad.  I walk over and kneel in front of the chair.  He pulls his knees up and wraps his arms around them while setting his chin on top of them.

"Yo.  Why are you mad?" I ask.

"I was so excited to watch this with you..."

"You wanted to watch this cartoon with me?" I ask.

"ANIME P'Pha.  It's an anime!" He yells.

"Does it change the show if I call it a cartoon or anime?" I ask softly.

He simply bites his lip at me.

"Does it take away from it? Make it worse? Make you want to watch it less?" I continue.

"No." He whines out.

"Fine, let's go watch your cartoon.  I'll hold you and you can get all excited about it." I say jokingly.

He narrows his eyes at me but then extends his hand.  I lean over and scoop him up.  He squeaks in surprise then wiggles around while trying to get me to put him down.

Despite his best efforts I get us back to our room and into bed.  He does snuggle close to me and we start the CARTOON.

I fell asleep.

I opened my eyes to a very angry Yo.  He's glaring at me and if I could see his aura I bet it would be black.  I sit up slowly and his piercing stare follows me.

"You fell asleep." He says in a surprisingly creepy voice.

"I was tired.  I had surgeries today." I say.

Sure they were in the morning and sure I fell asleep because the cartoon was boring but I'm no fool.  I will never admit that.  I'll take that secret to the grave.

He moves closer to me and his face is right in front of mine.  He's clearly searching my face for any tells, but I don't have any.  I can lie like a pro.

"You fell asleep because you had a long day?" He asks slowly.

"And you were warm all cuddled up against me." I say.

That's truth.  When I'm nice and warm and comfortable, I fall asleep.  I always have.

"Pii is sorry.  Forgive me?" I ask.

"Don't be mad ok? Please?" I plead.

He's actually debating.  I can see it.

"You're exactly like him." I say softly before getting out of bed.

"What does that mean?" He asks angrily.

"It means that back in college Yo used to get mad over things like this and take forever to forgive. And you, you're just like that. That's definitely one trait I could have lived without." I toss out before leaving the room.

I mean it too.  That was one of the reasons I was always so nervous to approach him.  He was angry with me most of the time.  I just rubbed him the wrong way I guess.

I start making some tea to help calm myself when he comes storming in.

"So now you're comparing me? I thought you weren't going to do that.  I thought you loved this version and were going to forget the old Yo!" He screams at me.

I look up at him.  His cheeks are flushed and there is definitely fire in his eyes.

"I do love you.  So much more than I thought possible.  And I truly don't care if I never see or hear anything from the real Yo ever again.  But facts are facts and you have that one annoying habit of his.  It was the reason I could never approach him." I admit.

"What?" He asks in disbelief.

"He was always mad at me and he held grudges for so long.  There was just never a moment he wasn't at some stage of being angry at me.  No matter how much I loved him, I just never got past that wall." I yell.

"You're saying it's my fault we never got together?" He asks.

"What? That's not what I said and we are together.  But yes, I'm saying that part of the reason I never gathered the courage to go after him was because of how he was back then."

"So if he hadn't been that way are you saying that you two would be together now?" He asks.

How do I answer this?  Saying that I'd be with the Wayo from my memories is like saying I wouldn't be with the Yo in my reality. 

"Yo.  I was different eight years ago.  I was madly in love with a boy that didn't love me back. Out of frustration I kept doing things that upset him. He was in a constant state of annoyance." I say with a chuckle.

"It's just as much my fault that I lost out on a chance to approach him sincerely.  I didn't know how to act like myself around him.  I was the jerkier version of myself." I continue.

"I remember." He whispers.

"Huh?"

"Nothing.  Go on." He encourages.

"Every time he got over being mad at me I thought 'now's my chance' but inevitably I made him angry again. I guess we weren't meant to be." I say sadly.

"That didn't do anything to lessen how strongly I felt about him though.  I tried to get over him but I couldn't.  Then one day I did." I say with a smile looking at him.

"How?" He asks.

"You came into my life." I tell him.

"I'm a Yo replacement." He tells me.

I use my thumb on finger to lift his chin so that he's looking me in the eye.  His eyes are shining.  I lean down and kiss him gently.

"You are no one's replacement.  You are your own person and I love you for that.  I don't compare you to the real Yo.   Really I don't. To me you are your very own special person that has my heart completely." I tell him honestly.

He wraps his arms around me and kisses me passionately.  It's making me feel a bit warm.

"Yo." I moan into his mouth.

He doesn't stop.  His hands starts untucking my shirt and soon connects with my bare flesh.

"Yo.  You need to stop." I mumble into his mouth.

When his hand finds its way into my pants and on my junior I know there's no going back.  I scoop him and take him to bed.