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I started whisking the waffle mix with the eggs, vanilla extract, buttermilk, and cinnamon. Neko’s stomach rumbled, followed closely by mine, reminding me we hadn’t eaten the night before.

“Well, they’re at-will contracts, so they can release me without a reason.”

Yu cleared her throat. When I glanced up and spotted her devastated look, I stopped mixing and strode over to her, pulling her into a hug. “What is it, Mayhem?”

Her voice broke when she said, “They are all similar to the one I read. The emails, I mean. What’s going on?”

I shrugged, not concerned. “Can I see my phone for a second?”

When she handed it over, I scrolled through the emails. Most of them informing me they regret their decision, but I forced their hand. All except the last one, Mr. Ito from the manufacturing company I’d worked with several weeks ago, who assured me I earned my place and he’d engage my services in the future. I handed it back to Yu.

“It’s not serious. Yes, something happened prompting them to send me notices of termination, but I’ve done nothing wrong. Don’t worry about it.”

Neko wrapped his arms around me from the back and I turned, searching his face.

“Sweetheart?”

When he sniffed, I cupped his face and searched his tear-filled eyes. “Why would they do this to you? I’ve heard you during the meetings, you’re the most professional one there. Without you, they’d become ultra-masculine dipshits.”

I laughed at his apt description, but I needed to reassure him. “Sweetheart, my job isn’t like yours. I don’t have an emotional connection to it because I work with different people each time. And to be honest, it’s not like I enjoy what I do. But I majored in business and I’m taking advantage of my degree.”

“Do you think it’s because of the stream yesterday?” Echo asked.

We turned toward her voice to find her eyes glued to her own phone, glaring at the device. “No, I don’t see how coming out on a stream would affect—”

“That fucking troll,” Echo shouted.

Neko stiffened in my arms as he shot a worried look toward his best friend.

“Is this my fault?”

A chorus of shouted denials rent the air, and Neko flinched. He turned to face me, his expression shattered.

“I dragged you in the room when you were trying to drop off food and didn’t even prevent the nosy questions from coming.”

With a shake of my head, I said, “Neko, you could ask me to do almost anything and I wouldn’t say no to you. You did nothing wrong yesterday during your stream. If I didn’t want to be on camera, I would’ve told you and I know you would’ve respected my decision.”

In a voice which broke my heart and I vowed never to hear it from him again, he said, “But I didn’t even ask you.”

“Neko, sweetheart, I refuse to let your ex or anyone else ruin the perfect day we shared yesterday. It was fun, to be on your stream and seeing you in your element, having fun and interacting with the people who support you. I wouldn’t change anything about it. If a company doesn’t want to work with me because I came out and admitted my feelings for you, then fuck them. Who wants to represent a company with a narrow-minded, fucked up ideal?”

Neko thought about it for a long moment before he took a deep breath and relaxed his tense shoulders, even granting me with a smile.

“You’re right. I can’t control how others perceive a situation. But I can control this. You should stop renting the place next door and move in with me. I’m not telling, but asking. You can save on a place you’re never at and well, I…”

“Okay.” I shrugged. The decision wasn’t a difficult one to make, and it wasn’t as though I hadn’t thought about it before. But if I asked to move in, it might pressure Neko into a situation he’d agree to without serious thought. I would never take away his choices.

A swell of pride and love threatened to burst out of my chest when he cupped my cheeks in a tender gesture and pressed a slight kiss to my mouth. “Thank you, love.”

I leaned my forehead against his. “There’s nothing in the world I wouldn’t do for you.”

Echo asked, “How did you know I was talking about Donovan?”

With a quick kiss, Neko walked around the kitchen, snagging eggs, white cheddar, potatoes, and chorizo from the fridge, before yanking out several sprigs of cilantro from the herb garden. Once depositing those items, he snagged tomatoes, red onion, avocados, and corn tortillas from the pantry.

“You, my best friend in the entire world, never kept an emotion to yourself. Who else could set you off with little effort?”

“Don’t you want to know what he did?”