"Hey."

  "heyy~"

  "Are you free right now?"

  "sure what up :)?"

  "Can't sleep. Need to come over."

  "oh okayy. but like get me cake. want cake if you're coming over :D"

  "Sure. Got a specific kind you want?"

  "uhmmmm."

  "get me like..."

  "chocolate cake"

  "Alright. I'll get some on the way."

  "okiiii"

  "love u rosey~"

  "Love you too."

  The chocolate cake was in the passenger's seat of Rose's black car. Driving at the exact speed limit, Rose was alert and shivering. Eyes wide open to watch out for anything in the dark, cautious of any sudden cars or pedestrians.

  For a while, she was trying to keep her cool. Calm as a cucumber. Not a single crack in her tranquility. But when she went to buy the cake, the lady at the counter saw right through her. Her wide, brown eyes. The pure straightness of her mouth.

  A tension all over her face, prompted earlier by a single "Are you okay?" from a complete and total stranger behind the counter.

  Rose wasn't okay. Rose wasn't okay in the slightest. What happened was that she woke up at one in the morning in a cold sweat, hyperventilating and shaking like a scared puppy. Following this, she immediately texted a user by the name of "kokoa_spring_moon".

  Her non-binary online lover. One she's turned into a real-life one.

  "RingoKeystone" and "kokoa_spring_moon" — alternatively nicknamed Kyourin and Koharu, according to the latter — were the two's accounts on a messaging service. Both met about three months ago, have dated for two months, and started meeting up from time to time for the last month.

  Often, Rose was the one to initiate, feeling closer to Koharu than anyone else in her life. Rose often reached out to Koharu whenever she felt stressed or worried, something she couldn't afford to be with anyone else.

  Tonight is one of those days.

  Even then, Rose couldn't afford to show her stress to Koharu. A part of her felt that if she were to show that anything was wrong, it would probably crush Koharu. Make Koharu upset. Their cute face turned to misery and annoyance. Thus, Rose needed to make sure her own "face" was perfect. Calm, cool, collected. She needed to make sure she, herself, was perfect.

  If the random cake-selling woman saw through Rose's composure, what would happen if they saw through her too? The conversation only indicated a late-night hangout, something casual. Rose's stress wasn't something for them to be bothered about. Why would she want to bother them with her troubles?

  It didn't help that what she was wearing was abysmally not suited for the summer weather. A gray hoodie, a white t-shirt, black sweatpants, rugged leather boots.

  She's scavenged together a casual look while in the middle of preparing to meet up, but one that would boil her alive if the sun was out. Even then, she was sweating bullets.

  The sweating had to go. Rose sets the air conditioner to a maximum, with fans fully on at a temperature as far low as it could. The car was thusly bombarded by cold and freezing air, a necessary sacrifice to account for Rose forgetting to buy tissues.

  Ugh, that's not all I forgot, Rose thought.

  Maybe tissues wouldn't have been enough. Rose considered a towel to help with the sweating issue, as she dare not use the sleeves of her hoodie.

  Rose also forgot to drink water before she left. Made worse by the fact she was sweating, her throat was starting to kill her as she forcibly coughed a few times. Was there time for her to buy water, or some other drink?

  No, no, there wasn't. She can't get some right now. Koharu's house was about ten minutes away from Rose's address by car, and it only took five minutes extra to order the cake. Fifteen minutes, on the dot. Furthermore, traffic wasn't busy at this hour... Rose couldn't use that as an excuse for being late.

  Would Koharu be upset if she spent a few minutes to get water...?

  ... Rose didn't want to risk it.

  Maybe she could get a drink at Koharu's house. Even if she didn't have any specific drinks out, water should be fine! Unless... soda would be better? It's a little late for soda, but... no, no, water's fine. She doesn't want to take soda from Koharu. Drinking water is fine.

  Though, Rose thought about if she should have bought a large bottle or a six-pack. Maybe one of those 12-pack boxes, to quench her thirst? Maybe getting some for Koharu as a gift alongside the cake would be good? Koharu enjoys lemon-lime soda, it shouldn't be too much trouble to...

  ... no, no, the house is coming up already. It's too late to get soda.

  Deep breaths, Rose. Deep breaths.

  Already turning onto her street, she was less than a minute away from Koharu's house. A two-story suburban house with a garage, white-walled with a black roof. There wasn't a car in the driveway, so Koharu was likely alone tonight.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Rose pulls into the driveway. She steps out of the car, pockets her phone, and walks up to the front door. Her finger reaches the doorbell, and—

  "Hey~! You're here, Rosey~!"

  Before the woman even presses the button, the door opens and there stands Koharu. Cute as ever.

  The 6'2" Rose towers over her 5'4", short and light-blue haired lover. Thin and slim with a rather petite figure, Koharu was currently dressed in a frilly white top that showed off their shoulders, a plaid red skirt, a pair of lacy black thigh-socks, and a pair of gray and black striped arm-warmers.

  Rose smiles happily before holding the box of cake out to Koharu, brown eyes meeting Koharu's sparkling green. "I'm here, yes," Rose calmly spoke. "Here is the cake. I hope I'm not too late."

  Koharu responds with a delighted grin, accepting the cake. "Oh, don't worry, you're perfectly on time~ thanks, Rosey~! Here, I'll get the money to pay you back~!"

  "You do not need to," Rose responds, smiling faintly. "Consider it a gift. I have more than enough to purchase it for you, Koharu."

  This puts a beaming smile on Koharu's face, a smile that was capable of melting Rose's heart. The heart-fluttering smile that Rose loved seeing.

  "W... well, you know where my room is, Rosey~" Koharu responds. "I'm gonna put the cake on the counter for, like, tomorrow! Maybe get some water too. Do you want some as well?"

  Rose nods. "Yes, I would like some. Thank you."

  "Alright, getting right on it~! Make yourself at home, as always~!" Koharu then cheerfully turns away, walking off to the kitchen.

  Rose, meanwhile, steps into the house and closes the front door. Standing at the door for a while... with a confident smile. Hands on her hips, keeping her boots on as she walks down the hallway to the bedroom in the back.

  Gone is that anxiety she feels, gone is the worry that keeps her up. She feels at peace upon entering the house, put into the headspace of the confident Rose that she knew herself to be. Safe, happy, delighted.

  To Rose, her face is foolproof, and she feels perfect.

  ... however, Koharu saw through the act almost immediately.

  Koharu, from the very first text that Rose sent, from the exact hour and minute that Rose texted, knew that Rose was feeling unwell.

  Koharu asked themselves: "What happened? Is Rose okay? Oh gosh, oh gosh." Concern on their face, one hand rubbing their cheeks as the water is poured into the cups. Koharu takes very calm, deep breaths... even if they're freaking out, hiding their widened eyes and clenched teeth.

  If their past self was told about their current feelings, Past Koharu would have dismissed it. It sounded weird to be as concerned for someone as they are right now. It would have bewildered them to let their emotions kick in and be overwhelmed because of someone they met as an online stranger.

  To Koharu, her cute act was sort of just... something they did with everyone. If you're cute enough online, Koharu learned, you tend to get a ton of people who become really into whatever you do. Especially when feminine.

  Koharu did enjoy the bountiful amounts of attention from time to time because it made them feel popular. It all felt the same to them, having attention from any person who'll probably string them along before getting bored and leaving when Koharu declines the offer to "become his" and all. So, Kyourin was just another guy at first.

  For the month they first met, Koharu treated Kyourin the same way as they treated everyone, even giving him a nickname. So, how she came up with Rose's nickname: Rin from the "Ringo", Key from "Keystone". Key, or, Rin. Kyourin. That was what they came up with, and used that nickname casually around her. Kyourin just rolled with it. The exact words she said were, "If you wish to call me that, sure."

  Koharu just liked nicknames that are an amalgamation of a username. A Frankenstein's monster of a nickname. Even with their own username, it just came from one of the "ko"s in their name and "spring", a sort of translation joke on the name Haru meaning "Spring". The nickname happened to be an actual real name that exists, so they went with it as their online nickname.

  They didn't want to give away their actual name, after all...

  As expected, Kyourin started chatting with them more often, showing signs of popping the whole "let's do something freaky" vibe a lot of people try.

  However, Kyourin... something about him felt special. There was always something there, each time Kyourin directly messaged them. It felt chill, it felt wholesome. A different approach to Koharu, that became more of a connection than anything.

  The two chatted every day about whatever, and... well, Koharu found it charming, it felt comfortable to chat with Kyourin about things like Koharu's favorite shows and games, or Kyourin's favorite novels and movies. Kyourin was a great guy, albeit spoke overly formally at all times and gave off mysterious vibes.

  The day Koharu discovered this great guy was actually a "Rose" was the day they video chatted to watch a movie together. Absolute disbelief that Kyourin, the mysterious guy who Koharu vibed with like everyone else, was this mature and cool girl who wasn't as overtly "interested" in Koharu.

  Well, at least until they became close enough to hang out in real life. There was something a little... close and intimate with Rose, who did things that made their blue-haired heart flutter. Not only that, she was stunning. Koharu was drawn to her vibrant red hair that shined beautifully in the sun, as well as the nice figure and clothes that had a dignified look to her.

  It was a great impression, and Koharu was looking forward to getting closer to the redhead.

  However... in real life, Rose was a secretive person. She was someone who had a hard time opening up, even to Koharu. It felt... off to Koharu, as if Rose was burying every negative emotion of hers behind an act.

  Actors recognize other actors, after all, and Koharu just... knew. Koharu grew wise enough to know whenever Rose was upset about something. Especially since the text came super late at night. They wanted to know what was bothering Rose, how they could make her feel better.

  However, Koharu feels like they might chase Rose away if they overstep a boundary.

  Rose clearly wanted to keep them at a distance, so it was best to not pry and ask. It was much better for them to just be "Koharu" around Rose. The cute person Rose could have fun with. Hair trimmed short, dyed blue for allure and vibrancy. An image adaptable from person to person... and Rose was into cute women.

  But this image needed effort behind it. Rose was someone who had... higher standards, in a way, and Koharu's had to adapt accordingly to make sure her effort didn't suck. In fact, to know better how much to prepare, Koharu got a handle on how far her house was from Rose by... counting the time between messages.

  One time, Rose sent: "On my way now." when Koharu was already dressed all cutely at 9:02 pm. The car showed up at 9:13 pm, meaning Rose was roughly about... ten or eleven minutes away.

  Tonight, ten minutes wasn't enough to change and get ready. Ten minutes wasn't enough to become cute and adorable if Rose drove straight to the house. So... the chocolate cake.

  This cake was built on an excuse. A lie.

  Koharu bought themselves an extra few minutes to dress properly, having scrambled to shower for two minutes, dress in something good, and style their hair. Nine minutes used.

  The rest of the time was spent cleaning her room at the end. Five minutes, vacuumed floor, made bed, hiding a lot of things...

  ... and Koharu then sprints down the hallway to get to the door. Instantly being at the front door the moment they heard Rose's car, regaining their breath and fanning their face... before a deep breath, and she opens the door. Perfectly on time~!

  That summarizes their relationship, in a way. Perfection.

  It had to be perfect, Koharu thought. Koharu needed to be perfectly cute for Rose, acting as they always did. Cute. Cuddly. Charming. The very act that Rose enjoys so much is one that makes Rose feel like she's absolutely happy to see them.

  You got this, Koharu. Just do as you normally do...