Strangely Affectionate

His Insecurities

Coming back to present time, you two have already graduated and you were recollecting the day that Pierce confessed to you. You were teaching him how to make coffee during his time off for some time now, so he finally knows his ins and outs of brewing some. His parents were relieved that they now can compete with other coffee shops and cafés around town and are now grateful that Pierce has you. After his very last lesson from you, he pulled out three cups and made some cream art. You were confused and looked on at what he was doing.

He poured coffee in all three cups and in the first one was a picture of an eye. In the second cup, it was a picture of a heart. In the third cup, it was the letter 'U'. He gently placed them in front of you in that order and you gasped. You looked back at him to see that he was blushing and looking to the side with his hands behind his back, afraid that you may reject him.

Instead of a rejection, you were thrilled with the news and leaped into his arms. Pierce was surprised about your feelings and didn't hesitate to kiss you passionately on the lips in the empty café. Luckily, his parents were out getting more ingredients for the kitchen. He looked at the screen to the audience and winked. He lied; he knew you felt the same way. He waves a peace sign.

Now, the two of you are working together full time in the café as chefs. Like in college, he earned his right as the head chef and you earned your right as his assistant chef. Honestly, you were glad Pierce felt the same way about you and liked him more than Seth. You were curious about his whereabouts, but Seth didn't keep in contact with anyone here in the town—which struck you as a little odd. He always seemed to have something troubling him, but you were never able to break down his walls to find out.

Speaking of walls, Pierce seemed to have some himself. Sometimes, you would see him looking into the mirror and poking at his freckles he inherited from his mother. He would call them 'ugly', but you refused to let him beat himself up for that and told him you thought freckles made him cute.

"No... They're ugly... Should I dye my hair again?" He replied, still poking his face and brushing his hair back with his hands. Although his freckles weren't as noticeable as others' freckles, he still disliked them and wished he had his father's face instead since Kai was devoid of them. In addition to this, his white hair was going back to a bleached blonde color with his original hair color at the roots: black.

"Hm? What do you mean that's nonsense?" He asked, finally turning his head to look at you. You pouted and flicked his forehead, earning a surprised expression from him. It didn't matter how he looked or how common his black hair and brown eyes were; you love him for who he is. Since you love him for his personality, his looks didn't really matter to you at all. Okay, good—tell him that.

Pierce looks at you with widened eyes and smiles. You kissed his freckles.

"You're the first to say that."

He pulled you closer for a kiss and no longer payed any attention to the mirror. From this day onwards, he decided to no longer care about his freckles, didn't dye his hair, and waited for it to go back to his natural colors to trim out the bleached strands at the hairdresser. His parents were glad for his change and decision to embrace himself as he is rather than what he was trying to be.

"Now you're a handsome man!" Susan said while ruffling Pierce's now black hair.

"What? Was I not before?!" Pierce whined.

"When are you going to tell her your real name?" Kai teased.

"It's Pierce!"

You then wondered what his real name was since the topic was brought up. You asked Pierce, but he told you that it was very common and ridiculous. He must be pretty insecure about his name, too. You planned on asking his parents about it another day—