The Three Best Friends

They went to meet their best friend at their usual place, the cafe they met.

When they arrived there, they saw him already in their place, saving seats for them. Alecs quickly went to their friend and hugged him. It had only been a short time since they met last but, Alec had missed his boyfriend so much. Maybe too much. As for Alek, she had only been able to talk with him for weeks and, she was happy to meet him.

"How have you been?" Melvin pulled away from the group hug and asked them as he sat down.

"I thought I was going to die from not seeing you." Alec sat beside his boyfriend and told him. They have only been able to see each other on face time. Melvin put his hand on his chest and made a silent 'aww.' He then held his boyfriend's hand in another.

"I'm here." Alek told the two lovebirds, who looked like they had forgotten about her existence.

Melvin laughed silently and apologized. "How about you? How have you been?" As soon as he finished signing, he held Alec's hand again.

"I don't even know how to describe the past days. My mind exploded." Alek told them. Since she was sitting on the opposite side and was alone, she lay her head on the table with frustration. "I always believed in it but, when I came face-to-face with it, it was not what I expected." She raised her head and continued.

The boys only nodded to her. The shop was crowded but, since they used sign language, they had no problem communicating.

"I can't believe people I trusted with my life could just hide something that big from me." Alek told them, and again, she put her head on the table. At the same time, a waiter approached and gave them drinks. Melvin ordered iced coffee for himself, hot chocolate for his boyfriend and, mixed berry frozen juice for Alek.

"Thank you." Alek told the waiter as he told them to enjoy. She drunk the juice with a straw with very low energy while the couple in front of her was tasting each other's drinks like always.

"Sometimes, I just wish I was not here." Alek told the couple. She was getting kind of like a third wheel but, she was used to it. The couple in front of her always acted lovey-dovey like her parents, but more than her parents.

Melvin sighed. "Get a boyfriend, woman. Then you would know how it feels to have a person you love next to you. It is indescribable." He held Alex's hand again and took a sip of his drink. It was a little bitter than usual, so he added sugar.

"I want a man like Torak!! I need him!" Alek told them. She made an extremely sad face.

"Who is Torak?" Alec asked as he didn't know who she was talking about.

"Who IS Torak?!" Alek asked back and threw up her hands in the air. "Are you seriously asking me that?" She looked at them in disbelief and, they nodded at her question. "I can't believe you don't know HIM! He is a perfect man in the whole damn world. He is the reason why I'm single. I'm saving myself for him."

"Who is this Torak guy?" Alec asked again after not getting the answer.

"He is a CEO. He is rich, HOT, famous and most of all, he is single!" Alek told them but, they shook their head. If he was that famous, they would have known him, right? "Until he was taken by an angel. She is super kind and sweet. No one can compete with her. She is like an exact definition of what pure heart is." She told them and lay her head on the table again.

The boys looked at each other for what Alek was saying but, they didn't understand. "So, who is Torak anyway?" Melvin asked.

"He is from the book that I've been reading called Limerence." As soon as she said that, Alec and Melvin laughed. They didn't know she was talking about a fictional character. Why didn't they think of that?

"Poor child. But you never had a chance." Melvin comforted his friend and, Alec nodded in agreement towards his boyfriend.

"I know. That's why I want him. I need him. Or at least someone like him. Even his doppelganger can work." Alek was desperate.

"But even if Torak does exist, I don't think he is going to choose you." Melvin told her sourly. "The person who captured his heart was an angel girl, right? How are you going to compete with her? You aid earlier that no one can compete her. What makes you think you can surpass her?"

"Ouch, Mel!" Alek poked the frozen juice. "Well, I am not competing with her 'cause I already know that I can't beat her. I just need to show a different type of... you know... like a different type of genre that he has never met before."

The way Alek was deadly serious made them speechless. They didn't know what to say anymore. Surely the Torak guy does not exist, but Alek was thinking about how to make him fall for her. It was crazy how she could be so serious about something that would like to happen at close to zero per cent.

"Anyway," Alec changed the topic. "I have brought something for you." He turned to his boyfriend and told him. Meanwhile, Alek handed Alex the gift he brought for himself and Melvin.

"What is this?" Melvin asked as he took the gift from Alec.

"It's something I want you to have." Alex smiled. "Open it."

"Okay." Melvin said as he opened the small black bag and removed a much smaller black box. He looked at his best friend before he opened the box that contained his friendship ring.

Melvin dropped his mouth and blinked a couple of times, seeing the component inside the box. "What is this?" He asked again.

"It's a ring." Alex answered excitedly.

"Yeah, I know. I can see that." Melvin looked and faced his boyfriend. "Who is this for?"

"For you, of course, silly." Alec told him and, Alek nodded towards that. "It's a friendship ring for the three of us. I already gave Alek hers yesterday."

Because Melvin looked like he was not going to remove or touch the ring, Alec removed it from the box and put it on Melvin's left index finger.

The ring shined on Melvins finger. The ring's design was not like the one for Alek, which had curved sunflowers. Instead, his was made of lines of silver and gold. On top of those linings, it had several petite looking solar system planet gemstone-ish things were there. Each of the small planets on the ring was so tiny, about the size of half of the rice but was delicately made that they could differentiate the designs in them without trying.

"Thank you, Alec!" Melvin told his boyfriend and hugged him. It was beautiful and, he had never received a gift like this from anyone in his life. His boyfriend was the best!

"Of course!" Alec told him and kissed him on the cheek. It definitely looked good on Melvin's finger as it was made for him. It was made for him, but... it's just that it looked perfect on him.

"Now it's time to open mine." Alec brought out his small black bag, removed the box and opened it.

"Damn." Melvin said.

"Agreed." Alek told him as she stared at the ring in Alex's hand.

The ing in the box was the most stylish than the two of them and, it was a little wavy. It was gold on the outlines and, there were what was assumed to be different shades of blue and green, representing the waves. It changed colours so smoothly that it looked so natural. When Alex removed the ring and looked much closer he saw the shadows of waves, like the ones in Japanese painting, was there. On the inside of the ring, he saw the same curvings of their initials that on Alek's.

Alex smiled at his uncle's work and slipped it on his left index finger like everyone else.

"It looks beautiful on you." Melvin told him and kissed his cheek in return for what he did before.

"I should really thank my uncle for making these for us." He said as he looked at everyone's left index finger where the rings rested. His uncle, Tate, has done beautiful work on it and, it made them smile.

"Dis you look inside the ring?" Alek asked Melvin as she remembered that he did not get to see the inner part of the ring.

"Nope." Melvin answered. He didn't know anything was there. Neither did he see the inside of Alex's ring.

"You should see it." Alek advised him and, he obeyed her. He removed the ring off of his finger and looked at the inside just to gasp. He saw the initials of the group. No wonder Alec was really grateful.

"It's amazing, right?" Alek told him as he put the ring back and took her hand to see hers.

"Oh my. This suits you. It looks simple but gorgeous, just like you. Sometimes I think you are heather, but only sometimes. Most of the time, I think you are a crazy girl." Melvin held Alek's hand and told her. "Just kidding. This ring fits your personality and you." He told her when she acted dramatically.

"Should we take a picture of these?" Alex asked after seeing his friends.

"Of course!" Melvin signed excitedly.

"Let's do it!" Alek also joined. She did not want to forget this moment with her two best friends.