Dear Diary,

It’s been three days since Jon has talked to me. Jon was persistent in believing that I sabotaged his dinner date with Demetri. I understand that it sounds weird that a man with a viable love interest is also romantic with his cat, but Demetri is more of a cover and an excuse to spend his nights under the starry sky with somebody. He isn’t ready for the two of us to be seen together in public, and I’m okay with that for now. Society would never accept us, but I don’t care. All I care about is Jon’s happiness. And I guess I failed to maintain that.

His curly hair. His slender physique. His long, graceful strides. Jon Arbuckle wasn’t a flawless Greek god, but to Garfield, he was pretty damn close. However, instead of their usual flirting, the apartment was full of a tense, uncomfortable atmosphere.

All it took was one misunderstanding. A medium rare steak had gone missing, and the main suspect was Garfield. Jon and Demetri’s stargazing date was ruined. Stargazing was the only reason Jon agreed to the dinner date, but without dinner, it had to be canceled. Garfield was the only member of the household with a motive. Because of this, the relationship between the cat and his owner became strained. This only lasted until Jon cooked another steak days later and caught the true culprit in the act.

“Odie?” The dog noticed Jon standing behind him and immediately ran off. “It was you the whole time! You ate my steak!”

Odie was already long gone by the time Jon put on his pair of Sketchers athletic running shoes.

“♥♥♥♥.” Jon knew that he had to apologize to Garfield before their relationship sustained permanent damage.

As Jon pulled the lasagna out of the oven, a wave of concern came over him as he heard the subtle sound of Garfield sobbing in the next room.

“…Garfield?” he said as he peeked through the doorway. “What’s wrong?"

“...I don’t want you to hate me, Jon.”

“Garfield, I never did and I never will.” Jon gently wrapped his arms around the fragile feline, holding him with care as if he was a wilting rose. His tender embrace instantly turned Garfield’s tears of shame into tears of relief. Jon stroked Garfield’s head until his breathing slowed and his crying stopped.

“I’m sorry for not believing you about the steak. I should have trusted you more.”

“It’s fine, Jon. I understood your suspicion. It just… hurts not being seen as trustworthy to the one you trust the most.”

“I know Garfield, and I feel terrible. I know it’s not much, but I made some lasagna as an apology. I promise I won’t doubt you ever again."

“I really appreciate that, Jon. And this may seem weird, but… I’m not hungry for lasagna right now.”

With all the tears wiped away and the atmosphere back to normal, Garfield looks up into Jon’s eyes as if he were expecting something.

“I guess you want a different kind of meat to satisfy you.”

“Just shut up and enter me, Jon.”

Jon and Garfield made their way into the bedroom. Jon, undressing. Garfield, also undressing Jon.

Jon’s eyes glistened in the dim lighting of their shared bedroom. To Garfield, they twinkled like stars in a perfect night sky. Garfield became a midnight explorer venturing the depths of a vast space. Jon’s body was the new frontier welcoming Garfield and only Garfield to discover him. As they both plunged into the darkness of their satin bedsheets, Jon was full of a cautious excitement. A conflicting feeling brought upon not only by the fear of hurting his beloved cat, but also not being able to contain his urge to push deeper.

The cat’s inviting eyes told Jon that it was okay to succumb to desire. Not only okay, but heavily encouraged. Garfield was usually a cat that hated having his fur stroked, but at this moment, he loved being stroked.

Everything was gone except for the two lovers. It was as if there were only two stars twinkling in an otherwise pitch-black nightscape.

Two explorers alone in space, blasting each other off.

Garfield woke up to Jon gently nudging him. Jon, with a twinge of sadness in his voice, whispered, “Garfield, let go, I have to go to work.” Garfield reluctantly slid his arms off of his lover’s body.

"Oh yeah, it’s Monday. God, I hate Mondays."