If Adrian hadn't been sitting beside him, Richie would have fallen out of bed in shock seeing his mom appear in the door of his hospital room in Monaco. His mom had basically been there every single time this had happened to him throughout his life. No matter whether it was home or in Boston, she had come ASAP because, as much as Richie didn't make a big deal out of it, there was always the risk he would bleed to death if he didn't get appropriate treatment, and fast. He had been riddled with nerves and anxiety initially, because this happening in a foreign country scared him. He didn't know their health system, or their doctors, or their hospital. This had been something he admitted to Adrian when he was delivered to Emergency by ambulance. He was scared and worried they wouldn't know exactly what needed to be done. Adrian had been amazing, trying to comfort him and reassure him that he would pay to make sure Richie had the best treatment, and he had. All the while trying to help clean Richie up when he kept throwing up blood. That was a horrible thing to watch, Richie knew that. But Adrian wasn't scared away at all. The complete opposite, in fact.

"Mom," he said through a gasp of shock. "Wh-- I-- He said--" he added, words coming out in a stuttering mess because he hadn't anticipated this at all. Though, despite the shock, the penny dropped quickly that this was how Adrian was going to suffer the 'Meet the Parents' fate. It wasn't at all ideal. Richie had been anticipating a nice meal, maybe with his grandparents too, where he could show Adrian off and show them how he was trying the love thing again, and this time with someone who wasn't a d-bag. "Um... Mom, this is Adrian. Adrian, this is Mom. H-Holy fuck."