#look these people hung out together for seven years. they gotta do more than tolerate each other

[flashhwing]

i hate when characters are written out of character in fics unless it's people making anders and fenris be nice to merrill. i think that's good mischaracterization actually

[heyheydidjaknow]

Hiya! I have a request for an x reader songfic. Snap out of it by the Arctic monkeys gives me so many 2012 Donnie vibes. Maybe one where the reader is in love with Donnie but he likes April and the reader wants Donnie to, you know, "snap out of it" and notice that maybe April isn't the best person towards him. It can end in unrequited love or with a happy ending, that's for you to decide but I just really want to see this concept. Thanks! :>

(feel free to ignore this request if you want 👁️👁️)

Oh, I’m not about to turn away a chance to be pushed out into foreign territory. I admittedly hadn’t known what a songfic was until wikipedia and @kunimikat saved my ass, so this was fun-- and a bit scary-- to write. I hope you like it, even if it might not have been exactly what you were expecting.

April was your friend. She had been for a while, now, since she had moved to NYC. The two of you had come even closer after her kidnapping and initiation into the “Hamato Clusterfuck” as you had affectionately called it at first—you had wisely made a conscious effort to only get involved with them as far as you could throw them, sticking solidly to offering emotional support and half-decent food. At the beginning, you had, on multiple occasions, even begged her to stay out of it, trying to reason with her that getting herself killed by a psychotic armored man with an axe to grind for the crime of hanging out with four teenage shut-ins was an incredibly bad idea. When your logical arguments fell on deaf ears—her owing them apparently being her ball and chain—you had designated yourself as her supervisor to make sure she did not do something overly impulsive. She was reckless, overly trusting, immature, but you loved her like a sister. You balanced each other out.

One of the benefits of knowing someone for so long is that you learn things about them that they do not know about themselves. In April’s case, it had been that she was terrible at making up her mind

 What's been happenin' in your world?

You had borne witness to the love triangle transpiring between Donatello Hamato, Casey Jones and her for the better part of a year now. You were relieved that the two boys had backed off each other’s throats somewhat over the period, but it was as infuriating as it was fascinating to watch them fight over her like a chew toy. Of course, April had her preference between the two, favoring the hockey player mainly for his general normalcy, which was a decision you could approve of, but she had hesitated until recently to make that obvious to the other point because, in her words, “The last thing I want is to deal with is all of that awkwardness.” You could hardly blame her for her hesitation, but you thought it almost cruel not to make her feelings apparent to her lovestruck puppy.

 What have you been up to?

Donnie was the most tolerable of the five, the most normal in your opinion. He was an infatuated, insecure teenage boy with more an affinity towards machines and, best of all, seemed concerned for your friend, all things that you could get on board with. In your opinion, overbearingness is preferable to negligence in this case, and you were just happy that someone physically capable had her back. As such, when you were stuck at the lair for hours waiting for her lessons with Splinter to be over—you were her ride—you found yourself spending the most time around him, and as time went on, you started going out of your way to do so.

Seeing as April and Casey were your only other friends, it was natural you would get romantically attached. They—a couple by high school standards—approved of your crush, and all you told your guardian(s) was that they were smart, fit, and financially responsible, so they asked few questions.

You knew, logically, this was not a competition and that April had little interest in him.

But something about the way he gazed at her made you burn green with envy.

 I heard that you fell in love, or near enough.

His eyes were just so… wistfully longing. He watched as the redhead and her boyfriend played against Michelangelo and Raphael in a game of charades. His expression was just so soft, lips pursing and popping silently as he grieved from his seat in his lab.

It had been a downhill spiral on your end from there, and as your own attachment grew for him, his own depression worsened. Your eyes drifted from your friend as you tried to make him see that, no, the world was not ending because his first crush did not like him back. You would make subtle comments about how happy his brothers were, how happy she and Casey were together, how smart he was and how many people would die for a kind, loving, smart guy to come around and sweep them off their feet. This, again, fell on deaf ears; he would always comment on how, if he were such a catch, April would not have chosen Casey, like It is his fault for her having more of a taste in cocky, fun-loving guys than intelligent ones. Half of it was probably your lack of experience in subtlety, but no matter what you would try to say, whenever romance came up in conversation, his words turned sharp and bitter.

On that day, you just cracked.

 I gotta tell you the truth.

You walked over to the lab door, closing it in a single fluid motion. ‘I’m better at being blunt, anyways.’

He blinked; his trance was interrupted by the small slam.

“She’s not into you.”

“Huh?”

You crossed the room and placed your hand on the desk, expression stern and stone cold. “April,” you repeat. “She’s not interested.”

He did not meet your gaze. “You don’t know that.”

“I do, actually.” You leaned down to look him in the eye. “You aren’t her type. You’re supposed to be smart.” You placed the other on the back of his chair, arms cagging him in, almost. “ She has a boyfriend,” you continued, softer. “You know that, right?”

“I do.” He tapped the side of his thumb against the table absently, throat tight. “But what else do you suppose I do? Submit to the fact that I’ll be alone forever?” He looked up at you. “I know this may be hard for you to believe,” he continued, easily slipping out from under your arms, “but I don’t exactly have a ton of options. She’s the only person who’s ever looked at me like that; how am I supposed to move on from the only person who’s ever even given me a chance?”

 I wanna grab both your shoulders and shake, baby.

 You rolled your eyes, turning to watch him as he crossed to the other side of the room. “That is some blatant bullshit,” you glared curtly.

“Is it, though?” His back was to you as he crouched down in front of his centrifuge, fiddling with it. “As someone who’s never—”

“So help me, if you go off about me not understanding being rejected and feeling like they’d die alone, I’ll rip your tongue out.” You stood back up properly.

“What would you know about it?” He followed suit, eyes locking on yours. “You have other people to choose from.”

“And you don’t?” You crossed your arms, smiling incredulously. “How do we differ, exactly?”

“Besides the obvious?”

You scoffed. “You’ve seen your brothers. Never stopped them.”

“And I’m happy for them, that they’re so charismatic as to be able to find partners so easily.” You could taste the bitterness in his words. “But I’m not them, in case you didn’t notice. That girl out there?” He pointed to the door. “She’s the first and only person in the universe who’s ever given me a second glance.”

“So you’re just fucking blind, now?” You heard your voice rise without your input.

“What’re you talking about?” His voice grew with yours.

“You’re lovesick,” you spat. “Snap out of it.”

 Snap out of it.

You ran your fingers through your hair. “Or maybe you’re just dense.” You felt a laugh rise in your throat. “I mean,” you gestured, “clearly picking up on verbal subtext isn’t your forte.”

You gave him five seconds. “What,” you continued, rubbing your face with your hands, “Are you—” You stopped. “You are, aren’t you?”

Nothing.

You took a slow breath, hearing your heartbeat in your ears. “Let me put it in simple, plain English for you.”

 I get the feelin' I left it too late, but baby—

 “As her friend? You’re a fucking creep.” You crossed your arms across your chest. “Following her the way you did—wait your turn—” A finger interrupted his defense. “Following her the way you did? Objectively creepy. Staring at her all the time? Also fucking creepy.” You felt your nails dig into your skin. “Any person would call it as it is.”

He opened his mouth again to argue. You did not interrupt him this time, but he did not argue, the silence falling like a weighted blanket over the two of you.

“As your friend,” you continued, voice lowered, “as someone who cares about you, I know April, and she can’t give you what you want. It’s not her; she needs to be free, and I love her, but you’re looking for something that’s just not there.” Your voice was certain. “You’re looking for someone to spend your life with. I’m right, aren’t I?”

 Snap out of it.

 He was still for a moment, looking off into the ether. He nodded, face melancholy.

You walked over, resting a hand on his shoulder tentatively. “I’m not saying it’s stupid of you to not be over her. Again, I love her to bits, so I see the appeal.” You broke eye contact, trying to articulate exactly what you meant. “But I’m worried,” you explained slowly, “you’re only hung up on her because you’re scared of being alone. That’s not fair to her or yourself.”

“Do you know that?”

“No,” you admitted easily, “but you and I are the same way, and trust me, I’ve been around the heartbreak block.” You smiled, trying to relieve the tension.

That earned a chuckle. A small one, but a chuckle none the less.

You reached up, cupping his cheek in your hand. “There are seven billion people on this planet. Any one of them—myself included—would be lucky to have a life with you.”

 If that watch don’t continue to swing—

 A pause.

“Do you honestly believe that?”

You nodded, your thumb running along the line of his eye socket. “I do.”

 —or the fat lady fancies havin' a sing—

 You leaned forward, pressing your lips against his cheek gently.

 —I'll be here, waitin' ever so patiently—

 “Y/N!” You pulled back as you heard April calling your name. “We need a moderator!”

You started back towards the door, waving gently. “I wish you good tidings, Donatello.” You smiled quietly, serenity itself standing in the doorway. “May whoever is fortunate enough to call you their own bring you happiness. You deserve it.” You slipped out of his lab, running over to break them up.

Donatello rested his fingers on where your mouth had lit his skin. He felt a bittersweet smile fade onto his face.

—for you to snap out of it.

And that was when it began.

List of Works

[themoonismymuse]

boyfriend || part three || finale

Part one || Part two

Pairing: Billy Hargrove x Fem!Reader

Summary: sometimes hanging out with hargrove can get you into trouble...

Word count: 2145

Warnings: cursing, drama, angstttt, fluff, bullying i guess

Song: boyfriend (with Social House) by Ariana Grande and Social House

A/N: hi so this is a sweet ending to the boyfriend series! i really enjoyed writing this so I hope you enjoy reading it!

To your surprise, Billy stays true to his word and picks you up at seven forty-five the next morning. “Who’s that?” Your mother asks as you grab your coat from the coat rack.

“What?” You look through the window quickly, seeing a blue Camaro parked in front of your house. “Shit,” you whisper to yourself, shrugging your jacket on. “Uh, it’s no one!”

You open the door and run out to stop your mother from asking any more questions. “I didn’t want you to drive me to school!” You hiss as you open the door to the passenger side.

“But I offered, and to you, I guess that’s the same thing,” Billy says back, a cigarette on his lips.

“Hi, Y/N!” Max says from the back seat.

“Hey,” you greet, pulling your seatbelt on.

You look back at your house and see your mother in the window, grinning. You roll your eyes and make an exaggerated gagging face to show her that you really don’t want to be in this car with this person. “Why are you so keen on driving me to and from school now?” You ask as he pulls onto the road.

“Because I enjoy these moments we have together,” he looks over and smiles dashingly.

You give him a look that reads: are you being serious right now.

“No, you just seem so pathetic without Harrington.”

“Ah, there’s the assholish response.”

“Why are you two so mean to each other? Okay, I understand why Y/N is mean to Billy, he’s an asshole, but why are you so mean to Y/N?” Max asks Billy, leaning her head in between the two front seats.

Billy scoffs. “When she stops being a bitch to me, I’ll stop being a bitch to her.”

“Oh, you know that’s never going to happen,” you say, rolling your eyes.

“Then I guess she’ll have to deal with me.”

Max huffs and sits back in her seat. She was obviously hoping you would get over your differences and become best friends.

Yeah, right.

Billy was sort of right about you being pathetic without Steve. It does feel better to have him with you, even though you’d prefer to have someone who you actually like standing with you at your locker.

As you walk towards first period (sans Billy), someone pulls you into a side hallway. “I knew you’d take my advice and fuck Billy!” Nancy says delightedly, smiling from ear to ear.

You shrug her arms off of you. “I have not fucked him and I don’t plan on it,” you mutter. “And keep your damn voice down!”

“Sorry, sorry. Explain,” she commands.

You take a deep breath. “He just drove me home yesterday and drove me to school today. That’s it.”

“Then how come you two walk together in the hallways now?”

God, is she milking this. “Because I don’t have Steve anymore,” you say bitterly.

“I mean, he is definitely an upgrade from Steve.”

You laugh and shove her arm. “Shut up.”

“Just, take my advice and don’t get caught up on him. Billy’s been known to break hearts, and without mercy.”

Your smile fades and bit. “I won’t get hung up on him. That’ll never happen. Not in a million years.”

Nancy gives you a strange look. “Whatever you say.”

“I gotta get to class,” you pull away from her.

“‘Bye,” she says as she watches you walk away.

Billy became more tolerable throughout the week, giving you rides to and from school every day. You do have a few classes with him, which now included him actually talking to you. You had spotted Steve every now and then, sometimes with the girl from the party and sometimes without her. On Friday, you walk into school by yourself, asking Billy not to pick you up today. People watch you in a strange way, not like the usual gawking stares. These are vicious and nasty looks. Girls whisper behind hands and guys laugh quietly between each other.

When you reach your locker, you immediately know why. Written in black marker, much like the week before, are the nasty words: hargroves whore. You look around you frantically, searching for the perpetrator.

“Oh, wow, our princess has fallen to new depths, hasn’t she?” Carol says as she passes by. Her friends laugh alongside her, causing dread to fill every inch of your body.

“What are you talking about?” You ask, almost desperately.

Carol stops and pretends to look shocked. “Oh? This?” She gestures at the locker. “This is what happens to sluts around here.”

Your face falls and you want to respond, but no words come out. “So, you don’t even deny it?” One of the girls beside Carol asks. “You’ve been sleeping with Hargrove?”

“N-no. Who told you that?” You hiss.

They giggle and look behind you. “Maybe you should ask him,” Carol sneers.

You whip around to see Billy standing there, a smile on his face. “What the fuck did you do?” You almost shout.

A few people turn to watch you, eerily reminding you of the party that feels like it was so long ago. “What?” Billy asks, dumbfounded.

“You told everyone we slept together, even though you know we didn’t?”

“What are you talking about?”

You shrug and say, “Oh, I don’t know, maybe the fact that everyone has been talking about how we apparently fucked? Or the fact that someone wrote that on my locker?” Your hand shoots out to point at the words on your locker.

Billy looks over at your locker and his eyes flick back to you. “Let’s go talk about this,” he reaches to you, but you pull away quickly.

“Don’t fucking touch me, you dick,” you seethe. You turn and push through the crowd, clutching your books like they are your life line.

“Y/N!” A voice shouts as you walk through the doors leading to the track and football field.

The doors shut behind you, but then you hear them open again. “Go the fuck away, Billy!” You shout, walking faster.

You feel a hand touch yours briefly, which causes you to turn quickly. “Steve?” You whisper. He looks a mess. He is a mess. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to apologize.”

Your eyebrows raise and you hold your books even closer to you. “What do you mean?”

“I wanted to apologize about what happened at the party.”

You keep your stoney gaze, not letting anything slip.

He takes a deep breath. “I was drunk, and stupid, even though that’s no excuse for what I did, but I just-”

“But why’d you do it. No one was forcing you to do anything.”

“I don’t know. I guess I just didn’t think any of my feelings were reciprocated because you’ve never even said that you love me back. What am I supposed to do if I don’t even know if you love me?”

“Of course I loved you! I’ve never loved anyone as much as I loved you! But you ruined that. You ruined everything.”

“I know. I know.”

“So, please, don’t come begging for me to date you again. You broke my trust and I don’t know if you’ll ever be able to get it back,” you say, fighting against the tears about to escape your eyes. “‘Bye, Steve.”

You walk away, deciding that facing everyone else is so much better than having to face Steve. When you enter the school, the bell rings, so you walk to first period quickly. Of course, this class is with Carol and her friends. You sit in your usual seat, trying to avoid all the stares from your classmates. The day goes by far too slowly, but every moment with Nancy lightens your mood. She sits with you at lunch and threatens to slit Billy’s throat if he even comes near you. “I’m not sure he spread the rumor, though,” you shrug.

“Oh, I’m sure he did. How else would it have gotten around?”

“I don’t know! Anyone could’ve said something.”

“What if it was Steve?” She leans forward and whispers, “Maybe it’s a tactic to get you back.”

You laugh. “Yeah, right. Steve apologized to me this morning, I also highly doubt he would do that.”

“I bet you tonight at that party Olivia Johnson is having, he will try to get back together with you.”

“No way, Nancy. He wouldn’t do that.”

She shrugs and take a bite of her celery. “Whatever you say, Y/N.”

The dread of going to the party that night becomes larger and larger as the thought of seeing Steve and Billy in the same place keeps popping into your mind. “I don’t think you should go. What if something like last time happens again?” Your mom says as she stands by the stove, stirring a pot.

“I guess so. But Nancy really wants me to go,” you say, sitting at the kitchen table and playing with the sleeves of your sweater.

“So? If you don’t think you should go, you shouldn’t.”

“But I don’t want to chicken out. Everyone is going to think I won’t go because of what happened last time. What if I go and change everyone’s mind?”

Your mother turns around with her hand on her hip. “If you want to go so badly, why don’t you?”

“But Moooom. I don’t want to goooo,” you whine.

“Now I want you to go so you can get out of the damn house,” she turns back to the pot.

The doorbell rings just in time to interrupt the conversation. “I think that’s Nancy,” you say nervously.

“Then get the door. She doesn’t need to be standing out in the cold while you babble nonsense!”

You stand up quickly and leave the room to open the door. It’s not Nancy. It’s Billy. “Go away,” you say as you shut the door in his face.

“Is it Nancy?” Your mom calls from the kitchen.

“No! It’s a-a mormon!”

“At this time of night?”

“Yeah. They’re getting persistent these days!”

Billy knocks on the door again. “Open the door, Y/N,” he says from outside.

“No,” you say back. “I don’t want to talk to you.”

“But I want to talk to you.”

You open the door a crack, allowing yourself enough room to see him clearly. “We are talking already.”

He rolls his eyes. “Why are you being so difficult?”

“Because you embarrassed me in front of everyone,” you say, trying to portray no emotions.

“I’m sorry. I can to apologize. Even though you know I didn’t spread that rumor. Why would I?” He asks calmly.

You shrug, but keep your guard as high as ever. “How am I supposed to know?”

“Because you know me.”

“No I don’t. I only actually started talking to you at the beginning of this week.”

“Could you come all the way outside? It’s fucking weird talking to you through a crack.”

You sigh and step onto your porch, but keep a safe distance away from him. “Okay? Do you have anything else to say because I’m freezing my ass off already.”

“I wanted to tell you that I should’ve defended you at school today. It was a dick move to just stand there like an idiot.”

You rub your arm. “Yeah, it was.”

“And I would never say anything about you behind your back. You know that.”

“I guess. I hardly know you, though. You could do anything and I wouldn’t know, not really.”

“But I want to know you better.”

“So that’s why you offered to drive me to and from school?” You ask.

He huffs, obviously frustrated. “No, you don’t get it, do you?”

“Get what?”

“Oh my God, how can someone be so dense?”

“Billy, you can stop with the insults,” you laugh awkwardly, not really understanding where the conversation is going.

His stare becomes ten times more serious than before… and determined. He looks from your eyes to your lips and then takes your head in his hands and dips to kiss you. You freeze up, stunned by the contact. Then, you kiss him back. Why? Why are you kissing Billy Hargrove back?

His lips are soft and warm, filling your body with a new type of heat. Steve’s kisses were never like this, no. This feels more intense.

Your back pushes against the door and you run your fingers through his blonde hair. He runs his hand up and down you side, chilling you to the bone. This must be what a real kiss feels like. One that gives you goosebumps and makes your heart stop completely.

When he pulls away, your lips are still puckered from the kiss. Your eyes flutter open and you smile. “I understand what you were saying now.”

He laughs. “Now do you wanna go to that party?”

You grin back. “Absolutely.”

A/N: thank you for joining me on this cute little journey with billy <3 if you have any requests please send them in!!

Tag list: @gothackedalready

Part one || Part two

Masterlist

[injusticeff]

Chapter Twenty-Four

Dom

We both snorted a fine line of the white powder simultaneously, laying back on the couch as the euphoric feeling began to kick in.

I tossed my head back, the feeling of ecstasy overwhelming my body as my eyes fluttered closed and I allowed myself to succumb to the high I was receiving. There wasn't a better feeling in this world other than sex, and even that was a close call.

Feeling my phone buzz in my pocket, I quickly fished it out since I had been expecting a call from Arion any minute now but instantly rolled my eyes once I saw Katya's name flash across the screen. Now that she had helped me win my case, I didn't really feel the need to entertain her anymore. One, she was a married woman and brought that fact up every time we got together, and two, I had just gotten bored with her.

Of course, the sex with her was good but at the same time, sex is just sex. I could easily find another person with good sex and a personality so I wasn't pressed over her.

"When that nigga gon' call you?" My friend complained from the seat beside me, breaking me away from my thoughts as I looked over to see him staring at me with an unamused expression on his face.

I subconsciously checked my phone once again, but the only thing residing in my notifications was the missed call I had just received not even a minute ago. Shrugging in response, I prepared myself to snort another line as Ray just shook his head at me in annoyance. "I ain't chasing down no grown ass man to see when he's gonna call me. Be patient, he's my nigga and all but he's not to be fucked with."

Silence took over the conversation soon after my reply and I took that as my cue to use the rolled up hundred dollar bill to inhale the next line of the pure white powder sitting on the table in front of me. The feeling that invaded my body was almost heavenly; like I was on a cloud higher than nine. It was like I could literally feel my pupils dilating.

"Alright nigga, slow down with that shit. We're not gonna be able to do this job you want done if you're too high to know what's going on." Ray spoke just as I felt the hundred dollar bill get snatched out of my hand causing me to glare at him with flared nostrils.

I knew he was right but one thing that I didn't tolerate was disrespect; I don't care who you thought you were. Snatching the blue-faced bill right back out of his hand, my icy stare remained on him for a few more seconds before my phone began vibrating loudly. I reluctantly broke eye contact with him and stuffed the Benjamin in the pocket of my jeans before quickly sliding my finger across my phone screen to answer the incoming call from Arion.

"Yo?" I answered as my eyes unwillingly became lower the longer I held them in place. It probably looked as if I was about to fall asleep when really, I was feeling better than ever.

Ever since I had came back from the rehabilitation center, the highs that usually hadn't done enough for me before were the same ones that would now have me on my ass. That tolerance break shit was actually true and it made me want to do it more often if it weren't for all of the horrible withdrawal symptoms that came along with it.

"Meet me at the spot." Arion's demanding voice came through the speakers of my phone before he hung up. I knew he couldn't say too much more so that he wouldn't be linked to what I was about to do and he also didn't want to give away too many details since I already knew what and where the spot was.

Turning to Ray, I tapped him twice to get his attention before nodding over to the unmarked car that he had arrived in, signaling him that it was time to go. He quickly got up and cleaned off any trace of the cocaine we had been previously snorting from the table before we both began to make our way over to the vehicle.

Although I had been more fucked up, I had to drive due to Arion not trusting many people to know where his warehouse was located. He was very particular about who could and couldn't know his whereabouts, especially after the situation with Tiarra.

The drive there was quick, taking no longer than twenty minutes before we pulled into the lot of the abandoned looking warehouse with all of the windows tightly boarded up and the grass out in front overgrown and unkempt. "You sure this the place?" Ray asked, his face scrunched up as he took in the sight of the building. There weren't any cars but ours outside and all that could be heard was the sound of mother nature.

"Get out nigga." I answered as I shut off the car and tossed him the keys before climbing out with him following suit after a bit of hesitation. I couldn't lie and say that I wasn't weirded out too since usually there might be a car or two parked maybe a block away, but this is where I was told to meet him so I continued my trek up to the front door of the structure.

Knocking in a specific rhythm, the door creaked open not even a second later and I did a quick glance back at my friend, informing him with my facial expression to just follow my lead. The both of us stepped inside and were greeted with a tall suited man with sunglasses on as if he was a part of the Men in Black. I wanted to ask him if he knew that he was inside but bickering with a seven foot dude wasn't what I came here for and I had bigger things to handle today.

The male never uttered a word as he led us throughout the building, leaves and gravel that had been swept inside by the wind over the years crunching underneath our feet. We turned the corner and as we came up on the first door, the obvious bodyguard stepped aside as his eyes remained straight ahead of him instead of at us. "He's in there." His deep voice echoed through the vacant hallways, the first time I had heard him speak since we've been here.

Grabbing ahold of the rusted doorknob, I gave it a slight twist causing the heavy metal door to swing open, revealing Arion who sat at a desk inside of a room that looked like it was the only one that had been refurbished since this place had went out of business years ago. Ray and I stepped inside, the door instantly slamming shut behind us causing him to jump and look back to see that we had been closed into the room.

Arion's face read expressionless as he glanced from me to Ray then back at me before a grin suddenly broke out on his face. "My nigga." He finally spoke, standing from his seat to reach over and dap me up before averting his attention over to my plus one. "Who's this?"

"Don't worry, you can trust him. This is my boy Ray. He's helping me with the little dilemma I've been telling you about." I replied as Ray immediately reached out to shake Arion's hand and after a bit of hesitation, Arion returned the gesture.

He sat back in his seat as one of his eyebrows raised in curiosity. "Yo baby moms?"

"Yea, after we went to court and everything, I had him follow her to find out where she was staying and can you guess who she was staying with?"

Arion let out a low chuckle and shook his head. "Another nigga?"

"Another fucking nigga." I had barely allowed him to finish before I was answering my own question, beginning to seethe just talking about it. "I'm sick and tired of this bullshit. I go through all that shit to off the lil' boyfriend she thought she had before and the first thing she does is go hop under another nigga? I'm starting to think these niggas aren't the ones that's the problem."

Arion moved his head from side to side in amusement as he raised from his seat once again, but this time making his way over to a large cabinet like area and swinging open the door to reveal a large black duffel bag. "Maybe the problem was never the niggas to begin with." He retorted after a few seconds of silence before turning back around to us and nodding over to the bag. "That's gon' have everything y'all need and I mean everything. And if y'all get caught—"

"I know, I know. I never heard of you."

He gave me a slight nod before glaring at Ray who hadn't said anything since we stepped into the warehouse. "That goes for you too lil' nigga." Arion added, his tone menacing and laced with suspicion at Ray's silence.

"Oh! No—yea, I know. If we get caught, I don't know shit. I'm not 69." He replied quickly, referencing the rapper who had been getting the jokes all over Twitter for snitching so he could lessen his sentence.

Arion seemed satisfied with the answer, allowing us to head over to the duffel bag and take a look inside. Guns were the first items that had came into view once we pulled the zipper open, the various black metals shining against the lighting from inside of the room. Of course, he hooked us up with untraceable bullets which was an addition that I had to pay a pretty penny for but knew that it was worth the extra money put in.

Closing up the bag, I looked back at Arion with a satisfied smirk. "I appreciate this. Hopefully this will be the last time that I gotta do some shit like this." I tossed the strap of the large black bag over my shoulder before dapping him up once again and exiting the building with Ray in tow.

***

Ray and I sat outside of the light bright nigga's house where Simone had been staying ever since she left her last boyfriend's place. She was smart not to stay there, I'll give her that much because I checked the home a few times to be sure that she hadn't moved back in and each time, I had came up empty.

It was hard to track someone who had cut off all communication with you so taking her to court was the only way that I could figure out her whereabouts for the last month and a half.

The lights were on in the house letting me know that there were people inside as we had waited for the perfect opening to execute my plan. All of this shit was going to end today, whether Simone liked it or not. I was officially done with the back and forth that we were doing; it was all becoming too tiring for me.

Ray tapped my arm causing me to break away from my thoughts and look over at him just as he pointed towards the house, his eyes never wavering from it. My eyes then followed suit and I noticed there had been two people hovering near the front door that was now open. I couldn't see much but movement yet since it had been growing darker outside, but I was sure that the two figures were a male and a female.

They hugged for a little longer than one would normally hug someone before exchanging some inaudible words as the woman raised to her tip-toes to place a light kiss on the male's cheek. She then began to walk towards a cab that was parked on the side of the road, tugging a large suitcase along with her as she neared closer to one of the street lights that had came on some time ago.

A smirk immediately played on my features as the lighting illuminated her face, allowing me to see exactly who now looked like she was leaving the home—and by herself too. This was almost too perfect. I turned back to Ray and gave him a slight nod as an answer to the questioning stare he was now giving me.

"Get ready."

Bree

Placing a light peck on Xae’s cheek, he grabbed me gently by my neck and pulled me down to press his lips against mine as they moved in sync together. I loved that he never just settled for a kiss on the cheek; he wanted to feel my lips on his own.

I smirked into the kiss and placed a few more pecks on his lips before slowly pulling away, a look of admiration playing on my features just from seeing how handsome he was. His lips were soft and moist, his brown eyes were decorated with gorgeous eyelashes, and his freckles coated his face sexily. He was damn near perfect.

"I'll be back baby." I spoke as I pressed one last kiss to his lips before grabbing my phone and my purse off of the counter. "My cousin wants to meet for lunch to talk about her role in the wedding. Since it's moved up, a lot of people weren't able to clear their schedules for it in time."

I turned back around to see him shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. "I don't really care about having a huge wedding, I just want you to be my wife and have my baby already."

A small smile graced my face as I approached him once more, wrapping my arms around his neck and sensually pressing my lips against his pair. "I love you. So much."

"I love you too, baby." He responded with a light pat to my ass. "Now, hurry up so that you can come back to me. I'm gonna be bored over here."

I slightly rolled my eyes, knowing that the only reason he wanted me to hurry back was because Simone had left earlier so the house would be practically empty with me gone. I'm not sure why she left so suddenly but I wasn't going to complain either. Xae and I finally had the house to ourselves again and we didn't have to walk on eggshells to appease to anyone else.

Hiking my purse onto my shoulder, I waved goodbye to him before exiting out of the house and making my way over to our car. As I approached the window, I did a quick check on my appearance and fixed my hair up a bit. My attire was pretty basic; a simple black off-the-shoulder shirt tucked into some light washed high waisted jeans, compliment by some black sandals that showcased my freshly pedicured feet. My hair was down and framed my face perfectly.

After feeling satisfied with how I looked, I opened up the car door and hopped into the driver's seat, immediately igniting the engine as I threw my seatbelt on. Being that my destination was only a short distance away, I decided not to hook my phone up to the aux and instead listened to whatever was on the radio.

It was beginning to get a bit darker outside, the sky flowing with pretty colors as the sun started to set. Once I arrived at the designated house, I grabbed my purse and shut off the car before using my phone to let that person know that I was there. I didn't feel like standing outside and waiting, especially since it was getting dark.

The door swung open before I even got the chance to climb up the stairs to the front porch, revealing Antonio who had wore an expressionless face. He stepped aside and I took that as my cue to walk inside of his home, immediately making my way towards the living room since he had called me here to talk.

Once inside of the room, I reached over to give him a short hug which he quickly declined by pushing me back causing my eyebrows to instantly furrow in confusion at his sudden aggression since the last time we had seen each other. "What's your problem?" I spat, getting a bit defensive from his use of force.

"Who's baby are you carrying, Bree?" He retorted simply, his tone calm although I could tell that he was anything but.

I was a bit caught off guard by the question. "Wh-What?"

He smacked his lips, giving me a knowing look. "Don't act fucking dumb, you heard me. Who's baby are you carrying?" He repeated.

"Why the fuck are you coming at me like that when you were the one that told me to come—"

"I don't give a fuck 'bout none of that." He quickly cut me off, not bothering to hear what I had to say which caused me to scrunch up my face. "All I wanna know is if that baby is mine or not 'cause it seems like Xae thinks it's his and you're not about to be having the both of us playing father to the same child. So I'm gonna ask you one more time, whose baby are you carrying."

His tone was stern and serious making me sigh as I hung my head low, running my hands through my hair from all of the stress this whole pregnancy thing had been putting on me. "Look, I don't know, okay? But I'm ninety percent sure that it's yours. It's the only thing that makes sense. I started getting all of the symptoms a couple of weeks after we first... you know."

Antonio let out a low chuckle as he shook his head. "Do you hear yourself? You sound so fucking childish, you can't even say that we had sex. We fucked. And you're gonna sit here and tell me I'm the father to that baby then go and tell Xavier the same thing? Well, it's either he's the dad or I am. You can't have it both ways, Bree. So I'm gonna need you to fucking find out."

"It's not my fault! I kept feeling sick and throwing up, he was bound to notice and be suspicious. I tried telling him that it was food poisoning at first but food poisoning doesn't last an entire week, Antonio. I had to tell him something so I showed him the pregnancy test that I took. He just... found out." I retorted, mumbling the last part of my rant in a barely audible tone as I began to fidget with my fingers underneath his gaze.

His glare was cold and I could practically feel the anger exuding off of him. I knew he cared about this baby but his reaction to me being pregnant was nothing compared to Xae's. If Xae found out that the baby wasn't really his, he'd be crushed. I don't think I could do that to him or see the look on his face when he found out; that would break me.

"You keep saying it's not your fault, but it is. It's both of our faults and the longer you wait to tell him, the harder it's gonna be. So, either you tell him or I will but I'm not going to stand there at this man's wedding knowing what I know." He folded his arms across his chest as if to signify how serious he was about what he had said.

My heartbeat quickened and I started to panic, pacing the floor as my hands stressfully ran through my bone straight hair. "How am I supposed to tell him something like that? That I had sex with his friend and got pregnant? What do you expect me to say?!"

"THE FUCKING TRUTH!" He raised his voice for the first time since I had been there, his face beginning to turn a red tint due to how angry he had become. "I'm tired of lying to this man to protect you!"

I scrunched up my face, my head pulling back quickly in defense. "Me?! You're protecting yourself! You forgot that you're a part of this too, not just me." I screamed back as I roughly shoved my pointer finger into his chest. "And you need to stop hanging around him like you're his friend when you know what went down between us. You're making things worse."

"Oh, so now this is all my fault because I started being friends with him? You were the one who was in a fucking relationship but came to my restaurant kissing up on me when y'all were having issues. Now that y'all are good, you're trying to push that to the side like it never happened and move on with your life but newsflash: you can't. One, we just fucked again last week and two, you may or may not be carrying my kid. If anything, you're making things worse." He retorted, more livid than I had ever seen anyone before.

Rolling my eyes in annoyance, I crossed my arms over my chest and turned away from him, my back now facing him. I heard him smack his lips once again from behind me then began hearing his heavy footsteps walking away from me causing me to quickly turn back around. "Where are you going?"

"I'm not about to talk to you if all you're gonna do is act like a child. Just remember what I said. You can see yourself out." One of his hands swung back and forth in his attempts to wave me off, but I quickly made my way over to him and pushed him from behind. His head swiftly swung to face me which caused his body to be pulled along with it. "The fuck is your problem?!"

"Don't walk away from me when I'm talking to you Antonio. You know, you used to act so sweet but now I see that, that was all it was. An act." I gritted out, my head shaking in disappointment that I really fell for all the bullshit that he used to tell me before he got into my pants. It was like his personality took a whole 180° turn after that day.

I had never seen this side to him before. Hell, he made it seem like this side of him was nonexistent with the things we used to talk about. And like a dumb ass, I fell for it. He prayed on me and my vulnerability in my relationship because he knew there were problems between Xae and I. He strove off of that alone.

"Yo, Bree." He let out a hasty breath, pinching the bridge of his nose with his first two fingers. "Get the fuck out my face because I swear—"

"You swear what?!" I quickly cut him off, just daring him to finish his attempt to threaten me.

Removing his hand from his face, he stared at me in disbelief for a few seconds before pushing past me and heading towards the front door, roughly swinging it open as he stood off to the side. "Get out. And decide what you wanna do because I'm done playing these back and forth games with you."

I watched his body language, noticing that he was dead serious about kicking me out of his house. My feet stomped back over to the living room and I angrily snatched my purse up, making my way out of the house without so much as a glance his way.

If he wanted to be that way, then fine. Neither me nor my baby needs him or anything he had to offer. I was better off with Xae to begin with, I don't know why I thought the grass would be greener on the other side of the fence.

"This baby is Xae's whether you like it or not!" I called out to him, refusing to turn around and give him anymore attention.

"Yea, whatever." I heard him mumble before the front door slammed shut and I quickly hopped into the car, not even bothering to put on a seatbelt or check anything before I pulled off.

The tires screeched as the car quickly reversed back into the street all too suddenly, consequently making me run into a fire hydrant that had been on the opposite sidewalk on the other side of the street.

All of the frustration had been building up inside of me and wrecking the car was the final straw for me as my hands roughly punched at the steering wheel. "FUCK!" I let out a blood-curdling scream as I thought about all of the possible ways I'd be able to explain what happened to our car to my fiancé.

"I am in so much fucking trouble..."

Xae

I should be happy.

I got a baby on the way and in a month, I’m getting married to the woman I’ve loved for nearly three years. So why am I feeling like a part of me is missing something?

I knew that she was going to have to some time but for some reason, I didn't want her to leave. Especially to just pack up and move so suddenly like that after everything that's happened lately. I'm not even sure if I'd be able to trust her alone by herself because I don't want something to happen and I'm not there to help her like last time.

At the same time though, I do want her to learn how to be able to help herself. Through all of the talking we've done during our late night smoke sessions, I realized how dependent she was on other people and I fucked up by making myself another person that she wanted to depend on.

Don't get me wrong, it's good to have other people to depend on at certain moments when you need it but not all the time because people aren't always reliable in that sense. Anyone could switch up in the blink of an eye and leave you without a thing to your name.

So I'm proud that she left to be out on her own for once, but I also didn't want her to... I was so conflicted.

I scrolled through the various shows and movies on my Netflix account while simultaneously checking my phone for the text that Simone had told me she would give me once she was settled in at her hotel room. She had a job interview tomorrow morning at a warehouse across the street from the hotel and although warehouse jobs usually required heavy lifting and long hours, they paid good money. If she got the job, she'd be starting off at $13 an hour.

I also let her know that if she ever needed any help, not to hesitate and call me. I don't want her to be dependent anymore but I don't want her pride to be too high to ask for help when she really needed it either.

It still felt unreal that she was actually gone after over a month of living with Bree and I.

***Flashback***

Hearing shuffling coming from Simone's bedroom, my heart immediately dropped as I hopped out of my bed and rushed out into the hallway, wasting no time in busting her door open only to see her packing up her clothes.

She was definitely startled by my outburst but I, on the other hand, let out a sigh of relief once I saw that she was alright. That relief quickly turned into confusion, though, as I furrowed my eyebrows and hastily stepped further into the room. "What are you doing?"

"I'm leaving Xae." My face instantly scrunched up at her words which caused her to let out a low sigh. "Bree made me realize that it's not right to keep leeching off of you or anyone else for that matter. I'm just going to be on my own for a while—"

I immediately cut her off once I processed her words, growing angry that Bree had been so set on kicking this girl out in her time of need. I mean, I knew she felt that Simone had overstayed her welcome but damn; show some compassion at least. "So Bree's the one that put you up to this? Simone, I told you that she's just—"

"No." She quickly shook her head and halted her packing to give me her full attention, stepping a bit closer to me so that we were now face-to-face. "She didn't tell me that she wanted me to go but she made me realize that I needed to."

There was a sudden silence in the conversation as my eyebrows came together in even more confusion. "What? Why...?"

"Because Xae, I'm sick of intruding on people's lives and only making things worse for not only them, but myself too. I'm sick of having nothing to my name but the clothes on my back that ironically, I still didn't buy myself. I'm sick of letting Dominick have control over me simply because I keep allowing him to. I'm just done... and I'm tired. I lost one child and I'll be damned if I lose the other to him. If I give up now, Junior might turn into another Dom by just watching the shit he does. I've kept him sheltered from it but now that I'm not there, I just know that Dom isn't filtering what he does in front of him. My baby has too much of a good heart to become lost to the streets like Dominick has. And I'd die before I ever let that happen. So I just... I have to go."

She turned around to walk back over to her suitcase but stopped short once I swiftly grabbed her hand, pulling her back towards me. "But I can help you! I told you that, you don't need to do this on your own."

"That's just it Xae. I can never do things for myself and look where that's gotten me. I'm staying with a man I haven't spoken to since high school and his fiancé. I can never see Junior again because I lost full custody for not having a stable income or place to call my home. I just feel so pathetic right now. But I'm not gonna try and take the easy way out this time." She spoke with conviction, giving me a slight nod.

I still wanted to tell her that I'm always here and that she didn't need to leave to find a job or look for a new place to live. She could still stay with me where I could watch over her and make sure that she's ok. My mind was running a mile a minute with things I wanted to say to her but I just couldn't form the words correctly.

The palm of her hand gently rested on my chin as she instantly brought my attention back down to her, as if she had sensed that my mind was elsewhere. I had been so in my head that I hadn't even noticed the tears cascading from her eyes. Both of my hands trailed upwards to cup her face, wiping her tears away with the pad of my thumb but to no avail; fresh ones just kept falling back down. "Please don't cry..."

"I'm not crying because I'm sad Xae." She chuckled out through her tears, her hand gently caressing my cheek as she looked up at me through her watery eyes. "I'm crying because I'm happy. I'm so glad that I was able to find a friend in you again after all these years. If it weren't for you, I'd probably be dead right now and I love you for that. You're there for me regardless of what anyone says or thinks and I honestly really needed that at that time in my life." She grabbed my hands from her face and held onto them tightly, a small smile playing on her features as she closed her eyes and brushed her cheek against the back of one of them. "But now, I need you to let me go."

Those words stung and the fact that she had dropped my hands right after her statement hurt even more. I knew that things were beginning to get complicated but now, more than ever, it was hard to just let her leave like that. I couldn't just let her go without knowing if I would be able to see her again. "Well... can you at least come to my wedding next month? It would really make me happy to be able to see you there."

Her eyes raised to the ceiling as if she was thinking before she gave me a playfully knowing look. "Are you kidding? Of course I will." The smile that formed on my face was so bright, I knew my cheeks would start hurting if it went on any longer than fifteen seconds.

Suddenly, she wrapped her arms around my torso and buried the side of her face into my chest, holding onto me tightly as my arms soon formed around her own body. "Thank you for everything. I'll never forget what you've done for me Xavier."

Her gaze then shifted back upwards so that she had a clear view of my face, a few tears of my own brandishing my skin. She leaned up and puckered her lips before planting a light kiss on my cheek and pulling away to finally get back to packing her clothes.

"Do you wanna help me? I know I don't have much but I just—I wanna spend a little more time with you before I go, if that's ok."

I quickly wiped my tears and nodded, going over to the side of the bed where a small pile of her clothes were waiting to be folded and packed into her suitcase. I looked over at her busying herself with folding a long black jumpsuit.

"Simone?" Her gaze tore away from the article of clothing and over to me with a raised eyebrow. "I'm really proud of you."

***Flashback ends***

There wasn't a doubt in my mind that she could do whatever she put her mind to. She was smart and determined and after all that she's been through, hopefully had wonderful karma coming her way.

Checking the time on my phone, I furrowed my eyebrows once I realized that it was almost ten o'clock and decided to dial Bree's number to see what was taking her so long. A part of me was actually concerned and the other part was just bored out of my mind, hating how silent the house had become without the both of them here.

The phone rang all the way through until her voicemail began to play through the speakers of my phone causing me to roll my eyes. "Yo, call me back when you get this message. I'm starting to get worried about you." With that, I ended the call and went back to scrolling through the Netflix app on my TV, not being able to find anything that caught my eyes.

As I scrolled, I heard the front door unlock from my bedroom and realized that was probably the reason she hadn't picked up the phone since she had already been in the neighborhood. "Next time, that ass better pick up my call!" I playfully called out to her, earning only silence in response causing me to furrow my eyebrows. "Bree?"

My eyes averted over towards my bedroom door and I moved to stand up to check on her until I saw two masked figures standing in the doorway. I froze in my spot for a couple of seconds before attempting to dart over to my dresser where I kept a gun that not even Bree knew about. She was too squeamish about those kinds of things and claimed she didn't like violence, but I always wanted to be able to protect myself.

The two individuals swiftly moved towards me, yanking me away before I got the chance to grab my pistol and wrestled me until one of them held my arms behind my back in a tight grasp.

"Bitch ass nigga!" I heard the one in front of me scream before he sent a hard blow to my stomach, immediately knocking the wind out of me as I struggled to get out of the other male's hold. The intruder in front of me began to send punch after punch to my face and abdomen, not stopping until I could see my own blood now dropping onto the floor in large puddles.

One of my eyes had became swollen during the beating and the guy behind me let go of my arms causing me to instantly hit the ground, beaten badly and feeling like I'd vomit my stomach out any second now. "What the hell are you doing?!" I heard one of them say causing me to look up at the two of them standing over my bruised body with my good eye.

"I want him to see the face of the nigga that's ‘bout to kill him." The intruder immediately snatched off his mask, revealing Dominick. The same person I had went to high school with all those years ago and the same person Simone had been running from for months. I wanted to strangle this nigga with my bare hands but after the beating he just gave me, I was too weak to even stand up. "You wanna fuck on my baby momma, you gon' have to go through me. Yellow ass nigga."

I slightly winced as my eyebrows furrowed. "But we never f—"

I was cut off by two gunshots going off and a burning sensation shooting throughout my body as the two men quickly ran out of my bedroom. Blood had now stained my floors as I struggled to drag myself over to my bed and grab my phone to call for help. My eyesight began to become blurry and my muscles weak as I reached for my phone, my fingers roughly sending it crashing to the floor.

Once it was in my grasp, I clicked the emergency call button which instantly dialed 911. The dispatcher could soon be heard on the line as I struggled to speak through the blood that I was starting to choke on. "He—Help." I squeaked out lowly.

That was all I managed to get out before I lost all consciousness.

[princessdevy03]

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For @anybodihearme and Chicago House…

House Music

To say that Kevin was annoyed was an understatement.

The team lost their away game and as the head quarterback, it was all his fault.

Edd couldn’t come to his game because he had a swim meet to go to on the other side of the state.

This all meant that they had spent the entire weekend apart because the football team headed out for their game Friday afternoon and the swim team left first thing Saturday morning for their meet.

Despite their busy schedules, Fridays and Saturdays were schedule date days because they were assured at least a few hours to themselves to get out or just stay in and be together.

But it seemed like the schedule gods hated them both because Saturday would be more than done by the time either got back to town, so they compromised for Sunday.

Except Mother Nature had other plans.

The storm was just an early fall rain shower when it came through Peach Creek and Lemon Brook, but was a full blow thunderstorm by the time it got to Charleston.

Kevin was in Springfield trying to calm down the ravenette over the phone who spent the night in his bed and waited out the storm.

Things were quiet when Edd left for Morgantown in the morning, but then another storm system came through and hung out for the entire day and well into Sunday, dropping damn near two weeks of rain in a few hours.

And softball sized hail.

And three EF3 tornadoes.

Kevin was grateful that Edd wasn’t at the school by himself when all this was going on because he knew that no one would be able to deal with him if he had to ride that mess out by himself.

But it cut into their communication as cell towers were down and the authorities were asking people to conserve their data for emergencies only so they could use the working towers themselves to help people who really needed it, not bored college students wondering when the power and wi-fi were coming back online.

Because he hadn’t heard from him since Saturday night when they commiserated their losses over text as Edd lost all five of his races because he was just too tired from being scared shitless all night from the storm to make any headway in the water, Kevin was his own special brand of worried when the team bus pulled into town and his coach told everyone to head straight for their rooms and make their phone calls to their parents quick.

Kevin wasn’t a fan of calling the two people who cared more about how he made them look to the world than how he felt living in it.

But because the team was a family and he knew a few of the other guys parents would talk to his, especially since Charleston was trying to pick up its pieces that had been scattered by the last major storm of the season, he’d make the call and it would be quicker than quick because he didn’t care to deal with the judgment of losing at the moment.

Especially since his smart ass scaredy cat was incommunicado.

After unloading his gear into his locker, he grabbed his phone and called home.

“Kevin? Where are you?” His mother asked as soon as she picked up the phone.

“At school, we just got back in. Just called to tell you I was ok,” he sighed, trying to sound normal and not as anxious as he felt.

“Well, that’s good to hear. I’ll let your father know when he gets back in. But what happened to you yesterday?!”

Rolling his eyes and praying that his quick walk through the tunnels below the stadium would make him drop the call, even though he knew it wouldn’t, he quickly thought of what he knew was a lie, but would work as a satisfactory answer for her.

“They were just a better team, Ma. We weren’t ready.”

“I guess,” she sighed. “But you need to get them back into it this week. Your father and I aren’t coming to town to see you lose this weekend. It’s homecoming, Kevin.”

“Uh huh. Yeah, I got it, Ma, but I gotta go,” he said tersely, as he exited the stadium and headed for the dorm. “Towers and all that.”

“Oh, yes, of course. Go get some rest. Don’t let that Double Dee guy be bothering you tonight. You need to rest up.”

“Yeah, I’ll make sure my boyfriend leaves me alone,” he groaned as he damn near stormed into he and Edd’s building.

“Kevin, you –“

“Boyfriend,” Kevin said firmly as he slammed a fist on the button to the elevator, too achy to walk up the seven flights of stairs to Edd’s floor.

“You know how we feel about that, Kevin,” she snipped and Kevin promptly ended the call.

The moan he heard coming out of Edd’s closed dorm door as he raised a fist to knock on it shook him before he groaned out a laugh because he knew Edd couldn’t make a sound like that if he tried, and Lord knows Kevin has tried to help him do so.

The squeak that followed was embarrassingly adorable and he shook his head at himself for nearly ruining a moment for the poor girl Edd’s playboy of a roommate had in his bed tonight.

“God, I hope they have condoms,” he thought to himself as he trudged up another four flights of stairs to his own room, needing to shake his conversation with his mother off his weary body.

When he finally got to his room, he was ready to take the beanie-less scholar spinning around in his desk chair into his arms and ravish him senseless, but the way Edd was dressed and the way the room smelled gave him a HUGE pause.

Edd was wearing one of his long sleeved tshirts that the football team got to wear around town to promote their team and the school and a pair of blue yoga pants.

Because the orangey peach of the shirt and the blue of the pants clashed, Edd would never wear the outfit outside of his or Kevin’s room. But because the shirt was Kevin’s, he’d wear it whenever he knew the redhead would be close because Kevin seeing him in his things made him a mush and mushy Kevin was his favorite Kevin and Kevin liked being Edd’s favorite anything.

But room smelled like sex and he could hear a rough voice in the bathroom.

Edd yelped when he slammed the door and stormed over to the bathroom to see who was in the shower that just shut off, only to have Rolf curse him out in what Edd had been telling him for years wasn’t his native tongue, but dialectic, and Ang was ready to kill him.

When he came out of the bathroom, he was more embarrassed than he had ever been in his life, and that includes crying during his first time with Edd.

Edd was still curled up in his chair when he was shoved out of the bathroom, the quilt Kevin’s grandmother brought over from Ireland wrapped around him making him look a bit like a shaman, his wild, dark hair peeking out from the bit of quilt on his head, his eyes dark and thoughtful.

“Uh, Edd?”

Edd didn’t say anything, just merely pointed a finger at Kevin’s bed.

When he sat down on his bed, he noticed that the bed next to his was unmade and Ang’s pink Nike duffle bag was next to it, a ripped open box of condoms on top of it.

“Oh, God. Edd did you…?” He asked quietly.

“No, they were sleeping when I got here,” Edd said as he stared at the wall. “I took a shower and changed and began working on my studies while I waited for you. They only woke up about twenty minutes ago.” Then he turned an angry gaze on the sheepish man on the bed in front of him and said in a hissed whisper, “What in God’s name were you thinking storming in here like that?!”

“That my boyfriend was wearing his this doesn’t leave my room clothes in a room that smelled like sex with someone in the damn bathroom!” Kevin exclaimed, desperate to be believed and understood.

Rolf and Ang came out of the bathroom, at this exact moment, their clothes looking a bit rumpled from dressing so quickly in the small space and Edd’s head dropped on an exasperated sigh.

Ang grabbed her bag, jacket, and shoes and ran out the door, Rolf not too far behind.

When Rolf slammed and locked the door behind him, Kevin turned to see Edd with his hands cupping his face, blue eyes hurt and angry.

“Edd, I –“

“How could you?!” Edd asked, flabbergasted that Kevin would ever think that he would cheat on him, let alone in his own damn room with a roommate dating the biggest know it all on campus.

“I…I dunno,” Kevin muttered as he looked at his hands that threw four interceptions in the first quarter alone in the game the day before.

Edd flew out of the chair and the quilt fell to the floor as he shoved Kevin back onto the bed and straddled him, jabbing a thin finger in his chest.

“Don’t you dare ever think that I would do something like that to you!” He all but screamed at him. “I love you too damn much to do that, you know that, Kev!”

“I’m so sorry, Dee,” Kevin whispered, wanting nothing more than to make the hurt in Edd’s eyes go away. “I didn’t mean it, honest!”

Edd wrapped a shaking fist in his collar to hoist him up nose to nose and did his best not to cry as he said, “If I ever cheat on you of all things, I will be in jail because I will kill you dead for doing something that would make me want to do that in the first place!”

Then he shoved him back on the bed and ran a shaky hand through his hair as he collapsed into the chair again and rolled halfway across the room, sweeping up the quilt made with love, but didn’t love them.

A budding friendship in middle school was encouraged as Kevin needed a level headed peer to help keep him out of trouble and Edd could use the cool points being friends with a popular guy like Kevin provided.

But puberty is confusing and feelings that were being sparked by silly gapped tooth grins and cool smirks couldn’t be denied.

What was done in the darkness came to light and in an effort to seem tolerant, their relationship was okayed by family and friends alike, but reality was far colder.

Eddy didn’t trust Kevin at all and Ed only wanted to see Double Dee happy, keen on making sure Kevin made him smile all the time to both Kevin and Edd’s chagrin.

Nazz was perturbed that her chance with the boy next door was shot all to hell and stopped speaking to Kevin for weeks, doing absolutely nothing to keep their other popular classmate’s cruel behavior at bay until shit came to a head and Kevin got suspended for kicking the boys track captain’s ass for pushing Edd to exhaustion during gym.

Kevin was suspended for two weeks; one week out of school and one week in, leaving Edd to essentially fend for himself. Even with his like named friends help, and mostly because of it, the target on his back grew, so Rolf stepped in and his new girlfriend from the city became Edd’s bodyguard of sorts.

The farmer didn’t understand why Casanova Kevin was falling all over himself for the smart, but still exceptionally dorky Double Dee Ed Boy, but if Kevin was happy and Edd was happy, he was happy for them and would stand with them because people should be happy.

And his girlfriend loved to give people a good old fashioned whatfor when it came to things that were really no concern of theirs.

When Edd snapped on Marie for trying to flirt with him during the long two weeks Kevin wasn’t around, it was the final nail in the coffin for the love she had for him. Especially because it put the entire school on notice that what he and the hottest guy in town had was real after Kevin made a long Facebook post about how his dork was the best boyfriend in the damn place for finally putting Marie in hers.

What shocked everyone was that Marie actually respected it and left him alone in the sense that she didn’t flirt with him anymore, but didn’t mind messing with people who messed with him.

Seeing her neighbors and a new girl step up to help the one guy she knew wouldn’t hurt a fly and didn’t deserve to be so mistreated just because of who he was, Nazz called a truce of sorts, and the bullies back down.

But home wasn’t home anymore.

Edd’s parents casual disregard for their son didn’t change and they looked at Kevin as a leech at best, thinking he wanted nothing more than Edd’s smarts and allowance, as they were one of the better off families in town.

But his work ethic in school, on the field, and at his stocker job at the candy store, opened their eyes a bit to who he really was, so they left the issue alone to the point that they barely spoke to the boy when he was around and let it be known that their lawyer would handle any issues that came up.

Edd never got to have dinner with Kevin’s parents on Sundays like Nazz and a few of his other ex-girlfriends once did, his invitations to the house were only during publically acknowledged holidays. And even then they were treated as buddies who were a bit too close, not the lovers they are.

When Kevin got his scholarship, he thanked Edd first for not only his help in making sure he studied and did his best in class, but for believing he could do it when no one else did.

And their relationships with their family and friends became like flashbacks in movies because of it.

Rolf and Ang stuck with them, everyone else made their way to the sidelines to wait things out.

When Edd took a grant to come study at the same school and not the private research university in North Carolina his parents met at and graduated from, Kevin shook him, then hugged him and cried.

Ang would tease that he didn’t want to have to break new friends in, but they all knew the truth.

He loved him.

What college never prepared them for was the social life they would have to build away from home.

The cute hotshot QB spent most of his time shaking off tittering sorority girls, while the budding scientist had to make sure his guard was up against cold eyed bad boys who were just as athletic as Kevin, smooth talking smart girls who liked to make him blush, and infatuated TA’s who were blown away by how smart he was.

It was as if everything that attracted them to each other was now trying to rip them apart.

Because their academic lives were spent on the opposite sides of campus with Edd in labs and Kevin in gyms, meeting in the middle became their thing.

They would take lunch in the student union at the center of campus, do all of their shopping together at the Wal-Mart in town, study sessions in the library in full view of everyone put them on all kinds of radars, most positive, some not so much.

Most got the point after seeing them canoodle all night in a dark corner at a house party during the football team’s bye week.

Ang would spend the rest of their college careers telling off the rest and loving every second of it.

But tonight, when he’s tired of the judgmental words and looks, tired of trying to be everything for everyone who really doesn’t care about him, tired of worrying about him and them and just wanting it to all be ok for once, he drops the ball.

Hard.

Hearing him sniffle broke his heart, but if there’s one thing Kevin can do, he can do for Edd.

He got off the bed and slowly walked to the dresser Edd was sitting in front of, curled back up in the quilt and wiping his eyes.

The wind whirled outside and Edd went stiff, which made it easy for Kevin to pick him up and carry him to his bed.

He laid him down and pulled him into a cuddle as he said, “I’m sorry, Baby.”

Edd knew he was because the sincere remorse in his eyes from his first apology that night told him that he knew he had messed up.

But what Edd truly wanted to know was why Kevin would truly think such things in the first place.

Redheaded tempers aside, he wasn’t one to come flying in the room the way he did unless something on the other side set him off and then the domino effect of Edd’s clothes and now only slightly pungent sent of sex in the air made things worst.

Kevin was mad and then he was sad and scared, and now he’s just so sorry and Edd’s at a loss.

“What happened, Kevin?” He asked, desperate of answers to make things right with them again.

The ringing of Kevin’s phone made his heart stop, but the odd ring of the room’s phone and knock at the door had him confused.

The familiar ring tone Kevin had assigned to his father echoed around the room as the ring from the room’s phone blared and the knocking on the door got louder.

“Don’t answer that,” Kevin said in a tone that meant that he was trying to spare Edd’s feelings at what could be on the other line as he yanked his cell phone out of his pocket, walked to the small table the room phone was on and then headed to the door.

Only the athlete’s had phones in their rooms just in case, and they rang normally if someone on campus was calling. The ring was just a bit off if it were off campus.

And the only people to call this room from off campus were Rolf’s and Kevin’s parents.

He yanked the door open and gave a curt, “Yeah?” to everyone who wanted his attention at this very moment.

“Parents?” The assistant offensive line coach asked and Kevin nodded. “Ok, get some rest then,” the coach sighed and Kevin cocked his head as Edd set up a bit straighter in the bed wondering what the man’s weary sigh meant. “We might not be having morning conditioning because power is out at the gym right now and they don’t know when it’s going to be up again because it isn’t an essential building. Keep your phone on and we’ll keep ya posted, ok?”

Kevin gave the man a quick shrug and the coach chuckled as he walked away.

When the jock stepped back into the room and closed the door, he slid to the floor and closed his eyes as two people who honestly cared more about an image that the no one but them cared about checked back in with him.

His mother was in his ear to listen to his father and his father was hammering him in the other with the same “What happened?!” questions his mother had.

That his coaches and teammates had.

That Edd had.

That he had for himself.

To be honest, the freshman quarterback was overwhelmed and not used to being on such a big field so far away from home with no real support on the sidelines or in the stands.

His parents just couldn’t come.

His friends in the cul-de-sac had their own school and work duties to attend to.

Ang had to work and Rolf was her ride as her car was acting up and both Rolf and Kevin were too busy with school and their sports teams to really devote much time in fixing it.

And Edd was on the other side of the state fighting his own battles that he couldn’t win.

Every toss of the ball was just him throwing his shot out to the world and missing. And what the world volleyed back hit him in places that were so deep and dark that he wondered if he’d ever be okay.

Edd watched him from the bed as he drew further and further in on himself with every murmured, “Uh, huh…Okay.”

He silently got up and went to his laptop and brought up a Spotify playlist that got him through many a study session, but would also bring clarity to his mind when he was just overwhelmed and stressed out from it all.

It would also be the soundtrack to many makeout sessions with his boyfriend and on a few occasions tune their afterglow.

As the wind blew outside the window, he turned down the volume of the jazz playlist he had going because the bass of the new playlist didn’t need the volume the more brassy playlist did.

Then he closed his eyes and waited.

As the soothing sounds of the house music that made his house a home, made their rooms just a bit more cozy, and whose soothing tones eased their worries away, they both relaxed.

Edd only barely registered the beep of a phone disconnecting a call. Some shuffling let him know Kevin was up and moving around the room so he was feeling better which was more than Edd could ask for considering the weekend he had.

They both had.

When the chair spun around, his arms flew open and so did his eyes.

And in them Kevin found the understanding he had been craving for the past thirty two hours.

Arms wrapped around bodies and lips connected as they tumbled back to the bed.

But Kevin was still holding back and Edd wasn’t having it.

He arched his back and squirmed into Kevin’s touch, silently pleading for more, but Kevin’s response was slow and light like always.

“Kevin,” he managed to moan as kisses left his mouth and started tenderly down his chin and neck.

He caught a light snicker but knew better.

Grabbing the redhead’s face, he looked him in the eyes and said, “Don’t hold back.”

Kevin looked at him in shock, but the pleading look in Edd’s eyes was easing some of his worries away.

But only some.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” the redhead whispered, scared out of his wits at Edd’s request because he knew what he wanted, but wasn’t sure if the ravenette could take it.

“You won’t,” Edd giggled, a bit surprised at himself for encouraging him, but knew Kevin needed this.

“Edd.”

“I trust you, Kev,” Edd said as he leaned up and nuzzled his neck, lightly kissing the pulsing vein that resided there as Kevin bit back a whine. “Please. You need this.”

“I need you.”

“Then take me.”

Edd barely had time to gasp before their pants hit the deck, a shirt and hoodie quickly followed.

Shaking hands found lube and a condom, but a steady finger found the one place in Edd that completely stopped his world.

“Baby, breathe,” Kevin ordered and Edd’s chest heaved in response.

When his breathing came back to a level Kevin was comfortable with, the hand that did so much wrong yesterday made Edd feel so right.

He buried his face in Kevin’s neck to muffle his strained moans as the redhead pushed himself inside, while the redhead growled into the pillow.

The muffled moans slowly eased into breathy pants of pleasure and whines of need and something in Kevin started to break.

As he slowly moved, Edd only barely moved back, but he gripped his shoulders and kissed his ear as the bass of the music resounding around the room matched their pounding heartbeats.

Each song’s rhythm was never ending thrumming beat that Kevin’s hips quickly matched, and soon, so did Edd’s as Kevin’s grip on them controlled his movement and Edd could do nothing more but comply to a situation he damn near begged for.

As his back arched, the only thing keeping him anchored on Earth was one hand under the headboard.

The other was slapped over his mouth to muffle his gritted screams.

The visual was an ego boost to Kevin’s busted self-esteem.

He was the one that was making Edd feel this way.

He was the one that could drive the quiet, conservative dork to a place where he was begging to be touched in a way that only someone with special permissions could do so.

Kevin would always have the permission; he just had to take it.

The ball of emotions in his soul cracked when Edd grabbed the bed with both hands and bit his lower lip on a scream.

As that lithe chest heaved again and again, thin fingers reached to grasp Kevin’s wider ones on his hips.

Then he moaned.

And Kevin lost it.

Edd held on as he was pounded into oblivion, barely registering what Kevin was saying as the wound up jock watched his dick jerk in and out of his ass and Edd’s own leaking cock bounce on a belly sculpted by a three times a week Pilates regimen that Kevin thanked the Sexy Flexibility Gods every time they made love for.

“Fuck, you’re so perfect.”

“Jesus, Edd. You’re so fucking hot like this.”

“Ass so tight, I could cum just looking at you.”

“Fucking shit, I’m gonna scream if you don’t quit.”

The wind blew hard enough to make the lights flicker, but Edd was too far gone to notice, let alone care.

Thunder shook the building, and Kevin shook Edd.

Lighting flashed outside and their glazed over eyes met for the tiniest of milliseconds.

Hard green that had been so frustrated had given away to a soft emerald that only wanted peace and affection.

Bright blue held all that he had ever wanted and more.

Sheets of rain fell and Kevin barely heard the faint whisper of his name as the power went out and Edd sat up and moaned out, “Oh, dear Gawd!”

Thankfully, his laptop wasn’t connected to anything but the wi-fi and though it went out with the power, the music played on, as it had been downloaded to his computer and would stream on no matter what happened.

So all anyone heard besides the frightened screams of silly co-eds, was the music of others who’s playlists were like Edd’s.

But Kevin didn’t care.

Edd clinging to him as he shook them both harder than the wind blowing outside and moaning his name over and over again was all he cared to hear.

Ever.

When they came back to Earth, the power came back on and everyone in the building cheered.

Except for them.

They were a bit too busy making out to notice anything but the man wrapped up in his arms.

Right up until a crack of thunder helped segue another heart pumping song.

Edd yelped and Kevin held him tighter until he started breathing normally again.

“Wanna shower?” Kevin cooed as he pulled out of him and Edd nodded tightly as the act sent another rush of endorphins over him, making the crick in his back spark a bit in pain.

They sat on the floor of the shower, as standing wasn’t feasible for either of them.

Kevin playfully gave him a shampoo Mohawk, and Edd scrubbed away the sex and sweat, the aches and pains from their athletics, and as they lay in a steamy afterglow, things felt fresh and new again.

Edd insisted they get out before they fell asleep, Kevin countering that the only difference between his bed and the shower was that one was wet and the other was dry and being in a wet space with Edd was always nice.

Edd could do nothing more but groan and shut off the water, making his point loud and clear.

As they cuddled up in the small bed, the music turned down low enough not to bother the neighbors but still loud enough to drown out the storm, Kevin whispered so many I love yous against his forehead.

The sweet gesture warmed Edd’s heart not only because he loved to hear Kevin say those three little words to him like that, but because he was showing it, too.

Wrapped up in all the sheets and blankets, the warm quilt that always smelled like Kevin in top of them, he felt safe and warm.

But the whispers meant the redhead was looking out the window and keeping an on the storm outside that scared him to his core.

He knew it was an irrational fear, but being in love with Kevin was even more irrational by most people’s standards.

So he would take the love that felt as natural as the rain pouring out of the sky at that moment and let it comfort and protect him from the world that wanted nothing more than to scare him into perpetual hiding.

“I love you, too.”

Four words that made the world right again.

Four words that brought peace to his soul and affection to his being.

Four words that he would fight the universe herself to keep, but knew that as long as he came to where he was, he would never lose them.

But Edd came to him tonight and it made him fall in love with him all the more.

He was there and he was his.

The music and the rain lulled them to sleep and when the new day broke through and Kevin headed to morning conditioning with the football team, a promise was in his ear as song ran on repeat in his heart.

“I’ll be here when you get home.”

Be yourself, you gotta be yourself and no one else…

[actualbird]

(wc: 2.2k. more tagalog! more pining michael! babysitting! baking! part 1. part 2. or read everything on ao3 over here.)

To heerefarwhereveryouare

:(((((((

From heerefarwhereveryouare

??? What’s up?

To heerefarwhereveryouare

dude super sorry but i gotta cancel on the star trek marathon emergency thing came up in the form of Responsibility

From heerefarwhereveryouare

Awww. What do you mean?

To heerefarwhereveryouare

a couple of relatives had a thing that led to a thing and they need somebody to take care of a thing that somebody is me that thing im taking care of is a 7 year old aka im babysitting my gremlin cousin today :((( :(((((((((((

From heerefarwhereveryouare

Oh, okay. Can I come over? We can still hang. Plus, you’re kind of terrible with anything that can be defined as a child, so I’m a little worried.

To heerefarwhereveryouare

im not that bad :(((( but yes pls get over here oh my god

From heerefarwhereveryouare

Alright, I’ll be there in a few. Turn that :( upside down (:

-

Michael admits that he finds kids confusing, but he really isn’t that bad with them. He just doesn’t know how to interact with kids, but that’s him with almost everybody. If it’s a non-Jeremy lifeform, chances are he really has to focus to understand anything that’s going on, or just wing everything completely and hope nobody gets injured.

Nikki is definitely a non-Jeremy lifeform.

Nikki is a tiny seven year old terror with at least five colorful clips in her hair at a time. It took at least three family gatherings for her to tolerate Michael within a three meter radius of her, and two more to actually talk to him. Tita says she’s just naturally shy around new people, so Michael tries to relate to her, but most of his attempts are met with head tilts, suspicious squinting, or, when she gets more comfortable around him, derisive comments.

(“It’s broken,” she tells him in Tagalog, waving the Game Boy Color in Michael’s face. “I can’t see anything.”

“It doesn’t have a backlight, so you have to play it somewhere well lit,” he explains.

She frowns, “That’s lame.”

Michael would rather an axe to the face than anybody dissing his Game Boy Color.)

Suffice to say, he’s thankful that at least he won’t be dealing with her alone today.

“Hey, dude,” Michael greets Jeremy at his front door when he arrives. “Thanks for coming.”

“No problem,” Jeremy says, stepping in. “Where’s your cousin?”

“Living room,” he answers. “Just a heads up, she doesn’t speak much English. She can understand it, yeah, so you can relax, but she only speaks a little..”

“That’s alright,” Jeremy shrugs, walking into the living room.

Nikki is sprawled out on the couch in the living room with the kind of defiant pettiness all kids under ten seem to have, swiping disinterestedly on her ipad.

“Yo, Nikki, my friend is here,” Michael calls out. Immediately, Nikki jolts, whipping her head to Jeremy before shyly ducking behind a throw pillow like a cave goblin seeing light for the first time. “Say hi.”

Nikki, obviously, does not say hi, but Jeremy isn’t deterred.

Jeremy sits on the opposite end of the couch and says in a soft, gentle voice, “Hi, I’m Jeremy. What’s your name?”

Puzzled, Michael says, “I just told yo—”

“Nikki, po,” she says softly, eyeing Jeremy over the pillow.

Michael blinks.

“Nice to meet you, Nikki. I like your clips.” Jeremy says, and Nikki actually smiles, raising the pillow up higher to hide it.

“Salamat po,” she says, fiddling with one of her clips that has a tiny cupcake on it.

“Uh, she said ‘thank you’,” Michael translates when Jeremy glances at him, slightly dazed at whatever is going on here.

“You’re welcome. Do you like baking?” Jeremy asks, and Michael is pretty sure he just ended up in another universe because Nikki shoves the pillow down and grins brightly. “We can make something today, if you want?”

“Yeah!” She says, turning to Michael. It’s almost terrifying seeing her smile in his direction. “Kuya Mikey, can we? Please?”

“Wh—Uh. Okay. Sure.” Michael says off of Jeremy’s meaningful glancing and eyebrow movements. “Let’s go check if there’s stuff in the kitchen.”

“Yay!” Nikki cheers, hopping off of the couch and running to the kitchen.

What.

“What,” Michael says to Jeremy’s smug looking expression. “What did you do? Oh my god? Are you some magic kid whisperer or something?”

“It’s not magic,” Jeremy rolls his eyes. “Kids just like doing what they like. Have you only ever tried to talk about video games with her?”

“Yeah but—”

“Not everybody likes video games,” Jeremy says, which, duh of course Michael knows. It’s weird, and he can’t really process it but he knows. “Some people like baking, Mikey.”

“Shut it,” Michael grumbles. “Keep it up, though. I haven’t seen her look anything other than bored or unimpressed, so as weirded out as I am, this an improvement.” Michael leans dramatically against Jeremy. “What would I ever do without you, Jeremy Heere?”

“Probably crash and burn,” Jeremy laughs. “Dude, get off.”

They walk into the kitchen where Nikki is standing, blinking up at cupboards she can’t reach, probably figuring out that this is not her house and that she has no idea where anything is. She turns to them expectantly.

“Okay so,” Michael opens a cupboard. And another one. And another. Just when he’s about to give up, he hits jackpot. “Bingo! We’ve got some brownie mix leftover from the last time we, uh—” Jeremy elbows him the side. “—the last time we made totally normal regular brownies.”

“Are you okay with making brownies, Nikki?” Jeremy asks in that terrible, horrible, no good, very bad soft voice of his that’s starting to make Michael dumb and fluttery.

“Yeah,” she nods enthusiastically, looking at Jeremy like he hung the stars. Which, okay, he can relate to.

“Okay. Michael can you get uh,” Jeremy reads the instructions on the box. “A bowl, a whisk, and whatever, you know the rest. Nikki, can you fetch me two eggs? I’ll get the other stuff.”

Nikki practically bolts to the fridge, and Michael can’t help but smile at seeing her so excited. When he returns laden with a bowl, a whisk, and a brownie pan, Nikki is jumping up and down next to Jeremy, an egg in each hand.

“Here,” Michael hands Jeremy the bowl and Jeremy pours the mix in.

“Uy, wala akong makita,” Nikki says, tugging at Jeremy’s jacket.

“Sorry, uh,” Jeremy glances at Michael. “What did she say?”

“She can’t see what you’re doing,” Michael tells him, looking at Nikki whose head just barely peeks past the kitchen counter.

“Oh, well,” Jeremy bends down and lifts Nikki up much to her delight, if her delighted squee is anything to go by, before depositing on the counter. Michael’s heart clenches for some reason. “Better?”

“Yes po,” she smiles. “Salamat, Kuya Jeremy.”

Michael is speechless.

Jeremy tasks Michael with greasing the pan while he cracks one egg into the mix, doing it slowly in front of Nikki so that she can crack the next one, which miraculously ends in only a few shells landing in the mix. Jeremy lets Nikki mix everything together.

“Pwede ko pong i-try?” Nikki says, tongue dangerously close to the whisk.

Jeremy may not understand the words but he does understand that mischievous look Nikki has. He swipes the whisk away from her grubby mitts. “Nope, sorry. It’ll be better later when it’s finished.” He says. Nikki crosses her arms and pouts, which causes Jeremy to laugh, which makes her pout falter.

They pour the batter into the pan, expertly greased, if Michael may say so himself, and pop it in the oven.

“The box says it’ll take around twenty minutes.” Michael says. Nikki is crouching by the oven, staring at the brownies.

“Alright,” Jeremy says, patting his pockets. “Hey, I think I left my phone in your living room. I’ll be right back. Watch over the brownies for me?”

Michael raises an eyebrow, “They’re not gonna walk away—”

“I will, Kuya Jeremy,” Nikki says solemnly, face as serious as if she’s a bodyguard and that she’ll guard these brownies with her life.

“Thanks,” Jeremy smiles, and he leaves the kitchen.

There’s a beat of awkward silence.

Then Nikki says in Filipino, “Do you have a crush on Kuya Jeremy?”

Michael is really glad he isn’t eating anything this time.

“I—I’m sorry what?” He stutters. “What are you talking about?

“You’re always looking at him,” she grins.

“Yeah, well, you’re always looking at him too!”

“Because I like him too,” Nikki whispers.

“What? That’s not allowed. You’ve known him for like, forty minutes.” Michael says, an odd, protective feeling washing over him for Jeremy. Which is ridiculous.

“You can’t tell me what to do,” she steps on his foot.

“Ow!”

“And you better not tell him! It’s a secret!”

“I won’t, don’t worry,” Michael sighs. “I haven’t even told him myself.”

Nikki gasps, and fuck. “So you do like him!”

“No, I don’t. Shut up,” he hisses. The glint in Nikki’s eyes should’ve warned him that only trouble was to come, but by the time it dawns on him, she’s running out of the kitchen with her tiny little goblin legs.

“KUYA JEREMY,” Nikki yells, skidding into the living room, fuckity fuck. “Kuya Mikey li—”

Before any traitorous words can be said, Michael does a sick slide on the floor, catches her, and covers her awful demon mouth.

“Shut up, shut up, shut up, please,” Michael hisses to Nikki. “Please, I am not kidding, please.”

“Uh,” Jeremy says from the couch, phone in hand. “What’s happening?”

“Noth—Oh my god, ew, did you lick me?” Michael pulls his hand away from Actual Confirmed Gremlin Nikki Mell.

Nikki sticks his tongue out at him, but she looks like she maybe might have an ounce of mercy for Michael.

Maybe.

She points at Michael, “Torpe si Kuya M—.” and he covers her mouth again.

“What now?” Jeremy asks and, fuckity fucking fuck. He glances over to Michael. “What does torpe mean?”

Michael is just about to pull another lie straight out of his ass but Nikki beats him to the punch by biting him, Jesus.

“Dude, not cool.” Michael holds his hand to his chest, hoping to look sad and pitiful so Nikki won’t do anything else that’ll jeopardize Michael’s soul.

It doesn’t work. Nikki stands proud and says in straight English, “It means somebody who is too shy to say how they feel to their crush.”

Michael never thought he’d one day vividly fantasize about launching a seven year old child out a window, but here he is now.

“Okaaaay,” Jeremy says cautiously, picking up on the tension. “So what were you guys talking abo—”

“You!” Nikki says.

“YEAH, YOU AND CHRISTINE,” Michael all but screams. “Haha! We were talking about how you still haven’t told Christine how you feel yet.”

Nikki scrunches her eyebrows, “Christine? Sino yun?”

“Oh, well, I guess that makes sense.” Jeremy, oh so thankfully oblivious Jeremy just smiles sheepishly and scratches the back of his head. “I really do get shy around her, so yeah, I’m torpe.”

“Yeah, you sure are, dude,” Michael carries a squirming Nikki over to the couch and deposits her next to Jeremy. “Jer, why don’t you tell her more about Christine, yeah? I’ll go check on the brownies.”

Michael goes back to the kitchen and catches his breath. That was a close call. That was several close calls in the span of a very short time. Jeremy and Nikki are still in the living room, so this is not time to have a Jeremy Feelings Crisis. Michael takes a second to rein everything back in, then he goes to fetch an oven mitt.

Once the brownies are safely cooling on the counter, he returns to the living room. Nikki is staring adoringly at Jeremy who seems to be waxing poetic on how great Christine was when she was called to read an excerpt of the book they’re reading in class. Nikki notices Michael, and for a seven year old, she conveys quite a lot of emotion into a slight frown.

It’s a look that he interprets as sorry you like your best friend who likes somebody else. Ugh.

“Yo, the brownies are done,” Michael says, and Nikki is back to her bubbly goblin persona in a second. “But they’re still cooling so—”

Nikki runs past him.

“—so I guess you can just go anyway and burn your mouth on molten fudge, or something.” Michael says to the living room and Jeremy.  “Dude, thanks again.”

“For what?”

“For coming over, for making Nikki happy, for baking brownies with us,” Michael tells him. “I really appreciate it.”

“It’s really no problem. She’s fun, and I get to hang out with you,” Jeremy slings an arm of Michael shoulders. “What are gagos for, right?”

Oh geez, Michael thinks, suppressing his laughter. “Absolutely.”

When they get to the kitchen, Nikki is trying and failing to climb onto the counter to get to the brownies. Jeremy lifts her up onto the counter as he slices the brownies, Nikki excitedly swinging her legs back and forth. Michael watches, eyes trained on Jeremy as he happily prattles on about Christine’s really cool socks or something. Nikki meets his eyes a few times looking way too understanding for a tiny monster, and Michael just shrugs at her.

Yeah, he’s torpe as fuck, but it’s fine. Being Jeremy’s friend is enough, and he wouldn’t trade it for a dumb confession.

He’s okay. Really.

( glossary of stuff not defined in fic: tita = aunt po = it doesnt...mean anything/have an english translation. it's something we add in sentences when speaking to somebody older or with more authority. it's a sign of respect. kuya = older brother, but is also an honorific for dudes who arent actually your older brother “Pwede ko pong i-try?” = can i try it? "Sino yun?" = who is that?)