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Paige jolts into reality. “Brandon!” he shouts, upset.
Brandon on the other hand has its face light up in joy. “Paige!” He pushes his chair back and stands. “Look, I’m s—”
“No you’re not!” Paige cuts off angrily, pushing his own chair back as he stands too, slamming his hands on the table.
“What?” Brandon blinks, taken aback.
“You’re not!” Paige yells again. “You just made Leaf agree to basically not exist around you!”
“And?” Brandon laughs a bit. “Isn’t that great? The problem took care of itself! Now we can go back to being best friends again!” It walks over and tries to put a hand on Paige’s shoulder, but he pulls back.
“No, it’s not great!” he shouts, putting a hand to his chest. “Brandon, no matter what you do, Leaf is a part of me. You can’t have me without them!”
“B-but…” Brandon frowns. “They weren’t always here, right? And everything was fine before that! So if we just act like it’s like that again, we can—”
“We can’t!” Paige snaps. “Honestly, Brandon! Did you really think I would agree to something like that?” He holds himself tightly. “I’m not stupid, Brandon! I know being called Bad Brandon must’ve stung, but is it really so bad that it’s worth all of this?”
Brandon gawks, shocked at Paige’s outburst. “I—I…” it tries and fails. Then it shakes its head. “It’s…” Brandon starts to hold itself now, looking off to the side with a pained expression. “It’s… it did more than sting, Paige.” It laughs. “It did a lot more than just sting.”
Paige furrows his brows. “What do you mean?”
Brandon bites its lip and closes its eyes and sighs. “You can’t freak out,” it says wearily.
“Okay?” Paige frowns. What was happening?
Brandon sighs again and slips off his sweater. Underneath he wears a short sleeved t-shirt. At first, Paige is confused. What did taking its sweater off do?
And then, Brandon flips its arms outwards.
Paige gasps hard, eyes widening and starting to water. “Br-Brandon?” he asks, voice high and scared. “Wh—you… you didn’t—”
“I did,” Brandon huffs humorlessly.
Just below where its arms bend inwards are several small lines worth of raised skin on both arms. They look shallow, but they also look fairly new. There’s other lines of similar lengths near the same spot as these ones, but they look pretty old.
“You know, it actually stops hurting after a minute,” it says, self deprecating smile on its face. “And then that’s when you gotta do another. So,” it says blandly, “I’d say it did a little more than just stung.”
“Brandon…” Paige whispers. “I-I’m… I’m sorry…”
“It’s not your fault, Paige,” Brandon sighs, putting its sweater back on. “You would’ve never made me do this. It’s all Leaf’s fault.” It scowls. “If they hadn't pulled that cheap trick, maybe we’d all be singing Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows right now, but they did, and now that’s never gonna happen.”
“But…” Paige sniffs. “I’m so sorry that you… I-I’m sorry. But, it’s still not fair to any of us to make Leaf hide themself when we’re around you.”
“Explain,” Brandon prompts, taking a seat again and gesturing for Paige to do the same. “‘Cause I’m still not seeing how it’s not the perfect solution.”
Paige sits in front of Brandon, but doesn’t look at it. “Brandon, you’re my best friend,” he starts, playing with his hands. “You’re practically my brother. And I really don’t want to lose you. But…” He looks up at it now. “Me and Leaf are a package deal. And if part of me is making you…” Paige gulps. “Making you do… that, then… Maybe we… shouldn’t talk anymore.”
“Paige, no!” Leaf gasps. “It’s okay! I’m the one who offered to be quiet! Don’t leave Brandon just because of me!”
“I’m not going to let it pretend like it’s okay for it to just ignore you! The way I see it, you’re me and I’m you, so it either has both of us or neither of us.”
“Paige…” Brandon breathes. “Paige, no. I-I can’t lose you.” It grabs him by the arms tightly. “I can’t lose you,” it says desperately, shaking the other a bit. “I-I’m sorry, I—I don’t—I’m sorry! I just—you can’t leave me, okay!?”
Paige bites his lip. “I really don’t want to,” he repeats, “But if you can’t accept both me and Leaf without it hurting you, then…” Paige sighs, tears starting to fall again. “I guess we can leave right now.”
“I—Okay!” Brandon shouts. “Whatever you want! Just don’t…” It falters, grip loosening. “Just don’t leave me.”
Paige’s breath is uneven. “You have to mean it,” he says weakly.
“I—I’ll try, okay?” Brandon sighs heavily. “I… I’ll try. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
+++
When Carmen enters the house again, she’s greeted by the sleeping form of Brandon on one side of the couch and a texting Paige on the other. The TV is on, playing a random Pokemon episode and the both of them are sharing the creeper blanket they both loved.
“Oh thank goodness,” Carmen sighs, putting a hand to her chest.
Paige looks up. “Oh, hi Aunt Carmen,” he waves.
“Hello, mijo!” she smiles, coming over to kiss him on the forehead. “I’m so happy to see you and Brandon have patched up whatever spat you two were having!”
Paige looks away with a shaky smile. “Me too.”
“Bwhh?” Brandon mumbles, stirring. “Wh’t’s goin’ on…?”
“You fell asleep,” Paige informs. “And I’ve been texting Sue and Bro in the meantime. And also, Aunt Carmen just got home.”
“Oh…” Brandon rubs its eyes. “Hi Ma…”
“Hello, my sweet Branflakes!” Carmen beams, going over to kiss it on the forehead now. “Oh, I’m so happy.”
“Happy?” Brandon blinks slowly, confused.
“For you two!” Carmen smiles. “Both of you were so sad! It hurt my little heart to see!” She walks past them now, into the kitchen. “I’m sure Quinnsie will be just as happy to hear the good news!”
Paige looks at Brandon, who looks back at him. He can tell that the two of them have the same realization at the same time, causing them both to frown.
“Our moms must’ve been so worried,” Paige sighs.
“Yeah…” Brandon mumbles. “And you and me both know they don’t need the stress. Ugh.” Brandon bends over and scrubs at his hair. “This was so stupid. I’m so stupid.”
“It was,” Paige says with no hesitance. “But… it’s over now, right?” Paige smiles hopefully. “We can learn and grow from this and stuff, right?”
Brandon takes a deep breath and smiles back a bit. “Yeah, man. I’m… I’m gonna try and do better, alright?”
“I trust you,” Paige says honestly. “What do you say?” He holds up a fist, giving a small sly smile. “Bomb day tomorrow?”
Brandon stares for a moment, only for a grin to split across his face. It completes the brofist. “Bomb day tomorrow.”
The days amble by slowly after the two teens make up. Both Sue’s birthday and Quinceañera have passed by the time Paige can fully start to say the tension between the two of them has waned to a much more comfortable degree. It was only about a week to be fair, but it was still a whole week.
Paige and Brandon were such an inseparable bond for their whole lives that even just that one week of awkwardness was agonizing.
But! It was over now! It was over and even though Leaf hadn’t talked to him in a while, things were normal and everything was fine.
And, because everything was fine, Paige could finally relax enough to think about OJ again.
“Finally going back to your little crush?” echos in Paige’s head and he gasps, fumbling with his phone.
“Leaf!” he yelps aloud, only to shake his head and say it again in his mind. “Leaf! Where have you been?!”
“Around,” the other answers dismissively. “Don’t worry about it.”
“But…” Paige frowns. “Didn’t we agree we’d work on this together? Being better with each other?”
Leaf inhales deeply before sighing. “Yeah. Yeah, we did. Ugh.” They run a hand down their face. “Look, I’ll tell you later, okay? I don’t wanna ruin your little…” They clear their throat. “I mean, I don’t wanna mess with your mood. You were about to call nerd boy, weren’t you?”
Paige blushes a bit. “Don’t call him that,” he mumbles, focusing on his phone again. As accused, the contact information for OJ is on the screen once it lights back up.
“Go on, then,” Leaf says, making a shooing motion. “Don’t let me stop you.”
“If you’re sure…”
“I’m sure.”
Paige pouts a bit, but lets it go with a small sigh. He had to trust in Leaf if this was going to work. They would tell him what was bothering them later, he knew they would.
With that filed away, Paige taps on the call button and places the phone flush to his ear. It rings just a few times before—
”Paige!” OJ greets, sounding happy. “Hello, hello!”
“Hi, OJ!” Paige greets back, a big smile quickly finding its way onto his face. “How are you?”
“Swell!” OJ says. “Me and my mothers are about to go to a restaurant! It’s quite an event, as both of them think they can out cook any Michelin chef, so we rarely go out!” His voice grows hushed, but it’s got a playful undertone to it. “Between you and me though, I think that Outback does steak just a mite better than either of them.”
“I heard that, you traitor!” Paige hears in the distance, a hearty laugh from OJ following behind it.
“Oops! It seems I’ve been caught in my mutiny!”
“You sure have!” comes from the receiver, a lot closer this time. Paige can tell it’s Dani. “And y’know what mutinous little dudes get?”
“Ma, please!” OJ giggles, “I’m on the phone with Paige!”
“Oh? Hi, Paige!” Dani greets.
“Oh, hold on,” OJ snorts. The audio quality has a noticeable shift in it before he goes on to say, “Okay, you’re on speaker now.”
“Hi, Dani!” Paige grins.
“Hi, Paige!” Dani says again. “You’re lucky, you get to hear me giving your pal Orv the noogie of his life!”
“You’re going to what?” OJ gasps.
“I’m gonna getcha!” Dani replies easily.
And then the call is filled with the sound of parent and child laughing. The idea of what it must look like on the other side has Paige laughing himself.
OJ was always so fun to talk to, no matter what. Ohh, Paige was simply smitten.
“Out!” Paige finally hears through laughs. “Go get ready!”
“You’re not my dad!” Dani chuckles. “I’m your dad!”
“Gooo!!” OJ playfully whines. “I’m going to starve to death and it’ll be all your fault because you were too busy terrorizing me to get ready!”
“Oh, you and your theatrics!” Dani shouts, getting further away. “Fine, fine, I’m goin’! Bye, Paige!”
“Oh, bye Dani!” Paige manages before he hears the door close.
OJ sighs heavily, but it’s clear he’s happy. “Sorry about all of that, Paige. My mom can get rather… boisterous at times.”
“It’s okay! Don’t worry about it.”
“So, did you need me for something?” OJ asks. “Or was this simply a call to call?”
“Oh! Um…” Paige deflates a bit. His original plan had been to call and just talk with OJ all day, or maybe even come over to visit! But if he had plans already…
“Paige?” OJ questions, sounding a bit worried. “Did we disconnect?”
“Oh, no!” Paige says quickly. “I just—I just thought I’d call to say hi. I—You were on my mind.”
There’s a beat of silence before OJ goes, “...Was I?”
Paige can feel his face heat up a bit. “Um!” he fumbles. “You… you were!” He almost leaves it at that before realizing that maybe that was a little… weird of him. He barrels on, “So I thought I’d just call you real quick! See what was going on with you, y’know?”
“Ahh,” OJ hums. “That’s very kind of you, Paige. I really appreciate it.”
Paige giggles a bit, unprepared for the remark. “I-it’s nothing,” he says shyly. “But, um! I don’t wanna hold you up! So I’ll talk to you later?”
“Sounds like a plan.” There’s a bit of shuffling from the other’s end before he goes, “Pull your phone back.”
Paige blinks but does as instructed, gasping happily once he sees his screen. There sits OJ at his desk, a neat smile on his face. Paige scrambles to activate his own camera, managing to somehow almost drop his phone three different times in the process. His camera was on for two of them.
“You okay?” OJ asks, clearly fighting back a laugh as Paige finally gets a solid grip on his phone.
“I’m good!” Paige grins. “But um, what’s—why are we on camera?”
“I just wanted to wave you goodbye!” OJ says gleefully.
“Oh!” Paige’s smile widens. “Heehee! You’re so silly, OJ! I’ll talk to you later!” he waves.
OJ waves back easily with a simple, “See you!” before picking his phone up to end the call. Right before he does though, Paige can swear he sees the other look directly at him before winking. Before he can even think to say something, the line drops.
Paige stares at the screen until it dims, where he can then see his face’s ruby red reflection.
“This boy’s got you down bad, huh?” Leaf chuckles.
Paige opens and closes his mouth without actually saying anything back, just sputtering a bit. Leaf laughs openly at their brother now, causing Paige to shake his head and groan a bit.
“Oh, be quiet!” he pouts, but it’s playful. Leaf smiles easily at him and Paige smiles back.
This was a nice moment.
Before Paige can dwell on it for long though, his phone starts ringing.
“Oh!” the teen blinks, looking at the name that lit up his screen. “...Kevin?”
He picks up.
“Hey-hey! You picked up!” Kevin says, sounding relieved.
“I did!” Paige nods with a frown. “Are you okay? You don’t normally call…”
“Who, me?” Kevin laughs airily. “I’m—I’m good, man! I just, um…” He trails off, only to sigh a sigh so tired it only makes Paige worry more. “Look, uh… I…” The teen trails off once again before clearing his throat. “I… Are you free right now?”
Paige kicks his legs in the back of the limousine he’s found himself in, looking down at his phone. He’s currently texting Kevin as he gets closer and closer to them.
kev: but yea srry
kev: im like. u know.
Paiges: It’s okay! Don’t worry about it :) I think I’ll be there soon anyways.
kev: kay
kev: see u in a min then
Paige hums to himself as he clicks off his phone’s display. Kevin had called him not even 15 minutes ago asking him to come over before abruptly ending the call once Paige agreed. They then started texting him, thanking him and telling him Collins was already on her way.
The snow-haired teen looks out the window as the scenery passes by with a sigh. Kevin hadn’t been back to school since they were released from the hospital. It was a little worrisome to Paige honestly. That being said, they hadn’t called and neither had he, so the sudden ring had the poor boy even more worried.
“But,” he thinks as they cross the threshold into the Sharp estate, “Whatever’s wrong, at least I’ll be here for them now.”
Collins helps Paige navigate to Kevin’s room once they enter the home proper. It had been ages since he had last been here, so he would have gotten extremely lost without the help. He thanks Collins as she walks off before walking up to and knocking on the door a bit hesitantly.
There’s a quiet gasp on the other side followed by the clearing of a throat. “Come in, dude,” Kevin calls. “S’open.”
Paige nods and pushes his way in. He hopes the worry on his face isn’t as pronounced as it feels. “Hi, Kevin!” he waves, smile a little pinched. “It’s good to see you again!”
“Hey, man.” Kevin grins. They’re on their bed, rocking back and forth a bit. “C’mere,” they beckon, patting the space next to them.
Paige walks over and gently takes a seat next to them, only for him to be leaned against heavily immediately after.
“Oh!” the teen gasps. That was new. Kevin wasn’t really the touchy-feely type last time Paige checked. This was all very odd.
“Thanks for comin’,'' Kevin says after a heavy sigh. “‘Preciate it.”
Paige frowns. This really wasn’t how Kevin usually acted. What was wrong?
“Of course!” he says instead of pressing. “You’re one of my best friends. I’m always here for you.”
“Thanks,” is all Kevin replies with.
The two sit in silence for a bit, Kevin seemingly completely content to stay that way. Paige, being Paige, is willing to wait for them to say something first if they so wish.
Leaf, however, is not.
“Paige,” Leaf murmurs, sounding more worried about someone outside of the Bro Crew than Paige has ever heard him, “Do something. This is agonizing. They’re so…” Leaf falters with a deep frown. “I don’t know. Do something.”
“I don’t wanna push them…” Paige mumbles back.
“It’s not pushing if you just… ask, right?”
Paige squishes his face in thought a bit before ultimately agreeing. Kevin didn’t have to respond if they didn’t want to, right?
“Um, Kevin?”
“Mm.”
“Can I… can I ask what’s wrong?” Paige wrings his hands together. “Not that I mind sitting here with you or anything! You just seem… I don’t know, sad?”
Kevin sighs once again and Paige is about to rescind his question when they go, “I guess I am.”
“Did something happen?” Paige asks immediately, previous worries thrown away now that he knew for a fact something was wrong. “You didn’t come back to school before break started. I-I was worried but I didn’t wanna like… overwhelm you after you came home or anything…”
Kevin makes a noise that Paige can’t quite tell what it means before they slowly say, “...Pipes is outta town ‘till next week. And they’ve been here for me for this whole time, so… I miss them.”
“Oh…” Paige frowns. “I’m sorry.”
“S’okay,” Kevin shrugs. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to call you over just to be all depressed ‘nd shit. I thought having someone over would, I dunno, fix this weird funk I’m in and we’d be like… doin’ something.” They glance away. “But I’m still all weird. I feel like I just wanna lay down. For forever.” They look back at Paige with a small smile. “I do gotta say though, even if I’m like this, I’m really glad you’re still here.”
“I’ll always be here for you, Kevin,” Paige smiles back.
Kevin’s expression gets a little weird before it becomes relaxed. “You’re still too nice for your own good,” they say.
“Still?” Paige blinks.
“Eh,” Kevin smirks, “Don’t worry about it. Just know you’re good ol’ Paige.” They give him a hug and squeeze a bit before going back to simply laying against him. “Never change that, ‘kay?”
Paige nods, a bit dumbfounded, but happy that Kevin was happy to be around him.
“Sooo,” they say after a moment longer, “What’s going on with you?”
“Me?” Paige repeats.
“You,” Kevin laughs. “I don’t really have much else to fill the air with after all. And besides, I’m curious about what’s happening in PaigeLand. I feel like we haven’t talk talked in forever, man.”
Paige hums. “Well I mean… not much is going on.”
“Are you lying on purpose or do you seriously believe you haven’t had the worst couple of months of your life?” Leaf asks, eyebrow raised.
Paige pointedly ignores him.
“There’s gotta be somethin’,” Kevin prods.
“Well…” Paige starts, thinking back to earlier. “Let’s see… Did I ever tell you about OJ?”
“You mean about your awful, awful crush on him?” Kevin smirks.
Paige flushes immediately. “Um!” he squeaks. “Maybe!”
Kevin laughs heartily, lifting up. “You mentioned something back at the skate park. I remember Pipes being like ‘ohh don’t say anything! Let him figure it out himself!’ and stuff.” They smile easily at Paige. “Guess you finally figured it out then, huh?”
It’s now Paige’s turn to slump against the other, something between a wail and a groan coming out of his mouth. “Kevinnn…” he drawls, “I think I like himmm…”
Again Kevin laughs. “Yeah, I think so too buddy.”
“But!” Paige continues, “But! I-I think he likes me back!!”
“Oh shit!” Kevin smiles. “For real?”
“Yeah! You know—you know those secret admirer notes I’ve been getting?”
Kevin’s expression, for seemingly no reason, grows worried. “If what Seb told me is true, the whole school knows about your notes, buddy.” They push Paige up and hold him tightly by the shoulders. “You okay after that whole locked thing, dude? Like, really and truly?”
“You mean the stuff people put on my locker that one time?” Paige asks.
“Yeah,” Kevin nods. “Seb told me he took ‘em down ‘cause he…” Kevin trails off, shaking his head. “He took ‘em down,” he repeats. “So I know some of them were like, really shitty.”
“Oh, it’s okay,” Paige waves off. “I didn't get to see any of it really. Everyone kept telling me to get away from it before I could even process any of it.”
Kevin blinks. “No shit?”
Paige nods. “Yep.”
“Huh.” Kevin cracks a small smile. “You just stay winning, don’t you, little dude?”
“I’m taller than you!” Paige giggles.
“Semantics,” Kevin waves off. “Anyways, I’m glad to hear that. Seb’s been worried sick about it so I’ll have to tell him things are fine.”
Paige hums. “Why is Sebastian so worried?” he asks, curious. “I don’t… I don’t really know him? So why…?”
Kevin glances to the side. “You can ask him, if you’d like. I don’t think he’d appreciate me spilling stuff without his permission.”
“Ah… that’s fair.”
“He’s out now but he should be home soon.” Kevin pulls their phone over and checks the clock. “Yeah, it’s almost time.” They groan. “Mom’ll be back too.”
“Mrs. Lizabeth?” Paige asks.
“Yeah. Ughh.”
Paige’s face falls into a sad frown. “We don’t have to talk about her if you don’t want.” He can vaguely recall Kevin and Mrs. Lizabeth having… not so stellar problems with each other. He wouldn’t want to make Kevin feel worse right now, especially since she’ll be home soon anyways.
Kevin nods. “You were saying something about OJ liking you back?” they supply, clearly wanting to get back on that train of thought.
Paige nods. “We… We went to Luna Park a little bit ago, right? And when we were there, he said something that my admirer had said word for word in our notes.” He starts to get a little giddy. “And so! I think! He did that on purpose!”
“I don’t know OJ that well, but it seems like something a nerd like him would do.”
“I went to his house for Thanksgiving too!” Paige continues. “And it was—well, there was a… Something not so great happened. But! OJ was so kind to me about it…”
“Heh,” Kevin smirks. “Looks like it really is a two way street, then.”
“It is!” Paige groans. “And it sucks a little! ‘Cause neither of us are moving to cross it! And he keeps doing all these little things that I can’t tell if he’s trying to! I don’t know!” Paige buries his face in his hands and kicks his legs. “He like, winked at me today? I think?? Aaah, it’s driving me insane!”
Kevin, out of all the things they could do, laughs before patting their friend on the back. “Give it a little time, man. He’s clearly trying to take it slow for you.”
Paige pouts and blows a raspberry. “I’ve been waiting years for this! He needs to speed it up already!”
Kevin only laughs harder.
Paige loses the intense emotion after a second, sighing. “Sorry,” he apologizes. “I just… I kinda like him.”
“It’s all good, man,” Kevin smiles. Their phone then goes off in their hands and they blink, checking it. Their expression sours immediately.
“Kevin?” Paige asks, worried.
“Mom’s home,” they say blandly. “But so’s Seb. If you wanted to ask him about the locker stuff, now would be the time.”
“Will you be okay if I leave?” Paige doesn’t like the way the other’s voice lost all feeling so fast.
“I’ll take a nap,” Kevin shrugs off. “Don’t worry about me.”
“If you’re sure…”
Kevin nods. “Yeah, man. Don’t worry.” They stand and bring Paige up with them, giving him a hug. “Thanks for coming. We gotta hang out more, okay?”
“We do!” Paige agrees.
Kevin smiles. “You know what, I was actually thinking about having a little… get together soon. ‘Cause Mom’ll be leaving for like a week and I thought I’d make the most of it, y’know?”
“Ooh!” Paige smiles back. “Count me in!”
Kevin’s face is grateful as they give their friend another hug. “Awesome. I’ll text you with more details later, alright?”
“Gotcha.”
“Epic.” Kevin pulls back and looks over their phone. “Here, lemme call Collins for you. She’ll show you where Seb’s room is.”
Paige nods. “Alright!”
Time to get some answers answered.
Paige looks at the door Collins had led him to a bit apprehensively. Inside would be Sebastian who would, hopefully, have some information for him.
He holds his hand out before knocking in a peculiar pattern. Kevin had taught him it, and they said it would guarantee him access.
“Come in!” Sebastian trills, proving Kevin’s words to be true. Paige takes a deep breath before twisting the door handle and pushing inwards.
“Kevin, it’s good to see you out of b—eek!” Sebastian starts, only to stop abruptly once he turns and finally realizes who’s actually in the room.
“Um,” Paige smiles awkwardly, “Hi, Sebastian. It’s been a minute since we’ve seen each other, huh?”
“It… c-certainly has!” the other replies, holding his arms up near his chest. “Um, quick question about that, why are you here?”
“Ouch,” Leaf snickers. “Blunt guy, huh?”
“I’m sure he’s just surprised to see me,” Paige responds to Leaf. Then to Sebastian he says, “I actually came to ask you something? If that’s alright?”
“You came to my house just to ask me a question?” Sebastian asks, sounding dumbfounded.
Paige quickly corrects him. “No, no! I was here for Kevin. But I asked them a question and they said to ask you. So here I am?” He shrugs and finishes it off with a weird upturned tone, making it sound more like a question than a statement.
“I-I see.” Sebastian mutters something under his breath before covering his eyes with his hands and taking.a deep breath. When he pulls his hands back down, he clasps them behind his back and has an odd smile on his face. “Yes, well! What is it you have to ask of me?”
It was almost painfully clear he was afraid of what the question would be, so Paige just blurts it out. “You were the one to clean those notes from my locker, weren’t you?”
Sebastian blinks. “Um, yes. I did.” He tilts his head to the side a bit, expression confused. “Did I not leave a note saying as such?”
“You did!” Paige nods. “I-I mean, Sue never actually told me who’s signature it was, but your name has those initials, right? Sebastian Sharp? S.S.?” Sebastian nods. “Right. So, um… I guess I just wanted to ask why? Did you take them down, I mean.”
The already pale teenager in front of Paige somehow turns paler, a deep frown pulling at his face. “I…” Sebastian starts, looking away and taking his hands from behind his back to wring them together. “Please don’t get mad with me?” he practically begs.
Paige blinks, confused and worried. “Mad?” he asks.
“Please,” Sebastian pleads.
“Just say yes,” Leaf says, rolling his eyes. “You’re not gonna get anything out of him if you don’t.”
“Um, okay. I won’t,” Paige assures.
Sebastian nods and bites his lip before turning and beckoning for Paige to follow. He does, and the two make the short trek to a nearby porcelain table, both taking seats at one of the many comfortable chairs once there. The taller boy sits directly across from the shorter one, but he doesn’t look at him, instead, looking somewhere past him. “I have a confession,” he says, hands crossed together so tightly it looked almost painful.
“A confession?” Paige blinks.
“Yes.” Sebastian closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before rushing out, “I accidentally read one of your admirer notes once!”
It’s Paige’s turn to blanche now, mouth opening in shock. “You…?” he mumbles, a weird emotion filling him. He didn’t even know Sebastian that well! Why had he…?
“You must forgive me!” Sebastian bursts out. “It was an honest mistake! I would never do such a criminal act such as reading one’s mail on purpose!”
“Mistake?” Paige repeats, feeling a bit hazy.
“Yes!” Sebastian cries. “I thought it was trash sticking out of your locker, you see! So I retrieved it, and when I looked it over, it was actually a note addressed to you! But!” he barrels on, “But, but, but! I returned it! I couldn’t bear the thought of disrupting young love!”
“I…” Paige blinks slowly. “I mean… I got it, so…” He wants to say it’s okay, wants to push past this, wants to go home, wants to be in bed, wants—
The feeling of slipping out of the driver’s seat is sudden. It happens and then Paige can’t move his mouth or his body or anything.
So, Leaf does for him.
He clears his throat before saying in his best Paige voice, “That doesn’t answer why you took those notes down.”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Sebastian wails, “Some horrible, horrible individual found out about your notes because of me!” He grabs their hand with both of his and squeezes it. “Those notes they left, they were awful! And it was all my fault!”
Leaf looks at Sebastian with a bland face. “I don’t understand,” he says simply. The other opens his mouth, probably to try and explain, but Leaf could honestly care less about how this added up in his mind. “Look,” he says, cutting Sebastian off prematurely, “It’s fine, okay? You’re forgiven or whatever.”
“Leaf…” Paige murmurs, causing Leaf to clear his throat.
“I mean, don’t worry about it,” he corrects. “Thanks for taking the notes down.”
“Of course!” Sebastian nods fervently. “It was the least I could do! Those vile words and disgusting excuses for ‘jokes’... Hmph!” He lifts up and crosses his arms. “Nothing of the sort will be tolerated in my school!”
Curiosity burns at Leaf. He had to know. “You know, I didn’t ever actually get to see them,” he says as smoothly as he can. “What was so… vile about them?”
Sebastian’s face saddens to a degree that actually starts to make Leaf a little upset. “Oh, Paige…” he sighs. “I would never repeat such things. Let alone to the one they were meant to harm in the first place!”
Leaf huffs a bit. “I want to know,” he insists.
Sebastian's frown grows deeper. “I… don't know if I’m allowed to even say some of those things.”
Leaf groans. “Try me.”
“Let’s not push him…” Paige thinks, voice wispy. “He clearly doesn’t wanna say anything.”
“Tough shit for him. I’ve been dying to know what those notes.”
“Well, I don’t want to know,” Paige frowns. “Can we just go home? I don’t wanna be here anymore.”
Leaf bites down a growl as he rolls his eyes. “Fine. Whatever. I don’t even care.” When he looks back up at Sebastian, the other has a curled finger between his teeth and he rocks in his chair back and forth a bit, expression beyond worried.
“Ugh,” Leaf thinks before pushing himself up off the chair. “You know what?” he says aloud, “If it’s so bad you can’t say, don't worry about it.”
“Oh thank goodness,” Sebastian sighs, clearly extremely relieved. “It was truly awful. I really did not want to repeat it.”
“Yeah, I’m sure it was,” Leaf says with a sigh. “Look, I’m sorry we—I bothered you. But I gotta like, go now. Can you ask your guy to come take me home?”
“Collins, you mean?” Sebastian asks, pulling out his phone.
“Yeah, her.”
“Of course.” He taps at his phone and says, “And again, I am truly sorry for reading your mail and causing that mess to happen.”
“It’s whatever,” Leaf shrugs.
A moment passes and then Sebastian nods. “There. I have texted Collins. She’s on her way.”
“Thanks.” Leaf turns and walks towards the door with a backwards wave. “Bye.”
“Wait!” Sebastian suddenly cries, causing Leaf to turn around with a raised eyebrow. “Erm…” he mumbles, shrinking in on himself. “You… aren’t mad at me, correct?”
“You’re good, man,” Leaf assures, fighting back an eye roll. “Don’t sweat it.”
“O-okay!” Sebastian nods. “Thank you! Get home safe!”
“Bye,” Leaf says again.
“Tata!” Sebastian waves.
Leaf leaves the room, closing the door behind him and leaning against it with a sigh. What an ordeal. He pulls out their phone and gets ready to distract himself as they wait for Collins.
…Who says tata in this day and age?
It had been a while since everything went down with Paige, Brandon and Leaf. They had since patched things up pretty well and life was beginning to return to the relative normal it was used to.
Paige and OJ talked basically nonstop, OJ even talking with Leaf sometimes. He found he had quite a good liking of Paige’s admirer too. He was nowhere near “down bad” when it came to him, though. Paige…
Paige was down baaaaaaad.
Paige rolls his eyes with a smile at Leaf’s thoughts as he marks another day off his calendar. The Bro Crew’s annual gift exchange was happening soon!
Every year on the 15th they would have their own personal gift exchange, separate from Christmas gifts. Every gift exchange had each gift come with a story, some sort of explanation for why they had gotten what they did. They didn’t have to be long or anything. They were more about showing your appreciation for the other in a personal way.
Leaf hums. “Hey,” he prods.
“Huh?” Paige asks quietly, tilting his head.
“You get a gift for Brandon yet?”
Paige’s grip on his marker loosens as he blanches.
What with their fight, Paige hadn’t actually gotten Brandon his present yet!
After dressing quickly and taking a short bus ride, Paige flits about nervously in the Barnes and Noble he finds himself in.
“What are you even looking for?” Leaf asks after a while of Paige hovering around in one section.
“Poetry book…” Paige mumbles aloud, trying to grab a book just slightly out of his reach.
“Poetry?” Leaf questions.
“Yeah,” Paige sighs, dropping off of his tippy toes. “There’s one specifically that Brandon’s been eyeing for a while now. He doesn’t seem to ever want to buy it, though…”
“Weird,” Leaf shrugs. “But if he’s read so much of it, won’t he be like… mostly done with it?”
Paige grins slyly. “Heh… That’s where you’re wrong.” He’s talking quietly, not trying to gain unwanted attention, but not caring enough to not talk aloud. Besides, people mumbled to themselves all the time while trying to find books, didn’t they?
As the white haired teen passes by every book on the shelf, he whispers the name of the book aloud. As he trails along, he mumbles a, “No…” or a, “Wrong one…” or even a, “I don’t think I remember the Dewey Decimal System as well as I think I do…”
He was really focused on finding the right thing.
Paige finally stops at a set of colorful books.
“Aha!” He smiles wide. “The whole thing!”
“Woah,” Leaf breathes. “There’s like… six books in there.”
“And they’re huge,” Paige smirks, tucking the collection under his arm. “He’ll be set for a while now.”
Paige grinned himself all the way home and then some, trying to craft the perfect story in his head the whole while long. Eventually, as he’s laying down, he finally nods to himself.
He had it.
“You’re kind of unbearable sometimes, you know?” Leaf asks, rolling their eyes.
“Blah, blah,” Paige chuckles back. “You’re just mad I thought of the perfect thing to say before you did.”
“Pfftt,” Leaf scoffs. “Yeah, sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night, nerdster.”
Paige grins and holds both Patro and Teds close to him. Tomorrow would be the gift exchange. He was so excited.
“G’night, Leaf.” he murmurs.
“Good night, Paige.” Leaf replies. Paige can see the mental image of the form of the other curled up snuggly on a bed in a big blanket in front of a fireplace.
Paige smiles and sleeps easily that night.
+++
The doorbell rings and Paige lights up as he rushes to the door. That’d be OJ! He was the last one not here. Normally, they would have already started, OJ not having really been as active in the Crew as usual, but not this year!
He was just running a little late, was all.
But! That didn’t matter now! He was here!!
“Afternoon, Paige!” OJ smiles, eyes crinkling with it. He walks in and closes the gap between them suddenly, capturing Paige in a hug.
“O-oh!” Paige blinks, flustered, before returning the hug gingerly. Even though everyone else had hugged him as they entered, from OJ it just felt… different.
“Sorry I’m a bit late,” the slightly shorter teen apologies after pulling back. He still has his arms loosely wrapped around Paige’s. “Ma and I got stuck in traffic for a while.”
“No problem!” Paige nods dumbly. “Everyone else is already here! Put your coat up and stuff and you can come to my room!”
OJ nods in understanding. “Alright. I’ll be right up.”
Paige smiles in a totally not nervous way as he retreats to his room to wait for the other. He knows he’s only got a few moments before he’s following behind him, but still…
“OJ’s here…!!” he squeaked into his pillow, graciously gifted to him by Brandon when he noticed Paige’s I’m going to squeal face.
“That he is, man,” Brandon laughs now, patting his brother on his back. “You got this, playa.”
“I got this…” Paige breaths into his pillow. “I got this…!”
There’s a knock at Paige’s bedroom door.
“Idon’tgotthis!” Paige squeaks, covering his whole face again and stomping the ground a bit.
“Paige?” OJ calls from outside the door. “May I enter? You sound in distress…”
“I’m okay!” Paige smiles nervously, tossing the pillow aside as fast as he can and clasping his hands behind his back. “Come in!” he says brightly.
In OJ walks, holding a small velvet bag, black in color and with a bright golden ribbon tying it together.
“Are you alright?” he asks as soon as he steps foot in the room. “I thought I heard you scream…”
“I-I’m okay!” Paige nods. “Don’t worry about it!” He lets out a breath, voice finally dropping to its normal level. “Welcome to the gift exchange, OJ!” he greets properly.
OJ exhales before smiling, posture relaxing. “Um… Thank you, Paige. Thank you all for having me.”
“Of course,” Sue nods. “It’s nice to have you back.”
“We like seein’ your face around here,” Brandon nods.
“S-ome more than others,” Bro just barely mumbles under their breath, causing Paige to straighten.
“What was that, Bro?” OJ asks.
“Nothin’,” they chuckle. “Don’t m-ind me.”
OJ purses his lips and tilts his head a bit, but shrugs shortly after. “If you’re certain,” he says. “I hope I haven’t held up the exchange for too long.”
“You didn’t,” Brandon smiles, going over to where they had all placed their presents earlier. “I was getting kind of antsy though, I won’t lie.”
“Apologies,” OJ smiles authentically.
“Nah, it’s all good.” Brandon stops next to the stacked presents and claps his hands. “Alrighty! Let’s get this show on the road!” He holds up a box that’s plainly black, a dark red ribbon tied around it. “This is yours, right Sue?”
“Indeed it is,” Sue nods, scooping it up from Brandon’s outstretched hands.
The teen then picks up a bright orange rectangular box. The wrapping looks shiny and like it would probably feel good to roll your hands over. “Bart, this one yours?”
“Y-eah,” Bro nods, accepting the box from their friend.
Finally, a present wrapped in paper that had several Minecraft mob heads on a light background is presented. Brandon chuckles. “Gee, I wonder who’s this one is,” he jokes knowingly.
Paige smiles, fighting back a laugh. “Oh! My present!” he says, sounding very well put together. “Certainly there was no way you could have guessed that before I confirmed it!”
Brandon rolls his eyes, but he’s smiling wide. “Yeah, yeah.” He shakes the box a bit, looking a bit disappointed after the fact. “Come get your… very sturdy sounding gift,” he pouts. Was he hoping to hear something shaking…?
“Oh my god, he totally was,” Leaf cackles.
Paige has to quietly bite his lip to hold back a laugh of his own. “Thanks!” he manages to get out at least.
Brandon just sighs, picking up the last gift. It was a plain paper bag, but it was fairly large. “Everyone got their stuff then?” he asks.
A series of yeses float through the air and Brandon nods. “Alright then! Paige?”
Paige grins, nodding back. “Yep!”
He puts his gift down momentarily to grab the Gift Exchange Blanket from his closet. It was a thick comforter with present boxes printed all over it.
The other four teens step back as the host spreads the blanket out on his bedroom floor. He then grabs some pillows he had right outside his closet, them being slightly too big to all stuff in there. They were big and felt good to lay on, so they were used regularly as something to lean up against when his friends came over.
Paige pulls over four slightly beat up looking pillows and one that looks practically brand new. The four well worn ones came in the colors of sky blue, fiery red, dark red and brown. The final one is a bright orange.
“This one’s yours, OJ!” Paige chirps as the others take their seats, arranging them in a loose circle. “We got it earlier this month for you.”
OJ looks at him, eyes a bit wider than they normally were. “You got a pillow just for me?”
“Well yeah!” Paige nods as he picks up his present again and takes his seat. He pats the orange pillow, very conveniently placed next to the sky blue one he was sitting on. “Everyone has a pillow! And since we knew you were coming again, I had to make sure I had one for you!”
Something flashes in OJ’s eyes, but it’s gone so quickly Paige can’t quite discern what it was. It was very rapidly chased away by a big smile.
It’s only now as OJ sits down next to him does Paige notice he’s also wearing a very new looking backpack. It’s a deep shade of green, which struck Paige as odd. Green was definitely not the first color he’d expect OJ to pick for anything really, especially not something he’d wear as often as a backpack.
Either way, he takes it off and gently places it in front of himself before turning to his friend.
“Ready when you all are, then!” he happily announces.
Paige shakes his thoughts away and grins. “Then, let us commence the annual Bro Crew Gift Exchange!!”
The others all shout “Yay!” in various forms, from Brandon being the loudest to Sue being the most calm. Just like every year, really. Except, this time, OJ had once again joined the chorus.
It makes Paige so happy to think about.
In fact, he barely notices he’s gone silent, too busy thinking of OJ being a part of their group again. It isn’t until Brandon pulls an, “Earth to Ground Control,” while waving his hand in front of Paige’s face does he come back to the present.
“Huh?” he blinks, shaking his head once more. “Oh, sorry.” He rubs the back of his head, leaning back on the other. “I think I spaced out for a minute there.”
“You can say that again,” Brandon teases. “But, c’mon!! You know I get too excited for this to keep me waiting any longer!”
“I know, I know!” Paige laughs. “Who’s gonna start?”
“You always do,” Sue says.
“True, but OJ’s here today! Shouldn’t he start?” Paige looks towards the other, curiocity burning at him. Who had he gotten? Could it have been him? Ohh, it’d be such a coincidence that Paige doubts it a bit, but the idea was so exciting…
But, OJ shakes his head. “I’d rather go last, if that’s okay,” he says with a polite smile on his face.
“Oh, okay!” Paige nods maybe a bit too quickly.
Bro chuckles. “G-uess that m-means you’re up, Paige.”
“Okay!” the white haired teen nods. He lifts up his present and hands it over to Brandon. “Believe it or not, I got you this year!” he grins.
“Aww, a reversal from last year!” Brandon says, having been Paige’s secret gifter the year prior.
“Ahuh!” Paige giggles, also having noticed that sometime last night. “When I found out I got you, I decided I wanted to get you something really good.”
Brandon’s practically jumping out of his seat as he accepts his present. “Can I open iiit?” he asks, shaking it again near his ear.
“You called it!” Leaf laughs suddenly. “He was totally hoping to hear something when he shook it earlier!”
Paige smirks playfully. “I think you’re better off just opening it, yeah,” he offers.
“You don’t have to tell me twice!” Brandon shouts, causing everyone to laugh as he tears away at the wrapping paper haphazardly. Soon all that’s left is scraps and the long sheet underneath it, mercifully untouched since it was unreachable from above.
Brandon blinks at the large collection of books after he can finally see them proper.
“Titulations and Situations…” he reads aloud. “Parts 1 to…” His eyes widen. “6?! Paige is smiling so wide when he whips his head up. “Dude, no way!”
“Yes way!” Paige beams. “I know you were always looking at that first one, so I thought I’d get you everything the series had to offer!”
“Aww, man…” Brandon says, face contorting. He looks like he’s about to cry, but his smile is there nonetheless. “I… dude… I don’t know what to say…”
“Typically, one says thank you to something they were gifted,” Sue adds helpfully.
“Thanks, man!!” Brandon says, actually taking their advice to heart. “I mean it.” He looks at the other seriously. “Thanks so much.”
Paige sobers a bit. There was very clearly more to that thank you than for just the gift. Paige understood. He smiles easily.
“Nothing I wouldn’t do for my brother,” he says, eyes closing for a moment as he gives a thumbs up.
The moment passes shortly after, Brandon sighing contently. “Alright, I guess that means it’s my turn?”
“Oh wait, my story!” Paige gasps.
“Oh yeah!” Brandon gasps as well. “Sorry, man! I nearly forgot.” He fixes his position a bit before continuing. “Go on, let’s hear it. I know you saw me eyeing this, but what’s your full story for getting it?”
Paige claps his hands together. “Well! As I’m sure everyone here already knows, you’re a poet.”
“That I am,” Brandon nods. OJ glances at him, but doesn’t say anything.
“But not everyone knows that,” Paige continues. OJ looks away. Paige doesn’t comment, carrying on with his story instead. He could always ask OJ what that was about later. “So I thought, what’s something that I know about you that not many others do? Something you’re really passionate about, but rarely talk about?” He smiles. “And that’s when I remembered you looking at this book so often. It felt perfect.”
“It is, man,” Brandon nods, voice a bit watery. “It really is.”
The teen takes a moment to compose himself before picking up his bag. He hands it over to Sue, who takes it with a blink.
“Oh?” they ask. “I was your giftee this year?”
“Yep,” Brandon nods, leaning back. “And I think you’ll like it, too.”
Sue hums and opens the bag, pulling out several condensed looking books, as well as two things wrapped in plastic. They look over the packages, seemingly stunned.
“H-how did you…?” they stutter.
“Lani’s a good contact to have,” Brandon chuckles lightly. “But seriously, I’ve seen you talk about wanting these manga for a while now. I thought the cosplay was just the cherry on top.” He smirks. “Right, Utena?”
Sue sputters a bit, but recovers relatively quickly. There’s a bit of a blush on their face as they close their eyes with a nod. “Right,” they say stiffly. “Well, thank you. I-I’m…” They trail off, looking lost in their thoughts as they stare down at one of the packages in particular.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure Lani’s Anthy costume will fit her perfectly,” Brandon says slyly.
“Yes!” Sue says, snapping to attention. They restuff the bag with everything their friend had gifted them. “Thank you! V-very much…!”
Bro laughs. “W-why are you all flustered, Sue?” they prod.
“Yeah, and will we get your story, Brandon?” Paige adds.
“Ohh, I dunno…” Brandon says airily, leaning back on one hand as he looks over at Sue. “Do you want me to tell them about Utena?”
“You wouldn’t,” Sue huffs. “I doubt you even know the first thing about it anyways.”
“Utena is a pink haired individual who attends a uniformed school in which she always chooses to wear the boy’s outfit,” Brandon rattles off without missing a beat.
“Wh—Brandon?” Sue blinks, taken aback.
“I did my research,” he smirks, casually inspecting his nails.
“Okay, okay, uncle!” Sue says, shoulders to their ears. The blush on their face is deep now. “I don’t think everyone needs to know the story!”
Brandon laughs heartily.
Paige pouts. “Aww, does that mean no story?” he asks.
“You can always watch Utena on your own,” Brandon offers.
“You watched it?” Sue gasps.
“I do my research!” Brandon repeats, laughing this time.
“By yourself?” Sue presses.
“Lani watched a couple with me,” Brandon informs.
“I see…” They bring a hand to their chin and whisper, “So she was in on it…”
“Okay, anime nerd,” Brandon chuckles. “Your turn.”
“Y-yes,” Sue coughs, picking up their ribboned plain black box and handing it to Bro. “I do believe this is yours,” they say, a small smile finding its way back to their face.
“O-oh?” Bro blinks, taking a hold of the gift. “For m-e?”
“For you,” Sue nods, letting go of their end.
Bro holds the box in their hands and pulls the ribbon loose with one slow motion. They then pull the top off. Inside the box is…
“H-eadphones?” they ask.
“I have seen you wincing in the cafeteria for quite a while now,” Sue explains. “And it always happens when it gets loud suddenly. You used to wear headphones, but they broke sometime ago, didn’t they?”
“Th-ey did…” Bro mumbles. “I’ve been m-meaning to get a new pair f-for a while now, but I kept forgetting…”
“Well, no worries anymore, hm?” Sue’s smile is a lot more easygoing now.
“Y-yeah,” Bro smiles back. “Thanks.”
“Of course.”
“That your st-ory?”
Sue nods. “Indeed it is.”
“Alright, then.” Bro grabs their bright orange box and hands it to OJ. “Your turn.”
“Me?” OJ asks, as if he didn’t know he was the one who had the last gift.
…Wait. If OJ hadn’t given his gift yet, and Paige hadn’t gotten his gift yet…
…Could it be?
“You,” Bro says, not privy to Paige’s growing excitement-anxiety.
Oh, what did he get him? Was it something related to the notes? The velvet bag he had brought was pretty tiny.. What could it be?
“Thank you,” OJ smiles, accepting the gift graciously. He methodically rips the paper off, gasping as the gift inside made itself known.
“Oh…!” he gasps. “Oh my goodness!”
“Remembered you l-liked Sonic,” Bro grins. “Thought it’d be someth-ing you wouldn’t mind h-having more stuff of.”
“I don’t!” OJ says boisterously, rocking in his seat. “I-I mean, I don’t mind! I love having more Sonic merchandise!”
Being so close to OJ, Paige is able to look over and see a figurine set of several of the main cast of characters. They look sturdy and high quality. Bro must’ve paid a pretty penny for these.
“I-I’m so…!” OJ flaps his hand a bit. “Thank you!”
Bro’s smile is wide. “No prob.”
Paige giggles and gives OJ time to calm down, willing to wait.
Finally OJ clears his throat. “Aha… s-sorry about that,” he apologies. “I… just refound my love of the hedgehog, you see.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Brandon shrugs off, prodding at the book sleeve he was gifted. He looked like he was about to take one out and read it, but he quickly slips it back in. “You good now?”
“Yes,” OJ breathes, turning to Paige. “And I do think it’s finally time for Paige to receive his present, no?”
“Yay!” Paige cheers, bouncing a bit. “I’m so curious! What’d you get me?”
OJ smiles as he gently hands over the small velvet bag. It feels cool to the touch.
“Here you are,” OJ says simply. “I do hope you’ll like it.”
“Oh, I’m sure he will,” Brandon jokes.
“You know?” Paige asks, a bit confused. Why would Brandon know what his gift is?
“Something like that,” Brandon waves away nonchalantly. “Just open it, man.”
Paige purses his lips, but does as told. He pulls the ribbon (which was actually just a drawstring) loose and peers inside.
There’s something shiny inside. Curiosity burning now, Paige pulls it out.
Sitting in his palm now is a nicely sized golden locket in the shape of a heart. It’s attached to a long necklace that looks like it would fall snugly in the middle of Paige’s chest.
“A locket?” Paige asks, bemused. He wouldn’t have guessed this was his present in a million years.
“Open it,” OJ urges.
So, open it he does. Inside, there’s…
Paige gasps.
There’s a small and fun picture of the Bro Crew carefully inserted inside of the jewelry. It doesn’t include OJ, as Paige can’t remember if they had even taken a group photo since OJ really came back, but…
“OJ…” Paige breathes.
“I know you keep your friends close to your heart,” OJ starts, “So I thought something sentimental would be the best gift I could give you, Paige.” His smile is blinding and it has Paige swimming in a sea of emotions.
Leave it to OJ to get him something this thoughtful…
Paige’s eyes well a bit, but his tone is even when he speaks. “You’re not here though…” he mumbles.
“We couldn’t find a recent enough picture in time,” Brandon shrugs. “OJ said he’d be cool with it, though.”
“Yes, I don’t mind,” OJ nods. “I know I’m in your heart regardless.”
…Paige is extremely normal about that sentence.
“Y-you are,” he grins, face starting to heat up. “A-and it’s okay! You don’t have to be out of it for long!”
Quickly Paige stands up and grabs his phone. “C'mon, everyone! Gift exchange selfie time!”
The other teens laugh and giggle at Paige, who is just hoping his cheeks don’t look too red at this point. But, they all follow suit and stand, huddling behind Paige.
OJ leans some of his weight onto Paige wordlessly and Paige gulps. His heart was starting to hammer in his chest. He felt his stomach fill with butterflies.
“E-everybody ready?” he asked, ignoring the several different feelings flowing through him at once.
“Ready!” everyone nodded.
“Okay! On the count of three, everyone smile for the camera!” Paige takes a deep breath. “One… Two.. Three!”
Paige taps the circle on his phone and the device makes a quiet and quick click! He pulls the phone down after, everyone hovering around him to see the results.
“Oh, this pic is bomb,” Brandon nods in approval.
“It is quite nice,” Sue agrees.
“I concur,” OJ grins.
“Y-yeah,” Bro rumbles. “S’good.”
Paige finds he agrees with everyone as well. The picture is of them all, Paige just a bit out of frame to the bottom, but his face is still entirely visible. Leaning on top of him is OJ, who’s making two little peace signs with his hands on Paige’s back. Brandon has two fingers held up to his forehead while Sue is simply standing with their hands behind their back. Lastly, Bro has a hand out of their hoodie and is giving a small wave.
It’s a perfect picture.
“We just have to print that bad boy out and you can swap the pics,” Brandon says.
“Mmhm!” Paige nods. “So is that all it for our exchange?”
“Think so,” Bro says.
“Oh, not quite,” OJ smiles slyly. The group disperses a bit as he goes to pick up the green backpack he brought. He then hands it over to Paige.
“...Huh?” Paige asks, tilting his head. “Did… Did you get me two presents?”
“Mmm… Not exactly.” He grins, eyes crinkling. “Why don’t you take a look inside?”
So, confused, Paige takes the bag and takes a look inside. There’s several books inside. He pulls them all out at once, leaving a small package behind. He grabs that too once he places the books on a nearby table, looking over everything at once.
“...How to Draw Manga,” he reads. “Volumes 1 & 2.” He picks those books up and looks at the last one. “And a sketchbook. And…” he shakes the package around,” Lots of pencils and pens.”
None of this stuff made sense. Paige had never shown interest in these sorts of things, even if he did think some animes were really nice. And though he enjoyed drawing, he normally just doodles in notebooks with regular #2 pencils. Why had OJ brought him all of this?
Leaf gasps suddenly.
“What?” Paige asks in his head. “Do you have some idea of what all this is?”
“I…” Leaf mumbles, clear disbelief in his voice, “I think these are for me, Paige.”
“Aww!” Brandon is pouting before a stunned Leaf can think to do anything. “OJ, how come Paige gets two?”
OJ’s smile grows a bit strained. “It’s a secret,” he starts, turning towards Paige. “Just between all of us, right?” He winks.
Leaf is dumbfounded. All of them? Meaning more than just him and Paige?
…Leaf too?
“Leaf…” Paige mumbles in their head. “Are you okay?”
“C-can I thank him?” they ask in lieu of an answer.
Paige smiles happily. “Yeah! Of course!”
The switch is smooth. It’s not long before Leaf blinks into the driver’s seat. He looks down at his hands carefully.
They’re trembling a bit.
“Paige?” OJ asks, putting a hand on Leaf’s shoulder. “Are you quite alright?”
Leaf opens their mouth.
And a wail spills out.
“Paige!?” Brandon gasps. “Bro, what’s happening? Are you okay!?”
Leaf sniffs pitifully before turning towards OJ. “Th-thank you…” they mumble. “Thank you so much…” Their voice is scratchier than normal, the scream having been a lot more powerful than they had intended. It hurts a bit, but they power through it. “I don’t… You’re the first person to…”
Realization flashes in OJ’s eyes and his eyes round with more worry.
“Paige,” Sue tries this time, “Do you need to sit down?”
Leaf nods dumbly before looking down at the abandoned pillows. Without any further warning, he kneels down and lays on top of the sky blue one. All their friends follow behind, surrounding Leaf.
It’s an odd feeling. He can tell they’re all worried, but he knows they’re all worried about Paige. Not them. Not Leaf.
Nobody except for OJ.
OJ knows. He’s here for them.
They wish desperately that everyone else knew too.
“Don’t they?” Paige asks quietly. “Doesn’t like, everyone here know about you?”
…Oh.
They do, don’t they?
Maybe not as well as Leaf would like, but…
“Let’s change that, then,” Paige urges. “We should tell everyone about you. For real this time.”
“Why?” Leaf asks, pain filling their chest. Oh, what they wouldn’t do to be actual, real friends with everyone…
“You deserve it,” Paige says simply. “You’ve been trying so hard to be a better person, Leaf. And you’re doing great! You deserve to be recognized as your own person.”
Recognized as their own person….
“...Are you sure you’re okay with this, Paige?” Leaf asks carefully.
“They’re our best friends,” Paige smiles. “I’m sure.”
At some point their arm had found its way over their eyes. They pull it down and sit up before looking over everyone timidly.
“Le—Paige,” OJ says, coughing over his stumble, “Are you feeling a bit better now?”
“I-I…” Leaf tries. “I’m…”
“Hey man, it’s okay if you need a minute,” Brandon says, putting his hand on Leaf’s other shoulder. Sue and Bro nod at them as well, a silent confirmation.
“I…” Leaf tries again. “I don’t know where to start.”
“Wh-wh-what do y-you mean?” Bro asks, stutter showing itself more than it usually did. Oh god they must’ve done that. They must’ve worried him.
They must’ve worried everyone so much.
So, Leaf takes one big shuddering breath before taking the plunge.
“I… I mean…” they falter, unsure of what to say.
“Just tell the truth,” Paige instructs. “Everything will be fine.”
Right. Everything would be fine.
“I…” they start once more, finally pushing themself to finish their sentence, “I am… not Paige.”
The air around them suddenly grows heavy. Brandon’s hand squeezes Leaf’s shoulder and they can’t tell if it’s supposed to be comforting or a warning.
But they push on anyways.
“I am not Paige,” they repeat. “I-I’m Leaf.”
A pin’s drop could be heard with how quiet everyone is. Leaf screws their eyes shut and bites their lip, terrified. They knew they shouldn’t have said anything. Now everyone was gonna hate them. Because they went and ruined this little get together. Because that’s all Leaf’s good for, right? Ruining things?
“Leaf,” Sue says, pulling them out of their head, “Breathe.”
Leaf tries and immediately fails to follow instructions. Somewhere between them announcing their presence and now, they had begun to hyperventilate. It’s not an easy task to stop once started, and Leaf finds having it be expected of them just makes trying to calm down even worse.
“Hey, man,” Leaf hears Brandon say, close but also far away somehow. “Calm down, okay? We’re all friends here. We’re not gonna hurt you or anything.”
They weren’t gonna hurt them…
“W-we w-ould never,” Bro affirms. “Ever.”
“We’re here for you, Leaf,” Sue adds.
“All of us,” finishes OJ.
Leaf is so full of emotions they don’t know what to do.
“Y-you guys…” they mumble through tears that had started to spill at some point. “I…. You…”
Leaf is about to burst. They’d just have to spit it out if they were ever gonna get an answer.
“You guys… a-accept me…?” they ask, voice terribly quiet.
“What?” Brandon asks. “Dude, of course we do!” He looks at the rest of the group. “I mean, I didn’t know everyone else knew about you, but that’s besides the point. What I do know still stands, though. And I know for a fact everyone here trusts you, man.”
“Yeah,” Sue nods. “You were very open and didn’t lie when I asked you questions before. I appreciate that in a person.” Their gaze warms. “Besides, you’re the reason Paige is even able to be here with us, aren’t you?”
Leaf pauses before nodding. They were, weren’t they?
Sue smiles lightly. “Well then, there you go. I wouldn’t know Paige if not for you, and so for that I thank and trust you.”
“U-us too,” Bro smiles. “Y-you’re our friend, L-eaf.”
Leaf’s breathing is slowly returning to normal. They look around at everyone, ending at OJ.
The boy smiles. “You already know how much I like you, Leaf. You don’t have to earn that. In fact, you don’t have to earn anything from anyone here. You already have it.”
Leaf’s eyes once again fill with tears.
“See?” Paige grins. “I told you everything would be alright.”
Even though they’re crying, awful gross crying, laughter somehow bubbles up from Leaf. They can’t see anyone anymore, eyes shut tight, but they feel the second someone hugs them.
And then a second. And third. And fourth.
And before Leaf knows it, they’re the center of a large group hug.
They have a feeling in their chest that is both light and heavy and so, so many other things. But most of all, they feel loved.
Leaf cries harder.
It’s about 8 by the time everyone has left the Woods household. Now settled an hour later, Leaf is drawing himself in his sketchbook.
Paige and Leaf were trying something new tonight. They would both be in the driver’s seat, navigating together.
It’s honestly not… easy? They keep accidentally pushing each other out of front for a moment. And then sometimes they both stop fronting and both of their heads would fill with static and they’d have to hurry and push back into front.
With the hour they had to practice though, both of them had agreed they were doing pretty good by now.
Leaf is just about done with his current drawing when Paige’s phone pings from his bed.
“Wonder who that is…” Paige says aloud, stilling their hand.
“Dunno,” Leaf shrugs. “Let’s go check.”
The two of them walk slowly over to their bed and flop down on it the second they can. Paige scoops up his phone and taps at it, making it light up.
[9:29 PM]
> kev: don’t forget abt the party tmrw B)
“Oh my gosh!” Paige gasps, losing the grip he had on his phone and causing it to smush him in the face. “Oww…” he groans, picking it back up. Quickly he navigates to his messages with Kevin, looking at the previous ones.
[2:57 PM]
> kev: thanx for comin over again
> kev: i think i rlly needed some company
> kev: even tho u didnt stay v long. not ur fault ofc, but like ykno
> book of paiges: No problem!! I’m glad I could help :)
> kev: me too <3
> kev: but anywayzz here the info for the 16th
The messages after are Kevin explaining how Collins would pick Paige up around 2 and drop him back off around 8. He’s very adamant about Paige leaving when he does.
[3:09 PM]
> book of paiges: Any reason I can’t stay longer?
> kev: we’re gonna go to the skatepark and get super wasted lol
> kev: doesnt seem like ur scene
> kev: nd i wanna make sure ull b ok before we go
> book of paiges: Aw! You’re so sweet :)
> kev: <3
The last message is today’s.
“Ohhh my gosh…” Paige sighs. “I totally forgot…”
“You still wanna go?” Leaf asks. “It’s early enough. We could probably get good sleep and still be good for tomorrow.”
Paige thinks for a moment before nodding. “Yeah, I think I will!” He sits up. “I wanna be there for Kevin, y’know? And it’s not like we have anything else to do.”
“Awesome,” Leaf grins. “Let’s go get some sleep, then.”
As if on cue, Paige nods. “Okay. You want me to do our night stuff?” Leaf nods as he climbs into his bed. Paige still isn’t sure where he got that from, but it looked comfortable so he was sure it didn’t matter much.
“Ima knock out early,” Leaf yawns now. “Night, Paiges.”
Paige smiles wide. “Night, Lee!”
“You have fun now, Paige!” Quinn smiles, kissing her son on the cheek.
Paige grins at his mom and giggles. “I will! It’s been a long time since I’ve been to a party party, after all!”
“It has, hasn’t it?” Quinn hums thoughtfully, only to wave it off a moment later. “Oh, but! That doesn’t matter!” A loud, regal honk sounds from outside. “Besides, I think I hear your ride!”
Paige goes and opens the door and smiles at the sight of the limousine outside.
“You’re right!” he calls back, “I’ll see you later, mom!”
“Okay, sweetie!” his mom waves back. “Oh, and don’t forget! We’re gonna go on that trip soon, so don’t have too much fun!”
Paige laughs in response. His mom could be so silly! “It’s not for a few more days, mom!” he says, sticking out his tongue. “But, because you asked so nicely, I won’t!”
He takes his leave after the two exchange another quick goodbye and climbs into the limo.
“Hey kiddo!” Collins greets, waving behind her.
“Hi Collins!” Paige waves back. “Thanks for coming to get me!”
“Hey, you know it’s no skin offa my back!” she laughs, pulling off. “You want anything just let me know, ‘kay?”
“Okay!!” Paige grins, buckling up and pulling out his phone. It would be 2:00 in about another 20 minutes… It didn’t take that long to get from his home to Kevin’s, did it?
“You know, he didn’t say you had to be there at exactly 2 on the dot,” Leaf butts in suddenly. He’s got a smirk in his voice. “You can be such a little nerd sometimes.”
“I’m not a nerd…” Paige pouts, causing laughter to erupt in their mind.
Paige pouts harder.
+++
He doesn’t time it, and by the time he’s entering he doesn’t really think to check his phone.
The large house is loud. People of all kinds are running about inside and out, and Paige slowly makes his way around, absently walking towards the main grand living room. The place isn’t so bad to navigate normally, but it felt filled to the brim with how many teens were occupying it now.
“I hope Kevin doesn’t get in trouble for all of this…” Paige frets, anxiously pulling at the drawstring on his hoodie. “There’s so many people!”
“It’s like, a few class’s worth of students, Paige,” Leaf says, rolling their eyes. “Calm down.”
Paige hums, but doesn’t reply. Truly, he’s just hoping to spot a familiar face or two.
“Paige?” the boy hears over the voices and music. He perks up, looking around quickly. He doesn’t see anybody he recognizes until–
“Paige!” none other than Lucy shouts in his ear, causing the poor boy to leap about a foot into the air. “Oh-ho shit, sorry! I didn’t–didn’t mean to scare ya!”
Paige blinks. Lucy didn’t usually swear. The white haired boy looks the perky girl over. She has a movie-accurate red solo cup, something in it sloshing a bit wildly with how animated she's being, which is actually usual. She seems unbothered by life as always, a joyful glow about her.
“I-it’s okay,” Paige finally manages to reply. “Hi, Lucy. What are you doing here?”
“Same as anybody else here, Paige! Kev invited me!” Lucy takes a swig of her drink and then shakes her head, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “Well, almost anybody else.”
“What do you mean?” Paige blinks. Were there some people here without Kevin’s permission?
“Oh, don’t look so worried!” Lucy is quick to smile. “It’s just Mic’s nosey ass. She’d never miss a party like this!” She laughs. “Honestly, I doubt Kev didn’t invite her less because she wasn’t welcome, but more because she kind of invites herself everywhere anyways.” She shrugs. “Dude doesn’t care. So it’s fine!”
Oh! Okay!
“Oh! Okay!” Paige smiles back, only to hear a snrk! in his head. He fights back a pout, but blows a raspberry in his head. “Well, it’s nice to see you!” he continues. “And it’ll be nice to see Mic too I bet!”
“Oh, without a doubt.” Lucy nods, her hair puffs bobbing along with her head. “She’s probably over in the game room breaking it down stupid style on Just Dance right now if you wanna go check on her. Homegirl loves an excuse to show off her skills!” Lucy laughs boisterously, taking another long swig of her cup. She finishes it, tapping the bottom of it as it’s upturned over her mouth. “Damn,” she swears, “Gotta go remember where the punch is. ’Sgood!” Lucy gives Paige a wave. “See ya later, Paige!” And with that, she skips off.
“It’s a wonder how she doesn’t trip and eat shit with those rainboots on all the time,” Leaf muses.
Again Paige hums. “I’m sure she’s just used to it. Anyways, should we go and find Mic? Maybe she’ll let us play with her!” He’s already heading towards the room.
“Ugh, you can play Just Dance if you want. I’m just gonna be chilling until something actually exciting happens.”
Paige rolls his eyes good-naturedly. Leaf was just being dramatic. He was sure something would excite him in the game room, even if Just Dance didn’t.
The music gets quieter the closer Paige gets the room, which confuses him for a moment. Shouldn’t it be getting louder? But, just as he thinks it, shouts ring out from the room. They sound happy. Turning into the room, Paige sees a moderately sized group of teens crowded around Mic, just where Lucy said she’d be. She’s twisting her arm at the shoulder and she’s got a smug look on her face.
“WHOOOO!! MIC!!” hypes someone in the crowd. They’re fist pumping. “New high score, let’s go!!”
Wait… Paige recognizes that voice. He watches as Piper breaks out of the crowd and bumps the side of his fist with Mic’s.
“You killed it, girl!” Piper congratulates.
“Heh, as per usual!” Mic gloats. She turns back to her game as Paige approaches, going to pick the next song.
“Hi Mic! Hi Piper!” Paige greets once close enough. The rest of the teens aren’t anybody Paige knows, so he stays a bit away from the group.
“Oh shit, hey Paige!” Piper grins easily. “You been here long?”
Paige shakes his head. “No, not really! I pretty much just got here.”
“Heya, Paige!” Mic smiles. “You want in?”
Oh! That was easy! “Um! Am I taking a turn from anybody else?” It was good to make sure, just in case.
Mic shakes her head. “Nah, these guys just wanna watch.” She does a small flourish. “My adoring audience!” The crowd cheers and Paige giggles a bit.
“Okay! Sure!” He picks up a second Wiimote and secures the strap on his wrist as Mic sets the game up proper. “Can we do something easy to start off? I haven’t played in a while… I’m probably super rusty.”
“No prob, Bob,” Mic nods. She picks Footloose off the tracklist and stretches out her arms. “This one’s pretty chill. It’ll give me a sec to recuperate too.”
“Oh yeah, do you want more punch before you start?” Piper offers. “I was gonna get more myself anyways.”
Mic nods, but still starts up the game. “You can hand it to me during. I’ve done this one a lot so I know when there's some downtime.”
“Cool,” Piper nods, and then is off.
“Okay, ready Paige?” Mic asks.
“Yup!” he smiles, bouncing in place a bit. “Just go easy on me?”
Mic sighs heavily before placing a grave hand on Paige’s shoulder. “Paige,” she says in a way that suddenly worries him he had said something wrong, “I’m sorry little dude. But there are no friends in Just Dance. Only enemies.” Then, much more airily she says, “Unless it’s one of those co-op ones. Then I guess there are friends. But, y’know!”
Paige blinks owlishly at her before nodding slowly. “Um. Got it.”
“Awesome!” Mic grins cheekily. “Now let’s dance!”
As promised, the moves for this song are pretty lax. Paige is able to keep up with relative ease, though Mic was killing it. She even downs the entire cup of juice Piper had gotten her in the middle of it. It was honestly impressive!
“Whoo!” Mic cheers as the song ends. “You did great, Paige!”
He blushes and rubs the back of his head. “I did alright. Especially compared to you!” It was true. Mic easily had at least double the points Paige did. He had missed both of the golden pose thingys while she hit hers too, so it was really over for him the second that happened.
“Great for your first time back!” Mic insists. “You wanna pick the next song?”
“Oh, okay!” Paige smiles, shaking out his wrists before combing through the tracklist. He passes by a few songs he recognizes and many he doesn’t until he finally lands on one he really likes. “This one!” he bounces, turning to Mic. “Do you think I can do this one?”
Mic sucks her teeth. “This one’s a bit rough for your second one, buddy. Are you sure?”
“You got this, Paige,” Leaf encourages. “I’m sure you’ll only make a slight fool of yourself! Haha!”
Paige pouts just a bit, but it’s quickly replaced by a determined look. “I got this!!” He selects the song with a small huff. So mean! Paige would show him!
The game starts and Paige does his best to concentrate on the moves. They were so tight in comparison to Footloose’s! But that doesn’t deter him. He focuses through the whole song, and he even hits one of the golden notes! But still, his score is pennies compared to Mic’s.
“You must’ve hit every beat!” Paige pants, bent over with his hands on his knees. “Jeez… What a workout…”
Mic laughs, patting Paige on the back gently. “I warned you!” she says, shaking her head. “Hey, can we get this guy some punch?” she calls into the crowd. Someone scuttles off after that, and Paige takes the time to catch his breath while waiting.
“Here you go, little dude,” says the girl who brings him the drink. “Try not to wolf it down all at once, ‘kay?”
Paige nods, taking the cup gratefully. “Thanks!” He looks up at her and blinks. “...Brie, right?”
Brie perks up. “Yeah! Good job, little guy!” She pats him on the head. “I hear you’re pretty spacy, so it’s like, super cool to me that you remembered me!”
Paige blanches a bit. It was kind of hard to forget her when the reason he knew about her was…
“Didn’t she try to kill herself or something?” Leaf rudely comments at the same moment Paige takes a sip of juice. He coughs into it, caught off guard by the bluntness of it.
“You good, little guy?” Brie slaps his back twice, and he coughs more.
“I-I’m good!” he lies, wiping his mouth. “Just… went down the wrong pipe?”
Brie hums. “Well, like I said, don’t slurp it all at once. That’ll help.” With that, she sips at her own cup. “See? Just like that.”
Paige hums in response. He didn’t really like the way Brie was talking down to him; he knew how to drink juice! But still he takes the advice, standing up again before sipping at the drink. It tasted… bad. Like… sharp and tingly? It kind of hurt his throat, too.
“What the hell was in that?” Leaf coughs.
Paige peers into the cup and sees nothing but the red punch inside. “Nothing… I guess it just tastes weird. Maybe a weird recipe?”
“How the fuck do you make punch wrong,” Leaf deadpans.
“I don’t–”
“Paige? Do you wanna play more?” Mic asks, cutting off his line of thought. The boy jolts a bit, but shakes it off.
“Oh, yeah! Sorry, I zoned out a bit.” He grins a bit awkwardly, trying to hide his distaste of the juice. “Maybe you should pick from now on, though,” he laughs. “I’m not too good at the ones that are more…” Petering off, Paige gestures wildly. “Y’know? And you probably know which ones to avoid for all of that?”
Mic nods. “I do! Here.” She flicks the tracklist until it lands on 24k Magic. “This one’s a duet! And it’s pretty lenient. We can do this one for a quick competitive break if you want?”
Paige’s smile turns genuine. “Yeah, okay! That sounds fun!”
The two have fun dancing, and Paige finds he likes the co-op ones a lot more than the competitive ones. He relays as such to Mic, and she happily lets him look through the list of duet songs.
Over the course of what feels like at least an hour, Paige and Mic dance their little hearts out. Both of them get regular punch and bathroom breaks, but they don’t want to stop playing. Even Leaf wants to play at some point, around when Paige starts suddenly getting sloppy, so he lets them take control and have fun too.
Inside himself, Paige finds it hard to focus on what was happening around them. He knew Leaf was having a good time, what with them fumbling and laughing a ton at themself because of it, but..
At some point, Paige finds he can’t keep his eyes from blurring. He feels weird and sluggish, like he’s being weighed down by waterlogged clothes. Slowly he makes his way over to Leaf’s bed before promptly falling into it.
“So tired…” he thinks, curling up over the covers. “I’ll just get some shuteye. ‘Msure Lee can handle this.”
With that, Paige’s eyes fall heavily, and within a few moments he’s asleep.