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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.
Paige’s phone vibrates in their shared pocket. Leaf groans, putting down their cards.They were this close to winning, so this had better be good.
“Hello?” they answer without looking at the caller ID.
“Dude, you still here?” Kevin’s voice crackles from the other end. “It’s like 9! You should’ve been home by now.” They sound worried. “Shit, your mom’s gonna kill me…”
Leaf laughs. “She won’t care, dude.”
“Yes she will!” Kevin argues. “Ugh, where are you? We were about to head out to the skatepark. We can drop you off on the way.”
Leaf rolls his eyes, but tells them anyways. “Game room. Walk slow though, I wanna finish this game of Uno.” Then, without waiting for a response, he hangs up the phone and pockets it. “Now, where were we?”
In the time it takes Leaf to get second place, Kevin is there. “Paige, there you are,” they sigh. “Worried the hell outta me, man…”
Leaf snrks. “I’m good, Kev!” he smiles, taking a sip of his drink. He’d come around to the taste and the twinge it left in his throat. “I’m like, really fuckin’ good actually!” He felt weirdly floaty, but not in a bad way. And like it was easier to speak his mind without thinking. It left a nice buzz under his skin and he found he enjoyed it.
“Paige!?” Kevin gasps. “Did you just say fuck?”
Oops, Leaf thinks to himself, shaking his head. But before he can try to cover himself, Brie pipes up from her spot at the table.
“Little dude’s been swearing up a storm tonight!” she beams. “I didn’t think he even knew some of those words!”
Leaf rolls his eyes and takes another swig of his drink. All night this girl had been talking to him like he was stupid as fuck. He hated it, but didn’t let it ruin his fun. Now here she was again though, bookending his good night with another stupid remark.
“Ugh, so what? Everyone else around me swears! God forbid I do too, huh?” Leaf sneers, taking another drink from his cup. With a panicked look in their eye, Kevin snatches the cup out of Leaf’s grasp. “Wh–hey! I was drinking that!”
Ignoring him, Kevin takes a sniff of the cup before frowning hard. “Oh, goddamnit,” they curse, then look into the room. “I thought I told you idiots to only spike the punch in my room!!” they shout.
Everyone conveniently finds something more interesting to look at anywhere that wasn’t Kevin’s face.
Leaf, on the other hand, blanches. “Spiked…?” he murmurs, shaking a bit as he looks down at his hands. They seem to double in front of him.
He was gonna be sick.
“Ugh, c’mon, Paige,” Kevin sighs, pulling up Leaf by his arm. “We gotta get you home. And sobered up before your mom sees you like this…” They continue to mumble to themself, pulling out their phone and tapping at it as they drag Leaf along. They push it to their ear, and then after a moment, “Yeah, change of plans. I gotta get Paige home first. We’ll still go after, but…”
Leaf stops listening. All he can think about is how much punch he’d been drinking. How much alcohol must be in his system right now.
Stupid! he scolds himself. How the fuck didn’t you recognize it!? Kevin took one sniff and was able to tell! Stupid, stupid, stupid!!
The cool winter air pulls Leaf out of his head. Kevin was now dragging him to the limo parked a few feet away. He grumbles to himself, upset that Paige had only put on a hoodie as always. It wasn’t as cold as it could get during December, but it was cold enough.
“You say something?” Kevin asks as he swings the car’s door open. To their credit, they sound generally worried as they step in before Leaf, helping him in behind them. Leaf, wobbly without the few seconds of support, is thankful for the help, even if he wasn’t about to say it.
“I didn’t,” he huffs unkindly. Kevin hums as they begin to try and buckle Leaf in, but he smacks their hand away. “I can do it myself.” He tries, fumbles, tries again and then groans as he continually misses the buckle. Kevin hovers, but Leaf growls and they pull back.
“Paige?” they ask, clearly worried. “I know you’re probably drunk off your ass right now, but did you just growl at me?”
Leaf ignores them for two more tries before groaning. “Fine. Whatever. Do it for me.”
Kevin’s expression sours, but he does as asked anyhow. “Collins, we’re ready!” they call out.
“Gotcha!” she calls back, the car coming to life under them.
Leaf squints at Kevin. “What, no seatbelt for you?”
Kevin sighs as the limo pulls off. “Damn, Paige. I never would’ve imagined you’d be a mean drunk.”
“I am not mean,” Leaf frowns.
“Would you call yourself particularly nice right now?” they challenge.
Leaf opens his mouth, thinks about it for a few moments too long, and then closes it, crossing his arms with a scowl. “I am not mean,” he repeats, looking away from the other.
Kevin sighs again. “How much did you have to drink?” they ask, that same twinge of worry in their voice that was starting to piss Leaf off.
“Fuck’s it matter?” Leaf snaps, curling into himself. “I don’t know. Too much. Whatever.” He squeezes his eyes shut. “Who cares.”
“I care!” Kevin shouts back. “Dude, your mom’s gonna beat me to a pulp if I can’t even tell her how much you drank!”
“Oh, so this is about my mom?” Leaf spits back as he turns to look at the other again. “This is all about how my mom will think about you and what you did?”
Kevin looks taken aback. Their mouth hangs open, working, but Leaf isn’t done yet.
“You invited me to this fuckass party. You knew there was gonna be spiked punch somewhere and didn’t bother to warn me, even though you know what my dad was like. You’re treating me like a baby, but it’s your fault I had alcohol.” Leaf is filled with vitriol. “But you’re not the one who actually drank it. My mom’s gonna be mad at me. Not you.” He crosses his arms again with a scowl. “It’s not my fuckin’ problem your mom is a piece of shit. Don’t make it my mom’s either.”
Kevin gasps then, but doesn’t actually say anything. In fact, for the rest of the ride home, it’s entirely quiet.
Leaf bites the inside of his cheek so hard he tastes a bit of blood.
+++
When the car finally stops, Kevin climbs out, ignoring Leaf. He sneers, undoes his buckle and climbs out after, closing the door behind him. He wobbles his way over to his front door where Kevin is already knocking. By the time he makes it there, Quinn is ripping the door open.
“Paige!!” she gasps, bending over to pull him into a hug. Leaf lets out a puff of air, unprepared for the sudden embrace. “Oh, sweetie you’re safe!!” She pushes him back and holds him by the shoulders before kissing him all over his face. “I was so worried!!”
Kevin clears their throat. “Um… Hi, Ms. Quinn,” he mumbles.
“Oh, Kevin! Sorry dear, I was just so worried about Paige…” She shakes her head. “No problem! Come in, come in, it’s cold!”
Quinn unknowingly helps Leaf to a seat at the kitchen table, depositing him gently. Kevin walks in behind wringing their hands in trepidation.
“Do either of you need something to eat?” Quinn offers, opening the fridge. “Something to drink?”
Kevin winces. “A-actually, Ms. Quinn… I-I kind of have to talk to you about… A-about drinking.”
Quinn pulls her head out of the fridge. “Huh? What do you mean?”
Kevin wrings their hands harder and glances between her and Leaf. “Um. So, my party.”
“Yes?” Quinn stands up straight, a worried look overtaking her. “Did something happen?”
“Well… yes and no?” Kevin looks extremely uncomfortable.
“What do you mean, ‘yes and no’?” Quinn starts walking towards Leaf. “Paige, are you alright sweetie?” Leaf tries not to lean into her the second her hands slot onto his shoulders. He was determined to stay awake and present, and seeking comfort would just distract him. He wanted to know exactly what Kevin had to say to his mom about her child.
Kevin gulps. “He… He’s physically okay, but… He may have had some alcohol tonight?” they rush out, looking away so fast it was like they had been smacked. “I’m really sorry! I didn’t realize the punch where he was had been spiked!”
Leaf bites back a growl. They’re treating him like some dumb animal that got into some left out food. He wasn’t stupid! Yes, he’d drank without realizing it but it’s not as if he didn’t have the ability to stop himself if he had known sooner!
Quinn's hands grip harder onto Leaf’s shoulder as things grow quiet. He can hear her take deliberate breaths to calm herself. Then, after a moment, “How much did you have, sweetie?” she asks, looking down at Leaf.
He’s taken off guard, kind of expecting her to go through Kevin, but either way he shakes his head. “I-I don’t know,” he mumbles, voice scratchy. “I didn’t know I was drinking anything weird. I wasn’t really paying attention.”
Quinn takes in another metered breath before addressing Kevin again. “Thank you for bringing him home Kevin, but I don’t think he’ll be going to any more of your parties.” Her voice is cool, but Leaf can feel her slightly trembling.
“Right,” Kevin nods dumbly. “Right, right, right. That, um… That makes sense. That’s fair. U-um.” They bite their lip. “Will… will he be okay?”
Leaf’s barely controlled rage finally reaches its boiling point. That was it.
“I’m right here!!” Leaf snarls, banging his fists on the table. “I’m right fuckin’ here and you’re talking over me like—like I don’t even exist!” He scratches at the wood under his hands. “Oh, Paige! How dare you swear! Oh, Paige! How dare you have feelings other than happy go lucky? Oh, Paige! How dare you want to take responsibility for your own actions instead of letting someone else talk down to you and act like you’re just some stupid idiot who doesn’t know anything about anything!!” He shuts his eyes tightly and shouts, “Just ‘cause you fucked up doesn’t mean you get to treat me like a baby!! I’m not! I’m not, I’m not, I’m not!!”
Leaf is breathing hard after finishing, shoulders hiked and tears pricking in his eyes. He sniffs, scrubs at his eyes and crosses his arms. Time stretches on forever as he catches his breath. Kevin looks stunned. Quinn’s hands are tight on his shoulders.
…Ah. Right. Quinn was here. She’d heard all of that too.
Well. That wasn’t great.
“I-I think I should go,” Kevin squeaks out. “I’m sorry. To both of you.” With that, Kevin quickly scurries off. The front door opens, closes, and suddenly it’s just Leaf and Quinn in the kitchen.
“...Paige?” Quinn whispers, moving to lean on the table in front of him. “Sweetie? I’ve never…” She bites her lip, choosing to sit down. “I’ve never heard you speak like that before. I won’t ask if you’re okay, because it’s clear you’re not, but…” She takes a breath. “Can you tell me what happened? In your own words.”
“I-I’m…” Leaf’s voice wobbles terribly. “I-I’m not…” He shakes his head, finding it hard to speak.
“Leaf…?” he hears in his head, and isn’t that just wonderful. Perfect timing. “Leaf, what’s going on?”
Leaf… deflates. His whole upper half slumps over onto the table, suddenly exhausted. Quinn puts her hands over his.
“I’m…” he tries again, “I’m… not…”
This was too much. He couldn’t do this anymore. She had to know.
“I’m not Paige, Mom.”
Quinn is quiet in front of the two of them. Her face is scrunched in thought, confused.
Paige on the other hand, is freaking out.
“Leaf!!” he panics, groaning at the way his head hurts with it. “L-Leaf,” he tries again, quieter, “I thought you said you weren’t gonna tell her! Why did you? A-and when did we get home? What’s going on?”
Leaf sighs. “Just… calm down. I’ll explain, just.” He slumps over a bit more. “Give me a minute.”
Finally, Quinn speaks. “I… I don’t understand,” she says, looking at them with a troubled expression. “Is this about you drinking?” Her hands cup theirs, a wobbly smile on her face. “You’ll always be my little book of Paiges sweetie, alcohol or not, okay?”
Leaf shakes his head slowly, sighing aloud. “That’s…” He groans. “You… You have to just, listen to me, okay?” Quinn nods hesitantly, and Leaf breathes in deeply. “You remember Mack,” he says suddenly, startling both Quinn and Paige.
“Yes,” Quinn replies quietly. “I do.”
“Sorry,” Leaf apologizes, “But it’s important to the story.” He glances away, pulling one hand free to place it on the outside of hers. Now they were both holding each other. “Paige is… Let’s not beat around the bush, Paige was not built to handle someone like him. So, I don’t really know when or anything, but at some point he… ‘made’ me, in a way.” Quinn’s hands squeeze around his and he lets out breath he didn’t know he was holding in. “I… I dealt with Mack. When Paige was… Wasn’t able to deal with it all, I was here. And I’m… different. I’m not Paige.”
“Then…” Quinn mumbles, “Who are you, sweetie?”
Leaf’s breath catches and he can feel his eyes start to water. This was it. This was the last time he’d be able to be around his mom. She’d finally see him for who he was, but it’d come at the cost of her hating him for doing all he’d done.
“I-I’m Leaf,” he murmurs, trying his hardest to hold back his tears. “And… And I’m sorry.”
“...Sorry?” Quinn questions, making Leaf cringe. He was gonna have to explain his deepest fear, wasn’t he?
“It’s my fault Paige got into that fight a while ago. Why he needed to go to the hospital. Why…” he gulps. “Why we had anything to drink tonight.” Quickly his head snaps to look at her. “A-and I’m sorry! For the shouting I did! I’m… I know Paige doesn’t swear. I know Paige isn’t mean like me. And I know…” He looks away again. “I know you’re probably sick of this sorry excuse for a bodyguard taking over your son. I’m really sorry. I can… I can go away now if you want.”
“Leaf!?” Paige gasps. “No, no, no! You said you wouldn’t disappear on me again!”
Before Leaf can even think of a reply to Paige, he feels Quinn recapture both his hands in hers. “Sweetie,” she says, voice watery, “You helped my Paige?”
Confused, Leaf nods. “I made things a lot worse for him than any good, though.”
Quinn shakes her head. “You’re both here right now, aren’t you?” Leaf nods, still confused. He wished she’d go ahead and let the other shoe drop already. This was agonizing. Instead though, she smiles a bit wobbly. “Then you’ve helped plenty.”
…What?
Huh??
“B-but I–” Leaf tries, only to cut himself off as Quinn shakes her head again.
“Everyone makes mistakes, sweetie. And if you helped Paige make it here, then I’m beyond grateful.” She squeezes his hands gently. “You called me Mom earlier… Is that how you see me? As your mother?”
Leaf is overcome with emotion, tears starting to spill down his face. Instead of trying to reply verbally, he just gives a trembling and hesitant nod.
Quinn’s smile evens out. “Then I’m more than happy to call you my child, Leaf.”
Leaf is crying in earnest now. “Y-y-you don’t—don’t hate m-me?” he questions, having a difficult time getting it out. “Even after—after everything I’ve…?”
“We’ll have to talk about it,” Quinn says lightly, “But no, I don’t hate you. How could I ever hate either of my children?”
He can’t help it. Leaf stands, pushing the chair back noisily before rushing over to Quinn’s side and all but crashes into her. “Mommm…!!” he wails into her neck. “You… You see me! You really—really, really see me!!”
Quinn’s arms come around to hold Leaf and rock him, quietly shushing him. “I see you, sweetie. My little pile of Leafs.”
The two of them stay there like that for a bit. Leaf slowly but surely cries himself out in Quinn’s arms. Finally, when he’s just sniffling and whimpering, Quinn pulls him back enough to look him in the face.
“You’ve had a long day,” she says gently. “Do you two want to go to bed?”
Leaf sniffs and swipes the back of his hand across his nose. Ugh. He felt disgusting. But he nods tiredly anyways. He was more than ready to be sideways.
Slowly Quinn helps Leaf make his way upstairs, into his room and under his bedsheets. “Do you want Teds?” she asks, picking him up from his spot on the small chest at the head of the bed. “I can warm him up if you like him like that too.”
Too… Leaf thinks sleepily. She really sees me.
“Can you…?” he mumbles, pulling up his legs under the sheets. “Please?”
Quinn’s face grows uneven and for a moment, Leaf is terrified he’d somehow messed up. But quickly it straightens with big, loving eyes on him. “Of course, sweetie. I’ll be right back, okay?”
After a quick peck on his forehead, she leaves with the bear to put him into the microwave. While waiting, Leaf decides this is the best time to address Paige.
“Paige,” he prods. “You still there…?”
Paige’s voice is quiet when he responds. “Yeah,” he nods, fiddling with the strings on the hoodie he has on. “You okay?”
“I should be asking you that,” Leaf chuckles. “Do you still want me to explain tonight?”
Paige shakes his head. “No, I kind of was able to look through your memories while you were crying.” Leaf startles, the idea of that suddenly feeling very vulnerable, but Paige is quick to continue. “I didn’t pry! I just wanted to see what was going on while I was asleep.” He frowns. “I saw… all the stuff you said. To Kevin.”
Leaf sucks in a breath. “I’m sorry,” he apologizes, “I-I’ll say sorry to them tomorrow, too. I promise, I—”
“You weren’t entirely wrong,” Paige quickly cuts off. “About… with them treating us like babies. Them dragging us off in the middle of you having fun was embarrassing to watch.” He cringes. “I don’t know how you lived through it.”
“I was more mad than anything,” Leaf shrugs. “But I guess it is pretty embarrassing thinking about it again...”
There’s a knock at the door. “I’m back, sweetie,” Quinn announces, walking in. “Here’s Teds.” She hands the warmed up bear to her son, sitting down on the bed. “How are you… Leaf?”
Though he doesn’t miss the way she hesitates, Leaf exhales as he curls around Teds. “Been better,” he mumbles. “Really tired.”
“Understandably,” his mom chuckles. “You get some rest, okay?” She places a hand on his cheek and rubs her thumb across it. “We’ll talk more tomorrow.” She bends over and kisses him on the forehead again. “Night, night, sweetie.”
“Night, Mom.”
With that, Quinn gives a small wave before leaving. She closes the door gingerly behind her.
After a few moments, Paige speaks. “We can apologize to Kevin after we talk to Mom,” he sighs. “I think leaving him alone for a bit after all that is probably for the best. And I don’t really wanna leave Mom hanging…”
Leaf hums, looking inside to see Paige still under the covers in the bed near the fireplace. There’s enough room for the both of them, but…
Paige rolls his eyes and pats the side closer to the fireplace. “C’mon, Lee. We should both get some sleep.”
There’s a short moment where Leaf hesitates, worried for a reason he can’t quite place right now, but eventually he shuffles over. Paige has Patro tucked into his arms, and it’s then that Leaf notices he has Teds inside here too.
He climbs into bed and under the covers and faces Paige, curling around Teds. “Night, Paiges,” he mumbles quietly, shutting his eyes. He doesn’t need to see Paige’s face to know the way it lights up a bit.
He curls up around his own plush before saying with unrestrained glee, “Night, Lee!”