This story has taken a little bit of time to complete, but now it is finally done! This story takes place a month after Dominoes and a few months before A Very Merry Christmas and this time, it's all about Milton! I hope you'll like it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Kickin' It.
Jack and Jerry always got the good girls. The ones that weren't crazy. The ones that weren't cheaters. The ones that weren't famous gold medalists that had to leave and perhaps never see them again. But those were the ones Milton got. And he was sick of it.
It wasn't fair. Why couldn't he get a girlfriend just as easily as they did? He had already tried all the different methods they had taught him. So why couldn't he do it?
The answer was simple; looks. Girls liked attractive guys. They liked to be seen with those guys. No girl wanted to be seen with Milton Krupnick. Well, no girl except for Kim. But she didn't count.
For a while, it seemed like he had found the perfect girl. After Jack and Kim had played Cupid and set them up, Milton and Julie had really hit it off. Their relationship was still going strong after a year but as they got further into their second year, Milton started noticing some changes.
It started out small. Like how Julie's use of pet names for him slowly began to decrease, even as he continued to use them for her. Then came the excuses. It seemed that every time he suggested they go somewhere, she always had something else to do. After that, it was the way she tried to make him feel guilty for little things, as if she was desperately searching for something he did wrong.
It wasn't long after that he started to believe that she was cheating on him. Unfortunately, his suspicions were confirmed when he caught her kissing Tommy Johnson under the bleachers at a football game. The sight of that had literally made him sick. Right in front of them.
At that point, it wasn't the cheating that killed him. He had already figured that was the case. The part that killed him was the lack of remorse on her face as their eyes met that night. The only thing she had to offer was an emotionless "sorry" as he stormed off. It was like she just didn't care anymore. She didn't care about him or their two years together.
Had she forgotten the way they connected when they first saw each other in Chemistry? Or how they had fought to stay together when their dueling dojos threatened to break them apart? Had she forgotten what he had gone through when he thought she wanted to kiss him? Or how she was the one to bring him back to reality when he lost his way? Had she forgotten they were in love? Or did she just not care?
After Julie, he had dated two other girls. Out of the two, only one; Gabby, actually liked him. It had been great to have a girl, who was a couple years older than him and as popular as she, like him. But since she was famous and all, she wasn't really able to stick around for them to go out any longer, and a long distance relationship just wouldn't have worked out. As for the other girl he dated; Heidi, she just wanted him because he was smart. And what happened between them was something he would like to completely erase from his mind.
Though Julie, Gabby, and Heidi were the only girls he had actually dated, there were many that he had tried to go out with. But that always ended in disaster, since none of those girls could reject him without ridiculing him first. He had gotten pretty used to the whole "Go out with you?!" followed by laughs from her and her friends response.
He could always take his friends' advice and change everything about himself; his looks, his interests, how he dressed, how he talked. He might receive a few yesses after that. But if he found a girl who couldn't accept him for who he really was, was that really someone he wanted to be with?
Thunk
"Gahh," Milton muttered to himself as he rubbed the spot on his head where the pebble had struck him. He knew instantly where it came from. Sure enough, from his bedroom, he could see her perched on her roof, staring back at him with an amused smile on her face. Grabbing the pebble, he went to his window and threw it with all his might, hoping to nail her in the same spot she had hit him in moments ago. Unfortunately, his arm didn't share his foot's ability to send objects long distances, so the pebble didn't make it very far before it fell to the ground.
"Nice throw," she teased.
"I meantto do that, Kim. Did you really think I would hit you?"
She grinned. "No, I didn't. But I knew you would try to."
"Haha. Very funny. Now what do you want?"
Kim cocked her head to the side. "What do you mean?"
"Well, I'm pretty sure you didn't throw a pebble at my head just for the heck of it. What are you doing up here?"
"My mom's working late and Brandon has me playing all kinds of games. I suggested hide and seek and came up here to hide. I figure I've got a second before he freaks out because he can't find me. As for the pebble, you had this weird look on your face like you were thinking hard about something. So tell me. What's on your mind?"
Milton, taking advantage of the fact that one of his friends was willing to listen to him, would normally have indulged in a long rant about how terrible his love life was but tonight, he just couldn't. Not to Kim. After last month's shooting, Milton felt his own problems shrinking in importance whenever he was around her.
Fortunately, before he could make her suspicious by unconvincingly denying that there was anything on his mind, a small voice began screaming Kim's name.
Kim sighed. "Well that's my cue to go be found. See you later, Milton."
Milton waved in response as Kim climbed back into her bedroom. As he closed his own window and settled comfortably on his bed to read, his ringtone sounded. Picking it up, he was surprised to see Julie's picture on the screen. Confused but curious, he answered.
"Hello? Julie? Did you accidentally dial my number or something?"
"What? No! Of course not. Can't a girl just call her ex and chat?"
"No…?"
"Ok look, Milton. Tommy broke up with me and-"
Milton's eyes widened in disbelief, "What? You're calling me about that?"
Julie ignored his question. "Can we just like-meet up and talk or something?"
Don't say yes. Don't say yes.
"Ok."
Idiot…
"Awesome! Meet at Phil's in 20 minutes?"
"Yeah. See you then."
Julie hung up and Milton lay back, holding his phone to his chest, still thinking of her. Things seemed to be working out but there was still that little voice in his head, telling him this was a bad idea.
Jerry did a spit take. "Julie?! You met with Julie last night? Cheater Julie?"
Milton nodded, dreamily. "Yep. And it was great. We talked and we talked. Guys, I really think there might be something here."
"She's just using you, Milton," Jack said. "She just broke up with her boyfriend and she can't stand not being with someone so she called you."
"That's what I thought too!" Milton exclaimed. "But you should have seen her last night. I really think she likes me."
Jack and Jerry exchanged doubtful looks but both knew there was no convincing Milton. Not wishing to further engage in a conversation about something that was ultimately going to leave Milton with a broken heart, Jack got up from their booth at Falafel Phil's. "I'm going to go find Kim." Jerry followed suit, claiming to also be meeting with a girl.
Milton rolled his eyes and sipped his drink as he replayed his conversation with Julie last night. He had been pleased to hear how much of a jerk Tommy was and how Julie regretted ever being with him.
"Milton."
Milton jumped at the sound of his name and looked around for the owner of the voice that had said it. He didn't have to look very long because she had slid into the seat across from him.
"Thanks for the wallet." She grinned as she held it in front of his face. But Milton was too shocked to care.
"Grey? What are you doing here?"
Grey playfully waved Milton's wallet around, pulling it out of his reach every time he grabbed for it as she explained, "Well, my parents moved near here a little while ago because of my dad's job. Then I got kicked out of Biltmore because of a little…um incident. So I moved back in with them."
Milton attempted to conceal his pleasure with a casual look of indifference. "Oh. So I guess I'll be seeing a lot more of you now. That's cool."
Grey appeared to find his feigned nonchalance entertaining as she was staring at him with an amused smile. Milton felt his face heating up, embarrassed that she knew he was excited to have her here in Seaford. Unsure of what to say next, Milton sat there in silence. When the silence had finally grown awkward enough, Grey spoke up. "So…What is it you like to do for fun around here?"
"I usually just hang out with Jack and our other friends at our dojo. It's the place across from Phil's. Want to check it out?"
"Sure." Grey followed Milton to the dojo and looked up when she saw the sign. "Bobby Wasabi? Is that why you and Jack kept saying 'Wasabi!' when were on that spy mission?"
Milton nodded proudly. "Yep. We're the Wasabi Warriors."
"Cool." Grey pushed open the door and looked around. Jack and Kim were off to the side, sparring. "It's kind of small," she noted.
"Hey Milton, who's your girlfriend?" Rudy asked as he exited his office.
Grey blushed. "Oh we're not-"
"Grey! What are you doing here?" Jack and Kim had stopped sparring and we're now walking towards Milton and Grey.
As Jack introduced Grey to Kim and Rudy, Milton felt his phone beginning to vibrate. It was a text from Julie, asking him to meet her at the movies.
Milton texted back his reply and turned to Grey. "Well Grey, I'll let you get acquainted with Kim and Rudy. I have somewhere I need to go. See you later."
"Don't do it Milton," Kim warned. Jack must have filled her in. But Milton just ignored her and kept walking.
When he arrived at the movies, Milton was surprised at Julie's attitude. She seemed annoyed at whatever he said and when he tried to kiss her or put his arm around her, she rejected him.
"You just ate popcorn" and "your arm is cold" were her excuses. Just when Milton was beginning to think he made a mistake, Julie suddenly grabbed him and kissed him. It was a very good kiss.
Kim was still wary but Milton had managed to prove to Jack and Jerry that Julie only had good intentions. He and Julie continued to go out but he did find it a little odd that she never let him pick where and when they went out. Julie was often really busy with other activities so they didn't go places too often, but Milton still had Grey to hang out with. And like Kim, Grey had her doubts.
"This Julie girl," Grey said one afternoon when they were sitting on the swings at the park where they were watching Milton's younger sister, Annie, "What's your story with her anyway? And I mean before you got back together."
"We went out for a long time and then she cheated on me with this guy, Tommy. But it's different now. She won't do it again. I trust her," Milton said.
"Did you trust her then? And don't you think she's acting a little weird? Are you sure she isn't just trying to make that Tommy kid jealous or something?"
Grey definitely knew how to shut him up. He narrowed his eyebrows and stared at the ground, a little annoyed.
Grey sighed. "I'm sorry. That was not my business."
"No it wasn't," Milton snapped back. Then his face softened. "Sorry- no it's fine. But let's just talk about something else."
Grey nodded. "Okay. So…do you play basketball?"
Milton looked at her quizzically. "Um, yeah kind of… I was on my school's intramural team in eighth grade but I wasn't very good. Why?"
"Because I really want to play some basketball right now." Grey got up from her swing and wandered over to the basketball court where there was an abandoned ball lying in the grass beside it. She dribbled it and threw it into the hoop. She turned to Milton. "You coming?"
Milton grinned and got up to join her. After a quick game of one on one, they ended up playing Horse until Annie said she wanted to go home. Milton invited Grey to come back to his house with him and she accepted. Grey followed Milton into the living room where Milton's twelve year old brother, Mason was lying upside down on the couch, flipping through channels. When he saw Milton and Grey, he sat up.
"Who's this? Are you cheating on Julie to get back at her? Nice." Mason gave him a thumbs up.
"No! She's just a friend!" Milton shouted, a little too loud.
Mason threw his hands up. "Geez, sorry, I was just joking," he said as he left the room.
Milton's face was red and he was panting, angrily. "Calm down Milton. I know what he said wasn't true. Let's just watch TV or something," Grey told him.
Milton's cheeks returned to their normal color and he nodded. "Yeah, okay." They sat on the couch and since nothing else was on, they ended up watching a marathon of Spongebob episodes until Grey had to go home.
The next day, Julie was still busy so Milton and Grey went for a walk where they talked about small things, like the weather and how great it was this summer.
"How did you get kicked out of Biltmore?" Milton asked suddenly.
"Oh. Yeah…I thought that might come up." Grey smiled. "I may have been having a little too much fun with the Bunsen burners in Chemistry class. And I may have accidentally turned it on when my teacher was bending over to check over my work. Turns out he wears a toupee."
Milton laughed. "Nice. Wait, you've already taken Chemistry? But it's summer after freshman year. I mean…I took it in seventh grade but…I thought most people take it when they're sophomores or juniors?"
"Yeah well." Grey grinned. "Maybe I'm just a little smarter than you thought I was." She walked ahead as Milton stared at her, a little surprised but he was smiling too.
"Milton!" Julie raced over to where Grey and Milton were playing horse in the park again. "What are you doing here? Let's go to the movies!"
"But it's so nice out and Grey and I were-"
"Who's your girlfriend, Milton? Me or Grey?" Julie crossed her arms.
Milton looked at Grey who nodded her approval. "Okay, I'm coming," he said to Julie and they walked off, leaving Grey alone at the park, dribbling the ball.
"You're getting into some very dangerous territory Milton," Kim warned him later that night.
Milton rolled his eyes. "What are you talking about?"
"You obviously have feelings for Grey, but you're still going out with Julie. This can only end badly."
"I don't like Grey," Milton insisted. "We're just friends!"
Kim shook her head. "I don't think you are. Besides, Julie's a jerk to you. She doesn't even like you!"
"Shut up Kim! You don't know everything! Don't you have bigger things to worry about right now? Like your dad?" Milton yelled, feeling guilty as soon as he said it.
An expression flashed over Kim's face, one that Milton had never seen before and couldn't describe; hurt maybe? But it quickly turned to anger. "You know what Milton? Do whatever you want. I don't even care." She slammed her window shut and disappeared from his view.
Milton closed his own window and turned around, sliding on his back until he was sitting on the floor with his back against the wall. Deep down, he had a feeling that Kim was right. He just didn't want her to be.
And sure enough, Kim turned out to be very right. The next day, he received a text, a text, from Julie, saying, just as Grey had suspected, that she had been trying to make Tommy jealous, that it had worked, and that she was so very sorry.
After he got Julie's text, he opened his window and threw a pebble at Kim's. He managed to hit it but Kim didn't open it, even though he could see her in there. She was still mad. This definitely wasn't something he could really talk to the guys about, so he called Grey.
She picked up right away. To his surprise, she didn't make fun of him or respond with an "I told you so", she just listened. She didn't tell him he was an idiot for going out with Julie again. It was pretty obvious that he knew that already.
After they got off the phone, Milton and Grey went for a long walk. There were a lot of people on the street and thanks to Grey's pick pocketing skills, soon they had enough money to buy them both lunch. Milton had already poured his heart out to her over the phone and he didn't have much to say so he let Grey talk the whole time. She told him some pretty interesting stories about her time in juvie and when he just couldn't wait anymore, he kissed her.
That shut her up but she didn't seem to be too fazed. She just kissed him back and Milton realized that this one was much better than the ones he'd had with Julie over the last two weeks.
That afternoon, Milton entered the dojo, grinning like an idiot. As soon as he walked in, he could see Kim pretending to suddenly be very interested in a nearby punching dummy. The guys, however, were much more curious about Milton's attitude than what they were previously doing.
"What are you so happy about Milton?" Rudy asked.
Milton's smile widened. "I kissed Grey."
This came as such a surprise that even Kim stopped what she was doing and looked up.
"What about Julie?" Jack asked.
"She dumped me," Milton said calmly. "But to be honest, I should have dumped her a long time ago."
Milton winced at the sound of Kim delivering a hard punch to the dummy's face. The other guys briefly turned to look at her but she just ignored them so they turned their attention back to Milton.
"So you broke up with your girlfriend…and got a new one…on the same day?" Jerry asked and Milton nodded. "Nice dude!"
The guys asked more questions, which Milton answered. He was happy for all the positive comments from them but that didn't stop him from feeling sick to his stomach as he watched Kim leave the dojo.
As the days went on, he and Grey became more and more like a couple but he was still feeling pretty guilty. Kim continued to avoid him but no one else seemed to notice which made Milton feel even worse, knowing that Kim hadn't told anyone what he'd said, not even Jack.
He tried every night to get her to open her window and talk to him and finally one night she did.
"What?" She asked, annoyed.
"I'm really sorry about what I said. Can you please forgive me?" Milton begged.
"Why should I?"
"Because you're a good friend who doesn't hold grudges?"
Kim rolled her eyes and started to close her window. "Wait!" Milton called and Kim stopped. "Julie and I broke up. Aren't you happy about that?"
"Apparently that was something that you 'should have done a long time ago'!" She mimicked him. "First, you yell at me because I'm trying to help you. Then you learn I'm right and you just act like it was no big deal! I'm glad you're happy and that you're with Grey but that doesn't suddenly make things okay between us. I wasn't bugging you just to ignore my own problems, I was trying to help you because I care about you and I don't want you to get hurt."
"I know. I should have listened to you. I only said those things because I knew you were right but I just didn't want it to be true." Milton sighed before saying, "You were right and I was wrong."
Kim glared at him at first, but then she gave him a wide smile. "That's exactly what I wanted to hear."
Milton and Grey had been together for a month now. They had already met each other's parents who had given their approval, Grey's because Milton was smart and could keep her out of trouble and Milton's because Grey had managed to get Milton to step out of his comfort zone and try new things.
Everything seemed to being going really well. He had made up with Kim and he had a girlfriend who actually liked him and who all of his friends liked. He had gotten a little uncomfortable at the sight of Julie and Tommy together when he and Grey were on one of their dates but he was pleased to see Julie looking over at them.
Then something happened.
Milton had just gotten home from a dinner date with Grey when his phone started ringing. It was Julie. He knew he shouldn't have but he did it anyway. He answered.
As soon as he did, Julie laughed from the other life but it wasn't a fun laugh. It sounded like she had been crying. "I don't know how you did it Milton but you did. You win."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about Grey and how you've been using her to make me jealous. I didn't think it would work but you did it."
"I wasn't-"
"Tommy dumped me." Now she was crying. "He said he liked someone else. Can you believe that?"
"Actually you-"
"Why do guys have to be such pigs? Except for you Milton. You've always been so nice. I never should have let you go." She paused. "Can you meet me in the park?"
That voice was back, screaming at him to stop, that he was better than that. But sure enough, soon he was at the park, face to face with his ex-girlfriend. Her eyes were red but they lit up when she saw him.
"Look Julie," he began. "You know that there isn't anything between us anymore. I'm with Grey now-"
Julie kissed him.
"Milton?!"
Milton pulled away and looked up. Grey was staring at him in disbelief. Then she turned and ran off. Milton looked at Julie who seemed unfazed and then he ran after Grey. "Grey! Wait!"
He finally had her cornered and after taking a moment to catch his breath he started to explain. "Grey, you don't understand she kissed me!"
"Why were you even with her anyway?!"
"Tommy broke up with her and-"
"Are you serious!? Has our relationship meant anything to you? Or did you just want to be with someone until Julie came back?!"
"Of course our relationship meant something! I like you!"
"Are you still in love with Julie?"
"What?"
Grey crossed her arms. "Tell me the truth. Are you still in love with Julie?"
The silence that followed was enough to answer Grey's question. She stormed past him and this time, he didn't follow her.
He slowly walked home, feeling worse than he ever had in his life. As soon as he was back in his house he dialed a number and the phone was answered on the first ring. He took a deep breath. "I screwed up. Bad."
Five minutes later, Kim had arrived and went to the basement where Milton was lying on the couch, channel surfing. As he saw Kim come down the stairs, he turned the TV and sat up.
"Ok, I've got ice cream, some good break up movies-"
"I'm not a girl Kim."
"Do you want the stuff or not?"
"Yes please."
Kim put in He's Just Not That Into You and handed Milton the carton of ice cream and a spoon as she joined him on the couch.
"Kim, this is a horrible movie," Milton argued.
"I know. We're not even going to be watching it anyway." She lowered the volume on the TV. "Now tell me what happened."
He told her everything, not leaving out any details and when he had finally finished, Kim stared at him for a long time. He was beginning to feel uncomfortable and he wasn't able to read the expression on her face. Then she slapped him.
"Hey!" He dropped the ice cream.
"You're an idiot, you know that right?"
"Yes, of course I know that Kim! But I don't know what to do."
Kim looked him in the eyes. "Are you still in love with Julie?"
"I think?"
"Are you still in love with Julie?"
"I don't know."
"Are you still in love with Julie?"
"I don't know!"
"Are you still in love with Julie?" Kim was shouting now.
"No! I'm in love with Grey!"
Kim smacked him. "Then why didn't you tell her that?"
Milton rubbed the place where Kim had hit him. "I don't know. I just froze up, I guess. I don't know how to tell her."
"Just tell her the truth."
"How do I-" Then he had an idea. "I've got it. Thanks Kim!" He called, running up the stairs.
He ran all the way to Jack's house and started banging on the door. Jack answered. "Milton? What's the matter with you?!"
"Those truth mints…you brought some home with you…right?"
"Yeah why do you-"
"Just get them, please?"
Jack threw his hands up. "Alright alright, I'm getting them." He disappeared upstairs for a few minutes and came back with the package of mints which he handed to Milton.
Milton took them. "Thanks!" He called as he ran off, shoving one in his mouth as he did. When he finally arrived at Grey's house, he began throwing rocks at her bedroom window. It took a while but he finally managed to hit it.
"Who's out there?!" She called as she opened it. "Oh. It's just you."
Milton waved the wrapper of the truth mints in the air so Grey could see it. "I'm in love with you, okay? I love you and not Julie! She means nothing to me but you mean everything! And I don't know what I'd do without you."
Grey disappeared from the window. Milton hung his head and started to walk away.
"Milton!"
He turned to see Grey running out of her house. When she reached him, they kissed. And it was a long kiss too. When it was still going on, Milton's phone rang. It was Julie again. And this time? He hit ignore.
Well, that was it. I hope you enjoyed it! If you did, it would be awesome if you could leave a review and tell me what you thought. Thanks for reading.
