Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It. I don't own a duck, either. (Sorry, Linda.)

"We are not taking care of a goddamn duck, Jerry!" The redhead argues, staring at the estranged duck from duck season at the mall. "He belongs with his herd, do you understand that?"

Of course, that statement goes on deaf ears. Both boys love animals enough to house a wild animal in their home, but Jerry is as forgetful as an old man, and Milton's parents won't allow it. Then again, no one said that he would accept it. "Come on, Milton, he has nowhere to go!" The Latino pets the duck on its head, and the duck relaxes against Jerry's delicate touch. "You loved Louie, remember?"

"And we had to let him go, because of duck season," he says back.

Jerry nods, "Exactly, so why can't we give him the love and affection that his duck parents can't give to him for the time being?"

"Because, this isn't like a cartoon where we keep a baby animal in our home and act like some old married couple to make a fucking point," Milton argues back, with a bit of a sneer. "This is real-life."

"So what are you saying, just leave him? Hungry, helpless, sad?" Jerry pouts, and raises the duck to eye level. "See, he's sad. He wants you to take him home and let him have a warm bed, with lots of food and love...come on, it won't be that bad. We don't have to act like a married couple or anything."

However, the both of them can't admit the fact that it will be the closest they would have to a relationship.

"Please?"

Milton rolls his eyes. He knows he can't resist his pout, no matter how mad he feels about anything. "Fine! But I swear to god—"

"Thank you!" Jerry beams, and wraps an arm around Milton in a half hug. "Dude, this will be so fun!"

"Yeah, fun..."

Slowly, Jerry let's go of the blushing redhead. As much as neither of them want to. "So, let's make a schedule."

Milton raises an eyebrow. "Why? It's just the two of us taking care of a bird! Why should we have a schedule?"

"Because, I don't live with you, dumbass," Jerry rolls his eyes, while the duck nuzzles against his chest. "I'll have him for the first week, and you have him for the second week, and it goes on and on until he's ready to get back on his feet..."

"I hope you know that this is your new responsibility."

—

"What the fuck?" Milton says to himself, after finding parts of his room trashed. "That fucking bird..." He drops his books on the floor, and tries to fix up the damage that the duck does, since it's his turn to watch little Louie 2.0, or that's what Jerry likes to call him. On the low, however, Milton just says 'that fucking bird' like he doesn't really care. "Where are you, you little shit?" He calls, and looks around the dirty room for the duck. The windows are closed and his room stays locked for that reason only, so that only leaves a few places.

"Under the bed, in the dresser, in the closet..." The redhead muses, and starts looking in those top three places. First, he looks under the bed. No sign of Louie 2.0 anywhere. The dresser only produces a few feathers, but nothing comes up. "The closet...I hope he doesn't shit on my clothes..."

However, as he opens the door, he gasps and almost screams. "Holy Christmas nuts, he's a she!"

As quickly as he can, he calls Jerry immediately, but he doesn't pick up. "Gah, Jerry, you fucking idiot! I hope you know that we're granddads to a few more ducks, because Louie is a girl! Oh, and we need a new name for Louie." He hangs up the phone, and pinches the bridge of his nose. "Great. When did I ever agree to a responsibility to take care of a pregnant duck?"

The duck quacks in response. Milton glares at the bird, but the long stare makes his glare soften. "It's not your fault. As a matter of fact, I only agreed to this to get closer to your other dad." Seriously, why is he having a conversation with another duck? Then again, the only friend he really has these days is Jerry; Jack is still wallowing in sadness after his girlfriend moved, which is pathetic. "Yeah, he doesn't notice me the way your baby daddy probably noticed you...then again, he left you with a couple of seventeen year olds to look after your babies."

He shakes his head, and makes a makeshift nest. "By the way you need a new name...Louie is not a girl's name." He pets the top of the duck's head, watching it relax against the redhead's touch. "Ugh, I promised myself not to get so close to another animal..."

The silence is broken when his phone starts ringing. "Speaking of your other father..." As soon as he picks up the phone, he goes into angry mode. "Jerry! Get your goddamn ass over here, now! We have a situation!"

"Yeah, I got your angry voicemail, mom," he mutters. "God, where did you get that potty mouth?"

Milton rolls his eyes. "Can we not talk about my foul fucking language now? Just get over here, before...Linda, goes accidentally missing."

"Really, from Louie to Linda?"

"Oh my god, you are a fucking useless twit!"

"Alright, alright!" Jerry relents, with a sigh. "I'll be there in ten minutes, tops. Just...watch Linda and don't let her out of your sight." Quickly, they both hang up the phone.

The duck stares at Milton, which he interprets as a weird look. "Believe it or not, but he's more motivated when I cuss him out."

After five short minutes, Jerry shows up at his best friend's room. "What? What happened? Where are the babies?"

"Shh!" Milton hisses, with his finger over his lips. "Linda's sleeping. They haven't hatched, but I calculated that they will hatch in a few days, if under an incubator."

"Oh, fine," he nods. He almost coos at the sight of Milton holding the duck so close to his chest, almost like the time when they had Louie for a few days before sending him back to his flock. Sadly, the redhead had some withdrawal issues that no one really resolved. "I see you warmed up to her."

"Yeah...I guess I did," he grins, and pats the seat next to him on the bed. Jerry immediately sits next to his best friend, and strokes the nursing duck's wing. "She and I kind of bonded over stuff."

"Stuff?"

"Like, how much I want to kill you for making me take care of a pregnant duck." The redhead grins jokingly, with a small chuckle. "But now, I still want to kill you, but a little less."

"So, even when you fall for this little cutie, you'll still kill this cutie?" At this point, they were both close, and leering at each other with small, flirtatious flickers in their eyes. "Come on, you know I'm practically the closest friend you have these days. Your nerd friends are barely there, and Jack's still crying about Kim."

"Yeah, I didn't cry this much about Julie." Consecutively, he only cried for a week, before moving on with his life. And now, well, he's embracing the other part of his sexuality..."Should we make an effort to talk to him or anything?"

"I think we have a bigger responsibility at the moment. He'll come to us if he needs us."

—

The next few days pass by quickly, however the eggs hatch before Milton comes home from school, making the redhead miss the action to visualize the circle of life. "Aw, come on Chris, Amy, and Ida. You weren't supposed to hatch for a few days!" Milton sighs, and strokes the birds' small feathers that form in the small time they grow between hatching and now. "Mommy's with the self-proclaimed abuelo, but I can pay him a visit..."

In a short while, the redhead shows up on Jerry's doorstep. "Yo, Jerry, open the door! The babies hatched early!"

"They what now?" Milton hears a different voice, but that's ignored when Jerry opens the door to see the three chicks in the makeshift incubator. A small smile appears on his face before he lets Milton in. "Okay, what's going on?" He hears the voice again, and follows Jerry into his living room, where he sees Jack with a game controller in his hand.

"We're taking care of a pregnant duck," Jerry replies, and takes the incubator away from the redhead's grip. "We thought she was a he, until she laid eggs in Milton's closet. We were just going to keep her for a couple of days until her flock comes back, but then, this happened."

"Okay, this isn't weird at all," Jack shakes his head, and pays no more attention to the two. This is normal behavior, for any of the guys when they actually had five people. Now, with Kim away and Eddie not talking to them, they're only three left. Hey, at least the craziness doesn't have to completely end. Just before the duck situation happened, Milton had another encounter with his pretty faced stalker, and it took days for them to get away from her.

"I thought they had three days left."

"Yeah, but I guess they were eager," the redhead jokes with a slight flush on his cheeks. "They need to be with their mom now."

"She's upstairs." With that, Milton awkwardly goes upstairs. Jack still appears bewildered, on seeing three baby ducks and two seventeen year olds taking care of said ducks. Even though it shouldn't weird anyone out (if they really knew them), it still does. "What?"

"You two are the weirdest set of friends I know," he shakes his head, while Jerry sits back on the couch to continue playing games. "Only you two would take care of a wild animal like if it was a child."

"Shut up, you know how I feel about animals. I saw her first, and I didn't want to take care of her alone, and...well," he trails off, staring at the game controller with disinterest.

"You have a crush on him, don't you?" The brunette grins triumphantly, ignoring the light punch on his arm. "I knew it! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!"

"Shhhh!" Jerry is blushing now. He can't comprehend the fact that his best friend for almost four years can figure out his crush on Milton, then again, who wouldn't either? That's just a sixth sense that isn't really there. "Can you speak any louder, I don't think they heard you over at the Andromeda Galaxy!"

"Oh, so you're not denying it?"

Of course not. Jerry rolls his eyes, and sighs in defeat. "Shut up, okay? I never wanted to fall for my best friend for almost ten years. That wasn't part of my plan."

"And I didn't want to fall for a girl, that moved away, but shit happens," Jack replies, with a short shrug. "Look, I've known you guys for a pretty long time, and if anyone deserves each other, it's you two."

"What makes you think so?" Jerry asks, with a n unsure thought. "The only person that tolerates my...slowness, is you. Kim always cussed me out, and Milton has the patience of a girl on her period."

"Are you kidding? I've seen the way he looks and talks about you," the brunette argues, baffled by the way Jerry waves off requited feelings by his friend. "He loves you, dude. You just have to see it."

"I don't know..."

As soon as Jack is about to reply, they hear footsteps closing in on them. The two boys pretend to play Grand Theft Auto, but Milton knows better. Plus, he heard the whole conversation from upstairs, which gives him a lot of hope..."Alright, um, I'm guessing Linda's nursing the triplets so I'm gonna go."

"Are you sure? We were finally up to the last level of—"

"I have homework to do!" The redhead lies quickly, knowing that today is Friday and there is no need to do any homework. "I'm sorry, there's just...hey, if I get a head start now, then maybe I'll come over again."

Before Jerry has any time to reply, Milton immediately leaves the house, and sighs in relief. It comes out almost strangled, like he's been holding his breath for the past hour. "Fuck," he mutters, before heading to his car to go home.

—

Despite the small promise to come over, Milton doesn't make any moves to come over. As a matter of fact, it's been five days since the small encounter. None of them are taking it well, even if it's just Milton avoiding Jerry at all costs. What is supposed to be a friendly issue, has now become something that resembles a married couple that is angry at each other.

Although, no one is mad at anyone.

Who cracks first, isn't so shocking, either.

"I get the fact that you want to study, but avoiding me?" Jerry frowns, leaning against the locker next to Milton, who doesn't pay him any mind. "What did I do now? Are you still mad at me for a questionable reason that I don't know of until you tell me what it is you're mad at?"

"You didn't do anything."

"So, what gives?"

Besides hearing the whole conversation on Friday, and the crush on each other..."Nothing. I just had a lot of other work to focus on. I'm sorry if it made you feel like I was avoiding you."

Jerry nods in understanding. "Well, are you busy now? I kind of want you to come over tonight. I think Linda misses you."

"Does she really miss me, or are you just saying that because you can't take care of sassy Ida by yourself?"

"Just come over!"

—

The ducks prove themselves to be hard to take care of. None of the babies would eat, and Linda becomes too possessive of the little 'ducks' she has. "Come on, Linda! You have to eat something!" Milton cries, when the older mother duck keeps trying to bite his hand off for feeding her. "Stop biting my fucking hand off, you flightless bit—"

"Just leave them alone!"

"You don't understand, Jerry," the redhead growls, glaring daggers at Linda. "The pain of a duck biting your hand at the same spot she bit you before is like repeatedly stepping on a Lego, like the many times I've stepped on Legos during preschool, because stupid fucking Hayden put blocks under my sleeping cot so I'd step on them when I wanted to go to the bathroom!"

"You really have ginger rage," Jerry chuckles.

"I'm glad you're finding my childhood pain amusing."

With a small, fixed grin, Jerry carefully picks up the angry mother duck, petting her on her head carefully. "Give her to me. She might react better if you give her a little TLC."

"I hate you," the redhead mutters, and gives up. The duck stares at the two boys, then eats off the redhead's hand, quickly. "This tickles."

A comfortable silence follows immediately, and they watch the bird slowly fall asleep in their hands. Besides the craziness ensuing beforehand, they can admit that they had more fun with each other when taking care of her, than they do when they're alone. At least there's help, instead of one person taking care of four animals in their own home.

"You know what? I'm proud of us," Jerry says, breaking the comfortable silence. "We took care of a pregnant duck by ourselves, and even though others would think it's weird...I really had fun doing it."

"I had fun too." Another comfortable silence passes, but they have small smiles on their faces, staring at each other. None of them are aware that they are inching closer to each other's faces; slowly yet surely. They're so close that they feel their breaths, yet nothing stops them. Just as their lips are about to meet, they hear a disapproving quack below.

Twin chuckles circle the room, as they stare at Linda, who stares at her cage with her resting babies. "Look who decided to wake up at a perfect time!"

—

"I think it's time to let them go."

"What? No! I don't think Chris is ready for the outside world yet!"

The seventeen year old giggles behind his hand, finding it cute that his best friend really bonded with the ducks in a matter of two months of finding Linda. "Milton, they need to go. My parents are getting suspicious, and your dad has had multiple cases of sneezing fits from being around you."

"But...what...gah! You made me bond with these fucking ducks, only to take them away from me!" The redhead cries, tears shining in his eyes. "You are a heartless little fuck, I hope you know that."

"Remember, you wanted nothing to do with Linda two months ago," Jerry points out, after picking the makeshift cage from his nightstand. "I know, but you know better than I do that they don't derive on city air. They need freshwater."

"How did you know—"

"I'm not that stupid." Quickly, they leave the house and make their way to the park, which is half a mile from the city. On the way there, no words are shared, in hopes that none of them break the comfortable silence between them. However, close calls of their hands brushing has the both of them blushing ridiculously.

The walk there proves to be longer than usual, despite the comfortable silences and the close calls.

When they get to the park, they kneel on the grass and sigh simultaneously. Carefully, Jerry opens the cage. "Even though you were only here for two months, you have been the best companion two guys can ever ask for. I hope you'll visit us one day." Jerry sniffles, with tears staining his face. Reluctantly, Milton pulls the crying teen closer to his chest, with all awkwardness out of the window.

Linda hesitantly leaves the cage, with her children behind her. The four waddle away from the crying and waving boys, over to the new place they can call home. Luckily, there's water nearby for the freshwater ducks to enjoy their truthful ecosystem.

"I think this whole experience made me realize something."

Jerry picks his head up from his friend's chest. "Like what?"

Milton wipes his friend's face, and passionately kisses him on the lips, and immediately feels his heart flutter when he kisses back.

AN: So, after watching Jack Stands Alone for the hundredth time, I came up with another brain vomit prompt. I'm starting to love these mind lapses of brain vomits. It gives me the confidence to steer clear from my Lab Rats fic for a while (shhh, don't tell the fans!) and to get my ideas on a document before my plot bunny completely dies.

Yes, I'm definitely still sailing (or captaining, whatever floats your boat) the Merry ship. By myself. Anyone can hop on if possible. However, it's becoming hard to sail the Merry ship when you also sail the Mack ship (you can blame Return of Spyfall for that) but whatever. Multishipping is what I do. What did you guys think of the Big Damn Kiss on the season finale? I personally didn't like it. It looked like both Leo and Olivia were uncomfortable, to me at least. And it sounded like they were holding back actual tears. And the petals...cliché as hell! Lololol, this ain't a Nicholas Sparks romance. ;D

Oh, and I has twitter! Follow me on twitter. The link's on my profile, but you can also find rainb0wloaf_ (yes, that's a zero and an underscore!) for story updates, live tweeting about The Fosters, and my fourth semester that's going so well with the amount of work I have. Yup, sarcasm.

So, tell me what you think. I know, this was rushed, but it sounded better in my head.