A/N: A little heads-up: the characters might act a bit OOC due to special circumstances.

Also thanks to my Beta SaltyCandy, who was a great help with the wording.

This story is purely for entertainment.

I hope you will enjoy it.

Melissa threw her bag carelessly on the floor of the hallway.

She'd been told multiple times that she shouldn't place anything in the hallway without looking first, especially in front of Milo's room.

'But it would only be for a moment,' she told herself.

On second thought, she should probably take it inside. She did.

She stopped in front of his wooden door. She had enough foresight to knock on it first.

No answer.

That was peculiar. His parents told her he was in his room.

She opened the door with a tiny crack. "Hey Milo, do you want to go to the scrap yard invasion party in Danville? I heard the last time they had a DJ dressed as a pharmacist."

She heard a small noise. Was that a sigh?

She opened the door wider. "Milo?"

From a peculiar situation to a peculiar sight. She saw Milo slumped, with his head on his desk.

"Milo?"

He lifted his head abruptly. "Oh, Melissa. Sorry, I haven't heard you come in." His unusually unenthusiastic voice paused a little. "How long have you been standing there?"

"I.. I just came in." Melissa was shocked at the sight of her friend acting uncharacteristically. He had light rings under his eyes, which definitely hadn't been there the day before. "Are you all right?" she asked while she closed the door behind her.

"Yes, sure I am!" he answered a little too fast. "Just.. just give me a minute.. a few hours.." he stumbled in his words trying to force a smile. "I can come right back to you in.. I'll tell you when.."

"Milo, What's going on?"

He stroked his legs awkwardly and avoided her eyes. "Figures, the one time I don't lock the door."

"So this happens often?"

"Once every few months. Nothing really worth mentioning. Can I..?"

"Milo." She said with the softest voice she could manage.

She heard a new sigh. It was so weird coming out of Milo's mouth.

"I never wanted you to see me like this." He covered his eyes with one hand. "Melissa, please go. I'll call you later."

Melissa crossed her arms in front of her and leaned at the door. She wasn't going anywhere.

Milo didn't stand up or tell her to leave even though he had every right to do so. This was his room afterall. Instead, he leaned back into his desk under his bed.

Melissa waited a while there in silence. "Are you ready to talk now?"

"Barely." Her friend answered. "Are you ready to listen?"

"Always."

He raised his head and took a deep breath. "It's just.. all this.." he gestured his hand slowly to animate his concerns. "Constantly on guard, always calculating the worst case scenario, always watching out if no one is standing too close to me for too long.. Don't get me wrong, I rather be cursed than bored, but by Jove…" he breathed, "It is exhausting at times."

Melissa walked over to her friend and started to stroke his back. She noticed him wincing but she continued anyway.

After a while, he turned towards her to use her belly as a pillow and she added a second hand.

"You never called it a curse before."

"Because it's not one!" he said too loudly. "It"s not a curse." he whispered. "It's a condition. A lot of people have a condition." He laid his hands on Melissa's sides and leaned deeper into her belly. "All of them having upsides and downsides. Excitement is the best upside. Do you agree with me?"

"Yes, the best one." His friend said softly.

"He wrapped his arms around her. "I just wish I had an off-switch for special occasions or a few more light days." he tightened his grip on her. "Melissa, am I ungrateful?"

"No!" she cradled the back of his head. "No, you are not ungrateful, Milo. You are allowed to be exhausted. Everyone is!"

They shared a brief moment of silence.

"You know, Milo. I'm glad you forgot to lock the door." The curly redhead was the first one to break it.

"Yeah, me too." Came an almost chipper tone from the brunet. "Now someone aside from Diogee knows."

"So the rest of your family doesn't?"

"No, they have no idea. Please don't tell anyone. They are so proud of how I handle all of that so well."

"Silent as a grave, buddy."

They gave each other a few minutes before he looked up.

"Why did you want to meet me again?"

Melissa bit her lower lip. "I wanted to pick you up for the scrap yard invasion party. I thought since everything is already broken we wouldn't attract attention."

He looked a bit annoyed. "And it didn't come to your mind that the others wouldn't want to wear helmets that could mess with their spiked hairdo?"

Melissa shook her head with a poker face.

"And that they are all, in addition to that, at least three years older than us?"

She shook her head again.

"So you didn't think this through?"

"Not really." She admitted with a smirk.

Milo gave her finally an honest smile and made a noise that somehow resembled a laugh.

That took a load off her mind.

"Sounds extremely exciting, but I don't feel particularly reckless today."

"I thought so. Should we watch something on TV instead?"

"That would be great." He finally smiled.