Author's Note: Hiya! (: How are you guys? It feels like it's been ages since I posted a chapter (probably because it has been, haha. School; always getting in the way...). Well, thanks for the great response to the last chappie; you guys are all so encouraging and awesome. Thank you.
~Rainbow Fruit Loop xx
~Irresistible Love and the Turnabout~
Chapter Ten.
It was three days since the swimming debacle, and, strangely enough, Phoenix found himself waiting outside office number one-two-oh-two, a brown paper bag containing two muffins clutched in his hand.
He didn't really know why he was outside Edgeworth's office's door. Was it so that he could ask about what had happened in pools? Because, even though, at the time, he had tried to deny it - had tried to blame the almost-kiss on unfamiliar emotions and heavy stress and god-knows-what-else - he knew that something had happened between them.
Or, perhaps, was he waiting outside Edgeworth's office so that he could try and convince himself that nothing had changed? That - even though they had almost kissed, and he hadn't pulled away until the very last second - everything between them was as normal as it ever was?
But, at the back of his mind, he knew the truth; something in their relationship was changing, and he wasn't sure whether he liked it or not.
Phoenix scratched at his forehead. The way forward was to, obviously, act as though nothing had happened.
Edgeworth would probably get all angry and insecure if I brought it up anyways.
With a deep breath, Phoenix knocked on the door, and waited patiently to be allowed entrance.
"You may enter; the door is open." Miles called out, his tone of voice sounding as uninviting as always.
Phoenix pushed the door open, and stepped into the room; suddenly overwhelmed by the amount of pink.
Edgeworth is the only man I know who could be obsessed with the colour pink without it being too gay…
Miles glanced up at his visitor, and immediately scowled as he saw who it was.
"What do you want, Wright?" he demanded, putting his pen down. "I'm busy, and not in the mood to chat."
Phoenix rolled his eyes. "Are you ever in a mood to chat?"
He was met with a stony silence, so Phoenix hastily cleared his throat.
"I don't want anything, not really. I just wanted to come and see you. It's been a while since we went swimming, and I, uh, wanted to talk."
Miles immediately dropped eye contact, and started fiddling with his pen. "There's nothing to talk about, Wright. If that's all you came for, I must ask you to leave."
Oh good. We're back to square one. What happened to us being friends again? What happened to us sharing things? What happened to me listening as he poured his heart out?
"What's your problem?" Phoenix suddenly burst out, his grip on the brown paper bag tightening. "Why can't I talk or see you anymore? Have I done something to offend you?"
He knew that, no, he probably hadn't offended Edgeworth this time, but he was sick and tired of letting him treat him like crap, and, if getting Edgeworth to retaliate was the only way of getting him to talk, then so be it.
"Or do you just not want to be friends? Is that it?" Phoenix finished, sending Miles a glare telling him that he had better start talking.
Miles sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Of course that's not it, Wright. Stop being melodramatic. I'm just busy."
"Oh, well, that explains everything then!" Phoenix rolled his eyes. "You're busy. Yeah, that's a good reason for us not to be friends."
"We've had this argument before." Miles levelled him with a cool glare. "You know that I'm busy because I have a lot expected of me. I'm not a freelancer, unlike some. I can't just drop everything to spend time with you."
Phoenix shook his head to himself, and attempted to calm down. "Look, I know you're busy, but we haven't spoken - at all - for three days. Can't you spare a few hours?"
Miles shot him a look.
"I have muffins…?" Phoenix held up the paper bag, and smiled sheepishly.
Something in Miles' demeanour changed, and he shook his head exasperatedly - fondly. "You're such a child, Wright. But, if you insist, I suppose I can let you stay for half an hour or so. But you mustn't distract me from work."
Phoenix grinned. "Your wish is my command, Prosecutor Edgeworth." With that, he made his way over to Miles' pink sofa, and draped himself across it.
"What are you doing?" he asked, feigning interest.
"Writing out reports." Miles answered curtly.
"Why don't you just type them out on your computer?" Phoenix asked, curious as to why Edgeworth would willingly write out a report when he could just whip it up on the computer in much less time.
"Some people appreciate the effort put in to actually write out a report." Miles said - as high and mighty as always. "It's something you wouldn't understand."
Phoenix was silent; not trusting himself to not make a sarcastic comment.
"What's with all the pink?" he asked instead. "Bit, er, feminine, isn't it?"
"It's not pink, Wright." Miles said, rolling his eyes. "It's magenta. There's a difference."
"Well, that's like saying cobalt is different from blue, isn't it?" Phoenix raised an eyebrow at his friend. "They're both the same. Magenta is pink."
Miles was silent.
Ah ha! He has no comeback for that! I win!
"I don't know why I'm even having this conversation with you." Miles grumbled under his breath. "You have no sense of style whatsoever. Your office is white."
"Ah, but it's a stylish white." Phoenix snickered to himself.
I'm glad things aren't awkward between us. Perhaps I should just forget about the almost-kiss scenario. Maybe I'm just reading into the situation too much. It was probably nothing.
Nevertheless, Phoenix vowed to himself that he would mention the incident to Miles at some point in the future - just to confirm that he was thinking into things too much.
Phoenix pushed himself up from the - surprisingly comfortable - sofa, and walked over to Miles' weirdly organised desk. He started fiddling with the pens and pencils in the tin on the surface.
"How many blue pens do you have?" he asked randomly, trying to remember how many of his he had counted barely a week before.
Eight… nine…?
Miles looked upwards; confusion written in the deep lines of his face. "What?"
"Never mind; I'll count them. Do you have any spare paper I can scribble on? I need to be able to see which ones are blue and which ones are black. You can't always tell by looking at them."
Miles shot Phoenix another glare. "Can't you amuse yourself elsewhere? Why are you counting my pens?"
Phoenix shrugged. "I'm waiting for you to take a break. Can I have that paper?"
"No. Go and do something else." Miles instructed.
Phoenix put down the collection of Edgeworth's pens that he had gathered, and wandered over to the large bookshelf on his left. He noticed that they were all organised in alphabetical order.
"How do you keep your books so organised?" Phoenix asked, wondering if he could pick up a few tips on how to keep his office tidy.
"I don't read them often, so they just stay the way I originally put them." Miles replied.
"Oh."
No tips there, then.
Urgh, I'm so bored. What can I do to make this visit less boring? Edgeworth's such a party pooper.
Hm. Maybe I could start a Court battle? That could be fun.
Phoenix strode back over to Miles' desk, and slammed his hands down violently.
"I object to the prosecutor's amount of work." Phoenix yelled, grinning mischievously.
Surprisingly, Miles raised an eyebrow, but didn't tell Phoenix off for shouting. "I object to the defence's claim. It's hardly my fault. I need to work - it's not optional."
"Objection! Of course it's optional! Don't you get to choose the cases that you want?" Phoenix was confused.
Miles smirked. "Objection! The defence shouldn't talk about how the Prosecutor's Office works if he doesn't know the facts. Of course we don't get to 'choose' our cases. Each prosecutor is assigned a certain number of cases, and that doesn't change."
"Hold it! Are you willing to submit that statement as testimony?" Phoenix demanded, enjoying the game he had started.
"Testimony to what?"
"Testimony to the fact that you work too much!"
"No. If you require a testimony from me, let me think about it first." Miles instructed.
"Fine. Please testify to the Court- er, me, about why you think you have a normal workload."
Miles cleared his throat. "Okay. We prosecutors are all allocated our cases, and we do not get to refuse these cases, unless we have an exceptional reason. Essentially, this means that all of the Prosecutor's Office has the same amount of work, except for those who request extra. Just because you seem to be under the impression that your workload is normal, doesn't mean that my own is too much."
Hm, giving testimony like a pro… How can I find a contradiction in this…?
Phoenix cleared his throat. "All right. Well, you said, 'Just because you seem to be under the impression that your workload is normal, doesn't mean that my own is too much,' right?"
Miles nodded, evidently amused.
"So, does that mean that you think that I don't work enough?"
"Yes, of course it does."
"Hold it! How would you know how much work I have?" Phoenix inquired, raising an eyebrow at his friend.
"How many days in the last week have you worked?" Miles asked instead; a smug look on his face.
"Er… Moving on." Phoenix smiled brightly, and, after ignoring Miles' eye roll, reflected on the testimony.
"So, you said, '… all of the Prosecutor's Office has the same amount of work, except for those who request extra,' didn't you?"
"Yes."
"And, I'm willing to bet that you're one of those prosecutors - am I correct?"
"Again, yes."
"Hold it! So, you admit that you often have more work than other prosecutors - meaning that your workload is greater than most?"
"Well, I suppose so, but there are many other prosecutors who request extra cases." Miles gave an overconfident shrug. "It all depends on which cases we were assigned in the beginning."
"Hm." Phoenix started pacing - walking up and down the length of Miles' desk; a lion trapped in a cage.
"Can't find any holes in my testimony, Wright?" Miles smirked to himself.
"Hold it! The witness will refrain from talking to the defence!" Phoenix demanded, his hands slamming down on the table in front of him.
Come on… there's got to be something…
"Wait, hold on." Phoenix suddenly said, stopping in his tracks. "Before, in your not-quite-a-testimony-but-still-a-valuable-statement thing, you said, 'Each prosecutor is assigned a certain number of cases, and that doesn't change,' didn't you?"
"…Yes." Miles said, eyebrows furrowing.
"Well, that's a lie, isn't it? The number of cases that you get does change! You've been lying to the court, Miles Edgeworth!"
Miles gave a mock flinch. "Oh, no, Wright. You figured it all out. How will I possibly cope?"
Phoenix gave Miles a wide, smug grin.
"I mean, sure, you were spectacularly wrong, but well done." It was Miles' turn to give Phoenix a smug smirk.
"I wasn't wrong!" Phoenix objected earnestly. "I'm never wrong, you know."
Miles rolled his eyes, and put down the pen that he had been holding. "When I said…" he stopped, and shook his head. "Never mind; it doesn't matter. You're still wrong."
Phoenix rolled his eyes. "Okay, sure. Can you please take that break now? I want to eat the muffins that I spent so long picking out at the bakery!"
Miles rolled his eyes. "Well, I suppose that, now that you've distracted me from my work, I can afford to take a - very short - break." he huffed.
Result!
"Great!" Phoenix enthused, making his way over to the cream sofa. He sat down, and grabbed the bag of muffins that he had left on the coffee table. "Come and eat."
Grumbling under his breath, Miles made his way over to the sofa and sat down beside Phoenix.
"I'm surprised that you actually managed to afford these muffins." he speculated, watching as Phoenix pulled them out of the paper bag.
"I'm not as poor as you think!" Phoenix said defensively, handing Miles a strawberry muffin. "Here. I chose you a strawberry one because you like pink so much."
Miles took the muffin, and eyed it disdainfully; taking in all the sugar and the masses of icing. "It doesn't look particularly healthy."
"It's a muffin!" Phoenix all but shouted, exasperated. "It's not supposed to be healthy!" He reached into the bag and pulled out his own muffin - a chocolate one. Not because he liked the colour brown, but because the only other muffin flavour they had was blueberry, and blueberries were fruit.
Not exactly an ideal muffin flavour. Who would want a fruit muffin? Obviously Edgeworth, if he's so keen on eating healthily.
"Try not to make crumbs, please, Wright." Miles warned, watching as Phoenix bit into his muffin with an eager enthusiasm.
"I won't." Phoenix assured him through a mouthful of cake.
The two sat in silence - Phoenix munching inelegantly at his muffin, and Miles delicately pulling bits off his.
"So, Wright, why aren't you working today?" Miles finally asked.
Phoenix swallowed. "I don't have any clients at the moment." he shrugged. "There's no point in me being at the office if I've got nothing to do."
"And have you done anything to amend that fact?"
"What fact?"
"The fact that you've got no clients." Miles said, infuriated.
"Oh. No, of course not! I can't make murders happen! Well, I mean, I can, but then I would be the one needing defence, so that wouldn't really help."
Miles rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean. Have you actually been telling people that you've got no work, or have you been lying?"
"Does it make me a bad person if I say that I've been lying?" Phoenix grinned sheepishly.
"You're so incredibly lazy, Wright." Miles chided, shaking his head.
"No, I'm not! Well, not really. Only on occasions. It's just that, well, I wanted to have time to spend with you." Phoenix smiled, slightly embarrassed for reasons unknown to him.
"Excuses, excuses. I find it hard to believe that you're risking your income, and therefore your wellbeing, just so that you can meet with me whenever you feel like it."
Why do you find it so hard to believe that we're friends, Edgeworth?
Phoenix simply shrugged, too tired to enter the tedious debate about their possible friendship.
Instead, he decided to start a conversation about either the ever-rising price of petrol, or the story behind the pink jacket framed on the wall - not that he particularly cared about the latter, but it seemed like a polite and relatively safe topic to enter into - but was interrupted when Miles' office phone rang.
Miles put down his muffin, got up from the sofa and strode over to his desk, and motioned for Phoenix to be quiet before picking up the phone.
"Hello, Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth speaking." he answered, making no effort to sound enthusiastic about his career.
Phoenix yawned to himself; ready to listen to one half of a very interesting conversation about prosecuting. So, he was pleasantly surprised when Miles ran his fingers through his silver hair and said, "Ah, hello, Kay."
Ooh, it's the legendary Kay. This'll definitely be interesting. Well. One half of the conversation will be.
Hm. I wonder if I could try and pair Edgeworth and Kay up? I mean, sure, Edgeworth said he didn't want to date anyone we knew, but surely Kay would be the obvious choice? He knows her well, and obviously trusts her…
Wait. I wonder how old she is?
Ah, never mind. My guess is that he's gay, even if he won't admit it.
"No, Kay, not yet." Miles muttered into the phone, scowling as he did so. "Give me time."
Heh. She must be asking Edgeworth if he's found a partner yet. We haven't really made much - any - progress on that. Whoops.
"What...? No, Kay, of course not! Why would you even suggest something like that?" Miles suddenly exploded into the phone, startling Phoenix for a second. "That's… preposterous!"
Ooh, what's happening? What has she suggested?
Phoenix strained his ears; trying desperately to hear was Kay was saying at the other end of the line.
"No, I'm sorry for shouting, but-" Miles was cut off again, and he rolled his eyes. "Yes, Kay, I know. Calm down. …Have you decided on a date, at least?"
Yes, it'd be good to know when our deadline is.
"You haven't? Well, perhaps that's something you should decide before you make a fuss about me not having found a partner yet, don't you think?"
Good call, Edgeworth.
"Okay. I'll speak to you soon, Kay." Miles sighed, and hit the 'End' button on the phone.
"Who was that?" Phoenix asked innocently; trying to act as though they both had no clue that he had been listening to the entire conversation.
"That was Kay." Miles replied, scowling at his friend.
"Oh. What did she have to say? I heard you getting a bit, er, het up there for a minute."
Miles turned a faint shade of pink. "Uh, not much. She still hasn't decided on a date for her party." he commented, scowling.
"Well, we've got plenty of time to find you a partner then, right?" Phoenix queried, grinning at his friend.
"I suppose so."
"Kay seems like a nice girl." Phoenix hinted.
"She is." Miles agreed, walking back over to sit on the sofa. "A tad loud, but nice enough."
"Why don't you ask her out?" Phoenix asked, tilting his head to the side. "She seems perfect to me."
"No." Miles said firmly. "Definitely not."
Surprise.
"Why not?" Phoenix asked, feigning curiosity.
Ooh, maybe he's finally going to come out of the closet? I mean, she seems like a genuinely nice person, so what reason could he give me for not asking her, apart from the obvious?
"I don't, er, like her in that way." Miles muttered, looking downwards. "So it's completely pointless."
"Edgeworth," Phoenix whined, rolling his eyes. "You don't like anyone in 'that way'!"
Miles paused for a second, his eyebrows furrowing as he watched Phoenix. His face was pink, his eyes dark and indecipherable. "Wright, I…"
What?
Miles looked away; obviously uncomfortable with Phoenix's intense gaze. "Never mind."
Phoenix sighed.
What were you going to say, Edgeworth? What were you going to tell me?
Instead of pushing the subject, however, Phoenix asked a question that had been on his mind for a while.
"Hey, er, Edgeworth?"
"Yes?" Miles looked up again, and his face possessed the calmness it usually held.
"Why are you afraid of falling in love?"
There. I said it.
Miles looked startled, and his expression turned to one of annoyance. "What are you talking about, Wright? When have I ever said that I'm afraid of falling in love? What are you basing your - completely wrong, I might add - accusations on?"
Phoenix chuckled under his breath. "Come on, Edgeworth. I'm not stupid. It's obvious that you're afraid of… something to do with love. Why else would you be so worried about having to find someone to take to Kay's party?"
Miles was silent, and Phoenix wondered if the question he'd asked had been too personal. Just as he was about to apologize for his inquisitiveness, Miles spoke up.
"Okay, Wright, you're… right. It's just… The thought of letting someone in, giving someone the chance to… to hurt me… well, it scares me." he admitted gently.
Phoenix felt his heart clench.
Oh, Edgeworth. I wish I could help. You're so broken inside, aren't you?
"If you fall in love with the right person, then there's nothing to be afraid of." Phoenix reminded him quietly. "Not everyone is out to hurt you."
Miles shook his head. "It's just, the last person I loved was my father, and, when I lost him, the pain was… well, it was almost unbearable. The thought of going through all of that again when I could so easily avoid it… Well. Opening my heart to love will open my heart to pain, and I think I'd rather I've without both."
To his surprise, Phoenix felt a strange prickling at the back of his eyes. He was completely moved by Miles' heartbroken speech, and it hurt him to think that Miles had chosen to live a loveless life because he was afraid of the unknown.
"But what if you fell in love with someone you trusted not to break your heart?"
Someone you trusted. Someone like… well, me. I wouldn't break your heart, Edgeworth.
Surprising himself with his thoughts, Phoenix felt his cheeks reddening to mirror Edgeworth's.
Wait, what?
Is… Is the thought of Edgeworth falling in love with me, and me with him, something that I… wouldn't hate? Is it something that I could truly consider? No, surely not. Wouldn't that be such a terrible mistake for our friendship? Wouldn't that destroy everything I've worked for… everything we've achieved?
But perhaps… Perhaps it would make me happy; deliriously happy. Maybe it'd be the best thing to ever happen to us. Perhaps making that final step would be the best thing we could ever do.
Because… I do like Edgeworth. I think he's amazing, intelligent, and, well, I suppose he's good looking. Oh, all right, he's incredibly attractive, what, with his silver hair and intense expression and broad shoulders… Oh God.
So does this mean that… falling in love with Edgeworth… is something that's… actually a possibility? Is it something I… want?
…Yes, I think it is.
Oh God.
"Who could I trust not to break my heart?" Miles asked, lifting his eyes to gaze at Phoenix with something akin to desperation.
There was something in Miles' eyes that echoed the look he had seen back in the pools when they had almost kissed, and as Phoenix stared back, he suddenly realised that this was it. His next words could change everything; could make everything better. The strange urge to embrace his friend and whisper gently in his ear was almost unbearable.
Me. Oh, God, it's me. It's been me all along. We're supposed to be together Edgeworth. It's me who won't break your heart. It's me. Oh God.
Phoenix opened his mouth, ready to form the word, 'me', but he was suddenly gripped by real terror.
What if he rejects me? What if the incident in the pools was just a misunderstanding, and he didn't actually want to kiss me? What if… What if I ruin everything by announcing that it's me who won't break his heart, when this is something I've only just thought about?
I need time to think about this 'revelation' before I act on it. Because, surely I can't seriously be thinking about me and Edgeworth… together. That's ridiculous. He doesn't even really like me that much. I don't want to speak up now only to realise that I don't have any feelings for him at all.
Because then I really might break his heart.
"I don't know, Edgeworth. I just don't know."
There was an uncomfortable silence as the two men sat on the sofa, both wondering when Miles had started expressing his emotions so liberally.
Damn it. I really shouldn't have come today. It's made everything worse instead of better.