A/N: Hey guys! I just finished this chapter (and I'm so happy I'm so early) and I really wanted to post it now, since school and even worse, French exams are coming up, and I have to study, meaning not staring the books for four hours straight, but actually study.
I feel like I'm getting repetitive, but I just want to thank you again for your support, kind reviews, and PMs. You have no idea how much it means! I especially want to say thank you all the reviews from Guests since I cannot answer to them personally. So, thank you so much, mysterious friends!
Anyway, this is the last installment of the "Smile More" arc; I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
P.S. I read on Tumblr that there'll be a Leorai Week this year and I'm pretty fucking excited about it! :DD It'll be great to write some one-shots about it with prompts, since drabbles are far easier than full written sequence-y chapters. XD
On the same page, some people were asking me about writing a sidefic with one-shots of unseen scenes and parts based on this story and the alternative universe with reader's requests, but I dunno if anyone would be interested in that. :/
"See Your Face In Golden Rays"
Have some quality time with my family; Smile more; Help the world; Do something scary; Act more mature; Help the people that always help me; Admit my feelings; Take my life into my own hands; Be proud of me; Make a new friend. Michelangelo has to make this year memorable for him. (TMNT HUMAN! AU)
Just a sucky fic because I have to release my pent-up stress somehow.
Warnings: Crappy Grammar / Awful Dialogues/Completely Out Of Character
Mikey entered the school with difficulty, pushing, or trying to push, more accurately, the door, before some kid was kind enough to hold the door for him. He made his way through the bunches of students, with his hands full, until he found himself in front of the main announcement board.
He carefully left all of his creative thingies on the floor and scanned with his eyes curiously the posters on the board.
"Poetry Event", "Ice Hockey Try-Outs", "Wanted Alien Theories Club"…?
Well, his missing notebook poster wouldn't take up that much space.
He unrolled the poster smoothly and stapled it on the board. Mikey took a step back to admire his work.
A missing notebook for a title, a poor, rushed photo of it, taken with his phone just today and a number, so the person whose this notebook belonged to could contact him.
Perfect.
Mikey grabbed his bag from the floor and started moving towards his locker.
He wasn't giving up on the list or something.
But, he had to put his things in order. It wasn't right to have something that didn't belong to him. It wasn't honorable.
He'd tried to find the owner of this notebook while still following the things on it.
It sounded like a good plan.
Besides, he was already preparing for the "Help the world" step with working along with Leo and Karai tomorrow.
He shuffled his textbooks quickly in his locker, sighing.
It was warm. He felt warm.
After the morning, he didn't know how else to feel. It was too confusing.
But he felt as if all the stuff had got in a line. For now.
And that was good.
Mikey bit his lip, pushing his glasses back up. He tried to close his eyes to breathe, but wasn't able since a very concerned voice reached his ears.
"Mikey?"
He turned his face only to meet his brother's worried look as he patted his hair and leaned his shoulder on the lockers.
Mikey cleared his throat. "Oh, um, hi… Don…," he started stiffly.
Donnie shook his head in what Mikey could guess was unbelievable disappointment before he started his rant with wide eyes.
"Hey, we've been looking for you, like, everywhere. I didn't know if you'd come. I mean, us, April, Woody, we texted you, we called and-"
"I know," Mikey bumped in, not being able to stand still and silent any longer. "I needed some time to think… stuff." He added for his own benefit, half-lying, and hitched up an apologizing smile.
"Ah," Donnie hesitated, fingers tugging the purple straps of his backpack on his back. "So, you're good."
"Better." Mikey corrected.
With the way Donnie looked on the floor, Mikey thought it was - it was over, but when Donnie looked up again, his eyes said otherwise.
His gaze was drilling in Mikey's eyes, as he let out a breath. "Look, Mikey, I don't know what you heard this morning and God knows I'll repeat it again and again if I have to, but we were worried and we wanted to help, all of us-"
Perhaps predictably, Mikey backpedaled fiercely at his brother's pleading tone, "That's not what I remember. I heard you," he said and was thankful his voice didn't break.
"Well, if you heard, you know we-" Donnie started fervently, but probably decided against it, and continued with a face palm, "Ugh, Mikey, come on. Is this really worth arguing?"
Yes.
"No." Mikey muttered.
"We just wanted to help," Donnie said desperately and Mikey's heart was in his throat.
"I know, I know, I'm just – I'm acting like a brat, don't mind me," Mikey murmured messily.
"Donnie punched his shoulder. "Welcome to puberty 101, little man." After a moment, he added, "And hey, we do mind you. That's our job."
"Yeah?" Mikey offered him a cheeky smile that Donnie immediately mimicked, without thinking.
"Heck yeah."
There was a moment of understanding silence before Mikey decided to break it. "Um, where're the guys?" He rubbed the back of his head, looking around.
"Raph's in the cafeteria swallowing down meat subs-"
Oh god, you know it's serious when Raphael is noshing in the school cafeteria.
"- and Leo's taking care of some issues with the principal about some stuff, I didn't understand, but he looked," Donnie looked like he didn't know which word to choose, "…troubled."
"Jeez," Mikey blurted with genuine frustration, "if he keeps stressing like that, he's gonna give himself a stomach ulcer."
"At least his acid reflux will have a friend," Donnie offered with a ghost of his usual humor, but that wasn't relieving Mikey in the slightest.
What was Leo doing to himself?
"Peachy," he mumbled. "Remind me to make him something nice at home," he said quietly.
Donnie leaned his head in front with a smile. "Good call."
Mikey took advantage of Donnie's at ease pose to do him his usual 'hug-attack' and made his way to go. "Awesome, see y-"
But, apparently, Donnie wasn't letting him.
"Wait-"
"I gotta-"
"Donnieeh-"
"About the math test-" Donnie started and Mikey couldn't help but stop in his tracks and turn his head to his brother. "Oh."
"I just – You see, Mrs. Campbell is a strict teacher – April got a C too – it's not your fault and I'm – well, I could help, with math. A few lessons wouldn't hurt," Donnie explained lamely and as calmly as discussing the weather.
"A few lessons wouldn't hurt," Mikey repeated.
"I'm glad you agree-"
"-but, um, not… with you," he hedged, looking over his shoulder and back at Donnie.
Mikey wanted the earth to shatter beneath his feet and him to disappear as he watched Donnie's face sink and his breathing falter.
"Ah," Donnie said and Mikey abruptly wanted to give his brother another, tighter hug. "I see."
But did he?
He fidgeted with his fingers and glanced at a cute pair making out against the wall, not wanting to look at his brother while he would explain himself to him.
Explain what?
Donnie helped him study almost since ever. It was basically routine. A link of a long-life chain. And if he broke that link, the chain would be broken, too.
But it should happen.
Dad had said that he wanted the best for each one of them. Who knew what was best for him, except Mikey himself? Splinter wouldn't be always there to help him.
He knew what he was doing. He knew what he felt and what he should do. He just couldn't – he couldn't explain it – all of it – to Donnie. To his brother.
Still, he wished he understood as he continued observing idly the young couple and said carefully, "Not that I don't trust you with this, but I want to do this all over again more… freshly. I dunno how to sa – how to explain it-"
Donnie grasped his chin, forcing him to look at him and said with firm fondness, "You don't need to." His harsh tone was gone as suddenly as it had appeared and Donnie's fingers left his chin. With trembling eyes, he said rather quickly, "I mean, I get it. S'fine."
Mikey hesitated. He wasn't sure if he truly did get it. "Sure?"
"Yes, I told you." The words weren't by themselves noteworthy.
But Mikey moved his hands to Donnie's face, curling his brother's lips with his fingers in order for Donatello to smile.
Donnie watched his curious fingers, before breaking into a smile, a wide grin, uncontrollably, and Mikey did his 'happy' dance inside his mind.
"Great," he said, mostly to himself. "Now all I need is to find someone to-"
"Renet."
"Renet?" Mikey inquired at his brother's very abstract statement with raised brows.
"Renet." Donnie said again, more surely, his eyes lightened, and Mikey wondered when the light bulb would appear over his brother's head. "She knows math?"
"Are you kidding me?" Donnie replied with rolled eyes. "Doesn't like them, but she's still freaking amazing. Her mother is a mathematician, you know…," he trailed off.
"Wha – for real's?" He called breathlessly. That was certainly something entirely new. "I thought – didn't she work at McDonald's?"
"Yes. She's, well – teacher jobs are tricky," Donnie said stupidly, his face angled.
Mikey, realizing the hesitation, closed his gaping excited mouth.
"The key to business is to mind your own." His mouth formed a thin line.
"Right," Mikey swallowed. "You're right, I'm sorry."
"Don't," Donnie waved off. "If you want to talk to Renet, I think she's at the magenta stairs, you still have, like, fifteen minutes till the next bell."
The magenta stairs.
Honestly, it wasn't something that special. An unwanted floor between two blocked of stairs, a constructive mistake.
But, at some point of a school year, it was possible Mikey wasn't even born then, a few seniors had adopted that space, painted magenta and added a couple of tall, club-like chairs, and tables, and a small fridge with soft drinks or something like that.
Mostly seniors hung out there, but Irma, being the social butterfly she was, she'd patronize there, as well.
And wherever was Irma, was Renet, too.
"Gotcha." Mikey gave Donnie a finger gun.
He gave him a toothy smile, readjusting his backpack, already moving, with a shaking head, "I have to make sure Raph dragged his ass out of the cafeteria and Leo hopefully ate – I'll see you-"
"Hey-" Mikey called and Donnie turned, "-we're cool, right?" he asked with a shaky voice.
That got him a raised eyebrow, an expression so familiar that his entire world rocked just a little bit.
Heart racing. The sky was still gray, with a promise of rain as Mikey hoped with his entire being to actually be okay with him, with his brother – he was gonna make this work, he'd promised it silently to his father, more silently, but more powerfully to himself, he-
"Frosty," Donnie said, softer, like he's recounting a well-known fact, like it was the obvious, like it shouldn't even be questioned and Mikey wondered with tight fondness how it even occurred him to question it.
Mikey ran across the hallway with happy steps, towards the magenta stairs. He looked at the clock on the wall and figured out Donnie was right, he had some time until his next period, or probably his first period, since he hadn't shown up at his first classes. Which reminded him, darn, he had to borrow some notes.
He arrived at the place and felt tiny in front of the giant seniors; which was perhaps kind of silly since he was taller than most of them.
Still, he felt the need to seem and appear comfortable as he was dashing in the gaggle. So, he plastered his best smile, walking up to a couple of girls he knew from his PE class, "Ladies," he greeted with a mocking bow.
The girls replied in unison with matching giggled as they clutched their Mountain Dews, "Mikester."
"Where's she…," he just kept looking around, passing through the crowds, when he spotted Renet in a corner eating gummy bears.
Almost immediately, he started jumping and yelling, not caring how many people turned their heads and stared, "Renet! Renet! Hi!"
Discretion was never his forte.
"Hi, Mikey! How are you?" Renet waved excitedly when Mikey stood in front of her. But, before he got the chance to answer, a dark-haired woman stopped by Renet's stool with a cheeky grin and a cool drink and Renet tipped her head back with a smile.
"Oh, I'm sorry, we don't speak to the girl we know since kindergarten? 'kay…," Irma joked with a mocking shrug and Mikey felt his lips curl.
"Oh, always whiny, aren't we?" he teased.
"Mmm… fucking brat-"
"Hey," Renet chirped with a knowing look and Irma raised her hands up, shaking her drink.
"Joking."
Mikey glanced at Irma.
He loved his goth-looking friend with all of his heart, but he knew how much of a gossiping meddler she was. Somehow, he had to… gently… get her the hell out of here.
So, he leaned with a frown and curious eyes, as he whispered, "Um, don't you have to be with Donnie? Your sciency-club meeting?"
"What?" Irma asked in disbelief.
Almost there…
He grinned immensely as he watched Irma's eyes get wide, but tried to return to a straight face.
"Shit," Irma cursed silently, grabbed her bag from the floor. "I gotta get going, your brother's gonna kill me."
Renet grasped her arm. "Ey, but you promised we'd fool with the seniors with the gummy bears." She shook the packet for emphasis. "I didn't buy them for nothing," she added, baggily.
How could you prank the seniors with gummy bears? And where could Mikey sign a petition to join that gummy bear prank group?
Irma ignored her. "Lateeer…"
Renet narrowed her eyes and Mikey was impressed by her acting performance as she pointed a finger, "I'll fight you for this."
Irma turned her head and Mikey guessed, no, he was sure it was just to raise her brow at Renet as a smirk tugged her lips. "Baby," Renet paused at her tone of voice, "I could bench press you," she stressed each word and Renet deadpanned before she giggled.
"I wouldn't mind that a bit."
Mikey laughed under his breath, as Irma left, tossing some poor students down at the process, while waving at them, or mostly at Renet probably.
Their friendship was adorable.
Mikey turned his head to Renet with a big smile. Renet was the kind of person who you could talk to forwardly about anything. He could go straight to what he wanted.
"Anyway, Renet, I wanted to talk to you for-" he blurted before she cut him off with a bright grin and glittery eyes.
Uh-oh.
He braced himself as Renet started cheerfully, "No way! Don't tell me you decided to get into the drama class? Fi – nal – ly! We've been begging you for ages!"
"N'um, Ren-"
"We're just putting up the greatest musical this semester and boy, do we have the perfect killing role for you! Get this, it's like your normal Hallmark movie, but with tons of murders and a super male sole that would fit you just-"
"I'm not going into drama class, Renet!" Mikey exclaimed loudly, perhaps a bit too loudly; if Renet's wide eyes were any indication.
"Ow," she frowned. "Okay, forget what I said. What's up?" Her expression was the same, but there was renewed interest behind her cheerfulness.
" I kinda heard you're like a genius at math, and I was wondering maybe you could, I dunno, tutor me or something?" he asked with fidgeting thumbs.
"Well." Renet colored so easily at the praise, flushed and fluttered and buried her face behind her fingers in a way to appear pensive. Whenever the rest of the whole world learned how to gracefully accept a kind word, Renet clearly missed those life lessons.
"What?" Mikey smiled knowingly.
"Nothing," her voice raised, "I just, didn't expect that… I guess?"
He suddenly felt a wave of worry pass through him, as he guessed something might be off with Renet and her, apparently, mathematician mother.
"Oh, shoot, did I say anything du-"
"No, no, no," Renet confirmed. "- just – I haven't tutor someone before, I'm not sure I know how – you really wanna-," her eyes dipped bashfully away.
"Hell yeah." Mikey reassured with a grin.
"Then, sure. Sure! Of course!" She jumped lightly, past hesitation gone and Mikey felt something squirming in his stomach.
"Yay!"
"But-"
Oh, he knew it was too good to be true. "No buts…"
"- you will audition for our new play -" she said firmly.
"Wha-"
"No what's and no's. It's final."
"Pfft…"
"Yes?" She pressed with a smirk.
"..Yes." He nodded and Renet clapped proudly. "You're gonna save our whole program."
Mikey shook his head. "And you're gonna save my sorry-ass."
"Oh?" Renet inquired with a small smile. "Sorry-asses? I guess the deal's big. Better start soon then. This weekend, Riverside Park, you bring the math, I bring the snacks?" She packed her stuff, and by stuff meant her bright pink notebooks and fluffy – Legally Blonde style – pencils and looked at him expectedly.
Mikey breathed.
It was comfortable, warm and languid. Renet's big eyes, the students around joking and nudging, Donnie's raised brows and comforting smile from before-
It was okay. Better than okay. He was okay. Better than okay.
He had worked things out, by himself. Yes, he was the okaiest he had ever been.
Mikey swallowed thickly. "You know it."
He moved quickly through the seniors, the bell would ring at any second – but he felt someone pull his hoodie and was forced to stop. "Hey, hey, hey-"
He gave a grin at the funny looking figure in front of him.
"-Donnie and I didn't have a meeting today…" Oh, Irma looked pissed and Mikey was loving it!
"Really?" He left a laugh tugging his lips and bit it. "Whoops, my fault."
Irma had that childish gleam in her eyes that Mikey remembered from their shared summer years as she snapped sharply, but far away from being mean, "Mikey, I'm gonna-"
"Dang it," he said as a loud sound filled his ears. "- the bell! Gotta go, see you!"
And Mikey was smiling brightly as he ran, jokingly looking afraid behind Irma's voice. He had missed these moments.
"Mikey!" Irma spat friendly. "Ugh, he's such a tease!"
"Reminds me of someone…"
Irma smothered a smile at the look on Renet's face, leaning into the arm she wrapped around her waist, easily, probably because of her petite size.
Irma's expression turned coy. "Don't you have a class to go to?"
Renet looked all too pleased with herself, shooting a triumphant smirk at her, even as Irma surged forward to wrap her up in her arms. "I make exceptions for cute girls."
Mikey found Woody under the second-floor announcement board, as usual, his school stuff scattered across the floor – Mikey thought he could he spot a few color pencils next to his coffee and his heart lurched at his friend's, usually hidden, childish naivety.
The softness on his face, the focus in his eyes, a jutting lip; they made a peaceful picture. Mikey almost felt bad for bothering him.
He dropped his bag on the floor beside his friend, then sank next to it, "Woody?"
Woody turned his head in disbelief, probably surprised with wide eyes and a gaping mouth as he pressed Mikey into a warm yet, unfortunately, too quickly – for Mikey at least, hug.
"Mike!" he exclaimed, parting his lips, "Dude, what's the craic?" he asked thickly, pushing his textbooks away from his lap. "I've sent you, like, so many texts. I was waiting to see you first period, but-"
"Yeah," Mikey scooted close enough that their knees were touching, rubbing his face, "um, stuff happened."
Woody was looking at him with narrowing eyes and Mikey hated himself for lying to him. " 'kay," Woody sighed eventually, "just your brothers were here and I was wondering where the heck-"
"Yeah, I know," Mikey said quickly, a bit too quickly, as he felt Woody's fingertips graze his knuckles before taking his notepad again apprehensively.
He watched with sweet eyes as Woody was drawing faintly with his pencil, then with a surprised gaze as he ripped the paper with force.
"Hey-"
Woody's eyes met his as he rose his head up and Mikey's cheeks reddened slightly at the small distance their heads were at – He could feel their noses almost touching and Mikey's gaze lingered for a short, hopefully, moment, on Woody's lips and immediately looked back up.
If he had noticed-
"- about the bike ride we were gonna have tomorrow-"
"What?" Mikey asked and winced at the urgent toe his voice had. "We're not gonna-"
"Well," Woody pursed his lips and Mikey couldn't understand what the puzzled expression on his face exactly meant, "Leo told me you're going to the animal shelter-"
Mikey probably had a regrettable expression on his face if Woody's immediate response to his look was any indication. "It's cool, we'll find another time. What's the deal with the shelter?"
But, it wasn't cool; Mikey could recognize the hurt tone in his voice. Want to make your crush fall deeply in love with you? Cancel all your plans with him. Really works.
He should write a book. How to make your love interest friend zone you in ten steps.
Mikey bit his lip. He wondered what other thing Woody had said with his eldest brother, or if he had talked with his other brothers, too. He loved his brothers. But he could remember their colorful conversations with Woody.
"Y' know, Woody, Mikey talks about you all the time," Leo would say with rolled eyes and a dreamy smile before Raph would snort through his nose, snidely, "Yeah, Wood, he whispers your name each night in his sleep…" and Mikey's whole face would go red, all the way to the tips of his ears, just like he was right now, trying to explain things to Woody.
"Eh," Mikey swallowed hard. "Oh, remember the list?"
"The one on that book?"
"Notebook – and yes. W – well," he stammered. Woody's nose twisted and crinkled in confusion and expectation – and –and cuteness (!) as he leaned forwards to look at Mikey.
"- it's a thing on it," Mikey said and forced his eyes to stay away from Woody's nose.
"Ah," Woody titled his head with a tight-lipped smile and turned his page at his notepad, "you're really following it, huh?"
"Yup."
"But, you know you have to find whose this list is-"
"I'm glad you think so," Mikey stated, chest out at Woody's bewilderment. "You're just gonna be so proud!" he practically purred. "I put on an announcement on the board for a 'missing notebook'. With a photo too!"
"Woah," Woody's smirk looked like a proud one, or a fond one and Mikey bit the inside of his mouth, "who are you responsible boy and what did you do to my Mike?"
Mikey tried not to linger over the 'my' in front of his name. "C'mon, dude, aren't you starving? Let's go grab some burgers."
But before he could stand up, Woody grabbed his arm and forced him to sit back next to him, even closer than before. "I wish," Woody shook his head. He motioned to the papers on his lap, "I have to get that art project done. I dunno what to even do."
"Theme?"
" 'Favorite thing'. Because they couldn't be any vaguer." Woody remarked with a frustrated frown.
"Dude. Stars. Sky. The picture's basically being drawn itself." God, did he knew his friend better that he knew himself?
Woody started twirling his pencil on the paper. "I - I don't know how to draw sta-"
"Hey, here," Mikey brushed Woody's hand, grasping it and easing his fingers through his so he could control the pencil in his – their hands. "I'll help you."
"Um, thanks," Woody cracked a smile, looking at him.
His hand, soft and strong, closed around Mikey's and Mikey gulped at the sudden, heated look Woody was giving him. "No… problem."
"Could you maybe help me draw, like, a sun, too? Like the one on your favorite headband?"
Mikey's heart jumped a bit and he managed a short nod. "Eh, yeah. Y – yeah, 'course." He met his eyes again and gave him a wide smile. "That's a good idea."
Woody replied to him with a sly grin, "I have a dandy muse."
Oh boy, he knew, he always knew.
He let out a warm, awkward laugh and felt Woody's hot breath on his neck as he laughed, as well. "Did you just call me 'dandy' ?"
"It's a compliment, just take it and don't question!"
Mikey leaned into him, felt him rest his cheek on the top of his head, and thought that was his favorite thing in the world. "Oh, I'm taking it." He was taking it to his heart.
Mikey thought he could take the screen and crash it with his bare hands. Instead, he decided for a mean growl against it. "Ugh."
The last period was already over, his brothers were probably waiting for him to come and join them; the old 'apologetic walk at home' trick, per se. Yet, he was stuck in the computer room, with no teacher, trying to make this stupid thing work. "What the-"
The teacher didn't seem to come anytime soon; Mikey would probably lock the class – but, he wasn't leaving until he got that thing done. He could do this.
The computer made a weird – beeping – like – sound and Mikey threw his hands in the air. "Are you joking me? This is freaking impossible!"
He started pushing any button he could find, trying to close the windows that had been opened – by themselves only, but the computer almost throbbed, then stopped working entirely and the screen went black.
"No, no, no, no, gah! What am I gonna do with you!" he groaned tiredly, literally hitting his head on the desk, before a familiar voice interrupted his technological lament.
"You always talk to your computer?"
Mikey turned his head at the figure standing proudly in front of him and got up, a snarky grin on his face. "Only when the refrigerator is mad at me."
"You haven't changed a bit, right, Michelangelo?"
"Jason! Dude!" Mikey threw his arms around him. "What are you doing here?"
Jason Langinstein.
You know how in the stereotype teenage movies there is that girl protagonist's older, cooler brother, who has lots of piercing, paints his nails black, is in a band, has bleached hair and edgy pets?
That was exactly Jason Langinstein.
He didn't see him as much as he saw Irma, but sometimes, he would drop by their house, saying hello to Donnie, sending playful winks to Leo just to make him flustered for all of his brothers to see, playing video games with Mikey and teaching him 'how to live', as he would say.
But, he got along with Raph the best and the most; probably 'cause they were like same age iron bears, hard like steel from the outside, but soft like fluffy stuffed toys in the inside. Well, that didn't stop them from making mean jokes to each other.
Mikey observed Jason's 'Savage Bliss' shirt under his leather jacket, and snorted slightly, recalling Raph's cruel jokes.
" 'Savage Bliss'?" Raph had been snickering, "sounds like a cheap condom brand to me," he had joked with glistening eyes, stamping his feet, before Leo had nudged him, looking mortified at Raph's scandalizing, to him, at least, comment, "Raphael! Please!"
"Waiting for that numbskull of a sister," Jason rolled his eyes, running a hand through his hair that Mikey could not imagine was some time ago black as Irma's.
"When was the last time I saw you?" Mikey had started packing all his stuff, having given up already on the computer mess.
"Last summer?" Jason offered with a smirk, "with the 'Neil Catrick Harris' missing cat case? We were looking for the cat so we could win the skateboard prize, didn't find it, you cried," he added the last part jokingly, dryly, rolling his tongue.
Mikey deadpanned. "You didn't have to remind me the last part."
He remembered that week. Poor Neil Catrick Harris, was never found. Poor Miss Sally Pride, never helped her. And know she was-
Well.
But Mikey knew Jason didn't want to find the cat necessarily because of the prize, but because he just generally loved all animals. He had a pet leopard gecko, Lars that he adored dearly.
Jason looked his phone for a minute and then, met Mikey's eyes again with a creased brow, "Irma told me she's, at the magenta stairs? What even. Could you maybe-"
He waved off with a toothy grin, already grabbing his backpack, "Don't even need to ask. I'm done with this anyway." He barely glanced at the computer and gave it a mean stare. "For now. And I wouldn't want you to get lost," he teased.
"How nice of you," Jason said, shrugging one shoulder and started walking as Mikey was trying to catch up.
Before he had reached him, Jason, slowly, and deliberately, turned his back to him, tossing him a cheeky glance behind him.
They were walking together, Jason looking around with wide eyes, before he spoke up, "Your brothers?"
"Prob'ly waiting for me outside."
"They still accompany you from and to school?" he mocked.
Mikey pouted. "Nah, today's just a special day. You never come to see Irma, too," he added, just to see Jason fumble with his words and perhaps out of curiosity as well.
But Jason was all tight and controlled voice as he answered, sounding like he had rehearsed that sentence a million times. "I have my reasons. I – well. I 'd rather she didn't come home alone today – or come home period."
"Oh. I-"
"Anyways," Jason brushed everything off with a confident smile and shifting eyes, "where are we heading?"
Mikey had so many questions. He wanted to ask what was going on at their home, what was going on with their parents, why Jason didn't go to the same school as Mikey and his sister-
But he knew better. So, he caught Jason's eyes with a wide and easy grin, as he bowed down before him, "Follow me, good sir," he said with waggling eyebrows and Jason half-smiled with a raised brow.
He kept moving till he heard Jason's fond comment as he let a hand on his shoulder, making him stop in his tracks.
"Hah, you should smile more. Looks good on you."
A/N: Oh, Mikey, you don't even know you have completed the next step of the list ;D
Phooey, that was nice! Take that long-ass chapter, since I have no idea when I'm updating again. :))
I have to say while I enjoyed writing this chapter a lot, it felt weird writing so many actual human interactions at school (and romantic ones nonetheless) since I'm anti-social AF. XD (.and helpless with my love life.)
But, I've been saving those very last scenes in my drafts forever, and it was great editing them and putting them out there. Reviews are always welcomed! :)