AN- I am not going to put this chapter off. I am not going to put this chapter off. I am not going to put off what will be one of the longest chapters in the story (so far). No way.

Bring it on.

Red clenches his fists as he warily follows Blue and Shadow into the cafeteria. Shadow– once again– has neglected to bring his lunch to school. He wanted to go alone, but after what happened last time, Red and Blue weren't letting him go without backup.

"I'm telling you guys, I'll be fine!" Shadow insists still, maybe a bit louder than he should have. The whole school is still against them, and Red is worried about drawing to much attention to themselves. We don't want anymore disasters to happen.

"And I'm telling you, we don't want you to embarrass yourself again!" Blue retorts bitterly.

Shadow is silent for a moment as his dark eyes narrow at Blue. And then, "Gee, thanks."

Red sighs quietly. They sure aren't making things any easier on themselves. He straightens his spine and speaks. Even with his soft, sweet voice, he still manages to startle the two. "Shadow, Blue just wants you to be safe. He cares about you; we both do."

Shadow's voice grows soft as his cheeks turn pink. "I know..."

Blue and Red watch closely as Shadow gets his lunch. A few potential problems are avoided– like Midna attempting to trip Shadow– but Blue stopped those disasters before they even began. Red smiles as he feels lucky to have Blue for a boyfriend. No one will bother me at this rate.

Shadow walks back towards them, nervously glancing at the food on his plate. Red can understand. The cafeteria food isn't very pleasant, but at least they got rid of the mashed potatoes after what happened to Saria... Poor girl. She had to wear an eyepatch for two weeks. (1)

"Okay...," Shadow says. "I think I'm ready to go."

"Great," Blue agrees, rising from his seat at an empty cafeteria table. Red follows in suit, and they head towards the door before suddenly. Stopping. Short.

Oh no...

"Hello, boys." An all-too-familiar figure leans against the doorway, which the crowd has parted away from like the Red Sea.

Speaking of Red, he's frozen in place, and for once, his mind is blank.

"What do you want, Vaati?" Shadow growls, gripping his food tray.

"It's not you I have business with, Shade–"

"It's Shadow."

Vaati rolls his eyes. It's easy to tell that he could really care less about Shadow's name. "I have to speak with the blue one."

Red's brain is in full function again, and now it's working overtime. Vaati wants to talk to Blue? Why? Did Blue do something wrong? Is Vaati going to get more revenge on Blue? Why Blue? What did he ever do? Take me instead!

"Fine," Blue announces, taking a few steps forward.

"Here is fine," Vaati demands, and Blue stands still.

"What is it?" Blue grumbles, crossing his arms over his chest.

Vaati smirks. It's a terrible, devious smirk, and it makes Red tremble. No... Please don't hurt him... But Vaati's smirk only grows as he takes a few cautious steps towards Blue.

"I was just thinking, Blue, about the old times..." Blue grows stiff. Old times? What old times?

"Especially..." Vaati snarls. "Third grade."

"You know, Blue," Vaati continues in sadistic bliss, "part of me wishes we could have stayed friends longer."

A silenced hush falls over the room. Vaati and Blue... friends? Red looks ahead at Blue, and sees him flinch, fists clenched tightly.

"I can't blame you for falling in love with me– who wouldn't?"

What?

I mean...

What?

Whispers fill the room. Vaati speaks once more. "After all, you did kiss me..."

No.

No.

No way.

He's lying.

He has to be.

Blue didn't.

He would never– not even back then.

No.

Blue flinches again, and this time a small sound escapes him– not at all fitting the Blue Red's always known. This sound is vulnerable, this sound shows weakness, this sound is a sign that everything's not alright. The sound escapes Blue a few more times. Is Blue... is he...?

No.

Blue is stronger than that.

I know he is.

He's not crying.

He's not.

I just know it.

"How pathetic," Vaati coos. "To think you ever had a chance with me. Pitiful."

Blue's stands stiffer, his breathing rigid.

"You know, you shouldn't just kiss people out of the blue like that!" Vaati cries, venom caught up in undertones in his shrill shrieks. "You lose people's respect like that! It's rude, it's immature, it's thoughtless, it's impulsive, it's—"

"It's not like you're any better!" another voice shouts, overtaking the room. Everyone turns to Green, who's stood up and is now glaring daggers at Vaati. Vaati freezes in place, his eyes growing wider than Red thought was possible.

I knew it. Something did happen between the two of them...

Vaati barely moves his mouth as he speaks, still frozen in place. "I don't know what you're talking about," he says in almost a monotone, with the only hint of emotion being the slightest twinge of anxiety.

Green's glare narrows. "I think you do." His voice raises to an uncontrollable volumeas he shouts out, "How can you be such a hypocrite? You talk about respect, and immaturity, when you don't even have any yourself! May I remind you that you kissed me without warning less than a week ago?"

The whole cafeteria isdead silent. No way...

"I-I-I–" Vaati begins to protest, but he's quickly interrupted by Green once more.

"No! I am done, Vaati! You hear me? I have had enough of your attitude! Just get out of my life!"

Vaati trembles as Green rushes out of the cafeteria in a huff. No, wait– it's not just a huff. It's more along the line of furious rage as Green exits the cafeteria, and no one says a single word as he leaves.

The next to leave is Blue, who chases after Green, most likely in hope of thanking him. And as Red watches him leave, he realizes that Blue was crying, because a few stray tears are still hanging at his jaw line.

And as he follows Shadow out of the cafeteria, he takes one look back at Vaati, and that one look is all that it takes to confirm his suspicions—

Vaati is crying, too.

AN- Oh my god that was so much fun to write. I love torturing Vaati. Like, so much. You don't even know. I adore him in this story, but it's so much fun to get under his skin and gnaw away at his flesh like this. So. Much. Fun.

(1)- If you get the reference, I'll love you forever. So... yeah! Feel free to guess what it is! I don't care if you're wrong, it's the thought that counts!