19. If he was honest, he never looked at Odd and Ulrich the same way after they became Odd-and-Ulrich.
This shouldn't be a surprise, Jeremie thinks.
He remembers the game of truth or dare they'd played almost two years ago, Aelita's small knowing smile as she'd dared Odd to kiss Ulrich. But, Ulrich had followed it up with dating Yumi for a grand total of eight months and Jeremie had put it out of his mind. They'd all done stupid things that night.
He should've known though, should've suspected. He shakes his head.
. . … . .
Odd skips over to him after history, grinning brightly. "Yo, Einstein!" he calls, voice louder than he needs for the distance between them. Jeremie raises his eyebrows questioningly. "You still down for tonight, right? I just picked up the new Hoard movie."
"Yeah," Jeremie agrees. He shifts his bag as they make their way toward the cafeteria. "I thought Ulrich swore off the Hoard movies after they killed off Cullen in the last one?"
Odd shrugs, smile stretching wider and face slightly flushed from what Jeremie assumes is excitement. "Yeah, well, I convinced him."
Odd bounces on his toes while they make their way through the line, yammering on about the reviews he's heard of the new movie and reassuring Jeremie that Ulrich will keep his snide comments to himself this time. Jeremie's glad they're finally listening to him about how he hates people talking during movies.
"So, usual time?"
"Uh, maybe later?" Jeremie says as they head toward their usual table. "I have a robotics meeting after class."
"Cool, cool," Odd replies. He slides into the seat next to Aelita, pilfering her trifle while she's distracted by Yumi. Jeremie just shakes his head.
/
Jeremie is more tired than he expected to be. The robotics meeting had run late and involved a lot of arguing with Herve over their entry for the academic robotics competition. Ulrich opens the door several seconds after he knocks. He's winded and flushed and Jeremie can see Odd sitting up on his bed, hair disheveled and adjusting his shirt. He rolls his eyes at his friends. He can never understand their need to roughhouse.
"Hey, Jer," Ulrich greets, letting him in.
"Hey," Jeremie replies. The other two have the computer up and running, the load screen for the movie shining on the monitor. "I still can't believe Odd convinced you to watch the new Hoard."
"Hey! I can be persuasive," Odd protests. There's a note to his voice that Jeremie can't identify.
Jeremie yawns, settles into the beanbag he usually claims for movie and game nights. "Fair warning, Herve was being extra annoying tonight and I'm exhausted. Not sure if I'll make it through the whole movie."
Odd and Ulrich exchange a look before Ulrich shrugs. He clicks play on the computer. "No worries."
/
Jeremie makes it through the first thirty minutes before he succumbs to the pull of sleep. He wakes during the final fifteen minutes and is disoriented, squinting at the computer monitor to try and make sense of what's going on. Cullen's replacement is wading into the sea of zombies and Jeremie isn't sure why. Cullen wouldn't have done something that stupid.
He gives a mental shrug and tilts his head to locate his friends and get their opinion on the movie. They're seated on Odd's bed and Jeremie can hear the low mumble of Ulrich's voice. He imagines he's probably complaining about the film as well. Odd has his head resting on Ulrich's shoulder; voice a soft murmur as he responds to whatever Ulrich is saying.
Jeremie's surprised. It's not that his friends can't be quiet, it's just that usually Odd's prone to yelling in his ear or spraying him with water if he falls asleep during their hangouts. And while Ulrich doesn't usually resort to Odd's childish pranks, he also doesn't stop Odd from carrying them out.
There's an explosion on the screen and it drags Jeremie's attention back to the film. He's still not sure what's going on and he lets out a yawn, stretching. When he pushes himself up in the bean bag chair and turns back to the others he sees that Odd is sitting up now, munching on candy or popcorn or crisps. Jeremie isn't sure which since Odd has an extensive snack collection stashed around the dorm room. Ulrich's eyes are fastened on the screen and there's a tenseness to his shoulders.
"You were right, Ulrich," Jeremie announces. "The series is boring without Cullen in it." He stares at the screen as Cullen's replacement throws his machine gun at one of the hoard and begins running. "What is this guy doing anyway?"
Odd laughs. "You know, I don't actually know," Odd replies. He elbows Ulrich lightly and Jeremie notes that Ulrich seems to lose some of the tension in his posture.
"I told you," he says, stealing a handful of crisps from the bag in Odd's lap.
. . … . .
It shouldn't have been a surprise, Jeremie knows.
The signs were all there, if he'd bothered to look for them. He wonders if he should feel bad for not looking for them. Was he a terrible friend for not realizing? He'd always prided himself on his observation skills, but well, what did it say that he'd missed all the signs?
Or, he wondered, did they just try and hide it from him? Had he done something, said something, that led them to believe he wouldn't be okay with it? Had they left the clues behind for him to pick up? Jeremie frowns, filing that thought away to examine later.
He should've noticed, yeah, but they should have said something too.
. . … . .
Odd yawns for the fifth time in as many minutes and Jeremie shoots him a look. "Sorry," Odd mumbles. He stifles another yawn. "Was up late."
Jeremie quirks an eyebrow. It's never a good thing when Odd's up late. The last time he'd pulled an all-nighter had resulted in the dorm showers spewing green dye (Jeremie is still thankful he'd chosen to shower the night before, though he has to admit Ulrich had been pretty pleased at seeing William Dunbar colored green for a week).
"Do I need to avoid the dorm showers again?" he asks, voice dry.
Odd snorts, yawns again. "Nah, nothing quite so nefarious," he replies. "I was helping Ulrich with an essay that was assigned last minute." The blonde smiles around another yawn. "He owes me big time."
"Desserts for the rest of term?" Jeremie guesses, shaking his head.
Odd opens his mouth to respond, then grins brightly. Jeremie half turns to see Ulrich approaching, a to-go cup in his hand. Ulrich slips into the empty seat next to Odd, slides the coffee cup over to him. Odd's grin is practically luminous and Jeremie has to wonder at how sleep deprived he really is.
"Yes!" Odd sighs, pulling the coffee towards himself. "I could kiss you right now, if Madame Martin wouldn't kill me for desecrating the sanctity of her library."
Ulrich shakes his head, neck and face a faint pink color. Jeremie rolls his eyes and returns to his history book. "How sleep deprived are you?" Jeremie questions.
Ulrich and Odd exchange a look and Odd shrugs, taking a large swig from his coffee. "It was a long night," Ulrich replies after a moment. "He'll get to bed earlier tonight."
"Oh?" Odd replies, eyebrows raising.
"Yeah."
Jeremie rolls his eyes again. At times like these he remembers why he's happy to have his own room.
/
Aelita rolls over onto her stomach and Jeremie catches himself staring at where the hem of her shirt has ridden up, exposing the dip of the small of her back. He swallows hard, throat suddenly dry, and looks up to see Yumi watching him. The older girl raises an eyebrow, smirk curling her mouth. He feels his cheeks warm and reaches for the pitcher of lemonade.
"Ulrich and Odd are running late," Aelita comments. She's playing with the grass, fingers combing through the fresh shoots.
"Detention," Yumi replies. She holds her hand out for the lemonade and Jeremie hands it over so she can refill her cup.
"Again?" Aelita asks. She lifts her head, looking curious.
Jeremie shrugs. "Yeah," he replies. "Odd got caught spreading bird seed over Delmas's car."
"And Ulrich's still serving time for skipping those two practices," Yumi adds, yawning. She flops back on her yard, stares up at the cloudless blue sky. "At least it's a nice day."
Aelita hums, rolls over to mirror Yumi's pose. Her eyes catch Jeremie's though and she gives him a warm smile, reaches out to link their fingers together. Jeremie's still flushed, but he lets her take his hand, squeezes her fingers gently with his.
"Should we be worried?" Aelita questions. "They've been in detention a lot lately." She pauses. "Ulrich isn't still drinking, is he?"
"No," Yumi says, voice firm. "He says he stopped." She catches Jeremie's eye. "And I believe him."
Jeremie nods. "He's seemed…better, lately."
Aelita hums again and they all look up as the gate to the backyard opens. Ulrich and Odd appear in the open gate, laughing and shoving each other. Odd ducks and attempts to dodge Ulrich's next grab, but he miscalculates. Ulrich grabs him, wraps one arm around his shoulders and uses his other hand to ruffle Odd's hair into disarray, ignoring the blonde's protests.
"Nice of you to finally join us," Yumi calls, voice amused.
Odd shrugs, ambling over with Ulrich, and tries to fix his hair. Jeremie debates on telling him he's making it worse. "Yeah, well, you know how Jim and Ulrich get when they start talking football." He does manage to dodge Ulrich's punch this time, grinning brightly. "Ooh, is that lemonade?"
Ulrich snorts, mutters something about "thinking with your stomach" which Odd either doesn't hear or chooses to ignore. Yumi glances over at Jeremie, rolling her eyes and Jeremie just shakes his head. So much for their peaceful afternoon.
Aelita sits up, filling two glasses with lemonade and holding them out. Odd swoops in with a whoop, grabbing one of the glasses. "Thanks, Princess!" He leans over, presses a kiss to her temple. "This is why you're my favorite."
She laughs brightly as he sprawls on the ground next to her. "Because I give you lemonade?" she questions. She holds out the other glass to Ulrich. "Here you go."
Ulrich takes the glass, settles into the spot between Odd and Yumi. "Happy birthday, Ai," he says, raising his glass in a toast.
Aelita grins as they all raise their glasses, chorusing happy birthday back to her. Yumi leans in, lifts the cloche covering the plate of macarons she had spent the morning baking. Odd's eyes light up immediately and the only thing that stops him from diving in immediately is Ulrich's hand wrapped in his t-shirt.
"Wait until Aelita chooses," Yumi admonishes.
They spend the rest of the afternoon lazing about in Yumi's backyard, talking about school and family and classmates. It's the laziest Jeremie has felt in years. He's half dozing in the spring sunshine, Aelita's head pillowed on his stomach and she's talking to Yumi about a book she's reading. Beneath the girls' voices he hears Ulrich and Odd arguing about a videogame. He looks over toward the plate of macarons, wondering if he's in the mood for another.
He's just in time to watch Ulrich snatch the last of the macarons off the plate, laughing as he holds it out of Odd's reach. The boys play wrestle for the macaron and Jeremie realizes the girls have paused their discussion and are watching the impromptu wrestling match as well. He lets his fingers comb through Aelita's hair absently while he watches his friends.
He's still not sure how Odd wins the match, but suddenly the blonde boy is crowing triumphantly, holding the macaron up in victory. Jeremie expects Ulrich to make a last attempt at stealing it back, but when he looks at Ulrich, the other boy looks content, smirking at Odd like he's won even though Odd's the one munching on the squished pastry.
Yumi rolls her eyes, turns back to Aelita. "Boys," she says emphatically.
Aelita nods in acquiescence.
"Hey!" Jeremie protests.
/
They had agreed to meet at the factory for a quick run-through in preparation for the demolition – make sure they hadn't left anything incriminating behind. He and Aelita had made their way over from Kadic, meeting Yumi at the crossroads before continuing on to the factory. They were running a bit early, but Jeremie figured that would just mean finishing earlier as well.
"How about Nicolette's for dinner?" Yumi had questioned. "A pre-celebratory dinner?"
Aelita had frowned briefly before her face smoothed out into a smile. "Sounds good," she had agreed.
"I could go for Nicolette's," Jeremie had replied.
They'd decided to start in the scanner room since it was closest and then work their way back to the supercomputer room. Jeremie wonders what would have happened if they had texted Ulrich or Odd with their ETA or checked what they were doing. If it would have changed anything or just prolonged it.
Aelita's reminiscing about Lyoko when they enter the scanner room and find Odd and Ulrich already there. Ulrich has Odd backed against one of the scanners and the blonde's hands are under Ulrich's clothes while their mouths are pressed together. Jeremie wouldn't call it kissing so much as devouring each other.
Aelita's voice trails off and Jeremie feels like his jaw has come unhinged in surprise. "Hey guys," Yumi says.
If he wasn't so shocked, Jeremie would laugh at how quickly his friends break a part, turning to face them. He glances around the room, sees the way Aelita's eyes are wide and her hand is over her mouth. Yumi has her arms crossed over her chest and Jeremie doesn't know how to read the expression on her face, there are too many emotions there for him to sift through. Odd and Ulrich are both red faced, but they don't look away or offer excuses.
"So," Odd says. His voice cracks and his blush deepens. "You all are early."
/
He isn't surprised when Yumi calls him late at night. "Did you know?" she asks, voice soft due to the hour. "Did they tell you?"
Jeremie spins in his desk chair and stares at his made-up bed. "No," he says. "I didn't know."
He thinks it may be a lie. That maybe he had noticed the slow shift between his friends, he just hadn't realized what he was seeing. But they hadn't told him. He wonders if he would've told Yumi if he'd known. He didn't know the proper procedure when two of your friends were dating and two were exes.
Yumi lets out a long, slow breath. "Okay," she says.
Jeremie hesitates for a moment. "Are you alright?" he asks. He gives in to temptation, pushes up from the uncomfortable chair and flops down on his bed. "I know you're dating Will but…"
"I'm alright," Yumi replies. Jeremie frowns, trying to hear the truth in her voice. "Really. It was just a surprise." They fall silent and Jeremie listens as a door down the hall opens, footsteps rushing by. "I guess it explains a few things."
"You didn't know?" He's surprised and relieved at the same time. If Yumi hadn't known then maybe it isn't so bad that he hadn't noticed either.
"No," she replies slowly, drawing the syllable out. Noooo. She heaves a sigh. "I'm happy for them. I just hope they know what they're doing."
"Yeah," Jeremie agrees. He isn't sure if their friend group could survive another break-up.
. . … . .
He expects things to remain the same. Or, rather, he expects things to change but change in the way they always have. Odd will be more obnoxious with his pranks, trying to show off and impress his new partner. Ulrich will become more suspicious and jealous of whoever Odd speaks to. And the problem with that, Jeremie thinks, is that now Ulrich will have to be jealous of both girls and boys. It sounds exhausting.
Jeremie prepares for the fallout.
. . … . .
Jeremie sits on the side of the pool, legs dangling in the water while he watches his classmates swim laps. Ulrich drops down next to him, towel around his shoulders to ward off the chill. They sit in silence for a while, watching Jim bark orders at those struggling to master the correct pacing or breathing techniques.
"How's it feel not to be the one being yelled at?" Ulrich asks.
Jeremie shrugs. "Pretty good," he admits. He has to squint to make his vision focus, but he's pretty sure Jim's yelling at Claire now. He pulls on his glasses to make sure. Yup, that's definitely Claire's annoyed face in the water.
"You're fast in the water," Ulrich adds. "You'd make a good swimmer."
Jeremie shrugs again, kicks a heel against the side of the pool. "I don't think the jock life is for me," he says after a moment.
He half-expects Ulrich to protest, but the other boy just nods and looks back over the pool. A few other kids have finished their swimming exercise and gathered along the edges of the pool to chat or catch their breath. Jeremie follows Ulrich's gaze and sees Odd and Aelita near the bleachers. Aelita lets out a peal of laughter as Odd suddenly begins to tickle her sides. It only lasts a few seconds, and then his arm is around her shoulders, pulling her close as they chat.
Jeremie feels his stomach tighten as he watches them. Aelita's idly spiking Odd's hair into mini horns and laughing again at whatever Odd says. He glances away from the pair, back to Ulrich. He's ready for the angry scowl, the dark look in his eyes that he got whenever Yumi stood a little too close to Will or laughed at Theo's jokes. He's surprised to see Ulrich smiling a little as he watches their friends.
"How do you do it?" Jeremie asks before he can stop himself. Ulrich tilts his head, gaze sliding back to Jeremie questioningly. Jeremie nods toward Odd and Aelita. "How do you not get jealous, seeing them like that?"
Ulrich's quiet for a moment, fiddling with the end of his towel. "I guess because I know there's nothing to be jealous of," he says finally.
Jeremie can't help but raise his eyebrows at that. "You and Yumi fought over less," he points out. "They're practically cuddling."
Ulrich shrugs. "Odd loves Aelita like she's one of his sisters, and I've seen the way Aelita looks at you." Jeremie feels his face heat and looks down at the water to hide it. "With Yumi…" he hesitates, shrugs again. "Yumi and I knew it was only a matter of time before we imploded."
Jeremie glances over at Ulrich. He's watching Odd again, that small smile on his face. "Then why stay together?" Jeremie questions as Jim blows the whistle.
Ulrich gets to his feet, stretching. Jeremie catches the way Odd's eyes follow the movement from across the pool deck. Odd flashes him a grin when he notices Jeremie. They begin to shuffle over to where Jim is assembling them before heading back to change and Jeremie figures Ulrich will use it as an excuse not to answer.
"Because we were both stubborn," Ulrich admits, surprising Jeremie. "We thought if we tried hard enough it would work."
Odd and Aelita meet them and Odd steals Ulrich's towel, wrapping it around Aelita's shoulders. "Princess forgot her towel," he explains.
"Keep it," Ulrich says when she tries to hand it back.
Aelita beams, sidling up to Jeremie and leaning against his arm. "You have your serious face on," she says softly. "What's going on in your head?"
Jeremie shakes his head, smiles, and awkwardly wraps an arm around her shoulders. He can feel her shivering under the towel. "Nothing," he replies. "Just zoning out."
/
"Does it bother you?" Odd asks.
"What?" Jeremie asks, distracted. He looks over to find Odd staring at him expectantly. "What?"
"Does it bother you?" Jeremie must look as confused as he feels because Odd sighs loudly. "Stop ogling Aelita, it's weird."
"I'm not ogling Aelita," Jeremie snaps. He wasn't either. He'd been lost in thought about a new programming assignment.
"Uh huh," Odd says, like he doesn't believe him. They're walking around the school track, momentarily out of Jim's line of sight while he tries to pester Sissi into running. Jeremie hates running for no reason. Odd rubs a hand over the back of his neck, looks up at the sky and exhales. "Ulrich and me. Does it bother you?"
"What?" Jeremie repeats, blinking owlishly at Odd. "No, why would it?"
Odd shrugs. "Ulrich thinks it does. I told him he was being paranoid but…" he pauses, stretches. "Well, you keep giving us these looks when you think we're not paying attention. So, I want to know."
Jeremie feels his face warm, blames it on the exertion and not the conversation. "It doesn't bother me," he says, voice firm.
"Then why the staring?"
They pick up the pace as Jim rounds on them, breaking into a slow jog that still leaves them space to talk. For the first time in his athletic life Jeremie contemplates picking up the pace. He shrugs off the thought though, tries to even his breathing. He really hates running.
"You're just…different…together." Out of the corner of his eye he sees Odd staring at him and sighs loudly. "Not bad different. But…" he trails off, thinking. "Ulrich doesn't get jealous all the time. He looks, well, happy may be a stretch, but content? And you're…" He pauses to catch his breath and think of how he wants to phrase his thought. "Well, I don't have to look over my shoulder for your next prank all the time now," he settles on.
Odd is staring at him openly now and Jeremie shrugs, face definitely flushing now.
"You're good for each other."
. . … . .
Sometimes Jeremie wants to ask them when and why. Wants to figure out how long two of his closest friends were together before they were found out. But he holds himself back, bites his tongue, and watches the way they shift and fit together. There's still a caution there, Jeremie notices, a tentativeness he hasn't seen in either of them before.
Odd doesn't have the same bravado he usually displays when he's chasing his next conquest. He dials back the pranks, goes for stealth instead of extravagance, looks pleased each time Ulrich laughs openly at one of his stupid jokes. For the first time, Jeremie sees Odd settled and not bouncing around. It's simultaneously shocking and not, reminds Jeremie of the looks Odd would get on his face when he was trying to figure out the best course of action to implement his big plan.
Jeremie thinks about what Ulrich had said that day at the pool. About how he didn't have to be jealous. And it's true, Jeremie thinks. Ulrich has a relaxed air about him that Jeremie's never noticed before. His gaze can usually be found wandering after Odd, but there's none of the anger or fear Jeremie had noticed when he was with Yumi.
Jeremie knows he should've suspected and he should've realized, back before whenever this thing first started. But, he knows now, and he can't help noticing the way the pieces fit together, the puzzle filling in. He wonders how he didn't notice it happening.