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~Chapter Twelve~

A Little Stupid

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After a lonely week to myself, I thought that I would've been overwhelmed by Ness's boundless energy, but he easily slipped back into my life as if he'd never left. He popped his head up everywhere I went, talking my ears off and making dorky gestures with his hands. Hanging around him is like downing a double chocolate chip frappicino - all caffeine and sugar until I crash from sensory overload.

He looks a far cry from the miserable lump of blankets that Red described.

Wanting to keep a closer eye on him, I asked Ness to cook with me, but to my surprise, Ness seemed genuinely happy, and it showed. Apart from fussing over me more than usual and making me fluster on occasion, he was all happy smiles.

I miss my space... but maybe I missed him too.

Ness once again has returned to being an obliviously cheerful chatterbox, throwing any signs of his previous shyness out the window. He must have noticed my discomfort in the kitchen, on edge and stiff-faced about everything, but I'm grateful when he doesn't bring it up. All of a sudden, I'm beginning to feel self-conscious whenever Ness is around. It's as though I'm seeing him through a pair of glasses - a new pair with tinted lenses. I see things that I wouldn't have caught earlier. The way Ness beams like each smile is worth something. How his hair refuses to be tamed.

Because I can no longer see Ness as just a friend. Somewhere along the way, the line between friend and something else has smudged, and I have a lingering suspicion I know exactly what that something else is. It's scary, terrifying, and completely off the deep end.

It's not that I don't like Ness, but I don't love him. Not in that way. We're close friends, and it's best to stay close friends. I recall the distress in Paula's eyes. I recall the heavy weariness that Ness's mom now seems to bear.

Ness is just my friend. Ness is just my best friend.

While we were washing our hands in the bathroom, I caught the chance to talk and ended up apologizing to Ness for my rude behavior. He broke into one of the biggest shit-eating grins I'd ever seen and socked me in the shoulder.

I flicked my wet hands at him in revenge.

Dinner is reheated leftovers and canned fruit. I didn't expect so many visitors in one go, any if at all, and the almost empty pantry is evidence of that. I make a mental note to go grocery shopping tomorrow.

Halfway through another one of Ness's dorky "hand waving" stories at the table, I slip out to check on my dad. When I find him fast asleep, I set aside a bowl on his desk and walk out of the room. It's only after I shut the door that I finally begin to relax, knowing that my dad is out for the count, but I just feel tired and worn out.

With five people, the dishes are quickly cleared and washed. As each person takes turns to shower, I manage to salvage a couple of old, oversized shirts and pants from my wardrobe. Everyone dresses into my spare change of clothes with varying degrees of success; the pajamas fit Red perfectly, perhaps falling a bit short and riding up his hips, but for everyone else, it's a different story.

"Are you sure you're wearing a shirt?" Popo crows out, pointing at Ness's fashion statement in glee. "Looks like the shirt's wearing you."

Swimming in my shirt, Ness tugs it down, his face a bright red. "Speak for yourself."

"Touché, but I wear it better," Popo says cheerfully.

Poor Toon looks like the shirt is swallowing him up whole. I throw him a guilty look, but he laughs it off. "I always sleep in an oversized shirt," Toon admits, yawning and stretching his arms.

They all look like they've had a rough day. Red wearily tips his hat in my direction before staggering over to his share of the floor to sleep.

"Sorry for intruding on your property," Toon announces, serious-faced, breaking into a bow, and I blink.

"Don't be. I'm not exactly the proper host," I say, glancing sheepishly at the meager pile of blankets on the couch. It's just me and my dad living in the apartment, and the arrival of four guests cramps up the space considerably. Seeing that Toon is still shivering, I crank up the electric heater.

"Ayyy, Lucas," Popo waves, lying sprawled against the floor. "Come play truth and dare with us."

Tired, I rub my eyes. "Maybe not tonight."

"Aw, but Lucas-"

Then Ness comes to the rescue, quickly punching Popo in the shoulder to shut up, and I watch the two squabble it out again, arguing over the best way spend the time. Eventually, they settle for watching a movie, and I pull out a random black-and-white from my dad's old collection.

"Mystery movie? Sweet," Popo laughs, stretching his fingers. "This is going to be great."

It's probably not the best move on my part, because an hour later, everyone - save for one person - is fast asleep. I hear a rustle of blankets before Ness shifts against my side. He's wearing one of my older t-shirts, the one that says, Merry Shitscram, and in a way, the logo suits him well.

"The championships are coming up," he says suddenly, jerking my head out of a sleepy stupor.

I watch the woman lament over something on the screen. "I won't lose to you in the one v one."

"I'm not going easy on you either."

"Good."

The air feels unusually heavy. Ness is uncomfortable, and I can tell by the way his sock-clad feet won't sit still. "Solo battles aside, it's the double team brawl."

I catch the hidden invitation. "You can always count on me."

Ness's shoulders finally relax. He turns to the TV with a grin. "Let's get that gold down this year."

Settling down into the carpet, I make a noise of affirmation. I'm not too keen on fighting, but whenever Ness was involved, it somehow mattered. He's like Claus in that regard, knowing which of my buttons to press, and I find that I can't lose to him. Or rather, that I don't want to lose to him. He fuels the nonexistent competitive streak that I apparently have.

On the screen, the swooning couple has furiously engaged themselves in an extremely sensual lip lock, and I look away, feeling the back of my neck burn. I don't understand the appeal of kissing. It sounds kind of gross, shoving your tongue down someone else's throat.

"What's it like to kiss a girl?" I blurt out before I can stop myself.

Whirling around, Ness's face turns a bright pink. "Huuuh?" he says, his voice rising comically to a high pitch. "How would I know?"

I blink in surprise. "I thought you had experience."

"I... I don't!" Ness sputters, sounding appalled. Ness's face colors up in sheer mortification before he gloomily faces the floor. "I've never kissed anyone before."

The kissy noises intensify from the TV, and I make a mental note never to bring out another one of my dad's old DVDs. He has horrible taste.

"Your mom kisses you," I say reasonably, trying to keep my attention away from the enthusiastically passionate display on the screen, and Ness starts so violently that he topples over.

"But that's, what no," Ness suddenly chokes. "Lucas, you've never liked anyone, have you?"

"Liked? As in..."

"Had feelings for someone."

"Not that I know of," I say softly. "I think I had a crush once, but it's not exactly the same thing."

"You've crushed on someone before?!" is all Ness asks, wide-eyed in disbelief.

I give a quiet laugh under my breath. "I think it was more like puppy love, to be honest. Nothing serious." Something about Ness's surprised tone throws me off-guard, and I turn to him with a frown. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just trying to wrap my head around it." Ness sheepishly shuffles in place. "I never would've pegged you for someone who'd, you know. Like someone. Like, you never seemed interested in that kind of stuff. No offense," Ness adds hastily, and mulling over it, I give a hum of agreement. It's true. It's not that I haven't noticed girls before - smart girls, pretty girls, short girls, tall girls - but talking to people is terrifying, and frankly, I've never had a particularly strong inclination to go around and make friends, much less date anyone. I don't think that I can bear the weight of that pressure. I can barely manage my own life; handling someone else's on top of that sounds daunting.

As I try explaining this to him, Ness's frown eases. He falls back, leaning on his hands, but from the corner of my eyes, Ness is still staring at me with a look that I can't quite get.

Suddenly, he sits up straighter. "When did it happen?"

"A few years ago." I feel my cheeks burn a bit brighter. This is a little weird, talking to my past crush about my feelings. "It's not a big deal, Ness."

"Who was it?" Ness asks stubbornly.

I clamp my mouth shut. I'm determined to stay silent.

Ness slumps forward into the blankets. "Lucas, you can't spill all this out then say nothing."

I silently disagree with him and proceed to lazily rake my eyes over the TV screen. For the tenth time that night, I regret the horrible pick in a movie. The Amazing Madame Garcie. It sounds like something my dad would sit and watch with my mom.

I wonder if my dad ever grows lonely at home by himself. I can imagine him watching these cheesy 70s chick-flicks during his own time, alone and curled up on the couch. Immediately, I shoot the thought down. My dad doesn't like to leave Onett. If he missed me, then he would've found a chance to stop by. Ness's mom has already managed to do so, visiting Ness whenever Tracy doesn't have school. It's the only reason Ness's family hasn't moved to Smash City.

Ness's voice breaks into my thoughts. "I won't let it go until you tell me."

Turning to the side, I acknowledge him with one of my slow blinks. He should've learned that he can't pry anything out of me that easily.

But Ness is persistent. "Who was it? How did I not know? Why didn't you tell me? How-"

"That's more than one question."

"Ha! You talked!"

"Only because you won't stop." My ears begin to burn. I took this as the cue to rise to my feet and turn the TV off. Neither of us are watching Madame Garcie anyway.

Wide-eyed in curiosity, Ness leans over, lowering his voice. "Was she pretty?"

"Stop," I groan.

"Did you ever tell her?"

I drop the DVD disk back into its plastic seal.

"I bet she was tall."

"Really," I say, aghast, and shove a hand into my hair. "Ness, I - you know what, okay fine, I'll let you believe whatever'll help you sleep at night."

Predictably, Ness starts sulking. "It's not fair. You never tell me everything."

The corners of my lips twitch up. It's not my fault that he can't keep his mouth shut.

"I want to know," he whines childishly.

I raise my eyebrows.

Ness swallows. His voice settles into nervous butterflies. "I told you that you were the first person I've ever liked. It can't get any more embarrassing than that."

I pause. He's got me there. I can't turn him down without a good excuse, and I don't have one.

Maybe I'm really making a bigger deal of this than it's worth. There isn't exactly any harm in telling him, is there? It's not like I still like Ness back anymore, and with everything that's been going on, he could use a good ego booster.

Still, the traitorous flush on my cheeks refuses to leave. "It's someone you know."

"Nana. Lucina. Samus," Ness instantly shoots off as if reading off a list. I scrunch my face up at the latter, and Ness defensively points out, "Come on, every guy's had a crush on her at some point - fine. Zelda? Peach?"

"You're going higher up the age ladder."

"They're engaged too," Ness agrees thoughtfully. "I can't think of anyone else. You said crush, so... Lady Kamui? Bayonetta?"

I swallow hard. "It... it wasn't a girl."

"You liked... "

"He was a nice person, but I thought we were better off as friends," I say, carefully looking into his face.

Ness looks astonished. He vigorously shakes his head, turning his hair into even more of a disheveled mess. "No, no, no. It can't be..." He gives a furious wail and tears at his hair. "Damn you, Popo-!"

"I'm talking about you."

Lowering his hands to his lap, Ness stares blankly at me as if I suggested skinny dipping in molten lava. "You liked me?"

Suddenly hyperaware of his eyes on me, I turn away. "I used to," I mumble.

Ness's forehead creases into a frown, but he looks more confused than anything. "Why?"

"I don't know. Why do you like me?"

"...good point."

We say nothing for a while, the comfortable silence for once unbroken by Ness's constant chatter.

"You... liked me." Slowly, Ness squats down into the blankets with the goofiest smile growing on his face. It's the kind of smile that dimples his cheeks and brightens his eyes, and he looks so happy that I find myself smiling along with him. "Huh."

My job as egobooster complete, I rise to my feet. "It's getting late. We should go to bed-"

"Can I kiss you?"

I almost trip over at the surprise question, but this time, I'm not as completely opposed to the thought as I used to be. The sudden shift in thought is terrifying.

"Ness," I say, sounding a bit strangled. "We aren't going through this again."

"No, I mean... Let me kiss you. As friends," Ness adds hastily, but he's blushing so furiously down into his lap that it gives the entire point away.

"You know why I won't," I say softly, and as if on cue, his face falls. It always hurts, it always does, but it's undoubtedly crueler to let him kiss me when I no longer feel the same way.

But this time, Ness doesn't look depressed; his expression turns frustrated, and he shakes his head. "No, it's like... it's not what you think. What I meant was- ugh!" Ness grips his temples and starts rambling. "It might sound crazy but I really think I'm starting to get over you and I know I am but I don't know so I want to be sure-"

Somehow, I make sense of his muddled words and raise my eyebrows. "You want to prove that you're over your feelings... by kissing me."

"Yeah!" Ness says, earnestly perking his head up.

Instantly, I feel a hot flush spike up my face. "There are other ways to show that you're over your feelings, Ness, and kissing me is not one of them!"

"It'd be like a stupid dare," Ness says cheerfully, and I have a feeling that the idiot is secretly laughing at me in the inside for successfully making me flustered.

"You're talking to me, and you can't even look me in the eye," I point out.

This wipes the grin off his face. Ness furrows his eyebrows. "Yeah, I can."

"No, you can't."

"I'm looking at you now, aren't I?" Ness insists, tugging on my shirt.

"Now you're looking away."

"Wh-What does that have to do with anything?"

I give him a skeptical look. "You can't kiss me, Ness. Dare or otherwise-"

"Fine, you wanna bet?!" Ness challenges, puffing up his cheeks in indignation. "I'll do it right now if you say so."

It's a stupid idea, really. It's easily the dumbest idea I've ever heard, and I open my mouth to shoot him down only to stop midway because my mind is spiraling from the sheer idiocy of his words.

Thinking back to this moment, I still have no idea what came over my head. Maybe it was the cold numbing my brain. Maybe it was the fatigue clouding my thoughts. But all I can remember is staring straight into Ness's eyes, and wanting to prove him wrong.

He doesn't have the guts to kiss me. He can't do it.

Challenge accepted.

Ness is stuck in a stupefied stupor, unable to understand the word of agreement that's passed out of my mouth, and only jerks back into reality when I sit down, facing him with the blankest expression I can muster. "Whenever you're ready."

Eyes widening in shock, Ness snaps his head up. He swallows, and his Adam's apple bobs. "Right."

He crawls forward one inch. Two.

Then as if skewered by my gaze, Ness freezes in place. "Fuck."

"Scared?" I smirk.

"Shut up, I've never kissed anyone before!" Ness squeaks, jumping to his feet, and I follow. In fact, he looks even more terrified than I do. Eyes bugging out of his head, he reaches up for my shoulders with shaking hands. "How... How the hell does this work?"

"Don't ask me," I say, and promptly start choking when Ness accidentally yanks me down harder than he meant by the collar of my shirt. "N-Ness, you're strangling me-"

"You're too tall," Ness hisses back, fisting my sleeves and giving them a small tug. "Bend over."

I squat down. My eyes sheepishly trail over his offended face. "This is awkward."

"Well, I'm sorry that we can't all be like you, Mr. High-and-Mighty."

"We should sit down, you're killing my back," I say tiredly.

Begrudgingly admitting my words, Ness plops back down, crossing his legs, but somehow forgets about the death grip on my shirt and almost strangles me alive a second time. Alarmed, he lets go as I turn away to cough, weakly retching into my hands.

"Lucas? Lucas?! Ah fuck, I screwed up, didn't I?" Ness is wailing like a dying cat, and I'm surprised that nobody's woken up from all our furious whisper-shouting. "You know, on second thought, we don't really have to do this-"

"Good, because I'm never kissing you again," I say fervently.

The scowl returns to his face. "Shut up and move, you dipshit. I can't kiss you if your face is all the way over there," he says, furiously scooting forward, but I'm so much taller than him that it forces me to uncross my legs and spread them across either side of his lap.

It hits me that he might actually be serious about this, and I glance uncertainly at the other sleeping forms in the darkness. "You know, you can back out anytime-"

Ness rests his warm hands on top of my shoulders, and I automatically inhale sharply at the sudden touch. This is such a stupid idea. This is all such a stupid, stupid idea, and it's all I can do not to bolt and run out of the house.

"Ah..." Ness swallows. "Are you sure you're okay?"

My knees start shaking, and I'm so, so scared of his fingers, but I jerk my head into a nod (because I have nothing to worry about, Ness doesn't have the guts to do it, he wouldn't), and Ness leans over, sliding his hand up my neck. I catch the fragrance of my mint toothpaste from his breath before his half-lidded eyes flutter in front of my face. From this angle, I can make out glowing purple rings in his eyes. His eyes have that serious determination burning in them, the same kind he gets when he's in the middle of a brawl.

Up close, Ness's cheeks are dusted a faint pink, and I know that mine are too even though this is just a stupid, embarrassing dare that friends do. Like the time when Popo went around betting all the smashers five bucks to beat him at gay chicken. Or the time Red soundly destroyed everyone's dignity on Rainbow Road with nothing but a sprained thumb and a broken Wii controller.

Ness is just my friend. Ness is just my best friend.

My neck is starting to cramp up, and Ness's hand is beginning to feel moist against my face. Suddenly, a weak, high-pitched noise of terror escapes from Ness's mouth, and in that split instant, I see the growing crack in his brave mask. Ness is losing his nerve.

I'm right. He can't do it.

Something inside me exhales in relief. I make to stand up. "Well, I guess that's that-"

"One second. Give me one second," Ness insists stubbornly. He grips my shoulders, then exhales, closing his eyes. After a lot of seconds, Ness reopens them. He takes a deep breath. "I think I'm over you... now."

"Okay," I say, humoring him.

"Try sitting next to me."

I scoot over. Our knees barely touch.

Ness flushes. Gulping audibly, he jerks his head down. "Dammit."

About a year ago, Ness got into the habit of cursing. I'm not opposed to vulgarity, seeing as many people in the roster mouthed off, but what Ness used to shrug off with a grin, he bristled and snapped at like the big bad wolf.

One year ago. That's when his parents' relationship started going down the drain.

Slowly, I reach out and squeeze his hand. It feels warm and soft, unlike my own calloused fingers.

Embarrassed, Ness yanks the brim of his cap over his unruly hair. "F-Fuck. This is a lot harder than I thought."

He's losing his drive. I knew it. The corner of my lips are in danger of twitching into a victorious smirk, and it takes every ounce of my will to make a straight face. "It wouldn't be hard if it were easy."

Ness takes another deep breath. "Okay, do over. Let's try this agai-" He freezes in place, finding my face barely an inch away. In fact, Ness looks so horrified that I'm having a hard time trying not to laugh.

"Too close?" I ask.

"No! I was just surprised-"

"Ness."

His shoulders slump over into a sulk. His huge pride won't let him admit defeat. "Yeah," he mutters.

I shift to the side, and Ness loosens his grip on my arms, lowering his head in misery. His hat hangs crookedly over his face, so I playfully knock it off his hair, but this only triggers another sulking noise from him. Shaking my head at his stubbornness, I laugh quietly into his shoulder, and even if he couldn't hear it, he could definitely feel it vibrate across my chest.

Ness's voice sounds muffled against my shirt. "It's not funny..."

"Sorry," I say, trying to sound apologetic, but it's not working, not when I'm distracted by his hair tickling my nose. I've got a serious case of sweet tooth, and it shows in my shampoo collection.

Ness stiffens up. "Are you sniffing my hair?"

"No." I blow it away. "It's in my face."

He wrinkles his nose. "My hair smells like chocolate, no thanks to you."

"Chocolate is good," I agree. Everyone should convert to chocolate. Chocolate is god.

At this point, I've all but decided to claim my victory when Ness's grip tightens around my shoulders.

"Not yet," he says.

My eyes fly to his lowered face, but I can't catch his shadowed expression. Just the slight tremor in his voice. I decide to humor him however long it takes for him to give up.

Five minutes pass. He hasn't budged for a while, so I finally take pity on him and gently shake his shoulders. "Let's call it a day-"

"No homo," he suddenly says, and I catch the flash of determination burning in his eyes before he pulls my surprised face over.

There are no fireworks. There are no explosions or flying rainbows of happiness. All I feel is something warm, soft, and wet against my lips, and it takes me a full second to realize that what the hell, this idiot is actually kissing me, and I'm not entirely sure if he's doing it right because it feels all wet and weird. Deciding that I've had enough, I've just about made up my mind to pull back until Ness grabs the back of my head and smacks our foreheads together. I break apart with a jolt of pain, tasting copper on my tongue.

"Shit!" Jumping back, Ness lifts the bottom of his borrowed shirt and tries to wipe the blood off my mouth, but I bat his arms away with a grimace.

"You bit me."

"D-Do over?" Ness suggests meekly.

I throw him a nasty look, and wipe my sore lips on the back of my palm. "Does this look like the face of mercy to you?" I say, and Ness starts stammering himself into shock. My split lip doesn't hurt much, but I try to focus as much as I can on the blood oozing out of the stinging cut, and not on the strange sensation of my stomach doing backflips.

"Did I hurt you? Fuck, I'm sorry-"

Then it hits me. This stupid dolt actually kissed me. I shove him aside, and Ness falls flat on his back with a cry.

"What was that for?" he says, aghast, pushing himself back up.

"You know why!"

"You said it was okay!"

"I didn't think you'd actually do it!" My cheeks aflame, I rub my aching head, finally fed up by his stupidity. My stupidity.

Ness makes a face. "Well, it was kind of gross. And bloody."

"You bit my lip. What did you expect?" My mouth throbs painfully, and my head is still ringing from impact with his thick skull.

"...but that didn't mean I wouldn't try it again," he finishes thoughtfully. Ness's eyes look a bit dazed, but a happy sort of dazed, before he shakes his head to clear it off. Looking stupidly serious, he puffs out his chest. "You know what, you're a terrible kisser. I guess I don't really like you after all."

I sputter into an incoherent mess. Ness almost bit my bottom lip clean off, and now he's announcing how I am the terrible kisser. As if reading my mind, Ness shoots me a cocky smirk, and I promptly give up, deciding that it isn't worth my time to humor him any longer.

"Goodnight," I say, exasperated, and turn around.

"Wait!" Ness grabs my face with both hands. "PK Lifeup." A rush of hot magic infuses my cut lip before he pushes me away. "Okay, bye."

Somehow, I can still sense Ness grinning like a little shit behind me, and for some reason, I can't bring up the will to stay mad at him.

Maybe I'm a little stupid too.

Author's Note:

Happy reading :)