We're back! There's some more scheming to do. I love writing Shiloh and May.
May and Shiloh were going to get revenge for the best thing that had ever happened to them. It seemed a little weird, to want revenge for something that had worked out so well, but a scheme was still a scheme, and the girlfriends weren't gonna let Louie one-up them.
"How do we hit him where it hurts?" May asked, not afraid of making her brother cry, as long as Donald didn't find out.
"We don't wanna hurt him, babe, we wanna Sour Patch him."
"What?" May didn't always completely understand Shiloh yet, especially whatever secret language Shi and Louie had.
"You know, first they're sour and then they're sweet?"
"You and Louie watch too much TV."
"That's fair. But I know what I'm talking about. Louie's scheme was sneaky but sweet. If it weren't for him we wouldn't be together. So our scheme has to do something nice for him in a kind of mean way."
"Right. So, what are you thinking? You're the Louie expert, I'll follow your lead."
"Louie has a crush on this boy, one of Huey's friends… What if we get him back with the exact same scheme he pulled on us? Invite him out, secretly invite Boyd, and make it a double date."
May grinned and leaned over to kiss Shiloh on the cheek.
"I freaking love your devious mind."
Shiloh beamed, still not completely used to compliments from her girlfriend but always happy to be on the receiving end.
"And I love you. Let's get to work."
Louie knew that a scheme was coming. He knew Shiloh and May, even if they were happy together they weren't going to let a scheme go. So he'd been a little extra cautious, waiting for the other shoe to drop. So he was a little guarded in November, about two months after he'd first set up the girlfriends, when Shiloh called him and invited him to hang out with her and May.
His anxiety was through the roof, not knowing what to expect. But he couldn't say no to his best friend, especially since they hadn't had as much time for each other since she got into a relationship. So he put on his best hoodie and headed out.
He was immediately glad that he had worn his best hoodie. It would have been a mistake, had Shiloh and May chosen to pull a Carrie on him. But instead…
"Sour Patch," Louie muttered under his breath before walking over to where May, Shiloh, and Boyd were sitting.
"You're late," Shiloh teased as Louie sat down next to Boyd, feeling tense and sweaty.
"I, uh- time isn't real," Louie finally managed, unable to look at Boyd until the robot addressed him.
"I haven't seen you in forever, Louie! What have you been up to?"
Louie turned towards Boyd and completely forgot words.
"Um, well-"
"Scheming, mostly," Shiloh supplied.
"Yeah, that," Louie said lamely.
Boyd laughed, "Sounds fun. You'll have to let me in on one of those schemes sometime."
"Yeah," Louie said. He was also forgetting how to breathe. This was a problem.
Shiloh was relishing Louie's awkwardness. She remembered what it felt like, to suddenly be put in a situation where you had to face your feelings. Louie looked like he was having an allergic reaction to his feelings.
"Louie, are you okay? You seem upset," Boyd said, examining Louie with concern.
"He's probably just thirsty," May said with a malevolent smile on her face.
Louie sent her a quick, disapproving glance and then chugged his cup Pep!
"I'm fine, really, happy and excited to be here. I just wasn't expecting you to be here, Boyd."
Boyd's face fell, "Oh. If I'm making you uncomfortable I can leave."
Louie panicked, "No, no, no, it's not like that! It's not you, I promise, it's just-"
Shiloh leaned forward on her elbows, awaiting the confession. Louie glanced at her and then at May and he decided right then that he would not go down on this sinking ship.
"Boyd," he said calmly, gaining an eerie sense of clarity that he hadn't had before, "can I talk to you outside?"
Boyd stood up quickly, "Yes, of course."
May frowned at Shiloh when the two boys had left, "this isn't the plan."
"He's on to us, Mayflower. But don't worry. I think it's about to get sweet."
"Boyd, there's a scheme going on," Louie announced when they had stepped outside.
"Oh! Who are we scheming?"
Louie laughed in surprise, "No, Boyd, we're being schemed. By Shiloh and May."
"Why would they do that? I thought we were all friends."
"We are all friends. They're scheming against us because we're friends and because I schemed against them in September."
"I'm sorry, I'm not following," Boyd said, still wondering if he'd done something wrong.
"Back in September, I pulled a little scheme to set May and Shiloh up together."
"Oh! Oh." Boyd looked a little flustered,
"Yeah, sorry…" Louie looked down and awaited the rejection.
"Sorry for what?"
"Sorry that they tricked you here because I have feelings for you that you don't return," Louie mumbled.
"Who said?"
"What?"
Boyd gently tilted Louie's face up so they were staring into each other's eyes.
"Who said that I didn't have feelings for you?"
Their faces were so near. Louie felt breathless and loopy.
"Boyd… Can I kiss you?"
Boyd was taken off guard. His hand dropped from Louie's chin.
"I don't want our first kiss to be so abrupt," Boyd admitted, "and I don't want our first date to be someone else's scheme."
Louie stepped back.
"I understand."
Now Boyd was the one who was tripping over his words, "I still very much want to have a first date with you! I just don't want it to be this."
"Yeah, I don't want May and Shiloh to be able to hold that over our heads."
"So… What now?"
"We go back in, act like nothing happened, part ways after lunch, and then meet up in secret later."
"Ooh, yeah," Boyd grinned, "A scheme of our own.."
"Our first scheme. Doesn't get more romantic than that."
Louie and Boyd walked back in, looking rather unbothered.
"So what were you talking about?" May asked, unable to act coy.
"Louie was asking me for help on an assignment," Boyd said with a shrug.
"Yeah, nothing important. We got it resolved."
"What class? Chemistry?" Shiloh asked.
"Pre-calc." There was nothing romantic about pre-calc.
"I'm kind of made of math, so he figured I could help. But I told him to ask Huey, instead."
"Ouch," May whispered, "rejected."
Louie, of course, overheard her, and he wanted to snicker, but he couldn't. He didn't want to give away the scheme.
After lunch, Louie and Boyd headed off in separate directions and May and Shiloh walked slowly back to the houseboat together.
"Well, that was a bust," May sighed.
"Oh no, there's something there, just you wait. Louie knows what he's doing. He thinks he's in charge of the scheme now, but I saw this coming. They'll be dating by the end of the month and they'll have their first kiss by Christmas."
"You really think so?"
"I'm sure of it. We pushed them together, babe. We schemed the schemer."
And Louie, meeting up later with Boyd in secret, was really glad they had.
I didn't want Louie and Boyd having their first kiss in this fic because I think one of the best/cutest parts of asking someone if you can kiss them is the ability to say no and be respected.