Hey everyone, I finally updated! Sorry for the delay, I've started an internship which takes a lot of time and energy, so that's why it's been a while. I hope you enjoy nonetheless!

Thanks Aerle for beta'ing!

Chapter 6

"I came as quickly as I could." The sound of his father's voice reached them even before he appeared in the doorway. "What did he do?" Kid asked, his face already displaying annoyance.

Killer rolled his eyes. It was just like he had expected; his father always assumed every bad thing was his fault.

Kid cast a quick look at Penguin, who didn't look back. "Who's this?"

"Mr. Eustass, thank you for coming," Shakky greeted him. "Please sit down next to your son. We'll be waiting for Penguin's father to arrive before we start."

Kid snorted – probably because he heard Penguin's name for the first time – but did as Shakky asked. Then he looked at Penguin again. "Aren't you that boy who came to our house a little while ago?"

Penguin still didn't look at him when he answered, he just shrugged. "I just walked by."

"So, what did you do, did you two get into a fight?" Kid obviously didn't want to wait until Penguin's father arrived, and Killer just wished he would shut up. It was so embarrassing that his father had to get involved in this. But Kid didn't stop. "Wait, is this the same guy you fought with last time?"

"Yes, Mr. Eustass – can I call you Kid?" Shakky asked. "It feels like yesterday when you went to this school to get into trouble."

Killer couldn't help but grin. He liked that Shakky reminded his father of that. He knew Shakky was older than she looked and that she had already been a teacher at this school when his father attended it. But, as Killer expected, Kid declined her request.

"Ms. Shakky?" Another male voice came from the doorway.

Killer looked up at who he presumed was Penguin's dad, and frankly, it wasn't hard to see where Penguin got his good looks from.

"Yes, come inside and close the door behind you, please, Mr. Trafalgar," Shakky answered.

Penguin's father did what she said, but not before casting a short look at Killer and taking his sweet time to look at Kid, a small smirk forming on his lips while doing so. Eventually, he sat down.

"So, I asked you both to come, since the boys got into their second fight in a short while," Shakky began. "You might recall I gave you a phone call the first time, less than two weeks ago. Killer, Penguin, does one of you want to tell us all what happened today?"

It was silent for a moment, before Penguin said, "He stole my cap, so I tried to get it back."

"I accidentally got hold of his cap! And only after he said my relationship was fake!" Killer defended himself.

He could see Kid's head turn sharply towards him. "Relationship? You have a girlfriend?"

Killer felt his cheeks heat up. This was not how or when he wanted to tell his father. "Well, I'm dating this girl, yes."

"And why would that be fake?" Kid asked.

"I don't know, ask him!" Killer snarled. However, he really hoped he wouldn't actually ask Penguin. Killer didn't want to know what the reason was that Penguin had said it looked fake. What if he said something that would out him?

"Gentlemen, please, what the argument was about isn't really important," Shakky interrupted them. "Fact is that it escalated into a fight, where half the classroom was redecorated, or so I've been told."

"Which is interesting," Trafalgar Senior said, "because Penguin had promised me it wouldn't happen again." No one in the room missed his accusing tone.

"Well maybe you should learn your son to keep his promises then," Kid told him. He got a scowl in return.

"So I should just let others steal my stuff?!" Penguin sounded angry, but didn't look at anyone specifically.

"That is not what we mean," Shakky tried to soothe him. "I think the problem with the both of you is that you don't recognize each other's boundaries. Last time it was about a calculator? This time it's about a cap and a relationship. May I suggest you both keep to yourself and your own stuff? Penguin's cap is his and you shouldn't touch that without his permission," she told Killer. When she thought her words had come through, she turned towards Penguin. "And Killer's relationship is his concern, and you have no reason to judge that or comment on that when he doesn't ask for your opinion."

"Well said," Kid commented. "Can we go now?"

Penguin's father leaned back to look at him. "You wanna leave already? We are just getting to know each other."

"If we all agree to honor this agreement, then yes, you can go," Shakky answered Kid's question.

"Good. Let's go." He stood up and urged Killer to follow him.

Killer did as his father wanted, but made sure not to mention they still had half an hour of bio left. Kid immediately walked him towards the car, that was once again parked in front of the main entrance.

"Geez, can't you at least park like two blocks away?" Killer mumbled. "Or, you know, walk here or something?"

"Just get in," Kid ordered him.

Killer sighed, but got into the passenger's seat anyway, throwing his backpack on the backseat.

"You shouldn't let that boy get under your skin so much," Kid told him while he started the car. It was a nicer comment than Killer had expected. "Now, tell me about the girl."

Killer shrugged. "Not much to tell," he said, while turning up the sound of the car radio. The words 'gay bar, gay bar' exploded out of the speakers. Killer quickly changed the channel, trying to keep his calm. "Stupid music," he mumbled. But his father only seemed to be interested in the loudness of the music and turned it down a little.

"What do you mean 'not much to tell'? She's your first girlfriend, right?" Kid studied his face, before driving away.

"Yeah, so?"

"When I had my first girlfriend, I couldn't stop talking about her," Kid replied.

Killer snorted. "Yeah, I bet you were one of those guys who bragged about all the girls they had."

"Well, I was proud to be with a beautiful girl, so I didn't mind talking about her, no." Kid glanced at him. "Or is she ugly?"

Killer frowned. "No, of course not."

"Then tell me, what's her name, how did you two meet?" Kid kept asking. "And when will I meet her?"

"Uh, never. I don't want to chase her away." Killer folded his arms in front of his chest. "Her name's Bonney and she's in my year. But this whole thing started in a bar, last week."

"Okay, so did you already…" Kid left the question unfinished.

"What, have sex?" Killer filled it in for him. "Really, dad? First of all: like I would tell you. Secondly: we've been dating for a week! So, no."

"Well, there are people who bang on their first date."

"I do not want to hear the word 'bang' from your mouth," Killer commented.

"Just, promise me, when you do have sex, please, use protection," Kid said in all seriousness.

Killer snorted again. "Of course. I'm not stupid. I won't become a teen dad." He couldn't help but add, "I'm not like you."

Kid didn't seem impressed by what his son had meant as an insult. He knew how hard it had been to get a child when he was only seventeen, and how easily it could have been prevented. He just nodded. "Good."

Killer saw this as a moment to end the conversation and turned up the volume of the radio again. "Rejoice and love yourself today, 'Cause baby you were born this way," Lady Gaga sang to him.

Well, fuck the music today, Killer thought as he turned the sound off completely.

The first break on Monday came as a huge relief for Penguin. His bag hit the table with a loud thud, directly followed by his butt that hit the chair.

"Wow, he let you go?" Shachi said quasi surprised.

"Believe me, if it wasn't for school, I would still be grounded," Penguin answered. The weekend had been a hell. As soon as they had come home after school on Friday, Law had declared he wasn't to leave the house before he had to go to school again. He hadn't even been allowed to walk Bepo. But to be fair, that was because they both knew he would take Bepo as an excuse to meet up with his friend. Law had also forbidden anyone to visit him, so he hadn't seen Shachi all weekend.

"I'm just glad he didn't take my PC. But that was only because I needed it for homework, I swear." Penguin let his eyes wander around the auditorium, unconsciously searching for the reason he was grounded.

"It goes a bit far to ground you for just defending yourself, though," Shachi commented.

"Yeah," Penguin agreed when his eyes had found Killer on the other side of the hall. "And it's not like he never got into a fight himself…"

"Then why did he have to punish you like that?"

Penguin shrugged, still looking at Killer, who had his arm wrapped around Bonney. But somehow, he still seemed to be keeping her at a slight distance, as if he was afraid to hold her too close. "He made me promise it wouldn't happen again, last time, so I guess I didn't keep my promise and that's why he grounded me."

"Ugh, dads…" was Shachi's reaction. "Killer's a dick though. I hate people who take other people's things. I mean, how childish is it to take someone's cap?"

Penguin didn't comment on that. Deep down he knew he had been the one who had consciously provoked Killer. Even though he had hated it when his cap was taken from his head, he was still kind of happy it had been Killer who had taken it. He didn't want to think about how ridiculous that thought was. It seemed he just liked Killer's attention, whether it was positive or negative attention didn't seem to matter.

"Don't you agree?" Shachi asked, and when Penguin looked at his friend, he saw him looking back with raised eyebrows.

Penguin sighed and buried his face in his bag that lay before him. He was so hopeless when he had a crush on someone.

"You alright?" Shachi informed.

Penguin groaned and turned his head so he looked at his friend again. "I think you might have been right, last week."

"Of course," Shachi answered. "I'm always right. But what is this specific thing you're referring to?"

Penguin felt his face heat up. He wasn't sure he was ready to say it out loud, but at the same time he had to talk to someone about it – someone other than Bepo. "About me being jealous."

"Jealous?" Shachi repeated. "Oh, of Killer and Bonney? Is that why you were fighting with him?"

Penguin shrugged. "I guess."

Shachi cast a look in the direction of where Killer and Bonney were standing, although Penguin couldn't see them from his position on his bag. He didn't want to look at them as a couple anymore.

When Shachi looked back at him, he shrugged. "Honestly, I don't think you should be jealous. I just don't see what's attractive about Bonney. She's so… you know? Remember when I thought she was a lesbian?"

Penguin looked him in the eyes to see if he was serious, before snorting. "I'm not interested in Bonney, you idiot."

Shachi frowned. "Then why are you jealous? Are you jealous of what they have? Because to me, that doesn't seem that great either."

"I have a crush on Killer, Shachi." So, that was said. Penguin knew his face was red, but he tried to ignore it.

"Wait, what?" Shachi's eyes widened. "You're gay? No, you can't be! You were crushing on that girl, last year!"

Penguin realized now that he had never really talked about his sexuality. It wasn't that he had kept it a secret, but it had just never come up. A short silence followed, in which Penguin thought about the best way to explain it.

"So, you're bi?" Shachi asked, before his friend could say anything.

Penguin smiled. "I'm pansexual, actually."

"Pan… so, you're attracted to pans?" A playful grin appeared on Shachi's face.

Penguin stuck out his tongue, and even though he knew Shachi was teasing him with that comment, he felt the need to explain. "I'm attracted to people of all genders."

"Huh," Shachi said as he processed that new information. "Cool. So, you like Killer. But Killer has a girlfriend."

"Yeah, but since when would I like someone who actually likes me back?" Penguin said. He'd had crushes before, they never turned into anything either.

"If he doesn't like you yet, you'll have to make him like you."

"He has a girlfriend," Penguin pointed out again.

"Yeah, but they can break up…" Shachi looked at him as if he were stupid for thinking that relationship would last. "And maybe he's pansexual too."

"Yeah, you don't really think that," Penguin commented.

Shachi shrugged. "Well, I didn't think it about you either, so, you know, people can surprise you."

"Even if he would be attracted to guys, he hates my guts."

"How do you know?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because we fought like, two, three times already?" Penguin rolled his eyes. "Besides, he practically said I was unattractive."

"Oh yeah? And what did you say to that?" Shachi asked in a tone that indicated he didn't believe Penuin's story.

Penguin shrugged. "That Bonney had to be blind to date him…"

"And did you mean that?"

"Of course not."

"Then why should his side of the story be any different?"

Penguin didn't answer. He knew Shachi was just trying to cheer him up or boost his confidence or anything, but what if he was right? The chances were slim, but it was not impossible, right? A boy could dream…

TBC~!

Thank you for sticking with me. I'll try to update faster next time. Please leave a review to encourage me or let me know you're still reading this story!