Chapter 19

Killer sat frozen in place, a pillow still in his lap, covering his opened jeans, and his face the color of a tomato. He stared in horror at the place where Law had disappeared through the doorway.

That was the single most embarrassing thing he had ever experienced.

"Well… that was awkward," Penguin said quietly as he removed his own pillow and buttoned up his pants.

Killer couldn't say anything. They had been caught by Penguin's father, while they were… Well, technically they had stopped just in time for Law to actually catch them in the act, but it was obvious what they had been up to, and it was obvious Law knew it too. Shit, this was embarrassing. How could he ever look Penguin's dad in the eyes again? He would probably eat him alive.

"Kill?" Penguin waved his hand in front of his face.

When Killer woke from his trance, he saw Penguin was holding his T-shirt in the other hand. Penguin himself had already put his shirt back on.

Killer quickly zipped up his jeans and took his shirt from Penguin's hand. For a second, he contemplated fleeing out of the door right at that moment, but then he realized that would probably make matters worse.

He pulled his shirt over his head and looked at Penguin. "He's going to kill me, isn't he?"

Penguin's hands went to his head, reaching for his cap that wasn't there. He sighed. "Maybe. Though he had said you were welcome here any time…" Penguin stood up. "I think if he's going to kill anyone, it's going to be me."

Killer wasn't so sure about that, and he wasn't so sure he was still welcome in this house either.

At that moment, Law returned with three full glasses in his hands. He gave the two of them a look over, but seemed pleased they were fully dressed again. "Killer," he said, putting their glasses down on the table, but keeping his own in his hand. "Will you be staying for dinner? Penguin's making burritos."

Killer didn't dare to look him in the eyes and was glad his hair mostly covered them anyway. He didn't want to stay for dinner. He wanted to escape this house as soon as possible. Not because of Penguin, of course, but because of the tension he felt between Penguin's dad and himself. And yet, that was the reason why he felt like he couldn't say no to Law's question. "I… I think my dad is expecting me to eat at home," Killer eventually said. It wasn't even a lie.

"Oh, you can call him, right?" Law said.

Killer looked up at his face for only a second, and noticed that he was smiling. The knot in Killer's stomach loosened a bit. Apparently, he wasn't as angry as Killer had thought.

"I'm sure your father won't mind if you eat dinner at a friend's house," Law tried to convince him.

Well, he had already texted his dad he would be at a friend that afternoon, so it wouldn't be that far a stretch… Besides, Killer knew he didn't really have a reason to decline anymore, unless his father specifically said he had to come home. "Okay," Killer said, knowing he had no other choice. "I'll call him."

Killer awkwardly walked past Law towards the hallway where his jacket was hanging, with his phone still inside its pocket. When he pulled his phone from the jacket, he saw that he already had a missed call from his father. This will be good, he thought sarcastically, not expecting to find his father in a good mood.

As he clicked to return the call, he saw Law standing in the living room doorway, giving him a short encouraging nod, before looking at Penguin, and crossing his arms in front of his chest. "I guess you haven't started preparing dinner yet?"

Killer didn't hear the answer, as his dad chose that moment to pick up. "Look who finally decided to call."

"Uh, yeah, sorry, I didn't hear my phone," Killer said quickly. "Is it okay if I stay here for dinner?"

"A little late to let me know you're not eating at home, don't you think?" Kid sounded annoyed, but then he sighed. "Fine. I didn't start yet anyway. Where are you?" He asked. Apparently 'with a friend' or 'here' wasn't enough for him.

"Wire's," Killer lied. He glanced at Law, who looked back at him, but didn't say anything.

"Hm, okay," Killer heard his father say. "Don't make it too late." And with that, he hung up.

Killer put his phone away and forced a smile onto his face when he looked at Law. "I can stay for dinner."

"Yay!" Penguin pushed himself past his father into the hallway, making Killer's smile a little more genuine.

Law smiled back at them. "You can help Penguin making dinner, if you want." A 'pling' was heard, and Law fished his phone from his pants pocket. "If you can keep your hands to yourself." He looked at the message he got and chuckled.

Killer's face became hot again, and he saw Penguin's was just as red, when the latter clenched his teeth. "Dad…" he said in a warning tone. He snatched his cap from Killer's helmet on the entryway table and put it back on his head. Killer decided not to comment on it. Apparently, Penguin felt more comfortable with the cap on.

"I'm just kidding," Law said, his eyes focused on his phone as he started typing. "A little. But please, both of you, wash your hands before touching any food."

Penguin grabbed Killer's hand, and pulled him towards the kitchen, looking at the floor. "Of course, I always do that," he grumbled as reply.

Killer let himself be led into the kitchen and towards the sink, where Penguin opened the tab and they started washing their hands in silence.

It lasted a few awkwardly quiet seconds, before Penguin opened his mouth. "Please ignore him," he said apologetically. "It's what I do."

Killer snorted, because it had been obvious to him from their previous chats, that Penguin did, in fact, not ignore everything his father said. But it didn't feel like the time to tease him about that. "I can't," he said in all seriousness. Then he added quietly, because he realized Law could still be listening to them from the hallway, "He's your father. I don't want him to hate me." It was a bit too much to say out loud that he wanted to make a good impression, but it was what he meant. Law wasn't only Penguin's father, though that was the main reason, but he was also the first openly gay man that he actually knew personally. For some reason, Killer felt like he couldn't let him down.

"He doesn't hate you," Penguin protested, closing the water tab and moving to the cupboard to get some utensils for the dinner he had to prepare. "If he hated you, he wouldn't have invited you for dinner." He placed a cutting board and knife in front of him and one of each in front of Killer, and started collecting vegetables.

"If you say so," Killer mumbled, still not convinced.

"You want to chop the onion?" Penguin asked, holding up the vegetable. "They always make me tear up."

Killer couldn't help but smirk. "Aww, you're such a sensitive guy," he teased him. Then he held out his hand. "Sure, no problem."

Penguin stuck out his tongue at him while pressing the onion into Killer's open hand. Before Killer could stop himself, he had bend forward to kiss him, meeting that tongue with his own. Apparently, he hadn't cooled down completely from their earlier escapades. Penguin didn't stop him, but eagerly answered his kiss.

"Keep your hands to yourselves…" a teasing voice said from the doorway.

Killer wanted to break free immediately, but Penguin had put his hand behind Killer's head and kept their faces together, prolonging their kiss, using a little more tongue than Killer still felt comfortable with.

When they broke apart, Killer was bright red again. He didn't dare to turn around and face Law. However, in their positions, Penguin didn't have to. He broke away from him with a big smirk on his face, and when he removed his hand from Killer's hair, the latter saw that he was showing his middle finger to his dad.

"Penguin!" Law sounded as if he was trying to sound stern, but even Killer could hear the amusement in his voice. He huffed. "Who teaches you these things?"

Penguin pulled his hat straight and shrugged, while turning towards his vegetables again. "You asked for it."

Killer was amazed. He would never get away with something like that with his own dad. But even though Law sighed, annoyed, he didn't reprimand his son.

Killer put the onion on the cutting board and put the knife into it. He noticed that he didn't hear Law move away, so he didn't say a word, while pealing the onion and chopping it into little pieces. He did this so fast, the onion didn't get a chance to make his eyes water.

Once finished, he pushed the chopped onion to the side of the cutting board. "Done," he said. "What's next?"

Penguin looked up at him, impressed, and opened his mouth to say something, but before words could come out, Law interrupted them again. "Killer," he said, sounding serious. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

A shiver went down Killer's spine. There it was. Law was going to tell him he wasn't good enough for Penguin. He just knew it.

"Dad, you said he could help me with dinner!" Penguin protested.

"Well, I just remembered I had to talk to Killer about something," Law said, and Penguin apparently couldn't think of an argument to bring up.

So, Killer turned around to face Law, and placed a hand on Penguin's shoulder. "It's okay," he said more bravely than he felt. He tried to pretend he wasn't afraid of what Law had to say. "I'll have a little chat with your father. I'll be back to help you when we're done." He hoped.

Law nodded with his head towards the hallway, as a gesture to follow him. Killer did so, and walked after him through the hallway, into the living room. He noticed Bepo was still sleeping in his bed, not bothered by everything going on around him.

When Law had reached the first couch in the living room, he sat down and motioned Killer to sit on the opposite one, where his glass of water was still standing on the table. Killer took a seat on the couch, and sipped from his water to calm his nerves, waiting for Penguin's father to speak.

"Is that bike in front of my house yours?" Law asked, surprising Killer with the light subject.

"Yeah," Killer answered, only then thinking of the possibility that Law might not like that.

But that thought was nipped in the bud. "Nice," Law said. "I see you've got a better taste in vehicles than your dad."

Killer snorted as he realized Law must have seen their car when they were here last time. "Literally everyone has a better taste in vehicles than my dad."

Law chuckled. "True."

Then his face turned serious again, and it was silent for a few seconds before he took a deep breath. "Listen, Killer," he started. "I'm happy for Penguin that he found himself a boyfriend, but I haven't forgotten about how this started." When Killer didn't reply, he continued. "You have been fighting for a month before you finally gave into your feelings."

"But we're not fighting anymore," Killer brought in, hoping Law would leave the past in the past.

Law nodded. "I know, but I can't help but think you get angry easily. I don't want Penguin to get hurt in the future."

"I would never hurt him," Killer blurted out.

He saw Law's face soften, and a small smile appeared on his lips. "I'm glad to hear that."

Even though that's all that Law said, Killer couldn't get the idea out of his head that he had wanted to add 'because you don't want to meet me when I'm angry.'

It was silent for another moment, before Law spoke again. "Then there's this other thing… You must realize Penguin is only fifteen."

Killer had realized that, but also knew that it was only a few months before he'd turn sixteen. Still, he wasn't exactly sure what Law wanted to say with this.

However, Law was going to make sure he did. "I know you're sixteen, and you might be… wanting more already. Penguin might not be ready for that yet."

Killer felt his face heat up as the meaning of his words came through to him. At the same time, he remembered their activities of that afternoon, and he knew for a fact that Penguin had definitely been ready for that. He had been taking a lot of initiative, after all. Besides, Killer had asked, and Penguin had answered eagerly.

"I want you to promise me to not push him to do anything he doesn't really want to do himself. And, you know, take things slow." Law looked at him with piercing eyes, and Killer had to restrain himself to not look away, though he was trying to hide behind his bangs as much as possible.

"Of course," Killer said, quieter than he'd intended. He cleared his throat. "I would never do anything he isn't comfortable with."

"You promise?"

Killer nodded, his face slowly returning to his normal color. "I promise."

"Good." Law nodded. He put his fingertips together, seeming to think about something. Killer wondered if this was the end of their talk, if he could return to the kitchen, when Law spoke up again.

"One more thing, then you can go back to helping Penguin," Law said, as if he'd been reading his mind. "Why don't you just tell your father? I'm sure he'll understand…"

Killer frowned. What did Law know about his father? He had met him one time! Well, twice, if you count the first time in Shakky's office as well, but they'd barely talked that time. "You don't know him like I do," Killer said, and wanted to leave it at that.

Law chuckled. "That's true…" he seemed to want to say something else, but then changed his mind.

"You didn't tell him, right?" Killer asked as the thought suddenly came up in his mind.

"I didn't tell him," Law reassured him. "Don't worry about that. I just think you don't have to be afraid to tell him." He raised his hand defensively before Killer could say anything. "But I know, you know him better, so it's completely up to you."

Killer nodded. "Thanks." It was silent for a while, before he carefully asked, "Can I go back to Penguin now?"

Law chuckled and nodded towards the doorway. "Off you go."

TBC~!

Reviews are greatly appreciated! ❤