Chapter 72

The car pulls into our apartment complex. Neptune Nepgear open and leave through the doors while I have to wait for the trunk to be opened. It eventually is and I'm freed from my cold prison.

"Alright guys, I'll see you after the weekend. See you at school." Martin waves us goodbye. Noire and Uni wave at us too before Martin drives off with them in tow.

After a few moments of shaking off the cold, I look to Neptune with distastefulness in my eyes.

"Next time… Neptune rides in the trunk…" I say while I try to warm myself up.

"Nep wiggity what? Why are you picking on me all of a sudden?" Neptune has an expression of being offended and confused at the same time. How she manages to pull that off I'll probably never know.

"Because, you're always getting in the middle of everything. It's really annoying…"

Neptune runs up and hugs me. "I only get in the middle of your business because I care about you. You silly little Jack o lantern." A nickname? Not only that but a seasonally inappropriate one.

I pry the lilac girl off of me, but not without great force. "Never call me that again."

"Don't be like that Jack o lantern." She's really trying to get on my nerves today isn't she?

I shake my head a few times to brush off her antics. It's too late in the day for this anyway. I think I'll just go home before it gets any worse.

"Sis, he really doesn't like it when you call him names." Nepgear pleas to her older sister, truly she understands what's going on in my mind right now. That's one of the reasons I love her so much.

"What? Now you're on his side?"

"I-I never said that sis… I still love you…" Nepgear stops upon seeing her sisters face droop, her eyes hidden away by her hair.

"Oh, I see how it is… Maybe I should just go back home and wallow in my sadness of a lost sister…" I can't tell if she's legitimately depressed or not and that's the part that concerns me.

Nepgear tries to plead with her sister that she didn't mean it that way, and that she still loves her with everything she has. But from how Neptune continues to look depressed and Nepgear's worried expression, I can take it that it's not going good.

I try to chime in and cheer her up. I particularly like her but she's still a friend nonetheless. "Neptune, your sister and I do care…" But I get cut off by her walking away.

Nepgear and I are dumbfounded by her, and yet all she's doing is walking to her apartment. It's only when she closes the door that we react to it.

"What just happened?" I ask with a moderate amount of concern in my voice.

"Oh, sis gets this way sometimes when I don't take her side on something that's important to her. Don't worry, she'll be better in the morning. After…" She pauses for a brief moment

"After what?"

Nepgear pauses for a moment, almost hesitant to share the information with me. After taking a deep breath, she looks me in the eyes.

"Well, you know how your brother drinks alcohol when he's sad?" I nod to her in understanding. "Well Neptune does the same thing, but with pudding."

My eyes go wide, I've just never heard of anyone drowning their problems with pudding. Chocolate yes, ice cream is also a yes. And in some cases people drown them out with booze.

"Pudding?" I ask with much curiosity

Nepgear nods her head to me. Something about this whole situation makes me think that this is a norm for her. Or at least it happens more often than it should.

I knew Neptune enjoyed sweets and everything that fits in that category but to think that pudding has the same effect on her as booze has on Maurice.

"I take it you don't like the way she gets during these moments." I'm just taking a wild guess here. Anything's possible when Neptune's around. And I do mean anything.

She shakes her head a few times before returning her gaze to me. "Not really, she can actually be pretty terrifying when she's… "Drunk"…"

"Sigh… you feel like staying at my place tonight then? I don't want to imagine what Neptune would do to you if she's doing her own form of drinking." The first thought that comes to mind is saying things that I've never heard a man say before.

Nepgear blushes a little and looks away for a brief moment. "Are you sure that would be alright? I wouldn't want to trouble you or your brother." She's always concerned about everyone but herself. It's really cute when I think about it.

I hold one of her hands, giving off my best smile. "You're always welcome to stay with us. I love you after all."

"I love you too… thank you…" Nepgear leans in close, planting a kiss on my cheek. I can't help but smile at this. It's just so nice having someone like her in my life.

Not saying anything else to each other, we walk towards my apartment while still holding hands. I'm worried about Neptune and so is she, but deep down I think we both know that she'll be alright in the end.

Opening the door, we step through and take off our shoes once inside. "I'm home. I'll start making dinner soon Maurice."

To my surprise, Maurice was already in the kitchen doing what appears to be cooking. "Oh, hey Jack no need, I already made dinner tonight. And you brought you girlfriend over? Well there's plenty for more than us."

My jaw dropped. Never in the time I've lived with him have I seen him actually make dinner. It's… unsettling to say the least.

Nepgear doesn't seem as surprised, but you can still see it in her face.

"You… seem to be in a better mood than you were this morning. Did something happen?" I ask out of concern more than anything.

Nepgear and I stop standing at the door and start making our way towards the kitchen to see what he's done with his time alone.

"Well, I had an interview for a new job today. And guess who got it?"

I slowly point a finger to him. "Yep, so now I'll have something to take my mind off of everything that's happening. Trust me Jack, it's all going to be ok."

"Everything seems fine as it is."

Maurice stops smiling, and looks me in the eyes. He walks up to me and places a hand on my shoulder. "Look Jack, it's not all fine to me. I really loved her, but she just started fighting with me for no reason. Then, she just left without warning, she didn't even tell me why. I had thought we were starting to get on good terms. So… there's still some things that I need to get over. It's going to take some time, I'm going to cry some more, but I promise, things will start to get back to the way they were."

He gives me smile, showing his resolve to keep his promise with those words. Personally his girlfriend leaving doesn't really bother me too much. I had my own set of problems to deal with that night.

But if it means that much to him, I'll let him do his own thing. After all, he's my brother, and no matter what, we'll always be brothers. He really does need to stop getting into relationships with girls like that though.

I place a hand over top of his. "Ok, I'll support you all the way." Both of us smile at each other. It's been a while since we've had a moment like this. That job interview must've really changed him from the man I saw this morning.

"If only Vert were here to see this. She'd be all over it." Nepgear comments from the side.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Maurice asks her.

"Our friend Vert is into some… tasteful material…" I chime in to save Nepgear the trouble.

Maurice ponders this for a moment the reaches a conclusion in his head. He doesn't give any comment to it, he just nods quietly and goes back to put the finishing touches on dinner.

Nepgear and I sit down on a couch and start to hold hands again. She rests her head on my shoulder, becoming as relaxed as possible. It warms my heart seeing this, and makes me lay my head over hers in response.

It's really comfortable, and she's really warm. Perfect for a cold winter day like today, but our moment of bliss is only that, a moment. Before long Maurice calls us up, telling us that dinner's ready.

"What's for dinner tonight?" I ask, knowing it won't be anything complex though.

"I don't know how to cook much. But I learned this from watching you. We're having five alarm chili tonight. Not without milk of course." He really learned how to make that from just watching me? Not only that but it looks really good.

Maurice hands me a bowl of chili after I pour a glass of milk. Nepgear does the same shortly after and all three of us sit down at the table.

I take one spoonful of chili and blow on it so it doesn't burn me. Then when it's just right, see just what my brother was capable of.

"So, what do you two think?" Maurice eagerly awaits our reply.

"It's…" Suddenly, a furious heat erupts in my mouth. He must've added too much seasoning and spice to it.

"Sp-sp-SPICY!" This is definitely not how I made mine. Spice to me is about a kicking flavor, not about burning.

Nepgear looks like she's about to cry from how spicy hers is. I can't blame her either. This stuff is so spicy it would make anyone uncomfortable with eating it.

"What? I thought that's how you liked your chili."

"You know I can't handle spicy things." I take a swig of milk.

"My definition of spice was all about having a flavor that stands out. Not burning!" I take another big swig of milk. It doesn't even feel like it's doing anything.

Looking to my side, I see that Nepgear is desperately chugging her milk trying to make the burning sensation go away. From what it looks like it's not happening anytime soon.

"Next time, I'll help you out." I offer my brother my assistance.

"But cooking is art…" Oh he better fucking not.

"Don't you dare say it…" He better fucking not.

Maurice's grin becomes more wide than I've seen it in a while. "And art is an explosion!" I'm going to murder him in his sleep I swear.

"I think I'll just make a sandwich tonight. You want one Nepgear?" I look to her awaiting her response.

"I don't mean to be rude Maurice, but yes, I would like one very much."

"Damn, my first attempt at cooking failed. Well, since you're at it. Could I have one as well?" So even when I don't make dinner, I make dinner. Isn't it funny how that works?

I get up and prepare a new dinner for us all. One that won't burn all of us alive and set off the smoke detectors. It's going to be a long road, but I'm sure I can teach Maurice how to cook.

*Kiss* *Kiss* *Smack*

After dinner, Nepgear and I cleaned up and decided to go to bed. It was getting late anyways so it's not like we were going to miss much.

Maurice's girlfriend actually left some of her clothes here and hasn't come back for them yet, so Nepgear's wearing some of her pajamas for the night since she didn't want to go back to her place.

We went into my room, and behind closed doors with no prying eyes, just kind of started to make out. I'm not complaining mind you, it just came as a surprise.

Our tongues rubbing up against each other sends shivers down my spine that I can't feel from anything else. My arms firmly gripping her back to keep her close make it all the more exhilarating.

Nepgear's arms wrap around me in a similar fashion, preventing both of us from escaping each others grasp.

I break the kiss and look Nepgear deep in the eyes. "I love you so much."

"I love you too, kiss me some more."

Answering her request, I brush her hair back and start kissing her neck. This is something she really likes a lot I remember that.

"haa… haa…mmmm" Nepgear moans from the pleasure.

"Keep your voice down, Maurice will hear us."

"This feels so good that I can h-hardly think… mmmm" Despite what I told her she moans again. Guess there's no helping it.

Going back up to her face I plant a kiss on her cheek much like the one she gave me today. "I think that's where we should stop tonight." I really want to keep going, but I don't think we'll be able to keep quiet enough to not be discovered.

Nepgear's face becomes bright red before she pouts at me. "Jeez, I was feeling really good too."

"I know, maybe we can pick up where we left off tomorrow. Maurice does have a new job remember?" I try to fix the situation. I don't want to be a cockblock but I have to be in this situation.

"You don't just build a girl up to bring her back down like that. You're so mean sometimes." Nepgear lies down in bed and covers herself with blanket.

I lie down with her and put an arm around her, but I'm met with some resistance. Eventually, she calms down and snuggles into me. I know how she feels and I'd be pretty pissed too if I were in her situation.

I've never understood how girls get when they're in the mood so I won't say too much else on the matter. I'll try to make it up to her tomorrow though.

Before I drift off to sleep, I lean in close to her ear and whisper. "I'm sorry Nepgear, I promise it'll be different tomorrow."

The last thing I hear from her before dozing off is a light sound of excitement. I still didn't mean to be a cockblock, but I hope this at least made up for it.

A/N: So this chapter came out the same day as the previous chapter but was written months after that one. Still though, I'd like to see how all of you are doing and what you think of these two new chapters.

I can't say I'm happy about the execution of the last part of this chapter but I was in the mood to write something romantic like that so it's whatever. I do appreciate all of you who are still around. You guys kick ass.

Hopefully there'll be a new chapter up soon, but until then, see you in the next update.